Discounts and Deep Thinking
Double exclusives, reclaiming academia, and a rebrand 🕯️
Welcome back, dear reader! Wipe away the blackboard dust and pick up a crisp new piece of chalk, I’ve got exclusive edition sales, musings on embodying the eternal student, and some funky folkloric book recs to share.
Double Exclusives
March 4th is a big day for me, because the foiled, sprayed edge EVOCATION exclusive paperback (in addition to the standard paperback) and the DOWRY OF BLOOD Orbit Gold exclusive edition release that day. It’s moments like these that make my head spin and remind me how lucky I am to be able to maintain this creative career!
As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his occultist father. Now, rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, David is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a medium for his secret society.
But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.
Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good…
If you have not already pre-ordered the EVOCATION paperback special, you have 13 days to do so in order to get your teenage David bonus chapter gift! If you have not already pre-ordered the DOWRY OF BLOOD Orbit Gold edition, you have 13 days to do so in order to get 20% off your exclusive signed hardcover.
This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.
Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.
The Orbit 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 from Dracula’s POV
Seances, Trauma, Hormones, Oh My!
You don’t want to miss the EVOCATION bonus chapter I am cooking up for you, a flashback from the perspective of sixteen year old David during a single wild afternoon reading auras in Lorena’s shop, hosting a seance in his father’s home, and more!
The bonus chapter will be emailed out regardless of where you live in the world, and regardless of whether you preorder the standard paperback or the paperback exclusive, from B&N or anywhere else.
There have been some marvelous physical goodies to go along with this series as purchase incentives, arc gifts, or tour stop surprises, but I really wanted this one to be available worldwide! Make sure you preorder your paperback before March 4th to qualify!
Reinvention Is Sexy
After subjecting every reader and bookseller in existence to a barely-functional blog-style author site for five years, I’ve finally completed a digital remodel! My author website, stgibson.com, is now your one-stop shop for cover reveals and buy links, FAQs, my contact form and PO Box information should you like to drop me a note, content guidance, and up-to-date event listings.
Events
If you’re in the New England area and want to celebrate the release of the EVOCATION paperback in style; join me and queer thriller author Kit Mayquist at the the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, MA on February 25th at 7 pm! The event is free and you do not need a ticket.
Everything I’ve Been Loving Lately
I’ve been thinking a lot about academic skills like research, deep thought, argumentation and thesis creation, and criticism as things that can’t be taken from us once we cultivate them (should we keep those muscles strong). I’ve also been thinking a lot about how traditional academic institutions provide the structor, rigor, dedicated season of life, camaraderie, and mentorship to develop those skills some but not all of time, and how they aren’t confined to the academy, and how we don’t need degrees to confer those skills upon us. There’s a lot to be said for self-guided study.
Anyway, I was for many years an academic, and even though I decided not to continue my studies at the PhD level, I’ve been getting back in touch with the scholar within, asking her what she needs to flourish. As it turns out, right now my inner scholar wants to learn about the intersection of ecology and folkore in Britain by looking at maps and reading Hellebore magazine, brush up on Arthuriana via JSTOR articles, and learn baby French with Duolingo. While I have the sort of brain that likes to have a reason to learn, I’m tapping into the deep pleasure of learning for its own sake, even as I make nebulous promises to myself to use the folklore and legend research in the SAVAGE BLOOMS series, and go to Provence on day.
I’d love to encourage you to find one thing you’re interested in learning about in March. It could anything at all, big or small, and you can take it at your own pace, in tiny bite or big research binges. Just make a little space for your brain to stretch and grow. You don’t need a reason, and you don’t need permission. Or, if your brain does need permission for these sorts of things, I’m giving it to you <3
That’s all I have for you this time, dear reader! Be safe and well until we two meet again!
Best,
-S