Maegan M. Simpson's Blog, page 4

Menacing Whispers Pre-Order

Hello hello!

I have exciting news: you can now pre-order Menacing Whispers, Agonizomai book 4! Click here to see it on Amazon!

Menacing Whispers will release March 18th, and I have a lot of excitement prepared to help you wait until then. The biggest treat to celebrate Menacing Whispers is that the other Agonizomai books will be discounted, and you’ll be able to get the shiny newly-edited versions for only $0.99!

Here are the dates:

Frosted Fire discount March 7th-9th Born in Darkness discount March 9th-11th Broken Healer discount March 11th-13th Menacing Whispers release March 18th!

I’ll post reminders on my social media as we draw closer to the event.

In other news, Frosted Fire’s rewrite is almost released, I’m just waiting on Amazon for a few things. Watch my Instagram and Facebook for an announcement when it actually hits the stores!
Born in Darkness is also so close…I’m waiting on a proof and a final read through to make sure I didn’t add typos, and then it’ll be ready!

But back to Menacing Whispers… here’s the description to whet your appetite.

Caidi didn’t come to Moute to cause trouble. But when trouble finds her, she’s more than willing to return the favor.

Traveling as her friend’s translator, Caidi expects her biggest adventure to be a brief brush with royalty. Instead, she’s held for ransom by a powerful group that runs the city from the shadows. Their leader, Coggan, isn’t the merciful type, and he’s clear that any disobedience on Caidi’s part will have…consequences.
But Caidi isn’t about to give in without a fight. She’s more capable than this “family” could guess, and more determined than they’re ready for. She’ll uncover their secrets and free herself from Coggan’s clutches…if she can convince the family’s leading warrior to stop haunting her footsteps.
The longer Caidi spends in their halls, though, the more she’s convinced that her freedom is the least of her worries. Sorcerers infiltrate the palace, someone is stirring the citizens of the city to madness…and it all leads back to Coggan.
Can Caidi trust her new allies to help her stop the chaos? Or will she fall to these menacing whispers with everyone else?

That’s my news for today. I hope your week is beginning well! And I’ll talk to you all later, friends. I have books to work on.

Agonizomai Series Plans

Hello hello!

It’s been a busy few weeks. Here’s an update on how my winter/spring plans are coming along:

 Frosted Fire –  I’ve finished the rewrite. I’m currently waiting on the proof to check that all the changes are in correctly (which means that the paperback is currently unavailable on Amazon). I’m hoping to rerelease it by the end of February. Keep a lookout for posts and fun on my social media!Born in Darkness – I’m currently working on this rewrite. It’s going faster than I’d hoped, and I’m hoping to rerelease around the end of March.Broken Healer – This book already has its pretty cover, so I’m not redoing the paperback. But I might revisit it just for fun, while I’m rereading all the others ;). Keep a look out for quotes, etc.Menacing Whispers – I’m nearly done with content edits. It took a bit of a backseat to Frosted Fire, but I should be getting back to it soon. Keep an eye out for a cover reveal! I’m hoping to publish around the end of April. 

It has been such a joy revisiting Frosted Fire and Born in Darkness so deeply. You wouldn’t think it, but there’s a lot I forget about the books I’ve written in years before. Rereading (and sharpening) these stories makes me fall in love with them all over again. And it reminds me why I’m borderline-obsessed with some of these characters (*cough*Henry*cough*) And I’m going to do my best to remind you all as the days gets closer. And here’s my first reminder: this quote.

I had so much fun writing this scene, mostly because I wish I could do this. *Sigh* Instead, I live vicariously through my characters. And you can imagine right along with me!

Alright, I better get back to working on Born in Darkness. Yay for more time with Henry!

Hope your week is going well, friends. And stay warm!

 

2021 and Looking Ahead

Hello hello, and welcome to the new year!

I hope you had a peaceful transition out of 2021. I spent mine with a good book and a power outage…though I’ll admit that I was asleep when midnight came around.

Now that we’re a little bit into the new year, I figured I’d give a little review of the past year and what I’m planning for the year ahead.

2021 was a big year. In personal matters, I graduated college, moved back home to my lovely New Mexico valley, and took my first international adventure. Professionally, as I ended my time as a student, I stepped forward in my career and committed to writing full time (And here a huge shoutout to my parents. I’m so blessed for all their support as I take this chance and build my career as an indie author). I’ve taken several actions to try and get my books more out there, including a website redesign, starting a newsletter, and learning how to be a proper Instagramer (all of which I’m still learning, but it’s fun). I published two books, launched a new series, and wrote over 200,000 words.  Looking back at this year we’ve just left, I’m grateful and excited for all that God brought to my life in 2021, and I’m very excited to see where He takes me in 2022.

