Very long time no blog, am I right? But I’m finally back to announce that Villains & Virtues is getting audiobooks! I’ve partnered with Dreamscape Media to produce all three V&V books in duet narration, and they’ll be released on all your favorite audio platforms as well as in the library apps Libby and Hoopla! I’ve never had a book in the library before, and my current paperbacks don’t qualify because I don’t have for realsies ISBNs, so to know that these audiobooks will be available for free at your local library just has me all flustered!
You should see the audiobooks up for preorder on some platforms like Audible and Barnes & Noble right now, and they’ll be live everywhere this summer!
So, what else has been up? Since releasing The Elven Days of Christmas, I’ve basically been flopping back and forth between decorating, writing, and recuperation. I painted and set up my office and library, and after a few more touches I’ll be ready to officially share those spaces here. I’ve been working my way through The Artist’s Way by Julie Cameron, and it’s been great; I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting in touch with their creativity regardless of medium. I’ve been journaling more and doing more kinetic crafts too.
And lots of writing! Xander’s book is on the way, he’s just exhausting to write, as I anticipated. I want his voice to be consistent, but it’s…a lot. I’m really happy with his story so far though, and I think you’ll love Bound & Tide.
I have a secret project coming this fall, and the piece for it is fully drafted and currently simmering before I go through and edit it again. I’m really jazzed about that project because the parameters I set for myself with it have been a really fun challenge. It’s also given me the opportunity to work with other writers which I’ve very rarely done, and my gosh, there are just some wonderful people out there! The title of that piece will be Faeted to Fall.
I’ve talked briefly about Taming Wyverns & Other Wild Beasts here, but I don’t think I chronicled my 24 hour writing challenge where I began drafting it in earnest which is a shame because I had a lot of thoughts about that! I wrote for 24 hours in two 12-hour shifts and came out with a little over 22k words. They’re not great words (unsurprisingly) but the story so far is incredibly exciting (and will probably top out around 100k), and also Anna just sent me the rough of the cover artwork, and oh boy, when I tell you that Caldor is smokin’ hot, I mean it.
TW&OWB is planned to be a standalone in its own universe. The story was essentially “given” to me by the muse mostly all plotted out all at once last fall, so I figured I just had to write it as is and get it out. I haven’t given many details about its plot, though, and while anything can change from draft to final, the story will feature:
Wyvern-Tamer FMC
Dragon-Shifter MMC
Abduction (but for “good” reasons)
Maybe-Fated-Mates
Just One Cave
Daring Rescues and Vengeance
Mountainous Archipelago Vibes
Adventure and Travel (on wings!)
Aaaaand at least one spicy “let me show you what I’d do to you if you were my mate” moment
Lyra, the female lead, has been in my mind for a long time–since I first came up with Delphine, actually, which was way back in 2021. I loved the idea of a heroine who tamed mini wyverns, but I wasn’t sure what to do with her. She had a struggling business that she inherited from dead parents that she was entirely (and debilitatingly) devoted to, and I knew I wanted to find her love and adventure, but it wasn’t until last October when the muse was like, “hey, a dragon’s going to crash in her village and fuck everything up” that I finally had a conflict worthy of her.
Oh, and! I may also have started plotting out/drafting some scenes for a Valentine’s Day novel next year. I have a secret: I love the concept of bodyguard romances, but in practice I rarely enjoy them. I also really love a good virgin character, but again, in practice they’re not always, let’s say, healthy (but I did explore the concept with Reeve in Bound to Fall!) I want to tackle these ideas together, and if I mash them up with cupids (one of my fav mythical “creatures”), sugary pink sweetness, and the ridiculousness of the Vacant Universe, I think I can make it all work. Also, I’m throwing an incubus in there because Ziah and Malachai never reached their full potential in Vacancy.
Finally, Dragon Race! This series is going to be big, and I’m honestly intimidated by my own ideas which is dumb and self-centered, so I think I keep putting off officially starting on it. (I mean, I have, I just work on it in pieces and it’s never like the main project I’m working on.) I need to dedicate a week to it or something to boost my confidence.
But right now, Xander. Here’s a tiny snippet:
“I knew you were genuinely talented.”
“And I could not care less what you think.”
Xander grinned and sauntered toward the counter. Of course she didn’t care, not now anyway, but he would find a way to make her. Well, not care care, that would quickly become tiresome, but just concerned enough to want to put those skillful hands of hers on him. “I believe, perhaps, we got off on the wrong foot. I would much prefer we get o—”
“I’m not getting off or on anything of yours,” she said, already exhausted by him as she went back to her work.
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