Come Find Me at SDCC!
I’ll be at San Diego Comic Con next week—my fifth time attending. I’ll be mostly promoting The Executioners Three, but…
I will also have heaps of old Witchlands swag!!! So if there are any bookmarks or posters or maps you’ve ever wanted to get, this is your chance to grab them!
While supplies last, I’ll have all the old swag at my signings. (And feel free to bring old books of your own that you might want signed! I have no limit!)
Here’s my full schedule or check out the graphic below:
FANTASY WORLDBUILDING 101
Friday at 1PM
Room 23ABC
SIGNING
Friday at 2:30
Sails Pavilion, Table AA06
GET TE3 & WITCHLANDS SWAG!
ARC SIGNING
Friday at 4PM
Tor Booth, 2701
GET MORE SWAG!
Plus, the first 50 people in line get TE3 ARCs!!
A Taste of Something New
I am 100%s supposed to be only talking about The Executioners Three and begging you all to support me with a pre-order…
BUT, you know me! I am 100% as impulsive as Safi, and right now, my impulses want to share something new.
Probably because I just talked at length about the Murder Quartet on my main newsletter, and so now I want to share part of it.
Or maybe because I’m currently finishing the first draft of Two For Joy—book 1 in the Quartet—and so it’s fresh in my brain.
Either way, enjoy the definitely unedited (but hopefully still solid) opening chapter of this YA horror mystery romance.
CHAPTER ONE
There’s a distinctive sound that comes from the flipped page of a mass-market paperback. It’s a raspy scrape that is as familiar to Magpie Adams as her own breathing—and is certainly more comforting than the cicadas booming outside the ticket trailer where she works.
Or the car engines of tourists rumbling by in search of breakfast. Or DJ Crankster on 98.7 FM introducing some new band called the Backstreet Boys.
Magpie flips the page of her latest read, Held by a Duke, aided by a portable fan blasting nearby.
The Duke leaned in, and Elena felt her stomach tighten. Heat pooled in that liquid core of her that she’d never known was there until Rother had arrived in London. How could he evoke so much feeling inside her body?
A good question, and one that Magpie needs answered before her work shift begins at nine.
Rother’s lips parted. His bottom lip grazed Elena’s, and a sound like desire fell from her tongue—a sound she couldn’t believe came from her throat. Then the Duke was kissing her fully, with all the—
A cough sounds at the ticket window.
“We’re not open yet,” Magpie murmurs. Sweat slips down her forehead, mixing with sunscreen to burn in her eyes.
—pent-up hunger of the last three days. Ever since Rother had rescued her from the fishpond at Lady Marsden’s luncheon, Elena had wanted this moment.
Another cough outside the trailer.
“The Chain Ferry opens at nine.” A mosquito pricks. Magpie swats absently.
He was so strong against her, the muscles of his thighs pushing between her own. Were all men this strong, or was he just an exceptional specimen?
“Uh, I’m not a customer. I’m starting work today?”
Oh, snap. Magpie stands up so fast, her plastic chair falls over. Mrs. J—her boss—did mention something last week about Liam Carpent(cough) starts on Saturday (cough, cough).
“Hi. Sorry.” Muggy August heat rolls against Magpie through the ticket window. “I forgot a new ferry pilot was starting today.” Pilot is a generous term for what the boys do on the Chain Ferry, cranking an iron wheel back and forth across the river all day long.
Meanwhile handsome is not nearly generous enough for the boy standing on the pavement outside. He smiles, turning his brown face into the sort of gorgeous you only see on the covers of books like Held by a Duke.
Magpie’s mouth goes dry. “Come around back. I’ll . . . I’ll get you a T-shirt.”
By the time she finishes shoving her paperback into her denim backpack and snagging a uniform shirt off the shelf next to the register, Liam Carpent-cough is waiting at the trailer’s back door.
Where the fan makes his tight corkscrew curls blow and his brown arms literally glisten.
He is going to get so many tips, Magpie thinks, tamping down any attraction that might want to awaken. After all, someone like Liam Carpent-cough, with his easy smile and his warm black curls, is way out of her league.
Her own black hair is ramrod straight and prone to frizz in a way her mom refers to (lovingly) as her magpie feathers. Magpie hastily tucks those feathers behind her ears. “You don’t have to wear the shirt,” she tells him, offering the tee, “but Mrs. J appreciates if you at least put it on between ferry trips.”
Liam nods, and with almost respectful movements, he shakes the shirt loose so he can study the old-fashioned lettering that reads Two Pines Chain Ferry, exactly like the sign over the trailer does.
Then Liam peels off his yellow polo shirt, and Magpie feels like her eyes have been flayed . . . then peeled and set on fire. Because wowzers. So many tips ahead for Liam on the Chain Ferry—and probably so many dates too.
Magpie doesn’t have to be Madame Moira in the downtown tarot shop to see that future written in Liam’s stars.
Once he has folded his lean body into the shirt, Magpie thrusts out a hand. Then wishes she’d wiped the sweat off it first. “I’m Magpie.”
“Liam.” He repeats his easy smile—and offers an easy handshake too, seemingly unconcerned by her body’s natural cooling mechanisms. “Is that your real name? Magpie? Or just a nickname?”
“Just a nickname.” Magpie blushes. “My real name’s Margaret. But you know.” She waves vaguely toward the ferry, where a photo stand-in features Jill and Alfonso. “Two for Joy was filmed here, so everyone calls me Magpie.”
Liam does not look like he knows. “Is there a magpie in the movie?”
Magpie blinks at him.
Then gasps when she realizes he isn’t joking. “Oh my god, you’ve never seen Two for Joy?”
“No.” Liam’s brown cheeks flush coppery. “I know of it, of course. But I’ve never seen it.”