With that, here are some of my hopes for 2022 (all subject to change, as the Lord wills):

I hope to publish books 4 and 5 of the Agonizomai series. Book 4, Menacing Whispers, is written and currently being edited, and I’m planning to release it sometime midspring. Book 5 is in the planning stage and I’ll hopefully have it ready for release sometime in the Fall.I’m also planning on rereleasing Frosted Fire and Born in Darkness. They have some shiny new covers, and while I take the paperbacks down to switch to the new covers I decided to give some work to the inside too. The stories aren’t going to change, but I’m updating the style a bit and getting rid of some typos that sneaked in there. This is also a spring project, so my first few months of 2022 are going to be busy. I’m also hoping to release the next Ashton Legacies book, but I’ll wait to give you more information until I know more about how it’ll fit in. (It’s Viggo’s story, Aderes mentions him a few times. He’s a lot of fun, and I’m excited to share him with you!)I’m also going to continue  with the marketing and other career matters I began in 2021, hopefully expanding my reach and giving you all some more fun. And there will be probably be other, exciting, crazy surprises that I’m doing my best to leave room for.

 So there it is. It doesn’t look like so much, written out here in neat little bullet points, but that’s deceptive. Along with these goals, I have a subtle not-a-true-goal of breaking 300,000 words written, which with these projects is a definite possibility. We’ll see how it all shifts and expands as this year takes shape.

That’s all for now! I pray you all have a blessed first week of 2022!

 

Post Release Announcements

Hello hello!

Aderes in Karkhana is officially out in the world! Click here to see it on Amazon! For now it’s still $.99, so be sure to grab it before the price goes up! I’m still working on the paperback, but I’m hoping to have it available by Christmas (or before the New Year at the latest).

Thank you to everyone who joined me December 10 for my launch party! If you weren’t able to come, you can still check it out, and watch the video of my live. I gave a lot of announcements, but I’ll try to summarize them here for you.

First, if you look up at the menu you’ll see a new addition: the For Readers section currently features four pages, all of which I’ll be adding to as I go. I finally put together a list of all the free stories I’ve shared on here, and compiled book playlists for you.I’ve also started a RedBubble shop, which you’ll find in that section. If you explore you’ll find designs based on Aderes in Karkhana and the Agonizomai series. I only have a few designs so far, but I’ll be adding to them as I paint and draw. Maybe looking around will give you Christmas present ideas… Finally, in “Maps and Lore” you’ll find links to a site called WorldAnvil. This site is designed to help with worldbuilding, and provides a platform to organize and share things like notes and maps. I’m using it to help me keep track of locations in Agon, members of the Ashton family, and things like that. I only have a few things set to public so far, but there’s still plenty for you to explore (including interactive maps of the land of Agon!). Soon I’ll hopefully have a timeline for Agon up, as well, to help us all keep track of all the characters and plot threads. The articles, especially in the Ashton Legacies Cosmos, do have spoilers…so read at your own risk!

 That’s all the major announcements that I have for now. I hope you enjoy these resources! Soon I’ll share another post on the Ashton Legacies: a little info on what it’ll look like, and where it’s going from here.  Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a peaceful end to 2021!

 

 

Giveaway and Launch party!

Hello hello!

One week until the first book of the Ashton Legacies makes its debut!

This time, I’m trying something a little different (mostly, I’m trying to actually launch this book, rather than merely releasing it). To that end, I’m throwing a party! Sadly, it’s not at a lavish bookstore with coffee and plush armchairs… However, it will have goodies and giveaways! I’m hosting this launch party on Facebook (you can sign up here) on December 10th. I’ll be posting quotes, extras, and other fun nonsense through most of the afternoon, but it culminates in a live at 7pm mountain time. During this live I’ll answer questions, talk about the Ashton Legacies, and give you all a more comprehensive update on what I’ve been up to.

But why come to this launch party, you ask? After all, if there’s no coffee to be had…

Point taken, dear friend! This is a bring-your-own-hot beverage event (a necessity, given the format), but there will be other reasons to come! I have several fun surprises and announcements up my sleeve .  And there’s a giveaway! I have some swag for Aderes in Karkhana that I’ll be bestowing during the live. To have a chance to enter this giveaway, head over to my Facebook or Instagram: comment on the giveaway post, tag a friend, and you’re entered! 

Here’s a picture of the goodies: a signed bookplate, plus a sticker and a print containing original artwork for Aderes in Karkhana. (Tea not included.) You don’t have to be present to win, but I hope you join us anyway!

