There has also been some pretty awesome news on The Raven Lady (book 2) front. I have a couple of great endorsements, and ... 

the Kindle version is finally available for preorder (click to go there)! 

And you can find links to ALL the available formats here. Also on this page is a cool little video made for The Raven Lady by book blogger Justine at Whispers and Wonder.

If you are a reviewer or book blogger, the advance version of The Raven Lady is available on NetGalley and Edelweiss right now. If you do post a review somewhere, I'd love it if you'd send me a link via email (you can just reply to a newsletter) or on social media! I'll include an excerpt in The Cozy Read.

The Raven Lady has gotten some great reviews already! Just a couple of days ago, this endorsement came in from the wonderful author of The Vine Witch!   

TBR Notes: Fantasy & Sci-Fi

So what are you reading right now? 

I'm super excited The Warrior Poet will be off to the publisher soon, partly because of the incredible sense of accomplishment—it's a challenging time to be creative. But also because I intend to do some reading! These are just a few of the titles I want to read over my break—all sci-fi and fantasy because that fits my mood right now. We'll see how far I get! 

I've already started a couple of them, and The Deep will likely be the first one I finish. I read another of Rivers Solomon's books last year—An Unkindness of Ghosts. I really love Solomon's author voice and worldbuilding. The Deep is a novella based on a song about a species of underwater beings that evolved from African slaves who were thrown overboard. It's haunting and lovely.

I don't usually buy a lot of print books, but I've been picking up more since the lockdown. Partly to support local indie bookstores, and partly because there is just something so cozy and comforting about curling up with a real book—there probably always will be.

I'm also reading a really fun sci-fi romance right now (I don't have a print copy and so can't share a pretty Instagram post). Nightchaser is the first book in a trilogy by Amanda Bouchet, who also wrote the bestselling series The Kingmaker Chronicles. I LOVED the opening chapters of this book. I'm not always a fan of super actiony intros, but I was completely glued to this one. It really pulls you in and makes you want to know more. I also like the heroine and am looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

Black Authors Matter

A light is being shined right now on problems in the publishing industry regarding opportunities and compensation for Black authors. There's a lot of info out there on what authors and readers can do to support Black stories, but I'll just share one option I learned about on Twitter. A subscription to Fiyah, a magazine for Black speculative fiction, is just $15 a year. The magazine is based in Memphis, TN, where I lived for about seven years. I'm looking forward to checking it out!