New Horizons

There has been A LOT going on in the background over the last two years.

The Dark Feather, book 3 of Songs of the Drowned, came out in March 2024 and the paperback in February 2025. I have, of course, been writing ever since, and I’m hoping that the as-yet-unannounced Exciting Project With New Publisher will in fact be soon-to-be-announced.

But before that announcement, there is this announcement:

I’m taking a dive into the world of self-publishing.

Due to the timing of the Thing We Cannot Yet Talk About, there was a good chance that if I went the traditional route with this one, it would clash with that one, so to avoid that, and because I’ve been curious about the self-publishing route for a while and I know a lot of authors who very successfully juggle trad and indie publishing, I thought I’d give it a go. It was that or sit on this one for who knows how long while I fulfilled contract obligations on New Secret Thing.

This new story is also a departure for me in terms of sub-genre. It’s very much still fantasy – hopefully, the presence of dragons in the moodboard below makes that clear – but it’s also … got lots of romance. It is not quite a romantasy, because the worldbuilding/world/events take equal billing with the romance, but it is very much a love story. A fantasy romance.

Le Vibes

So, what exactly is it all about? Don’t worry, I have a whole blurb right here:

The Sport of Wings follows the struggles and triumphs of Ogawa Ryota, disgraced son of the famous Scarlet Triple dragon-racing stable, and Keaton Merriwether, petty criminal and illegal night-race jockey.
The pair are thrown together in a risky venture, setting up a tiny, ramshackle stable to take on the sport’s greatest dragons and wealthiest owners. Over the course of their first season, they must navigate many challenges, from an untrusting, traumatised young dragon in need of love and training, to vengeful rivals and a disbelieving sporting press.
Through it all, and despite both good sense and contractual obligations, Ryota’s and Keaton’s feelings for each other at first interfere and then bolster their partnership. But can love survive the rigours of being the smallest outfit on the racing circuit, when both Ryota’s family and his ex are out for revenge?
Perfect for fans of the crossover point between sports romance and epic fantasy, The Sport of Wings is an adrenaline-fueled fantasy romance packed with yearning, misunderstandings, and zero fade to black.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, they stay tuned here, or sign up to my newsletter/social media. I’m excited and not a little nervous about the process and getting it right, but I’m going to be sharing more over the next few months, both about my self-publishing journey, and the characters and world.

I’ve already got the excellent Ed Crocker lined up as my editor, and you should also check out his Everlands trilogy – Lightfall and Moonfall are both now published. Once the edit’s done, I’ll be looking for ARC reviewers, so shout out early if you’re interested.

I’m sorting out the cover art as we speak, and frantically doing all I can to educate myself on the art of self-publishing.

One thing’s for sure, though: it’s going to be exciting.

Astarion is getting a prequel novel from fantasy author T. Kingfisher that dives into his dark backstory, arriving September 29.

https://gamesbriefly.news/astarion-is-getting-his-own-prequel-novel-and-yes-its-exactly-as-dark-as-youd-ex

#BaldursGate3 #Astarion #FantasyNovel

Tanoria Time Jumper

#AmQuerying #MSWL #WritingCommunity #EpicFantasy #TimeTravelFantasy #FantasyWriting

Chapter One

**The caged village of the Celestari sits on the top of a massive tower centered in the Great Lake**

Through the thinning line of trees, a long yellow coat brushed the branches like a streak of sunlight. The forest near the village border had always seemed stranger than the rest, the trunks of the trees packed close together like tall guards keeping the worst of the wind from barging in. Rain had battered the village for days, hard enough to turn every path to brown soup, but the wind that followed had been fiercer still, scouring the ground and now cracked beneath Tia’s boots and stirred dust.

Sharp cracks of wooden swords striking one another snapped her out of her focus. She slowed, slipping between two narrow trunks until the clearing opened before her. A group of boys and girls were grouped in the open space in a pretend battle. They stood scattered across the dry ground, brandishing wooden swords as if the fate of Tanoria was left up to them. Dust puffed around them. One boy had a leaf stuck in his hair and appeared far too proud of it.

