News! News! News!
Buckle up, folks, because I have a lot of news and updates for you, but before I dive in, I have something VERY surreal to share:
That’s right! Shadow Reaper debuted at #5 on the New York Times bestsellers list! As in, ~THE~ New York Times bestsellers list!! THAT ONE, YES!! Here’s the pinch-me proof:
Authors often say they’re in shock when these things happen buuuuut sometimes we can all kinda tell that they’re not actually shocked. In my case, though, I am 10000000% shocked — as in, stare at a wall, keep refreshing the page because I don’t believe what I’m seeing and expect it to change kind of shock.
And the reason for that shock? As successful as The Prison Healer series is globally (thank you all for that!), I’ve never actually hit the NYT bestsellers list before. My first book published in 2015 (11 years ago!) which means Shadow Reaper is my 14th published book(!!), so this really is new and exciting and unexpected and strange and I MENTIONED SURREAL BEFORE, RIGHT?!?!
I truly can’t thank you all enough for supporting Shadow Reaper right out the gate and helping make this happen! CELEBRATORY CAKE FOR EVERYONE!!!
As much as I’d love to just sit on that news for a moment and keep gushing with ALL THE WOWS AND YAYS AND WOOHOOS, I’m going to make myself move on to everything else. And just a note that I won’t be sending out a July newsletter, so I’m cramming a few extra things in this month.
So! Here’s what you’ll find below:
Launch tour wrap up
Where you can find signed copies of my books
QBD Book of the Month = yay!
Upcoming events (Sydney, Perth, Melbourne)
The Medoran Chronicles — new covers box set
The Medoran Chronicles — USA street team application
The Prison Healer — USA box set (finally!!)
Shadow Reaper — upcoming international releases
Scam warning (someone impersonating me, siiiiigh)
Fan art — The Prison Healer and Shadow Reaper
Official scene art — Shadow Reaper
Movie rec
Let’s jump in!
LAUNCH TOUR = DONE!
I returned home a couple of days ago from my epic 4-city tour around Australia to celebrate the release of Shadow Reaper, and what a wild, wonderful adventure it was!
I shared a heap of pics and details from all the stops over on Instagram (here) and Facebook (here) for anyone who wants to see/read, but here are a few highlights of the events themselves:
And here’s the GORGEOUS window display at Dymocks Sydney — it was SO amazing to see this in person, especially since it’s only up for one week, and it happened to fall on the week I was there!
Actually, those pics don’t do the display justice AT ALL (nor do they show the whole thing — though you do get half my matcha and a hint of my Haigh’s Chocolates bag, haha), so here’s a 12 second clip instead:
As an extra bonus, I happened to be in Sydney during VIVID, which is an annual lights festival (technically it’s a festival of “creativity, innovation and technology” but it’s widely known for the lights). Here’s me braving the crowds and the cold on my one free night to see the Harbour Bridge lit up, as well as the iconic Opera House:
The launch tour was so much fun and I loved celebrating with you all! So many incredible things happened, but if I had to pick my two top moments, they would be:
The phenomenal event location for the Adelaide launch, being in the stunning State Library surrounded by walls and walls of books:
Being at the Powerhouse Museum for the Brisbane launch (so surreal!), and the hilarious panic I felt when my in-convo partner Stacey McEwan pulled out an email that I apparently “wrote” and asked me to read it aloud. I definitely freaked out a smidge, part of me trying to remember ever having emailed her before, and the other part wondering what on earth she’d given me to read out loud to over 300 people who were listening way too attentively. But I went along with it, and there were laughs all around — from me, from her, and definitely from the audience. If you weren’t there, or if you haven’t seen one of the clips flying around social media of me reading the email that I, ahem, “wrote”, then here’s a photo of it for your enjoyment:
Honestly, there were so many other incredible and memorable moments from the tour that if I listed them all, this newsletter would go on forever. So I’ll finish by saying a huge thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate this release with me — it truly meant the world!!!
SIGNED COPIES:
I signed a heap of store stock while I was travelling, so if you’re interested in a signed copy of Shadow Reaper or maybe some of my other books (limited stock), you can find them in the following places (NOTE that the first mentioned store in each city was the launch event partner, which means I also stamped those books with the “Never bargain with a reaper” quote inside the hunter’s mark):
Sydney:
Kinokuniya (these have quote stamp)
Dymocks Sydney (George Street)
Booktopia (purchase via online store)
Adelaide:
Dymocks Adelaide (these have quote stamp)
QBD Rundle Mall
Melbourne:
Readings (these have quote stamp)
Dymocks Melbourne
QBD Melbourne Emporium
Brisbane:
Riverbend Books (these have quote stamp)
Avid Reader/Where The Wild Things Are
Sunshine Coast (none of these are stamped!):
Harry Hartog Maroochydore
QBD Maroochydore
Sunshine Coast Airport
BOOK OF THE MONTH!
