Two months since SMF's release, plus upcoming FORGERY news!

In This Issue:

• Updates from My Laptop

• Book Rec of the Month - To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

• Writer Life - Deconstructing Misogyny in Phantom of the Opera

Updates from My Laptop
First off, I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported Sing Me Forgotten's launch back in March! What a whirlwind it all was, and I was completely blown away by all of the support and enthusiasm everyone showed for my book. There are many new faces who signed up to receive these emails, whether through Instagram, my website, or the preorder campaign, and I'm so excited to have you here!

I have been a bit quiet the past two months since the initial rush of release. I'll be honest, launching a book was far more overwhelming than I expected it to be! It was certainly a rollercoaster of emotions to say the least! But I couldn't be more grateful to be where I am and doing what I'm doing. I can't believe we're here, on the other end, and that so many readers have found their way to my characters and their world!

As far as what I've been working on, I just turned in line edits for A Forgery of Roses, my next standalone YA fantasy (set to release March 2022)! I'm so thrilled with how the story is coming together, and I am hopeful that people who loved SMF will find many things to love about Forgery as well. If you haven't heard much about it so far, it's a YA fantasy murder mystery! So it's perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper or Sherlock Holmes. It features #ownvoices anxiety representation, as well as The Picture of Dorian Gray-style painting magic!

Also, THE MOST EXCITING PART! I have officially seen the final cover, and it is STUNNING. I didn't think my art team would be able to top the gorgeous SMF cover, but they absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. I literally gasped and almost dropped my phone when that beauty landed in my email inbox. And I get to share it with you soon, so KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR EMAIL INBOXES! My newsletter subscribers will be the FIRST to catch a glimpse of Forgery's cover in all its dark, gothic, elegant glory (most likely sometime next month)! And, it won't be too long after that that Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) will be available, so things are certainly happening! It's already up on Goodreads, so if you don't want to miss out on any ARC giveaways my publisher will be doing there, please make sure to add it to your Want To Read list!

In the meantime, I'm working away at another gothic fantasy murder mystery and loving every moment. It's the most ambitious and complicated novel I've ever written, and it's challenging me in so many fun and thrilling new ways. Can't wait to share more!

Book Rec of the Month - To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

You all know how much I love retellings. I often get asked what some of my favorite ones are, and this is one of the most exciting YA fantasy retellings that I can recommend. It's a Little Mermaid retelling, only the main character is a hungry siren who feeds on the hearts of human princes. This tale is wicked and dark, full of delicious enemies-to-lovers romance and morally gray characters (which you know I love). This book absolutely swept me away, and I highly recommend it!

Here's the story: Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most--a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby--it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good--But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

Alexandra Christo's debut is a dark and richly imagined take on The Little Mermaid that will leave readers breathless.

Order it on:
Amazon, BookDepository, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, or Books-A-Million

And make sure to add it on Goodreads!
 

Writer Life - Deconstructing Misogyny in Phantom of the Opera

Last month, The Nerd Daily published a piece I wrote about misogyny in The Phantom of the Opera that I wanted to share with you all:

At nineteen years old, I was grabbed in a subway station by an unfamiliar man twice my age. Terrified, I wrenched myself out of his grasp and ran.

It didn’t surprise me when he chased me through the station in broad daylight. When no one stopped him. When he ignored my screaming pleas to leave me alone. When he kicked me and cursed at me for refusing his advances.

I was scared out of my wits, but not surprised.

And later, when I told my friends about it, in spite of the way I was still shaking with tears hours later, they weren’t surprised either.

Why are we not surprised?

Read the rest of the article at The Nerd Daily

And that's it for May's newsletter! Thank you again for supporting Sing Me Forgotten's launch, for reading, for posting on social media, and for being the best group of readers in the entire world. I don't deserve you!

If you have read Sing Me Forgotten, it would mean the world to me if you could leave reviews at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads. Reviews help authors so much by helping spread the word about books to new readers. And to those of you who have already left reviews, THANK YOU! You don't know how much I appreciate it!

Until next month!