“One more strike and you’re finished!” a boy shouted with a lisp, lunging forward with all the confidence of a seasoned warrior and none of the skill.

Another girl ducked, spinning away with a grin. “You missed. Again!”

Tia folded her arms, watching for a moment as they clashed and stumbled over one another, their boots kicking up dust from the dry ground.

“Finished?” She asked and then teased, “that was terrifying. I’m sure every dragon in Tanoria is trembling.” She picked up a fake sword and crouched down swinging her sword in a wide circle and said, “You wouldn’t last five seconds if a real fight finds you out here.”

A few of them turned slowly, their expressions shifting from excitement to something closer to guilt. One of the younger boys lowered his stick, though he didn’t drop it completely. A few lowered their wooden swords, others tried to hide them behind their backs, which might have worked better if the swords had not been longer than their legs.

“We’re practicing,” he said, lifting his chin.

“Practicing what?” Tia asked, stepping into the clearing. “How to get bruises and how to get lost?”

A few snickers slipped through the group.

“It’s not that far,” A girl with tangled braids wrinkled her nose, pointing vaguely toward the trees to the village.

Tia glanced past them, to the barely visible line where the trees thinned.

“It’s far enough,” she said. “You know better than to be this close to the border of the cage.”

The youngest among them shifted from foot to foot. “We didn’t go past all the trees.”

“Not yet,” Tia replied. As if the cage itself had been listening, the wind stirred. A faint metallic hum trembled through the bars circling the village.

The children’s eyes widened and some of the younger ones stepped closer to the older kids. 

The sound they heard was a sound that carried through the village several times a day, but here in the fading light, in the trees, the sound stirred a discord within each of the children. It made the smallest children edge toward the older ones; wooden swords clutched to their chests.

Tia stepped closer to the group, lowering her voice just enough to sound eerie, “When the light fades, things move differently out here. Sensible warriors would not want to stay and find out what those things are.”

One of the older boys glanced toward the sky through a section of the bars of the cage and said, “I think you are wrong, warriors would stay and find out. We still have time.”

Tia followed his gaze beyond the black lace of branches. The light was already thinning, the first hint of the five moons began to rise.

“Not as much time as you think,” Tia said in a whisper. Any bravado that had remained on their faces faded fast.

Finally, a girl let out a breath and nudged one of the boys with her stick. “Come on. Before she drags us back herself.”

“I would,” Tia said, earning her a few reluctant smiles.

As they began gathering themselves, one of the younger boys lingered, looking up at her coat. “If it’s scary out here, why are you wearing such a bright coat?”

Tia glanced down at the yellow fabric, brushing a bit of dust from the sleeve.

“So, I can be found,” she answered.

His forehead wrinkled but the others were already calling, so he hurried after them. They started back toward the village in a messy cluster of chatter, wooden swords and dusty boots.

“Hey,” Tia called after them. When you get back,” she said nodding toward the center of the village, “look up to the top of the cage.”

“Why?” a boy asked.

The corner of her mouth twitched, “I’ll be waving.”

A few of them brightened at that, running ahead and their voices rising rowdily again.

Tia watched until they disappeared through the trees, the quiet settling back into place around her. She then turned her focus towards her original objective.

It did not take Tia long to reach the cage border, where the iron bars split the sky into narrow strips and the five moons gleamed beyond them. She pushed the thorny vines aside with the blade of her dagger and peered through the small tear of the cage. A cage that covered her entire village. A village that was perched atop a white marble tower. That tower jutted from the center of the Great Lake and had been there for two centuries. She had always known whoever had placed her people here had to be evil.

epic fantasy, time travel fantasy, fantasy novel, am querying, writing community, manuscript wish list,

#AmQuerying #MSWL #WritingCommunity #EpicFantasy #TimeTravelFantasy #FantasyWriting #SpeculativeFiction #AGENT

Reincarnated into a ridiculous novel with a tragic fate? Rhys tries to escape, but the dark anti-hero corners him on a treacherous frozen river! Will he survive #TheFrozenRiverCrossing? #Isekai #FantasyNovel #Reincarnation

https://artsincubator.ca/bl-stories/satire/the-frozen-river-crossing