It’s the first book birthday for Lord of the Hollow Court today! A big thank you to everyone who preordered and all the authors who supported me along the way.
This book is a spicy romance for mature audiences. You can get your copy below (or read it in KU!). And if you hurry, that 99c price from preorder might still be in effect!
Are you as excited as I am? Paperbacks of Girl of Shadow and Glass and Girl of Glass and Fury are now available on Amazon! Order your copies here.
Signed copies should be available later this month, along with series and bookish merch. But more on that later!
For now…Yay!
Cheers,
CKB
November 26 through 28, 2021, you can get a serious deal on my books.
Yes, that’s 2 books for 99c…total! I wanted to do a special sale for Small Business Saturday weekend, and you may never again see its like. If you’ve been thinking about starting the Tara’s Necklace series or have been meaning to pick up book two, now’s your chance!
This sale is on Smashwords only. Use coupon code AJ39W at the checkout. Find both sale books here!
Cheers to small businesses,
– CKB
In less than two hours, Girl of Glass and Fury arrives!
I’ll keep the price at 99c for the first week, so you can use this Universal Book Link to purchase it. Remember, if you haven’t read book one, that’s no problem! Girl of Glass and Fury takes place at the same time as Girl of Shadow and Glass (also 99c for a limited time!).
It’s a cruel and unjust world Finchoa lives in, and she’s determined to change it. Which would be a lot easier if not for one, massive problem: She’s a wisp.
To change the course of history, Finchoa will use every advantage she has—including her many friends. With the help of the boy she can’t be with and the friend she most trusts, Finchoa sets out to find their ancestors’ lost magic and a better future for her world. One in which her childhood friend Kith—and all the shade-children like her—will never have to choose between the dangerous shadows of the Open World and starvation.
Set in the same few days as Girl of Shadow and Glass (Tara’s Necklace Book One), Finchoa’s righteous anger grows into a force of its own, leading her out of her desert home and into a wild, new world she never could have imagined. Nor could she have dream of Arc, the mysterious soldier who suspects she’s more than she appears. And he isn’t wrong. Finchoa’s encounters with ancient magic are changing her in ways she can’t understand—yet.
With a bone-chilling jungle world full of dark surprises and a desert world mired in wicked winds, the worlds stand against a girl with the body of a ghost. Can Finchoa become what she needs to and unravel the secrets of Sundown? Or will those secrets die with her?
Hi all!
This May, the snow is gone (for now!), the trees are flowering and my projects are slowly coming together.
At the end of last month, the first two chapters of The Fishermen’s Princess were released for subscribers to my mailing list. This month will bring a more usual single chapter. The story currently follows Drina as she grows up and steps into her role as princess. That includes an arranged marriage!
On a personal note, I am a real language hound. I studied Japanese in college and have tried to keep it up as much as possible. I just finished the first level of Duolingo’s Japanese course. It was a great refresher and filled in some content I was missing (including things I was familiar with while living in Japan but never knew quite how to say).
Fun fact: at Japanese fast-food restaurants, you must ask for ketchup when you order. I often forgot to do this, much to my chagrin (I love ketchup, it’s the perfect condiment). Whenever I forgot, I was always too embarrassed of my language skills to walk back up to the counter and ask!
Now, what will this month bring to the blog?
I still have reviews coming of The Road to Farringale, by Charlotte E. English, and the full review of The Empress of Salt and Fortune. And that lace-making article is still in the works!
Sometime in the next two months or so, I’ll be adding reviews for Intisar Khanani’s The Theft of Sunlight, Tamora’s Pierce’s Tempests and Slaughter and a review of at least one of the books in The Daevabad Trilogy, by S.A. Chakraborty. And of course I have to talk about W.R. Gingell’s Between Jobs from her City Between series!
I also have another author interview in the works, which I hope to bring to you in this month or the beginning of June.
One of last month’s promos is continuing until May 10th. For the rest of the month, I’ll have two going, all through BookFunnel.
You should also be sure to watch for an upcoming 99c sale of Girl of Shadow and Glass!
Now for the promos from BookFunnel:
This new promo is for all the sci-fi and fantasy lovers out there. Find free samples and whole titles available for download.
More giveaways! Mashups are stories with a blend of two genres. In the case of Girl of Shadow and Glass, sci-fi elements are incorporated into the world building, which is more like solar system-building.
This one began April 10th and will finish up May 10th. Once again, all the listings are for free books and samples in the sci-fi and fantasy genres.
I’ve been sitting on new comics in the Growin’ Pup and Social Isolation series. I hope to get both out soon.
I also still have some partly finished episodes of Princess Disasterface to complete. With my second draft of Girl of Glass and Fury in need of finishing, I can’t give you any definites, other than that I am definitely behind on everything!
