Once again, Glamours & Gunshots is part of the Epic Sale of Beloved SFF–over 50 books personally recommended by someone who read and loved them. This is my favorite sale of the year, so I’m excited it has come around again!
G&G has plenty of company in the “historical fantasy” category this year, some of which are new to me, so I’ll be picking those up for my e-reader library!
As mentioned in my previous post, in honor of this sale you can also pick up Magic Most Deadly and Death by Disguise for $0.99 from now until August 23 as well (the Beloved SFF sale only goes until the 22, but I always keep my books on sale a day longer in case of stragglers). That’s all of the current novels in the series for less than $3.00!
Running from August 18-23, all three novels currently published in the Whitney & Davies series will be on sale for $0.99 each!
This sale is part of the “Beloved SFF Sale,” which is near and dear to my heart, as the only way an author is invited to place one’s book in the sale is if someone else has recommended it as a book they love. Glamours & Gunshots was first nominated for the sale three years ago, and I have loved participating in it ever since.
This year is particularly special, as it won’t be long before the original edition of Magic Most Deadly is archived for good. I am so excited about the new 10th anniversary edition that I’ve been working away on this summer, but there’s a part of me that can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for this debut novel of mine. I’m glad to give it one last chance to shine before it is replaced by its newer and better version.
Then there’s Death by Disguise, my award-winning novel! I’m happy to think readers will get a chance to check out the book the Maine Literary Award jurors dubbed, “simply good fun from start to finish.”
The supplementary books–the Christmas novella of While Shepherds Watch and the short story collection Magic and Mayhem–are not included in this sale, but at $1.99 and $2.99 respectively, you can still pick up the entire series for less than $8.00 total!
So starting August 18, make sure to check out the Whitney & Davies page here on the website to find links to purchase any or all of these books while they’re still on sale!
Here is a fun challenge for fans of the Whitney & Davies series!
If you’ve read any of the books in this series, what other reasonably current books/series would you say have a similar feel? So that one could say, “If you enjoyed ___ book [or author, or series], you’ll enjoy Whitney & Davies!
One of my biggest marketing struggles has been trying to figure out current authors whose writing has a similar feel to mine (or at least, current authors with enough name recognition to make a difference) to whom I can point in that way. “Agatha Christie with magic” is a cool tagline, but unfortunately, the major audience for Agatha Christie books is going to be confused by suddenly having a fantasy book promoted to them–likewise fans of Diana Wynne Jones (who some have been kind enough to say my writing reminds them of) would have legitimate cause to be grumpy if they feel they’ve been tricked into buying a murder mystery set in a fantasy world rather than a delightfully twisty, tricky middle grade or YA fantasy.
So, for readers of my books–what current, at least mildly popular authors, books, and/or series would you say share a similar feel and flavor to Whitney & Davies? As I continue to work on rewriting MMD to make it the best possible start to this series, I would love to start getting these books out there to a wider audience. Finding books with a similar vibe to these is a good step in that direction. I would be so grateful for my readers’ insight into this!
This book was such a challenge for me to write. I made several false starts, even had one entire draft written and scrapped it, and finally set it aside to work on other projects for a time. After writing the four short stories of Magic & Mayhem, I was able to sit down and figure out the story that wanted to be told in this book, and it all flowed from there.
One of the key changes between the first attempts and the final story was moving it ahead three years in time from the end of Magic Most Deadly, rather than having it be set immediately afterward. Having Maia at the end of her apprenticeship rather than the beginning was the key to getting the rest of the character developments to work.
The other key change from earlier drafts was the inclusion of the character of Helen Radcliffe. Initially I simply wanted Maia to have a female magician friend, but Helen quickly came to life with her own history, goals, and dreams. I keep telling myself that one of these days I’m going to write a short story featuring Helen so that she gets the spotlight rather than having to share it with anyone, but so far the right story hasn’t come along. I hope it does soon!
The side characters have always been as much of a delight to write as Maia and Len themselves. In Magic Most Deadly, it was Ellie and Merry, Maia’s sisters, and Julia and Dan, Maia and Len’s mutual friends, who were the highlights–although Aunt Amelia stole the limelight whenever she was on stage as well. In Glamours and Gunshots it was Helen, and Len’s valet Becket came more into his own as well. Glamours and Gunshots also introduced the character of Gwen, who becomes much more of a vital character in Death by Disguise … but you can find that out for yourself on Tuesday, Nov 8!
