Hello joyful people!
At the time of writing this, I am deep in developmental revisions for two projects, am finalizing the Kickstarter for the first two books of The Stelnove Saga, and am already thinking ahead to future books. So I thought a little update where I lay out my current plans was in order.
The Stelnove Saga Kickstarter
If you follow me on social media, you probably know I have been talking a LOT about this series in my goal to reach more people and get up to 100 prelaunch followers. Currently we’re at 53, so if you haven’t had a chance to follow yet, you can do so at the link below (and please share with someone who might be interested!)
I also have little milestones to celebrate along the way to 100 followers. :)
**The official launch date is Tuesday June 16th.**
Special Edition Covers
I am also so excited to share the special edition covers that for now will only be available through the Kickstarter! They were done by David Gardias, and I am just blown away by his work.
Illustrated endpapers will also be included! I can’t wait to hold the physical books in my hands next year.
What I’m Currently Working On
Along with The Stelnove Saga, I’m also doing developmental revisions for a Northanger Abbey-inspired Gothic novella that I’m referring to as "Project Chains” (title TBA). It’ll be releasing this fall, with more information to come!
Here’s my incredibly rough pitch (I’ll be working on the blurb as soon as I finish revisions):
When Anna is sent to marry the reclusive heir to an ancient manor, she believes her only problem to be keeping him and his family from finding out that hers is ruined. But when she learns that he’s a Conservator, part of a group of people with the unique ability to understand and preserve the living language of art and architecture, and that his task to preserve Dalithkane Manor has been failing, she realizes she might have gotten into more than she can handle. With Hector keeping secrets of his own, and strange experiences Anna has at the manor confusing her, she will need to learn to sort fact from fiction, reality from imagination, and be true to herself and those around her in order to keep Dalithkane from unleashing something far darker that could threaten their whole land.
Both this novella and Stelnove Saga 2 are due to their next editors on June 15th! After that, I’ll have a short reprieve to focus on the Kickstarter and other admin tasks for indie publishing.
On the back burner is my Edinburgh fantasy standalone with Unicorn Tapestry vibes. I do plan to finish draft 2 later this year after the novella and Stelnove Saga 2 are finished, and will most likely publish it before Stelnove Saga 3.
I know, I know. That probably goes against all marketing advice for indie authors, but I don’t care. I care more about staying true to my process and producing good quality books. I pushed myself too hard to get Stelnove Saga 2 finished in a specific time frame, and I am currently paying for that with developmental revisions. This four-book series involves a lot more in-depth planning and research than my projects usually entail, so I want to give book 3 the time it deserves. Besides, I’m tired of the Edinburgh fantasy being constantly on the back burner—it’s a great story that I’m excited about and features a main character with scoliosis (the severe, back brace-required kind, not the “I’ll see a chiropractor about it” kind)1 and childhood friends-turned-lovers (after a tragic separation). So I’m itching to finally polish it and get it out in the world!
Beyond these, I do have an idea for another story, but I’m not going to say anything about it yet because it’s still simmering. I also had so much fun developing the world of Project Chains and became a lot closer to Anna and Hector than I thought I would, so I’ve also toyed with either expanding the novella in the future or writing a full-length novel sequel.
What I’ve Been Reading and Watching
I haven’t been doing a whole lot of either of these while working on revisions, but I’m hoping to catch up on my TBR after I finish. I have a lot of indie books I plan to get to while I’m in the U.S. later this summer. Currently, I’m working my way through The Agony and the Ecstasy, which has made me weirdly nostalgic for my time living in Florence and my Master’s program. It’s a very well done, thoroughly researched book.
I’ve also been re-watching Medici for roughly the thousandth time, purely for the v i b e s as I work on Stelnove Saga 2. Tommaso Peruzzi in it still strikes me for how much he looks like Helori in my book, but it’s hilarious because they could not be more different as characters. I could totally see Caterina Sforza as Clemenza (personality-wise too), Simonetta Vespucci as Caterina, and season 2 Lorenzo would be a passable Gianpaolo (with spectacles, of course).
Sometime I would love to write an essay on the religious undertones and Lorenzo’s redemption arc, particularly in season 3. What I really appreciate about this show—other than the fact it’s not as gratuitous on the intimate scenes as other period dramas, though there are still too many for my liking—is that it takes religion seriously. The pope and other religious figures are not treated as ridiculous caricatures to brush off. I love how we see, even if subtly, Pope Sixtus grappling with his guilt, and Father Carlo could not be a purer man—the scene where he talked to Clarice right before the Pazzi Conspiracy almost undid me. In an age where there really were bad popes and corruption in the Church, it’s nice to see the nuance, that there still were good figures within it, and people who were legitimately pressured to act in certain ways due to circumstances and outside influence. Probably nothing was more poignant to me than when Giulio publicly forgave the man who killed his mother and prayed before him [spoiler coming] with Lorenzo, who had just murdered Riario, watching. And Father Carlo pointing out to Lorenzo that, yes, he had saved Florence and his family but at the cost of blackmail and murder !!!!! * chef’s kiss * I love it so much: really thinking about both the ends and the means, and bringing eternal life into focus with the context.
That’s about all on my end. Exciting things are coming, and I can’t wait to share more! If you’d like to support me, considering buying me a coffee. And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming announcements!
Sorry for the snark, but the amount of times I would tell people I had scoliosis as a teen and was met with “Oh, I have it too! Mine is 20 degrees, and a chiropractor has been great for it!” Haha, okay, I had to get X-Rays twice a year for mine as the curve was rapidly closing in on 50, had to sleep in a back brace every night, and had to have 8-hour spinal fusion surgery. But go on! Tell me more about how yoga healed you!
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