July Newsletter: A Look Through the Rosebush
Hello, Roses!
Well, well, well, will you look at me? Sending the newsletter out at the BEGINNING of the month? A round of applause, please. Honestly though, I’m purely motivated because we’re away all the end of July so I have to get my ducks in a row before then! Helen and I will be travelling to the US to see Taylor Swift in concert (cue SCREAMING), and then we’re going on a little secret mini trip on our way home. I’ll reveal the location after we’re home but here’s some hints: it’s book-related and if you’re a millennial, you’ve probably dreamt of living here at some point in your life LOL. After that, I’m joining a group of my oldest friends to travel to the wilds of BC to stay with my long-time best friend who now owns a vegetable farm! I will be living my Stardew Valley dreams to be sure. This is all the while writing FORGED!
FORGED Update
Week 2 of writing FORGED! We’re over 30,000 words, which is a big milestone! We’re both having a blast writing it so far. It’s funny, because up to this point Helen’s had like a gazillion spicy scenes and I’ve had a gazillion lore/world-buildy scenes 🤣 I keep saying: “All my scenes are so dense! Is the book too lore heavy?” and Helen keeps saying: “All my scenes are so spicy! Is the book too smutty?” So I think that means it will even out in the end LOL! That being said, my next scene is an uber romantic spicy scene. No spoilers but here’s a hint: It’s an Ezryn trope I’ve been DYING to explore for a long time! Like WOVEN, this book leans heavily into the fantasy world of the Vale, and I can’t wait for you all to explore Spring with us!
Joins Us for Sips and Spoilers!
Firstly, a shout-out to our Facebook group, Elizabeth Helen’s Roses! We just crossed the 1.5k member mark - OMG! Also… I may be biased, but this group is awesome. So positive, hilarious, and supportive! I always check it at the end of my work day as a reward!
This Friday, we’re hosting a Sips and Spoilers chat where we’re talking all things BONDED and WOVEN! There WILL be spoilers for both books, so enter at your own risk!! We’re so excited to chat and see what everyone has to say!
Join our group here!
Merch?
We recently received our stunning character portraits from Athena, an amazing artist from the Philippines who we’ve admired for years! Given that BotB is inspired by Beauty and the Beast, we loved seeing our characters in this beautiful watercolor cartoon style! And thank you for the loving and kind comments! We’re so thrilled you love the art as we do.
We’ve had so much interest in merch of these character portraits! I don’t have anything concrete to share with you now but I will tell you - it is in the works! We’re looking into prints, stickers, bookmarks, as well as….*gulp* signed copies.
Here’s the caveat: merch and shipping books is a WHOLE OTHER BALL GAME. Especially because we live on an island off the coast of Canada, shipping can be a bit nightmarish. So we want to make sure we’ve got everything sorted before we go ahead. And with traveling and FORGED taking up a lot of this summer, it may be a bit. We’ll also do a very-very-very soft launch to test how it goes shipping before we really open up a shop.
All this to say - THANK YOU for having interest in our book + merch, and we can’t wait to get something organized as soon as we can!
What We’re…
Helen:
Watching: Vlogs on Scotland (we planned a last-minute research trip this fall and I'm so excited to visit the city!
Listening To: Podcasts on Scotland... (and of course my Forged by Malice Playlist)
Reading: Books on Scotland…
Elizabeth:
Watching: I’ve been catching up with my favorite travel vloggers on Youtube, Raya & Louis!
Listening To: I’ve been listening to Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life’s soundtrack as its so nostalgic and comforting to me!
Reading: Same as last month… A Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent!
Indie Author Spotlight
We are thrilled to showcase the fabulous Olivia Wildenstein!
PS. Our books are recced together A LOT, so if you loved BotB, definitely check this series out! And it’s complete… thank me later ;)
"Utterly addictive and smolderingly sexy, House of Beating Wings sweeps you away to a world as unique as it is beautiful!" - DANIELLE L. JENSEN, bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom
FREE THE CROWS, FALLON, AND THEY WILL MAKE YOU QUEEN.
Until an oracle predicted my regal future, I'd never imagined myself rising above the curve of my round ears. After all, I was the magicless halfling loved by beasts but loathed by every pure-blooded faerie at court. Well . . . by all but one.
Dante Regio, prince of Luce, had owned my heart since he gave me my first kiss. If gathering a slew of iron relics could help me overthrow the current monarch and crown his brother to rule at my side, then treasure hunting I'd go.
If only the oracle had warned me what winged demon I was releasing into the world.
And that I'd become this demon's obsession.
Fans of Sarah J. Maas and Mary E. Pearson will devour this epic fantasy romance full of deceit, betrayal, and false loves that could swallow a person whole.
Connect with us:
So excited for y’all! Enjoy the travels, and maybe it’s just me but don’t always take pictures. Take memories instead. About the books, I like big books and I cannot lie. So the more the better. ❤️❤️
So nice to hear about all your travels!!! I live in Scotland and hope you do some book meetups while you’re visiting but understand if you just want to relax and enjoy the visit!!
Also can’t wait for the next book!!!
Have fun at your concert!!