Once again, Glamours and Gunshots is featuring in the Epic Sale of Beloved SFF. (SFF, here, stands for Science Fiction and Fantasy). Running from September 10-14, all the sale books are being offered for $0.99 or free. You can’t beat that!
Click here to go to the sale page and check out all 42 of the books on there.
So if you’ve been wanting to collect the entire Whitney & Davies collection, now’s your chance, plus you have the opportunity to snag a heartfelt, cozy sci-fi book at the same time.
While you’re still here, don’t forget to sign up for my monthly newsletter! It’s a great way to keep up with sales, publishing news, and other fun stuff that doesn’t always make it to the blog. Plus you get a free short story when you sign up!
I often hesitate to post about upcoming books and publications, because so often life ends up turning my plans upside down–or the book refuses to be written–or the prior book takes longer to be written than planned and so this book has to be pushed off yet again–and so on and so forth. However, I also do like to keep my readers informed as to what they can expect, and so with the qualifier that these plans are very, very loosely held, here is what to look out for in 2022, and possibly beyond.
Secrets of the Past. The third and final (at least for now) Pauline Gray novella will be coming soon–possibly even this month, though a March publication date is more likely.
Death by Disguise. The third novel in the Whitney & Davies series, following after Glamours & Gunshots. (The current chronological order of the series, for those who are curious, is: Magic Most Deadly, The Third Thief*, Masks & the Magician*, While Shepherds Watch, Glamours & Gunshots, Death by Disguise.) My original plan for 2022 was to have this published by April. Substantial rewrites are making that look less and less likely, but I am still intending to publish it this year, just most likely later than the original goal.
Another collection of short stories in the Whitney & Davies collection, these to feature some of the smaller cases the team solves between Glamours & Gunshots and Death by Disguise. This collection is tentatively titled Sorcery and Suspicion, but we’ll see if the title lasts throughout the actual writing and organizing of the stories!
Those three books make up my publishing plans for this year. I have not forgotten about the Caledonia sequel I hinted at however many months ago (either here or on one of my social media sites, I can’t remember now where I talked about it). That story is still proving recalcitrant, and since it is more important to me to get it right rather than publish it fast, I’ve stopped trying to set a publication date for it. It is still happening, just … not very fast.
I also have two more Whitney & Davies novels planned, and my hope is to publish one if not both in 2023. After that … who knows? We shall see where the muse strikes!
Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the upcoming books, or an urgent request for a story that you are hoping to read, or a character you’d like to see featured in an upcoming story, or if you just want to talk about the books! I always enjoy chatting with my readers.
*found in the short story collection Magic & Mayhem
To my surprise and delight, Amazon has noticed the lowered ebook prices for the Whitney & Davies series and has obligingly dropped prices on the paperbacks as well–which is something I’ve heard about happening to other authors, but have never experienced myself before now. This is entirely Amazon’s doing, and I have no control over how much or how little they lower the price, or for how long it will last, and they don’t actually bother to inform the authors about this to begin with, so when I say, hey, if you want a paperback you should get it now, that’s not just me being all salesperson-y, that’s because I genuinely don’t know how long they’ll keep the prices lowered.
I don’t know about you, but this sure seems to me to be a great time to get in some early Christmas shopping!
(Disclaimer: if you’ve been around this website for a while you know that I prefer to promote sites other than Amazon for buying my books. Alas, only Amazon is providing these prices right now, so I am reluctantly bowing to corporate rule and promoting it. Believe me, if I could offer you these prices through Bookshop.org or your local indie bookstore, I would!)
“Of all the ghastly holidays, Christmas is the worst!”
When apprentice magician Maia Whitney’s plans for a quiet Christmas with no obligations toward anyone are disrupted by a friend in need, she resigns herself to yet another holiday filled with indigestion and artificial cheer. Things look up when her friend and fellow magician Len Davies joins the adventure, but Maia is still far from feeling merry or bright.
Len would go with Maia to the ends of the earth, but this crumbling manor in the remote Yorkshire countryside tests even his goodwill toward man. He doesn’t object to the ghost supposedly roaming the halls, but he wishes he knew just what has his host’s young sister so scared. To top it all off, he can barely spend any time with Maia, as she is so busy helping her friend.
Will ghosts, curses, cads, and thieves ruin this Christmas for everyone? Not if the intrepid duo of Whitney & Davies has anything to say about it! It will take all their magical abilities and ingenuity, but they are determined to make this a happy Christmas for all.
*****
Today is the day! Christmas comes early for all you lucky readers, because While Shepherds Watch is published today! Click here for links to Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Kobo, and more.
I honestly had so much fun writing this novella. It reminded me of all the reasons I began writing the Whitney & Davies series in the first place–the sheer delightfulness of these characters, and the enjoyment of adding a magical twist to a traditional British mystery. I wrote it when I ought to have been working on any number of other writing projects–the third Pauline Gray novella (so close to being ready for publication, guys), the next Whitney & Davies novel (set in Cambridge, no less!), the next collection of Whitney & Davies short stories (all plotted out, just not written), the next adventure for Riss & co aboard the Caledonia (my heart’s children!) … but I threw all those out the windows and just wrote for fun, and as a result, I have this lovely Christmas gift for all of you.
And that’s not all! Click on the following titles to take advantage of a Whitney & Davies sale, because every ebook in the series is on sale for $0.99 this week to celebrate the new release.
Happy reading, friends, and be sure to spread the word (and Christmas cheer) about While Shepherds Watch and the Whitney & Davies sale! I can’t wait for you all to share in this new adventure with Maia and Len.
I am taking a small break from my focus on Pauline Gray (I have now entered the editing phase of Book 3!) to let you all know of a fabulous science fiction/fantasy sale happening over these next seven days! This sale features SFF books that have been personally recommended by various readers, book bloggers, and authors as a story that they personally loved. There are over 50 books on the list, and all of them on sale for $0.99!
Not only are there a bunch of books here that I am eager to try, I am happy to say that Glamours & Gunshots is one of the recommended books. Yes! For this week only, you can purchase Glamours & Gunshots for $0.99!
Maia Whitney has held men as they died before, but never in peacetime, and never in her aunt’s front hall. And this unexpected death is only the beginning. Someone is stealing magic and life from England’s magicians and using them for his or her own gain. No one is safe, not even Magical Intelligence Agent Lennox Davies, whose targeting by the parasite brings him his own set of challenges to work through. Though she is only an apprentice, Maia will not sit back and wait for others to bring about justice, and teams up with Len as she did once before. Using a blend of magical skills and detective work, together Maia and Len dig deep into a case that hasits roots buried in the shadows of the past … and could leave one of them magic-less forever.
Glamours & Gunshots was one of my most challenging books to write–sequels are never easy, and this one seemed particularly recalcitrant, going through several different iterations before at last coming together in its final form. I was all the prouder of it for that very reason when I was finally able to publish it. It also has one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever written in any story–but I won’t tell you which scene that is. Feel free to guess in the comments if you’ve read it!
This is my first time participating in a sale with other SFF authors, and it’s pretty great seeing G&G up there on the list with all those other titles. I can’t wait to check out all my new reading material, and I hope you find many to enjoy as well!
So go ahead, visit the sale page, and stock up your e-reader! What are you waiting for?
Hello friends! Long time no chat. I wonder why? Oh, that’s right.
Moving Day!
We bought a house! Which I have no photos of yet because we’ve been too busy moving in, ha. I do have a few shots of fun features, though.
Hyacinth growing in our front garden, a pantry AND a china cupboard, a study/sewing room all my very own, and the girls turning the door off an unnecessary outbuilding into a seesaw of sorts as Carl demolished it.
Moving in a time of pandemic is … challenging, to say the least. One doesn’t exactly want to buy a sofa without first testing it. And how can one tell if flatware is going to suit one’s hand without hefting it? Not to mention choosing paint colors …
But we’re managing. We have plates, bowls, and glasses now, even if we’re still using plasticware. We all have beds, mattresses, sheets, and blankets. Three out of the four of us have dressers. We have no couch, but we have a dining room table and chairs. The books are still packed away (weep, weep), but the boxes are easily accessible, for a change.
And speaking of books …
As the title of this post indicated, I am extending the sale on Magic Most Deadly, From the Shadows, and Candles in the Dark until the end of April. Since the quarantine seems to be extending (at least in many places), so shall the sale! So until May 1, those three books are still FREE.
And hey, if you’ve already downloaded and enjoyed those stories, Glamours and Gunshots and Magic and Mayhem are not on sale, but are still less than the price of the wonderful coffee drinks none of us are able to indulge in right now (do I miss Carl’s and my weekly dates to our favorite coffee shop in Cambridge right now? Boy howdy, do I miss them). So you could definitely pick up one or both of them to round off your Whitney & Davies collection as it stands right now without it breaking the bank!
Hang in there, friends. In the words of the inimitable Red Green, “I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.”