Thanks for reading! Till next time.
Cheers,
-CKB
Now that the third of three BookFunnel promos I’m participating in this month has begun, I thought I’d collect everything in one place!
I’m finally building a newsletter, so it makes the most sense to change how I tell you about these promos. From now on, I’ll be including links to current promos at the bottom of my normal blog entries just like I will my newsletters (and yes, there is a normal blog coming this weekend. My review of Thorn will appear tomorrow).
I just finished reading Nghi Vo’s The Empress of Salt and Fortune. What a beautifully written, imaginative book! I’ll be sure to pen a review as soon as possible. I had plenty of highlights in this one (that being said, the ending felt a bit rushed and climax lacked the emotional punch it should have, given Rabbit’s stakes in what happened.
A full review is forthcoming, possibly for May at this rate.
This promo is for sci-fi and fantasy works only, so there’s plenty to find! All entries require a giveaway, too, so free content for all!
Otherworldy Beings is a sales promo for books in the romance, fantasy/sci-fi romance and fantasy/sci-fi genres. Time to look for your next favorite read!
Another all sci-fi and fantasy genre promo! It’s a newsletter builder, too, which means giveaways.
That’s all for now!
Cheers,
– CKB
The business side: I have three—count ’em, three—promos to share with you all this month! Including two that begin today (more on the third next week).
Otherworldy Beings is a sales promo for books in the romance, fantasy/sci-fi romance and fantasy/sci-fi genres. It goes until April 30th, 2021.
These stories are all in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. It’s a newsletter builder, which means free content! (Again, until April 30, 2021). Newsletter-builders are one of the major reasons my TBR list is so long!
I’m still giving away a 9 chapter sample of my debut novel, Girl of Shadow and Glass, but soon I’ll have a new offering with…
My novelette, The Witch of the Unexepected Journey, is in the (hopefully) final stages of development. The story bounces between Kijo, the Witch of the Northern Light, as a fourteen-year-old girl and a mature witch, famous for her garden and cures, who is now deep into her eighties. On both occasion, catastrophe strikes, courtesy of one mysterious Lord General who’s out to get Heroab’s witches.
In the future, I’d love to continue Kijo’s story. I have some ideas already, but with a series to finish and another in the editing process, I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to draft another book. I’m overflowing with ideas, people!
The first chapter of The Fishermen’s Princess is coming this month! I can’t wait for you all to read it…but (not so subtle hint coming) you’ve got to sign up for my newsletter to receive it! To read more about it, check out my post here, or the Books page.
The Road to Farringale (Modern Magick #1), by Charlotte E. English (quirky fantasy)
Thorn (Dauntless Path #1), by Intisar Khanani (YA fantasy)
Between Jobs (The City Between #1), by W.R. Gingell (quirky but dark, paranormal fantasy). What took me so long to get started on this series? Gingell already had me with Spindle [my review here], but throw in two fae and a Korean vampire and apparently you’re speaking my language. What is it I love about monsters and mythological creatures, anyway?!
The newly released The Theft of Sunlight (Dauntless Path #2), by Intisar Khanani (of course!)
Lace! Will this be an ongoing series? Who knows! But after finishing Atelier on Netflix, I am in lace withdrawal. I’ll be including pictures of my own work!
Also, an article about culture clash (my favorite kind of story) films is on the horizon…though maybe not for this month.
“A rose who wore her barbs proudly, as a warning. My beauty is not yours for the taking. Touch me and you will bleed.” —a determined Aster, describing herself as she’s about to face the beast in An Enchantment of Thorns, by Helena Rookwood and Elm Vince
“I wait, not daring to speak, for some things require quiet to come into being.” – Alyrra in Thorn, by Intisar Khanani
A summer of Princess Disasterface. I hope to be back on the comic trail as my health issues (hopefully) ease up in the warmer months. If I could build up a backlog and keep releasing them for longer, that would be amazing. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
The joy of a brand new bookcase! With doors! Someplace to put my treasure trove of books, model horses and miniature izakaya (Japanese drinking establishment with small plates of food), when it’s finished. I do have to assemble the bookcase itself, too.
Also, that feeling of panic when you realize you’re laptop battery is running out but you haven’t saved your work yet. Sheesh! Get it together, lady.
Cheers and stay well,
-CKB
Spring is heeeeere…ish!
First, the bookish business. For anybody looking for something to read over spring break (should you have such a thing) there is a new BookFunnel promo featuring CLEAN reads only. That means no swearing, sex or gratuitous violence. One of my favorite authors, Intisar Khanani, writes clean (more on her below). In fact, Girl of Shadow and Glass is clean (yes, a sample is available as part of the promo).
