"My work is a game, a very serious game."

MC Escher

So I feel like I haven't done much since finishing Lich Queen, but when I actually think about it, I have. I wrote, edited, and submitted an Amber Morgan short story, and edited and submitted Lich Queen itself this Sunday just gone. Not bad for "not much."

So now my writing schedule is clear and it's time to consider the To-Do list. Behold!


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)

I always intended to work on Lich Queen and Through Fire Imperial Demons concurrently, so now Lich Queen is in the hands of Evernight, it only makes sense to go back to Imperial Demons and get working on Lola's story again. I spent yesterday evening reading through what I have so far, and still have a bit of reading to do before I'm up to speed, but I should be able to start work again this evening.

My (overly-ambitious) plan is to finish the first draft by the end of March. Next week I'll be home alone, and while I will dearly miss my best beloved, I will take full advantage of the solitude to write all evening, every evening and see if I can make some serious headway. Wish me luck! I'll also go going chocolate-free in March to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, so I could do with the distraction...

2017 Writing Goals

So earlier in the week I talked about my ~life goals~ for 2017, but I didn't talk about my writing plans in any of that. For the past couple of years, I haven't really set myself any solid goals. I've agreed with myself that if something is really tugging at my imagination, I should work on it, and that's worked for me for the most part. It has, however, left me with a long list of unfinished projects between my real name and Amber Morgan, and I think 2017 has to be the year I start tackling that list, rather than adding to it.

So my writerly resolution for 2017 is not to start any new projects. I am just going to finish up works-in-progress, under both names. This is probably going to be really hard to stick to, because I adore starting new projects. Nothing thrills me more as a writer than starting something. I have the same problem as a gamer. I endlessly create new characters in Guild Wars 2 because I love starting with a newly-named, freshly-designed character more than I love actually getting those characters to level 80. Starting to create something is an act full of potential and promise and wild anticipation. Seeing something through to the end is where the hard work comes in. I have the HP Lovecraft problem:

It's not that I'm not passionate and excited about all my writing projects. I'm just easily distracted by Shiny! New! Ideas! That's not a completely bad thing. It's why you have the Blood Canticles series, for example. But it is a bit of a bad thing, and it's why there are no more Ethan books at the moment, and why I haven't finished the next Urban Wolf book yet, despite that being one of my 2016 goals.

So this year, I need to knuckle down, straighten up, fly right, etc. and Finish Some Stuff. My to-do list for 2017 is (in no particular order of importance) as follows:

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)

I also want to self-publish AFTERLIFE and DEMONIZED. This is just the Naomi Clark stuff. I also have six novels and short stories in various stages of completion as Amber Morgan. That's fourteen projects open and needing attention, stat. That's definitely a year's work for me. I don't think it's an impossible goal, but it's certainly an ambitious one and it's why I can't afford to be distracted by shiny new ideas or other sequels (like the sequel to IN COLD BLOOD which isn't even out yet, and a sequel to Crow Called which isn't even finished yet and isn't even supposed to have a sequel, goddammit).

So yeah. My current goal is to finish Lich Queen since that's coming along well and shouldn't probably turn into a huge unwieldy fantasy epic like Through Fire is threatening to do. Next Wednesday, I'll be back to sharing snippets and putting Dawn through hell. Join me, if you're into that sort of thing!

Wednesday Snippet - The steps kept coming, echoing out in the hall

It feels like ages since I last posted a snippet, but I think it's actually just that it's ages since I last wrote. Real Life has been exhausting and I've really just been lazy with my evenings and weekends since we got back from holiday. That said, I have a lot of stuff I want to write next year and a very firm deadline in mind for finishing both Lich Queen and Through Fire, so there's no time for laziness!

And with that in mind, let's catch up with Dawn...

"Though each path is different, there is only one way."

Moroccan Proverb

So we arrived back from Marrakech last Monday and were immediately thrown head-first into crazy work schedules, broken boiler sagas, and the terrible realisation that it's almost Christmas and we hadn't done any present shopping yet. I also had THROWN TO THE WOLVES released, and running around (online, not physically) organising promo for that took up a big chunk of time. All of which meant, I haven't had time to talk about Marrakech yet.

