August Wrap-up:

Happy September, book friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. Now that it’s September and the start of fall vibes, it means I get to decorate my home for Autumn. Fall is my favorite season! I love the fall colors, the changing leaves, all things pumpkins and pumpkin spice.

Last month, I finished editing a manuscript for Monarch Press, and continued working on my own WIPs (work in progress). It was fun diving back into my YA fantasy series with Book 3 of The Iron Kingdom Series. I spent a lot of time brainstorming my ending, so taking a break from the story in July was beneficial. Now I feel like I have a clear direction. I am at 57k words, so I am over the halfway mark. I hope I can make big strides with this story in September. I will probably jump forward to the ending and get that blocked in, then work my way backwards. I really want to keep this at 100k or under. That’s the goal!

I also started the sequel to Heartsmith early in August! It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. But I wrote 5k words in two days and got a great start on the story. I’m not sure how much time I’ll devote to it this month, as I really want to focus on The Iron Kingdom Series. But when I’m ready to fully immersive myself in Steampunk again, I won’t be starting from scratch. So that’s a plus.

Over the past two weeks, I had the privilege to be on two podcasts, The TufFish Show and Living the Next Chapter. The first one will not air until the beginning of October, but the second one is live on YouTube. You can watch the interview below:

Exciting Book News!

My YA Steampunk/Gothic Horror novel, HEARTSMITH is getting published!!! I am so excited that this story I started writing back in 2016 was picked up by my amazing publisher Jen Lowry of Monarch Press. It means so much to me that she fell in love with the story and the characters. I can’t wait for you all to read it!

I’ve spent the last week working on the Heartsmith manuscript, going over feedback from my publisher, and making adjustments here and there. I hope to have it finished and ready for editorial rounds by mid-September. I am overjoyed to begin the polishing process; I’ll keep you all informed along the way. Heartsmith will release October 2024!

Also, I commissioned my writer/artist friend X Zombie to do a character illustration of Arren Lockett, the main character from Heartsmith. Isn’t it so fun?! I may have her do more as we get closer to release day for this story.

Podcast News:

The Ink Mages podcast, hosted by myself and my author friend, Angela R. Hughes (Author of the Once and Future Chronicles Series) has 4 episodes out now, so be sure to check them out on YouTube and Spotify.  

The Ink Mages Podcast has all the Nerdy Banter you could want in a podcast. We discuss all things fantasy, world building, story craft, myths & legends, and our own books. This month, we will be featuring several author interviews, so be sure to tune in for those!

Please help us by subscribing to our channel, sharing the episodes, and leaving a comment. You can find our episodes by CLICKING HERE: The Ink Mages

Monarch Book Club

Join me on Discord for Monarch’s Book Club during the month of September! We’ll be reading through my debut YA Fantasy, THE CONJURER’S CURSE. So, if you haven’t read it yet, this is the perfect time to do so. Grab a copy, embark on an adventure, and join the fun with readers!

*I’ll be posting questions and hosting games related to this cleanreads book. I’m excited to chat and interact with readers!

Here’s the Discord link to join our chat:

Did you Love THE CONJURER’S CURSE?

For those of you who have picked up my debut YA Epic Fantasy, I hope you enjoyed Rowan’s thrilling adventure. I would love to know what you thought of it. Please do me a HUGE favor and leave a review to share your love for the book to encourage other readers to give it a read. Reviews are an easy way to support me, and they have huge impact. I am blessed every time I receive one. To those of you who have already left reviews, I cannot thank you enough!

As always: Thank you to everyone who has supported me, encouraged me, and read my debut novel. You mean the world to me! I hope you all have a wonderful September!

-Stephanie Cotta