"By March, the worst of the winter would be over."

Neil Gaiman.

This quote is a lie, by the way. Here in Cambridge, we're experiencing Actual Snow and everyone is falling into a state of icy panic. We have fraught discussions over how many pairs of socks we should wear, whether the buses and trains will be running, and if our boss will let us go home early. We're not designed for snow. Especially in March.

And it is March! I've been conspicuous by absence round here, I guess. So let me catch you up on things in my favourite manner: by making a list.

1. THROWN TO THE WOLVES won an Evernight Reader's Choice award! It was voted Best Romance on the Go, so thank you very much, lovely readers. And IMPERIAL DEMON was runner-up for best lesbian romance, so thank you again! If you hop on over to Evernight's site, you can use the coupon code WINNER2017 to get 25% off any Readers' Choice winners and runner-uppers. I'm always slightly shocked to win any kind of accolade, and it wouldn't happen without people taking the time to vote for the books, of course, so thank you again! Kisses.

2. Nero and I had an AMAZING holiday in Japan and spent loads of time with @pocketrex, which was also AMAZING, and we met so many lovely cats and ate so much fantastic food, and saw so many incredible sights, and I loved it, and we're going back next summer. If you want a glimpse of our adventures, the best thing to do is find my pictures on Instagram.

3. I'm doing much better mental health-wise. I'm still having some black days here and there, but the constant, aching anxiety I was dealing with before Christmas is under control. There's still work to do, but I'm out of deep water.

4. I'm working on the next Blood Canticles book, Chaos Songs. I'm so happy to be back with Lola and Tris! My plan this year is to focus on Blood Canticles and the Luporum. The Luporum was always going to be a trilogy, and that hasn't changed. Blood Canticles, I think, has two more books after Chaos Songs. Work has started slowly, because I'm still trying to get back into the daily writing rhythm that my anxiety and depression busted, but I have so many ideas and plans for Chaos Songs that have been brewing since before I even finished IMPERIAL DEMONS, and I'm excited about sharing some snippets with you soon!

5. I always name the year after a mythical animal, dating back to the hallowed, ancient times of 2013. Normally I do a big post about it in January, but obviously it's not January anymore, so here's the quick and dirty version: 

2018 is the Year of the Kappa. Partly inspired by our visit to a Goblin Pond in Tokyo on New Year's Eve, partly because the kappa is a creature associated with water, which is the element associated with emotions, and that feels right as I battle against anxiety and depression, and partly because a kappa, to me, is a creature of balance. If he loses the water in the indent in his head, he loses his power. Balance is going to be a big theme for me this year as I work to keep various plates in the air: writing, perfume-making, home life, health, and work life. So even though the kappa has a reputation for trouble-making and, um, drowning people and eating their souls, I feel like he's the right symbol for me this year.

So I think that brings us up to speed. Hopefully I'll be blogging more frequently going forward, but you can always find me on Twitter and Facebook for more frequent nonsense. Happy March!

Evernight Readers' Choice Awards!

Listen up, folks! It's that one time of year I put aside my shame of self-promotion and ask you to get out and vote! On the condition that you only vote if you actually read one of my books and enjoyed it. Don't just vote because I told you to. I feel like that would undermine the process.

Anyway! It's time for the fifth annual Evernight Readers' Choice Awards! Get out there and show your favourite authors and books some love (and get yourself in the running for a prize!). Five of my books are eligible for awards this year, should you be so inclined:

THROWN TO THE WOLVES - best lesbian, best paranormal, and best Romance on The Go

IN COLD BLOOD - best paranormal, best suspense, and best lesbian

LICH QUEEN - best paranormal and best suspense

ON A DARK TIDE - Best paranormal, best contemporary, best suspense, and best lesbian

And IMPERIAL DEMONS - best paranormal, best contemporary, best suspense, best lesbian

And you can vote for any of these titles for best cover and book of the year, as well as voting for Blood Canticles as best series and me as author of the year! Phew. It's been a busy a year, I realise, when I line them all up like that.

I've been honoured and humbled to be a winner or runner-up in several categories over the past four years. I never expect it and I'm always thrilled, and I would be grateful for your votes again this year! 

Imperial Demons is in the wild!

Today's the day, folks! IMPERIAL DEMONS is unleashed! And I am SUPER EXCITED. I feel like DARK DAYS may as well have been released a lifetime ago, and I've been raring to get Lola and Tristesse's next adventure out in the world. And now, here we are!