And I really want to talk about it! We had an amazing time! We rode camels at sunset! I feed many, many cats. We saw beautiful palaces and ate street food on the Night Market, and Kyle was harassed non-stop because of his beard, but in a nice way. It was simply an incredible experience. I feel so lucky to have been on two such different holidays this year. Iceland was an unforgettable place to visit for it's raw, rugged landscape, and Morocco was unforgettable for it's opulent beauty. I took a zillion photos, but I'll spare you the whole zillion. I've tried to pick a few of my favourites instead, just to show you the variety we found in Marrakech and beyond.

The view from our riad - the Atlas Mountains

Mountain creek running through Imlil, where we stayed

Inside the Bahia Palace

Courtyard garden inside the Bahia Palace

Grafittied bamboo at the Majorelle Gardens

Aisha, my valiant desert steed

Some of the many, many street cats we found

Lamps on the Night Market

Inside Medersa Ben Youssef, a theological school

Another example of the stunning architecture in Medersa Ben Youssef

One of the many, many pots of mint tea we consumed

Inside the Museum of Marrakech

Sunset from camel-back

Saadian Tombs

Gardens of the Saadian Tombs

On the souks

Twilight on the souks

Sunset over the Night Market

Delicious lemon-chicken tagine. Not pictured: the cat I shared it with

I'm really just scratching the surface here of the beautiful places we visited. I'm working on uploading all my photos to Pinterest if you're interested in seeing more, but in between boilers/work/Christmas it might take a while!

And of course, there's writing to get back to. I haven't touched any of my WIPs since before we went away - there just hasn't been time yet. But this is my last week at work for the year, and I'm looking forward to a week off over Christmas to catch up and make some solid progress on Through Fire and Lich Queen (formerly known as Pale Queen). It's good to go away. It's also good to come home and share the memories. Hope you've enjoyed seeing some of them!

Wednesday Snippet - He could bleed forever

All things being well (and there's no reason they shouldn't be), I am post this from the mountains of Morocco! That being the case, I'm going to get straight on with the snippet-sharing so I can get back to riding camels or eating tagine or whatever the hell I'm doing (I scheduled this to post before I left, you see, so I have no idea what I'm actually doing right now, because technically I'm in the past).

Anyway! Here's a teaser from Through Fire. Enjoy.

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

So another Friday is upon us! November, and thus Anti-Nano, is over and December is here, bringing me a broken boiler (bad) and a holiday to Morocco (good). Hopefully the boiler will be fixed before we go away next week. Otherwise, barring the odd crucial piece of office work that I actually can't do without either driving myself mad or killing someone else, we're all set to go. If I survive, next Wednesday, we'll be off enjoying these gorgeous views:

And hopefully I won't be attacked by a monkey! I can't wait. I know it's not been that long since I was on holiday in Iceland, but I think I've definitely earned this one (today I've certainly already earned a holiday and I've only been at work about an hour). And of course, it'll be Kyle's birthday while we're away and this just seems like a spectacular place to celebrate.

In the meantime, I've completed the first and second round edits for THROWN TO THE WOLVES and am hoping to hear about a release date and cover art soon (hopefully before we go away!). Pale Queen and Through Fire are coming along nicely, and I've scheduled a snippet from Through Fire for next week. I'm also debating changing the title, but that's by the by.

So now it's just a question of not killing anyone (metaphorically) and hanging in there until next week. The weekend promises to be a whirlwind of house work and teaching my younger brother how to look after Ket, and Monday and Tuesday will be mad, but then...but then...Escape!

Monday Check-In: The Final One

So after feeling like a slacker last week and posting a Friday blog about how slacky I was, I promptly sat down and added 2k to Pale Queen that night, thus feeling much less slacky. Huzzahs! Apart from that the weekend was writing-lite. I added another 600 words to Pale Queen yesterday evening, but lost most of Sunday to watching Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, and then ranting about how I would have improved Suicide Squad to Kyle for hours. I might blog about that. I've got a lot of Feelings, idk.

I can't even remember what I did on Saturday apart from prep and ship perfume orders, which worries me slightly.

Oh! I lie - I went to the theatre with my BFF to see Lady Chatterley's Lover! I don't know how I forgot that as there was a good meal involved, and also a hell of a lot of nudity (on the part of the actors).

