I may have hinted about this a teeny tiny bit, but can you blame me? I’ve been holding this news in for more than a solid YEAR. And I’ve been working on an iteration of this story for far, far longer than that…
But rather than tell you about it, let me let People Magazine tell you about it!!!!
Read the Full Story at People Magazine
Click through to the article to find out a little more about the story and to see the STUNNING sprayed edges for the special edition!!!
I am so thrilled to be launching a brand new book series, starting with Dragon of the Deep. In this world, dragons are as common as dogs. There are working dragons, like at the blacksmith’s forge, and there are pet dragons, like the little teacup dragon my main character loves. Her name is Poppy, she rides in Emelya’s pockets, and she will absolutely steal any gold you might have.
But while there are all kinds of dragons, there are no longer colossals. Much like we have dinosaur bones, the people in this world have colossal dragon bones…but no one has seen a mighty colossal in generations.
When Emelya throws herself (literally) at a ship heading north as a chance to escape her oppressive life, she has no idea that the crew is heading into the dangerous, monster-filled waters of the north in quest of a rare colossal dragon that might be the key to stopping a major war before it even happens…
First book in a duology (Book 2 is already in the works!)
My first spicy book (I’d give it 🌶🌶🌶🌶 and I’ve banned my mother from reading four different chapters)
Viking vibes—it’s not set in this world, but I drew a lot of inspiration from medieval Scandinavia
Poppy is totally okay. I will never write a book where the pet is in peril, trust me. (No promises about literally anyone else)
Love triangle, with one leg of the triangle being a slow burn and the other leg being rapid fire!
Secrets and mysteries and banter and monster fighting and surprise dragons and more!!!
I’ll be sharing a lot more about this book leading up to the launch in January of 2027, but before I stop now, I want to add that this book? It was truly a labor of love that I’ve been toying with, in one iteration or another, for years and years. I started writing dragons in 2020—an easy year for me to remember between the pandemic and my own personal hardship while my husband went into heart failure and ultimately got a transplant.
As you can imagine, between the global pandemic and the constantly changing standards of society as well as the feelings of helplessness as the man I loved went through such a scary health crisis, I was…not feeling in control of anything during that time. Not even my career—I’ve made no secret about how I questioned whether I could hold onto this nebulous career then.
In motel rooms and hospital waiting rooms, between caring for my son and rearranging my life, I started writing about dragons.
Dragons are powerful. No one questions the dragon. Dragons are ancient and wise and mighty and in control. And they are eternal.
They were everything I was not then.
And living in a world of dragons helped me escape—for just a bit—those dark times.
Although the original story I wrote back then (the dragons were in space! there were cool rocket ships!) ended up fizzling, starting that story enabled me to then match with Mary Altman, my brilliant editor at Sourcebooks, and start this new journey into dragons. (And it certainly helped that Fourth Wing made dragons popular again! Thanks, Rebecca Yarros!)
I hope you love this new story coming to you in less than a year! Sourcebooks is doing some amazing things with this book, and I can’t wait to reveal all the extra goodies coming to you! (Hint: if you want sneak peeks of this, join my Patreon!)
For now, a few links in case you want to be my favorite & secure a copy early-early:
Malaprops, which is currently the only place to guarantee preorder swag and a signature (just put signature details, like personalization, in the order notes)
Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores across the nation (if you sign up using this referral link, you get 20% off!)
Next week, I’ll be at the Mt Pleasant Literary Festival! This weekend-long book festival is chock-full of authors. Come see me on Saturday, March 21, at 4pm! More details here.
Join me and author Sarah Beth Durst at one of her tour stops in Davidson, NC (just outside of Charlotte)! Be sure to check the website for details on this ticketed event, which is going to be amazing! Join us April 2, 2026 (Thursday) at 6pm
While the event is hosted by Main Street Books (Davidson), it is located at Knotty & Board Interiors (the Archie Brown House), 265 S. Main St, Davidson, NC 28036.
In April, I’ll be in Texas again with Wordsmith Workshops! We have just a few spots left on this retreat (and fair warning: we may not be hosting here in the future, so if you’ve wanted to come to the ranch in Texas, now is the time to sign up!). Details here.
And last, but not least, for spring—the Georgia Renaissance Fest! I’ll be signing at Arte of the Booke inside of the Georgia Renaissance Festival from 11:30-4:30 on May 2 and May 3. Get tickets and more information here!
artsbyannz recently did a stunning portrait of Ada from Full Speed to a Crash Landing! I love the process pictures—my favorite thing is the inclusion of the red telephone! See the original here :)
And a huge thanks to the Australian Romance Readers Association for putting Ada in the finalist category for Favourite Sci Fi, Fantasy or Futuristic Romance 2025 with Last Chance to Save the World! Some of my favorite books of last year are long listed as well; it’s truly such an honor. Read more about it here.
Over on Patreon, I’m wrapping up the “Idea to Finished Project” video series very soon—last month, I posted about different publishing paths, and this month I’ll be doing a financial breakdown of how money is distributed in both self and traditional publishing.
Additionally, I’ve posted about author swag, planning, and much more—new informative posts and videos go live every Thursday!
Cristin Terrill and I are still writing a book! Our video series posts every Sunday—we’re currently breaking down outlines—and we’re trucking along with twists and turns! You can follow along with our videos here, or join us on Discord where we chat about writing and publishing. (This entire project is free to join and participate in—we wanted to keep this free for everyone!) The goal here is to lift the curtain and show what writing a book is really like, and to form a community accessible to all. We hope you join us!
Adult romantasy novel: no longer a secret! It’s Dragon of the Deep, and it’s DONE, baby, DONE! :D
Adult romantasy novel 2: Just layering in some last minute details before sending to my editor
Nonfiction book: Sadly on the back burner until summer, but I’m doing a lot of nonfiction reading in my spare time for prep.
Co-written book with Cristin: 1 chapter DONE! hahaha now like 50 more to go
Super secret sci fi project: waiting on notes
New adult sci fi project idea: In the thinking stages, will progress more in
January maybe March?maybe summer?Awaiting final edits for self pub projects: Darkness Fills the Void and Global Quest
Side gigs!
Weekly posts and videos about writing at Patreon
SNHU as an online adjunct in the MFA writing program
Accepting critique and coaching jobs withWordsmith Workshops—in addition to doing Word Lab!Not accepting critique work until summer outside of Patreon.
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