So I have news, and I have a favor to ask, and honestly those two things are tangled up together in a way I’m kind of excited about.
There are two more Stonewood books in the works. The first is Fixation, a Ros and Knox prequel to A Smile Full of Lies, and it’s going to be completely free for everyone on my newsletter list, because I love those two and I want as many people as possible to have this one. The second is A Heart Full of Obsession, the book that comes next in the Stonewood timeline right after A Smile Full of Lies, and this one belongs to Detective Alyssa Allen, who you already know as a major side character from ASFOL, and her very own masked man, who was just the smallest easter egg blink-and-you-missed-it in that book. I’m so excited for everyone to actually get to know him, because there’s a lot more to him than that one quick glimpse let on. That one’s already taking shape in my head in the way that means it’s not going anywhere.
Here’s the part where I need your help. My cover artist is running a sale right now, and I would love, love, love to catch both of these at the sale price while it lasts, because good cover art isn’t cheap and neither is the print wrap that turns an ebook into an actual shelf trophy you can hold. Both of these books are getting the trophy treatment, cover and print wrap, no matter which one you’re picking up for free and which one you’re buying outright. That’s about $90 for Fixation’s cover and print wrap, and another $90 for A Heart Full of Obsession’s cover and print wrap. So, $180 total, and I would love to hit that number soon enough to actually get on my artist’s calendar instead of watching the sale window close before I can do something about it.
I’m going to be setting this up either through my PayHip store or as straight donations on my Buy Me a Coffee, whichever feels easiest for you, and either way I want to make it worth your while, not just ask you to hand me money and trust me. So, here’s what’s on the table:
- Name a FMC (first name or last name, your choice of one, not both).
- Name a MMC (same deal, one name, first or last).
- Name a villain (same deal again, and yes, either a male or female one, whichever this world needs next).
- Name a street in Stonewood or Silver Grove, my other Gulf Coast small town dark romance series that’s coming down the line.
- Name a side business, a restaurant, a florist’s shop, a bar, whatever the stories need as I keep writing and deepening the lore, and here’s the fun part: if you name a business, my artist friend can eventually design real fan merch around it: shirts, mugs, the works, something you actually get to show your friends as proof you had a hand in creating it.
- An in-universe shoutout, either a character scrolling their phone and liking a post from your real TikTok or Instagram handle, or your own account leaving a fictional comment on one of my masked men’s videos, which I’d work with you on directly so it actually sounds like you and not like I wrote it for you. My hope is it’ll get readers curious enough to look up your @ and go check out your actual account.
And this part isn’t a perk tier, it’s just how I do things: however you show up for this, whether that’s naming a character, throwing a few dollars in with no perk attached, or anything in between, you’re getting a mention in the acknowledgments. I believe in giving props where props are due, and that goes for every single person who helps make these covers happen, not just the ones who go big.
Whatever you choose, it goes into the deep lore for real, not just a one-off Easter egg. And a quick heads up on the naming perks specifically: you’re submitting one name, either a first or a last, not a whole name, and I reserve the right to mix and match whatever comes in, so the first name you send me might end up paired with a last name somebody else sent, if that’s the combination that ends up feeling right for the character. It’s the kind of thing that could come back around in a future book, or several future books, the same way Stonewood and Silver Grove are already set up to wink at each other in the future.
Here’s where I actually want your input instead of just deciding alone and hoping I guessed right. I don’t have set prices on any of these perks yet, so if you have thoughts on what feels fair for naming a character versus naming a street versus the shoutout, tell me, because I’d rather build this with you than for you.
Same goes for the platform, whether that’s set prices per perk over on PayHip or straight donations over on Buy Me a Coffee, I’m genuinely fine either way, so whichever’s easier for you guys is the one I’ll lean into. And I haven’t decided whether to cap these at limited spots or leave them open indefinitely, so if you have strong feelings either direction, now’s the time to let me know.
One more thing, if we go over the $180 goal, which I would love, I’ve got two places that money could go, and I want you to help me decide on which one I should do.
Option one, it rolls straight into covering cover costs and things like that for A Mind Full of Vengeance, the book after A Heart Full of Obsession.
Option two, it goes toward an annual subscription for a new ARC team platform I found, which would make running my ARC team so much smoother going forward. Both feel like good problems to have, so tell me which one you’d rather see.
If none of that is your thing but you still want to throw a few dollars toward getting these covers funded, that matters just as much, and I’ll take it just as gratefully.
Also, if you’ve got an idea I haven’t thought of yet, please tell me, because I built this whole world out of being obsessed with it, and I’d rather build this next part with you than just ask you to watch from the sidelines.
Thank you, endlessly, for caring about these characters as much as I do. Let’s get Ros, Knox, Alyssa, and her masked man where they need to go.
While I’ve got you here, I’d like to share one more honest thing with you. I’ve been posting five times a day on Instagram and TikTok because I was terrified you’d miss something if I didn’t, and if I’m being fully honest with you, that hasn’t actually been serving either of us. So… I’m doing something different starting now.
I’m going to post here on the blog once a day, that post will automatically go up on my official Facebook page too, so if you’re not following me there yet and you’d rather get updates that way, that’s a good place to be. I’m also bringing emails back into regular rotation over on CrewFiction, including some upcoming book recs from my author friends, so be on the lookout for that! If the inside scoop and casual chats are more your thing, you might want to hop directly into the ARC team chat on Facebook Messenger.
The goal is less noise, more actual books getting written, more time spent on the story instead of the algorithm. I think we’ll all be happier for it, myself included.