At this confession, any discomfort Magpie was feeling over a new guy in town goes poof! Because Two for Joy isn’t just easy footing for her, it’s the easiest footing—aside, of course, from category romance novels, gourmet sandwich creation, and cave fish (thanks to Mom and Dad for that last one). “Does your family have a VCR? Because I can lend you my copy.”
“Yeah, we do.” Liam grins. He has a lovely smile. “I’d appreciate that.”
And Magpie risks a tiny smile of her own. “Great. I’ll bring it over tomorrow.”
To her vast relief, Liam doesn’t run screaming for the nearby cicada-filled pines at the sight of her prominent front teeth.
So she smiles just a little bit bigger and motions for Liam to follow her to the front of the trailer. He ambles into step beside her, and the soft kiss of the portable fan trails away. The thunder of the cicadas does too, and in moments, Magpie and Liam are facing the riverside street and waters beyond.
Where the Two Pines Chain Ferry bobs happily against her moorings.
Framed by an ornate white archway and a sign that claims it was built in 1873 (it wasn’t; Mrs. J’s uncle built it in 1979), the ferry is a small flat-bottomed vessel that crosses back and forth from one side of the river to the other via an underwater chain all summer long.
Ducks swim by. A few geese too—although most of the geese are currently strutting through the tree-filled park next door, where they can crap all over the grass and keep tourists from ever enjoying picnics there.
“If you want,” Magpie says as they cross the street toward the ferry, “I can get you into the Two for Joy museum after hours today. Then you can see the magpies I’m named for—and watch the whole movie too. They have a theater for Two for Joy. I mean, only if you want to do all that, of course. No pressure or anything.”
“I’d love that.” Another winning smile, this one even bigger than before.
And Magpie’s chest warms at the sight of it. Because although Liam Carpent-cough may be out of her league romantically, he sure would be nice to have as a friend.
And it’s been such a very long time since Magpie has made a new friend.
The river’s breeze gives a solid shove across Magpie as she hops the curb onto the opposite sidewalk. It carries with it a scent like sunscreen because the resident ferry pilot, Buck Taylor, is currently applying heaps of SPF 45 to his upper body.
Which means that all the tourists gathered for the day’s first trip are ogling him. Not necessarily on purpose, but the sheer amount of exposed skin—he is fully shirtless and offering quite the display of rippling athlete muscles as he rubs on sunscreen—in combination with the fact that he’s the only person standing on the Chain Ferry, makes it feel like he’s a performer on a stage.
(Which is funny, honestly, since it’s actually his twin sister, Adelaide, who’s the theater kid. She’s the one who loves the limelight and is headed off to be a drama major at Michigan State in three weeks.)
Magpie swallows. Then punts all thoughts of Adelaide aside. She doesn’t want to think about her only friend leaving Two Pines. She doesn’t want to imagine what it’ll be like when her longest, bestest friend isn’t always right next door and Magpie finally descends into full isolation, with not a single friend to her name.
“We have a new employee,” Magpie calls to Buck.
He pauses his sunscreen show long enough to glance her way. “Liam, this is Buck Taylor, son of our esteemed Two Pines mayor. And, Buck, this is Liam Carpenter. His family just moved in.”
“Nice to meet you, Liam.” Buck gives a nod as he steps off the ferry gangway. Like his twin sister, he has dark auburn hair. But where Adelaide keeps hers in long, flowing curls that reach her waist, Buck’s locks are close-cropped and straight.
And where Adelaide is short, curvy, and dreams of finding a nineteenth-century duke who will lock her away in a tower (thereby forcing her to break free and find a different duke to adore her), Buck is long, lithe, and dreams only of deer season, football season, and getting a place of his own now that he has graduated.
“What brings you to Two Pines?” Buck asks as he comes to a halt before Liam and Magpie.
“My grandma needs hip surgery.” Liam’s weight bounces from foot to foot. “And my mom thought it would be easier if we lived nearby to help.” He shrugs as if he isn’t entirely sure he agrees with this assessment.
“Who’s your grandma?” Splat goes a fresh spray of sunscreen onto Buck’s palm. “Is she local?”
“It’s Mrs. J.”
It is not Liam who answers this question, but rather Magpie. Who now blushes furiously as both boys snap their attention her way.
Liam’s dark brown eyes contain surprise; Buck’s dark blue eyes contain amusement.
And oh yes, this is one more thing Buck shares with his twin sister: irises the color of Lake Michigan during a storm.
“How do you know that, Magpie?” Liam’s bouncing pauses. “I don’t think I told you.”
“You didn’t, I’m sure.” Buck sweeps sunscreen onto his forearms. “But you’ll get used to it, Liam. If there’s anything shiny around, I can assure you, she’ll be the first to find it. After all, why do you think she’s called Magpie?”
Magpie’s blush spreads to her ears. “That’s not true.” She looks at Liam. “I really am named for the movie. My mom loves those two magpies. And besides”—she turns toward Buck, glaring—“it’s not like I want to find shiny things. I just notice stuff no one else does.”
“Oh yeah?” Buck waves toward the trailer with his sunscreen tube. “Then maybe you should notice that it’s nine a.m., and you need to open the ticket counter.”
I hope you enjoyed the little teaser! Things are about to go very wrong for Magpie and Two Pines, and I can’t wait for everyone to read more…
Eventually, haha. First I suppose we need to get through the TE3 and Witchlight releases. 😉
I’ll be back next week with more fun stuff! Thanks for reading!
💚 - Sooz
Omg. Omg. Omg. This chapter is simply divine! Magpie is hilarious, and I want to know more!!!!!!!
I love it so much!!! Thanks for sharing 💚