 

And that’s pretty much all the news… I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And I’ll talk to you soon!

 

Cover and Pre-order

Hello hello!

Long time no see…again. *Ahem* Well, I’m back from another trip, and hopefully life will be steady enough that I can return to more regular blog posts…hopefully. The good news is, radio silence on here does not mean I haven’t been working away. In fact, I’ve been pretty busy. For today, that translates to the exciting news that Aderes in Karkhana releases December 10th!!! It’s available for pre-order right now, and you can click here to get your book!

I’m trying something new this time: you can pre-order Aderes for 99 cents, but once it’s been out for about a week I’ll raise the price to $2.99. So grab it now!

Aderes in Karkhana is the first book in the Ashton Legacies, a series of roughly-standalone stories all following members of the Ashton family, guardians of the gateways and explorers of other worlds. The Ashton Legacies world is one in which gateways to other worlds appear around earth, and guardians protect these gateways, from normal citizens who have no idea what they’re stumbling into and from the people on the other side.

I’m super excited for this series. I love fantasy where unlikely heroes fall into other, strange worlds, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like for people who knew there were other worlds and knew some about the portals that take them there. What if the hero knew a little of what to expect? What if they could go back and forth between that other world and ours? Enter the Ashton family, adventurers and scholars of the worlds through the gateways. And enter Aderes, the first Ashton you all get to meet. 

 

Here’s the Description:

As your blood mingles, may your lives be entwined…go forth as one.

Falling into another world was not on my list of life goals. Marrying a stranger in that world even less so. But these people don’t take no for an answer, and my only choice is accept marriage to a guard or…well, actually they didn’t give me another option.
The point is that I don’t want this, never have. The rest of my family are adventurers, explorers…they embrace our family’s legacy, but not me. All I want is to live beside them. All I want is my family.
But as much as I want to punish these people for taking that from me, I’m an Ashton, and Ashtons don’t wallow. If escape is out of the question, then it’s time to bear down and make a life here. Learn the world, make a new normal, and don’t tell them anything that would put my family in danger. As far as they know, I’m just Aderes: Gaiseric’s tearful foreign wife. I’m an abnormality, a spectacle, but harmless.
The trouble is, while their world is unfamiliar, the threats they face are not. I’m not quite the frail, ignorant girl I let them believe me to be, but will my knowledge of my family’s past be enough to save these people? …or will it condemn them instead?

I’m Back!

Hello hello!

Those following my Instagram will probably know that I’ve spent the past month in Mexico. And oh the adventures I had! This was my first trip to another country, and my first trip since I graduated. I feel like I’ve returned with so much…love for friends (both those I knew before, and those I gained during my visit), appreciation for the culture I was able to taste and explore, over a thousand pictures on my phone, and hundreds of threads already weaving richer stories in my head. I can’t wait to see how my time in Mexico slips into my writing.

My time in Mexico did, however, extend longer than I was originally planning, as did my vacation (of sorts) from writing. I have a lot to catch up on now that I’m back, but I don’t regret it. I come back to my desk refreshed and with new inspiration tingling my fingertips, begging to be released. Watch Instagram and Facebook for more on my time in Mexico, and for more on my return to my writing. And watch your inboxes for my first newsletter, which will hopefully come out this week. (Don’t forget to sign up below!)

 

 

A couple pictures from Mexico

Newsletter & Free Story!

 stageHello hello!

This summer has gone by far too quickly…I can’t believe it’s already August! But it is wonderful to still be home, writing all day, rather than packing up to move back to school. I feel so free! (Sort of…work is a chain of a different kind, of course).

But I’ve been busy! Aderes, book 1 in the Ashton Legacies, is in the editing stage. I’m currently adding a whole bunch of scenes to flesh everything out, and it’s still looking good for an October release. And I’m about a third through the rough draft of the next Agonizomai book, Menacing Whispers. Lovely, lovely progress!

In other news, I’m starting up a Newsletter, the Archive Quarterly! As the name implies, I’ll be sending it out roughly once every three months, with an extra every once in  a while to tell you about my new releases. I’m hoping to make it fun, with book recommendations, community exclusives, and maybe even some sneak peeks  ;). But the best part is *drumroll*…you get a free story for signing up! 

