Venice, Magic and Greek Gods

Hey everyone!

It’s been a while, but damn, have I been busy. 2021 has really taken off with a running start and I’m so excited for all the books I plan on putting out this year.

If you are on Instagram, you would’ve seen that this week I’ve started going through all of my structural edits for ‘King of Swords’ and it’s accompanying short story ‘The Lion and the Star.’ I am OBSESSED with this new Tarot Kings world, and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with everyone as soon as I can. In the next few weeks I’m going to start doing some cover reveals with some descriptions for both of these. I’m going to tease on Instagram but do the actual reveal here first, so keep your eyes your inbox!

In the next little bit, I’m going to start doing the cover reveals for ‘The King’s Seal’ too! I’ll also have some dates for the ARCS. I’ve seen the cover for it and it’s my FAVORITE out of all the books, and that’s huge because I’ve loved all the covers.’The King’s Seal’ is also my fave book in the series and I’m so pumped that it’s finally going to get out in the world.As above, the actual reveals are going to be done here on the blog first.

I have been editing like a mad woman so I haven’t had a chance to do a lot of reading but my Greek gods, history and myth obsession is continuing. I’m researching for a future book at the moment involving those things so I’m fixating hard. I have managed to read the below that are Greek Gods at their messed up finest. 

The first one is LORE by Alexandra Bracken. I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this one. I’m really effin hesitant when it comes to YA or NA books, but this really blew me away. Even though the protagonists are about 19, how they act and the story itself felt more adult with no whiney characters or love triangles. The premise is that Zeus has punished the gods with a game called the Agon, which turns them mortal for one week, and at the mercy of being hunted by the bloodlines of Greek Heroes. It was a wild read and a lot of fun. The research in it was amazing, and you know I’m weak for books that really blend history and myth in a modern setting. You can check out the full description here, and I highly recommend.

The second Greek gods book I’m fan girling hard over is ‘Wings of Fury’ by Emily R King. This one is based in an Ancient Greece, in the time before Zeus over threw Cronus. The main character, Althea is determined to protect her sisters and bring down the tyranny of the Titans. The world building is amazing, and has female characters that are bad ass. It’s so refreshing to see the Golden Age from a woman’s perspective and with a woman’s voice. I can’t wait for book 2 that will be out in October (fuck yes to rapid release). You can check this book out here.

Finally, because I’m obsessed with it, I’m recommending ‘The Blood of Zeus’ on Netflix. If you’re someone who is currently pulling a face because it’s animated, STOP THAT. It’s insanely good anime. It’s visually gorgeous and the storytelling is excellent. Like, good enough for me not to hate Zeus…and I fkn HATE Zeus in general. I will warn you though, the violence is graphic and Apollo is so hot it should be illegal.

Okay, that’s all from me because I have to get back into editing, but expect another post with a cover reveal later in the month.

Ames x

akuivalainen

December 2020 Wrap Up

I have to admit, I am feeling a bit spaced out today so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little all over the place with this blog. It seems that my usual end of year tiredness has gone to a whole new level this year in true 2020 style.

I had meant to write a full blog about the ‘Cry of the Firebird’ rewrite but was so wrecked from the rewrite itself, that November is kind of a blur. If you are on my Instagram (the only social media I am on regularly) you would have seen that I lost my German Shepard to cancer in the last six weeks too so I’ve been tired and devastated, and not fit for human consumption.

But I am back now and will give you a shorter update on Firebird, because I am still getting a lot of messages about it and books I’m releasing in 2021.

The Cry of the Firebird

Firstly, the new version is going to be released in September 2021. I say new version on purpose because I have, quite literally, re-written this book from scratch in past few months.

Why? There is a lot of answers to this question but the main one is that it needed to be. I wrote this first book nearly twelve years ago, when I was still learning what I was doing. Not only that, I didn’t have the resources I do now, I didn’t even have an internet connection, and relied a lot on the books (some outdated now) from my small town library.  The story and characters are still the same but everything from representation to pacing is better. I’ve always done my best in the research department but there was some fails that I wanted to fix up as well. I’ve learned so much in the past years and I really love this story and wanted to have it be the best possible version it could be. Now I can honestly say that it is.

How? I’m putting this in incase that people are wondering about writing craft. I don’t really believe in giving writing advice but this I have learned, and keep learning every book, that is PLAN YOUR SHIT. The first three Firebird books I was a hard core panster. It wasn’t until I started writing ‘Wylt’ that I discovered beat sheets and how I could plan in a way that was helpful and not hindering.

In my ‘Cry of the Firebird’ rewrite, I busted out my trusty beat sheets and rearranged the story in order to fit them. This is what I meant about pacing earlier. The original story had saggy bits, and so I rewrote the important info in these sections into other ones to help speed the pace along. I used a combination of Jami Gold’s Basic Beat sheet (I use her Romance Beat sheet whenever I write any romance at all) and Derek Murphey’s Plot Dot (I highly recommend checking out anything Derek does on craft, he has a good YouTube and so much resources). Both of these are like plotting for pantsers. I always do a major outline now, and how I get there I can let the pantser out a bit. If you want more info on how to plan and the different ways, I recommend you also have a look at Reedsy’s ‘What is Plot’ because it gives you a really thorough overview, as well as multiple story structure breakdowns you can look at.

As mentioned above, I have a lot of characters in this series and unlike Magicians of Venice, where I only have Penelope and Alexis points of view, the first three Firebird books have many. These I did my best to combine where possible instead of having them broken up into smaller sections. This helped speed up the pacing and also gives the characters more depth. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do more than two points of view in a story, but be careful, it’s easy to become messy.

I am going to be rewriting books 2 and 3 in the new year too, so if I learn more helpful tips, I’ll post them.

The King’s Seal (and other Magicians stuff)

The final instalment of ‘Magicians of Venice’ will be out in June 2021. It’s already gone through editing and I’m hoping to do cover reveals and give ARC dates early in the new year. This book almost killed me, and I mean that in the nicest way. It’s the biggest, most research heavy book I’ve ever written and even though its been a year, I’m still a bit in awe that I managed to pull it off. I love it intensely, I think it’s the best I’ve ever written and honestly don’t know what book is going to top it for me. I really love this series, but this one is my favourite and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

Thank you to everyone who has been messaging me about how much you are enjoying ‘The Immortal City’ audio book! Unfortunately, I don’t know when ‘The Sea of the Dead’ will be out in audio too but as soon as I’m told, you guys will be too.

