One Heart release day!
+ what's next?
It’s One Heart’s release day!
At thirty-five, Vincent Ezell has settled into a routine. The nonbinary bartender sleeps during the day, serves drinks at night, contemplates the mysterious pendant his biological parents left him in between, and (most importantly) avoids dating coworkers. It's isolating, but anything is better than getting ghosted again—at least, he clings to this belief until his hot new coworker melts the walls guarding his fragile heart.
Kit Clayton has broken ties with his morally bankrupt family and their billion-dollar oil company, prompting him to borrow money from a shady lender and start again on his own. Despite the challenges, his broken heart gets soothed by a cute, scrappy bartender. Kit's new life seems to be going well until the snowy winter night he disappears.
Months after getting ghosted, the still-grieving Vincent winds up reuniting with his crush—by accidentally reviving him from his icy coffin. The newly awakened necromancer's routine gets turned upside down as he works with Kit to solve the zombie’s murder, investigate his own mysterious origins, and deal with the demon following them. Everything would be easier if they weren’t now sharing a heart—Kit might have died, but Vincent's feelings for him live on.
The feedback from a few of my ARC readers has been tremendously lovely! Our grumpy necromancer, sunshiney zombie, the cameos from the Loved by the Demon gang, the new mysterious demon, and the [REDACTED] sex scene have all received phenomenal praises. No one has commented on my favorite joke yet, but maybe you could be the first.
Grab your copy of One Heart today or read for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription!
What’s next?
I’m not sure.
I have an idea rattling in my head to join the Loved by the Demon series, but the characters haven’t fully materialized in my head. Generally speaking, I’m not ready to start a draft until I have two things: A) what my protagonists want vs what they really need, and B) their names.
On the subject of names, I have a few writer pals who can start without names, but I just can’t. Maybe it’s because I grew up with a super unique name, but a name can really shape you. Did people make weird nicknames for the characters, did teachers refuse to learn to pronounce names correctly, do other people find the name aesthetically attractive or horrid, and similar questions always run through my head in my pre-creation process. The meaning behind names are often important to me, but sometimes just how they sound shape my characters’ personalities.
So… We’ll see!
I’m still battling migraines and brain fog on a daily basis and currently only work for 2-3 hours a day, so my writing will continue to be slow for a while. As I learn to manage my pain, I hope to learn how to manage my screen time more efficiently. So maybe I will drop a surprise at the end of the year, or maybe One Heart will be the only project I write and release in 2022 (Match with the Demon and Immersed were both written in 2021 before I got long COVID).
On my radar
With One Heart out in the world, I’m hoping to tackle some personal reading in October since I’ve barely done any this summer. My broken brain only has so much focus energy a day, and I had to devote that to writing.
With it being fall, I’ve got some upcoming and recent releases on my radar that feel like they’ll fit the fall vibes I want to enjoy.
Leigh Landry’s f/f Halloween-themed romance All My Hexes just came out, and I was lucky enough to score an ARC. I’ve only read a little bit, but Leigh’s writing is fun and sweet as always. There is also a scene-stealing dog who is adorable.
Dawn MacKinnon’s m/m cozy mystery Mr. Mustachio Is Falsely Accused releases October 4. Another ARC I was lucky enough to score but have also only read a few pages of. So far, it’s great! And, listen—Mr. Mustachio is a scene-stealing cat who is adorable. (Did y’all know I like animals…?)
Some Bali to Love by Carla de Guzman, out on October 15, looks like the m/f rom-com I NEED in my eyeballs ASAP. Fake dating, second chances, and unBalievable puns (Carla wrote that, not me)? Yes, please!
Plenty of you know what a fan I am of Katrina Jackson’s books, and her upcoming m/f sequel to Office Hours, Sabbatical, looks like it will have more summer vibes than fall, but I KNOW it will be cozy and sexy—which, really, is all I want in a good autumn read. Sabbatical releases October 21.
I’m very hyped for Kara Jorgensen’s m/m historical-fantasy The Reanimator’s Heart. Reluctant necromancer + revived murder victim who needs to finish his mission? Yes, that sounds a lot like something I want to read. The book releases October 25.