The second instalment of Dragons of Aotearoa New Zealand is here!
In this episode, we explore the dangers of an encounter with one of Aotearoa’s most elusive and surly dragons.
Writing
Witchy Book Fair
Like a little romance with your witchcraft? Forty-two authors have joined forces to bring you paranormal romance and urban fantasy romance stories featuring witches, mages, and wizards. We’ll be promoting these books all month during the Witchy Book Fair.
Introduction to Poetry–published!
A couple of years ago, I wrote a poem for my students. It was an introduction to poetry that I used when I started a poetry unit, and was a response to the groans and moans I got whenever I introduced a poetry unit. The poem has been a hit–I slide smoothly into it when the kids start complaining, and when they realise I’m speaking in verse, their whole attitude changes.
I hadn’t really planned on publishing it, but when I found the perfect fit, I couldn’t resist.
It has just been published in the literary journal Teach. Write.
You can download the e-version here.
New Releases!
My cosy urban fantasy, Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman, is one of over 45 new releases featured in this month’s BookMojo promotion. Check out a wide range of books you’ve never read–you might find your next favourite author!
Fatecarver on JD Reads
My epic YA fantasy, Fatecarver, was featured on JD Reads. 🙂 Watch below, or on YouTube.
And have a look at the other books he features on his channel–there’s some great stuff there!
Release Day!
Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman is here! Woo hoo!
Alex Blackburn is not a witch.
So how the hell did she summon a demon?
More importantly, how is she going to get rid of it?
When Alex Blackburn returns to small-town Rifton to settle her grandmother’s estate, she doesn’t expect to uncover Gran’s secret affair or to accidentally summon a giant centipede from the netherworld.
With a pet-eating demon on the loose, Gran’s things to dispose of, and only two weeks off work, she doesn’t have time to waste. Getting rid of the creature is her first priority.
Shelby Saunders, grandson of Gran’s lover, might just be the one to help her. If she can convince him the demon is real.
Can two people who don’t believe in magic conjure enough of it to send a demon home? In Rifton, you never know what might happen.
This cosy urban fantasy set in small-town New Zealand will have you checking under your seat for centipedes and cheering on Alex and Shelby as they bumble their way around magic and each other. The first in a brand new series of magical adventures set in Rifton.
Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman
I’m thrilled to announce that the e-book edition of Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman is now available for preorder, and will be released on 20 March along with the print edition!
Alex Blackburn is not a witch.
So how the hell did she summon a demon?
More importantly, how is she going to get rid of it?
When Alex Blackburn returns to small-town Rifton to settle her grandmother’s estate, she doesn’t expect to uncover Gran’s secret affair or to accidentally summon a giant centipede from the netherworld.
With a pet-eating demon on the loose, Gran’s things to dispose of, and only two weeks off work, she doesn’t have time to waste. Getting rid of the creature is her first priority.
Shelby Saunders, grandson of Gran’s lover, might just be the one to help her. If she can convince him the demon is real.
Can two people who don’t believe in magic conjure enough of it to send a demon home? In Rifton, you never know what might happen.
This cosy urban fantasy set in small-town New Zealand will have you checking under your seat for centipedes and cheering on Alex and Shelby as they bumble their way around magic and each other. The first in a brand new series of magical adventures set in Rifton.
A Great Start to 2023!
January was a good writing month. I was blessed with three weeks of full-time writing—no kids, no day job, and even the garden was relatively low-maintenance.
Fatemaker, the third and final book of my Fatecarver series, had been hanging over my head for months. I’d meant to write it during the winter school holidays, but a different book jumped out and wrote itself down instead (more about that in a moment). In the lead-up to Christmas, I finally wrote out a detailed outline of Fatemaker, so when I hit January, the writing flowed at a rate of over 4000 words per day for weeks. On 25 January, I typed The End on the series, which felt amazing.
But I didn’t just write a novel in January. While banging out Fatemaker, I was also preparing for the publication of Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman—a cosy urban fantasy I wrote when I meant to be writing Fatemaker during the winter. I sent a brief to the cover designer and the manuscript to the editor early in the month. Working with the cover designer was a nice distraction and break throughout the month, ending with a fun and bold cover I love. Then, on the last day of the month, I got the manuscript back from the editor, so Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman is well on its way to a March publication date.
But that isn’t all. I wrote a new short story, almost finished a second short story, and fired off a bunch of magazine submissions, one of which resulted in an acceptance that squeaked into January on the 31st.
January was supposed to be focused on marketing—I’ve got a fun promotion project in the works—but I simply didn’t have the time or headspace to do it. I did, however, manage to make some progress, and at least get the ball rolling.
Weekly blog posts and my monthly newsletter rounded out the workload of January’s 10 to 12-hour workdays.
In fact, I accomplished so much in January, I’ve ticked off the majority of my 2023 first quarter goals. It was a great way to start the year!
Cover Reveal–Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman
I’m thrilled to be able show you this fabulous cover (designed by the awesome Jenn Rackham) for my upcoming cosy urban fantasy!
Alex Blackburn is not a witch.
So how the hell did she summon a demon?
More importantly, how is she going to get rid of it?
When Alex Blackburn returns to small-town Rifton to settle her grandmother’s estate, she doesn’t expect to uncover Gran’s secret affair or to accidentally summon a giant centipede from the netherworld.
With a pet-eating demon on the loose, Gran’s things to dispose of, and only two weeks off work, she doesn’t have time to waste. Getting rid of the creature is her first priority.
Shelby Saunders, grandson of Gran’s lover, might just be the one to help her. If she can convince him the demon is real.
Can two people who don’t believe in magic conjure enough of it to send a demon home? In Rifton, you never know what might happen.
This cosy urban fantasy set in small-town New Zealand will have you checking under your seat for centipedes and cheering on Alex and Shelby as they bumble their way around magic and each other. The first in a brand new series of magical adventures set in Rifton.
Coming April 2023!
Crisis and Creativity
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but I contend that actually it’s crisis that’s the real mother of invention.
Lately I feel like I’ve hit one crisis after another—getting Covid during the busiest season in the garden, having book sales completely tank in the lead-up to Christmas, having a critical component of a week-long science lesson be unavailable anywhere last week …
In the garden, I cut corners, laying compost on top of the soil rather than incorporating it as I usually do, in order to save time and limited physical energy. It’s something I hoped to be able to start doing, but figured I still had years of breaking up clay before it would work. Surprisingly, while the soil is a little harder than I’d like it to be for planting, it’s not terrible. If the plants do okay, I may have just changed my garden routine for good, saving me lots of work.
For my books, I’ve taken a step back from the ‘usual’ marketing techniques that have been costing me more than they’ve been bringing in. I’ve analysed what I’m good at, what I enjoy doing, and how I can incorporate those things into my marketing strategy, rather than banging my head against marketing strategies I’m no good at and hate doing. It will take a while to implement my new plan, and even longer to know if it works, but I’m having a great time working on marketing at the moment, rather than dreading every second of it as I usually do.
In the classroom, with less than 24 hours until my science lesson, I launched into preparations for plan B—activities I hadn’t run in 30 years. I felt completely unprepared, and kept realising things I’d forgotten to prepare or forgotten to do—each time I looked around at the resources to hand and got creative. The result was a set of fabulous lessons that didn’t look at all like I’d planned, but which worked well and were fun for everyone.
I really hope next week isn’t as full of crisis as the past several have been, but if they are, I’m pretty sure that as long as I keep moving forward, creativity will blossom and I’ll end up in better shape than before.
Here’s to crisis and creativity!
Robinne Weiss 