King of Swords (The Tarot Kings. Book 1)

This is a fun project that I’ve been talking about here and there on social media. I have finished a draft of the first book and I am currently doing some final tweaks before I send it my editor in the new year. A few things I can tell you, it is paranormal romance adventure which means that even though the world has a lot of other stuff going on in it, it is a romance story. There is kissing and more sex and the focus is on the characters coming together. It’s going to be a big world that I want to get right in the first book, but also leave plenty to be revealed in the others. I currently have four planned and they are standalones, but with linking characters so you can enjoy it as a series if you want to aswell.

Why am I writing romance after something like Magicians? Because I really enjoy it, and 2020 has really taken it out of me so much that all bigger projects were shelved. The time I thought I had to work on bigger historical fantasy, I used up with Firebird rewrites. Let’s face it, all my books have romance in them, I just made it more obvious with this series. I wanted a Venice world that I could pick up and write in any time because I’m never going to get sick of writing Venice.

When? I’m aiming to release book 1 ‘King of Swords’ sometime in 2021 where it’s not going to clash with my other two releases. It will very much depend on how the editing process goes as well. I’m also going to release ‘The Lion and the Star’ a short story that features my main two characters meeting before the events in book 1. This will also have a decent sample of book 1 in it too, as I’m not planning on releasing any ARCS (at this stage anyway). This series will also be digital only, so sorry paperback fans. I really want to keep my indie branch as green as possible, and paperbacks are a massive pain in the ass for many reasons. I will have some cool cover reveals and descriptions to share with you all when I have a better idea around release dates.

That’s me done..this blog has gotten out of control so I’ll sign off. I’m doing a lot of planning and soul searching in what I want in 2021, and tending to this blog more is high on the list. I’m going to be doing my announcements here first over social media in the future so make sure you subscribe to get it in your inbox.

I hope you all have a great and safe holiday season however COVID permits,

Ames x

akuivalainen

August Update


Twenty-Seven days to go everyone! I’m so excited that this is almost out in the world. It was a hell of a book to write and I can’t wait for you to go on this next adventure of Penelope and Alexis. If you are into pre-ordering, don’t forget you can grab it from where ever they sell books. The hardcopies are going to be especially beautiful, I saw the proofs and I got all giddy over them – and I’m not someone who collects hard covers.

This past month has been crazy with the epic re-write/ structural edit of ‘The Cry of the Firebird’ (the above is some old and new inspiration for this series). If you are on my Insta, you would have seen me having a few moments of freak out over it. I tell you, trying to edit and restructure a book that you first wrote 12 years ago is quite the task…as in kind of a nightmare. It was good in a way because I saw how far I’ve come as a writer and could use all of that knowledge to bang it into a satisfying story shape. I was surprised how much I still love this weird story – and guys, it really is a weird one. Monsters and gods and mythological creatures galore.

A few of my older readers have messaged me having a bit of a stress moment on how I could be changing this book/series after it had already been indie released – I want to assure you that nothing of the original story is changing, I’m just ensuring that its executed in a better way. All your fave characters and monsters will be there. It’s just cleaned up. As a writer, I am hyper aware of releasing something like Magicians, which is my newest and the BEST of me, and then releasing older catalogue after it. The main purpose of these rewrites isn’t to ‘change’ the story but to pull it up to a standard I am personally happy with. It’s nothing like Magicians, but I am intent on producing the BEST possible version of these books. Also, I’m taking into consideration that the spin off books 4 & 5 have been written in the past two years and I want the tone of the books to be consistent and at their current state they aren’t. They will be though. The first new draft of ‘Cry’ has already gone back to my structural editing team to get their feedback and see what they think, and I’m really happy with how it came together. SO much of the changes is to deepen the characters and their backstory, to add some personal scenes back in that had been cut…and so there will be something new for older readers to enjoy too.

In other ‘Amy’ news, I have quit my day job. If the above editing job has taught me anything, it’s that I’m getting to the point that working a full time day job and trying to build a full time writing career is no longer viable. It turns out, even I have limits. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. I will look at taking some short work contracts in the future if I feel like I need to, but I’m going to try and find a way to work smarter and not harder, to ensure cash flow and not lose my mind by working myself to burn out. COVID has fucked me a bit this year, like everyone, and being locked up since March has used what is left of my emotional storage bank. Something had to go – the day job was it.

What have you guys been reading? I am hanging out for ‘Piranesi’ by Susanna Clarke, that’s due to launch in September as well. She’s a fave author of mine, and it’s been a long time since ‘ Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’ so I can’t wait to see what her magical mind creates this time around.

ALSO, because you know I love my indie romance, Nikki Kardnov is gearing up to release her next sexy Blackwell Djinn novel ‘That Forbidden Life’ is due to come out TOMORROW. I have been dying for Mads Blackwell’s book and I’m trying to clear my writing schedule a bit so I dive head first into it. I really can’t recommend this series enough, it’s such a cool take on Djinn and they are sexy as hell.

Nikki is also doing this really fun Greek Myth series at the moment, called’Games of the Gods‘ that I also recommend, if you are like me and NEED Greek myth retellings in their life.

Speaking of Greek Myth, another series I’m recommending is Alessa Thorn’s ‘The Court of the Underworld‘ series.This is a paranormal romance series that follows Hades (my boyfriend), as he and his Court run a new city called Styx in modern day Greece. It’s not just romance, it has loads of action and kick ass female characters and is all about the ‘villains’ getting their HEA (bonus – its in Kindle Unlimited). What’s not to love about that? ASTERION is book one, and you guessed it, is a re-telling of the Minotaur myth, AND it’s on sale at the moment for only $0.99…so TRY it here.

