October Musings

Kickstarter Fulfillment, Book Two, Christmas on KU, and HearthCon 2026!

Hello friends!

I hope you are all doing well. The leaves are slowly changing color, my pumpkins are growing, but it's still in the 90's here in California! Oh well. My family and I will be making our annual pilgrimage to Apple Hill this weekend and there will be apple donuts, caramel apples, apple cider, and fudge for everyone!

I love the changing of the seasons. For most of us, Autumn is a time to start over in many ways. We go back to school or send our kids off to school, we start football, marching band, and dark academia. So, we ramp up and somehow, things slow down. As the nights grow longer, there will hopefully be more time to sit by a fire and read cozy books while drinking your hot beverage of choice. All good things.

I have some exciting news: I finished the first draft of book 2 in the Ravensong Duology, Springtime with the Elf King! It was such a joy to write, but getting the ending right has been a battle! Now that my draft is written, I get to go back in and thread a bunch of relevant arcs and info I didn't even know until it came around time to write about it! That's why I love drafting, you go along with your story and all of a sudden--"Oh! THAT'S why she doesn't like him." Then you get to weave it through the back of the story.

This is the stage where emotional relationships deepen and connection grows.

I also get to come upon my *name the town here* notes and actually name stuff! lol. Good times. I'll be working on getting this book as amazing as I can, then it will be off to my trusted beta readers, back to me for changes, then to the editor. This is all in anticipation of a Spring 2027 release!

I am working on the cover art and want it to be perfect! It's looking very much wild at this point, so I can't show any sneak peeks.

Kickstarter: I finally received my last box of physical art swag, so now it's time for stuffing envelopes and boxes. I start on fulfillment today! I already ordered all international books to be printed and shipped through Bookvault, now it's on to my US friends.

This weekend, Oct 3 & 4th, is an online event called HearthCon 2026. It is an online-only writing/book convention all about cozy fantasy books--and I am a panelist this year! It's a lovely opportunity for aspiring writers to learn more about the craft of writing and to be introduced to new, amazing authors. I highly recommend you join in live, though recordings will be made available for anyone to watch at their leisure on youtube. See the schedule below. I will be on Friday night's Winter Cozy Panel at 9pm PST. Check out more here.

Christmas with the Elf King is now officially back on KU, so check it out!! Enjoy!

Until next time, I hope you have a lovely fall!

Love. Lenore