Hello! It’s a new month, and I have a lot to share.

First, that ARC call. The Cover Reveal for Kindred of the Sea is set to happen on the 14th, and I will be posting that here! The launch date is set to be June 24th. I am looking for a few more ARC readers. Here is some more information about Kindred of the Sea, and if you would be interested in ARC reading, either send me a Comment through the Contact Form on the home page, or you can just reply in the comments down below! Either will work, and I will reach out to you. (Reaching out to me via my Areaer_Novels Twitter will also work).

Now for that information. Kindred of the Sea is 103k and appropriate for most audiences. It’s pretty tame and light, but has a death of one named character and several scenes that involve fighting or violence, but no gore. It’s about two men who are asexual lovers who desert the army on their fantasy world and eventually end up on an ocean world with magical dolphins. It also has a dragon, a secret cult of sea-mages struggling to preserve their magic and culture, an enchanted forest, piracy (of ships), and a dragon or two.

Description:

When Corostomir and his partner march into battle and find themselves dreaming the dreams of trees, they know that all is not what it seems. . .

The Valor Alliance has declared war on Elethri, naming it haunt of demons and forest of the nightmare. But when the Valor Soldiers are driven back with enchantments of sleep and not with arrows, his partner, Aderan, and their friend soon convince Corostomir that a nation that will not shed the blood of its enemies, let alone that of its own people, cannot be in the thrall of the nightmare. Corostomir and Aderan must now make a difficult decision, one that is forced when the Valor Alliance sends the Army back to attack Elethri, this time by sea instead of land.

Kindred of the Sea is an enchanting tale about the love and intimacy possible in an asexual relationship and a trope-defying Portal Fantasy.

Now that that’s done (just to remind you all: look for the cover and the first preorder links on May 14th – and if you’d like to ARC read, let me know), I will share a bit more about what I’m doing with the publication: I’m doing an ebook, an Illustrated Paperback, and a Compact Paperback, so that those who really prefer paper for whatever reason, but have a limited budget or space, will hopefully still be able to afford the book. The ebook is going to have a colored illustration/header for each chapter, and three colored illustrations at the beginning: a map, a character portrait, and one other piece related to the story. The Illustrated Edition will have the same contact but in black and white. The Compact Paperback just gets the map, but don’t worry. Most of that content is going to become available on my website in the weeks leading to or immediately after Launch!

My writing updates aren’t that great for this month, since I was really busy getting the files for Kindred of the Sea ready. However, I am making steady progress on the Lìrulin-and-Eldor WIP. I think I’m up at about 55k now, and if you’ve read Children of the Dryads you will know what this means: they’re in the Icecrown Mountains right now. I think I’m going to finish it with the birth of Tara-lin, but it’s a bit early to be planning that far out. It’s a really interesting experience to write in a lot of ways, both because this is my first time writing a romance (and I used to think romances were literary license, so it is truly funny), and because I have a plot outlined for me in Children of the Dryads. I never write with a plot: only with bits and pieces of scenes from the future (I’ll write a post about that sometime). I also wrote a little in my New World WIP, and I have a feeling that I might really get into Slave-becomes-Dragonrider soon. You can see all my WIPs here: 2022 Updates and Expectations (and a 2021 Wrap-up/Summary)

However, you won’t see something else I finished last month there, since not only was it not a WIP in January, it was only a WIP for about a day (if we don’t count editing, which I usually do not): Gryphon’s Escape, a short story written from the perspective of an animal, a gryphon of the Valor Hall who rescues a prisoner. I don’t know dates yet, but I intend to publish that as a freebie sometime over the Summer.

All right! So I haven’t read a lot, since I’ve been so busy with all these other things, including making some of the art for the Kindred of the Sea files (and the portrait of Corostomir!). But I did some other stuff. I finished this art of Tara-lin and the dryad Kalithalias. You can see the full post with explanation and quote here: Tara-lin and the Dryad Kalithalias: Art for Sorceress of the Dryads

I don’t remember when I did the emblem of the Valor Alliance, but I have now added the page for cultures and geography for Areaer. You can see the page here, but for the moment it only has one feature. I think that might change soon though, since I am working on the post for Elethri and have already done the banner for Elethri. Here’s that feature: The Valor Alliance. I’m actually really excited to share this with you, so take a look! I love world-building and that includes cultures and nations, and this is only a glimpse, but it’s something!

And, since Kindred of the Sea is coming out soon, I made the Introduction to Alaer post. Get to know a little about the creatures, climates, and magic of Alaer, and see a crude projection of the entire surface of Alaer, showing elevation (and land/ocean). I also have one that shows the major tectonic plate boundaries, so if you want to see that too, give me a comment! If you send me a Comment by the Contact Form (same as if you want to ARC read Kindred of the Sea), I’ll just send you that version, too.

I think that’s it for Updates, and I’m a bit too busy for much in the way of Expectations. However, there’s going to be a Cover Reveal for someone else’s book coming up in the next week! Yay! And I have some books to ARC or beta read, and of course, that post about Elethri coming on the Cultures and Geography page! I might – or might not – do a bit more writing, but I really think I might, since I did so little last month because I was busy the files and launch material ready, so even as that gets nearer, I shouldn’t be quite as busy. And who knows what art I will make? Maybe something of Sisel, the gryphon protagonist of Gryphon’s Escape! But Summers are the busiest time of the year for me.

Oh yes, another “Update”: I made a page that lists all of my reviews so they’re really easy to get to and look through. I’m not sure if I should add something to differentiate between indie and traditional books and authors, or not, though. And sometime, maybe, the first part of the page’s title will become applicable: Not-Quite-Recommendations and Reviews

All right! I think that’s that, and if I missed something, I will just let you know in a latter post, maybe next month’s, if I remember it then! If you would like to share anything, either in updates or expectations, please do!

Oh, by the way, the Narratess Sale went well!