This blog is getting a bit out of control, but I want to update people wanting to know what’s happening with my new series ‘Tarot Kings.’ I submitted a short story of about 5k words to a 1001 Dark Nights comp recently, and while they didn’t ultimately pick it up I’m still thinking of releasing it later in the year. I’m going to make it a bit longer, because I can, and it would be a great way to have a teaser into this new, sexy, complex world. It would be like a 0.5 King of Swords, as the events in it happen a year before the events of book 1 and have the main characters having an encounter. What do you think? Would you be into that? I’m still mulling over it, because I would want to ensure that you wouldn’t have tooooo long to wait before the release of ‘King of Swords.’ Watch this space!

I hope you are all keeping well and safe and reading lots of good things that make you happy,

Ames x

 

akuivalainen

The Immortal City is HERE

The time is now! ‘The Immortal City’ is out in the world at last! I’ve talked about it a lot in vague terms and descriptions the past few months to avoid spoilers but no more. Over the next few blogs I’m going to be talking about the main players in ‘The Immortal City’; and today I’m starting with the Big Two: Penelope and Alexis. Don’t worry I’m still going to make these as spoiler free as possible, while giving you a bit of insight into who they are and how they wandered into my brain and developed into the characters you’ll meet.

Penelope Bryne started as a panic attack.

I had been thinking about writing an Atlantis book for a while, and having a female archaeologist as my protagonist, and I’d been working for universities / academia and had an insight into the daily struggles, but didn’t have a feel for her just yet. Then life got in the way.

I’m not a sharer, but I’m comfortable enough to say I was not in a good place anxiety wise in early 2017. My work place wasn’t a healthy one so I knew that it needed to change, and I was locked into a contract until May and thought I could keep it together and wait it out. In April, I started having public panic attacks. In restaurants that were too crowded, on the train going home from work etc and then as I sat holding in tears in the bathroom of a strangers house, at a party I’d been convinced to go to…there was Penelope. Anxiety filled and in the darkest place, feeling like a failure and unable to even control her own mind and body.

I started writing her, and I felt like if I could write a character and how she dealt with her anxiety, maybe I could figure out my own. Pen was doing yoga and meditation, so I got back into it and man, has it helped on so many levels. I’m not saying Penelope is a reflection of me, or that her triggers are the same, but writing her struggles as I went through my own was therapeutic. It still is. I wanted a character who had the panic attacks and anxiety, but still got up and did what she had to and manage it as best as she could. I wasn’t thinking of an audience at the time I planned and wrote ‘The Immortal City,’ I was thinking how as a reader I don’t see people with anxiety being the heroes. Yeah, sure, there are some that I’ve found where the character has anxiety, but it tends to mysteriously get cured pretty early on when they find the right man/place they belong/  the ‘source’ of their anxiety like magical interference. I’m going to tell you right now – Penelope’s anxiety doesn’t go away through the whole series because you don’t get cured of that shit, you only learn to manage it.

Penelope has an impossible dream– to find the historical Atlantis. This dream has shaped her life in all aspects as a daughter, an academic and as a woman. It’s impacted her relationships and drives her waking moments. I wanted a character to get a glimpse of achieving that dream and having it taken away, her hard work and research panned and her grant money gone. I work in a creative industry so I know a little bit about having the impossible dream, especially when it gets trodden on. I was also working closely with academics and seeing firsthand how they spend so much of their professional life trying to get grants, publish articles and get recognition for the work that they do and have the means to continue it. I’ve seen people burst into tears when they’ve been denied grant funding because it means they have to leave their research and go back to teach in order to pay the bills. I’m not saying that there’s something wrong with teaching or it’s a lesser vocation because it’s not, but I wanted to share this side of academia because you never see Lara Croft or Robert Langdon being forced to say no to an adventure because they don’t have the cash or means of obtaining it.

Penelope is absolutely the kind of person obsessed with her dream enough to leave her holiday to go to Venice because something pertaining to her research has turned up at a crime scene. While I don’t like to inflict talk of ‘themes’ onto readers, obsession in all its forms plays a big part in the Magicians of Venice series, and nearly every single character in is obsessed with something.

Okay, I don’t think I can say tooooo much more about Pen without giving out spoilers apart from adding she’s an Aussie and an only child. For a bit of fun, I’ve created a yoga flow for her that you can find below. It’s not intensive, as she uses yoga to calm down, and I’ve enjoyed putting this one together for anyone who’s interested. FYI – I’m not a yoga teacher, this is for fun, please practice safely.

Penelope’s ‘Calm the Fk Down’ Yoga Flow

  • Childs Pose
  • Plank
  • Forward Fold
  • Sun salutation
  • Mountain Pose
  • Warrior 1
  • Down Dog
  • Childs Pose

(ten rounds, 3 breaths for each move)

Alexis Donato started as a dream.

Before I had Penelope, I had Alexis. Penelope made me work to see her character and her motivations clearly, Alexis was a god damn freight train of ‘Here I am. Try to understand me at your peril. No, I’m not changing because you want me gentler, or easier, or less complicated.’ Alexis turned up in a dream, in fact a bunch of dreams. And yes, I know how lame this sounds, and yes, just because I had a cool dream doesn’t mean it makes a cool story. Dreams can be pretty bullshit but bullshit fertilises (as the saying goes).

Dream 1, came about as all of the Atlantis and research primordial ooze was percolating in my brain. In the dream I knew I was someone else. I wasn’t *me* but I was in Venice at night and someone stepped from the shadows and stabbed me as I was admiring the view from a bridge. I toppled into a canal and when I came to I was in a stranger’s house and that stranger was Alexis, who told me he was a magician from Atlantis. For those who’ve read ‘The Immortal City’ this scene may seem familiar although not in this form. It’s because I couldn’t leave this moment out of it.  Alexis had arrived and I woke up thinking I really shouldn’t eat so much before bed, but this character refused to go away. The following week I had about three different dreams including having coffee with him in the San Marco piazza. The bastard wouldn’t leave me alone and I knew in my bones I had one of my main characters. The weird thing was, once I had Alexis, every bit of random research I had scattered through notebooks all clicked into place. He was the keystone, the spider in the web, and the plot connected in the most surprisingly creepy way. Writing this series has been like that from day 1 and even now I’m in my third book things keep connecting randomly.

