The Epistle

A title reveal and bestseller status.

Welcome back, heretics and holy people. Strike a match, light the resinous incense, and process into the ritual room. I finally get to unveil the title of my newest book to you today, after over a year of waiting.

News

This week, I revealed the title of the companion novel to A DOWRY OF BLOOD, forthcoming from Orbit in February of 2024.

AN EDUCATION IN MALICE is a bloodstained love letter to ambitious girls, all-consuming desires, and the agonies and ecstasies of academia.

As someone who was raised by the dark academia literature and dark academia Tumblr of a decade ago I cannot you how wickedly difficult it was keep quiet about finally writing my own dark academia book. The best dark academia books choose some facet of the corrupt underbelly of academia to focus on, and AN EDUCATION IN MALICE explores the corrosive nature of obsessive relationships between mentors and students.

Based on another work of classical literature and following a brand new cast in a new location, AN EDUCATION IN MALICE explores the dark secrets lurking under the picturesque façade of a university. It features:

🥀 academic rivals to lovers
🥀 the power of poetry
🥀 kinky sapphic romance
🥀 vampire society politics

Classes start Spring 2024 📚

Bestseller Status

It is my absolute, effervescent pleasure to share that A DOWRY OF BLOOD hit the Sunday Times Bestseller list last weekend at number six in hardcover fiction.

Hitting a list has been one of my bucket list dreams for a while now, and I can’t believe the day is here. Thank you to my entire team at Orbit, to my agent Tara, and to everyone else who had a hand in bringing this book to life. And above all, thank you to all you readers who came on this journey with me and made this dream a reality. You make it all worth it.

Everything I’ve Been Loving Lately

Cooking And Baking

I’ve been entering into my urban cottagecore era, trying to slow down and be present with my food by cooking more from home. When you work from home, it’s easy to get into a rhythm of never really leaving your laptop and relying on pre-made meals and takeout, especially during busy seasons. But I’ve been rediscovering how much fun it is to take the time to try a new recipe or whip up a tried and true dish. Here’s some lemon cardamom loaves I made on Thanksgiving!

The Contemplative Tarot by Brittany Muller

I’ve been waiting for this book to come out for ages, and I’m so excited to finally be reading it and working through it bit by bit. I usually wake up early in the morning to pull a tarot card and journal my thoughts about it, and this Christian guide to the cards has been my perfect companion. If you know me well you know I’m a tarot reader by passion and by trade and a Episcopalian Christian by tradition and by choice. This is the book I’ve been saying the world needed for years, and now she’s here and she’s so, so wonderful.

That’s all I have for you this week, dear reader. Be safe and well until we two meet again!