NYC BookCon News!

If you'll be at the 2018 Book Con this weekend in NY, be sure to stop by my publisher's booth for a gorgeous Stain poster + sneak peek! See below for deets.

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Announcing The Glass Butterfly Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to everyone who took part in the giveaway and helped me get the word out about The Glass Butterfly's beautiful cover art! There were winners from the UK, Mexico, Malaysia, and the US. :) They're listed below:

Congrats to the winners! I've sent out emails, so check your inboxes. If you find your name above but didn't receive an email, please reach out to me via my contact info here.

Anyone who didn't win, don't despair. August 2018 is just around the corner, so there will be another giveaway to celebrate the book's birthday very soon! :)

The Glass Butterfly Cover Reveal + Giveaway!

***Giveaway Ended***

Welcome to the cover reveal for The Glass Butterfly, book 3 in the Haunted Hearts Legacy series! If you haven't yet seen the beautiful cover by Nathalia Suellen, here's a sneak peek. 

To see the whole image and read an exclusive excerpt from the book, follow this link. 

And here's the book description:

 For a decade, twenty-seven-year-old Felicity Lonsdale has masqueraded as a dowager almost twice her age—selling caterpillars to butterfly consortiums—enabling her to hide her courtesan past while raising her late brother’s daughters. Together, the three live on an isolated Irish estate bequeathed by a dying earl. When the earl’s estranged son arrives to claim his inheritance by threatening to expose Felicity’s true identity, she longs to pack up her nieces and run. But a ghostly secret within the castle’s turret holds her captive. 

Nick Thornton—a Roma viscount’s heir—is also captive. After a tryst with an investor’s wife nearly destroyed his family’s holiday resort, Nick forsook everything to elope with her. However, a tragic mistake at his hand led to her and his baby’s deaths. Refusing to turn to the family he shamed, Nick travels to seek the countess who once co-wrote a romance with his sister. There’s rumor of a special butterfly in her keep—a transparent-winged species with ties to the afterlife. Nick hopes to contact his dead wife and child, convinced only their forgiveness can free him. 

Upon his arrival to Felicity’s estate, Nick offers to help her defeat the earl’s son, on the condition she allow Nick to investigate her glass butterflies. Felicity agrees, though fears the closer he gets to the ghosts of his past, the closer he’ll come to uncovering her own. As Nick spends time with Felicity and her nieces, he realizes the mystery enshrouding this fragile countess and her castle is more intriguing than the ghosts he originally came to find. And perhaps putting his dead to rest and helping her do the same will be his true path to redemption. 

Now onto the international giveaway for a chance at these pretty prizes!

• Signed 3-book Haunted Hearts Legacy set
• Hand-painted Vintage Butterfly Wooden Case
• 6 Vintage Glass Magnets: journal page, butterfy, birdcage
• Set of 5 Vintage Herbarium Diaries
• Aspen Leaf Copper-dipped Ornament: carousel horse

The Glass Butterfly is due to launch August 15, 2018! I'll have more reveals and giveaways along the way, but until then, be sure to enter the rafflecopter below for your chance to win one of these five prizes, and thanks for partaking in the cover reveal festivities!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stain Cover Reveal Giveaway - WINNERS!

Thanks to everyone who took part in the giveaway and helped me get the word out about Stain's beautiful cover art! There were winners both from the UK and the US. :) They're listed below:

Congrats to the winners! I've sent out emails, so check your inboxes if you find your name. If you don't receive an email, please reach out to me via my contact info here.

Anyone who didn't win, don't despair! January 2019 is a ways off yet, which gives me lots of opportunities for more reveals and giveaways to pass the time. :)

Also, if you're interested in buying this beautiful Stain artwork 8x11 poster/print for yourself, Nathalia Suellen is offering them on her Society 6 page:

Thanks again for stopping by, and I'll be back soon with more updates!

STAIN cover reveal giveaway!

***GIVEAWAY ENDED***

Welcome to the Stain cover reveal! If you haven't yet seen the beautiful cover by Nathalia Suellen, here's a sneak peek. 

To see the whole image in all its magical fairytale glory, follow this link. 

And here's the updated book description:

A gothic fairytale inspired by The Princess and the Pea. 