Anyway! Plans for this week on the writing front: pick up the pace, basically. I'm happy with the progress I'm making on Pale Queen and Through Fire, but would really like to be further along with both before I go away next Wednesday. I'm also still waiting for edits on THROWN TO THE WOLVES, which, probably, will come through while I'm in Morocco knowing my luck. That doesn't matter, as there's a two-week turn around for first round edits with Evernight, but I always like to get them done well before the deadline if I can. In among all this, I have to prepare for going on holiday, by which I mean I have to prepare my boss for me going on holiday, because as of last week she'd forgotten I was going on holiday. When I got back from Iceland, I had many emails from her along the lines of "thank god you're back, I barely coped, also my luggage is in Atlanta." Hopefully this time while I'm away, she won't have that problem.

Anyway! That's pretty much that. See you Wednesday for a snippet!

Friday Check-In: The Underachieving Edition

So I have very little to report today, as I have written very little this week. I've added 1k to an Amber Morgan project, but nothing to either Pale Queen or Through Fire. Mostly this is because I've been exhausted in the evenings. Hopefully I can make up some ground over the weekend. I'm off to the theatre ~darlings~ tomorrow night, where my ex-housemate and I are hoping for a trashy and hammy performance of Lady Chatterley's Lover, but I think otherwise there's nothing on the agenda.

So there is plenty of time for tea-fueled writing yet! Hopefully when I come back on Monday for the last week of Anti-Nano (well, the last days, I guess), I'll have plenty of stuff to update you on that doesn't revolve around Westworld, Masterchef, or Lucha Undergroud (the other reasons I've not been getting anything done this week. I don't normally watch a lot of TV, but at the moment there's just a ton of good stuff going on).

Anyway! That's my boring check-in. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Monday Check-In: Shameless Self-Promotion Edition

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was good. I didn't hit the 10k I was aiming for...In fact, I ended up with around 4k between Through Fire and Pale Queen, which is obviously quite a shortfall. On the plus side, I got 4k written, guested on the Rambling Vapers podcast (the episode isn't live yet, but check them out anyway if you like gaming, films, wrestling, politics and general blather), had my heart broken by Tye Dillenger at NXT TakeOver Toronto, and ate steak tacos. So that all happened.

Meanwhile, I also discovered I've been nominated for a total of three Evernight Readers' Choice awards this year! Two as Naomi Clark and one as Amber Morgan. I am humbled and surprised and truly grateful for everyone that voted for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Honestly, I never expect to be nominated in these things because I think I fly under the radar a lot, so when I do it's genuinely shocking and heartwarming for me.

Exactly as heartwarming as this.

Anyway! Now the nominations are in, it's time to vote for the winners. Evernight have a $50 giftcard up for grabs, just to sweeten the deal, and you can vote for your favourite books here.

In case you'd like to vote for me, I have the following books up for awards:

Finalist - best lesbian

Finalist - best suspense

I'm not kidding when I say it's an honour just to be nominated, but...you know...it would be even more of an honour to win something ;)

Friday Check-In: The Ambitious Edition

Ambitious because I'm gunning to write 10k this weekend. I did it the weekend before I went away to Iceland, so I know I can do it. The issue is always whether I will. We have a builder and our landlady coming round at some point because there's a hole in the living room ceiling, but aside from that, I don't have anything else on the agenda. So writing should happen! How much writing is yet to be determined, but if I can get 80-10k down on either/or Through Fire and Pale Queen, I will be pretty happy.

This week I've concentrated on Pale Queen and ideally I'll spend one day on that and the other on Through Fire, but as always I try to be flexible with myself. If one story is really coming out easily and smoothly, it's counter-productive to stop and work on the other.

It's only three weeks now (less, in fact!) until Kyle and I jet off to Morocco for his birthday, and part of my desire to nail 10k this weekend is to get as much writing in as possible before we go. I'm expecting edits for THROWN TO THE WOLVES either this month or in December, too, and it would be nice to focus on those without mentally panicking that I'm not on track with my works in progress. So we'll see! I hope everyone has a great weekend whatever you're up to! See you on the other side!

Friday Check-In: The Be A Nice Human edition

So yes, it's Friday and yes, I wrote this week. Not much, because Real Life conspired against me, but eh. I wrote. It counts.

There. Now let's talk about the shit-storm that is western politics this week.

