I had so many plans for my writing this summer.
But as it often happens, those plans had to bend in order to accommodate real life. Back at the beginning of the year I talked about how difficult it was to write with the world in a tailspin and my kids underfoot, and that definitely hasn’t changed. If anything, the state of the world has gotten worse.
And I have both kids home unexpectedly this summer thanks to a broken arm and some financial factors. So my days are now divided between my day job and my kids and other family obligations–with writing coming in at a distant third place.
My original publication plan was to have Book Four in the Fay of Skye series out in October, around the same time as Theft of Magic came out last year. But that simply isn’t going to happen this year. My publishing company is doing a holiday-themed contemporary romance anthology that will be published around Thanksgiving, so I’m pushing Book Four to December.
So that’s the delay. Now it’s time for the reveal!
Book Four in the Fay of Skye series will be called Secret Magic.
If you’ve already read Memories of Magic, you can probably guess whose story this is, but for those of you who haven’t, it’s time for Evie Finn and Percy Seward!
Evie was first introduced in the epilogue of Essential Magic as a student at the Fay School in Glasgow, and appeared as a minor character in both Theft of Magic and Memories of Magic. She is Ronan McCarrick’s adopted sister (not officially–but they sort-of adopted each other as members of a street gang in Dublin) and recently finished her magical training.
Percy is the youngest brother of the Seward siblings. He was referenced semi-frequently throughout the series, but up to this point has been on the Continent and not actually in any of the books. He returned home during the course of Memories of Magic and was present for the epilogue. He is employed by the British Army in intelligence and diplomatic service, and has almost no magic–except for the ability to understand other languages and a tiny bit of fire starting.
I have already started the book, and I am very excited about writing it–it’s just that I don’t have enough time to devote to it to get it finished and polished before October. My kids will be back to school on September 5th, and I’m planning to write most of the book in September and October.
Here’s a link to my Pinterest board for Secret Magic. There’s not much on the board yet, but eventually there will be character-inspiration pictures, lots of period references, costuming ideas, location pics, and more.
I’ll be revealing the cover of Secret Magic later next month, but if you’re signed up to my newsletter, you’ll get to see it in just a few days! Click here to sign up, and in addition to getting early access and exclusive newsletter extras, you’ll also receive my short story “Love at Dawn” from Crazy Little Spring Called Love for free! I can’t send that out until August 2nd because that’s when my rights revert, but anyone who is signed up to my newsletter by then (or who signs up in the future) will get the story.
Here’s the blurb:
Sometimes mortals need a little push from a god and goddess to fall in love…
Leora has been in love with one man her whole life. Unfortunately, the man standing beside her on the dais about to recite the words of the Sacred Marriage Rite isn’t her dream husband, Linden. It’s her nemesis, Reed. And yet–the way he’s looking at her from behind his mask makes her burn with desire.
Reed sees Leora and nearly curses the gods. In this ceremony, the Harvest God and Dawn Goddess will consummate their wedding using Leora and Reed’s bodies. Tomorrow, he and Leora will be sworn to secrecy and have no memory of the ritual or the identity of their partner. If either reveals the truth, they’ll risk offending the gods and damning their country to twenty-five years of famine and drought. Reed doesn’t want secrecy and a coupling he’ll immediately forget. He wants Leora for real—and for always.
Will they defy the rules of the gods for love? Or is that what the gods intended all along?
In the meantime, I have a story in a science fiction romance anthology coming out next week! It’s called “The Pirates and the Pacifist” and the anthology is Love Across the Universe. I’ll have two blog posts about it next week, including an excerpt! So stay tuned.
Here’s the blurb for Pirates:
Kai doesn’t believe in violence. Sam and Dek believe the ends justify the means. Will passion be enough to bridge the gap between the pacifist and the pirates?
Kaikoa meets Sameer and Dek—leaders of a crew of sometimes space pirates—when they abduct Kai and keep him from attending an important peace summit. But when the pirates’ payment never appears and a gunship shows up instead, Kai, Sam, and Dek find themselves on the same side of a galactic conflict–and tumbling headlong into a reckless passion.
Now they are searching for the truth about who hired the pirates to keep Kai from the summit—and whether the enemy wants one side to win, or simply chaos in the galaxy. But when the allies find the ones who double-crossed them on a terraformed resort moon, will Dek and Sam follow their new lover’s pacifist wishes, or will the pirate code of an eye for an eye tear their fragile threesome apart?
Pre-order your copy of Love Across the Universe now!
Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | GooglePlay
Cara McKinnon 