QUICK NOTE BEFORE WE JUMP IN: I am changing the email address that this newsletter is sent from. Starting next week, it will come from sheila@sheilamasterson.com. Please add that address to your address book now to keep me from ending up in your spam and to keep you from missing out on lots of fun new things coming in January.

Happy Full Moon!

How are we entering the last two weeks of 2024!? I know time flies when you're having fun but, I feel like I blinked and the year was over.

I drew the 10 of Cups for our reading this full moon and I think this is a great card to reflect on as we close out 2024 and begin to think about what we want out of 2025.

The 10 of Cups asks us to think about emotional and creative satisfaction. It asks: what would you do for pure joy? How do you think about tasks and activities that are "just for fun"? This card reminds us that time for hobbies and creativity should not always have to be earned. In fact, when we deem creativity and joyful experimentation frivolous, it sends the message to our brain that it's not important.

But creation and the pursuit of hobbies are vital. They are relational things that keep us connected to ourselves and each other.

From a numerological perspective, 2025 is a Hermit Card year. The great thing about the Hermit is that it's a call to pay attention to our inside life. How's the weather in there? How are outside influences casting a shadow over heartfelt desires? The 10 of Cups reminds us that our emotional and creative well-being is vital to living a happy life and should be placed in a higher priority order.

I hope that gives you something to help set intentions and goals for 2025.

On a more personal note: This year has absolutely blown me away. I lost track of how many times I cried happy tears while making my publishing wrapped post for Instagram, but it has been such a whirlwind year. I'll probably do a little recap in January, but suffice it to say, I'm so incredibly grateful to all of you who have in any way been part of this publishing journey.

I've always been a writer for me first. When I was alone in my office drafting THE LOST GOD, I never imagined so many people would read and relate to the words I wrote for myself. I've received so much encouragement and support from all of you this year and I couldn't do it without the kind words and cheerleading.

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

I've decided to take the last newsletter of the year off, so the next newsletter will be our January full moon. Wishing you a peaceful and happy new year!

What you'll find in the rest of this email:

• A Pick a Card reading
• A DIY Tarot Reading
• Exciting Song of the Dark Wood Series News
• The Memory Curse Audiobook release
• A Writing Update (with a Title Reveal for Poison)
• A quick poll
• A Reading update

SONG OF THE DARK WOOD Announcement:

I am thrilled to announce SONG OF THE DARK WOOD and the entire FABLE SONG Series will be coming to audio with Dreamscape Media. SONG is expected to publish March 2025. The other two books will be out simultaneously with the book releases. The preorder for SONG is already up on Audible, but it will be available widely on all audio platforms and hopefully at your local library.

If you have not purchased a copy yet, you can find it at your favorite online retailer.

If you have already read the book I would be so grateful if you would leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you so much.

THE MEMORY CURSE AUDIO OUT TUESDAY

THE LOST GOD is officially out on audio. I have been blown away once again by the talent of these narrators. I finished listening to my advance copy over Thanksgiving weekend and I can't wait for it to be out in the world this Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

A quick reminder that the entire LOST GOD series is available for preorder on libro.fm, audible, and wherever you get audiobooks. You can also request it at your local library as it will also be available on Libby and Hoopla.

You won't have to wait long for the rest of the series. The whole thing will be complete by mid-February. The rest of the release dates are below:

What I'm Writing:

Well, this month did not go as planned. I was busy with background work for the FABLE SONG audio acquisition and a few other secret things, and the Poison work in progress just did not progress at the speed I'm accustomed to.

In case you missed it over on Instagram, after many hilarious guesses, I revealed the title of this book: THE POISON DAUGHTER.

More and more I realize how complex this story is. It's the most complicated plot and emotional arc that I've ever written. While the world is isolated, it has also required more world-building than I anticipated. The more I write, the more I love this story and the more excited I am to see it all come together.

As you've probably noticed, patience is not my strong suit. But I'm slowing my pace and allowing for those moments of surprise from my subconscious. They really are magic (like the green ribbon in the memory curse or the storytelling dress). This is very much a case of the first draft being me telling myself the story and the characters being so very alive that sometimes I get into a scene and they do something entirely unexpected.

With that in mind, I will be carrying this draft into the beginning of 2025, with hopes to finish it by mid-February.

I've officially received all my Beta feedback on A LEGACY OF STARS and I'm relieved to say it's all VERY GOOD. I had some new readers this time around, most notably two who were brand new to the Lost God World to make sure that I did enough world-building for a brand new reader.

This is the challenge of writing a new "starter" book in a world you already know so well. Fortunately, they both agreed on the small tweaks I need to make to make everything click for a brand new reader and all of them are specific to general world-building and not plot-specific things. This is a MASSIVE relief. There are few things worse than getting conflicting feedback and trying to figure out how to proceed.

I'm feeling super energized by this beta feedback. All of the parts of the story I was trying to fix with my developmental edits seem to have hit exactly as I'd hoped they would. This isn't always the case. Sometimes I overcorrect in developmental edits and have to recalibrate after collecting beta feedback.

The good news is that these suggested tweaks are nuanced but minor, and I should be able to stick to my schedule and have it ready for my editor next month.

What I'm Reading:

I hit a bit of a slump last month for sheer business and world-on-fire reasons. But I'm happy to be digging back into The Curse of Ophelia Series and I'm hoping to close out my reading year by catching up to the latest installment, The Myths of Ophelia by Nicole Platania. This book just came out and everyone in my feed has been raving about it. Myths is the fourth book in the series, and the final book comes out next year. I just love these characters so much and if you are a fan of the multi-POV style of The Lost God, I think you will love the flawed but lovable characters in Curse. Click the gorgeous cover below to check out the series.