Happy New Moon!

Mercury retrograde is here in war-mongering Aries. That's not ominous at all.

I had a week of ups and downs. Most notable up was this glowing review of The Lost God Series on Screenrant, where you can find my series at number five on the top love triangles list, right behind my colleague and close presonal friend Leigh Bardugo (this is a joke. I love Leigh but sadly we aren't besties...yet.)

I pulled the 5 of Wands Rx for our group reading. This card speaks to inner turmoil. Less outside war waging and more internal demon battling. This new moon is a time to look specifically at conflicts that have to do wiht our passions or mission-driven work that we feel called to.

It's more about the internal conflicts we feel than external obstacles. For those of us who hate conflict and inner turmoil, it's important to remember that this conflict is a necessity for growth. The 5 of Wands Rx is a card that works for us and helps us transform into new versions of ourselves.

It's okay if things feel particularly intense and tumultuous this weekend. Slowly but steadily, we're working through the muck and we'll come out on the other side.

In the meantime...here is some external muck to move through...

Quick activism from Authors Against Book Bans:

This was a tough week for libraries and museums. On March 20th, Trump appointed a new IMLS acting director who made it clear in his opening statement that he intends to steer the organization “in lockstep with this Administration” and “restore focus on patriotism.” The implication, of course, is that federal funding for our nation’s museums and libraries will now be contingent on the current administration’s political agendas.

Luckily, the law is on our side. The US Congress was clear in the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018 that IMLS is statutorily required to send federal funding to state libraries under the Grants to States program. It’s time we remind our elected officials of that.

What you can do: Call your governor and congresspeople, and tell them that Congress has mandated support for IMLS through federal law, and that libraries are a vital public resource for every community. Below are a sample script, and a link to find the phone numbers of your elected officials.

Sample Script: “My name is [insert name]. I’m a [state/district/city] resident and the author/illustrator of [your books]. I am calling to express my support for federal museum and library funding, and to urge you to stand against President Trump's recent Executive Order against the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

“The IMLS provides important support for local libraries and museums across [your state/city]. IMLS makes grants that bridge funding gaps in local libraries and museums around the country, allowing them to better serve our communities by targeting each community's unique needs. These grants improve internet access to rural areas, support tribal libraries, ensure that libraries offer interlibrary loans, fund language programs, subsidize programs for veterans, businesses, and entrepreneurs, and so much more. [include other local programs in your area if you know of them]

“Please stand against cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and ensure museums and libraries can continue to benefit communities across the United States.”

I highly recommend https://5calls.org/ to contact your representatives about the relentless onslaught of unconstitutional legislation coming up for consideration. I know we all hate to be on the phone, but 5calls makes reaching out very easy and provides scripts if you're nervous about what to say.

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

• A Pick a Card reading
• A DIY Tarot Reading
• SONG OF THE DARK WOOD audiobook
• A LEGACY OF STARS Preorders
• THE LOST GOD SERIES audiobook sale
• A Writing Update
• A Reading update
• So many Events so little time - hear me talk a lot
• Villains and Vixens Preorders

New Moon in Aries - this new moon in Aries is here to shake up our relationship with investing in ourselves. As with all relationships, our relationship with ourselves is ever-evolving. Needs change, burnout happens, or we just want to shake things up. This new moon reminds us how to reset our expectations and focus on what serves us now.

Take a breath and choose the card you feel most drawn to. The card you choose represents how you can offer yourself grace as you evolve.

REVEAL TIME - The card you choose represents how you can offer yourself grace as you evolve.

10 of Wands Rx - Stop trying to do the effort for everyone else in your life. You can't evolve for them. They have to go in their own time, and it's possible you're just focusing on others to avoid confronting how you're changing. Change is scary, but you can't hide behind helping others forever.

3 of Pentacles - Grace comes from dear friendships and from the people in your life who support you in your shakiest moments. When you're at your most self-critical, reach out to trusted friends for a pep talk and take their words to heart.

7 of Wands - Defend what you love. Be merciless about setting boundaries. This is a time to hoard your precious energy instead of giving it away to people who drain you. Your job is to find moments of peace to continue to carve out protected space in your day for the things that matter most to you.

ONE WEEK until the Song of the Dark Wood Audiobook Release!!!

Song of the Dark Wood is out now on Audible, LibroFm, and at all of your favorite audio retailers. You can also listen on Spotify here.

Thank you to everyone who shared or purchased already. It's been so much fun seeing it out in the world and I've had so many lovely messages about the excellent narration.

THE LOST GOD Audio is on sale for 1 more week!

The entire series is on sale on chirp through April 3. If you're not caught up, this is a great way to catch up on the original series before we jump ahead twenty-two years for ALOS. And this is a stellar deal!

A quick reminder that the entire LOST GOD series is available 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.

