Happy Gail-Entines Day!

Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a few weeks, I was traveling, and will be talking about that as soon as I can organize my thoughts and pictures from the trip. (My wonderful best friend got married in her hometown, and I had an adventure!)

I’ve been knee deep in revisions on Can’t Fight The Moonlight, and I’m no longer concerned that it won’t be done in time for the deadlines that I gave myself and could change at any time. (Such is the life of an indie writer)

But while I’m revising I’m keeping myself inspired by working with the all-around fantastic Dryelli Bioni on some character designs. If you’re unfamiliar with Dry, she’s an illustrator and graphic designer and translator from Brazil, who if you’re among those in the know on the Bookish Side of Threads, does thoughtful deep dives into the A Court Of Thorns And Roses books, (she almost tempts me to reread, ALMOST) and is the Captain of the Azris Ship. (You can follow her as @bybyony all over the place, or check out her website)

I went right to Dry for an illustration of the leads of Can’t Fight The Moonlight, Evelyn Harwin and Kieran Shaw, because I knew she’d understand the mix of millennial nostalgia, dreamy fantasy and magical spookiness I wanted for this series.

When she had openings to do some character portraits, I jumped on her and totally monopolized her schedule for a month. (SORRY NOT SORRY)

The other day she sent me the final drawing for the stunning Abigail Harwin, Evelyn’s younger sister, and we were joking around about it being Gailentine’s Day!

So here’s Gail Harwin! And some facts about her:

• Gail is 28 years old

• She’s a medium, which means she talks to ghosts. And ghosts are CHATTY. Especially the ones that hang around the old Harwin House, where Gail, Evelyn and their brother Travis live. To manage this and not go crazy, Gail wears a protective crystal at all times. But she can still be a little bit vague and spacey at times, and will sometimes say something VERY accurate about your life that you didn’t realize anyone could know. A ghost told her

• Gail works part time at both that Harwin family business, The Main Street Diner, which Evelyn runs, and The Craft And Cauldron, the bar and music venue owned and operated by their Uncle Peter.

• She’s a big reader. If it’s slow at either workplace, she’ll pull out her kindle or a hardback from the library. At the time of Can’t Fight The Moonlight she’s in a bit of a romantasy phase…

• Fun About The Author Trivia: I named her “Abigail” because I just think it’s a good name for a witch. I decided to have her go by “Gail” instead of “Abby” as a tribute to my youth minister from high school. Like this Gail, mine is a tireless cheerleader for the people she loves, endlessly empathetic, deeply kind, and has awesome taste in music…that’s about where their similarities end, but it felt like a nice tribute.

What I’m Reading

I’m really trying to push through The Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, but it’s taking a looonnnng time. I’m determined to finish it though. I know the main theme of The Stormlight Archive is about how war shapes and destroys souls or whatever, but I maintain the most important aspects are, “Kaladin needs a hug” and “Why does Adolin need so STORMSDAMNED MANY JACKETS?” (JK, Adolin is perfect in every way, I love him.) (And seriously, someone hug Kaladin)

Like a lot of people, I burned through Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros the first week it was out. I had a blast. I think it’s fantastic that we’re getting this epic fantasy romance series that gives me the same feelings as watching a great action movie!

Oh, and speaking of Great Action Movies!

What I’m Watching

Captain America: Brave New World is out in theaters. I was a dyed in the wool Marvel Studios Devotee for a very long time, rarely missing a Thursday night release, always going opening weekend, for sure. Though that's lapsed I wasn’t missing Sam Wilson’s first feature as Cap.

To prepare I rewatched the whole saga, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Falcon and The Winter Soldier. This is a vibe and group of characters I’ll just never get enough of. Bring on Thunderbolts baby!

The new movie is good. It’s definitely Sam’s story and is much less in Steve’s shadow that FATWS was, which is great. It suffers from also being a sequel to The Incredible Hulk which is a truly bad movie that was best left forgotten.

But it’s got a lot to love and Harrison Ford is plugged in doing his thing, and Anthony Mackie is so very good as Sam Wilson, it’s hard to argue with the final product.

What I’m Listening To

In pursuit of the right vibes for Can’t Fight The Moonlight, I’ve been jumping around a lot, but I’ve landed on female forward guitar pop from the 90s (Thanks Lilith Fair playlist!), Springsteen, and The Gaslight Anthem. Do with that what you will when evaluating what you think this book is going to be.

What I’m Cooking

As a perennially single person, I celebrate Valentine’s Day by cooking something slightly fancier than usual, drinking a bottle of wine by myself and watching a movie, either a very romantic one, or one with no romance at all, depending on my mood.

This year, I made seafood risotto. (And watched Working Girl, which is oddly neither?) (I’d just made a joke about it and decided I wanted to watch it)

My risotto is Giada DeLaurentis’s Everyday Risotto. It’s a pretty good starter recipe for a dish that no matter how you simplify it is going to be a pain in the ass to cook. (SOOO much stirring).

For the seafood, I sauteed some scallops, shrimp and the meat of a lobster tail in butter, garlic and white wine for a few minutes.

Dessert was Chocolate Cream Pie, which I made on Monday and have been eating all week.

Links

As always, I’m chatting away on Threads, and posting sporadically to Instagram and BlueSky

Preorders for the Ebooks of Wheel of Fate And Freedom and Anything Other Than You are up on Amazon.

If you want to join the ARC team for Anything Other Than You, sign ups are still open for a little while.

The Marina Chronicle Books 1-5 are available on Amazon, and Book 1 The Dreams Of The Lost is available on KU.

Hope you all have a fabulous week and we’ll talk soon!

XOXO

Reenie