There is nothing I don't love about this book. World-building Gehenna was so much fun. Writing a truly inhuman villain was a great challenge. Forcing Lola and Tristesse to grow in ways I absolutely hadn't planned way back in BLOOD WITCH was fantastic! I know I've said it before, but I never intended BLOOD WITCH to be anything more than a one-off novella. To now be at book four in the series, with books five, six, and maybe seven in the pipeline makes me incredibly proud and excited.

Parts of IMPERIAL DEMONS were wrenching to write, but I think I've given you an awesome story, and I have plenty of fun, madness, and magic coming up for Lola and Tris still. We just have to go through some hard times to get there...

Magic can make you mad. Love can make you dangerous.

Tristesse is gone, taken between worlds to be the bride of a sadistic demon prince. And Lola will do anything to get her back. Crossing into Gehenna is only the start. Hunted by monsters and accompanied by allies she can’t trust, Lola must endure the horrors of the demon world, and embrace the darkness of demon magic. If it doesn’t consume her, it might just save both her and Tristesse.

But in Gehenna nothing is guaranteed. Nothing except pain.

Pick up your copy (for a discount!) right now at Evernight. Or grab it from Amazon US, Amazon UK, and probably wherever else you get your ebooks!

And you can read on right now for a glimpse at the first chapter!

Snickt!

Imperial Demons cover reveal!

GUYS. IMPERIAL DEMONS has a cover and it's SPECTACULAR.

I have been swooning over this baby for days now, and I'm thrilled to share it! Once again, Evernight and Jay Aheer have done me proud. I just don't have words for how perfect this is!

Magic can make you mad. Love can make you dangerous.

Tristesse is gone, taken between worlds to be the bride of a sadistic demon prince. And Lola will do anything to get her back. Crossing into Gehenna is only the start. Hunted by monsters and accompanied by allies she can’t trust, Lola must endure the horrors of the demon world, and embrace the darkness of demon magic. If it doesn’t consume her, it might just save both her and Tristesse.

But in Gehenna nothing is guaranteed. Nothing except pain.

I'm still waiting on the release date, but all the edits are wrapped up so stay tuned!

And look how good they all look together too:

I'm kinda mind-blown that this series is at book four already. When I started BLOOD WITCH back in the day, it was meant to be a quick, short, one-shot novella. Now it's looking likely to be a seven-book series in total, and with every book I just fall more and more in love with the world and characters. I really cannot wait to share IMPERIAL DEMONS with you all <3

"I hate mornings, and Mondays. And working. But other than that I am entirely happy."

I've been in a real writing slump since September. I've been working on an Amber Morgan project ("working" in the loosest sense of the word, because not much work is getting done), which I really should have finished by now, but my motivation levels have been pretty much non-existent. I've been feeling low as a result - when I'm not writing, I'm not happy. It's taken me a while to figure out the problem, and it's a combination of things really, but yesterday I deleted the last 2500 words I wrote on that wip and felt much better.

They weren't bad words. They just weren't the right words. I'm confident that when I go back to the project, I'll be in a better place and frame of mind to tackle and finish it.

That didn't happen yesterday because I had the first round edits for IMPERIAL DEMONS to work on! YAY! This time last year, I was just starting work on this book. I took a break on it to finish LICH QUEEN, so it feels like a lifetime ago that I started it now. I loved getting back to Lola and Tristesse and re-reading the almighty tome that was never going to end that is IMPERIAL DEMONS. I can't wait to share it with you all, and now the first round edits are in the bag, hopefully it won't be too long before I can! I know some people were disappointed with LICH QUEEN and the switch to Dawn, but it was important for me to tell that story and wrap up that story arc in the series. IMPERIAL DEMONS and the next two or three books (haven't decided how many I'll need yet!) will focus on Lola and Tristesse, and the fallout of their time in Gehenna, and I wanted to clear the slate, as it were, before digging into that arc.

So stay tuned - release dates and cover art are surely not far away!

Meanwhile, are we following each other on Instagram? No? Maybe we should! You can find me there as naomi_jay_clark. Evernight's seventh birthday is coming up and part of the celebration is a Loop Giveaway on Instagram!

Myself and 31 other fantastic authors will be taking part on October 23rd.  Each author will have a prize to giveaway and Evernight is offering a few GRAND PRIZES, including gift certificates and prize packs. If you complete the loop, you’ll have the chance to #win at least 35 different prizes.

