Cover Reveal! THE FIERY CROWN

The cover of THE FIERY CROWN is being revealed at Tor.com today! This is book two in my Forgotten Empires trilogy – out May 26, 2020 – following THE ORCHID THRONE, which is out now.

Here’s an article about the book launch signing. (I kind of love that Kamala Harris is smiling over my shoulder like a beaming guardian angel of goodness.)

There have been so many lovely reviews and wonderful feedback for THE ORCHID THRONE that these last couple of weeks have been an E-ticket Cinderella Ride. (I know the Disneyland reference is dated, but Julie Brown will never go out of style. I’ll plant a flag on that hill.) I particularly love this review on a BookBub recommendation.

If you’ve been missing Rhysand and Feyre, the Night Court, and the realm of Fae, The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy is for you! To say I loved this book is an understatement. I devoured it! This book has something for everyone and is a must-read for fantasy fans. Following the story of two very different people, The Orchid Throne sets up the world of the Forgotten Empires, hooking the readers with its lush fantasy, political intrigue, and steamy romance.

As a fan of Rhys and Feyre, myself, I totally preened over this!

Otherwise, I’m deep into working on THE FATE OF THE TALA. Those of you who listen to my First Cup of Coffee podcast will know that I’m keeping the protagonist of this one a secret, which means I haven’t been posting snippets as I’d like to. But I have the (incredibly gorgeous and powerful) cover in hand, and we’ll do a reveal sometime in the first week of November. Then ALLLLLL will be revealed! Because of course, in the grand tradition of The Twelve Kingdoms and The Uncharted Realms, the protagonist is on the cover. I hope to have the book out by Thanksgiving, so we’ll see!

And for those of you who’ve been asking… yes, Jenna/Ivariel will make an appearance. 🙂

 

MileHiCon

I’ll be at MileHiCon this weekend.

October  18, 19, 20, 2019

Hyatt Regency Hotel – Tech Center

7800 E. Tufts Ave.
Denver CO

Programming is expected to start around 2:00pm Friday October 18th and will continue through Sunday afternoon.

More than 100 science fiction/fantasy/horror authors, artists and other participants will speak and autograph books at the annual MileHiCon science fiction/ fantasy/horror literary convention. For SF/F and speculative fiction lovers, it’s a weekend not to be missed. The convention will feature authors, artists, speakers and programming on every aspect of the science fiction and fantasy genres

Career Goals for the Established Author – a Work in Progress

Here’s a little tease of the cover of THE FIERY CROWN, sequel to THE ORCHID THRONE, and book two in the Forgotten Empires trilogy. The full cover will be revealed on Wednesday, October 16, at Tor.com. There will also be a sneak peek of the first chapter!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is the big career goal to which we currently aspire. Come on over to where I’m spilling mine. 

 

Writing Beginnings, Again and Again

We’re to have a hard freeze Thursday night – our first freezing temps of the autumn – so I’ve started bringing in the house plants from the patio. It’s always a glut of blooms, fallen leaves, and much shuffling of saucers and ideal locations. This, more than anything else, is the first sign of fall for me.

I’ve been working on THE FATE OF THE TALA, and talking a lot about that process on my podcast, First Cup of Coffee. If you want an (almost) daily insight into my process, that’s the place to listen in. As an overview, however, I’ve been talking about beginnings and how to decide where to start a story. This isn’t an easy decision or process. For example, I’m on my fourth opening in FATE – and I think this one will stick. It takes a lot of trial and error to find where the story truly begins, and what counts as preceding events that will be woven in as backstory.

The thing is, newer writers don’t always realize how much effort goes into finding this sweet spot, because we mostly see only the finished product.

I realized this truth (yet again) the other day when I was helping a friend – a not-yet-published writer – with her book. The beginning simply wasn’t working, for a number of reasons. I gave her some specific advice to improve beginnings in general. (In particular, I pointed her to this Twitter thread by Mary Robinette Kowal that really lit me up – all stuff I knew, but framed in a way that I found super helpful.) I also pointed her to a book opening in the same genre by another author friend, pointing out how that person set up the character, world and genre.

The aspiring author came back with a mix of admiration, envy, and despair – agreeing that the (very accomplished) author’s opening was amazing. And I realized that I need to clarify that this amazing and gorgeously executed beginning was the result of easily six months of effort on the professional author’s part. Not only has she published many novels in the genre, but I happened to know she’d torn apart this beginning multiple times. Eventually she started with an entirely different POV character, which is when the story began to sing.

So, it’s important to remember, when looking at examples to follow, that published work has been through countless rounds of revision, editing, and more revisions. Finding the best place to start a story, and writing it well, is possible – but it also takes time, effort, and patient revision.