Alexis is a great character and one of the most fun I’ve ever gotten to write. I love writing about magicians and magic in general, so building the myth of Atlantis up around Alexis and the other magicians was such a blast. His duty has been to protect the other magicians and prevent mankind from learning the truth about Atlantis, so you can imagine him butting heads with Penelope who’s determined to discover the truth. He’s a general, a big brother, a son and he does his best to keep the other magicians in line. I really loved being able to use him as my storyteller, and crafting mini stories and memories was a way I could go to Atlantis without losing the book completely to full fantasy territory. Alexis has lived a LONG time, and there’s so much room as a writer to play with and use to develop layers and motivations.

I recently saw a reviewer describe Alexis as ‘part romance, part violence’ and its pretty spot on. He’s a scholar and a warrior. He doesn’t always play well with others but he’s loyal and fierce and damn charming when he wants to be. I’m shamelessly in love with Alexis. I’ve also created him a yoga flow because the poor guy has a lot on his hands.

Alexis’s ‘I’m Trying not to Murder these Magicians’ Yoga Flow

  • Mountain
  • Forward Fold
  • Plank
  • Upward Dog
  • Downward Dog
  • Warrior 2
  • Reverse Warrior
  • Crescent pose
  • Mountain

(seven rounds, three breaths per pose)

Developing Penelope and Alexis was night and day by way of process, but I love them both like crazy. They’ve really pushed me as a writer and have helped me through the last few years of anxiety and growth.

For those of us who are visual people, I really encourage you to check out ‘The Magicians of Venice’ Pintrest Board, its massive and gives you a good vibe of the series. Also, if you really want to know, Jade Taylor is probably the closest I’ve come to imaging Penelope in my head, and the model Maximiliano Patane for Alexis 😉

I hope you love them as much as I do! Grab your copy here and don’t forget to leave me a review 🙂

Ames x

akuivalainen1 Comment

July Update and Big Changes

Argh! 1 month and 26 days until ‘The Immortal City’ release! I thought I’d be less excited by now but the opposite is proving true – I AM PUMPED. I can’t wait until this baby is out in the world. It will be my first release with a traditional publishing house so I feel like everything is new and strange again – but in a really good way with supportive people around me. Speaking of support Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has left reviews on NetGalley (omg you guys it’s hit 95 reviews) and any other blog/social media platform etc. I’m sharing the ones I see on Instagram and including them in my ‘Immortal City’ highlights because bookstagramers make the BEST pics. I can’t NOT share them. Seriously, I appreciate every single one. While ARCS are now closed don’t forget you can pre-order it here.

In other news I’m just about to hit 70k words of book 3 of ‘Magicians of Venice’ I’m trying not to freak out at how far I still have to go with it or rush through it to get that pesky draft 0 done. I have the time to go slower with this one and I’m really forcing myself to take the time to enjoy the ride. This series always takes so much more from me than any other books I’ve ever written but I’m already ridiculously in love with it and crazy proud how its coming together.

Here are some pictures of the street that my Magicians live on to celebrate. There will be location videos that I’ll also be sharing once the book is out as well. I hate the sound of my voice on camera but the places are far too pretty and awesome not to share.

While I was in Venice in November I really took the time to sit back, look at my plaftform and my writing process and I vowed to slow down in 2019, to take out the things that were stressing me out and not serving me. Some of the things was focusing on writing ONLY one book this year without killing myself to hit a dead line, cleaning up my brand, doing no university units, and in general taking out the things that stress me out.

On that note, you may have noticed a few changes around my site and Amazon etc. I have taken down ‘The Eagle Key’ and both of the ‘Western Wars’ books. Why? Mostly its because they aren’t really on brand. They are epic fantasy series experiments that I put up to see if they sold okay and if they did, I’d write more in those worlds. While I did have some enthusiastic fans, they never really sold, and I don’t really feel the need to keep writing in those worlds or growing / marketing them. I’d rather focus on The Firebird Fairytales Universe and other unannounced projects. I love writing contemporary fantasy / paranormal so they are the genres I’m going to write and focus on.

Another change is I’ve taken down my paperbacks from Createspace and Ingramspark. Why? Okay there are a bunch of reasons but mainly cost. Ingramspark are about to rise their prices again and because my books are large, and they charge per page, the cost of them were $18 USD as a base sales price, which means retailers were going to have to charge about $40 (for ‘Rise of the Firebird’ my biggest) to make any profit on them. That is insane. It comes down to me being an indie and not having the distribution discounts that other publishers have. Also there has been US Tax legislation and whole swag of other changes that have come in and to be honest? I literally can’t keep up with it all. Maybe in a few months if I’m swamped with requests for paperbacks, I’ll put them back up on Createspace so at least Amazon will have them, but I’m not planning on it. I’ve never really sold paperbacks, I’ve never promoted them either, so its going to be one less stress for me to worry about. This is not even mentioning the extra costs of covers and formatting that come with producing a paperback – money I could be using to get other books out digitally. Its a bummer but at the end of the day, I’m flexible to putting them back up again if there’s a need for it.

Enough boring bummed out stuff – I went to see The Cursed Child this month and it was INSANE. I’m one of the few people that didn’t read it and have managed to avoid most of the major spoilers because I really wanted to see the show. I was NOT disappointed. I was blown away. I go to a lot of musicals and theater and this was one of the best productions I’ve ever seen. The stage effects alone were fucking insane. I’m keen to keep the secrets but omg that shit was magical and I swear I almost peed a little when a frickin damn Dementor floated out of no where. I also got to go FULL Slytherin, I’m a 100% in love with old man Draco, I ship the hell out of Scorpious and Albus, and none of that should surprise anyone. It was the best day, and I really recommend anyone who has the opportunity to go to do it.

BECAUSE I watched Cursed Child and was in the mood for magic schools and fucked up chosen ones, I finally picked up ‘Carry On’ by Rainbow Rowell. I KNOW I’m the last person to reach this and fall in love but dudes…I AM SO IN LOVE. It was so much fun. I love the reluctant kind of crap chosen one trope and just ALL of it. Baz…do I need to say it? BAZ. I’m in love. I literally felt queasy when I was finished because I havent loved a book this hard in a really long time. I pre-ordered the hell out of ‘Wayward Son’ and counting down until November to get it in my hot little hands.

