Heartbreak… the gift that keeps on giving.

Free paranormal romance book from the fabulous JADE BONES inside, a sad announcement, and an update from the writing cave.

How are you going, friends and fellow book devourers?

My September is off to a rocky start. This month is my fifth authorversary and it’s with a heavy heart that I have to begin what should be a celebration month with this sad announcement.

First off, however, I want to make sure we get to the good stuff. I’ve got a delicious subscriber gift ready to be downloaded as this month’s paranormal romance morsel.

Second, I’ll rip off the band-aid and tell you my not-so-happy news.

Third, I’ve got an update from the writing cave because transparency is important to me. Sometimes, no matter how hard we work, inspiration from the Muse is as illusive and fickle as the great artists and storytellers of yore bemoaned.

Let’s get cracking.

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Eek… I’m thrilled to be giving this book a shout out!

If you’ve been with me a while, then you know the drill. It’s the first newsletter of the month, which means it’s time to do my paranormal romance author spotlight.

For anyone new here, here’s the inside scoop.

My author friends and I have gotten together to offer you—our fabulous book devourers—a series of delicious literary snacks. These exclusive subscriber downloads have been going ALL YEAR so make sure you backtrack and grab any goodies you may have missed. Plus, you’ll get to meet so many awesome paranormal romance authors along the way.

Without further ado, onto the star of this month. UNDEAD TO RITES was written by my supremely hugable and crazy-talented Aussie friend,

Jade Bones

.

This city has always hated me. I've spent my life trying to save up enough money to clear my mom's debts—may she, at least, rest in peace—and get out of here. But right when I'm banking a huge bag of money to do just that... Bam. I'm dead.

And then I'm alive again. Which would be great, except it happens again. And again.

Now, I need to figure out if I owe someone a fruit basket for bringing me back to life... or if they're just trying to kill me and doing a really crap job of it.

To complicate things, three super hot mercenaries—Darion, Silas, and Miles—have made it their mission to look out for me. They're all supes, by the way, although they won't tell me what kind. All I know is they won't let me handle this alone, no matter how hard I try, and they're starting to break through my walls as easily as they break through bad guys' heads.

The only problem is, I can tell they have secrets.

I learned long ago never to trust people who keep secrets.

Especially because I think this secret might have something to do with my little undead problem...

Do I let them break down my walls, or will that just kill me forever this time?

UNDEAD TO RITES is a standalone reverse harem promising all the juiciness you can handle. If this one sounds like your jam, nab your copy through the link below, stat. I’ll wait.

You got your ebook? Good, then let’s rip off the band-aid real quick.

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Preorder for LIBRARIAN MATE has been cancelled.

I know, I know. If you are one of our amazing readers following the INTERSTELLAR DRAGON MATES OF DRAKKONIS roll out, then this announcement is gonna hit like a ton of bricks.

This action-packed world is one I’m writing with my bestie and motorcycle club romance queen,

K.O. Newman

. It’s steamy as all get out. A why choose, dragon shifter MC romance universe with a sexy sci-fi twist.

Trust me, these books are an absolute blast.

If you haven’t started reading them, start blitzing through them while they are still on KindleUnlimited as they’ll be going wide as soon as my ducks are all in a row for moving over to a wide distribution.

(Dislaimer: Said ducks are currently scattered, think they are majestic animals of the wild, and are not looking to get in line any time soon. Quack, quack. But still… reading on KU is fun, right?)

You can start with this beauty—REBEL MATE—a novella which sets up the world and the stakes for future books in the series with a sizzling bang.

As Kat stated in her latest post (you can read it here) we are both bummed to have had to cancel this pre-order outright.

Unfortunately, though the novel is half written, our time at the page together got disrupted for other deadlines last year and then, when my mum passed away, my writing literally ground to a stop.

However, I promise we will be returning to the page together soon, and this book is at the top of our list. Make sure you are following both of us here on Substack and we’ll keep you posted as soon as LIBRARIAN MATE is ready to be devoured.

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Update from the writing cave…

When Mum was admitted to hospital in March, my dizzying downpour of words for WEATHER WITCH ceased.

Over night, the thread was yanked from my hands by the brutal reality of what was happening. My ability to focus on the creation process dried up and I was honestly too busy helping everyone through the harrowing final stages of cancer to think of much else.

At that point, I was more than okay with this impact. It was a small thing in comparison to the seismic shift my family and I were going through. I knew it was just one of those times in life where you needed to sink into the flow and go with wherever the winds were taking you.

After Mum’s death, I gave myself time to grieve and enjoy a slower pace in life.

I went for long walks, started meditating regularly again, and read a range of nourishing books and fantastical tales whenever I could focus on a story. I binge watched some fun TV shows. I planned happy excursions with my kiddos. I tackled the final unboxing from our big move into our new home in Sydney. I began doing regular morning pages again and went on artist’s dates, gratefully embracing all the tools I had learned over the years about nourishing your inner artist.

Then, last month, I started to feel the tickle.

That illusive draw to the page.

And let me tell you, friends and fellow book devourers, I was excited.

The Muse was ready to dance with me again and I was more than ready to fold myself into that sacred space where the I-that-is-me ceased to exist and a magical world started to flow onto the page.

So, feeling grateful optimistic, I set myself what I thought would be a gentle goal.

To write a new WILD SHORT READ for this very newsletter.

Unfortunately, while the Muse might have been ready to dance, it turned out she wasn’t all that interested in my goals nor my publishing schedule. In fact, her creative energy resembled more a feral minx, high on pixie dust and living her best life in a pinball machine, than the dependable dance partner I’d come to know and love in recent years.

No matter how hard I tried, rather than having a short to share with you today, I wrote no less than five novel starters. All of them feel like they have the potential to be fabulous tales. Some fit snugly into my existing worlds, while others are completely out of left field and would be equally fun to explore.

To be honest, this past month in the writing cave has been frustrating as all get out. It’s led to some serious moments of existential despair. It felt like I had struck out by having to withdraw our new release and then had to follow it up with the disappointment of having no fresh Wild Short Read to share, either.

On my walk this morning, I started to see the upside.

The small victories hidden amongst the woods of disappointment.

I am doing the work. I am showing up, regularly, to dance with the Muse. And, in turning up, I have had the wonderful experience of sinking back into the writing headspace which has been unapproachable for months.

Furthermore, my Muse has also been dancing with me on the page, albeit chaotically. She’s just not that interested in producing a polished work right now.

Perhaps that’s okay, too.

As my writing friends have been trying to remind me—

Grief works in a myriad of ways.

For some, it is the push that allows them to throw themselves deep into the work and drown out the heavier aspects of everyday life.

For others, it is the mischief maker. The ephemeral pixie who gets into our head and shakes all those good intentions and happy imaginings up into a messy tangle.

Maybe, for now, I might just try approaching the creative headspace as a wonderful mess of knotted creations waiting to be teased out into something beautiful.

After all, writing is where I find joy. Sometimes the joy of getting messy is enough.

What do you think, friends and fellow book devourers?

With love,

M.S. xox

💋🦔💋