The story is a standalone that I will hopefully expand into a book someday. But for now, my schedule is filled with the Agonizomai Series and Ashton Legacies, so that’ll be several years from now at least. In the meantime, I’m excited to share it with you! It’s a story that came from some interesting thoughts I had driving to Denver for school last summer: in all these stories with the fated chosen one plucked from the masses…what happens to the people they leave behind? Surely they have family, friends, people who are sad to see them go, even if it means saving the country or whatever. So what happens to them? Do they celebrate their chosen one’s fame? Do they mourn their absence? Do they wait for them to come back? And from these questions emerged Kadri’s story, a stuttering village girl who’s loyalty to her chosen one never wavers. 

 If you’re interested, and you want updates and extras directly in your inbox, the signup for my newsletter is at the bottom of this page. And directly below is the blurb for Share Your Sorrows, to whet your appetite a bit…

 

 

A man is chosen as the champion of his kingdom, but what happens to the loved ones he leaves behind? And what becomes of the chosen when the glory fades, but the blood keeps flowing?

Kadri misses Gavin more than she can say, and the knowledge that he’s important, too important to bother with stuttering village girls, doesn’t lessen the ache. But though he finally returns, the pain remains. Acting as champion has taken its toll, and the gratitude and awe of the people have faded along with the praise and fame. Kadri doesn’t care: she knows who Gavin is. But can she convince Gavin that he isn’t the monster they claim?

Agonizomai Series From Here

Hello hello!

Now that Broken Healer has been out in the wide world for a few days, I can talk about some things in the book. Don’t worry, there won’t be any big spoilers…I’ll give you more time to read it before I pull out my stuff on that. 

So Broken Healer takes place four years after the end of Frosted Fire, and it marks the beginning of the more consistent timeline in the series. After this, the main books will be happening back to back, with some minor overlap. We’ll also be meeting more characters from the previous books in the rest of the series  (was Broken Healer all new characters? Did you run into any old friends? Mwahaha…that’s a post all in of itself).

Broken Healer also introduces you all to another continent in the land of Agon: Cron. While you’ve seen Elnar and Waneroth, until this book Cron had only been mentioned in passing. Cron is actually the largest continent in Agon, and it’s west of Waneroth and Elnar. I have a map of Agon that shows how all these places are related to each other, which I’m hoping to refine and post for you at some point in the next few months…because of that I’ll refrain from my confusing explanations.

Alright, so I know I said no spoilers…but this isn’t a big one. If you’ve read the prologue to Broken Healer, you’ve seen that Sioned is telling Henry her story. Well, I’ll announce now that yes, you are going to get more Henry books! At least two from his perspective, when he’s older. The threats Henry faced in Born in Darkness have lasted as long as him, and their work in Frosted Fire was just the beginning…

But before we get back to Henry, you’ll meet a character I’ve known almost as long as Sioned, and that is Caidi. Her story, Menacing Whispers, picks up where Broken Healer ends, and it is so much fun. Caidi is more lighthearted than Sioned and Henry, so her story is probably going to have a lighter tone as well. (But don’t worry…Sioned and Henry will learn to laugh. It just takes them a while)

I haven’t delved into her story yet, as right now I’m writing the climax for the first book in the Ashton Legacies. No spoilers on that series yet…I’ll let Broken Healer have its spotlight first. But so far it’s looking good for releasing book 1 of the Ashton Legacies this fall, and hopefully Agonizomai Book 4 in the Spring.

Alright, that was a lot of kinda random stuff. Overall, exciting stuff is happening! And I hope you’re enjoying Broken Healer! 

 

Broken Healer Cover Reveal!

Hello hello!

Today I have most excellent news! Broken Healer is officially up for preorder!!! And the pre-order also means that I have the cover!!! 

 

Agonizomai Series Book 3: Broken Healer

The aerhme trained Sioned as a healer. The night people turned her into a weapon. And the shadows tainting her blood promise to shape her into a nightmare.

All Sioned has ever wanted was to heal, but lately all she’s done is destroy. Now, Sioned faces a choice: give in and become the weapon the night people forced her to be, or hope the rumored dragon of the wastes is more merciful than the legends claim.

She knows escape won’t be so simple, though. The night people’s reach extends beyond the steppes, and soon nowhere will be far enough to hide. What little hope she has depends on a misfit band standing against the night people. If she stands with them, if she can preserve their lives so they can keep fighting, perhaps they can show her a way out of the shadows.

But maybe the voices in the shadows are right. Maybe she’s fallen too far for redemption. After all, in a world filled with legends and dragons…what use is a broken healer?

What do you think? I’m going for a new style with the covers for the Agonizomai series. At some point (hopefully soon) Frosted Fire and Born in Darkness are getting new covers too! I’m very excited to share them with you all! 

In the meantime, though, click below to check out Broken Healer on Amazon! And don’t forget to preorder!

 

Click Here to see Broken Healer on Amazon