I haven’t had a huge amount of reading time this month because I’ve been wrecked (mid-winter darkness kicks my ass so hard) and also been using my spare time to focus on writing and researching (Gods Below so much research) but the other two books I’m keen as hell to finish off; ‘War’ by Laura Thalassa and ‘The King’ by Jennifer Armentrout. I have been waiting about a year for both of these so I’m trying not to go full crazy and read them all at once. There are a lot of mixed feelings out there by the Horseman series of Laura’s but I personally love them and the morally grey characters and fucked up situations they find themselves in. The world building and whole vibe of the books are insanely good – she has gone next level as a writer with them and I’m ecstatic and blown away. I really could rave about it for a good long while but I won’t because spoilers. But seriously…how hot is this cover? Probably my fave hot cover of the year so far. I rave about my love for Jennifer Armentrout a lot on this blog but I seriously LOVE her ‘Wicked Trilogy’ world – fae, hunters, New Orleans – how can I not be obsessed with it? ‘The King’ is a sequel to last years ‘The Prince’ and I nearly sobbed with happiness when I saw it arrive on my Kindle this morning. It’s like one novel split – just to warn you. I can’t wait to keep reading – Brighton is a great character and a lot of fun to read.

That about wraps me up, guys, this blog has gotten sooo much longer than I expected. Assassin’s Creed has released its final DLC and I’ve FINALLY got to Atlantis. I haven’t finished it yet so I’ll save my hard core fangirling until  next time.

Ames xx

 

 

akuivalainen

June Update

June is almost gone, and I’ve been flat out as usual. The blog unfortunately is the first thing that suffers but if I can get to it before the month is out I count it as a win.

Okay first up… ‘The Immortal City’ got a good review in Publishers Weekly this month. It’s a big deal for an writer and I couldn’t be more stoked about it. The review tally on NetGalley has passed 70 this week which continues to blow me away. The book has good energy around it and it’s keeping me on point and excited with the release (2 months, 25 days and 13 hrs to go).

It feels like every week something is happening that’s  super exciting and I’m trying hard to create a steady routine around work and writing. Its been a real learning experience this year, focusing on only completing the one book and managing the different pace. I’m really glad that I cleared everything else because book 3 has been challenging to write around everything else thats happening. I’m nudging 60k words and its growing together but it really has taken me since March to find a rhythm with it. I’m hoping to get the draft done by September so I can focus on promoting ‘The Immortal City’ without worrying about a word count. I read a really great article by Erin Morgenstern about the challenges of writing ‘The Starless Sea’ and creating a bubble to create freely in without external distractions and pressures. I’ve been feeling that pretty hard lately and so I’m focused on getting book 3 finished by September so I can have that bubble to write as honestly and clearly as I can in it. I’m giving it my everything and even in draft form, I know its the best thing I’ve written.

This month I’ve also been to see the new exhibit at the NGV here in Melbourne: Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality and Cai Guo -Qiang. It was freaking AMAZING. I knew I’d nerd out over the warriors but I was surprised how much I loved Cai Guo-Qiang pieces (made with gundpowder on silk!) so much so I ended up buying a print for my office and a warrior for my desk. Here are some photos, including me all clean and out of the writing cave.

Saturday was also the Winter Solstice here in Melbourne and I ventured out to Her Royal Majesty’s theatre and watched a production of Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” and had a blast! It’s one of my fave musicals and seeing it on stage was just incredible.

 

Apart from all that excitement, I’ve been reading some great books lately including:

Margaret Rogersons ‘Sorcery of Thorns’…okay EVERYONE has been on my case to read Margaret Rogerson and I finally cleared my TBR to jump into this one…I mean, sorcerors and sentiant libraries? I couldn’t say no to that even if I wanted to. I’m so in love with Charlie Bowater that I couldn’t resist that cover either. I really enjoyed this one, it was the perfect feel good read for my scattered burned out writer brain. And yes..I DID go and download ‘Enchantment of Ravens’ onto my Kindle straight after. They are charming, warm fuzzy reads that I know I’ll return to for whenever I need a comfort read. I’m hopelessly in love with Thorn but I’m only human. 

I’m also consuming all of Jennifer Armentrouts ‘Dark Elements’ series. Despite it being more YA than I’m really into, there’s enough going on out side of the school yard to keep me interested. The world building alone is so freaking good and as a 90’s kid who was obsessed with the animated ‘Gargoyles’ series you can pretty much put anything with a gargoyle in front of me and I’ll read it. Armentrout is usually a sure bet for me and its been perfect for a somewhat overloaded brain.

In other reads I’ve also just started ‘Djinn City’ by Saad  Z. Hossain  and have been laughing my ass off. It’s hilarous but also so clever its blowing my mind. It has, quite possibly, the BEST explanation for djinn magic I’ve ever seen. The world building, djinn society, the structure of it all, is seamless and perfect. I get so excited when I read something so good that I slow my pace right down just to appreciate it from a writer perspective as well as a reader.  I’m not done and I already am recommending it to every fantasy lover I know.

In gaming news, I’m still obsessed with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey DLC’s that they’ve been releasing. GUYS I’M IN THE UNDERWORLD. The next series I want to write is basically Greek Myth retellings and so my brain is melting everytime I get to sass Hades.  I mean….LOOK.  How  can  I  not  be  in  love.

There’s nothing else to tell except I’m now on Instagram. Twitter has never been a platform I’ve enjoyed so I’ve gone on a permanent hiatus over there and am focusing on Facebook and Instagram. I’m really enjoying the Instagram platform and it will hopefully be compatible for the videos I want to share come September of all the locations in ‘The Immortal City.’

Enjoy your June!

Ames x

 

 

 

akuivalainen

December Update and a 2018 Roundup

Hey Everyone

It’s December already… how did this happen?

I’m feeling a bit off track after having two weeks holidays and a digital fast in November but I am back and (mostly) refreshed and ready to go again.

KINGDOM is out! Hurray! Thank you to everyone who is buying and reading The Blood Lake Chronicles at the moment, it was such a fun series to write. Make sure you leave a review so I know how you liked it.  If you haven’t checked it out, and you love gothic fae stories with a dash of Arthurian myth you can grab book one for free right here.

