The Quill: Latest News

Hi there! I know many readers don't inhabit social media spaces, but they do check websites, so this is for you!

I'm still working on Kingdom of the Forgotten. I know that's not what people want to hear. For those who don't know, I got a little off track in the last half of 2024. My daughter fell ill, and I needed to care for her for a couple of months as we fought to get her the care she needed.

After Christmas, I really thought I could just jump back into my writing groove, and that everything would return to normal. But the universe decided to SET THE POLITICAL WORLD ON FIRE instead. I'd be lying if I said the state of the world isn't disrupting my ability to focus. Combined with the fact that writing this book has been the single hardest thing I've ever done, and it's just not going as smoothly as I'd hoped.

I've learned so much about burn out and overwhelm over the last nine months, and how crises can knock us creatives out of the orbit we've created. I can pinpoint the moment I got sideswiped. It wrecked my brain. My momentum had been so high, but with one comment from someone I thought understood my story (and who should have understood it), I crashed face-first into a wall.

All momentum and confidence vanished.

Utter panic set in. I had depended on this person's skill, only to realize they didn't really even grasp what was happening in the main story line. Suddenly, everything looked very different when I sat down to work. I saw every flaw in my previous books. Every missed detail. Every mistake that hadn't been caught.

And it was debilitating.

The six month legal negotiations for the series that happened soon after only made my creativity stall out even worse. I've been trying ever since July of last year to get my mojo back, and yet I swear this career just gets harder and harder to navigate. 

I *am* trying though. And I *will* get this book finished and out to the world. It's just taking me longer to birth this one than the last four installments. It has 7/8ish points of view (if you count Alexus's memories it's 8), and there's the back and forth timeline, AND it's LONG. It's a gargantuan task, and the first time I've ever tackled such a behemoth. Tackling it without the momentum from the previous books and with a new lack confidence has not been easy.

However, I'm really proud of myself for publishing four books in the span of less than three years, but that's just not where I am right now, and I don't know that it's a sustainable production schedule either. It's taking some time and effort to get myself back to a healthy place, one where I don't cringe with anxiety when I sit down to work, and one that doesn't require me to work 15 hour days 7 days a week.

But, I have every faith in myself and the steps I'm taking to combat all of this. 

Thanks for stopping by. While I know this isn't the update you wanted to read, I promise I'll have good news in the coming months. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss any updates.
 

Much love,
Charissa

HEY ALL! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! 

I'm happy to say that negotiations involving the Witch Walker series have finally reached an end! I'm currently working on edits with Shelly, The Fiction Editor, and I’m certain this will be a wonderful journey. Huge thanks to Sam, Shelly, and Celeste at Haus of Fables for their flexibility and willingness to help ensure this series ends as it should. 

As soon as I have pre-order and release dates, I'll shout them everywhere. Please keep in mind that there is still a publication process, but for now, I wanted to assure you that the continuation of Raina and Alexus’s love story is on its way. Meanwhile, I’ll keep you well-fed with snippets and beautiful art. So much art!

Thank you for your continued support and for loving this series enough to patiently wait for book four. I cannot express how much I appreciate your devotion to not only me but my characters, too. I hope you'll stick around and meet all the fictional people living in my head 🥰

I also want to thank my team: my steadfast attorney, Maggie Marr, for her wisdom and guidance. You are truly invaluable, Maggie! My literary agent, Flavia Viotti at Bookcase Literary, for entering a tough game and going to bat for me. My assistant, Nicki, for her constant encouragement and standing by me through it all. And my Patreon Crew, Street Team, and Rebel Readers, for always sharing their love for my books, come what may.

Much love to you all. ONWARD AND UPWARD!
 

xoxo,
Charissa