A new moon reset...

This is our last new moon of 2025 and my last email for the year.

It feels like I blinked in June, and suddenly, it's the end of the year

This weekend starts with the new moon today and ends with the Winter Solstice for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Sagittarius is a sign that loves to celebrate wins, so this energy is a good time to really honor the things you're most proud of for the past year.

The pace of our lives is so fast. Too often, we get distracted before we have a chance to really celebrate our wins. But now is the time.

A lot of my proudest moments are private, but of those I can share, I'm really proud that I trusted my brain through the writing process of The Poison Daughter and that I had the courage to publish it.

Earlier this year, I invited people to share some good news with me through an Instagram story, and it was so uplifting to see everyone's wins. A lot of my proudest moments from 2025 are private, but of those I can share, I'm really proud that I trusted my brain through the writing process of The Poison Daughter and that I had the courage to publish it. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. Yes, it's easier to share when things work out. We are a very success-driven society. But I think it's important to be proud of any time you were brave. Even if it didn't work out.

If you would like to share, I'd love it if you would reply to my email and tell me what you're most proud of from 2025. Yes, I will read them all. No pressure to share, but you have all lifted me up so much this year, and I would love to see you celebrate yourself as well.

For our new moon reading, I pulled The Moon card. This card is one that tends to come up when we are trying to face our fears. We all have an intuitive connection and a deep understanding of the path in front of us. It’s when other people’s opinions and the noise from the outside world come in that we struggle to trust it.

The Moon asks us to be true to ourselves one last time this year. To sit with our grief in the quiet moments, to celebrate our wins in the joyful moments, and to stay present with a quiet voice in our hearts for all of the rest.

It’s a reminder to give yourself the space to look back on the past year and remember how far you’ve come, and also to look ahead at what you want to create.

I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year. Please be sure to read the rest of this email, especially the writing update section. I’ll see you in 2026.

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

• THE POISON DAUGHTER Milestone
• Indie Ink Awards
• Street Team Applications closing
• 2025 Writing Update
• TBR Stack
• TPD Merch
• Pick a Card reading
• A DIY Tarot Reading

THE POISON DAUGHTER Updates:

My goodness. Today, 11 weeks after release, The Poison Daughter hit its highest rank at 2402. I can't thank you all enough for continuing to shout about this book to anyone who will listen. So many amazing things are in motion, and I'm grateful for all of the love.

No one warns you how hard it's going to be to have so many things you want to say, but you have to keep your secrets. This industry moves at a snail's pace, and I am (impatiently) waiting to share some fun things in the new year.

Suffice it to say that The Poison Daughter has been a record breaker for me, and I'm excited to see where I end up as 2025 comes to a close. I'll share more as soon as I can in the new year.

In the meantime, if you have read any of my books and you have a moment this holiday season, I would be so grateful if you would leave a quick one or two line review for my books on Amazon and Goodreads. You can copy the review from one platform to another. I know it doens't seem like it does anything, but publishers pay attention to the total number of reviews.

Hardcover update:

A reminder that Ingram Spark has informed me that, as long as Amazon is having trouble keeping hardcovers stocked in their warehouse, the listing on their site will say "temporarily out of stock." Any orders placed will be fulfilled as usual, within a couple of days. If you have any issues, or, if, like last weekend, my listing disappears from the website, please just let me know by sliding into my IG DMs or replying to this email.

​You can get TPD here.​

Indie Ink Awards 2025:

Even more exciting news! On the heels of THE STORM KING winning Indieverse awards for Boundary Pushing (discussing difficult subjects with tact) and Character with the Most Growth (Xander), THE POISON DAUGHTER has been nominated for FOUR Indie Ink Awards.

• Best Morally Grey Character
• Best Setting
• Whittiest Character
• Writing the Future We Need: Mental Health Rep

A HUGE THANK YOU to the readers who nominated TPD.

​Voting is open now through the end of the year. In January, the top ten books in each category will be passed off to a team of judges to read and assess. The winners will be announced later in 2026.

Foxglove Fantasy Fiction Special Edition Preorder...

You have asked many, many, many times. Thanks to your relentless recommendations, Foxglove Fantasy Fiction is featuring The Lost God as their December Book. The cover is gorgeous. I just got a peek at the illustrated endpapers this week, and they are amazing. The scene is one that I've been wanting to have illustrated since I wrote book one back in 2021. Seeing that combined with the cover and edge design is so STUNNING! I can't wait to have one of these in my hands.

​Preorders are open here​

Street Team Applications:

Just a heads up that my street team applications close this weekend on the solstice. If you would like to join, you'll be in for the earliest reveals of any upcoming book news, ARCs for future books, and all kinds of other bookish secrets and goodies.

​You can find out more and sign up here.​

What I'm Writing:

This email.

To say that 2025 did not go as planned is a massive understatement. I started this year with very ambitious writing goals. Thanks too, writing coach Becca Syme’s Write Better Faster course, I’ve learned that my maximizer strength means I do well when I set big, bold goals for myself, and I don’t lose heart if I don’t meet them. But boy, did this year have its ups and downs.

January started with me frantically in a race to finish the draft of The Poison Daughter when it ended up being approximately 80,000 words longer than I expected it to be (yes, I know that’s the length of many novels). I knew from the beginning that there was something different about this book. It took me three years to write it, and several times I almost gave up because it was so complicated and I was convinced it was beyond my ability as a writer. I give a lot of the credit for the fact that I did not give up to my author friends, who reassured me that it was fine for my book to be long and that I could trust myself to know what I was doing.

