Lexi is back in a brand-new adventure. This time she’s trying to save Jake and Hades, but there are a whole bunch of things she doesn’t know that are about to come back and bite her.
Yes, dear reader, I am once again torturing this poor woman. What can I say? It’s a writer’s job!
Available now at Amazon.
So, the kids are finally back at school and I’ve dragged myself kicking and screaming out of holiday mode and started contemplating what the rest of the year might look like, bookwise.
I’m hoping to get four books published this year. At first glance, this might seem like slacking off, compared to last year, which saw the publication of five books: Moonborn, The Fairytale Curse, The Cauldron’s Gift, Stolen Magic and Murdered Gods. But The Fairytale Curse and The Cauldron’s Gift had already been drafted before I’d even published my first book, and Stolen Magic was drafted in 2015, so I had a great headstart on last year’s publishing schedule.
Unfortunately for me, my stockpile of novels is now empty. Everything I publish this year will have to be written this year (apart from the first 20,000 words or so of Rivers of Hell). So four books this year is pretty ambitious!
All of that is by way of saying: I have a plan in my head, but I’m realistic enough to know that I have a habit of overestimating how much I can get done in a day, and life with three kids tends to derail my plans with frustrating regularity. So I’m not going to be too specific about release dates. The next book out will be Rivers of Hell, book 3 in the Shadows of the Immortals series. Hopefully that will be out in late March or early April.
After that, I’ll be working on books 4 and 5, which should be out later in the year. That will be the end of the series. If I’m lucky, I might also be able to squeeze in the third and final book of the Magic’s Return series, The Fox’s Debt, before the end of the year.
In short, I have a busy year of writing ahead! Thank you to everyone who has asked when the next book will be out—it’s lovely to know that you’re out there, eagerly awaiting more books about Lexi and Jake and the gang. I’m having a lot of fun writing them. I promise you I’m doing my best to get those books to you ASAP!
I’ll try to keep the Books page of this site updated with news about upcoming books, but the best way to make sure you’re up to date with all the news is to subscribe to my mailing list. I send a newsletter about once a month, and subscribers are the first to hear the latest book news.
Look what’s about to be released—Murdered Gods, Book 2 in my Shadows of the Immortals series!
Here’s a little snippet to whet your appetite:
It’s not every day you have a beer with the Lord of the Underworld. I’d shared drinks with him before, but that was when I thought he was a vampire named Alberto Alinari. Today he’d revealed, in spectacular fashion, that underneath the undead exterior he was actually Hades, king of the dead.
I was surprisingly unfazed by this discovery. What can I say? It had been a rough couple of days. Stealing magic rings out from under the nose of the most powerful fireshaper in the land, statues coming to life, betrayals and counter-betrayals … yeah, it had been a busy week. And we weren’t done yet.
The beer was cold, and most welcome after the oh-my-God-I’m-about-to-die stress of the fight outside. The wet glass left damp rings on the shining wood of the bar. It wasn’t like Alberto—excuse me, Lord Hades—to forget the coaster, but I guess it had been a stressful morning for him, too, what with saving us from imminent death, just in the nick of time. Alberto always had been one for the big, showy gesture.
“You going to drink that, or just push it around in circles?” the Lord of the Underworld asked in a rather testy tone. He was most particular about the pristine surface of his bar, which he usually kept polished to a shine you could see your face in.
I picked up my glass and chugged the beer, the amber liquid sliding down my parched throat, then slammed the empty glass back down on the bar. “Drink it.”
He raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. I’d always thought he looked like the stereotype of a vampire—dark hair swept back from a pale, high forehead, with a certain air of elegance in his clothes and manner. Now I wondered if he really looked like that at all.
“Another?” he asked.
“Please.” I watched him refill the glass, then rather pointedly wipe the bar clean of wet spots. “Unless you’ve got some ambrosia back there.”
“It’s overrated.” He poured some milk into a saucer and set it beside the beer. Syl leapt up onto the bar and lapped daintily at it. “Fine if you’ve got a thing for liquid honey, otherwise you’d probably find it too sweet.”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
*Me either,* Syl said into my mind, her pink tongue carefully cleaning drops of milk from her whiskers. *Ask him what Hell’s like.*
[Update: Read the rest! Available now on Amazon.]So remember when I said I was working on Book 3 of the Magic’s Return series, and it would be out before the end of the year?
Yeah, not so much. I’ve decided to leave that series for a little while and start a new urban fantasy series for adults instead. I love my YA series, and I will definitely write more of it, but I had this awesome idea involving shapeshifters, elemental magic and a girl who could control animals. I threw in some Greek gods and set it all in an alternate version of our world, and had so much fun writing it that I couldn’t wait to share it with you!
Once again my cover designer at artbykarri.com has done a magnificent job. Isn’t it beautiful?
Here’s the blurb:
“Lexi Jardine may be a thief, but she’s not stupid. When a crooked fireshaper wants her to steal a ring from the boss of his order, she knows it’s a one-way ticket to sleeping with the fishes. Her answer is to drop off the face of the earth.
Safely hidden in a quiet seaside town, she just needs to keep her head down and pretend to be a regular human. Since her only magical ability is the power to control animals, that should be easy, right?
Then a new fireshaper shows up in town. He’s hot as hell but oddly hostile. With his suspicious eyes watching her every move, her safe haven starts feeling more like a trap. When her best friend disappears, Lexi knows the time for hiding is over. Though the fireshapers are more powerful, Lexi’s not one to abandon a friend—but it will take everything she’s got to save them both from the flames.”
Available on Amazon now!
Moonborn is part of a giant science fiction and fantasy sale running this weekend. There are over 120 books taking part, and all of them are completely free. You can’t ask for a better deal than that!
Why not go crazy and load up your kindle? Find the details of all the books included here.
The Cauldron’s Gift is out in ebook. Only 99 cents for a limited time, to celebrate the book’s launch, so grab your copy before the price goes up.
The paperback should be out any day now. That’s my first paperback proof there, looking so pretty! I love the covers for this series. They’re so dreamy, and they look stunning in real life. My cover designer is working on the cover for Book 3 at the moment, and it will be just as gorgeous.
I’m also working on Book 3, though I have a long way to go yet. I’ve only just started the first draft, so there will be more of a gap between the release of Book 2 and Book 3. All I can promise is that it will be out later this year. In the meantime, enjoy The Cauldron’s Gift!
The wonderful Karri Klawiter of artbykarri has designed another beautiful cover for me. The Cauldron’s Gift is Book 2 in the Magic’s Return series, and will be out on July the 6th.
Here is the blurb:
When Vi and her twin sister CJ started spitting frogs and diamonds with every word, they discovered their parents worked for a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the magical denizens of the world safely locked away. Vi thought life couldn’t get any weirder, but then Dad became a bear, and her world really fell apart. Because it’s starting to look like that’s one spell the warders can’t undo. They’re all too busy trying to unmask the traitor who is secretly aiding the Sidhe.
Vi managed to keep the Sidhe from breaking out of their magical prison, but she couldn’t stop the Morrigan from stealing back the great cauldron of the Dagda. And of course now CJ says the only way to save Dad is to get that cauldron back from fairyland. Talk about a suicide mission. Vi would have to be crazy to consider it, but as time runs out for Dad and the Morrigan threatens everyone Vi loves, craziness starts to look like the only sane option.
The Fairytale Curse is out at last, and can be yours for only 99 cents if you buy this week. You’re still reading? What are you waiting for—go buy it! I’ll wait.
Okay, you’re back? Excellent!
The Fairytale Curse, like The Proving series, is set in Sydney. What can I say? There are a hundred and eighty-three billion urban fantasy books set in American cities (or London, another big favourite). I’m just trying to redress the balance!
Sydney is a gorgeous city—the deep green waters of the harbour, the white sails of the Opera House against the blue backdrop of a sunny sky. Ornate old sandstone buildings glowing a honey-gold. Acres of the Botanic Gardens covering the foreshores with green.
Of course it’s also a modern city, full of skyscrapers of steel and glass, but it’s the older areas down near the water that I love most. The Rocks features again in this book, and the Art Gallery also makes an appearance.
This building too:
That’s St Mary’s Cathedral, one of those old-fashioned long, narrow churches, with more spires and peaks than you can throw a stick at, built in that beautiful glowing sandstone.
Look at the detail on the door!
I’ve always had a soft spot for St Mary’s, because my mum and dad were married there. They took me there once when I was younger, and we went down to the crypt, which made a big impression. Dark and kind of creepy.
The cathedral and its crypt feature in the climactic scenes of The Fairytale Curse. Last year we visited it while we were staying in the city, because I couldn’t remember any of the details about the crypt, and I wanted to get it right for the book.
It was a lot different to how I remembered it, so just as well we went. Much, much bigger than I’d thought, big enough to accommodate a large gathering of people. (Though hard to photograph as the space is interrupted by a lot of arches supporting the cathedral overhead.) And beautifully decorated—solemn and dim, yes, but not at all creepy! I guess it was the mention of people being buried there that sent my young mind careering onto the creepy track.
There is a stunning Celtic cross inlaid into the marble floor, 140 feet long, which features scenes from Genesis in large medallions.
In the next book, The Cauldron’s Gift, I do take a couple of liberties with the interior. I needed something that isn’t actually there. Still, that’s the beauty of fiction—I’m allowed to make stuff up.
If you’re ever in Sydney, go have a look. It’s a beautiful church. You could go down into the crypt and pretend you’re Vi when all the—wait, can’t tell you that. You’ll have to read the book!
Just dropping in quickly to say hi! And also, thank God the school holidays are nearly over. I really must stop scheduling writing work for myself during the holidays. I always think I’m going to get lots done, and then get frustrated (not to mention behind schedule) when it all falls in the inevitable heap. I love my kids and I like spending time with them, but after two weeks I’m ready to get back into routine.
Lots to do! I’m revising Book 1 of a new series, and drafting Book 2 at the same time, but my muse is also on holidays, so it’s not going so smoothly. I have The Fairytale Curse coming out in a couple of weeks—yay!—and I’m trying to organise some promo for that in my spare moments.
Also, the Compelling Beasts blog is celebrating Werewolf Week, and they interviewed me. Read the interview to find out why I don’t watch werewolf movies and how I came to write Moonborn, among other things. (I also dob in my big brothers for being mean to me when I was little!)
The amazing Karri Klawiter of Art by Karri designed this stunning cover for me a year ago. I’ve been busting to show it off! Now that the book’s release is only a couple of weeks away I can finally reveal it.
Isn’t it gorgeous?? Karri has already designed the cover for the next book in the series too, and it’s just as beautiful. She really is super-talented, and a pleasure to work with.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter that I posted last time. Here’s the blurb, to give you a better idea of the overall story:
“Most people only wake up with hangovers after parties. Seventeen-year-old Violet wakes up with frogs falling out of her mouth whenever she speaks, and her twin sister CJ’s dripping diamonds with every word. As if starting at a new high school wasn’t hellish enough, they’ve been hit with a curse straight out of a fairy tale, with not a handsome prince in sight.
Apparently Mum and Dad don’t work for the military after all, but for a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the magical denizens of the world safely locked away. These are not the harmless fairies of children’s tales, but powerful beings with a score to settle for their long years of imprisonment. Now the barriers are failing, and if Vi can’t find answers fast the world will be overrun with vengeful fairies. And then there’ll be no happily ever after for anyone.”