After Brexit, I have to admit, I was holding out hope that America wouldn't also do a stupid thing and elect Trump, but I underestimated a lot of factors. How low voter turnout would be. How distrusted Clinton is. How deeply Trump was able to tap into certain disenfranchised and bigoted segments of the population. And yes, sorry, it is bigoted. He is bigoted. His words and actions leave no room for doubt. And, as with the post-Brexit rise in hate crimes here, I predict Americans are going to experience a similar huge spike, as all those racists, bigots, and fascists over there feel their private attitudes have now been validated by their president-elect. Economically and in terms of scientific research, Trump is equally terrifying. Again, parallels with Brexit.

As with Brexit, I'm scared for people. It's easy to say that it's only four years before the next election, how much damage can he do, he will be tempered, etc. But whilst the political fallout might be tempered, the psychological fallout that this right-wing surge we're seeing across America and Europe isn't going to die down in a set time period. People aren't that simple, and people vote and act with their emotions, and sometimes their emotions are dark and nasty,

So what do we do? I'm torn. I believe in being kind and compassionate. That quote up above is one I have on a pendant which I wear often, when my mood sinks or the world looks bleak or people are cruel, because I honestly do believe in empathy and kindness. But I do not believe we have to tolerate intolerance. I do not believe that vile behaviour should go unchallenged in the name of being kind. Sometimes we have to push back, because there are people who need pushing.

And you can do this in good, positive ways.

Give blood. Please give blood. In the UK, we need over 6000 blood donations a day, especially from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities, to treat patients. We need more young donors, too. For years I didn't think I was able to give blood, but it turns out I can, so if you're unsure, please check. It's important, it's always needed, and it costs you nothing but your time. And your blood. Your precious, delicious blood.

Support charities. If you're not certain that a charity is using its donations ethically and well, check GiveWell. There are countless causes that need and deserve our support, and anything you can give makes a difference. You can also support retailers that donate proceeds to charity. Olivia R Burton has some cool ideas here. Whatever it is you're passionate about, find a charity that feels equally passionate about it and get involved however you can.

Be a good ally. Speak up when you see hate, stand besides those at risk. Listen. Support. It's scary, but it matters. Whether that means reporting and blocking abusive Twitter users or lending your support to someone being verbally abused on the bus, please do what you can.

Stay motivated. It's easy to forget how angry you feel right now, in the wake of these political earthquakes, because life does go on. You still have to pay your bills, do your job, deal with family emergencies, whatever. But change starts from the ground up. Vote in local elections, and for the love of Cthulhu, vote for people whose ideologies and values match yours. Don't vote for fucking dead gorillas. Remember that in four or five years time, all the shit you're angry and scared about now will still matter.

Keep fighting. You don't have to stop talking about how upset you are that your side lost. You don't have to tolerate hatred. If someone tells you (as they probably will) that "this is democracy, get over it," tell them that one of the four key elements of democracy is protection of the human rights of all citizens. They probably won't listen or care if they're already the kind of people who hate immigrants and think the Gay Agenda is coming for their kids, but don't let yourself forget it. You matter and you are worth fighting for.

Don't be in a bubble. I'm not saying "expose yourself to danger," but let's face it - by and large we choose to associate with people who share our views, and thus it's easy to believe that X will never happen, because everyone you know is too smart/progressive/liberal to allow it. Just...be aware that not everyone is capable of being kind or empathetic, and that's why it's more important than ever that we are.

This is how we push back. Not by being weak, but by being kind. By working to change the world for the better in whatever way we can. Big acts, small acts, they count either way. Be a nice human. Fight for other nice humans.

Wednesday Snippet - Who knew what the magical penalties might be?

Here we are! The inaugural Wednesday snippet of Anti-Nano, which follows on pretty closely from the last one I posted. That's largely because I haven't done an awful lot of work on Through Fire since before I went to Iceland, because I've been busy with Common Brimstone. As Common Brimstone is now closed for the winter, I intend to get pretty damn hardcore on the writing front for the next few months. Hopefully I'll be able to make a start on Pale Queen soon. I kind of need to decide where exactly that story will start first. Quite an important decision...

In the meantime, here's your snippet!

Monday Check-In: the evening edition

So it's the second week of November, but really the first week of Anti-Nano, since, as I predicted, I had pretty much no writing time last week. Well, sort of. I did sort of write 4k on an Amber Morgan project at work. And by "sort of," I mean "I totally did that." I don't know, I was reading a book that really irritated me and it sparked a story. That is firmly on the back-burner, however! Honest.

