RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//My mojo is back and my mother is doing well! Other than reports on that – and progress on A ROSE IN THE MIRROR – I’m talking about first names and surnames, feminism, women supporting women (or not), and Kamala Harris.
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Only in an insane world would a young wizard find herself battling monsters and automatons one day and returning to Convocation Academy to cram for finals the next. But this is the world Alise Phel lives in.
Like it or not, Alise must face the consequences of ditching out a second time and dealing with the crushing workload assigned to her as a punishment. Worse yet, succeeding at the Academy means Alise must learn to master her powerful and unusual magic—the same magic that caused her to accidentally murder her own mother.
But graduating is her only way to protect the family she has left—and perhaps save the Convocation itself.
Cillian Harahel is a wizard of the mind. An archivist. A disciplined thinker. Thus, he absolutely cannot be in love with Alise Phel. Apart from the fact that he is faculty and she’s a student—one destined for far more greatness than a lowly librarian like him—the provost has told him in no uncertain terms that Alise is off limits, which would be much more of a problem if Alise actually remembered he was alive.
Cillian has resigned himself to being Alise’s friend and mentor, but when she cuts off even that much contact, in the coldest way possible, he suspects that darker forces than either of them imagined are haunting her. Alise has made it clear she wants nothing to do with him, but how can he abandon her to the demons clawing at her, from her House’s enemies to the doubts plaguing her own heart?
//My wonderful weekend at Bubonicon and exciting news about next year’s con. Also, thoughts on more experienced authors giving advice to newbies, how to be honest without stomping on their dreams, and a story of my own newbie dream-crushing.
//My great news/bad news week, why I didn’t podcast Monday, my mom’s health crisis and my writing productivity in the face of it anyway. Also, keeping good relationships in the publishing business.
//My thoughts on admiring and idolizing the creators of the art we love, meeting your heroes, being careful what we complain about online, my unexpected trip to Tucson and exciting news on NEVER THE ROSES!
//Why we, as adult creatives, must learn to overcome the well-meaning lessons we were taught as children – like recognizing daydreaming as a feature, not a bug. Also, practical approaches to self-care, nurturing our creative selves, and what happened to me yesterday.
//Recent revelations on ghostwriting, using metrics for good, rain gauges, gardening, JD Vance’s memoir, the real meaning of “bemused” and whether everyone has one great novel or flower arrangement in them.
//How traditional publishing deadlines work – and how I’m balancing one of mine with a self-published project. Also, homonyms and how you really need a human being to catch those errors for you.
//Envy and jealousy, especially professional jealousy and how to combat them. I’m talking negative emotions in general and offering my two go-to tips for how to diffuse professional jealousy in myself and make it a positive.