I’m so thrilled to share that while I was on tour, QBD announced that they’ve chosen Shadow Reaper as their YA Book of the Month! Each month they pick four books — a children’s book, a YA book, a general fiction book, and a non-fiction book — and here are all four for June:
Thanks, QBD! I’m so honoured!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
SYDNEY and PERTH:
I’m heading to Sydney (again, lol) next weekend (June 20-21), and then Perth the weekend afterwards (June 27-28) for the Supanova Comic-Con Convention. I’ll be signing books all day on the Saturday and Sunday of both weekends (note: I will NOT be there on the Friday “Level-Up” day in Sydney, just the Sat/Sun only), and I’ll be on panels as well — INCLUDING a solo panel for a Shadow Reaper in-conversation that’s exclusive to Perth as a kind of launch (it’ll be non-spoilery, don’t worry!).
Please note that I’ll have released (or re-released) 12 books since my last public signing events in these cities (Shadow Reaper + the new covers of The Medoran Chronicles + the deluxe editions of The Prison Healer trilogy + the special edition of Wandering Wild) so depending on how busy things get, the trusty volunteers will likely have to enforce a signing limit. (If they do, usually you’re allowed to just go back to the end of the queue and line up again if that’s something you want to do!)
All my books will be available to purchase on the day from the QBD Books stand where I’ll be signing (including limited stock of the Wandering Wild special hardcover edition with the holographic foil, which is no longer available online!) — or you can also bring your own copies from home.
Here’s where you can find me, as well as some FAQs, and you can buy your tickets here.
MELBOURNE:
I’ll so excited to be attending the Celestial Events fantasy book signing day in Melbourne this October 23-24!
I’ll be part of a special High Tea event on the Friday (I believe this is already sold out), and I’ll also be at the signing day on the Saturday morning for Session 1 (from 9:00-10:00am) and the first half of Session 2 (from 10:00-10:30am).
I think tickets are still available for the signing day (Sat 24th) — there are a heap of amazing authors and vendors who are going to be there, so you can see some of the info below, and find all the details and tickets on the website here. (There’s even a fantasy ball on the Saturday night! How fun!!!)
THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES — NEW BOX SET!
As the heading here states, the new covers for The Medoran Chronicles that released last November have been made into a box set and, for a limited time, you can get them for a ridiculously cheap price through Big W! I’m talking RIDICULOUSLY cheap. The RRP (ie. normal price) is $129.99 but this sale has them at just $40 for all 7 books!!
I can’t remember how long the sale is on for (my brain is saying a month? But don’t trust me on that, since I can’t find the email where I was given the info, oops), but regardless, the sale is on now, and you can grab them online via the link here or in store (check availability for your local store before dropping by!).
THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES — USA STREET TEAM
Staying on The Medoran Chronicles for a moment, I mentioned a few newsletters back that this series has been picked up by a US publisher (yay!) and they’re going to be releasing the 5 main books in the series starting this September, with a new one dropping every two months (so Akarnae in September, Raelia in November, Draekora in January, Graevale in March, and Vardaesia in May).
My US publishers have put out a call for a street team (exclusive to US peeps, sorry everyone else), which is SO COOL, especially since there are some super fun incentives for people who want to be a part of it. I’ve included all the details below, and you can head to the link they’ve shared by clicking here.
THE PRISON HEALER — USA BOX SET
Jumping back to the topic of box sets, The Prison Healer series is releasing in a box set in the USA later this year, yay!
I know, I know, this is something you’ve been requesting for aaaaaages but it’s finally happening! The design landed in my inbox just a few days ago, as did the release date: October 13.
I’m fairly sure you can pre-order these now, but I’ll update you once I know for sure. Actually, wait. *Quick Google check* Okay, yes, confirming it’s already listed on the following sites:
Can’t wait to see these start making their way out into the world!
SHADOW REAPER — UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL RELEASES
I’ve mentioned before that this book is currently being translated into a heap of languages, and I’m so excited that some of them are soon to be released! Within the next month or so, the following will be available:
Some even have fancy sprayed edges (so cool!):
And moving forward, Shadow Reaper will also be translated and released in:
Germany
Ukraine
Hungary
Türkiye
Romania
Norway
… and more!
Stay tuned for release dates and cover reveals soon! (The German cover is SO PRETTY! It’s very(!!) different, but oh-so-stunning!)
SCAM WARNING:
In less fun news, someone is impersonating me using the email address lynettenoniauthor@gmail.com (which, honestly, could easily be a completely valid addy, since I have author friends with emails similar to that). This scammer is also using my photo, my website, and my postal address in their signature at the bottom:
It’s incredibly violating, especially since I’ve read a number of the emails people have sent through asking if it’s really me, and while *I* can tell that they’re clearly written by AI, people who aren’t as sceptical can unfortunately be fooled. (They all follow the same structure, btw, which is why it’s so obviously AI — the scammer praises the recipient for something (either a book/short story/article/blog they wrote or some other kind of writing thing), then says how they would love to “connect” and “stay in touch” etc. — and the recipients who write back end up ultimately at a point where the scammer wants to help “introduce” them to a marketing professional (who I’m guessing needs credit card details or something else from that point onwards).)
So as much as it sucks to say this, just a reminder that you can’t trust anyone on the internet, even when it looks like it might be something true.
Also, fun fact: if you get an unexpected email from your favourite author (or actor or musician or literally anyone in the public sphere), I can almost guarantee it’s not actually them. Honestly? We simply don’t have time to be cold-calling people we don’t know just to “form a connection.” Firstly, that’s SO WEIRD, but secondly, speaking on behalf of the authors, we’re too busy trying to write our books to be sending emails out willy-nilly!
Say it with me: don’t trust the internet!
FAN ART:
I shared these over social media a few days ago, but here’s some gorgeous fan art from The Prison Healer and also some from Shadow Reaper.
Let’s start with The Prison Healer — this is by @taylrartz and it shows Kiva, Jaren, and Tipp after the riot:
And this is fan art of Viri and Reeve from Shadow Reaper by @lochie_illustrations:
It’s always such an honour to see fan art from my books! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to create some! (If you do, please tag me in it so I see!)
OFFICIAL SCENE ARTWORK:
As for artwork I commissioned from Dominique Wesson to help promote Shadow Reaper, in my last newsletter I shared a scene that inspired the creation of the book, and if you follow me on socials, you’ll have seen a different scene I shared more recently of Viri and Reeve fighting in the storm. Don’t worry, this isn’t really spoilery, since it’s pretty much without context. So feast your eyes on this:
And this is the text it corresponds to (from chapter 12):
For a moment, she could only stare as he battled in the storm, his sword slashing in one hand and dagger slicing in the other, his midnight hair plastered to his head, his eyes flashing like the lightning overhead. He was death incarnate, parrying and striking against his two opponents at an impossible speed, relentless in his assault. Viri had never seen anything so beautiful, so mesmerizing . . . so deadly.
Dominique has created three more scene pieces for me and I’ll be sharing them over social media in the coming weeks — but they ARE spoilery (kinda, ish), so I’ll be sure to put up warnings in advance! (If you purchased one of the merch packs from Novellous, you’ll have already seen two of the three final pieces as page overlays and art prints, you lucky ducks! I think there are still a couple of packs available here for anyone interested, or else Novellous will have a booth at Sydney Supanova selling some of the Shadow Reaper merch individually!)
MOVIE REC:
I really wanted to read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir before seeing the movie, but the FOMO hit me hard when I kept hearing how great it was, and I caved to the pressure. I have zero regrets, though, because it was SUCH a good watch. I absolutely love The Martian movie (another book by the same author that I didn’t have time to read first — are we seeing a trend here? *Sigh*) so I wasn’t sure how Project would hold up compared to that, but it was so fun and so creative and full of heart and emotion and action and everything you can want in a space-trotting sci-fi adventure.
Also… If you’d told me my favourite character would be a rock, I never would have believed you, but, yup, that happened.
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! (IYKYK)
Okie doke, that’s all for this month!
I mentioned this earlier, but I won’t be sending any news out next month because once I’m back from travelling, I plan to vanish into my writing hobbit hole for the entirety of July. I’m horrifically behind on my deadline/s and have a lot of people Very Much On Edge waiting for me to deliver things, so that’s what I’ll be doing! (Hi, hello, I’m the multiple people — me, myself, and I. Did I mention VERY MUCH ON EDGE? Because, yeah. Ooof.)
Catch you all again once I’ve finished drafting Shadow Reaper book 2!!! WISH ME LUCK!! (Oh, also, there’s a rumour going around that it’s releasing next Feb/March. Lollll, no, that’s not gonna happen. The aim is definitely for next year, but it won’t be any sooner than 12 months after the first book released, which means sometime from June onwards! I’ll update you once I know the date!)
Can't wait for book 2😂🥳!!!!
Ahahah I looked up the scammer's email on GOOGLE and (if this makes you feel better), GOOGLE has already picked up the scammer through this Substack post and it gave me a strict warning:)