Category: Writing

The Alchemyst’s Mirror Cover Reveal

The Alchemyst’s Mirror Cover Reveal

Steampunk. Alchemy. Secret Societies. Tea.

Petra and Maisie Everturn just want to run their family’s tea shop, but when their explorer brother Jiordan goes missing while looking for an alchemycal artifact, none of them are safe.

Now only 2 months away, I’m excited to share the gorgeous cover for The Alchemyst’s Mirror!

What do you think? <3

The Storm King First Chapter Sneak Peak

The Storm King First Chapter Sneak Peak

There’s only one week left until release, so I wanted to share a little teaser from book 2 in the Realm of Camellia series! Read on for the first chapter, and get the rest on June 9th.

Preorder on Amazon

The Storm King cover reveal

The Storm King cover reveal

Can you believe June is almost here?!

I don’t know about you, but time is moving differently nowadays, and it’s hard to keep track anymore. But nevertheless, THE STORM KING will be released on June 9th, and today I’m sharing the cover with you!

It’s also now available to preorder for Amazon Kindle: Preorder here.

Huge thanks to everyone at Deranged Doctor Design for this stunning cover! I can’t decide if I like it more than The Starless Girl, but it’s close.

Stay tuned for more updates and excerpts from The Storm King!

Arcera Trilogy Boxset & New Covers

Arcera Trilogy Boxset & New Covers

As if I didn’t have enough going on this year (Writer’s Notebook publishing March 31, The Storm King in June), I decided to revisit the world of my Arcera novels and give them some fresh new covers. Meadowcity was first published in .

I’m also bundling all 3 books into an ebook boxset, which is now available for only 99c for a limited time.

For the first time, all three novels in the Arcera Trilogy are together in one eBook bundle. Whether for readers who are experiencing Sylvia’s adventures for the first time, or for fans who want to explore the Four Cities of Arcera again, this bundle collects the entire trilogy in one value-priced set. Now with fantastic new cover art, this set includes:

Meadowcity
The Fifth City
A Rift Between Cities

And here’s the other 3 gorgeous new covers:

Writer’s Notebook Cover Reveal & Pre-Order

Writer’s Notebook Cover Reveal & Pre-Order

The new project I’ve been working on, the Writer’s Notebook: A Guided Journal to Plan Your Story, is set to release on May 12, 2020. And I finally have the finished cover to show you!

Even more exciting…it’s now available for Pre-Order!

Amazon Barnes & NobleBook Depository

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Or are you an experienced writer, starting your next story?

Get your thoughts on paper by writing all your story ideas in this pre-organized journal.

This notebook is part blank journal, part guided story planner. There’s plenty of room for you to customize your notes, and enough guidance to help figure out your plot, characters, and publishing goals.

It’s your writer’s notebook. Now, go write your story.

It was a tough decision to finalize this cover. I had two very different designs to choose from. I tested the opinions of many writers I knew, and the response was overwhelming–the cover you see before you was the winner! Perhaps I’ll use the rejected cover for a later variation of the notebook (because I secretly love it).

But wait, you say, it’s only in paperback

True, the retailers will only have the paperback version. There WILL be an electronic version available, but since it’s going to be a PDF, it will be available through my Etsy shop once it’s released on May 12.

Since this is a journal intended to be written in, there is no point in making it a traditional ebook. Therefore, I’ve created a PDF which is capable of being used on one’s computer or tablet much the same way as one would use a paperback journal. Users will be able to write on the pages, and easily navigate from one section to another. And if you have a tablet and a stylus, you can even write on it by hand.

Looking back but mostly ahead

Looking back but mostly ahead

December is one of my favorite months despite the inevitable descent into winter, the long nights, and the dreary leafless trees here in New England. It’s my favorite because 1- my birthday is this month, 2- I love Christmas (despite said birthday’s very close proximity), and 3- the end of the year brings a kind of refresh to everything.

Realm of Camellia Series

My biggest writing achievement of 2019 was getting The Starless Girl picked up by Limitless Publishing, and having it published in May. I decided to take the plunge and attempt traditional publishing with this series, and so far it has been a success. Yes, writing and being an author is still a lot of work, but I love it.
Just the other week I submitted the sequel to The Starless Girl to my publisher, and I have high hopes that it will be accepted and published in 2020. Fingers crossed! The working title is The Storm King.
I’m now working on fully plotting book #3, which I’ll begin writing in January.

Arcera Series

It was a long time coming, but I finally got the Arcera prequel, Sylvia in the Wilds, into paperback. At the same time, it got a lovely cover refresh. This book made me want to write more short stories–even standalones–because it was wildly popular at events. Probably because of its short length!

Events in 2020

I already have 5 events lined up for 2020, and they are going to be amazing! I was honored to be invited to Boskone in February, alongside some incredible authors. I’m currently in the works with them on my schedule, and I’m looking forward to being on some awesome panels and programs. I’ll also be attending ConnectiCon again in July, as well as a brand new convention close by– the Springfield Comic Con. I’ll have to come up with some cosplays!
Check out my whole schedule here.