After Lyra—a princess incapable of speech or sound—is cast out of her kingdom of daylight by her wicked aunt, a witch saves her life, steals her memories, and raises her in an enchanted forest . . . disguised as a boy known only as Stain. Meanwhile, in Lyra's rival kingdom, the prince of thorns and night is dying, and the only way for him to break his curse is to wed the princess of daylight, for she is his true equal. As Lyra finds her way back to her identity, an impostor princess prepares to steal her betrothed prince and her crown. To win back her kingdom, save the prince, and make peace with the land of the night, Lyra must be loud enough to be heard without a voice, and strong enough to pass a series of tests—ultimately proving she’s everything a traditional princess is not.

Now onto the international giveaway for a chance at these pretty prizes!

Each prize has something to do with the story. As for the arc, those will be available later this year, so this is your first chance to win one! I'm also offering a signed Splintered collector's set. What does that have to do with the story? Much like Splintered, this book is filled with magic, mystical characters, fantastical creatures (some creepy, some cute and funny, and some beautiful), and intricate world building. So if you liked all those things in my Alice in Wonderland tales, you'll like it in Stain. What about the other prizes? Here's a hint as to what they represent:

The sun and moon bookmark signify our prince and princess and their destiny to reunite a world that's been split in two by a curse. The moon has been torn from the sky and banished to a wintry night kingdom deep beneath the earth, leaving the sun and kinder seasons to the day kingdom above ground:

You can find the rafflecopter for the prizes at the end of this post. If you want to know more about Stain and the symbolism behind the cover art, read on!

By looking at the cover, you can see Lyra (aka Stain) isn't a typical princess. She's in fact an anti-princess. She's tinged blue with moonlight, causing her aunt to dub her a "stain upon the family name" in their kingdom of perpetual sun. The night prince, on the other hand, is copper-complected in a realm of moonlit people. Each is foretold to balance the other, and together, they're to unite their broken world.

 What's up with the princess's crazy-long eyelashes? Here's an excerpt from the book, when the wicked aunt first sees her niece, the crown heir:

"It is startling.” Griselda observed the babe around her brother’s sturdy shoulder; the tiny princess wriggled within her ivory-lace blanket, a faint, bluish-tinged creature that resembled a curdled shadow on a saucer of cream. “Her lashes . . . they’re bone-white. And longer and more numerous than a centipede’s legs. There’s no denying she’s been touched by moonlight. She’ll have no shield from the sun.  It must be the illness from the queen’s blood. A contagion from the cursed land of eternal gloom and ice.”

On the cover, my princess wears a crown of barbed wire, representative of the thorns and nails that contribute to her scars. Scars are something she shares with the prince. Here's an excerpt from the book highlighting their flaws:

“I wonder how many that is now?” Vesper patted the raised welt. “Perhaps enough I can double as a patchwork quilt.” The edges of his mouth twitched in a teasing smirk. “Let’s play a trick on the castle’s seamstresses . . . hang me on the wall naked beside their finest creations. See how long it takes them to notice.”

Stain stifled a surprised laugh at his attempt at levity. Her own scars stared back at her, providing an intimate awareness of how desecrated he must feel. Though some of her wounds had been made through experiences and adventures she chose, there were others inflicted upon her, robbing her of any choice. 

As for the colors of the cover, gold and purple both play pivotal roles in the story. 

And of course there are the spiderwebs and moths surrounding the princess. Nighttime creepers are her attendants in this tale, as are shadows. 

Stain is due to launch January 2019! I'll have more reveals and giveaways along the way, but until then, be sure to enter the rafflecopter below, and thanks for partaking in the cover reveal festivities!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Out of the writing cave and into the light!

If you haven't yet added this on GoodReads, here's the link. There's also a book description and some sneak peaks over there.

Stay tuned! I'll have giveaways and reveals over the following months to shorten the wait for 2019. :)

Quick update on STAIN

Just peeking my head out of the writer's cave to shout share that I'm only chapters away from finishing this book! Wow, it's been a doozy to write; I really challenged myself with Stain. 

Aside from the elaborate world-building, there are four distinctive POV characters I got to know along the way. I can't say that I've fallen in love with them all (there's one in particular who is VERY hard to love), but I understand each one's motivations, and am endlessly fascinated by their interactions throughout the story.

Okay, back to the business of writing. I hope everyone has a happy holiday season, and I'll see you in the new year!