So, what now? A bit of an update

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been reading, rating and reviewing ‘Cry of the Firebird’! It was a strange experience to be re-launching a book but its finding new readers and I’m really so proud of how it all came to together.

So what am I doing now? I’ve been getting this question a fair bit so I thought I would share what my general plan is for the next six months.

First up, I’m getting the structural edits back for ‘Rise of the Firebird’ at the end of this month. It’s the third one in Anya’s trilogy and it’s MASSIVE. I want to point out that all of these are a 120k words plus so it’s why I’ve basically been working on them all year and why you haven’t gotten another ‘Tarot Kings’ book yet.

‘Rise’ is huge so I think its going to take me until at least December to get it done. With a glimmer of hope that lockdown is easing up, I’m hoping my mental health will be on an upswing and I’ll be able to get through the editing a lot easier than the other two. Advice: Never try and rewrite a trilogy in a pandemic when you have ADHD. It’s done, and I’m proud as shit but man, was it maximum effort to get through it. I love this series so much, but I’ll be glad when the ‘Rise’ edits are done and out of the way.

After the above is finished, I fully intend to jump back into “Tarot Kings” starting with Zahir’s book. For those that listened to my interview with “Queens, Quests and Tropes” you will know I have been busily planning all three of the next books (Wands, Cups and Coins) because ideally I’d like to write them all back to back. I feel like after this year of basically continual lockdowns, I really need to write something fun and Zahir definitely fits that description.

That’s the plan, and hopefully the next six months won’t be as disruptive as the last two years and I’ll be able to get some fresh new stories down on the page.

As a part of my scaling back to focus only on writing, I have given up on Facebook entirely. You may recall a few months back I said good bye to Good Reads as well. Facebook has increasingly become a place that I don’t want to be over the past eighteen months and with posts only being seen if I throw money at them, it’s not worth my time. The only social media I currently have is Instagram, because I really enjoy the bookstagram community.

This newsletter is always going to be the best place to get updates on what I am doing, and what is upcoming, so please subscribe so you can get the info straight into your inbox. I’m going to be a lot more active in this space, now I’m not juggling other platforms, and I have some fun stuff planned like sneak chapters of King of Wands that I am going to share.

I hope you all keeping safe wherever you are in the world, keep those masks on and remember to be kind to each other…this pandemic has been a real fucker so lets be nice.

Ames x

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akuivalainen

I am a Finnish Australian writer that is obsessed with magical wardrobes, doors, auroras and burial mounds that might offer me a way into another realm. Until then, I will write about fairytales, monsters, magic and mythology because that’s the next best thing.