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hey so thank you for breaking my brain on shadow baron page 357

I had to go and look up what I did on page 357 of Shadow Baron because I, ah, pull a lot of shit in the latter stages of that book (and honestly, I'm not sorry). But I was very happy with that particular malarkey, I had been planning it since the beginning, fighting to keep small bits of foreshadowing from being copy-editorially tidied away in Notorious Sorcerer. So pleased it paid off!

In short: THANK YOU, happy to help! 😁🫶

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I FINALLY FINISHED THE BURNISHED CITY SERIES!!!! i wont post any spoilers but OMG every time i think something is going to happen, something bigger, better, and crazier happens and im blown away!!! im just honestly so in awe of ur style and ur ability to keep me hooked thru the WHOLE STORY. izmirlian will always be one of my fav book characters of all time. cant wait to see what u come out with next!!💞💖

YAY 💖💖💖🥰

I am genuinely so thrilled to hear this: the best part of publishing stuff is hearing that people love it. I am replete. Thank you!

(And I am wrestling with something new just as hard as I can, but it's still going to be a while...)

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If you had to sing a child to sleep RIGHT NOW what would you sing and it CANT BE a lullaby it has to be a regular song

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Just picked up Rebel Blade in Sydney! (It wasnt actually on the shelves yet, but apparently I was the second person in quick succession to ask for a copy so they brought a whole stack out from the back of the store haha) So excited to read it over Christmas!

That is so delightful, thank you! Keep the bookshop people on their toes! I hope you have a lovely time - with the book and over the silly season! 🫶

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i just read the first notorious sorcerer and shadow baron and now i'm crazy, so thank you

(like actually you have just inspired so much world building, characters and dynamics in me so thanks but also a tiny screw you cause now i'm even more insane and screaming at my walls)

Honestly, I am so thrilled about this. Because Notorious Sorcerer started from my being inspired and crazy and screaming a million things I loved at the walls of a little story I didn't think would ever really have an audience beyond me and the person I wrote that story for.

That it's now inspiring you in turn is immense to me. It's wonderful. It is everything that a piece of art should be. And so I am delighted, I am screeching victory at the moon, and I am very much encouraging you to scream, and to shape, and to write your own amazing inspired words down. Because that too is art.

Also: 💖

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IM SO EXCITED FOR THE FINAL BOOK OF THE TRILOGY. ive literally been waiting (preordered it the second i could) with SO MUCH EXCITEMENT. i just know u wont disappoint! 🙂‍↕️

Thank you so much! 🥰 I am really hoping it hits the spot.

For everyone else - REBEL BLADE, finishing up the Burnished City trilogy, hits shelves next week! (3rd Dec in the US, 5th in the UK, 10th in Australia.)

Get more info and buy links for your territory here: https://viscerate.com/?page_id=396

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Will Rebel Blade be the finale to the Burnished City series, or will it continue past a trilogy?

This is it! The big finish!

Not that everything is utterly wrapped up, because life continues, that's partly the point. But REBEL BLADE is going to wrap up the story of Siyon, Anahid and Zagiri, and indeed of the city of Bezim. (I have no specific plans at the moment, but I might come back to the wider world later. There's a lot of fun things - in the Khanates, in the North, and especially in the New Republic - that I never got the chance to really dig into. But those are very much Other Stories.)

So if you've been waiting for a complete story, yes! This is it! You can get started now! :)

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I just finished Shadow Baron and I'm really excited for the third book! I read a lot of fantasy and your setting feels like a breath of fresh air + I really love the tension related to a certain character... Can't wait to see how things turn out!

oh, thank you so much! It's just the best part of this whole business to hear that someone's really enjoying my work. REBEL BLADE will be hitting shelves in early December (pre-prder now from your favourite local bookstore!) and I hope it really satisfies! 💖

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I shouldn’t do this here because this is the “no marketing” website and I want it to stay that way but… I have just snuck into the realm of traditional publishing and my weird book about assassins (aka The Murder Siblings TM) focusing on stupid jokes, sword fights, masked balls, 🏳️‍🌈gay sex🏳️‍🌈, mental health issues, and rebelling against the rich isn’t being seen in the jungle of hetero TikTok picks and Sarah J Maas books. (Even tho it’s been sold as Six of Crows meets The Princess Bride.)