A LEGACY OF STARS PREORDER:

Less than two weeks until this book is out in the world. The early

The ebook and hardcover preorders are up now. Paperback won't be up until much closer to release.

A reminder that if you preorder you get instant access to the first two chapters of ALOS, the playlist, and a glimpse at the updated map.

We are just a few preorders away from our next goal of 75 preorders. If we get there, I'll give away two paperback copies. A reminder that preorders are so valuable because they help my books rank on release day. That is what helped SONG OF THE DARK WOOD have such a successful launch that it stayed at the top of its categories for three months.

You can also add it on Goodreads.

ARCs are open for a little while longer. If you would like to join the advance reader team, sign up here.

Finally, yes, the secret news has to stay secret for now. It's soooo slow, but I'm hoping I will have it for you by release day, along with some fun art 👀

What I'm Writing:

THE POISON DAUGHTER - Current Stage: 1st Developmental Edit

There's good news and bad news. The good news is that there really is not a lot of heavy lifting in this revision. The bad news is that I have been moving VERY slowly on it because I've had an enormous amount of admin for the ALOS release (and other such related things I can't talk about yet).

I seem to consistently forget how much the book release promotional period takes out of me.

While editing tends to not be quite as creatively taxing as drafting for me, it is still very mentally taxing, and given how much I've been coordinating, I haven't had as much left for edits at the end of the day.

But I have a plan to make the next two weeks an editing intensive, and it starts today.

I'm making my way through my list of compiled edits, and with every chapter, I can see it coming together. The story is tightening up in some ways and expanding in others(help, she's soooo long).

Honestly, this part of the process can feel very slow and aimless. This is where the mental toughness comes in. Sometimes it's just a matter of toughing it out one paragraph, one sentence, one word at a time.

I'm hoping to have this revision complete by ALOS release weekend, but it's going to be a close one. Then it will be off to betas to make sure I didn't break anything in the story with this round of revision. More to come soon.

What I'm Reading:

Holy Wrath by Victoria Mier - I'm so delighted to finally, FINALLY be reading this book that I've been chatting with Victoria about for a year. Holy Wrath is a standalone novel about a healer desperate for the blessing of a saint, and the injured enigmatic knight she's tasked with saving. I feel like this is veyr much a novel for anyone who enjoyed Song of the Dark Wood because to quote the blurb, "Holy Wrath is about the fierceness of queer love and two women who no longer want equality once they’ve tasted revenge." It's out on April 8th but do yourself a favor and click the GORGEOUS cover below to preorder it now.

Air and Essence (Fate of the Anca Book 2) by Mikayla Hornedo - This is the second book in my friend Mikaykla's series about a bruja named Dayanara who is betrothed to the vampire king of her rival kingdom. Dayanara must decide if she wants to kill the king, seduce the king, or embrace the union. Obviously, I'm here for any and all witch books and especially the ragey ones. Book one is out now, but book two is out on April 1, and you can preorder it by clicking the cover below.

Notable recent reads: The Wolf and the Witch by Charissa Weaks and Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli.

Look out, someone's giving me a microphone:

I am thrilled and not at all freaking out to be on a panel with the lovely and talented Katrina Lewis, Frankie Diane Mallis, and Victoria Mier on Friday, April 4 from 7-9 PM at Capricorn Books in Jenkintown. I'm so humbled and excited to get to be part of this event.

Along with the fantasy panel, there will be drinks and snacks and a costume contest, I just got some fun new things to wear, and I'm excited ot show off my wenchiest new looks. So please come in your fantasy finest.

​You can get tickets here. The cost is $10, and the proceeds go to The Attic Youth Center for Philadelphia's LGBTQIA Youth.

I'm thrilled to be helping Victoria celebrate the release of Holy Wrath alongside Katie Jamila and Christina Rossso-Schneider at A Novel Idea in Philly on Friday, April 18th. I'm particularly pumped for this topic given the state of the world and the state of the books I'm writing this year. If you are local, please come celebrate with us.

You can catch me virtually celebrating the release of Air & Essence with this truly phenomenal group of authors on Tuesday April 1, at 9 PM ET. I'm so excited to celebrate Mikayla and chat all things witchy. Click on the photo above to register.

Villains & Vixens Event Preorder:

My preorder for Villains and Vixens is finally up. You can click the image above to access it. I will have hardcovers and paperbacks of all of my books. Sadly, I will not have any event special editions for REASONS. But, I am trying to come up with some other fun goodies to offer. If you are planning to purchase books from the event, I BEG you to preorder. It's really hard to estimate demand for events, and I'm always guessing, so the only way to guarantee you get what you want is to preorder.

You do not have to buy books there if you are bringing your own with you. I will sign any of my books you bring from home.

This preorder is open ONLY to those attending Villains and Vixens and will be open through June 30th. I can't wait to see you there.