Well, I have certainly neglected this blog in recent months. Which is, like, totally fine, because I’ve been hard at work scrolling on Instagram and TikTok until Kingdom Come. It’s called “market research,” okay?
Actually, I am determined to decrease my social media intake and actually give this blog the love and attention it deserves… maybe even update its design and flow? Much amaze! So wow!
But until that fateful day, I need to provide some honest-to-God updates on book-related shenanigans, starting with the book promo going on this month!
Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links.
An Ocean of Stars in Strong Female Leads: A Book Promo
My latest release, An Ocean of Stars (a YA science fiction romance) is currently featured in a BookFunnel book promo titled, “Strong Female Leads,” highlighting exciting indie selections in the sci-fi/fantasy genre that feature bad-ass female protaganists.
I was excited when I found this one because I definitely consider Xanorra to be a strong female lead, though perhaps not in the conventional way. After all, I do like breaking the mold when it comes to character tropes.
How, you ask? Well, she’s not a fighter. She doesn’t know martial arts. She doesn’t have superpowers or rare abilities that make her “special.”
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have skills.
She’s essentially a grad student. She has her brain, her empathy, her cosmonaut training, and that’s about it. But when put in difficult situations (like getting stuck aboard a spaceship with a socially inept teenage boy) she problem-solves: if she can’t find a solution, she keeps thinking until one presents itself.
She’s resourceful, she’s adaptable, and she has a heart for people: something that becomes more and more important as the story progresses and she gets to know her enemy-turned-savior, Captain Omen.
So, I mean, maybe I’m biased, but I’d call her a strong female lead. Plus, she’s snarky and foul-mouthed. What says “I’m a strong female character” more than that??? (Please don’t take me seriously… I didn’t make her snarky for its own sake, it just happened of its own accord!)
Here’s the link so you can see the full lineup! I actually see some familiar titles in there! Even if you don’t purchase anything, just clicking on the link (and clicking on any titles that interest you) helps the promo gain traction!
Happening now to the end of April!
Where to Find An Ocean of Stars
I plan on making an actual page soon that lays out everywhere you can find my books, both physically and on the interwebs, but for now, I need to specifically address where An Ocean of Stars currently rests its head. Or perhaps spine?
Of course, there are the online avenues:
But for those who may happen to live in or around Charlotte, North Carolina, it is also currently in stock at:
With hopefully more to come!
The Road Ahead: Future Books and Such
In other words, “my toxic trait is to overcommit.” But no, I’m actually super excited about what’s to come and if I have to change things around or extend the timeline, well, that’s just the beauty of indie publishing, baby.
The Last Celestials Book 2: Title to Be Announced
I announced on Instagram last week that I am turning The Last Celestials into a series of interconnected standalones, each focusing on different characters and playing around with different combinations of “sci-fi romance” and “contemporary rom-com.” It’s weird. It’s wacky. It’s wonderful.
Book 2 will focus on Castor, one of the twin bounty hunters from Book 1 whose motives were not what they seemed. He and his brother got very little screen time in Book 1 which means I get to flesh them out in Book 2. So far, it’s been a joy.
Taking place twelve years after the events of The Last Celestials, we find Castor helping Orion and Cassiopeia build and maintain their new galactic kingdom. That is, until Castor gets banished to Earth for some mandatory R&R after his workaholic tendencies nearly get him and his team killed.
The destination: an AirBnB on a berry farm, of all places… where the chatty, friendly daughter of the homeowner was the last person he expected to be there. She’s also the last person Castor expected to like.
That’s not my best synopsis, but it will do for a teaser. What happens when “sci-fi romance” meets “small-town romance”? Good things, I hope!
I have a title in mind, but I’m not settled on it yet, so I’ll hold off until I’m ready to announce it! I’m aiming for a Winter 2023 release, which is… yeah, not very long at all!
The Last Celestials Book 3: Once Upon a Blue Moon
This was originally going to be Book 2, hence it being further along development-wise, but after thinking it through, I ultimately decided it would make more sense as Book 3. With that said, I’ve already got a decent synopsis for it:
Before Cassiopeia and Orion, before the galactic war, there were Caelum and Delphi… “two lovers, forbidden from one another, [centuries-old hatred that constantly threatens] war divides their people…” one might say.
Delphi, a disgraced Celestial healer, just wants to be free. And not the kind of false freedom her people propagate: the freedom to make progress. To try new things. To make mistakes. Too bad she’s stuck working off a prison sentence on a bygone mining planet instead.
Caelum, a Campion miner, just wants to fit in. His kind is supposed to be a hivemind, subservient to the whims of their queen, but he’s always been different. Plagued by his own ideas and will, he struggles to prove he’s just like everyone else.
That is, until a risky mistake nearly costs him his life and he finds himself at the mercy of a strange Celestial woman who, for some ungodly reason, chose to save him.
And what’s worse: they might have more in common than either of them realize.
Fairytales, court politics, forbidden romance, and sci-fi romance combine in this prequel spin-off that focuses on Castor and Pollux’s parents!
The Atlantis Chronicles Book 2: A Sea of Worlds
Of course, the sequel to An Ocean of Stars is also underway, but I’m taking my sweet time with it because, well, I want it to be the best it possibly can be. I’m determined to bypass “middle book syndrome” and it order to do that, I need as much time to think things through as I can get.
So, despite torturing everyone with that cliffhanger ending, I’m aiming for a Fall 2024 release for Book 2. I promise, it will be well worth the wait!
In Conclusion
Lots of exciting things underway! I might also be making a brief return to the YouTube scene for something that has been long overdue but no promises there. Like I said, I’m a chronic over-committer. Oh, how often I have flown too close to the sun and suffered for it! When will I ever learn?
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