I wrote 2300 words on Through Fire over the weekend, which isn't as much as I'd like, but I'm not unhappy with it either. I would love to get 1k a day in going forward, more at the weekends. This does mean getting my arse in gear a bit, not just at writing, but on wrapping up my last perfume orders of the year. It's doable! Everything is doable!

One of the reasons I didn't get as much done this weekend as I hoped was that I really had to stop and think about a new character I'd introduced, and what they want. I've known for months who and what this character would be, and what role they'd play in Lola's new adventure, but I hadn't thought about their motives, and whilst writing on Saturday, I realised I couldn't just wing it, because I'd end up with a cliche. So I needed to stop and figure him out a bit. I suppose I still could end up with a cliche, but that's what the second draft is for, right? Right! Anyway, a break from the scene I was working on to dig a bit deeper into the new guy was definitely the right choice. I got the bulk of those 2300 words written on Sunday after I'd decided which way to go with Lola's new friend. You'll get to meet him on Wednesday, so tune in then!

Anti-Nano Rides again

Happy November! Good luck to everyone doing Nanowrimo this year. May the words come fast and often. As usual, I will not be doing Nanowrimo but, as is now tradition, I will be joining in spirit with Anti-Nano.

For newcomers, Anti-Nano is my way of tapping into all that gooey writerly energy and enthusiasm in November without over-taxing my knackered wrists, arms, and (currently possibly cracked) finger bones. My rotator cuff problems mean I can't really commit to a daily writing schedule, especially in the colder months when the weather aggravates the various joint/muscle complaints I have. But I do set myself a personal goal every November and I try to check in here on Mondays and Fridays, with snippets as per usual on Wednesdays, to keep myself accountable and hopefully give you guys something to read.

So! The goal this year is sort of nebulous. I want to write 1k a day on Through Fire, which is pretty doable...starting next week. This first week of November, I'm running a sale over at Common Brimstone before closing for a couple of months. So I'm currently swamped with perfume orders and foresee spending pretty much every evening this week and all weekend working on those so I can close the shop next week and focus 100% on writing for a few months. So whilst I'd like to get some words down this week, I'm not going to stress too much if I don't.

I'd also like to start on Pale Queen, the companion novella to Through Fire. I'd also also like to start redrafting In Cold Blood, and I'd also also also like to start prepping AFTERLIFE and DEMONIZED for self-publishing. I think the best plan is aim for 1k a day on Through Fire in the week, then allow myself the weekend to work on other projects. I also have an Amber Morgan story on the go, but that's fairly low down the priority list right now. Oh, and I'll probably also have edits for THROWN TO THE WOLVES at some point this month.

So yeah, Nebulous, in that I have a ton of stuff I want to work on (as usual) and only the vaguest idea of how I'll manage it all. I think as long as I make steady progress on Through Fire, I'll be happy. I haven't done any writing since before going to Iceland, so Anti-Nano should be a good way to get back into the rhythm of it. Beyond that, we'll see. Wish me luck!

Wednesday Snippet - Blood dripped from every body...

So this is where months of reading about Ivan the Terrible and Vlad the Impaler starts to pay off...I had a really specific idea in my head for how I wanted the world of Through Fire to look and feel, and you'll start to get a feel for it here. I will say that the snippets are probably going to be spoilery for DARK DAYS from here on out, so proceed with caution! This one isn't tooooo bad.

Wednesday Snippet - The problem was Dawn...

When I started work on BLOOD WITCH in 2014, I didn't really anticipate Dawn becoming a key character. Now I'm working on book three in the series, and not only is she definitely a key character, she's threatening to get her own spin-off. 

I mean...assuming she survives...

Leavin' on a jet plane..

Well, not for a couple of weeks yet, but I will be heading off to Iceland at the end of October for a short break with my mum. I can't wait! It's going to be so amazing to go somewhere new. We've got Northern Lights tours booked, a trip round the Golden Circle, a trip to the Blue Lagoon, and the possibility of whale watching or a Game of Thrones location tour (or both!) to keep us busy. We fly out on October 22nd and come home on October 26th, and hopefully I'll return packed with inspiration for perfumes and stories. I mean, it's Iceland. I've long been obsessed with folklore and history from that part of the world, and I can't wait to get out there and see the land that birthed it.

