Happy New Moon!

Welcome to all the new faces! If this is your first email from me, I'm sorry to say that this bi-monthly author newsletter is not like other girls. She's a feral little gremlin gram, full of witchy ramblings, typos and the unfettered neurodivergence that is way more obvious when I don't have an editor. Nevertheless, this is the place where I reveal news first and I promise you will want to hang around for a minute for REASONS.

I'm a day late for the new moon in Pisces, but I wanted this newsletter to land right before the spring equinox in the Northern hemisphere (autumn for those in the south). There's a frenetic energy that accompanies the first warm days of spring. The adjusted daylight, the influx of vitamin D, and the pasty hermits finally exiting their heated blanket cocoons all signal the start of something new. If you're in the southern hemisphere, your daylight is fading and with that comes this desire to huddle in and go to ground.

I drew The Star card for our collective reading. This has always been my favorite card. Maybe it makes me a basic tarot bitch that my tastes haven't evolved but I love The Star for the way it serves as a reminder that we are always mending.

For all of us, the astrological new year is imminent and for many people this IS their yearly reset. It's a good time to check our progress against our intentions, but it's also important to go these gut checks with grace. Aries season brings this fast paced "go, go, go!" energy that can make us feel like it's imperative to have everything figured out immediately.

This new moon in intuitive Pisces offers a moment of intention to look at the cracks in our healing process. Where are we still healing? What progress are we trying to rush through to get to "the good part"? Unfortunately, old wounds do not heal according to what is convenient. They make their own schedules and we can fight against our conditioning, or we can choose to treat ourselves with tenderness.

In every moment, we have the opportunity to surrender our less-evolved impulses, and participate in our own healing. Even if we've failed at the same thing process before, The Star is the card that says you can begin again. It's not too late. You're not too broken. Hard work is worthwhile work, especially when that hard work is an investment in you.

Wishing you a pleasant new moon.

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

• THE POISON DAUGHTER - USAT & 100k copies
• Imaginarium Preorders
• Writing Update - LOADING
• TBR Stack
• A more in-depth Pick a Card Tarot reading
• TPD Q&A - popular requests
• TPD Merch

**Just a quick PSA that someone has been impersonating me, sending emails to other authors and readers asking to connect. I'll never email you to ask for money or personal info. The email address on this newsletter is the only one I use for business. If you receive a message from sheilamasterson.author@gmail.com please report it as spam and don't respond.**

TPD is a 2x USA Today Bestseller

I sent out the last newsletter, only to realize (5 minutes after I sent it) that I'd made USA Today a second time, up fourteen spots to 102. I am amazed. It's also been the #1 Amazon bestseller in Dark Fantasy Horror for more than a months now.

In other exciting stats news....Goodreads reviews are at 31,390 and Amazon reviews have grown to 16,472. The book is hitting milestones faster than I can celebrate them, and I couldn't be more excited to see it.

Most mind-blowing of all, The Poison Daughter has officially hit 100,000 copies sold/read combined as of Tuesday.

It's surreal that so many people have read The Poison Daughter. These last few months have delivered the craziest 180 of my life.

The back half of 2024 into 2025 brought some real Tower card moments. I would love to say that I took the changes gracefully. In truth, I went kicking and screaming the whole way, but I'm amazed at how life being swept clean has made room for some of my wildest dreams.

With all this news, you're probably anxiously awaiting an update. I am expecting to be able to give more solid news in roughly two weeks (so hopefully in our next newsletter). I'm sure there will be LOTS of questions and I will do my best to anticipate all of them and have answers ready.

I'm so grateful to everyone who has continued to share the book with friends and fellow readers. I'm truly living the dream.

IMAGINARIUM BOOK FESTIVAL PREORDERS:

It's that time again. We are less than 90 days away from Imaginarium. Orders have been trickling in since the Beventi form has been up on the event site for quite a while. I was waiting on confirmation of a few things before I shared it here.

I HIGHLY recommend preordering to guarantee you get what you want. I will have limited quantities of my backlist books available at my table. I won't be doing any event special editions, but I'm hoping to have some other surprises.

Please note that THE POISON DAUGHTER will only be available for preorder. I will not have any copies for sale at the event. I repeat, you will NOT be able to purchase THE POISON DAUGHTER from my table or the on site book store. I know that people will inevitably miss this fact and be disappointed, but I wanted to be as clear as possible that the only way to get a copy of TPD is to order ahead.

What I'm Writing:

New Moon in Pisces - This new moon ushers in the equinox bringing light back to the northern hemisphere and longer nights to the southern hemisphere. It's a time to think about where we are still healing and what needs to be mended in order for us move into the next season unburdened.