Me and Thistle at Book Fiend Reader’s Fest in Norwich Nov 2019

New Project

I have a brand new project that I’m itching to share with the world. You might have heard about it if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram–it’s a writer’s notebook. Part guided journal, part blank notebook, it’s meant to help writer’s plan their stories by organizing their notes and guiding them with several plot structures. After years of bullet-journaling, and planning 7 novels (5/7 have been written, and 4 published), I’ve had a lot of time to get myself organized to tell a story. The writer’s notebook is currently being beta-tested by some writer friends of mine, and I can’t wait to get it finished.

A draft version I got printed for my Beta testers. Not the final cover!


I’m also working on a website to go with it. I’m planning on providing some resources for writers to coincide with the notebooks. Yep, I said notebooks, I’m planning on several other notebooks with slightly different content: for teens, for brand new writers, and one for fantasy writers.

Want to know more? Sign up for the mailing list, and check out the My Writer’s Notebook Facebook page.

Side HustleLD Writes & Designs

Some of you may also know that I have an Etsy shop where I sell bookmarks. Well, this year I made hundreds of bookmarks.
They went to 36 different States (California and Texas having the most), and
7 other countries (including Australia, France, Italy, UK, and Greece).
A few of my bookmarks have gotten a little “Bestseller” flag on Etsy, which makes my little author heart smile.
I’ve also had awesome custom and wholesale orders from local bookstores.
I’m looking forward to a new year with the shop, and adding new designs!

But mostly

We even managed a flight to Florida to see family! He loved the beach.

I’m super happy with my new work/life balance. I wasn’t sure how juggling full-time-parenthood was going to go with my writing career. No, it hasn’t been easy, but I love it.

Having a creative outlet is the best thing I can do for my brain! A lot of people (even before I had my son) ask me, how do you find the time to do all of this? And I shrug and laugh, but really, I can’t not do all these things. I have to.

I love having projects and creating things, either with my hands, my brain, or my computer. I don’t find the time. I make it.

Cheers to a great year behind us, and to a great year before us.
Happy New Year’s to you all!

H.L. Burke’s Cover Reveal for Heart of the Curiosity

H.L. Burke’s Cover Reveal for Heart of the Curiosity

I am excited to take part in the cover reveal for one of my favorite indie/hybrid authors, H.L. Burke! Her new steampunk fantasy, Heart of the Curiosity will be released on June 27, 2019.

First, about H.L. Burke

Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic. 

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture. 

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

Now, onto the cover reveal!

Wow! I can’t wait to read this in June! What a great cover. I also hear there are snails involved in this book….

The secret lies with the Heart.

Born with a magical knack for manipulating emotions, Leodora’s only dream is to ensure her talented little sister dances on the biggest, brightest stage in the Republic: The Curiosity, a grand old theater of tradition and innovation. After escaping a cruel carnival, Leo secures her sister a place in the Curiosity’s chorus line, and herself a job as a professional audience member, swaying the crowd’s mood with her magic. The girls have a home for the first time in their lives.

Then a tragic accident darkens the theater. A greedy businessman begins blackmailing Leo, and financial woes threaten to close the show forever. The Curiosity’s sole hope lies in a mythical power source hidden beneath the maze-like passages and trapdoors of the theater—the Heart. And Leo’s only friend Paxton, nephew of the theater’s stagemistress, is the key to finding it.

While Leo and Paxton hunt for the Heart, the blackmailer’s threats loom larger. Mysterious figures, cryptic clues, and deadly traps hinder the search at every turn. If the friends cannot recover the Heart in time, Leo and her sister will be cast out of the only home they’ve ever known, and the final curtain will fall on The Curiosity.

Enter a world reminiscent of The Greatest Showman, with a puzzle worthy of Sherlock Holmes and National Treasure, in this new Steampunk Fantasy from H. L. Burke.

You can pre-order Heart of the Curiosity from Uncommon Universes Press here:

Amazon * B&N * Apple * Kobo * Uncommon Universes Press

Or follow H.L. Burke online for more of her writing:

Facebook * FB Reader Group * Twitter * Instagram * Website

The Starless Girl Cover Reveal

The Starless Girl Cover Reveal

I’m so excited to finally share the cover for The Starless Girl!  Release day is May 14th.

Pre-order opens May 4th. I’ll be giving away some very cool swag packs for pre-ordering, and everyone who pre-orders can enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card! More info soon.

The Starless Girl and Readers of Realms

The Starless Girl and Readers of Realms

What a great day! It’s 50 degrees here in Connecticut which feels like it’s summer weather. Despite only getting four hours of sleep last night because my tiny human loves to see me all hours of the day, I’m in a great mood!

The first book in my Realm of Camellia series has an official new name, and an official release date!

The Starless Girl, through Limitless Publishing, will drop on May 14th, and will be available for pre-sale on May 4th.


To gear up for the release, I’ve opened a reader’s group on Facebook. Join for exclusive content and be the first to find out updates on all of the Realm of Camellia books. I’ve also got some giveaways in the works.

Join Readers of Realms
Update! Realm of Camellia book 1 to be published by Limitless Publishing

Update! Realm of Camellia book 1 to be published by Limitless Publishing

If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably heard that my next book will be published by Limitless Publishing! It’s the first book in the Realm of Camellia series. I won’t say the name right now, since we’re possibly making a change to the title, but the series will definitely be called the Realm of Camellia series! The book will be published sometime this year, I’ll have more information soon, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Check out my author bio on Limitless Publishing’s website, and join my newsletter list for more updates.