Another Witchlight Teaser

Also, hello from the UK! 👋

I am in the UK on tour right now—though admittedly, I wrote this newsletter a week ago, in an attempt to be a Responsible Author Who Loves Her Readers.

That said, you can still snag tickets for my remaining UK events!

• Wednesday, 29 May

  • 7pm Waterstones Liverpool with ST Gibson

• Thursday, 30 May

  • 7.30pm, Toppings, Edinburgh with ST Gibson

• Saturday, 1 June

  • Cymera Festival

NOW, onto that Witchlight teaser…

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Some of you have likely seen that Witchlight has been bumped to April 2025. Sigh. I swear I am doing the best I can, gang! For Publishing Reasons I can’t get too deeply into, what was a mostly finished book last December…I decided to redo.

Not entirely! I didn’t toss out what I’d written. But I realized that in my rush to get a book to you all by July 2024, I was “cutting corners.” Plus my editor couldn’t meet my schedule (not her fault!). Then there were some behind-the-scenes concerns too because publishing remains fraught with supply chain issues.

So I decided to set the book aside, bump it to 2025 (boo, I know), finish The Whispering Night, and then get back to Witchlight after. Yes, it means you all have to wait longer, but I think it will be worth it.

This book is so unbelievably epic.

Also, you all know I’ve been through some truly challenging stuff on personal side of life for a year and a half now. But that’s okay!

I will get you all a book I am proud of. One that does the series and the characters justice. And one that does YOU justice too.

Now read on to see a teaser!

To tie this book into Sightwitch and connect all of Ryber’s story more clearly to the rest of the series (because her story is so important, but I realize not everyone has read!), I’ve got Ryber’s letters and notes interspersed throughout Witchlight.

Here’s the first letter. Enjoy! 🐦‍⬛

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Ryber Artwork by Nipuni

Kullen,

I hope the Goddess releases you from your sleep soon—and I hope there are enough pieces of you still inside to understand why this diary is lying on the ice before you.

Do you remember me? Do you remember everything we went through? How I found you in the mountain, no name, no memory? How I found you again in Nubrevna, and we lived for a time like nothing could hurt us…

But the inevitable caught up to us; your Paladin soul couldn’t be ignored forever; and the Raider King forced you to his side. At least until Merik lured you into this sleeping ice, at the cost of himself in the ice beside you.

He has awoken again, though.

You have not.

Like before, I don’t know what these pages will show you. I only know what I’ve written and what I hope it will reveal. Then you can make the right choice when the sleeping ice releases you.

I have gone deep into the Sightwitch Sister Convent—all the way into the lowest levels of the Crypts, searching for explanations of what has happened to you. Surely, in all of those thousands upon thousands of Memory Records, there is someone who has experienced what you’re going through. Why has Bastien’s soul taken over yours?

I don’t think this is a possession, in which souls are bound to bodies not their own. Because you areBastien—or rather, you carry the same reincarnated soul of the Air Paladin that Bastien did. This is what all Paladins experience: they reincarnate again and again, each new iteration able to remember the past lives that came before. When Paladins reach a certain age, something in their lives will “trigger” all the memories to awaken.

We went through your trigger together, do you remember? When we were trying to escape the mountain a year ago, and you discovered the Blade and Glass.

But remembering the past lives is not the same as becoming the past lives.

I will keep searching, Kullen, and I will find an answer.

Also, I must warn you: the Blade and Glass are no longer inside the mountain. Stacia Sotar and Admiral Kahina of the Red Sails have them in their possession. They are both Paladins, and they have both gone to the Raider King’s banner.

I begged Stix not to. I begged her to see that the Raider King will destroy the Witchlands, but she disagreed. Something about him has convinced her he knows what is best for our future.

Who is right? Who is wrong? Who will bring terror to the Witchlands? Who will save us all from it? I will keep searching for clues in the Sightwitch Crypts. I am the only Sightwitch Sister left, so if I can’t crack this puzzle, then who will?

At least I’m no longer alone. The Rook found me today, swooping into the Convent as if he’d never left me a year ago. I cried at the sight of him. And I will cry even more at the sight of you, when you find me again.

If you do awaken and find this letter—if you are Kullen and not Bastien’s eternal fury—then come to me in the Crypts. I have drawn you a map so you can find your way through the mountain. And I will have the Rook keep bringing these messages to you in your tomb.

I love you.

-Ryber

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Short, but sweet! And if you’ve read Sightwitch, you’ll understand all the references. That book remains the most fun thing I’ve ever written. I approached it as if I were creating a video game—how could I capture the same sense of immersion and exploration with only text and zero player agency?

Not sure if I succeeded in getting the same vibes as a game, but Sightwitch was a joy to create, nonetheless!

Alright, off I go! Time to meet more readers and bless more babies.¹ See you all again soon!

💚 - Sooz

1. If only this were a part of my job. I would love to meet more babies!