Take a few grounding breaths and choose the card you feel most drawn to.

Then, scroll down for the reading reveal.

For the TBR Stack:

Scars Beneath A Serpent's Scales (The Fatesworn Saga #1) by Nicole Platania - I loved Nicole's Curse of Ophelia series, and I have been anxiously awaiting this book since she first told me about it way back in 2024. SBASS is House of Earth and Blood meets Heavenly Bodies, where a secret-shrouded isle is stalked by a brutal murderer, and an order-loving Academy instructor must work with a reckless warrior to try to unveil the killer before they lose their lives—or their hearts. But everyone on Lyra has a secret, and some things are inevitable after all...

High Priestess- It's time to let go of whatever happened in this last season of life that made you doubt your instincts. Your instincts are sound and this new moon is a good time to take a few quiet moments to reacquaint yourself with how to better recognize that inner knowing.

The Star - If you received the Star again down here it's because you have been way too hard on yourself. This is a time for tenderness and redefining yourself without buying in to the story that you are broken. Everything can be mended with a bit of grace and patience.

6 of Pentacles - To move forward unburdened, you must accept that you can't do it all. There's no prize for never asking for help. Healing means honoring your limits and accepting support when you need it.

I hope your card was resonant.

THE POISON DAUGHTER Q&A:

Q. Will there be an audiobook of TPD?

A. Yes. The good news is that it's looking like it will happen this year. The bad news is that I still don't know when. I'll update you as soon as I know firm timing.

In the meantime, you can find my entire backlist on audio with some truly phenomenal narrators.

Q. Will there be any special editions of TPD?

A. Yes. I know how much a special edition is coveted, so I've covered all my bases, trying to get TPD as many special edition opportunities as possible. Right now, there is one upcoming subscription box that I've hinted at, as well as a two preorders that I'm sworn to secrecy about. I loathe keeping my own secrets, but I'm afraid I must for now. I promise I will share loudly and repeatedly as soon as I'm permitted.

Q. Do you offer signed copies?

A. I don't at the present moment. Unfortunately, I don't have time to manage fulfillment. I would like to be able to offer signed copies in the future, and this newsletter will be the first place to hear about it.

Q. I loved TPD. What should I read next from your backlist?

A. If you are mourning the end of TPD and wondering what to do next, I made an Instagram for exactly this purpose and it will help you decide where to go in my backlist.

Q. What's the best way to get more people to read TPD?

A. There are a few things you can do to help the book grow.

First of all, I am forever shamelessly asking for reviews because they are the metric most of the publishing industry uses to gauge readership. I would be very grateful if you would leave a quick one or two-line review for my books on Amazon and Goodreads if you haven't already done so. You can copy the review from one platform to another.

Second, you can request a physical copy of TPD at your local library. Not only does this help me, it also helps local readers find a new romantasy read, and provides evidence that your librarians can use to prove that local readers are using their services. Most libraries have a digital or physical form you can fill out. Your local librarian would probably be thrilled to point you in the direction of it.

Finally, you can recommend the book to your reader friends, share it in Facebook reader groups, tell your local bookstore to stock it, or post about it on social media.

Every little bit counts, and I'm so grateful for your support.

Q. I tried to order your hardcover on Amazon, but I'm getting an error. Is there still a way to get it?

A. Amazon decided not to deliver my book (and other indie books) at all to certain parts of the US. If you encounter an error stating that the book is not available in your region, it's likely due to their new "efficient" AI features. That's right. They drove most book stores out of business, established a monopoly, and now refuse to deliver to certain areas, even inside the US. I am working to get this remedied, but I don't have high hopes. If you are a reader who is experiencing this error, I HIGHLY recommend you voice your displeasure to Amazon customer service.

My advice in the meantime is to buy the hardcover elsewhere. In the US Booksamillion, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org are options. In Canada, I reach out to the Indigo Chapters team with every release, so it should remain listed there without issue. Same for Waterstones in the UK and Booktopia and Fishpond in Australia.

THE POISON DAUGHTER MERCH:

Polich Co. now has TPD merch available in their Etsy store. Click the image below to check out the collection of stickers, bookmarks, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.

In the Media:

Storybeast Podcast - I was a guest on Story Beast, which is one of my favorite bookish pods. What I love about this show is that they talk so much about the creative journey of writing a book. I love hearing other authors talk about craft, but as we all know, I also just love to yap about it myself.

​Apple Podcasts - Spotify​

The Broke Book Girls Podcast - I had a lovely chat about The Lost God Series and The Poison Daughter with Anne and Bree of the Broke Book Girls Podcast last week. It will air tomorrow/today, depending on where you are in the world.

​Apple Podcasts - Spotify​​​