Newsletter time!

Helllllllo everyone!

Before I do anything else, I need to offer a huge apology for how long it’s been since my last newsletter. I honestly can’t remember the last time I sent one of these off, but I think it was before The Gilded Cage released last October, which means it was definitely before The Blood Traitor released this June. Eeek. Totally my bad with that. (*Hides face*) On the plus side, if you follow me on social media, especially Instagram, you’ll hopefully have seen any announcements in that time anyway. So I’m going to skip over the “Yay, I have two new books out!” spiel and just jump to some fun stuff instead. Sound good?

First up, I’m excited to share this gorgeous artwork of the River Festival in The Gilded Cage by Flourishing Fables (who you can find on Instagram here):

I absolutely love all the little details in this piece—the queen on the boat creating the water horses, the River Palace in the background with the streaming lights and fireworks, even the luminium glittering on the rooftops of the buildings. It’s all just so pretty!

And while we’re talking about artwork, many of you will know that I recently worked with the incredible Dominique Wesson on a whole set of character portraits for The Prison Healer series, including this iconic scene from the night of the masquerade:

Most of you will have seen the above on my social media, and maybe even purchased prints of it from my online store (more about that below), but I’m so excited to share that Dominique is currently working on two new pieces from The Blood Traitor (one of which I’ve seen a draft of, and ooof, you’re gonna go CRAZY when you see it!!), and not just that, but Dominique is then going to create two scenes for The Medoran Chronicles PLUS a whole set of character portraits as well. I can’t wait to see her bring Alex and co. to life! (Not gonna lie, I’m a little worried about how gorgeous she’s going to make Aven, since I already have a bit of a crisis of conscience when it comes to him. I mean, he’s evil, right? RIGHT? Someone convince me of this, please and thank you.)

… And don’t even get me started on how much I already know I’m going to obsess over her creation of Niyx. Be still my beating heart.

And Kaiden.

And—

Okay, ALL OF THEM.

Needless to say, I’m very, very excited.

Annnnnnd as soon as they’re ready, they’ll be available to you in my online store. So on that…

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ONLINE STORE UPDATE:

Phew, I’m still in shock over how eager you all were to get your hands on some TPH merch when I opened my store for 3 days last month. It was so amazing to see how happy you all were when your goodies arrived (I may have teared up a little seeing all your photos), and I’m looking forward to doing it again—which will happen after I finish drafting my current manuscript (and once Dominique’s new art arrives). So keep an eye on my social media for any store announcements!

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WRITING UPDATE:

And speaking of drafting, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what I’m currently working on, but unfortunately I have to keep pretty quiet about that for the moment. I can say that, at my current speed, I’m hoping to be finished with the first draft by mid-September(ish), but eh, who really knows. My body basically shut down towards the end of last year (until then, I just thought burnout was something that happened when you got a bit stressed and a bit tired, and you could take a few days off and be all better again. Now I laugh/sob at the thought and wish that were the case), so I’ve spent the last few months learning how to be kinder to myself. (When I wasn’t releasing a new book, of course.) That means, for example, that in the past when I might have pushed myself to write even if I wasn’t feeling it, now I’m just, well, not. Full stop. I’ve adopted the mantra that this book will be ready when it’s ready, and if that takes me a month or it takes me a decade, then that’s okay. (Not gonna lie, even writing that sentence made me break out in hives. I’m evidently still having to convince myself that it’s okay. But as Caldon would say, “Small steps are still steps.”)

But since I’m not totally awful, and I know you’re all excited to know what I’m working on, here’s a (super obscure) little snippet:

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My life is in her hands, and she doesn’t even know it.

Worse, I have a feeling that if she did, she wouldn’t care.

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Now for two fun facts about this book:

1. It’s my first dual POV book (ignoring We Three Heroes since that’s really three novellas from different characters’ perspectives), so that means every first chapter is told from the lead male character’s POV, and every second chapter from the lead female’s POV

2. It has some seriously fun tropes in it. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, tHeRe’s OnLy oNe tENt, grumpy/sunshine, along with a slew of others.

Actually, since I’m on the topic of tropes, it was Book Week last week and a recurring question I was asked was along the lines of, “How do you avoid tropes and cliches in your writing?”

My answer?

I don’t.

