Soulgazing: Spring Edition
an overdue update on the bookish front
I’m not sure when exactly time lost all meaning for me.
Maybe it was the Pandemic, and those endless days of anxiety that morphed into late spring picnics under the cherry tree, wind ruffling the leaves as my middle niece (a baby then) crawled over our bodies and cackled every time she fell.
Maybe it was after I signed with my agent, or we got the book deal and “Summer 2025” felt so incredibly far away—more concept than reality, easy to tuck into the back of my head as a great big “someday” so I could carry on with my life.
But someday is here—or four months from here, plus some change—and I’d be lying if I said it made any sense to me at all.
I’m happy, I think. Already a little sad. Bittersweet is closest, or perhaps hiraeth (the word tattooed on my wrist), but mostly I’m baffled by the fact this lifelong dream is about to become tangible, brilliant, wild, real…and eventually commonplace.
I keep glancing out my window, looking for that cherry tree.
And I think, maybe, that’s the point?
Petals burst open every spring, and then drop like confetti, blanketing everything in sight. They’re absolutely beautiful—and gone much too quickly. Then comes the leaves, which last longer but nobody holds festivals for those. After that, winter comes and those pretty green leaves disappear too, leaving ugly, naked branches until the next spring.
So while I’m giddy with anticipation, staring hawk-eyed at those tiny buds waiting for the first sign of a pink-tinted petal to unfurl, I’m also trying to be the tree. Knowing that all four seasons will come, and keep coming, and to sink deep into my roots so I can withstand them all.
So let’s talk books
I turned in Soulgazer 2.
Or rather, I turned in a disastrously messy thing that can pass itself off as a manuscript, and called it book 2. Yes, that’s both dramatic and a little bit mean, but not nearly as mean as I was to myself writing the first draft of this book.
Something to work on until edits come through.
It’s not that I set out with the intention of having a terrible time. It’s just that I thought I would be the exception—something I’ve heard is as common as book 2 syndrome itself. Every writer (especially those of us who’ve written other projects than the one we published) is convinced they will get through it better. They know what to expect, have author friends or colleagues who’ve given a million tips and tricks, listened to all the podcasts, read every blog, and there is no way they will fall prey to the same wallowing and despair!
(Or maybe I’m just projecting and trying to make myself feel better).
Regardless, after a few decent chapters and some solid character work, book 2 flew spectacularly off the rails and I’m still picking up the pieces. But while I’m doing that, here are a few fortifying updates to get us through.
1. I signed my name 200 times!
My brilliant marketing manager asked me if I’d be up for signing some bookplates so they could be sent out to indie bookstores for a few promotional events, and I promptly ordered some beautiful, Aqua sharpies to match my cover!
(Sidenote, my signature is my nickname—Magpie—because it requires minimal wrist movement, and it felt like a warm hug to write it. I reserve the right to change it in future though!)
((Sidenote to the sidenote, I have a new goal: sign enough copies of the book this year that I kill every last sharpie in that box! 200 didn’t even dull the ink of the first one so we’ll see))
2. Goodreads Giveaway of 10 ARCs!
Kalie (said brilliant marketing manager) also created a giveaway on goodreads, which you can enter here to potentially win one of 10 physical ARCs of Soulgazer!
These are bound books with the cover, and the core of the story (though I think they were made before pass pages so a few grammatical errors are to be expected). My fingers are crossed that some of you will get them!!!
3. We have an official launch event!
My old local indie, Thank You Books, is hosting the very first book signing and launch party for Soulgazer, and I could not be more delighted!
Thank You Books is a woman-owned indie bookstore in Birmingham that’s become a key part of the community, and offered a place of solace and inspiration for years while I lived there. They’re also running my preorder campaign (thank you again), and are genuinely some of the kindest most intelligent people around.
If you’d like to come, it’s a free event open to the public though an RSVP is welcome, and if for any reason you can’t, you can still get your signed copy of Soulgazer here!
4. We have blurbs!!!
They’re already up on the Penguin Random House site, as well as most other major retailers, but each and every one has made my heart jump and my feet long to dance!
5. No more updates to share yet, just a great big beautiful thank you!
I have more coming soon—interviews, more preorder goodies, another event or two, and more to say about the book itself—but this is all for now! As always, you can find the most up-to-date information on my site or the gram.
Thank you for reading, kindred spirits.
Magpie