Hi friends,
I come to you live from Portland, Oregon with news of many exciting happenings. It feels like things are actually starting to happen in my career as an author, and I don’t even know how to describe how that feels, despite “describing feelings” being, like, my entire job description. Writing books often feels like repeatedly banging my head against a soundproofed wall, but for the first time ever (please read that in Rapunzel’s voice from Tangled), people are starting to listen. I’m immensely grateful and also kinda proud of myself. I have many faults, but I am nothing if not persistent.
One thing’s for sure: I couldn’t do any of it without you, my readers and loyal Internet friends. And I will always be grateful for your kindness, support, and friendship. Some of you have been around since I started blogging in 2013. Some of you I’ve met in real life and some I haven’t. Some of you guys are related to me by blood and some of you live on the other side of the world (why do so many cool people live in Australia? Seriously, you could not get further away if you tried). But all of you are here to listen, for whatever reason, and I am grateful for you.
Enough sentimentality, let’s get to the Happenings™!
Happening #1: Bookstore Romance Day
This Saturday, I will be speaking on a panel for Bookstore Romance Day! My non-bookish friends (yes, I do have a few, and yes, most of them are my parents) are always surprised this is a thing, but August 9 is indeed Bookstore Romance Day, and you should definitely check what your local indie bookstores are doing to celebrate.
I’m part of this amazing lineup at Grand Gesture Books:
I will be part of the “Romancing the Realm: Fantasy and Paranormal Writers Unite!” panel with Aiden Thomas, Kristin Cast, Celestine Martin, and Erin Mainord. I can’t wait to talk about books with such an incredible group of authors!
It will be followed by a book signing, so you can come grab a copy of Unraveled if you are unfortunate enough to somehow NOT already have read it. 😛
All of the events are free to attend!
Happening #2: New Short Story
I’m delighted to be part of the newest Indie Bites anthology, Dragons & Darkness! My short story is called “Queen of Nerves.”
The darkness in my story is metaphorical—here’s what I wrote in my pitch to the editors: “When I brainstormed about the darkest things I could come up with, it all came back to anxiety and depression, which I’ve been living with my whole life. I wondered what it would be like to explore that in a fantasy setting especially because I have seen very few characters with mental illness in speculative fiction.”
Here’s a bit more about my story!
Elysia has always wanted to be a good princess and, one day, a good queen, despite the anxious thoughts and compulsions that have plagued her since childhood. Mother was the one person who understood, but she’s gone now and it’s time for Elysia to take her place. But when she makes a terrible mistake on the eve of her coronation, has she failed before she’s even begun?
Dragons & Darkness releases on August 15, and you can grab a free digital copy when it does! For now, check out the gorgeous cover.
Currently Writing…
For the past two weeks I’ve been working on a short story to be submitted for an anthology. It turned out much longer than I expected (about 16k words, or 50 pages, which is the low end of novella-length) and I’m pleased with how it came out. I turned that in and am waiting to hear back.
Now I’m turning my attention to the Goose Creek series. Some of you have already read The Lost Girl of Goose Creek when it released from Gurt Dog Press, and its companion The Girl in the Northwest Tower when it released from Pigeon Press. I’m pleased to share that both books will be rereleased from Fractured Mirror Publishing, along with a third book (title forthcoming), the same way they did with Unraveled. I’ve loved working with Fractured Mirror to give my books a wider reach, and I’m excited to be working on the Goose Creek Cycle with them. I’ll share more about these books in the coming months—they’re quite special to me.
Claire’s Top Reads of 2025
I’ve been sharing my favorite book I read each month on Instagram, and I thought I’d start putting them in my newsletter as well.
My favorite fiction book that I read in July was The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen, a hilarious, sweet, and h(e)artfelt (ha! see how clever I am) fantasy romcom. The other two books in the trilogy are equally delightful as well, with different relationship dynamics between a variety of diverse characters that feel like real people. (Can I be friends with Penrose Duckers in real life?) If you haven’t checked this series out already, what are you waiting for? It’s also got some beautifully colorful and cute covers. My copy looks great on my bookshelf!
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That’s all for today’s newsletter—thank you for reading! I hope to see some of you on Saturday for Bookstore Romance Day. It’ll be a blast! Now I’m off to check the mail, because I just received a notification that both my yarn AND my Labubu have arrived.