I’m giving away a collectible THROWN TO THE WOLVES mug, like so:

So hit me up and look out for the giveaway later this month! Following me also has the benefits of seeing silly pictures of Yuki, and you know that's the real prize.

September Accountability

We're heading into Autumn and I'm thinking about werewolves. My plan for after the current Amber Morgan project is done is to move onto the next Urban Wolf book. I've also got the start of the next Luporum book floating around in my head, and some whispers of a stand-alone werewolfy urban fantasy romance revenge thing that I'm not even touching because I cannot start any new projects this year even though I did already.

My aim is to finish the Amber Morgan book this month, and move onto Urban Wolf 6 in October. I am hoping for first round edits on IMPERIAL DEMONS this month as well, though, so we'll see.

I'm trying to clear a few extra things out of my life this month to free up more time for writing, as well as squeezing a few new things in. I'm supposed to be doing daily physio for my knackered shoulder, which...doesn't always happen. I'm also supposed to be going to the gym and working on a routine to build the strength in both my arms up, which...hasn't happened at all, because as a hardcore introvert, the idea of going to the gym just horrifies me. But I suppose I should figure something out before I'm next due at the doctor and have to explain to him why I've been slacking off on all this stuff.

So we're approaching the change of the seasons, and I'm trying to make some simple life changes. I'm also letting go (or at least putting on hiatus) some writing and non-writing creative projects that have been causing me some anxiety to varying degrees this year. I'm not trying to be vague, I'm just not sure there's anything interesting to say about them, except that letting them go/putting them on hiatus is ultimately going to make me happier and more productive for the rest of the year.

So! That's September. Stay tuned for news on IMPERIAL DEMONS as and when I get it!

News! News! News!

I am thrilled to announce that IMPERIAL DEMONS has been accepted by Evernight! The contract is signed and we have a projected release date of October. So, if all goes well, you get Lola and Tristesse's big adventure before the end of the year! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

I love this book and I love the future tales it will let me tell for these ladies. I can't wait to share it with you all! More details as I get them, as ever, but in the meantime, here's the (unofficial) blurb:

Magic can make you mad. Love can make you dangerous.

Tristesse is gone, taken between worlds to be the bride of a sadistic demon prince. And Lola will do anything to get her back. Crossing into Gehenna is only the start. Hunted by monsters and accompanied by allies she can’t trust, Lola must endure the horrors of the demon world, and embrace the darkness of demon magic. If it doesn’t consume her, it might just save both her and Tristesse.

But in Gehenna nothing is guaranteed. Nothing except pain.

August Accountability

Well, it appears another month has gone by! July just seemed to go by impossibly fast, but looking back, a lot happened. I polished up and submitted Imperial Demons, edited LICH QUEEN and had it released, and just yesterday I completed the last round of edits for ON A DARK TIDE. Around that, I wrote and edited a 12k story and submitted it to an anthology, and got the first 4k of my new Amber Morgan project written.

So actually, yeah, that's probably why the month flew by.

So! What's the plan for August? Well, ON A DARK TIDE will be out on August 24th. I'm hoping to be able to share news about Imperial Demons with you soon. In the meantime, I'm going to be focusing on that Amber Morgan book and brainstorming Urban Wolf 6.

I've been thinking about this book a lot recently. You'll see from the Work In Progress thingy over there somewhere ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
that I have about 8k written of it, but I wrote that a few years ago now, and I'm not sure it's the story I want to tell next in this series anymore. I think some of the bare bones of the plot can remain, but the big juicy meaty bits need to change. So I need to figure that out before I start work on it again, but either way, Urban Wolf 6 is definitely next on the to-do list. WOLF STRAP was my first professionally published story, and even though it's been a while since I wrote a full-length Ayla and Shannon novel, their world and lives are still important to me. I always planned to give them five full-length novels at a bare minimum. At the moment we're on three short stories, two novels, and one spin-off in the shape of IN COLD BLOOD, so even though Urban Wolf 6 will technically be book six in the Urban Wolf World, it'll still only be Ayla and Shannon's third novel. There's a lot of their world left to explore.

Anyway! That's for the autumn. August is all about Amber. I will of course be checking in here with news about Imperial Demons and ON A DARK TIDE and probably other stuff as well, so stay tuned!

Lich Queen Cover Reveal!

So LICH QUEEN was in Evernight's newsletter this week, which means I can now officially share this gorgeous, perfect, perfectly gorgeous cover with you! I have been gazing adoringly at it since I saw the mock-up earlier in the week - now it's time for you guys to do the same.

