by Hello dear readers! M. L. Wang here with a brief update on my life, writing, and other author stuff. First, I just want to let everyone know that since this day of August 21st is my birthday, I’m celebrating with my own little ebook sale. There’s honestly no gift better than new readers, so I’ve discounted all three of my books—Theonite: Planet Adyn (also available for free through my newsletter), Theonite: Orbit, and The Sword of Kaigen—to 99c on Amazon through August 24th.
This August has been a month of exciting firsts for me, in both my writing and personal life, so I’ve interspersed the author stuff with the personal stuff to create an update sandwich:
First book to hit 100 Goodreads reviews! 📚
That’s right, as of this week, The Sword of Kaigen has amassed 100 reviews on Goodreads, something no book of mine has done before. To celebrate, I’m running a big Twitter giveaway!
First Baby Shower 🌸
I guess I’m old enough now that even my younger girl-friends are having babies. This one is a 4th-degree black belt with legs with whips, so I fully expect this baby to be able to beat me up in a few years.
First Podcast Interview 🔊
Calvin Park of the Under a Pile of Books podcast was kind enough to invite me on for an author interview last week. We talked about The Sword of Kaigen, magical girl shows, Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the creative process behind the Theonite universe. Give it a listen on Anchor or RadioPublic!
First D&D Campaign 🏰
This is just getting started and it’s a really new form of storytelling for me, so I’m excited to see where it goes.
First Book Signing 🐱
Last weekend, I did my first signing at the Books, Crafts, & Cats fundraiser, hosted by the Crafty Cat Rescue in Michigan. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I ended up having a great time meeting readers, authors, and adorable kittens. Thank you so much to those of you who made the trip to see me and welcome to those of you who first met me at my table!
This event was also my first time meeting other fantasy authors in person and they could not have been nicer! Mindee Arnett, S.D. Grimm, Loretta Lost, and Linsey Miller all swapped signed books with me, leaving me with a whole stack of exciting fiction to take home! You can find photos of their beautiful books (and the cute animals) over on my Instagram.
Project Updates 🖊
Theonite: City of Ghosts is slowly but steadily taking shape in the midst of all this other excitement. As of today, I have an estimated 30% of the first draft completed and out to my beta readers for feedback. I wish I could sprint for the end with abandon, but this book has a lot of moving pieces and I don’t want to drop any in the shuffle.
My sapphic Theonite spin-off about apprentice priestess, Tuya, and blind swordswoman, Makda, has been renamed Flameless and is currently in its pure-fun developmental stages. I write scenes from this one to work out creative frustration in between runs at City of Ghosts, and I could not be more excited about how it’s shaping up. I want to gush more about it, but we’re going to leave it mostly secret for the time being.
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