Will you be at GRL in Virginia this October? I'm excited to be attending again—it was so fun last year! I loved meeting so many of you and so many of my fellow authors who I'd only known online before. 

Like last year, I'm offering a paperback preorder through this form. I will have some books with me at Saturday's signing, but to be sure you get what you want, preordering is a good idea. All of my books are available to preorder (including To Love the Dragon King!), and I'm happy to sign or personalize them for you. 

​Can't wait to see you at GRL!

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​The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.
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I'm currently sharing snippets from To Love the Dragon King, which is now out in the world. Yay! To Love the Dragon King is the first book in a new series, the Dragons of Ivria, which I believe will be a trilogy. In this book, dragon shifter Lysander, the king of Ivria, has come into the knowledge of a treasonous plot against him and the kingdom and has set out to discover the extent of it and its participants. When he arrives to arrest one of the conspirators, he finds Sascha. Sascha was not born with the magic to allow him to transform into a dragon, and therefore, to his (horrible) parents, his only purpose is to enter into a marriage or a contract as a concubine that will benefit his family. To that end, they've contracted him to Jannik, the man Lysander is about to arrest. Sascha  has no knowledge of the plot, or that he's being used in it, or that he's about to be caught up in the orbit of the king and the scheming and danger that revolves around him. This snippet follows directly from last week's. 

You can find more about To Love the Dragon King here. Thanks for reading today!

I've omitted the 'finally' from the title of this post, but I know some of you are probably thinking it (I am too). I started writing To Love the Dragon King at the beginning of 2020​. I planned to write at my usual pace, then dive into writing another book while editing and getting this book ready to be self-published in early 2021.

I laugh hysterically when I think about that lovely plan now.

The pandemic hit my mental health and executive function and general ability to be creative hard, as I know it did to many others. There were times I wondered if I would ever finish this book, if I could even write anymore. But I did finish. It was a struggle at times and very slow, but I did it and I'm proud of that and of the book itself.

I had the idea for To Love the Dragon King almost ten years ago, I think, but I wasn't ready to write it, so I scribbled down everything I knew about the story and Lysander and Sascha in one of my many journals and put it on the shelf until it was time to write it (this is not the only idea that has gotten that treatment). At the beginning of 2020, I pulled out that journal and went through everything I had and started to expand on the characters before diving into writing. To Love the Dragon King isn't what I envisioned when I made those first notes or even when I began writing three years ago. For one thing, it was going to be a somewhat darker story—I don't write things that could be termed 'dark' in any way, but I was going to give it a go—but that didn't happen. I could not write dark during that period of time; maybe dark isn't my thing at all. *shrug* Characters and plot lines evolved as I wrote, which often happens since I figure a lot out as I go along, but with the time I spent writing this, there was quite a bit to make consistent at the end. And at the end, I really do love Lysander and Sascha and the family that surrounds them and the story I told (and that gorgeous cover by Natasha Snow).

​I hope you do too.

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​The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.
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I'm currently sharing snippets from To Love the Dragon King, which will be published August 21st and is currently available for preorder. To Love the Dragon King is the first book in a new series, the Dragons of Ivria, which I believe will be a trilogy. In this book, dragon shifter Lysander, the king of Ivria, has come into the knowledge of a treasonous plot against him and the kingdom and has set out to discover the extent of it and its participants. When he arrives to arrest one of the conspirators, he finds Sascha. Sascha was not born with the magic to allow him to transform into a dragon, and therefore, to his (horrible) parents, his only purpose is to enter into a marriage or a contract as a concubine that will benefit his family. To that end, they've contracted him to Jannik, the man Lysander is about to arrest. Sascha  has no knowledge of the plot, or that he's being used in it, or that he's about to be caught up in the orbit of the king and the scheming and danger that revolves around him. This snippet follows directly from last week's.

You can find out more about To Love the Dragon King here. Thanks for reading!

​To Love the Dragon King will be out in the world in one week! I began writing this book pre-pandemic, but I had the idea for the characters and plot (thought both changed so much as I wrote) years before that. At the time I started writing, I assumed I would publish this book by early 2021. That obviously didn't happen, and I almost can't believe that it's finally going to be out and in your hands. I thought it might be fun today to give you a little more information about the main characters of To Love the Dragon King, Sascha and Lysander.

Sascha belongs to a family that is part of a prominent clan in Ivria, but his family is not titled and is not as wealthy as the clan head they are distantly related to. Unlike his older brothers, Sascha did not inherit the Dragon Talent and is, therefore, unable to transform into a dragon. To his parents, this made him lesser than his brothers and only good to make a match that would be advantageous to the family, that his beauty is the only thing of value about him. They've told him that his whole life, to the point that he believes it's true, that serving his family in this way is his only purpose (despite his friend Romilly constantly telling him the opposite). He's shocked when the man they contract with turns out to be cruel and a traitor to the crown. And even more shocked when his own parents are implicated in the plot—and he is briefly suspected himself. Hurt quickly follows.

Sascha doesn't see himself as particularly smart or strong when the book begins, and he struggles with anxiety, which doesn't help in his self-perception. But he is stronger than even he believes, as well as kind and empathetic, and he finds those things within himself as his journey unfolds. Sascha is cisgender and gray-ace.