*drum roll*

July Accountability

Happy July! I am pleased and proud and tired to announce that the first draft of Imperial Demons is officially done!

Powered by Beastly Beverages' Death Walks Among You tea and many, many peanut butter Magnums, I finally wrapped the monster manuscript up on Monday. Huzzahs! It clocked in at just over 85,000 words and will get longer when I hit the second draft, because I already know there's stuff I need to add.

But I'm not thinking about that just yet, because the first round edits for LICH QUEEN are sitting in my inbox, which means it's time to dive back into Dawn's world. I haven't looked at them yet, but the editor is one I really enjoy working with, so I'm looking forward to digging in and bringing Blood Canticles 3 one step closer to you guys.

So! Where does that leave the to-do list? As you may remember, my resolution for 2017 was not to start any new stories, which I broke when I wrote ON A DARK TIDE, but there we go. I'm not in bad shape despite that little slip-up.

Through Fire (Blood Canticles 3)
Lich Queen (Blood Canticles 3.5)
Mercy's Gate (Southern Gothic urban fantasy book of my heart)
Black Dog (Urban Wolf 6)
Crow Called (Standalone novella)
Flesh and Bone (The Deva Chronicles 2)

My next project is actually going to be an Amber Morgan one, and after that I'd like to crack on with Black Dog. I miss my werewolf girls! I don't really know how long the Amber Morgan book will be, but I imagine it'll take me through the summer and into autumn. I will keep checking in here as I get news on LICH QUEEN, ON A DARK TIDE, and Imperial Demons, which I'm aiming to submit in the very near future. So stay tuned!

Building a Book - The Music

As some of you may know, I keep a Spotify playlist for most of my series/projects, and Blood Canticles is no exception. (You can find it here if you're curious). It's something I've been adding to ever since I wrote BLOOD WITCH and there are songs for every character, every mood, every scene and some future scenes. Back in May I shared five AFI songs for Lola and Tristesse. Today I'm sharing five songs for Imperial Demons. Enjoy!





1. If I Burn - Emilie Autumn

This one's for Tristesse, and also the opening of the book.



2. Torch Song - AFI

More AFI, yes. Sorry/not sorry.



3. To Hell With You - Sleigh Bells

This was the first song I officially pegged for Imperial Demons, so I kind of think of it as the theme song.



4. Demons - Chelsea Wolfe

I just love her stuff. So dark and atmospheric.



5. Heavy Stone - Kyla La Grange

I adore Kyla La Grange, and this song is especially poignant to me. If Imperial Demons was a film, this song would play over the end credits.

Building a Book - The Books

So I'm not sharing a snippet today, because everything is now too spoilery for the end of the book and I want to keep you guys in suspense as much as I can! Instead, I thought I'd spend the next few blog posts sharing some of the stuff that's helped me write Imperial Demons, from books to music to tea! All essential factors for me, especially with this book. I always knew Imperial Demons was going to be a tough book to write. Not because of the story itself (although it has been pretty emotionally wringing at points!), but because in sending Lola and Tristesse to Gehenna, I had to create a whole new world. And I had a really specific idea of what I wanted the demon world to be like (you can check out my Pinterest board for some visual inspirations - trigger warning: blood).

But actually fleshing out that idea and building (what I hope is) a coherent world took time, and research. Which was a great excuse to dive into some historical biographies!

Robert K Massie's biography of Catherine the Great was a book I wanted to read anyway, because I'm pretty keen on Russian history, especially relating to the tzars. The aristocracy and politics of Gehenna is heavily influenced by Catherine's era, and although I've worked to put my own twist on everything, it was important for me to dig into the political machinations and figure out how to apply them to Tristesse and her situation.

I'll hold my hands up now and say I have no idea how historically accurate this book is, because nobody can really agree on the Truth when it comes to Erzsebet Bathory, but it did seem to be a balanced and level-headed approach to the Bloody Countess. However you look at her life, she's a fascinating woman, and her reputed crimes helped shape the villain of Imperial Demons. And I've mentioned earlier in the Blood Canticles series that Lola is interested in her life story, so it felt only right to educate myself a bit more on her!

Another figure from Russian history, another tyrant. Ivan's horrific rule was another inspiration for the villain of the book, whilst reading about another era of the Russian tzars helped add some building blocks to Gehenna.