 

As I mentioned above I’ve just come back from a holiday in Venice. I say holiday, but I was really there to put in some immersive research time for my next series The Magicians of Venice. I have to tell you, walking around the physical streets where I have spent so much time in my head was a surreal and special experience. I’ve taken a bunch of videos of key places in the story so that I can share them with you once the book is out. Venice is as incredible as people say, especially in Autumn when it wasn’t hot and there was next to no tourists. It was the perfect time for me to wander and write and chat to locals – and of course consume ridiculous amounts of delicious local cuisine, wine, espresso and pastry! If you haven’t already guessed I’m ridiculously obsessed with the new series. It has everything I love best; myth, magicians, murder and mystery.Here is the blurb for book one, The Immortal City :

In the heart of Venice, a woman is sacrificed to a forgotten god, sparking a mystery lost for thousands of years.

Dr. Penelope Bryne is ridiculed by the academic community for her quest to find the remnants of Atlantis, but when an ancient and mysterious script is found at a murder site, she flies to Venice determined to help the police before the killer strikes again.

Penelope has spent her entire life trying to ignore the unexplainable and magical history of Atlantis, but when she meets the enigmatic Alexis Donato, everything she believes will be challenged. Little does she know, Alexis has spent the last three years doing his best to sabotage Penelope’s career so doesn’t learn the truth—Atlantis had seven magicians who survived, and who he has a duty to protect.

As Alexis draws her into the darkly, seductive world of magic and history, Penelope will have to use her heart as well as her head if she is to find the answers she seeks. 

With the new MOSE system due to come online, and Carnivale exploding around them, Penelope and Alexis will have to work together to stop the killer and prevent dark magic from pulling Venice into the sea.

Eeeek! Can you see why I’m so pumped?? I’m currently polishing off my final edits to book two and getting it ready to send off to my editor, as well as finishing off my structural plan for book 3. I have seriously never micro planned a book series like I’ve planned this one. Every series and book is different but oh boy, has this one pushed my writing, planning and research to new and exciting levels. I really can’t wait to share it with you all.

While away in Venice I also went on a digital fast and tried to get some valued headspace to think about the ‘Big’ things surrounding my writing goals and career. It’s easy to get swarmed by all the THINGS  that you are meant to do as a writer that has nothing to do with the actual act of writing. As an Indie, I’m also a publisher and a marketer and have that business arm to deal with. Next year, BHC press will be taking some of that responsibility with my next series but I still have my business to grow and market and you can bet your ass I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure The Magicians of Venice is a success.

2019 is going to mean less deadlines for me, so I’m going to be focusing on completing marketing for authors courses and hopefully throwing some university units into the mix. I’ve got some other writing projects I’m also working on; I’ve almost finished the first draft of the Aramis and Soren spin off book and then I’ll be jumping into the third Magicians of Venice book. Then there is a fun fantasy based in Melbourne that’s kind of like a cross between Chocolat, Night Circus  and All the Crooked Saints, aswell as a new epic fantasy that’s growing in my brain ether that will hopefully be a bit like the love child of Game of Thrones and The Black List. They are exciting projects, but are big, ambitious ones that will require me to carve out a lot of space to work on so I’m going to try and implement some changes around time management and self care.

On that note…if you are on Twitter, you might have noticed my account has pretty much been in an admin mode for the past eight weeks. I’ve deleted my Twitter app and I’m only putting up the occasional update. This is because I’ve found Twitter to be a time suck that usually makes me feel shittier for going onto it. I’ve met some great people on there but for my own mental health state I’m letting it go and will keep it in its current admin mode. I always tell people to subscribe here on the blog for all the super important information but I am still very active on Facebook because I find the community more positive and I can do more with it as a platform, so if you really want to catch up with me on social media that’s the place to find me.

Okay, okay. Let’s talk about some other books, specifically what I’ve been reading since I was last here. 

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty has been on my TBR for a while and it rocked my fucking socks…this is probably the BEST epic fantasy I have read in a long time. I love, love, loved this story and world that it actually undersells it by saying its a reworking of an Arabian Nights stories. I’ve always loved djinn and King Solomon stories and this book delves into both, and recreating a fabulously rich take on them. Dara is by far my fave character but I can’t gush on the character and world building enough. I’m hanging out for book 2, Kingdom of Copper because the cliffhanger was an absolute kick in the ovaries. Check out The City of Brass here…but be warned you won’t be able to move until it’s done!

And because The City of Brass kick my ass so completely and left me with the worst of book hang overs ever, I went in search for more djinn / Middle Eastern mythology fantasy to try and soothe my RUINED heart and found these gems:

A Dead Djinn in Cairo is a the kind of novella that is so crazy good, rich and wonderful that you instantly want a six book series based in the same world. This is an insanely good story that’s a detective mystery based in a magically alternate and terrifying Cairo. Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi is such a BAD ASS of a character as she navigates bloody crimes and patriarchal bullshit with grace, wit and a well cut suit. P. Djeli Clark is a fucking amazing writer and I can’t wait to consume the rest of his catelogue. Grab a copy  and settle in for a glorious ride.

In honorable mentions, and because I’m still hellbent on my Middle Eastern fantasy love at the moment…I’ve just started The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh.  It’s a new take on the Shahrzad story from The Arabian Nights and and even though I’m only a few chapters in, I know I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it.

 

 

One of the few books I’ve read that has been a departure from the above obsessions, is Make Me No Grave by amazing writer and editor extraordinaire Hayley Stone. I was lucky enough to be given an ARC of this beauty of a weird west novel and this is what I wrote about it…

“Filled with morally grey characters this story has it all; mistaken identities, bank heists, mayhem and magic. Stone’s storytelling is in turn lean and lush, as this adventure of violence and revenge is played out through the eyes of Apostle, a marshal fighting his demons while trying to be the last decent man in the West. Tough as nails, flesh magic wielding,anti-heroine, Almena, gives Apostle a run for his money as the unlikely pair get thrown together in an attempt to enact their own ideas of justice. Apostle’s moral judgement is challenged every step of the way as he begins to realize that doing what’s right and obeying the law isn’t always the same thing.

