Den of Liars releases THIS YEAR

After 3 years, I finally have another book out soon!

Hello there, friends! Happy 2025! It feels so surreal to finally be saying this, but I HAVE ANOTHER BOOK OUT THIS YEAR!

A Forgery of Roses released in March of 2022, and that day feels like eons ago. So many things have changed. I’ve grown in ways I could never explain in a simple newsletter, and I truly think my writing has evolved thanks to that growth. But, man alive, I’m ready to have another book out. I’m not a fan of a three-year gap between pub dates. Thank you so much for sticking around here with me and making sure I haven’t faded into complete obscurity. Here’s to hoping Den of Liars is worth the wait!

As of today, we are officially at t minus 154 days until Den of Liars hits shelves (July 1!), and let me tell you, I couldn’t be more excited for all of the fun we are going to have building up to its release! I hope you’re excited for art reveals, snippets, blurbs, and much more as we get ready to welcome Lola, the Liar, and the Thief to the world!

Also, in case you missed it, I posted recently on Instagram that I received a box of FIVE bound manuscript copies of Den of Liars. My publisher has largely switched to e-ARCs only, so bound manuscripts like this are VERY rare. I gave two away at an event with Brigid Kemmerer last night, which means I only have three left! I’m planning to do a couple special giveaways in the next few months, so make sure to keep your eyes here and on my Instagram!

And, for all you influencers, booksellers, and librarians, make sure to request on NetGalley if you’d like to read early! It’s available there now as well as on Edelweiss!

What have I been up to?

Since I officially turned in the final draft of Den of Liars last summer, I spent several months hard at work on its sequel. (In case you missed it, Den of Liars is the first in a duology, so there will be a book two!) Turns out, sequels are 100% as difficult as other author friends warned me! With Sing Me Forgotten and A Forgery of Roses, I had a lot of freedom for what I wanted the stories to be and where I wanted them to go. With the Den of Liars sequel, however, there were a lot of constraints in place. The magic system was already set, so if I needed the magic to accomplish something, I couldn’t just tweak the rules to make things possible. The world already had a certain degree of fleshing-out, so I had to make sure I didn’t contradict things I’d written in book one.

Perhaps the most difficult thing for me, though, was the characters. I’d already gone on one journey with them in the first book. Challenged them in ways that forced them to change. Made them struggle and then break through. So when it came time to develop new character arcs for them, I struggled honing in on what I could do in a second installment that could push them in new ways while still honoring the progress they’d already made as individuals and in their respective relationships. It was a really delicate balancing act—and a totally new thing I had to learn. But one I think has forced me to level up my craft in a whole new way. And also given me a newfound respect for authors of much longer series like Sarah J Maas and George RR Martin.

But I did it. I cobbled together a first, messy draft and sent it off to my editor, and now I’m eagerly awaiting her feedback. And while I know this book is in need of a great deal of revision (as all first drafts are), I am so excited to tackle these new challenges in order to make it into the book I know it can be. And I can’t wait to share it with you next year!

Exploring New (Old) Things

While I’m in between deadlines, I’ve been revisiting an old project that’s been simmering on the backburner of my brain since 2020. A project I’ve already written two whole drafts of, but which I’ve realized needs an overhaul. It’s honestly been really fun to go back to something I worked on so extensively in the past and see how I’ve grown as an author since then and how my understanding of craft has developed in five years. Reconfiguring the plot and the romance and the magic system to deepen the themes and carve out stronger character arcs has been incredibly fulfilling for me. And, after several books written on deadline, I will admit that it has been freeing to work on a project at exactly the pace I need in order to do it right and in a way that doesn’t break my brain. I truly hope I’ll be able to share this one with you all someday—I just gotta get the masterpiece that it is in my brain onto the page in as decent of shape as I can before that can happen, and with how complex and challenging this novel is (multiple timelines and POVs and a much more complicated, scientific magic system than I have ever done), it will likely take me a LOT more time to get right than my other books have. And that, I keep reminding myself, is okay.

Non-Book Life

One thing I’ve really been embracing lately is the fact that my whole life doesn’t need to be about publishing. In fact, it’s healthy for me to have things in my brain that aren’t book related. To that end, I recently dove into finally watching Outlander (I know, I know, I’m late, but completely and totally invested 11 episodes in). I’ve continued to work on my aerial hoop skills (to which the fresh bruises on my legs can attest), and I’ve been listening to podcasts completely outside of the realm of publishing/writing topics. Diversifying what I think about and what I focus on throughout my day has done wonders for helping me not to burn out as quickly when I do sit down to write. It also, conveniently, has given me more things to talk about with my non-publishing friends (lol).

Also, I set a goal to try making 25 recipes this year that require yeast. Random, I know, but I’ve been very intimidated by yeast my whole adult life and usually avoid making anything that requires it if I can (thanks to a couple experiences where I accidentally killed the yeast with water that was too hot). I decided 2025 is the year I face that fear head on! So far, I’ve made delicious dinner rolls and homemade pizza, and this past weekend I tackled soft pretzels (which were so delicious I promptly ate five and gave myself a stomachache). Get the recipe here if you want to also experience heaven.

I have plans to try bagels, doughnuts, croissants, and more, but if you have any recipes you LOVE and that aren’t too terribly tricky, please send them my way!

I think that about wraps up this month’s newsletter! Once again, thank you so much for following along! I can’t wait to share more Den of Liars excitement with you soon!