For the record, I hate head colds. And flus.

I didn’t even know head flus were a thing.

Until I got one, and mistakenly thought, “Yeah, no, this is totally fine. I’m just sleepy. A lot.”

Which was also true, but mainly due to the fact that I was a lot sicker than I calculated—and that’s how I wrapped up the last 1.5 weeks of January and woke up well-rested, feeling much better, and then PANICKED in February.

Why?

Because February is a big month.

Huge.

Heir of Oberon wraps up the final (I do actually mean FINAL) draft and moves on to the Editing Stage.

I’d be lying if I told you I’m totally calm, chill, not at all internally freaking out over the finality of finishing something that I’ve been working on for what feels like forever. Sure, I had a thousand plausible excuses reasons to delay the release—originally scheduled for July 24th of last year—but a big part of it has been nerves.

Anxiety.

And over what, I have no freaking clue.

Have you read Ithandryll?

I ask because while Heir of Oberon is the direct sequel to Ithandryll, the new series currently going through Book 1 on Inkitt is a direct “companion” to the epic modern romantasy (I’m determined to make that a new genre, jsyk).

And since you’re here reading this newsletter, you’ve probably read Lords & Thieves, the free novella which ties both series together in a neat little bow.

If you haven’t read Ithandryll yet, and need some convincing, here’s a pretty sweet highlight post I whipped up with the awards won and some of my personal fave reviews:

Why am I writing two different series at the same time?

Because I’m bats**t crazy, that’s why.

But also because mafia romance (which is predominantly what The White City series is, just with a magical twist of the mobsters all being fae) doesn’t take quite as long as standard fantasy/romantasy does—the chapters tend to be shorter, the action “punchier”, and the setting familiar enough that I don’t have to describe every floor tile in Chicago’s City Hall.

I’ll be describing the ceilings instead.

Seriously—you need to go to Chicago, find some plausible excuse to step inside just the main public space of City Hall, and you’ll see what I mean. If ever there were a real-life argument to substantiate my theory that Chicago really WAS built by the fae, those Tolkein-esque arches and hanging lanterns would be Exhibit A.

Oh, hey! I found the pics I took!

Ultimately, it comes down to finding out the secrets everyone keeps hiding/burying/doing a very solid job of forgetting.

The more I poke and prod into Cade Devoy’s past and why he’s so difficult to work with, the more I’m finding out just how messed up the history of House Rionnaghan really is.

The more I peer into the shenanigans going on in downtown Chicago right in front of mere mortals’ noses, the more I’m discovering just how connected—and yet disconnected—the Night Realm is to all the realms.

And much to my eternal surprise, I found out where the skaalgii came from.

​Sinners & Starlight WILL be updated soon!

Right when I finally pushed past the writer’s block and came to all these discoveries, that head flu crap punched me in the face and knocked me out of anything productive beyond a few sentences on Threads.

Kinda difficult to write when the screen looks blurry 😅

​Book 1 of The White City is actually also scheduled to finish up at the end of this month, but I’m gonna be completely honest with ya: it’s looking more like early March.

The good news is, because its presence on Inkitt is my way of giving you the ARC early and as-written, the production on that won’t take as long and it will be “published” in a more official capacity on Amazon and global distribution pretty quickly.

The somewhat-bad news is, once it reaches that stage, it won’t be available to read for free on the platform anymore. It also won’t be on Kindle Unlimited, since it’s going to stay on Inkitt behind a paywall (to be fair to the ebook and paperback pricing).

TL;DR: the best way to prepare for Heir of Oberon is to read Ithandryll and Sinners & Starlight​

So you’ll know exactly what happened when a certain unwitting explorer called “bullshit” on her debonair tour guide.

Why half of the fae realm wants to punch their crown prince in the face.

And why the organized crime boss who both built and now rules the illustrious City of Chicago has a bone to pick with multiple generations of one particular Great House.

Happy Reading!

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