It's intriguing to me that Vlad the Impaler was renowned as a folk hero by some during his lifetime whilst we generally know him today as a bloodthirsty monster. I wanted to examine both sides of that, and this was a great book for doing so. I'm not looking to redeem the bad guy in Imperial Demons, but I did want to touch on why and how tyrants rise to power. Between Vlad and Ivan, hopefully I've handled it deftly! I don't want the book to get bogged down in political meanderings, but a little political meandering was inevitable. You'll understand why once you know why Tristesse ran away from Gehenna in the first place.

So! Those were the books that helped me get my head round Gehenna. Stay tuned (haha) for some musical inspiration next time!

Wednesday Snippet

I SWEAR THIS BOOK IS NEVER GOING TO END. I'm writing slowly at the moment because I'm in a lot of pain, but even so, I have to keep mentally tacking another 10k onto Imperial Demons' projected word count every time I finish a chapter. I can't let myself rush through the ending and shortchange my characters and you guys, but at the same time, I am eager to finish. This is a big, exhausting story and I love it and I want you to love it, but I have lots more stories to write.

Anyway! I swear the end is getting closer, so this is probably the last snippet I'll share, because from here on, it's all going to be too spoilery. So enjoy some time with Tristesse!

June Accountability

You may remember that back at the start of May, I thought finishing Imperial Demons by the end of May was a pretty reasonable goal. Well, It's now the 5th of June and the book still isn't finished, so I'm starting to think I should just shut up. I had a really productive writing month last month, allowing for a few periods of down-time due to ye olde shoulder/arm/wrist issues, and Imperial Demons is sitting pretty at nearly 70k. I thought it would end up around 80k, but there is just no way I'll have everything wrapped up in just another 10k, so now I'm thinking 90k-100k seems more likely.

This is turning into a big book by my standards. I haven't written anything this long since my dad passed away in 2012. In 2013 I really lost my passion for writing while I was grieving, and it seemed for a while like the spark and the drive to write anything longer than a short story was never coming back to me. I don't know why I placed so much value on writing "big books," but it made me sad to think I'd lost some vital component in my writer's toolkit. Clearly I worried too much. Thanks, anxiety!

I guess it's a natural part of the series' progression - BLOOD WITCH was around 45k, DARK DAYS was around 63k. LICH QUEEN dropped to 58k, and Imperial Demons could easily end up being double the length of any of them at this rate. Expect to see Book 5 clock in at a million words...

Anyway, none of that is particularly interesting, really. I just like tracking that kind of thing. The point is, Imperial Demons is still not done, but it should be done in June (allowing for edits for ON A DARK TIDE and LICH QUEEN). Huzzahs! I am in the final act and it's time to start bringing all the foreshadowing and plot threads together for the big climax. Wish me luck!

So that's June's to-do list, really: Finish The Damn Book. I feel pretty inspired to do so, what with being so close to the end, and my tarot card draw for the month is encouraging too:

That's the Magician from the Quantum tarot deck. He indicates power, skill, and concentration, among other things. The Quantum deck tells us that whenever we create something out of nothing, we are inhabiting the Magician archetype. I can't think of a better card to represent where I am right now, focusing on finishing this goddamn book and turning all the ideas that have been tucked away in my head for over a year into actual words.

In the spirit of creating something from nothing, I spent most of yesterday afternoon making perfumes, something I never feel like I have time for anymore.

It felt so good to just chill out and make things smell pretty, and I really need to carve more time out of my schedule for experimenting. So we'll add that to the June to-do list as well. Let's see how it all turned out when I do this again in July...

Wednesday Snippet - Star-filled eyes watched her

The writing has been slow-going recently, mostly because I spent a lot of last week running around like a mad thing at the day job preparing for being off work this week. But! I am now off work. And hopefully the next few days will be productive and push me ever-closer to the end of Imperial Demons. Cross your fingers for me. I'm also anticipating first round edits for either LICH QUEEN or ON A DARK TIDE in the near future, since both are currently slated for release in June. Obviously edits will slow down writing, but maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, I am so excited about both those stories!

Anyway! Let's check in with Lola in the meantime.

Wednesday Snippet - Bow your heads and proffer your thanks

I didn't get as much writing done as I'd have liked last week, but I think as the story heads into the third act and I have to start tying all these plot threads together, that's a little inevitable. Still! The good news to take from that is that I am heading into the third act, which means the end is slowly creeping into sight. Huzzahs!

