Finished writing my newest novel!
Today, although summer’s around the corner, I’ve been swept away by the autumn spirit . . . partly because of the gloriously dreary weather we’ve been having here in Amarillo lately (overcast and rainy days are a rare occurrence indeed!), but much more because I FINALLY FINISHED WRITING MY WiP, MYSTIQUIEL, a young adult urban fantasy set during the Halloween season! 
Fun facts:
This is book one of a duology. The working title is “Mystiquiel: Of Rust and Ruin”Premise: On Halloween night, seventeen-year-old Phoenix Loring, an amateur graphic novelist still grieving the death of her sister, steps from modern-day Astoria, Oregon into a portal—leading to a dark fairyland that appears to be born of her own imagination—where she must face a mercurial goblin king’s maze to rescue the people she loves.
The portal world is described by Nix herself as “an industrial-faerie dreamscape” and the goblins and faeries as “part magic, part lore, and part mechanism.” Think: Goblin Market meets Labyrinth with cyberpunk/horror elements.Why did I choose Astoria for my MC’s hometown? For one, The Goonies movie was filmed in the port city; there’s also a trolley tour, shops and art galleries, brewpubs, and misty mountains, beaches, and forests galore. This all adds up to a beautiful, unique, and gloomy atmosphere—the perfect parallel to my Goblin King’s domain.Manuscript writing stats—Started writing the book proposal (first 100 pages and a 7-page synopsis) in late fall 2019; sent proposal out to publishers in June 2020; sold the book on proposal July 2020; completed MS May 2021; Final word count: 105,505 (approx. 420+ pages).
I’ll be posting insights into the story, setting, characters, and creatures over the next few months. Until then, I’m going to catch up on some pleasure reading in hopes to make a dent in my TBR tower. 
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Splintered is hands down one of my favorite series of all time. A Labyrinth like novel sounds so interesting and I can't wait to read it!
Cricket Reads wrote: "Splintered is hands down one of my favorite series of all time. A Labyrinth like novel sounds so interesting and I can't wait to read it!"Thanks so much for the "Splintered" support! I hope you'll enjoy this one, too. It does share a couple of similarities with Splintered, being an urban fantasy with a portal world and manipulative eldritch creatures. ;)
This sounds exciting! Loved the Splintered series as well, also love Halloween, loved the Labyrinth movie as a child--this is sounding like a great read! Is it too much to hope it will be out for THIS Halloween season? :)
This sounds fantastic! I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Zoe wrote: "Yet ANOTHER book from A. G. Howard?? 2021 is a pretty good year after all!"Thank you! Excited to share this one! It will hit the shelves in 2022. :)
Andrea wrote: "This sounds exciting! Loved the Splintered series as well, also love Halloween, loved the Labyrinth movie as a child--this is sounding like a great read! Is it too much to hope it will be out for T..."I appreciate the book support so much! This one will be out in time for Halloween next year (2022). ;)
Felicia wrote: "This sounds fantastic! I can't wait to get my hands on it."Thank you!
I'm always amazed to hear the stats and time line's of the progress of novels! And here I am still trying to win just one NaNoWriMo! This is awesome though, congrats!
