A Dance of Water and Air has been out in the world one year today! I love this book and this world and these characters, and not only because it got me writing again at a tough time. The beginning of the idea for this book came with the question: what if a prince was supposed to marry a queen but fell for the wrong sibling? Everything in A Dance of Water and Air spun out from there. We have Edmund, prince and heir to the throne of Thalassa, obligated to marry the queen of neighboring Aither to create an alliance between their countries. Upon arriving in Aither, he finds intrigue he didn't expect and friendship with Arden, the queen's younger brother, that deepens in ways he doesn't anticipate. When Edmund is accused of trying to assassinate the queen, Arden helps him escape, and they run, trying to get Edmund to safety and pull two kingdoms from threat of way...and acknowledge that they've fallen in love. There's also elemental magic, found family, and MCs who are cis and demisexual and trans and bisexual. The romance ends happily in this book, but the fantasy plot is continued in A Harmony of Fire and Earth along with a new romance (and more of Edmund and Arden too). The story ends there for now, but I already want to revisit this world, so we'll see what happens...

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of A Dance of Water and Air. I'll pick a winner in a week.

​Edmund is heir to the throne of Thalassa and a wielder of Water magic. Devoted to his kingdom and his duty to it, Edmund can do nothing but acquiesce to an arranged marriage with the queen of a neighboring kingdom. The marriage and the child it is required to produce will seal an alliance between Thalassa and Aither that is vital to Thalassa’s safety, and far more important than Edmund’s personal misgivings.

Arden is the younger brother of Aither’s queen and a wielder of Air magic. Raised in the politics of the court to support his sister’s rule, he understands the alliance is important to Aither, even as he worries about his sister marrying someone she’s never met. When Edmund arrives in Aither to prepare for the wedding, Arden is tasked with helping him settle in at court. As they spend more time together, Edmund and Arden develop a close friendship, then stronger feelings, but with Edmund’s wedding approaching, they must hide their feelings, even from themselves.

When someone tries to assassinate the queen, Edmund is blamed, and Arden rescues him before he can be executed for a crime he didn’t commit. To prevent a war between their kingdoms and protect them from a dangerous enemy, Edmund and Arden will have to discover who wants to pit Aither and Thalassa against each other and mend relations between the two kingdoms as they evade those searching for them—all while finding a way to be together.


​Add A Dance of Water and Air to your Goodreads shelf.

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If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may have seen me mention my recent trip to France and Barcelona. I posted some pictures here and there, but I've been meaning to write a post about it since I got back earlier this month. I've put it off because of day job work and writing and preparing for The Spymaster's Secret coming out and adjusting back to my home time zone (I mostly have my sense of time back finally!). 

But I didn't want to forget to talk about it because it was a lovely trip. I went with family and met wonderful people and saw beautiful things and learned lots of history and ate amazing food (so much pastry!) and drank so much wine. I was ridiculously lucky to get to go. I've always loved travel, but recent years haven't seen me able to travel as much as I would've liked. This trip was a fantastic opportunity...and also reignited my travel bug, which might not be such a great thing depending on when my next chance to get away is!

It was also a really inspiring trip in a lot of ways. But here's one very fun and exciting one. Does something look familiar about this particular chateau?

I got to visit Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley, which you can probably tell from the cropped cover photo above is the castle used on the cover of A Dance of Water and Air. I was so exciting I was absolutely shaking when I realized where I was! I only wish I'd know—I would've brought a copy of the book along and taken some pictures with it! This is absolutely one of my favorite of my book covers, and Chambord makes a lovely palace for Edmund and Arden. Not having the book didn't stop me from taking a bunch of photos anyway. It's a such a beautiful building! Here are a few more photos (including one of my in my very large summery hat) and one of the whole cover.

