Earlier this week I announced that my next book, The Princess Behind Thorns, will be published April 4th. In another exciting thing, the proof copy for the paperback version arrived a few days ago. Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget you can preorder the Kindle version!
I’ve been talking about my next novel, about the princess trapped behind walls of thorns, for literally years. So I am very excited to announce it is finally being released! The Princess Behind Thorns will be out in paperback, hardback and Kindle on April 4th. And you can already preorder the Kindle!
I wrote the first short story that this book grew out of in 2019 – which was clearly an entirely different world and era. This is the first in a planned series that I can’t wait to continue sharing with you – hopefully much more quickly than this one came out!
Here’s a bit more about the story in this first book:
For this princess forced under an enchantment, escaping from her spell is only the first ordeal. Claiming the throne is even more dangerous.
Princess Rose Amelia has spent a hundred years trapped in a magical garden, surrounded by walls of thorns that protect her from rescuers she never wanted. Nothing ever changes – until the spell twists to threaten her as well, and a prince finally breaks through the thorns.
Prince Terrence knows he would never be his father’s preference to inherit the throne. But he also knows his oldest brother won’t take care of their people, and rescuing the Princess Behind Thorns is the only way he can become heir. He planned on marrying her to claim the inheritance; he didn’t plan on falling in love with her.
Escaping from the magical garden and returning to court will plunge Terrence and Rose both into a deadly world of politics, intrigue and betrayals. Making a claim to the throne doesn’t guarantee it will be accepted, and deciding to marry doesn’t mean that they actually can. To protect the country and themselves, they must learn who to trust and who is an enemy – and somehow learn how to admit their feelings for each other too.
This fantasy romance, the first in a series, brings a new angle to the story of Sleeping Beauty by starting where most versions end. If you enjoy heroines finding their strength, fantasy worlds with a touch of intrigue, and slightly magical cats, you won’t want to miss the Thorns Saga.
And now on to the cover!
Continue reading “Cover Reveal + Pre-Order for The Princess Behind Thorns”
Writing work is rolling along on both of my current projects – I’m down to the last few edits for Thorns 1, and may be finally finished by the end of the long President’s Day weekend. Here’s hoping! And then I should have another post soon about when you can expect to read it.
Revisions on Thorns 2 slowed down, partially because I pivoted back to Thorns 1 and partially because my day job sent me to our Annual Conference for a week. It was a good opportunity to do the relatively easy work of typing in edits to Thorns 1, but the conference and catching up afterwards halted Thorns 2 for about ten days. I’m trying to get back to it now though, and I’m about 2/3 through the draft. I was aiming to finish by the end of the month – I probably won’t manage that, but I don’t think I’ll miss it by much. Continue reading “Writing Update (February, 2023)”
Happy New Year! I’ve been continuing along with my writing projects as we start into 2023. I wrote the last (final written, not final in order!) chapter of Thorns 1, and am doing my final-final-I-really-mean-it pass through. I printed it to read out loud to my husband, and am jotting the stray notes as I go. It’s almost entirely things like fixing a repeated word or cutting an unnecessary sentence, so this really is very close to done now!
Meanwhile, I’m also revising Thorns 2, which was originally written way back for NaNoWriMo 2019 (!) I’m keeping most of what I have but adding in a few chapters in the first third, and I may do some more substantive changes to the end, which I think needed a little more excitement. Right now I’m building in some threads in the first part that should add some extra danger and tension…but I don’t want to be too specific because, you know – spoilers!
Revision is going a little slowly but it’s moving along so I’m feeling good about that. Maybe I’ll finally get this published four years after I originally wrote it!
So nothing too monumental to report – just rolling along with the current projects. But hopefully I’ll have some bigger announcements (like publishing dates!) coming soon.
After a very busy November, writing has slowed down a bit in December. However, I did finish the first draft of my NaNoWriMo project, otherwise known as Thorns Saga #3! I did 50,000 words during November, and finished out the project with only another 5,000 words. I plan to expand significantly in the revision process, so after I finished drafting I read back through it and made notes on additions and new details. Not sure when I’ll actually do the revisions, but at least I have the plans for them.
After that, I turned back to Thorns #1, to hopefully finally get this finished. I have one chapter to write still – my most recent revision pass involved moving things around and I need a new chapter to fill a hole, and it gives me the chance to intro some characters who will be more important in later books. So that’s what I’m working on right now. Then one more complete review and we should be about there! I’m hoping to get this one out into the world in the first half of next year.
With that in mind, I’ve been working on a different project that’s not strictly writing, but is related – I’ve been doing cover designs for all five planned books in the series. So far they’re turning out very nice, so I’ve been enjoying that! Can’t share them for a while though… 😉
I’m aiming to finish the new chapter in Thorns #1 plus a few other edits by the end of the year, then plan to primarily work on Thorns #2. Lots of drafts in process! Hopefully I can get some complete soon. 🙂