ATTN: Rhys Appreciators, ASCENSION arcs are here🕯️
Summoner's Circle hints, more vampires??, cons, workshops
Hello magic-makers! Carve your scared symbols into the candle wax, rub on some fragrant oils and herbs, and light the wick with your intention held tight to your heart. Today is Rhys’ day because the ASCENSION arcs have been finalized and are ready to request, and also because I’ve got content guidance AND some tasty teasers ready for you. Summoner’s Circle fans, you’ve been so patient, and July will be here before you know it! But before then, let me slip you some sequel hints, and give you the run-down on this year’s special editions, conferences, and workshops while I’m at it!
Real Sad Sorcerer Hours
Some Content Guidance
As always, I provide content guidance for my work, especially work that explores dark or challenging themes, so those who like to check beforehand can go in prepared.
ASCENSION is a novel that explores the dark night of the soul, both spiritually and interpersonally. Some material within the novel may be distressing for some readers. If you choose to read, I hope you do so with self-compassion and curious engagement with experiences that may be challenging to read about.
ASCENSION depicts:
Religious struggle and distress
Self-harm
References to past child abuse
Biphobia and polyphobia
The struggle of coming out to parents
Explicit sexual content
Light ageplay
Sexual themes of dominance and submission
Disordered eating behaviors
Attempted blackmail
Marijuana use
Drinking and smoking
I can’t spoil everything, but I can promise angst and tenderness! More details about the finer points of goetic summoning than you probably ever wanted! Christmas cheer and Christmas dread! Switchy Rhys! A yearning for holiness so ferocious it actually makes you Worse! Moira expressing female rage! The brutal little secrets that make up the inner lives of men! Sanctification through surrender! David actually crying on page for reasons that may make you cry as well! Oh, and angels.
Also: I have been hinting at this for some time but Rhys, David, and Moira are not each other’s only love interests in this series! Before you boo hiss tomato me: I am not taking them away from each other, I am just expanding their horizons, and that’s all I’m going to say about that ✨ 📕 🖼️
Ready to sink your teeth into Rhys’ tale of ambition and woe and, we can all hope, a happy ending? Lucky you, because print and digital advanced reader copies are available! The summoning circle is open: step inside and click the button below to request your copy (and maybe get a little extra treat from the author if you’re approved).
Don’t want to gamble on the geoetic spirits of publishing blessing you with an arc? Or do you, like Rhys, want to try your hand at bending the universe to your will while also making your own luck? Preorder your hardcover now, and enjoy that shiny foil!
Evocation Exclusive Paperback
Haven’t started the Summoner’s Circle series yet? Feeling curious about this tasty-toxic, snarky-sweet m/m/f triad of magicians fighting demonic curses in Boston? Grab your B&N exclusive paperback special edition! It’s foiled in super rare teal, and features sprayed candlelit endpapers, and it’s the same price as a regular paperback, so why not treat yourself to something luxe? It’s what David would want.
A DOWRY OF BLOOD Gold Edition
It’s the season for special editions, and the DOWRY OF BLOOD Orbit Gold special drops the same day as the EVOCATION paperback exclusive. How’s that for kismet?
This signed edition will ship on March 4, 2025, and those who preorder will receive a 20% discount! The Gold edition features:
🦇 An exclusive box illustrated by Martina Fackova
🦇 A signed hardcover copy of A Dowry of Blood
🦇 Gilded pewter edges
🦇 Four color endpaper art
🦇A brand-new foil-stamped fabric cover
🦇 A ribbon bookmark
🦇 An exclusive bonus chapter
Also I would never, ever say that if this Gold edition sells through its run my publisher and I may be incentivized to return to my vampire universe in a timely fashion, I would never be such a total tease, but like…what if.
Futurescapes
Writers, workshop the first 3,500 words of your manuscript at the Futurescapes Spring Workshop in March! 🌟 This virtual workshop is perfect for speculative fiction authors looking to refine their craft with personalized feedback and agent insight. Plus, hear from keynote speaker Laini Taylor!
This is my third time on the Futurescapes faculty and I couldn’t be more excited. I love rolling up my sleeves and getting down to talking craft, and I can’t wait to meet you! Applications are open now. Don’t miss out!
Midwest Readers, Your Convention Prayers Have Been Answered
I’ll be an attending guest at this year’s RomanceCon in Milwaukee, WI! There are so many amazing authors who will be there and I can’t wait to mingle and sign books and chat and learn more about this genre I love so much. I’ll be back with more info about where to find me at the con, but until then, grab your tickets before they sell out!
Everything I’ve Been Loving Lately
Recently, I’ve really dug listening to the audiobook for RECLAIMING ART IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICE, which as far as I’m concerned should be required reading for every working artist ever, PLUS it has a wonderful introduction written and narrated by THEE Donna Tartt. I’ve also been rewatching the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings films as my cozy snow day activity, and I’ve been listening to, as ever, Gregorian chant lofi with rain sounds. I had this on constant loop while revising ASCENSION, because there were a lot of sections that required so much focus I couldn’t listen to music with English lyrics, so now I pass along the blessing to you!
That’s all I have for you this week, dear reader! If you made it to the end of this monster email, congrats, you are truly inside the inner sanctum. My newest essay on rediscovering how to read for pleasure and recapturing longform attention as we age is coming out soon, so be sure to hop onto the paid tier so you don’t miss it!
Be safe and well until we two meet again.
-S
So excited to see you at RomanceCon!