Travel has always been so inspiring for me. Being in new places, experiencing new things, learning, soaking up culture and art...all of those things have always sparked ideas and creativity. The worlds and characters in books owe so much to the bits and pieces I've absorbed on travels. I think this trip will do the same. This year has been a difficult one for writing for me—I've talked about why before, and I'm not going to go into it again here because I'm trying to be upbeat and ride on the giddy wave this recent trip caused. I'm hoping the little sparks of story and character and setting ideas that began floating around my head during this trip will get me writing steadily again. The Chateau de Chenonceau and Carcassonne's walls and towers struck me as sort of magical and fairy tale, and the countryside and coast were so beautiful. Returning to Paris makes me finally want to write that story set there that's been floating around in my head for too long. I need to finish the next Chronicles of Tournai book (and maybe this trip did shake some things loose because the end of that is finally coming together!), but after I finish, we'll see where my imagination takes me...

In the meantime, while I let my subconscious decide where we'll go next, here are a few of the (hundreds of) pictures I took while I was away.

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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+.

​Today, I'm sharing a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air, the first Elemental Magicae book. Edmund is demisexual and the heir to the throne of Thalassa, and has to make an alliance marriage with the queen of a neighboring kingdom. Arden is bi and trans and the queen's brother. He and Edmund absolutely should not fall in love, but of course they do. Then Edmund is accused of trying to assassinate the queen, Arden frees him from the dungeon, and they both run. But before any of that happens, this is when Arden first sees Edmund.

You can find out more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Also, A Dance of Water and Air (along with its sequel!) is 50% off at Smashwords this month, so it's a good time to give it a try. Thanks for reading today!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 continuing my first kisses theme and moving on to Edmund and Arden in A Dance of Water and Air. Edmund has been falsely accused of trying to murder the queen and thrown in the dungeon. Arden stages a rescue, which results in an unexpected kiss.

You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 decided to share a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air, the first Elemental Magicae book, today. Edmund and Arden are princes from neighboring kingdoms, and Edmund is supposed to marry Arden's older sister in an alliance marriage. Which is a problem as the two princes become closer. (This is a little more than six sentences. Sorry!)

You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. NineStar Press has another coupon code for 50% off a purchase through May 17th (use Narrative0503), including on A Dance of Water and Air and my other books and lots of others. Thanks for reading!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 giving you a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air today because it (and other trans and nonbinary books) are on sale at NineStar for the next few days. And since we unexpectedly got a little snow today (more than flurries but nothing that stuck), here's a little scene with some snow.

If you'd like to know more about A Dance of Water and Air, you can find it here, and it's 35% off at NineStar through the 11th if you were waiting to give it a try. Thanks for reading!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 have a little more from A Dance of Water and Air for you this week. Edmund has been accused of trying to assassinate the queen and thrown in the dungeon, and Arden is about to help him escape. (I went a little over the sentence limit, but I thought it was necessary this time. Sorry!)

If you'd like to know more about A Dance of Water and Air, you can find it here. Thanks for reading!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 have a little more from A Dance of Water and Air for you today. I'll probably start snippeting from something else soon (maybe even a bit of A Harmony of Fire and Earth, which I'm working on the first edit of now). 

You can find out more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading today!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 have more from A Dance of Water and Air for you today. This is a scene in which Edmund is walking in the gardens of Aither's castle. I went over six sentences, but I thought it needed to be finished out.

​He drifted closer to the pond. It was the only body of water he’d seen since arriving, and it wasn’t much of one— far too small for swimming. Suddenly the pang of loss for home and the sea was almost unbearable. He missed his daily swims far more than he’d thought he would. Missed seeing the water every day too. He sat on the low stone wall that surrounded the pond and reached down to dip his fingers into the water.

It was shockingly cold, but the tiny hand that wrapped around one of his fingers was even more of a shock. He let out a strangled yelp even as he realized what it must be. A tiny head broke the surface of the pond and looked up at him. Her skin was a pale turquoise, her hair a deeper blue-green, and it spread out around her, long and wavy, on the water.

“Hello, Water Prince,” the undine said in a voice like water tumbling over stones. 

​

You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading today!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. 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 snippeting from A Dance of Water and Air again this weekend, but I've skipped ahead a little. Arden has been asked by his sister the queen to show Edmund around and acquaint him with Aither's court. Here they are meeting to go for a ride in the area surrounding the castle.

You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading!