If you have been waiting to subscribe to the StarDance Press newsletter, now is a good time! Coming Thursday is the EXCLUSIVE release of Part 2 of Julia’s story (and no worries if you were not able to download the first part–there’s a link to that in the email as well). Part 1 left off with Julia determined to uncover a secret, and Part 2 shows us how that’s going. Part 3, hopefully coming this fall, will wrap up the story!
These story snippets have been so much fun to write. They have a very different feel from either the novels or the short stories I’ve written in this world previously, being much more character focused, with the plot mostly existing to move along the character development. They are also giving me a chance to go a bit more in depth with some of the world-building that is only ever alluded to in my other works.
Plus, they are a fun perk for newsletter subscribers! It’s always lovely to be able to offer people a “thank-you” for subscribing to my thoughts on writing, reading, and life each month.
So again, if you haven’t already done so, now is the time to subscribe! Aside from occasional sale and new release information (and gifts, like this one), I send the newsletter out once a month, and my goal is to always make it a pleasant oasis in the midst of your busy life. And if you subscribe now and decide after a month or so that it’s not for you, you can always unsubscribe with no hard feelings.
So if Julia’s story sounds like something you’d enjoy reading, and the newsletter itself sounds like fun, subscribe today in order to get the new story on Thursday!
I took the month of January off from social media (and fiction reading, which was much, much harder), in part because I was hoping it would give me the time and space I needed to start figuring out some better ways to connect with readers and potential readers, whether it be through this blog, my newsletter, social media, or something else. Maia and Len have never had a particularly large following, and I’ve always struggled with finding ways to get their stories into the hands of more readers.
One idea that I had was that of writing little “story snippets,” or “Whitney & Davies Extras”–that is, brief scenes from the point of view of characters other than our main duo, set either during or after the books–and offering those to newsletter subscribers. The first such character I thought of, naturally, having just recently finished re-writing Magic Most Deadly, was Maia’s friend and the hostess of the house party that is the setting for the story, Julia Foy.
In the original edition of Magic Most Deadly, Julia played a much larger role than I was able to give her in the new edition, and proved to have a sneaking suspicion of magic’s existence, despite her inability to use it. I always had an idea of where I wanted to go with that idea, but was never able to fit it into any of the other books, and then some of the world-building details that developed as I wrote those books seemed to contradict the idea that a non-magic user could be aware of magic’s existence.
But Julia still had a story of her own that she wanted told, and as I started writing the story snippet for her, set at the end of Magic Most Deadly, I started to get an inkling of what that story was supposed to be. It is too much to be told in one snippet, however–especially since it develops right alongside the series. I foresee at least three parts, possibly more: the first taking place at the end of MMD, the second at the end of Glamours & Gunshots, and the third most likely happening around the time of Death by Disguise.
I’m excited to share more about Julia’s character and her story with readers! If you are interested in reading more about her, subscribe to my newsletter before the end of the month, as the first of her story snippets will be released exclusively to newsletter subscribers in the newsletter that will go out on March 1st.
I had originally planned to released a Becket snippet next, sometime this spring, but I think I’ll have to get all of Julia’s story out first, and then start exploring Becket’s character after that, later in the year.
This is a fun way for me to explore more of the world of Whitney & Davies without having to focus so exclusively on Maia and Len and the magical mysteries they are called upon to solve, and I hope it will be a fun way for readers to immerse themselves further into that world, and make it a place new readers want to come and visit and hopefully stay a while, as well.
(If you have suggestions for things you’d like to see more of in the Whitney & Davies world, or something you think would be a good draw to help attract new readers to the series, feel free to leave a comment letting me know–I’m still exploring ideas and options, and I welcome input!)
It’s been a subtle running joke in the Whitney & Davies books ever since Glamours & Gunshots that Len is a keen driver but has the most unreliable vehicle known to man. I recently started working on a holiday short story (hoping to have it ready to publish by next Christmas season, for newsletter subscribers at least if not the wider public) that opens with his car quitting on him in the middle of nowhere in Scotland. What happens as a result of that will, of course, have to be saved for the story itself, but the opening did prompt me to at last settle on the details of just what exactly Len is driving.
I knew he’d want something sporty and fast, but also practical. A 4-seater touring car–or “tourer” as they were called in Great Britain–was indicated. I knew enough about older vehicles from researching them for the second Pauline Gray novella to decide on that much. A little bit of research then led to me the Vauxhall 30-98, also known as the Vauxhall Velox tourer. It was considered a sports car for its day (perhaps not as impressive as a Bentley, I discovered as I read further, but wholly British, generally reliable (unless you’re Len), and an iconic car of England in the 1920s.
Then I found the photo above, and I knew at once that was Len’s car. Look at it! It simply screams, “Len!” to me. The only difficulty is that that particular car is a 1924 model, and int he new edition of Magic Most Deadly I establish that Len’s had an unreliable car since at least 1921. Do I allow the discrepancy to slide, or will it annoy me forevermore if I give him a car that’s three years newer than it should be? (Answer: even if I say I will let it slide, it will annoy me forever)
Then the answer came to me: clearly the above car is Len’s second vehicle, his first finally breaking down irrevocably, forcing him to buy a new one … only this one has all the same problems as the first, leading to the inevitable conclusion that the problem is not with the automobiles … it’s with Len.
That settles the discrepancy, and is also far more funny than if I had just let it slide. Poor Len!
(Adding insult to injury, I’ve decided just now, Maia has little interest in cars but is able to drive when she must, and never has the smallest amount of difficulty even with the crankiest of cars. Len finds this incredibly unfair, and Maia cannot understand why he can’t simply make them work. Alas that his magic won’t do a thing for cars!)
I think this was his first car … also a Vauxhall Velox tourer, but a 1920 model, and while very elegant, not as striking as the shiny red and silver of the 1924 model.
My editor is right–details like this may seem irrelevant at first (she is always having to remind me to include more detail in my stories), but boy do they add a lot of depth! In figuring out his car, I’ve also learned something new about Len himself, and about Maia to a certain extent. And I had a good bit of fun while doing it, too!
Next I’ll be needing to teach myself exactly how cars were manufactured in the ’20s so that I can determine whether any magic at all would work on them, or if they are immune. The rabbit-trail world-building has only just begun!
Magic Most Deadly–the new edition–will be released on November 1st, but you can pre-order your e-book edition right now!
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and many more! Click here to order your copy today so it can be delivered to your e-reader instantly on November 1st!
Oh, and that’s not all–from now through the end of November, it’s on sale for $0.99! So if you had the old edition and you’re curious to read the new, you can purchase it for less than a dollar. And if you’ve never read any of the Whitney & Davies books before, this is a great way to get introduced to the series!
When a rogue magician is murdered and secret government papers disappear, Maia and Len must race against time to find the murderer and the papers to decide the fate of all of England’s magicians.
Lennox Davies is no stranger to plots, lies, and even murder. As an agent for England’s Magical Intelligence Agency, that is all in a day’s work for him. But this time, the stakes are personal, the last loose ends from a job that ended in tragedy for him during the War—and keeping his mind on task is even trickier with the enigmatic and lovely Maia Whitney working by his side.
Maia has spent years sacrificing her own interests to those of her family. The revelation that she is a magician opens up a world of possibilities for her. Freedom—ambition—friendship. But first, she has to help Len find this murderer and recover the stolen papers. So long as her newly-discovered magic doesn’t overpower her before she even gets started.
Together, nothing can stop Maia and Len—except perhaps their own stumbling blocks. Will they be able to overcome what holds them back in time to solve the puzzle that has all of England—and beyond—hanging in the balance?
Here again is the first story of Whitney & Davies, the tale of how Maia and Len meet and work their first case together, in a brand-new revised edition. Read it and fall in love with our favorite detective team all over again!
We’ll start with the biggest news–the second edition of Magic Most Deadly will be released on November 1st, 2023. Hurray!
This means that the first edition will be archived and no longer available on October 15th.
In an attempt to streamline my social media marketing, the cover reveal for the new edition has been revealed exclusively to newsletter subscribers. If you want to see the new cover before November 1st and you aren’t already subscribed to the newsletter, sign up below (or in the box in the sidebar) and I’ll be sure to send you the newsletter with the reveal in addition to the free fantasy short story that already comes with signing up.
There might be a delay in the paperback release, but the ebook should almost certainly be out on the projected release day of November 1st, and the paperback as soon after that as is possible.
So make a note–we will say goodbye to the old edition on October 15th, and hello to the new on November 1st!
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!
Ten years ago this September, I published my first novel. It was a pretty good debut novel! But … it suffered from quite a lot of the issues that can plague first-time novelists. Such as trying to cram way too much story into one book. And not really being sure what genre it was and so veering wildly between a novel of manners, a cozy mystery, a thriller, a fantasy, and a coming-of-age novel. And trying to force the characters to conform to what the author thought should happen rather than letting them be themselves. And being about 30,000 words too long.
I’m still proud of that novel, my Magic Most Deadly. Even all of the above problems came from aiming too high rather than too low. I’m proud of the world I created, the characters and the way they came to life (despite the occasional attempt to force them into boxes they refused to fit inside), and the way that novel set the stage for the rest of the series.
But because I learned so much from that first novel and then applied it to the next one, and then learned from that and applied it to the next one, not to mention the short stories, novella, and the other books I wrote over the last ten years that also developed my abilities, I am faced with the reality that Book 1 of the Whitney and Davies series is not really a good match for Books 2 & 3 (and eventually 4), or even the supplemental stories.
So this summer I started tackling the job of rewriting Magic Most Deadly in order to tighten the story and bring it more in line with the rest of the series. The overall story will be the same, but the way in which it is written will be vastly different. It will also be getting a new cover, which will also fit better with the rest of the series (I’ll be honest, it was getting a new cover that pushed me from only thinking that one of these days I ought to rewrite MMD, to actually doing it). I’ll be sorry to say goodbye to the original cover, because I do love it, but I am also excited to see MMD look like it belongs with Glamours & Gunshots and Death by Disguise rather than being their awkward stepsister.
I am a couple thousand words into the rewrite and already pretty excited over the way subtle shadings in Maia and Len’s characters are starting to show through, and the way the story is being set up. There are a lot of challenges involved in being a self-published author, but having the ability to say, “that book I published ten years ago? Yeah, I can make that better,” and then DOING it without having to regain rights or persuade anyone that it’s worth doing is AMAZING.
I am so excited for when I can share the new-and-improved Magic Most Deadly with you all!
I wanted to share some quotes from the jurors who read Death by Disguise for the Maine Literary Awards.
“Bates delivers an absolutely worthy read that blends its dual genres of fantasy and cozy mystery well while taking readers on an adventure that is simply good fun from start to finish.”
“I really enjoyed the setting of this cozy mystery with a dash of magic – a secret college of magic operating inside Cambridge University. The detective team was delightful, as they scoured the college to solve one mystery, uncovering others along the way. As a cozy mystery, it seemed especially subtle, yet this book clearly merits the win, based on its well-executed elements of story and craft.”
Now, doesn’t that make you want to go read it? Get your copy here so that you can join in the fun of Whitney & Davies’ world!
