Good grievances, it has been a minute, hasn’t it? I have several updates, given my long absence. The first is that I’ve finally finished my doctorate and graduate at the end of May! I’m so relieved to be done with this chapter in my life and thankful that I can focus on other things. It took much longer than I intended, but I’m immensely thankful that it is successfully over.
The second update is about my upcoming book series. Obviously, I missed my self-imposed deadline for this year, so I’m pushing all publishing back another year. 2026 will be the year of Maris’s series, A Siren’s Song (work in progress series title). I have been working on it off and on, but now that my grad school is officially finished, I can add so much more focus and time to it. Additionally, 2027 will be the year of the Three Sisters Trilogy, a set of stand-alones based on Rowyn’s daughter’s stories. I will share more about those in the future, but I just wanted to say hello again to the world, and I’m glad I’m back!
Rhapsodic is my read of the week. Be ready for a review Monday!
Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years Callie has been wearing a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she once received. Only death or repayment will fulfill her obligations.
Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He’s a man who can get you anything you want … at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects. But for Callie, he’s never asked for repayment. Not until now.
When Callie finds the Bargainer in her room, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, she knows things are about to change. At first it’s admitting a truth—a single bead’s worth—acknowledging the attraction between them. But the Bargainer is after more than just rekindling their connection. Something is happening in the Otherworld. Fae warriors are going missing one by one, and only the women are returned, each in a glass casket, a child clutched to her breast.
For the Bargainer to save his people, he’ll need the help of the siren he spurned long ago. If she can forgive him.
Currently I am working hard on the beginnings of Maris’s first novel. Maris is an islander who builds ships with her father. The fastest ships in Lyrica, many say. The only problem? Their customers are pirates, and the Lyrican navy are trying to track down the elusive ship-builder. I will be giving a taste of the first book soon, and am really excited for this series. Maris will be forced into indentured servitude, in a land where she can’t speak the language, and where there are many dangers lurking around each corner, from the swamp dragons who dwell in the waters of Iora, to the mysterious hooded Lord Aydin, who seems to take special pleasure in tormenting her. Maris will have to try to find some semblance of life in the swamps, and will have to try to guard her heart from those trying to steal it.
This spring season I’ve been working on getting back into the habit of posting on social media. Here’s my latest!
I’ve really enjoyed listening to this mix on my nightly walks. I’m really into the mindset of my second series, starring Maris, and so I’m envisioning scenes set to this music.
Elliott VanDruff 