The Whispering Night Cover Reveal!

Behold the glory of the basilisk!

1. Latest News

2. The Whispering Night COVER REVEAL!

3. HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD!

4. A wee UK tour update

5. French edition of The Luminaries

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1. Latest News

I know I’ve been away a lot lately—Cricket’s asthma was doing better…then took a sharp turn. We’ve been really struggling to get her lungs back to the baseline we’d finally reached a month ago, and nights are the scariest. I feel like I just exist “on call” all night, waiting for any sign that she has stopped breathing (during an attack, she can’t cry out for help).

I also developed surprise dizziness about three weeks ago that we can’t get to the root of. It’s good some days, totally miserable on others. I suspect it’s from stress—or maybe just the after effects of covid…but until the stress is relieved in my life, there’s no real way to test that theory. 😅

And the stress is pretty maxed out right now as I race to finish The Whispering Night. I spent most of last year so focused on Witchlight—and life challenges—that I only got ~1/3 of The Whispering Night drafted.

That’s actually the hardest part for me with sequels: that first act. As you all know (lol), I write a lot of layers in my plots.¹ And sequels always require the exact perfect assembly of each thread without deflating tension. Let’s not forgot emotions, too! I have to grapple with all the emotions of the previous book, so I will write and rewrite that first third of a sequel—over and over again until it’s The Right Story.

I finally hit that point in The Whispering Night over the holidays. And since then, it’s just been a race to write out the next 65,000 words of the book.

Last weekend, I did a chat with the incomparable Kate Elliott for SFWA, and she described her own process as (I’m paraphrasing): “It’s like riding a bike on gravel to start. Until I finally hit the paved road, and wow, I fly.”

That is exactly what it feels like for me with sequels. Rocky, bumpy, slow…then bam. HELLO, PAVED ROAD.

Another thing I loved that Kate said was that “the deeper you get into a series, the more doors you close for yourself.” In other words, you make story choices in each book, and that closes the door on future story directions.

Because The Whispering Night is a series ender, most of my doors are closed. And that adds an extra layer of challenge as I try to assemble the Right Story. A delicious challenge, actually, that I normally love tackling.

How do I make Winnie’s emotions reach X when I can’t do Y because of A I did back in book 1?

That said, I don’t love tackling these sorts of challenges when I have no time. 😂 The intensity of this deadline and the sense that I don’t have any wiggle room is really quite…well, overwhelming.

My agent definitely had to talk me out of a meltdown recently. Especially because I vowed I would never put my body or family through this sort of deadline intensity again.

But here we are. Another race to finish.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with you all!! I know each of you are the most patient, generous readers EVER. I just wanted to explain why I am completely absent online right now.

I want this book to be the best it possibly can be. I want to do Winnie and the gang justice. I want to do YOU all justice. I want to fulfill the promises I set out for you back in 2022…and even before that with our first #ChooseWithSooz on Twitter!!

I’ll be finished with this book so soon. I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CLIMAX RIGHT NOW AND ALMOST THERE.

And when I hit that finish line, I’ll be able to return to you DenNerds more consistently. 💚

Thanks for your patience while I craft what I hope is an emotionally satisfying, super epic, truly nightmare-filled conclusion.

NOW ONTO THE COVER REVEAL!

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2. COVER REVEAL!

Behold! The US cover for the final book in the Luminaries trilogy. The skeleton this time is meant to be a basilisk, and you’ll notice some bleeding heart flowers—which might have something to do with a certain Pure Heart motif throughout the series…😏

• Artist: Sasha Vinogradova / Instagram: melaamory; twitter: @vinogrdova

• Designer: Lesley Worrell / Instagram: lesleyworrell; twitter: @lworrelldesign

I hope you all love it!! The book will hit stores October 1, 2024, and more soon for all you UK readers!!

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3. HELP ME SHARE THE COVER!

As you can see above, I am really overwhelmed by life and work right now. 🥴 So getting online to promote this cover and share links to pre-order….is just not feasible.

I would love it if you all would help me push this cover out into the world!

You can use the graphic and pre-order link from above, or here are some other images you can disseminate.

Should you choose to share the cover somewhere on the internet, then THANK YOU. If not, that’s okay too. I hope you know I’m genuinely just happy that you’re here. 🥰

P.S. Find more graphics and reels to share on the Discord!

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4. UK Tour Update!

I am super excited to share I’ll be touring in the UK—hopefully for real this time, without any family emergencies! 🤞

I don’t have specifics yet, but it will be happening the last week of May 2024! So stay tuned for event locations and times. And thank you so much for your understanding last year when I had to cancel because of Cricket-shaped health emergencies.

SEE YOU IN THREE MONTHS, UK FRIENDS!

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5. French Edition of The Luminaries

One last thing before I return to drafting The Whispering Night climax: the French edition of The Luminaries is releasing March 1, 2024 from La Martiniere—and they have made a gorgeous cover as well as shared some awesome teasers on their Instagram.

You can also read the first chapter of the French edition here.

And see the stunning cover below!

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Thank you for reading and supporting, DenNerds. You’re amazing, and I hope you know how much I value your presence here, your willingness to buy and read my books, and your patience as I work my way through entirely-too-complicated stories. 😅

Until the next time!

💚 - Sooz

1. Phew, Luminaries was supposed to be the “easy” series after Witchlands….and it has been anything but!