Lysander is the king of Ivria, a country founded by those with the Dragon Talent and their allies when they fled the dragon hunts that swept through the world hundreds of years ago. They found the land that would become Ivria in the middle of an impassable (unless you can fly) mountain range and created a home and sanctuary. Like those who came before him, Lysander has devoted his life to protecting his people and governing them the best he can. But now a plot to overthrow him and bring the existence of dragons out into the world—to even go on to create dragon rule over the world—has been brought to his attention and Lysander flounders. He isn't sure how such a thing could go unnoticed for so long. He suspects almost everyone around him, not only worried for himself but also for his children and family and his country. 

When he meets Sascha, Lysander is immediately attracted to him, but he isn't ready to trust Sascha or even his instincts that tell him Sascha isn't a danger. But he's going to have to, just as he's going to have to rely on those closest to him if they're all going to survive this. And if he and Sascha are going to have a chance at their happily ever after. Lysander is cisgender and bisexual.

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​The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.
​
I'm currently sharing snippets from To Love the Dragon King, which will be published August 21st and is currently available for preorder. To Love the Dragon King is the first book in a new series, the Dragons of Ivria, which I believe will be a trilogy. In this book, dragon shifter Lysander, the king of Ivria, has come into the knowledge of a treasonous plot against him and the kingdom and has set out to discover the extent of it and its participants. When he arrives to arrest one of the conspirators, he finds Sascha. Sascha was not born with the magic to allow him to transform into a dragon, and therefore, to his (horrible) parents, his only purpose is to enter into a marriage or a contract as a concubine that will benefit his family. To that end, they've contracted him to Jannik, the man Lysander is about to arrest. Sascha  has no knowledge of the plot, or that he's being used in it, or that he's about to be caught up in the orbit of the king and the scheming and danger that revolves around him. This snippet follows directly from last week's.

You can find out more about To Love the Dragon King and preorder it here. Thanks for reading today!

To Love the Dragon King will be out in the world on August 21st (two weeks from today!). The ebook is now available for preorder at all the usual places, and the paperback will follow soon for all the paperback lovers.

This book begins the Dragons of Ivria series, which I've planned as a trilogy. The Dragons of Ivria is set in the same world as the Chronicles of Tournai books, but you don't have to have read those to jump into this series. 

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​The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.
​
I'm currently sharing snippets from To Love the Dragon King, which will be published August 21st and is currently available for preorder. To Love the Dragon King is the first book in a new series, the Dragons of Ivria, which I believe will be a trilogy. In this book, dragon shifter Lysander, the king of Ivria, has come into the knowledge of a treasonous plot against him and the kingdom and has set out to discover the extent of it and its participants. When he arrives to arrest one of the conspirators, he finds Sascha. Sascha was not born with the magic to allow him to transform into a dragon, and therefore, to his (horrible) parents, his only purpose is to enter into a marriage or a contract as a concubine that will benefit his family. To that end, they've contracted him to Jannik, the man Lysander is about to arrest. Sascha  has no knowledge of the plot, or that he's being used in it, or that he's about to be caught up in the orbit of the king and the scheming and danger that revolves around him. This snippet follows directly from last week's.

You can find out more about To Love the Dragon King (including preorder links!) here. Thanks for reading today!

Happy August, my darlings! July was a busy month for me, and August is set to be another. But I did get some reading done—some rereads in audio during walks/cleaning/cooking, a couple of things I started and put aside for when I'm in the right mood,  and a few new to me books I finished.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (Fantasy with F/F romance): The Jasmine Throne is an epic fantasy inspired by Indian folklore with intricate world building, fantastic characterization, and a compelling plot. Though there are multiple points of view (all of them providing needed information and perspective), the story centers on Priya, a maidservant possessing forbidden magic and a secret past, and Malini, a princess imprisoned because she tried to overthrow her evil brother the emperor. The romance between the two is very much slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, and not at all the focus of the story, but it's perfect for the story. The women in this book are quite willing to plot and plan and burn a patriarchal system to the ground, and I am here for it. The second book in the trilogy is already out, and I'll definitely be reading it soon.

Murder at Pirate's Cove by Josh Lanyon (Cozy Mystery): I've had this first book in Lanyon's Secrets and Scrabble series for a while, but finally moved it to the top of the (mountainous) TBR when a friend recommended the series. Ellery recently inherited a failing mystery bookstore and a rundown mansion in a small town, and needing a change, he moved there to start a new life. But then he finds the guy who has been pressuring him to sell the bookstore dead and becomes the chief suspect. So of course, he has to try to solve the mystery himself. Plus there is the beginning hints of a romance between Ellery and the police chief. It's classic Josh Lanyon and solidly good. I have the next book all ready to read.

Bisclavret by KL Noone (M/M Fantasy Romance): This short story is a really lovely retelling of the medieval story by Marie de France in which a man turns into a wolf three days out of the month and is betrayed by his wife to keep him in wolf form forever but is then saved by the kindness of the king. The broad strokes of the story are the same here with the addition of a lovely slow-burn romance between bisexual Lord Bisclavret and the demisexual king. 

Twice Bitten by Eliot Grayson (M/M Paranormal Romance): This novella is part of Grayson's Mismatched Mates series and was a lot of fun. When a werewolf shows up in town, vampire Angelo is tasked with solving his problem and making sure he doesn't cause trouble. Angelo has enough problems of his own without adding someone else's and just wants to get through this without ruining his suit or falling in love. I think you can guess how that turns out. The chemistry between the main characters is great, and there is a delightful visit with some characters from earlier in the series (magical attack scorpions had me laughing out loud).

What have you read and loved lately?