Make Me No Grave is a rollicking Wild Weird West adventure perfect for fans of Red Dead Redemption, the Quick and the Dead and Wynonna Earp.” 

If it sounds like your jam, I can’t recommend it enough for a good Christmas read when the relatives are driving you crazy. Get a copy here!

This blog has gotten huge so I’m going to  get out of here and continue tinkering with my draft of Book  2 of Magicians of Venice and try and get over my post-holiday cold.

Have a great Holiday period, read lots of books and drink lots of nice wine,

Ames x

 

 

 

 

 

akuivalainen

Late September and October Update

Hey Everyone!

I apologise for the update being so late this time around but I have been writing non-stop to keep myself on these deadlines that keep popping up to shout at me.

First of all, if you didn’t see my previous post, I have a new series out next with BHC Press! This is the Secret Project that I’ve been working away on in the background for the last year and a half, and the trilogy is called The Magicians of Venice. I worked really hard to find it a home, and guys, seriously, it’s in great hands with BHC and I couldn’t be happier. I’m so pumped about this project as they are the kind of books I’ve always dreamed about writing; archaeology, magic, Venice, ancient history, romance, creepy Hannibal field kabuki style murders…it really has it all. It’s also given me  a chance to play around with my fave archaeology mystery of all time…Atlantis. Yep, it’s going to great. I’m currently doing drafts and edits of book two so I’m not around on social media much…it’s all head down butt up to knock it into shape. I’ll be posting loads more about it soon but in the mean time, you can go here to the BHC Press website and read more about book one, The Immortal City.

In other news for Blood Lake Chronicles fans, I have just this morning, finished a final draft of Kingdom. It’s going to be sent off to my editors soon so expect a pre-order announcement by the end of the month. This book guys, it’s been crazy hard to get together and I had to delete 70% of the first draft I wrote back in April and rewrite it in the last month. I won’t go into spoilery details but it’s been a hell of job to work with three main character story lines and not have the whole thing dissolve into a mess of faerie you know what. In my mind I’ve kind of been calling it Rosa and Merlin’s Awesome Adventures in Faerie, but you will also see Bleddyn step up and play a big role in this one.

That being said…here is a cover and a blurb for you to oggle! HURRAY!

Bleddyn is a man with secrets, but he can’t outrun his past any longer. With Balthasar and Nimue in the clutches of his greatest enemy, he’ll have to reclaim his birthright as the King of the Unseelie to save them. First, he’ll have to recruit the formidable general Eirianwen to stand by his side, but his ex-fiancé isn’t going to be won over so easily.

Eirianwen never thought she would see Bleddyn again and the woman he remembers died centuries ago. Only he can unite the scattered Unseelie in a final battle against the Autumn Queen, and as much as she hates it, Eirianwen knows she can’t keep fighting alone. Bleddyn promises to get revenge for everything that was taken from her, but when the doors to the past are opened, neither one will be prepared for what comes out.  

Rosa will do anything to get Balthasar back, and when Merlin makes a plan to recruit the Wild Hunt to their cause, there’s nothing she won’t do to secure their alliance. Making a bargain with a god is never a good idea, and her deal with Gwyn ap Nudd might end up costing Rosa more than she’s willing to pay.

Oh yeah…this one has it all happening. I’ve been super excited about writing about Gwyn ap Nudd and the Wild Hunt as they have always been favourites of mine. There is also quite a lot of a good looking, sweet as hell guy called Arthur who tags along for some adventures. You will also get a sneak peak at the end of the Aramis and Soren book I’m drafting between other projects. Also, soooo much fun to be writing.

Speaking of books, I’ve read some great ones in the past month. I feel like I have a never ending battle with my To Be Read pile while I try and draft but these ones have crept through.

Stars of Fortune- Nora Roberts

Full Disclaimer: I only read Nora Roberts paranormal books and I’m always surprised how much her covers never  look like they are paranormal. In saying that I loved this book. A bunch of supernatural strangers thrown together to hunt stars hidden by Celtic Goddess? Yeah sign me up. It has a bevvy of paranormal goodies including a magician and a seer and I won’t tell you what else because I’ll spoil it. But seriously, if you love a good treasure hunt with a supernatural twist, check it out!

The next one I’m going to try not to gush all over you about is Grace Draven’s newest, Phoenix Unbound. Okay, you guys know how much I love Grace’s books but I’m absolutely loving this book. Fire magic? Hot take on fantasy Huns? Gladiators? Dragon myths? There is so much that is awesome about it. Grace writes the best fantasy romance because her world building is always so stunning and believable that the romance compliments the story, but it’s by no means the only thing going on. It’s a great epic fantasy and you can check it out here.

The final book I’m currently working my way through is The Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev.

This is a non-fiction work about the Renaisance Bad Ass Lady, Caterina Sforza. You might recognise her as the woman who takes on the Borgias in the TV series but the truth is always more fascinating than fiction. Elizabeth Lev is a lively writer so it’s by no means a dull history book.  If you are after a read about a woman taking on the patriarchy of  the day, and beating them like a drum, look no further. Grab a copy here.  

Okay, this blog is huge so I’m going to get out of here. A final heads up…The Blood Lake Chronicles box set is going to be free this weekend here on Amazon so if you have been thinking about giving it a go, the time is now.

Ames x

akuivalainen

August Update

Hey Everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve done an update so I’ll try not to make it too long.

The reason I’ve been so quiet on the blog and social media is that I’m under the pump to get a book finished and edited by November. It’s a part of the Secret Project series that I can’t talk about just yet (announcement will be soon I swear), so I’m up to my eye balls in research and drafts and generally trying to pull it together. For those who are like WTF I thought you working on a Aramis and Soren/ Firebird Fairytales World spin off book… Yes, I am. I’m about 40k words into it but its had to take a back seat while I finalise the other book. I’ve been able to write two books at once before, but the new series is different. It requires more space in my brain and more research to get right so I’ve put other books and uni  on hiatus for a few months. It’ll be worth it I swear!

