Momentum, Magic, and Another Year Around the Sun

Where has February gone?!

I know it’s the shortest month, but this year it feels especially fast.

Perhaps because this month has been one of celebrations and medical appointments — but more on that later. First, some writing updates.

Even in a hectic month, I am still finding time to write, work on KMATK revisions, and go over chapters of Hubby’s novel.

We’ve now gone through twenty-five out of forty chapters of KMATK, and Hubby is still greatly enjoying the story. Once we’ve finished revisions, I plan on sending it to some betas and my editor, and then I’ll be diving into the querying trenches!

While KMATK is in the revisions phase, I wanted something new to work on. I found myself not quite meshing with my YA romantasy that I was going to submit to this year’s Snowy Wings Publishing Nursery Rhyme Anthology, and I needed something new.

Back in December, I mentioned an idea sparked by a meme that writer friend Christine Rains shared.

I wrote about 1,000 words on a story about a vampire landlord and then left it at that. It was the holidays, and then I was back to KMATK revisions.

But the idea lingered, and combined with my January reading — where I got drawn into a couple of cosy fantasy novels — I started playing around with the concept of a vampire landlord in a cosy fantasy setting, deciding I wanted the MC to be magical too.

Before I knew it, I had begun drafting a brand new story, which in turn blossomed into the first book of a new series—The Briardell Chronicles.

If you follow me on social media, you’ll have seen me posting a lot about Briardell—a secret, cosy magical village in North Yorkshire.

I decided that each Briardell book will follow a different inhabitant of the village as they overcome an emotional hurdle and forge both friendships and romantic bonds.

The first book is Tea Leaves, Pages and Starlight, and here’s the blurb:

Bethany Hawthorne has never felt like she truly belongs anywhere.

So when a regular café customer recognises what she is — a witch — and tells her there’s a place where she won’t have to hide her magic, Bethany does something she’s never done before.

She leaves.

Briardell is everything she hoped for: a secluded village filled with warmth, magic, and people who understand what it means to be different. There’s just one small problem.

No one has a spare room to rent.

No one, that is, except the quiet, charming vampire who owns the village bookshop.

Desperate not to lose her chance at belonging, Bethany accepts Caleb Ashcroft’s offer of a room in exchange for helping in the shop. Between shared cups of tea and long evenings under lantern light, an unexpected connection begins to grow — one that feels as comforting as it does frightening. Because both Bethany and Caleb know how easily love can be lost.

But when a restless spirit of loneliness begins draining the joy from Briardell itself, the fragile warmth they’ve found may be the village’s only hope.

If they can stop running from their pasts long enough to choose a future together.

I will begin serialising Tea Leaves, Pages and Starlight on March 9th, with a new chapter every Monday, all of which will be available exclusively on Inkitt. (So be sure to follow me there for all the latest news!)

I tentatively have the end of October as a completion date, when I will release the full book on Amazon via Crimson Fox Publishing. Then it will be onto book two—which currently has approximately five Briardell residents begging me to let it be their book! ^_^

I decided to serialise The Briardell Chronicles because, honestly, I miss serialisation and think that a cosy fantasy with interlinking books is perfect for the serial format. Plus, it will give me a creative outlet while I continue to revise and submit KMATK.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, my career aim going forward is to be a hybrid author, balancing traditional publishing with indie publishing, and serialisation is one avenue of that.

This coming Wednesday, March 4th, I will be revealing the cover for Tea Leaves, Pages and Starlight, and I would love your help spreading the word about the cover and the serial.

If you’d like to be part of the cover reveal team and help spread the word about Briardell, please fill out the linked form, and I will be in touch on February 28th with the cover, blurb, and links.

As a special treat, newsletter subscribers will be the very first to see the cover when I send out my February “Letter from Clare” this weekend.

As well as working on KMATK and Briardell, I have also been reading and revising chapters of Hubby’s latest novel. Last year, he wrote two stories and drafted concepts for a few others. He then started querying the first story, but after a number of rejections or no replies, he realised that the story wasn’t quite right.

He recently took part in the “Rekindle Your Writing Spark” challenge from Karen Sanders Editing, and combined with my recent cosy fantasy spree, he decided he wanted to try cosy, low fantasy too. He took the same characters from his previous stories but developed a new fantasy plot. And honestly, it’s some of the best stuff he’s written. I adore his writing and the comedic absurdity of it — and fantasy lends itself perfectly to that.

In my personal life, Oldest turned 23. He had a present from us a few months earlier in the form of a new PC chair, but on the day his partner was here and showered him with gifts, he also bought himself a couple of Lego sets. I’m glad to see Lego is still a birthday tradition.

We went out to Nando’s for a birthday treat. It’s the first time I’ve been in a good 15 years, and let me tell you, their ‘bottomless’ RUBRO iced tea is addictive! I think I had about six glasses! Lol.

A week later, it was my birthday. We celebrated a day early, as I needed a pick-me-up after having a medical procedure, so I got some plushies from Kenji, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and an Indian takeaway.

My main gift—an exclusive book of song lyrics, poetry, and photos from Atsushi Sakurai—is due in the next few months, as it’s coming from Japan.

I CANNOT WAIT!

The aforementioned medical procedure had some complications—nothing painful or dangerous—a few days later, and combined with my allergies to the adhesive on HRT patches, I’m back on the gynaecological waiting list to discuss alternative treatments for PMDD.

I’ll be honest: I am feeling completely burned out with medical stuff and wish it could all be done with. But I suppose it’s better than the alternative…

On a more positive medical update, I should be starting ADHD meds within the next week or two. I’ll be interested to see what effect they have.

All in all, February may have been full of appointments and upheaval, but it was also a month of momentum—revisions nearly done, a new world born, and another year around the sun.

That’s about all I have for you this month, so I am going to leave this entry here.

If you’d like early access to cover reveals, exclusive excerpts, behind-the-scenes writing updates, and my usual freebie graphics, you can subscribe to my newsletter here.

Until next month, take care & stay creative.

T.T.F.N.