It's Phoenix Time, Bitches!!! |
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Latest news and ramblings from S. A. MacLean |
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Welcome to my first ever newsletter! Truly, a moment for celebration. As I haven't quite figured out how to send cake through email, we'll have to settle for: |
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The Phoenix Keeper is debuting Summer 2024! |
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It's Publisher's Marketplace official! My debut cozy fantasy romance, THE PHOENIX KEEPER, is slated for summer 2024, thanks to an absolute dream-collab between Gollancz and Orbit US. Do you love mischievous magical creatures? Enchanting memories of a summer day at the zoo? An anxious bisexual trying (unsuccessfully) to not obsess over how good her rival's hair smells? Queer characters being awesome and happily in love? In my 10+ years of ecology degrees and animal husbandry, I never could have foreseen wrapping so many real-world experiences into one magical zoo book: scrubbing flamingo ponds at the LA Zoo, cradling fluffy gull chicks in my lap for beak measurements, fighting a peregrine falcon named Banshee as she tried to claw my arm off. Aila's journey with social anxiety also mirrors my own lifelong struggle with anxiety. The doubt I've faced. The unhealthy coping mechanisms I didn't always recognize. The incredible friends who helped me become more confident. I can't wait to chat about all these inspirations in more detail over the coming year! Friends. There's already so much exciting news in the works for this book, I'm positively vibrating. I cannot wait to share all the incredible things we have in store for you! Truly, this will be a magical journey 💖 I also checked one small but exciting item off my writer bucket-list: ordering my very own mug printed with my very own Publisher's Marketplace announcement! We don't need to talk about how long it took me to decide on the perfect photo in front of my shelves, but I had to make sure a few of my favorite books showed up in the background (Nona the Ninth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, For the Throne, to name just a few). |
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How gay is THE PHOENIX KEEPER, exactly? |
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Latest Blog Post: How I Got My Pub Deal |
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THE PHOENIX KEEPER had an amazing and unusual path to a pub deal! 67 rejections while querying. One single agent offer. Then just two days into submission, we had our first pub offer, with multiple six-figure pre-empts by the end of the week. Read about the full journey in my latest blog post! | | |
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My standout read this month has been Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee, which follows a fierce heroine on a quest of revenge to hunt manticores by training a giant, murderous bird. What's not to adore??? This novella is a short read, but pulls off stunning character arcs that rival some full-length novels. I fell head over heels in love with Ester and her roc, Zahra, within five pages, and they held my heart in a vice throughout their entire journey. |
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I also had a delightful time reading A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating A Demon, from Sarah Hawley. We live in a delightful age where we can enjoy cute magical fire newts, exploding chickens, environmental activism, and multiple dick jokes, all in a single book. What a time to be alive. I'm endlessly jealous of Mariel's plant magic. And Ozroth the Ruthless just needs a hug (don't we all?). |
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How's everyone doing here at the end? Nice and cozy? Good. We're going to be good friends, you and I, which means you should probably meet my two lead cheerleaders / chaos gremlins. |
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| | Perry, my darling, has three operational brain cells on a good day. He's quite fond of boxes. |
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| | Monty, my #1 head-booper, has resting bitch face set to max. He's really enjoying this packing material. |
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| | Sometimes, they get along! Our two sweet boys are brothers we adopted from a cat rescue at 5 years old. |
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