If you follow my Facebook you would have seen that I’m currently at the Cover Design phase of KINGDOM, the third Blood Lake Chronicles book, and if all goes to plan it should be out in October/November. I’ll make a more official announcement once I have a pre-order page up and passed the final edit/stressing stage. I’m really happy and excited how its come together!

What else?

I’ve managed to be dragged out of my writer cave and have been to two great exhibits in passed month; Wonderland at the ACMI and Vikings: Beyond the Legend. Both were fantastic and seeing how I’m obsessed with Alice (omg the costumes from Burton’s movies were there and I almost died) and Vikings I was in heaven.

 

Also, check my freaking awesome Loki statue I got from the Vikings Exhibit as well as Rune Swag!

I highly recommend both exhibits if you happen to be in the Melbourne area.

Apart from working on the book, I’ve been taking the time (ie forcing myself) to self care and refill the creative well. A looming deadline can really throw out my creative process, work my anxiety into a frenzy and generally stir me up to a point where I can’t focus on actual writing. This particular series is research heavy so I’ve spent some delightful hours on JSTOR, reading articles, following leads and making connections I never would have thought of without taking the time to immerse and enjoy myself.

In the reading department I finally finished my Sarah J Maas pile! I was actually really surprised how much I enjoyed Tower of Dawn. The world building was great and I really enjoyed the fantasy twist on the Huns that Maas created. Also yes, I AM in love Dothraki- Bae of the Skys a.k.a. Sartaq The Winged Prince.  Hell, I even stopped hating Chaol in this one which surprised me. Catwoman has just come out and I’m already about half way through and enjoying Maas’s take on Gotham.

The other series I’m obsessed with at the moment is Thea Harrison’s Moonshadow series. If you like my Blood Lake Chronicles, and you are after more Celtic paranormal with an Arthurian twist I really recommend you check them out. To be honest you could go for any series of Thea Harrison and it would be worth it. I’m working my way through her whole catelogue at the moment and have loved everything (though Moonshadow and Dragon Bound have been my favourite).

OH. And I feel like I should mention here that I demolished ‘Spinning Silver’ by Naomi Novik. I have FEELINGS about this book. Like any book of hers, she just slays me. Her new takes on Russian mythology with this book and ‘Uprooted’ continues to leave me in awe and with serious impostor syndrome. I am shamelessly in love with the Staryk King, but seriously, a Winter Elf King who can do magic…its like it was made just for me to obsess over. I could write essays about this book but I wont. Please read it, and ‘Uprooted’ if you haven’t already.

Okay guys that’s about all I’ve got for you. I’m all head in the books at the moment and very unexciting. Fingers crossed I can break some awesome writing news to you all soon and then you get full enthusisatic Amy about the new series I’m so obsessed over that I’m literally incapable of thinking about anything else at the moment.

Ames x

akuivalainen

Psst -Free Box Set Promo this weekend!

A quick heads up that both The Firebird Fairytales Boxset and The Western Wars Boxset will be Free on Amazon this weekend so its a perfect time to check them out and leave a review! They are also on Kindle Unlimited if you are a part of the program…Check out descriptions below x

The Firebird Fairytales is a fresh Nordic Paranormal Fantasy series that breathes new life into Ancient myth

Cry of the Firebird
Born on the crossroads between worlds Anya’s Gate Keeper magic is buried under grief and rage until one fateful night a firebird hatches on her farm who is sharing its body with the fabled Prince Yvan. With Yvan’s dark magician brother Vasilli and other powerful enemies closing in around them, Anya has no choice but to sober up, follow Yvan into Skazki and hope that she can learn how to control her awakening magic before it destroys her and any hope of keeping the gates to both world’s safe.

Ashes of the Firebird
Branded as Rogues and hunted by the supernatural world Anya and her companions flee to Budapest, a place of new allies where they will be safe. They begin the search for Yanka, Anya’s ancestor and the only person in history with enough power to change the tide of the brewing war. Her relationship with the Thanatos Trajan is made complicated when he accidently feeds off her and trouble finds them when Aleksandra saves mysterious demon hunter Mychal from an attack, bringing new monsters and threats to Anya’s door.

Rise of the Firebird
Travelling from the battlefields of Skazki to the Underworld of Tuonela, Anya and her companions encounter the vicious dark goddess Louhi and gain two magician’s, the mad hero Kullervo and Eldon Blaise – apprentice of Merlin himself. As devastating secrets of history and the heart are revealed, Anya must fight the darkness within her and rise up to be a symbol for the Neutral rebel army that rallies under the banner of the firebird. Ready to restore the balance at any price, the final battle of the three armies will shape the worlds forever.

Free Here 

 The Western Wars is an epic fantasy series with loads of adventure, magic and romance

Eastern Gods – Book One

‘Come to me and I’ll whisper secrets that will shake the worlds. ‘

When a spy from the mysterious Eastlands is caught in his kingdom, Haldirian is sent to the only reliable scholar of the East left on the continent of Elindor. With her help, he’s determined to stop the fear of war spreading, but as the first female heir in history, highly intelligent and carrying a warrior swagger Aláenor isn’t what Haldirian has learned to expect from royal princesses. But Aláenor isn’t as confident as she appears as she’s haunted by the memory of her dead mother and plagued by a man whispering in her nightmares.

The spy claims that Mordecai, dark magician and Emperor of the East sent him to scout their kingdoms for an invasion, but it’s the threat of unknown magic that forces them to act. The West turned their back on magic hundreds of years ago, and they will have no way to stand against it if the mysterious Emperor decides to make war.

Together, Aláenor and Haldirian will journey to the other side of the world to learn the truth, but nothing is as it seems, and the East will reveal secrets to Aláenor that will shatter her world, question her loyalties, and forge her into the queen she must become.

The Golden Queen – Book Two

Scholar. Warrior. Lover. Queen.

Still recovering from her imprisonment in the Red Fortress, Aláenor travels to the northern city of Anan in search of new allies in her war against the Emperor Mordecai.

Anan has more than one surprise for Aláenor, and as she comes to terms with the magic awakening inside of her she will need Haldirian’s support to make it back to the West.

Aláenor has been raised to believe that Mordecai’s family line were traitors, but history is written by the winners and she will discover she has more in common with the enemy than she thinks.

Free Here

akuivalainen