Interestingly, I was talking to my editor about this recently, since not very long ago, “tropes” was considered almost a dirty word when it came to writing. There was such a stigma about it, almost like you were less of a writer if you used tropes in your books. But (in my opinion) that’s ridiculous, since I’ve never read a book that didn’t have some kind of trope in it. (For those unsure of what I mean by “trope,” think things like the “Chosen One,” hidden royalty, love triangles, prophecies, quests, found friendships, good vs evil… the list is endless, really.) The thing is, tropes are enjoyed (or loathed) for a reason—you know what you’re getting. I personally love tropes. All my books are riddled with them (except for love triangles, blech, but that’s just my personal preference, haha).

So what I would say is, instead of trying to avoid tropes, embrace them, while making them as unique as you can. Turn them around, spin them on their heads, and accept that they’re powerful since most readers love them for a reason, so you can, too.

One (very bad—it’s late as I’m writing this) example is that, when I was writing my debut book Akarnae, there were a heap of YA fantasy books I was reading at the time where the evil characters, especially the Big Bad Villain, were, shall we say, less aesthetically pleasing. You could tell from the moment they were introduced that they were going to be evil, maybe because they were wearing all black, or maybe because they had a wart on the end of their nose, or maybe because their eyes were “dark and soulless,” or insert any other negative physical description here. So I decided to turn that around—I wanted my villain to be charming and charismatic and ridiculously attractive. (Though, if memory serves, I think he may have been wearing black, but he looked goooood in it.)

Again, that’s a bad example, but it’s one way that I tried to make the villain not fit the trope of a villain from the get-go, if that makes sense? (I also maaaaay have given him a bit of a hero’s journey in Draekora, which was fun, since that messed with a few people—myself included.)

Wow, this newsletter has really tangented. I didn’t actually intend to offer writing advice today, but I hope the above helps someone anyway! And as always, remember that it’s just my opinion, not something that’s written in stone. Feel free to hate tropes. Feel free to avoid them in your own writing (if you can magically find a way to do so). But as for me, I’m going to embrace them and find comfort in them. (Yes, I’m that person who watches every single Hallmark Christmas movie, even knowing how they all end within the first two minutes of them starting. I don’t even care—I know what I’m going to get (troooooopes) and I know I’m going to feel all the warm-and-fuzzies that come with them!)

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INTERNATIONAL BOOK NEWS:

August/September is an exciting time for international releases, with the following:

FRANCE: The French edition of The Prison Healer released on August 17 with a stunnnnning purple cover and shiny gold foil. I’m in love with this edition!

UK: I’m so excited that UK readers can now purchase the audiobooks, since all three books in The Prison Healer series released on August 25. (Note that the audiobooks are already available in the USA/CAN and AUS/NZ, as well as some foreign countries in their respective languages):

THE NETHERLANDS (and BELGIUM): This week, the Dutch translation of The Blood Traitor released (August 30) and I’m so excited for the arrival of this gorgeous limited edition. I mean, just look at these beauties all together! I’m in love!!

GERMANY: And lastly, the German release of The Gilded Cage is coming in mid-September, so keep an eye out for this one as well!

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WRAP UP:

To finish, normally I’d share about some books I’ve been reading and loving lately, but I don’t tend to read while I’m writing, so instead, here are four books that are at the top of my TBR right now are:

Take A Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden actually came out this week(!!), so teleport to your nearest bookstore to support this amazing Australian YA author!

A Girl Called Corpse by Reece Carter—this releases in October and everyone absolutely must get excited about this adorable middle grade adventure by a debut Australian author! I’ve already started it and Reece’s creativity and talent are off the charts! I can’t wait to find out how it ends!

Spice Road is also by another debut Australian author, Maiya Ibrahim, and this YA fantasy sounds amaaaazing, so I can’t wait to read it! Luckily my UK publisher sent me an early copy and I’m so looking forward to jumping in as soon as I’ve finished drafting! (It releases in January 2023, so add it to your TBRs now!)

The Branded by Jo Riccioni is also releasing in October of this year, and it’s a fantasy that I can’t wait to dive into. (Just look at that cover!)

Needless to say, my biggest problem is that I don’t know which of the above devour first! Help me out:

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Righto! I’m going to wrap this up here and get back to drafting. I’m hoping to take a few days off this weekend since it’s my birthday this coming Sunday (eeee, I LOVE birthdays!), but I also tend to lose time while I’m drafting, so we’ll see how that goes, lol.

I’ll also aim to send another newsletter in a month(ish), but keep an eye on my socials for any new updates in the interim!

Until next time!