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned since I started publishing is to surround yourself with people you trust because on the days when your faith in yourself is failing, you’ll need to lean on theirs. I would not be here today writing this email without the support of so many people, including my many author friends and my lovely narrator friend, Megan. Most of all, I could not do this without the peanut butter and jelly to my bread, the water and artificial cheese packet to my Easy Mac noodles, the—fuck it, I don’t have another metaphor but you here the idea—Liz and Tanya, who are part critique partners, part dearest friends, part therapists, and part weighted blankets.

Twice this week, friends have corrected me when I’ve said that I was unfocused this year. I have a tendency to take bad news in stride and to focus on whatever action I can take to move forward. So sometimes that means that I downplay difficult moments in my life and wonder why I haven’t been able to manage the same level of productivity, which, quite frankly, was not sustainable over the last two years either. 🤣 But I am who I am, and a lifetime of undiagnosed ADHD taught me that more effort was always the answer. I’ve been working over the last two years since I was diagnosed to disabuse myself of that notion.

It can be hard to articulate to people who aren’t experiencing it just how much publishing is dying a death of 1 million little administrative cuts. I thought that it would not be a big deal to have five audiobooks come out in five consecutive months, mostly because a lot of the work was being done by my publisher. However, I quickly learned that there are a whole number of things that you end up doing on the back end with contract negotiations, pronunciations, and character sheets, and NetGalley widgets for your street team. The list goes on and on and on. On the outside, it can look like nothing is happening at all, but there have been many days this year when I start my author job the second I sign out of my day job and proceed to work late into the evening.

All of this to say that it’s been hard to work at peak because I had already been doing it for too long. I’ve had to slow down a lot on writing this year. Multiple house renos and several shifts of my day job have ensured that I have no other option.

I did so many things this year that I am incredibly proud of. I saw the completion of The Lost God series on audio, as well as the addition of Song of the Dark Wood to my audio backlist. I pitched and negotiated A Legacy of Stars to two different audio companies (the first attempt did not work out thanks to some contract shenanigans. Shout out to my friend Maureen for all of your help with that 🫡) and eventually saw it made into an audiobook just in time for my birthday.

I’m floored by the talent of the narrators who have worked on all of my books so far. It truly blows me away how much emotion performance can lend to a story.

I launched A Legacy of Stars in April, which went to Top New Release in the folklore category. That was a pleasant surprise. With that book, I also really saw the power of a standalone to bring in new readers to all of my backlist books, especially The Lost God series.

In October, I published The Poison Daughter, my longest and most commercially successful book yet. It was off to the races almost immediately. I’ve had a feeling about this book since I started writing it in early 2022, but it has already surpassed all of my expectations. I’ve been brought to tears on an embarrassing number of occasions by readers and authors who have sent me messages calling this book a masterpiece.

I’ve always known that the best writing comes from the most personal place because I’ve seen it in other authors’ work. It brings me so much joy to know that so many people are seeing that in this story.

This was truly a year of nothing going as planned, but I am very grateful for the unexpected diversions in my path. I can’t wait to see what publishing news 2026 has in store, and I’m excited to share it with all of you.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

For the TBR Stack:

The Other Side of the Mirror by Dana Evyn - Honestly, the premise of this one is so fun I don't think I could say it any better than the blurb. Seven years after her family’s murders, Eva is attacked by a magical creature and abducted to the faerie realm. When a handsome fae saves her, Bash reveals that he must bring Eva to her faerie soulmate to stop a world-ending Curse. ​Click the cover below to check it out.

The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow - I was OBSESSED with her short story The Six Deaths of the Saint. Since that story was her prep for plotting this book, I had been anticipating this book for almost TWO YEARS, and it did not disappoint. A lady knight, a society obsessed with controlling the narratives of history, and an epic love story. This is one of my favorite reads of 2025.

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.

New Moon in Sagittarius - This new moon asks us to make sure we're not carrying unnecessary baggage into the new year. Whatever stray threads are still binding you to old habits, dysfunctional relationships, and toxic patterns must be snipped. We can't focus on the path forward clearly if we keep looking over our shoulder.

Take a breath and choose an oracle card for a message to bring you into the new year.

Scroll down for the reveal.

Buttercup - The Buttercup card represents a sense of fun and playfulness. It symbolizes the joy found in embracing a more carefree, youthful approach to life.

This card encourages you to find amusement and light-heartedness, even if it means being a bit silly or unrefined. It reminds you that growth can also come from allowing yourself to experience and enjoy the simpler, more playful aspects of life.

Orange Blossom-​ Taurus (Rose) - Roses card speak to Taurus's appreciation for beauty and stability. It reminds you to see the strength in maintaining patience and consistency.

Embrace the beauty of life's simple pleasures, and find comfort in creating a strong and loving foundation.

Acacia - This card represents the strength found in friendships and the support of a close-knit community. It symbolizes the importance of platonic love and the bonds that are built on trust, mutual respect, and shared experiences. When this card appears, it's a reminder to cherish and nurture your connections with others, emphasizing the value of friendship and the comfort of belonging.

I hope your card was resonant.

In the Media:

Storybeast Podcast - A reminder that 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

I had a really good time chatting about my backlist and THE POISON DAUGHTER with Ghabi and Courtney, so go show the episode some love.

​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​​​