If Snowblooded doesn’t start getting noticed by people, I think my career in trad pub might be over just as it started. So during this our pride month could I perchance ask you to signal boost this post to support a lesbian and poly author trying to break in to the trad pub jungle? (Also, the book can be bought HERE )

Blurb:

Valour and Petrichor are esteemed members of the Order of Axsten, an assassin’s guild tasked with keeping order in the rough city of Vinterstock. Plucked from the streets as children and raised to compete for their guild’s approval, Valour uses her brawn to survive, while Petrichor strives to be a gentleman assassin. When they’re given their biggest job yet—to kill Brandquist, the mysterious leader of the city's illegal magic trade—it’s a recipe for disaster. If they can quell their rivalry long enough, the reward will be enough to settle their debts with the Order and start new lives.

If this job wasn’t dangerous enough, Valour is saddled with looking after a famed hotelier, Ingrid Rytterdahl. Valour finds her dangerously attractive, but the aspec Petrichor can’t wait to be rid of them both. He begrudgingly accepts Ingrid’s knowledge and connections as they navigate the city’s criminal underbelly in pursuit of Brandquist.

As secrets bubble to the surface, the duo must outwit the thugs on their tail, keep Ingrid alive, and—hardest of all—work together without murdering each other.

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back again making emo connections to notorious sorcerer (bc im insane); hav u ever noticed that lowkey izmirlian reminds u of vampire william beckett in the 16 candles music video? i cant help but think of him every time i see the mv it plagues me 😍

Very valid. Yes. 😂 (One of my favourite flavours of Bilvy; he's such a snooty bitch in that.)

And thank you so much for letting my work continue to take up your mental and emotional energy, & doubly so for sharing it with me! 🫶

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I could not agree more; I am a floozy for Venice and the Hanseatic League and about to have a riotously good time looking up more about the others!

But I will also note that if this is also your idea of a good time, may I interest you in my fantasy trilogy set in a belligerent independent trading city-state, highly influenced by Venice and Byzantium (and the Caucasus)? With bonus alchemy, swordfighting street gangs, dirtbag disaster-bi sorcerers and snarky queer love interests!

Start your visit to the Burnished City with Notorious Sorcerer! (The third book in the trilogy lands December 2024. I hope.)

I'm always criticizing eurocentric fantasy worldbuilding, but one thing I think it's underused are city-states and trade republics and leagues. Not that they don't exist, but they're often in the background, the fantasy genre is so focused on monarchies and dynasties and noble drama, while those systems have so much room for intrigue and stuff without getting into "who's the TRUE heir of the super magical monarch" (yes, I know they had aristocratic families that ruled almost as monarchs, but trust me, Medici drama is another beast from regular feudal stuff)

Venice with its stupidly complex election system and their eternal rivals in Genoa, Florence home of the Rennaissance, the Hanseatic League, and lesser known examples like Novgorod, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Taifa of Córdoba, the Consolat de Mar (technically not a republic but kind of an Iberian Hansa) and if we go farther back, the leagues of city states of antiquity... you know what, I'm bored of feudalism. Next time I do a fantasy setting, it will all be city states and republics. Fuck feudalism.

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"Owe" is an icky word, but if we're using it...

I owe it to readers to give them what I want. I am bringing them the dead bird of my wildest imaginings for them to accept as tribute or relegate to the dustbin as they please. (I don't care which, I already had my fun stalking, capturing and murdering it by myself. I will always have the taste of feathers and glory in my mouth. You can have some too if you like.)

Readers owe it to the rest of us to write down what they want and share it with the group so we are all enriched by an infinite variety of wildest imaginings.

Don't you think you owe it to readers to give them what they want?

No? What an odd take. Read my fic or don't.

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HI OMG I AM SO IN LOVE WITH YOUR BOOKS :0

Thank you so much! 🫶

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I JUST FINISHED SHADOW BARON AND I HAVE SO MANY EMOTIONS!! i have so much admiration for your writing! this was honestly as good, if not better than the first one (but i cant choose between the 2) and it was actually just pure genius. I LOVED IT. i cant wait for the next one (no pressure)!

I am trying really hard to be cool and not just answer with a row of glittering hearts but honestly I can't capture my PURE DELIGHT in any other way...

💖💖💖💖💖

I am actually currently wrestling with edits on book 3, so I'm already feeling all the pressure, and your wonderful message makes me feel like a bronze god of writing who can of course fix everything and make a kick-ass ending to this trilogy, no worries. Thank you so much! 🫶

(I do have some other asks lurking in the box about Shadow Baron, but they are a little spoilery so I am waiting a little longer to answer them, but I ❤️ them too...)

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Pink Floyd 🖤

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They were both members of a "light opera society" (basically: staging musicals) in our small town. At a party one night, my father sang a rather irreverent and occasionally rude song about bible stories. When he finished, my mother piped up with the verses he'd forgotten. (My family brand is strong in several ways.)

I watched When Harry Met Sally yesterday so now I'm curious how everyone's parents met. Any and all stories are welcome!