Musings & more….
The map of Cascadia (by Amanda at Eternal Geekery) appears at the beginning of Awry (Conduit 1) but (for now) the map of North America only appears in the back of the limited edition. I’m posting both here so I can add the link to the Extra and Freebies page. 😁
I usually write a ‘day after a new release’ post and then a ‘week after a release’ post, but alas I have done neither after the release of Awry (Conduit 1). And not because the release wasn’t a success – it really was! Thank you all so, so much. At one point, likely for a very brief moment, Awry was nestled lovingly between Yarros (Fourth Wing) and Mass (Crescent City, A Court of Thorns and Roses, etc) on the sci-fi/fantasy bestseller list on Apple Books.
Let me find the screenshot I shared on my socials.
So thank you, thank you for following me into a new universe and a slightly new format (present tense) and a slightly different tenor (the present tense comes with a certain natural intensity) and slightly new structure (an ongoing story where the overall plot is continued through several books).
[side note] And yes, the Conduit Series is a slooooow burn why choose urban fantasy romance. This means that Zaya will eventually have multiple partners/fated mates. There are REASONS (plot and story) for this choice. Yes, actual overall universe reasons. Some of you might have already figured it out. 😊
Since the release, I’m getting the sense that it is slightly disconcerting to some of my lovely readers that I appear to not be actively writing Conduit 2 (or Archivist 3, for that matter).
Yes, I’m currently deep into writing a why choose duology set in the same universe as the Conduit (not a slow burn! 😜), which I’m referring to as Mirth or Mirth 1 in my updates on Facebook and Instagram.
If you’ve been reading me since Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) (or even before) then you’ve been on this journey with me before – aka the expansion of a universe.
Opening up a new universe takes time. I’m sorry, it just does. Plus, the books that make up that universe aren’t wholly independent of each other.
For example, (as some of you have already picked up) Reconstructionist 1 was supposed to fall after Dowser 4. Yes, I already knew the entire story arc (at least in brief) of the Reconstructionist trilogy BEFORE writing Dowser 4 (in which, spoiler alert, Kett is already stalking Wisteria). And AT THE SAME TIME, I already knew the entire arc of the second Dower trilogy (Dowser 4, 5, and 6).
That’s a minimum of six books in my head at once. At least six. With each of them informing the other in some way, then – in that particular case – calling back (and forward) to the Oracle.
So … the universe of the Conduit and Mirth (so far) is the same. A slow build of slightly (in this case) entwined stories.
I’m almost finished writing the first Mirth book. And I know exactly what occurs in the second book (it’s two parts of an overarching story).
I also know all the major plot points of the next three (or four?) Conduit books. And this morning, I sharpened the structure of each of those books in a major way. A breakthrough, if you will.
[side note: I also know the plot of Archivist 3, including two major reveals that bookend that story. I also know the plot of the next three ebooks in the Misfit series and the plot of Jasmine’s first book].
BUT IT TAKES TIME TO WRITE A BOOK. Before my drug-resistant chronic daily migraine (of almost four and half years now), I might have been able to write four (average length) books a year. Now I just do my best.
[FYI I deleted a large section of this post because it went places I didn’t want to go].
I just really want to thank you for embarking on this new journey with me and to assure my lovely readers I’m working, slowly and steadily on all the books. And I promise to release them as quickly as I am able (though I might hold back Mirth 1 until I can make sure Mirth 2 is available very quickly after).
I’m dedicated to writing all through 2024 and taking better care of myself, which means there won’t be as many extras and freebies, and I will be less personally present on social media, etc, but hopefully, there will be more books!
As always, ‘shares’ and reviews are welcomed and appreciated.
[Final side note 😂] if you’ve been waiting to use a credit or your subscription to grab Awry in audio, it’s slowly appearing on all the retailers (not just direct from me) including Audible and Spotify, etc. I’ll update the links on the main page when I get a chance.
😘
Muta.
In his actual form.
Although he looks like a snake — a long gold body with dorsal blotches of dark brown that form inverted triangles, ending in a horny spined tail — Muta is actually an aspect of the divine who was trapped in the body of a snake. As a punishment, perhaps. At least according to family legend.
So kind of like me, but not really. I have opposable thumbs and a more well-rounded diet. But Muta has the wicked fangs and venom, among other otherworldly tricks.
It’s also possible he’s one of my ancestors. Again, depending on how much of the family mythos can be wholly believed.
– Awry (Conduit 1) Chapter Two
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Instead of unlatching the gate, I climb it. The fencing is about six feet high on this edge of the property. Grasslands allowed to go wild stretch from here up to the house, which is set back from the bluff. A long, sandy beach stretches out as far as the eye can see — with enhanced or normal sight — from either side of that jagged, rocky outcropping. A low-lying beach punctuated by massive rock formations jutting out of the surf runs to the right. To the far south, near the very edge of the property, dunes begin to rise.
Except ‘property’ really isn’t the right word to encompass the mass of land that the Conduit and the Gage family occupy along the coast of Oregon. It’s a territory, really. Hectares upon hectares of land and beach. Even the foreshore is protected from public access, with both legal and essence-enforced boundaries. There’s a no-fly zone above, and a no-boating zone set between us and international waters. No entry without permission.
I can’t currently see that much of the property, of course. Not even while balanced on top of the gate. I can, however, see the conical roof of the turret tower on the main house, offset to the left on the asymmetrical structure. None of the usually ever-present soft glow emanates from its windows.
– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter Six, Zaya
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On my way to investigate my aunt’s untimely death, I chance upon a teenager with purple eyes. Her destiny is so vibrant, so intertwined with the essence that fuels all our lives, that I cannot stand to see her caged and crushed.
What I don’t know is that rescuing the teen isn’t chance or happenstance at all. It isn’t just another random bit of destiny I can fix. It’s a snag in the weave of the universe that unravels … everything.
I am exactly who I am meant to be. I belong to no one but the universe. My destiny was spun and measured before I was born. I never really had a choice. But the path that brought me to becoming the Conduit at least a century before my time has been manipulated. And along the way, I’ve somehow lost far more than I ever knew I had.
Friends.
Lovers.
Soul-bound mates.
More than just my life has been twisted, all our fates ripped away.
And I remember none of it.
Awry is the first book in the Conduit Series, which is a secondary-world urban fantasy romance. Content warnings and tropes/themes can be found at the beginning of the book or on the author’s website.
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