Moving on…
This time of year, my puppy, who may in fact be slightly allergic to grass (but only affecting her eyes…go figure), loves nothing more than to lie in the sun, on the grass, and do nothing, except maybe eat some of said grass. Being a puppy and all, she’s still got that destructive streak, and apparently spring grass tastes DELICIOUS to dogs. I had to make a call to the vet after said habit ended with some…er…messy results.
We took her on a short trip to see the cherry blossoms last year (also a messy trip, but unrelated to the grass. Pupper’s got a car ride time limit and we were SO CLOSE to making it!). Because of the pandemic, she’s had even fewer reasons to get in the car. Ohio weather has kept her close to home for the past few months, too.
I hope to be taking that trip to see the blossoms in the not too distant future. Really, there’s nothing like it.
What about you guys? Do you have any special spring traditions or things you really look forward to?
The Road to Farringale, by Charlotte E. English. It’s getting good…!
A fabulous model of a Japanese izakaya (drinking establishment). I just love miniatures! And making stuff. It’s the perfect marriage, really.
The Theft of Sunlight, by Intisar Khanani, is soon to be released! In two days, in fact! I’ve been following Rae’s story for quite some time, back when it was a free short story the author made available on Amazon. It’s nice to see her get the full-book treatment. It’s also notable that Rae is the rare fantasy character with a disability (she was born with a club foot).
That’s all for now!
Cheers and be well,
-CKB
It’s cover and synopsis reveal time for my new serial novel!
(Be warned, this is a graphics-heavy post!)
A Serial New Adult Fantasy Novel by C.K. Beggan
The Little Mermaid is turned upside-down and inside-out in this creative retelling about merfolk, true love, wicked and benevolent pirates and a princess trying to find her place in the world.
Advisors tell Princess Alexandrina that fishermen are the lifeblood of their corner-of-and-island nation. Folklore says the fishermen serve the merfolk more than the crown. So why on earth are the fishermen following Drina?
When Drina sneaks out of the castle, the fishermen are there. When she plans to outsmart the meddling Cardinal and her formidable mother, they are there. And when Drina just might marry the prince she wants to (instead of the baron she’s supposed to), they are there. Just like they were there when her father, the lowly fishermen who married a future queen, was buried at sea.
As Drina fights for a love story of her own, tragedy sails ever closer to her kingdom, and its black sails carry the standard of the sea’s most terrifying pirates. Can the fishermen help Drina when she needs it most? Or do they only serve the crown beneath the sea?
This serial fantasy novel is packed with romance, danger, adventure, pirates and of course, mermaids. Join the CK. Beggan author mailing list to receive a new chapter in your inbox each month.
I’m so excited to begin sharing this story with you all. Please join me as we see how Drina’s story will unfold, together!
That’s all for now. The next post will be an in-depth review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s wonderful and heartbreaking Gods of Jade and Shadow.
Cheers and be well,
-CKB
This promo could not be more perfect!
Bree Yardley is hosting this BookFunnel book promo in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8th), and it’s all about women taking charge! (And maybe kicking a little butt along the way.) The Women Warriors promo has 141 participants, with titles in the categories of sci-fi, fantasy, romance, action and adventure.
It also features a free sample of Girl of Shadow and Glass, and a title highlighted in the Indie Book Spotlight on my blog, Sylvia Mercedes’ action-packed Daughter of Shades, the first book in the completed Venatrix Chronicles [find my review of Daughter of Shades here].
This promo is such a good fit for GoSG. Kith starts out unable to do just about anything without being told she can’t or shouldn’t. No matter how extraordinary a life she leads (learning from the shadows in another world and all that), she’ll always be a fragile shade-child. It’s high time Kith starts taking charge…and she’s about to do just that.
The Road to Farringale (Modern Magic Book 1), by Charlotte E. English. So far this entertaining book feels like a quirky combo of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Harry Potter. Trolls and a magical house, and MC’s Cordelia Vesper’s delightful narration (and hair) are the highlights so far.
Icedancer (Pler Trilogy Book 2), by Anna Velfman. How can there only be one book left?! Icedancer was every bit as good as I was hoping, and then some. It was also refreshing in a lot of ways. The handsome emperor doesn’t get a pass just because he shows he cares and has plans to help the world. There’s so much more to powerful and cultured Ashioto, and Velfman (and formidable MC Lanna) never give in to girlish fancy. A full review is forthcoming!
But first…
Twelve Days of Faery (Shards of a Broken Sword Book 1). Another fun read to brighten a gloomy winter’s day! A beleaguered king gets caught up in the dangerous realm of Faery when a peculiar enchantress arrives, claiming she can break the curse on King Markon’s son.
That’s all for now!
Cheers,
CKB