Wednesday Snippet - The second scream cut through the air

I'm pretty sure I'm going to start reaching the point in the writing process where it's impossible to avoid spoilers, so Wednesday Snippets may start getting thin on the ground. But we're not quite there yet, so let's check in with Lola. Enjoy!

Five (AFI) Songs for Tristesse and Lola

On Friday night I got to see my all-time favourite band play live for the first time since 2003. AFI have been an instrumental and vital part of my life and writing process since I discovered them back in the dim, glory days of MTV2. Every album they've made has had an least one song (and usually several) that has become a theme song for a book or character of mine. That's just as true for Imperial Demons as it was the first novel I ever wrote (which we will never speak of again), and since I'm still riding the emotional high of seeing them live again, I thought today would be a good day to share some of the AFI tracks that have woven themselves into Lola and Tristesse's world.

1. So Beneath You



If Tristesse has a theme song for Imperial Demons, this is it. The lyrics are the perfect words of rebellion and pride that will carry her through the story:

I won’t kneel. I won’t bow.
If you’re there now
Strike me down, strike me down, strike me down.
Oh, you’ve got nothing.
There is none higher than this blood,
And I won’t serve anyone.
No there is nothing above.
And I don’t serve anyone, anyone.

2. Love Like Winter

Warn your warmth to turn away. Here it's December every day.

This is a pretty good description of Gehenna, where Lola and Tristesse find themselves trapped during Imperial Demons. This song's chorus also strongly evokes both the women and some of the overall motifs of the series for me.

It's in the blood, it's in the blood.
I met my love before I was born.
She wanted love. I taste of blood.
She bit my lip and drank my warmth from years before.

3. Torch Song

I think if Lola could write a song about Tristesse, it would be this song.

I saw you. Angels came to light your path.
I heard you keep their wings pressed under glass.
Now am I so enthralled that I might die?
I saw you, sweetly smile, and say "do try".

I'd tear out my eyes for you, my dear
(Anything)
To see everything that you do.

4. She Speaks the Language

And I think if Tristesse could write a song about Lola, it would be this one.

Little drops upon my cuffs
Let me know this must be love.
Red, red drops upon my cuffs
Let me know this must be love.
Now I know this be...
This must be love.

5. Endlessly, She Said



And finally, because a bit part of Imperial Demons is two lovers separated and fighting to get back to each other, this song just seems perfectly appropriate.

I returned to you but found,
My empty home.
The radio told me to stay.
As it burned down
I sang alone...

"I will wait for you," she said,
Endlessly.

This is a really quick trip through some of the musical inspirations for the book and the ladies, but I hope you like it! You can also check out the Blood Canticles playlist if you're on Spotify (see it at the bottom of this page) for more of the bands, songs, and instrumentals that have helped build the series. Enjoy!

May Accountability

So back at the start of April I decided finishing Imperial Demons in April was a pretty reasonable goal. Now it's May and I think finishing by the end of May is a pretty reasonable goal. This is entirely because I broke my "no new stories" resolution by writing ON A DARK TIDE, but since I got that written, edited, submitted, and accepted in roughly two weeks, I don't feel too bad about taking the break. But I do really want to finish Imperial Demons this month now. Getting back into the swing of things has been hard. Real Life in April is always busy thanks to family birthdays, and I knew the day job was going to be...trying. I also re-opened Common Brimstone in a limited fashion, and have immediately found myself back in the old struggle to balance writing, work, and perfume.

The problem is, of course, the longer I leave a story, the harder it is start up again. I struggled with IN COLD BLOOD last year because I kept doubting it and myself, and ignoring it for days and weeks at a time. I don't have those doubts with Imperial Demons, so I know I just need to carve out that first crucial bit of writing time and dive back in, and all the inspiration and motivation will come flooding back. The next couple of weeks should prove easier in that respect, so I have no excuses. I want this story done, partially so I can move onto the next story, and partially so I can share it with you!

So, the goal for May is simply to work as hard as I can on this book. I will possibly have edits for LICH QUEEN and ON A DARK TIDE heading my way, as both are slated for release in June, but I'll burn that bridge when I get to it, or something... Wish me luck!

Wednesday Snippet - She smiled darkly at her reflection

So! On A Dark Tide is done and in the hands of my publisher. Fingers crossed for good news on that soon! In the meantime, it's back to work on Imperial Demons. I think finishing the first draft by the end of April is probably unlikely now, but this is going to be a long book. I want it to be an amazing book. And that means being patient with myself and not worrying too much about when it gets done.

With that in mind, here's a snippet to prove I'm on the right track!