In the mean time, I'm doing my best to get organised, both personally and in my day job, before I go. As you may know, every October I offer some Halloween limited edition perfumes over at Common Brimstone, with the profits going to the British Heart Foundation. This year's set is inspired by legendary serpents, in honour of our dear departed Remic. I want to leave the shop open while I'm away, so that means stocking up now on sample bottles, essential oils, and labels so I don't come home to find myself without any vital supplies. I'm also trying to keep my order queue under control (always verging on an impossible task) so that I can relax and not think about shipping deadlines while I'm in the Blue Lagoon.

This week it will be Evernight Publishing's birthday! I'll be hosting a guest slot over at their Facebook party on Sunday (assuming I've got my UK-US time conversion right), where I'll be chatting about my works both as Naomi and Amber Morgan, and giving away a few ebooks. I'll also be taking part in a writing marathon over the weekend, with the aim of getting 10k written on Through Fire. This...is ambitious. It's that time of year when my hands and arms really start to suffer, and the last thing I want to do before I set off to a cold climate is aggravate my problems. That said, 5k a day is not unreasonable and since I won't get any writing done while I'm away, I want to make as much progress as possible. So we'll see how that goes...

So the next couple of weeks are looking to be pretty busy in the best kind of way! If you follow me on Twitter of Facebook, look out for a slew of photos from Iceland!

So that was fast...

I submitted Thrown to the Wolves to Evernight on Sunday, and I had my acceptance email, cover art/blurb sheet, and contract all in rapid succession this afternoon! So I can now proudly say that THROWN TO THE WOLVES is coming to Evernight in December! Huzzahs!

As usual, more details as I get them, but here's the (unedited) blurb:

Paige went to Romania looking for inspiration for a book. She found herself caught in a horror story. Attacked and left for dead by a vampire, Paige finds herself at the mercy of Kata, a beautiful, enigmatic werewolf. Their attraction is instant, but Paige's fate hangs in the balance. She may yet be turned into a vampire herself. Soon it's clear to Paige that the only way to save herself may be to return to the woman who attacked her...even if it means placing both herself and Kata in the greatest danger.

I intend to celebrate this evening by working some more on Through Fire, and maybe sneaking in some chocolate somewhere...

Wednesday Snippet - Through Fire

It begins! Oh God. Okay. I have to admit, I've had the first line of this book in my head for months, but I didn't really expect it to lead here...Poor Tris...

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”

- Plato, The Republic

So, later than expected (because that seems to be my theme this year), Thrown to the Wolves is finished, polished, and submitted. I like this little werewolfy romance a lot, and I hope to have good news about it soon.

That brings us into October, and Blood Canticles 3. It was always my plan to start on this in the autumn, so even though I'd hoped to get going in September, I'm okay with being a bit behind schedule. This book will easily take the rest of the year to write, unless I get lucky, and my perhaps foolish aim is to write a companion novella alongside it.

See, Blood Canticles 3, tentatively titled Through Fire, will take Lola and Tristesse away from their ragtag group for the bulk of the book, but events in Fort Rosser will continue apace, because that's how the world works. The nasty stuff that happened in DARK DAYS will have knock-on effects for Dawn, Imani, and Rowan that need to be addressed while Lola and Tris are...away. At first I thought about writing Through Fire with alternating viewpoints, with Lola, Tris, and Dawn all being focal characters.

Then I realised I'd probably end up with either a hot mess or a 100k epic working that way, and decided it might be easier to write one novel and one novella. I could be wrong about this route, but it feels like the right path, so we'll see. In any case, my schedule for the rest of the year is now as follows:

Write Through Fire
Write companion novella (Pale Queen)
Try not to make a mess

I am very excited about both these stories. If everything goes to plan, Lola's world is going to explode (metaphorically) and I can show you all kinds of new, horrible, amazing things. I've spent a lot of this year doing research and reading heavily to inform the world of Through Fire, and Pale Queen will hopefully do its own job in building on the magic and lore of BLOOD WITCH and DARK DAYS. I'll try to share snippets if they're not too spoilery. If you want a glimpse at the Blood Canticles world in the meantime, there's my Pinterest board here, and an ever-growing Spotify playlist at the bottom of this page. Enjoy!