This part never gets old. Thanks to all who’ve read or reviewed The Raven Spell during its First Reads run so far! 🙏🏻😍
Regular sales of the book will begin February 1st.
In Memoriam
Art: John Atkinson Grimshaw
“Where corpse-light
Dances bright,
Be it day or night
Be it by light or dark,
There shall corpse lie stiff and stark.”
— Sir Walter Scott
So begins The Raven Spell, book one of the two-book series, A Conspiracy of Magic. The book takes place in a fantasy version of London, 1899. This novel is a conglomeration of so many subjects that pique my interest, from mudlarking, to magic, to the Victorian era and its last grip on a world before electric lights and automobiles took over.
And on a more personal level, the concept of memories and how they make up who we are as individuals became a point of fascination for me after watching my mother slip away from Alzheimers. For years she had no idea who I was, which made me wonder at times if that still made her her, the woman who read me all those Mother Goose rhymes when I was a child. Who are we without our memories? Without all those connections to the people and places we’ve known and lived our whole lives?
Earlier I wrote that the initial idea for The Raven Spell was sparked by photos I saw on Twitter. But it’s equally true that the heart of the novel’s premise was inspired by my response to watching my mother have her memory stolen from her. If you’ve read the novel, you know one of the sisters has the ability to take the memories from the dead as the corpse-lights rise off the body. Of course, sometimes she takes from the not yet dead too, as we see when the novel begins.
**I’d also like to add a big thank you to all the readers and reviewers who have already picked up a copy of The Raven Spell during the First Reads preview on Amazon!! Regular sales of the book will begin on February 1st.
January First Reads!
I’m so happy to share that THE RAVEN SPELL (A Conspiracy of Magic series, Book One) is an Amazon First Read choice for January! If you’re an Amazon Prime member, this means you can read the novel a month earlier than the general public, when the book is officially released on February 1st. For everyone else, you can pick up a copy of the ebook for $1.99.
This story about two witchy sisters in Victorian London was conceived on Twitter, of all places. I was scrolling through my feed when I happened to see a photo of two ravens touching heads followed immediately by an old black and white photo of two young women walking arm in arm. The two images merged for me and a story started coming into focus. I scribbled down the initial idea, which soon stretched into a first chapter, then set it aside while I finished the final books in The Vine Witch trilogy.
That’s how it works sometimes. Story ideas come from seeing connections between seemingly unrelated subjects. And if the idea sticks in your mind while you work on other projects and is still there when you come back to it, you know it’s an idea worth exploring. I hope you enjoy what came of that initial “what if” question spurred by seeing a connection between two completely unrelated photos.
Happy New Year! And may we all find a kinder year ahead.
New Release Date!
So, the release date of THE RAVEN SPELL has been bouncing around a little. First it was slated for mid February, then March, and now it is officially FEBRUARY 1st!
That does not seem that far away anymore. Looking forward to this one getting into readers’ hands. As always, you can pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
German Release of The Vine Witch
I wanted to share the covers of the German versions of The Vine Witch and The Glamourist. As you can see, they kept the original covers but changed the titles.
Der Zauber von Wein und Lavendel
The Magic of Wine and Lavender. 😍
*Coming September 1, 2021 from Piper Publishing.
And…
Der Traum von Rosen und Kristall
The Dream of Roses and Crystal 🥰
*Due for release January 2022.
The Conjurer will also be released later next year and I’ll share that cover when I can.