Hello, friends!
We’re now in the middle of summer here in Sweden. I recently took two weeks off to spend time with my family visiting from the USA and it was so good to see them! It was my parents’ first time in Sweden, so it was fun to show them our favorite everyday places before we rented a van and took a quick trip to Trondheim in Norway. We had sun the first few days, then lots of rain, which followed us home. It’s warming up again but for a while it almost felt like fall (I’m never mad about cozy, sweatshirt-wearing days, but I need a little more sun before winter comes)!
Book news
I’ve resumed working on The Demon Queen (DFS #3) and am aiming to finish the book by end of July. Once I’m happy with the story I can schedule the final beta read and proofreading, so it looks like it will be a fall release. Then we’ll finally have a completed series! I can’t wait. :)
In anticipation of the release of the final book in the trilogy, I’ve lowered the price of The Dragon Flute (DFS #2) to $2.99. The series isn’t in Kindle Unlimited anymore, but both books are currently free on Smashwords through the end of July. You can also find Kingdom of Essence there. If you already have all three books, it’s also possible to gift them to a friend!
Future plans
Considering my writing speed and release schedule this year, I think for simplicity’s sake I’ll shift away from monthly notes to whenever I have a new release or sale. I’ve been struggling to figure out what to share in these newsletters (I still feel so awkward talking about myself and my books) which often ends up stealing away writing time and I figure you’d rather have the next book than my ramblings.
Of course, if there is anything you’re interested about in regards to my worlds or story creation, please comment or send me a message. Ultimately this newsletter is for you, and I’m not really sure what you’d like to know. :)
Any gamers in the house?
In other news, I’ve been playing around with creating an interactive text-based game based on one of my stories. It’s a world I haven’t shared yet (there’s a mix of traditional magic & steam-powered tech), and though I plan to finish this one, I’ve been thinking it’d also be fun to create a game connected to Kingdom of Essence. The character would be someone new (not featured in KoE or Guild of Lies), and we’d get to see more of Casekraia from the perspective of an essence farmer AND potentially run into Elitsa. ;) Does that sound like something you’d like to see and play?
Here’s an example of what the starting screen could look like, using the game I mentioned above. Typically there are no images in a text adventure so it’s similar to a Choose Your Own Adventure book.
Spots of sunshine
Here are a few things that brought me joy/made me smile.
Vanessa Gillings’ illustrations of animals in cozy, everyday settings.
Living near a lake or river. I grew up by the ocean so I love watching water.
Bumblebees finding the flowers I planted.
The scent of ripe nectarines.
Watching Silo (not exactly a happy/light-hearted show but it’s really interesting).
Enjoyable reads from June were a mix of vibes & genres with Miss Percy’s Travel Guide to Welsh Moors and Feral Dragons by Quenby Olson (cozy fantasy with dragons!), Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (a funny & heart-warming contemporary romance), and Heart, Haunt, Havoc by Freydis Moon (gothic horror romance. I had to wait to start reading it until I wasn’t lying in bed in the dark!)
Have you ever seen a leaf sheep slug? They’re adorable!
Playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Ahh adorable glassware!
Unexpected waterfalls on a road trip.
Well, I’m off to closely watch the upload of my next DFS reading video for YouTube (internet has been horrible today, so maybe Ch 19 will be up tomorrow?) and convince my family to watch Nimona. I’ve been impatiently waiting for it to release on Netflix!
My next email will be whenever I have concrete news on the release of TDQ, so in the meantime, you’re always welcome to come say hi on Instagram. I hope July is filled with good books, great snacks, nice weather, and lots of laughs. :)
— Holly
What’s coming in 2023 - 2024:
New project (info to come ;)