The release of Rogues Lie went so much better than I expected. I did so many things wrong. For a start, life meant that I had to push back the release a month from when I originally set the pre-order. So, release day went from Halloween to Thanksgiving, and worse, to the weekend of the Black Friday sales. The wisdom of the book marketing world suggested I pretty much couldn’t have chosen a worse release date.
And yet…
You guys made it work!
Thank you.
When I woke up in the morning of what would have been New York’s evening of the release day (sorry for the time zone confusion, but I’m in Western Australia and that means I live in most of your futures) and saw that Rogues Lie had cracked the top 300 in the US Kindle Store, I nearly cried. As for your kind comments, messages, and reviews … pass the tissue box!
Thank you. I cannot say it enough times. Thank you.
When I first had the idea for Caldryn Parliament I WANTED to write it. The idea of mixing science fiction, fantasy, and mystery genres with a dash of romance was irresistible. I also longed to have a protagonist who stalked the halls of power. I wanted to show real people in a world of complicated alliances and potential tragedy (not tragedy in terms of deaths, but in terms of having to juggle competing interests. For one group to flourish, must another suffer?).
I mean, what would I even call this mixed bag of genres? It’s not quite cozy fantasy or mystery. It’s not romantasy (oh the envy I feel for authors who can use that tag and Amazon’s algorithms reward them with discoverability). I’m still searching for the right descriptor.
But I took the leap. I even built a website (yes, it’s basic. So are my tech skills).
And then, politically, the world went mad and I was committed to releasing a new series set in a parliament at a time when people were side-eyeing politicians or dreaming of rotten-tomatoing them.
The successful launch of Rogues Lie feels like I can finally breathe after holding my breath for much of the year.
Fate willing, there will be eight books in this series. Next up is Ghosts Cry. I’m hoping to release it in March 2026, but I learned my lesson this year! I’ve set the pre-order for June to give myself wriggle room if everything goes sideways. I’ll bring the release day forward if life permits.
Comments
6 responses to “Thank you!”
You are so welcome! I am encouraged to know that you will continue to entertain our brains for the next while.
Keep it up, Girly.
::huge smile::
Oh yeah, lots more books! I’m so pleased I get to continue in this world for two more years. Sheer joy 🙂
No, thank YOU! I loved Rogues Lie so much that I didn’t want to leave the world, and so now am re-reading the series from the beginning. So many really gratifying pieces from the overall arc pulled together in this one (and the dad reveal and related scenes made me cry, it was just so lovely), and so the reread with that in my head is lots of fun.
I can’t wait to see where you go from here! And I sure can’t wait to meet the shiza, I’m not sure whether to be scared of them or excited! 🙂
I cried while writing that scene! ::passes tissue box::
Thank you for the kind words (and the shiza are awesome).
Congrats making into the top 300. You deserve it! Really enjoying the Caldryn Parliament series. Very original and I love your political nouse. Still reading Rogues – way too busy this time of year – but thank you for making my downtime so exciting.
It is such a busy time of year! Glad you can sneak in some Rogues 🙂 And I’m still thrilled and smiling huge at cracking the top 300. Incredible feeling. Thank you!