True North Issue 1 June 2023: A Breath Of Fire And Ice
My monthly newsletter where I share all things bookish and everything in between!
Hi friends!
I’m really excited to say that this is the first issue of True North, my author newsletter where dreams collide (poetic I know!). As promised, I will give you a roundup of what happened in my author life during the last 4 weeks and throw in something special for being a True Norther.
Despite the cold spring rain, I enjoyed my 10-day trip to Montreal, a nearby city to where I’m currently based. Some of you might already know, but I have just recently moved back from a subtropical megacity of Asia (Can you guess which country in the comments?). Getting used to the cold Canadian weather is ever challenging. Contrary to common belief, withstanding the cold is not in our DNA, at least not mine. I crave warm climates and wouldn't mind one bit skipping winter altogether. But! It does make for some very interesting story fodder, so I can bear the climate just a little longer.
During my visit, I went to the International Literary Festival Blue Metropolis where I met authors, translators, editors and writers. It was my second bookish event of the year and it was awesome! I can’t stress enough how important it is to meet other bookworms, who tend to be the introvert sort. I also had the chance to visit the only independent bilingual SFF bookstore in Montreal called Librairie Saga Bookstore. Being a bilingual author myself (all my books are available in both English & French), I welcome this much-needed initiative from the owners Mathieu & Iliya. I’m happy to say that the French & English edition of my book Amaranth is now available at their bookstore. You can support them on their GoFundMe fundraiser here or by buying books on their store, no matter where you are in the world (yes, they offer international shipping!).
A Breath of Fire
I’m in the middle of a new short story project as part of a 1-week professional workshop I’ll be attending during the first week of July. Being used to writing series, I find it quite challenging! I have heaps of stories I won’t ever have the time to write as full-length novels just because I can’t restrain my mind from wandering off in a maze of ideas.
I’m feeling bold on this story because I’ll be writing a queer dark romance fantasy, which is way out of my comfort zone. In fact, I’m using a few prompts to build the story: “autumn”, “fire”, “to cross” & “indigo” along with a sentence that has been nagging at my mind for over a year. I’m really looking forward to see how the story will turn out, but also how getting daily feedback from other published authors will shape the final version. I’m thinking this could be an awesome exclusive story to make available here on Substack once it’s done. I’ll let you know. 😉
In the meantime, here’s one sentence from the story to feed your curiosity:
I have a dream for you.
Any thoughts on what the story might be about?🙊 Leave a comment to let me know your guess!
The Amaranth Series
Snowpiercer meets The 100 in this new science-fiction trilogy.
An underwater ark.
A fledgling doctor.
A mysterious disease.
Fans of dystopia, action and suspense: Get ready!
The Flood submerged the world more than a century ago, sinking entire cities and the triumph of modern civilization. Those who adhere to the Faith know that their Creator has shown mercy by cleansing the Surface of their people. He gave the survivors a chance to seek redemption and atone for their sins. Scouring the Great Ocean aboard an underwater ark could be worse. Much worse.
Not everyone is happy with the way the Commander captains the Ark which is said to carry unregistered passengers. The prominent families, who obtained highly coveted tickets to board, are intent to keep their hold on how things are handled on the ship, no matter the cost.
Skyler Goldberg has only two years under his belt as a doctor at Med Bay, yet he must stop a deadly disease from wiping out the last survivors. Imaginary beings they call Fairies drive infected people’s minds to madness. With an unshakable hope in humanity’s salvation, Skyler will sacrifice everything to save them.
The Ark’s prison is filled with prisoners that are either dangerous, mad, or both. Emily Bates makes it her mission to guide them back to reason through unconventional interrogations. Thanks to her ability to sense their auras, she can see right through their lies. But when she handles a case like no other, what she sees terrifies her. Little does she know that their days on the Ark are numbered.
Are you ready to board the Ark?
A Breath of Ice
My main series Amaranth is growing! The sequel North Star has finally gone through the final round of edits. I am really happy on how this book turned out. It was the first time I reread it entirely since the French edition came out in 2022. I like the change in scenery (have a guess with the title 😉), but also how the tension builds up differently than in the first book. When reading the book, I felt like I was watching the receding waters making way for a deadly tidal wave about to sweep the shores clean.
I’m now waiting to receive my proof copies from the printer and I can’t wait to share pictures of myself holding the book in my hands. North Star won’t be available until the beginning of next year. I will keep you posted on the upcoming release dates.
The literary event of the month rekindled my passion for writing — it never strayed too far. I went back to my second draft of Promised Land and I am slowly getting back into edit mode. I’m around 30% in, which means I should be done by the end of summer. I’m juggling several projects at the same time right now which has put this project on the back burner for some time. Promised Land won’t come out before 2024. In the meantime, you can find more posts and stories about Amaranth by either reading the books or subscribing to my newsletter True North.
Speculative Fiction Magazine Reborn
Last year, I was on the reading committee of Brins d’Éternité, a speculative fiction magazine in Quebec, and I’m really happy to say that the project was revived by a new team, which I’m now a part of. The magazine should release its 60th issue later this year. I’ll have the chance to work closely on short stories of all kinds from up-and-coming authors. It’s great to finally be able to give back to the community, which taught me so much in the past 8 years or so.
What’s Next? News & Updates
The monthly bonus content for June will be the first chapter of a short story called Lion Hide, which will be made available for free subscribers as well. The story is set in a queer dark dystopian science-fiction world where we follow a language interpreter enslaved in a cultlike matriarchal society. This short story was an exclusive bonus of the Amaranth Kickstarter of 2022 and will feature 5 chapters in total. I’m very excited to have it exclusively published on True North, so Lion Hide can have a larger audience. It’s also the first story outside the Amaranthverse to be published under my pen name.
In June, I’m hoping to get back to the editing of Promised Land, the third book in the Amaranth series. I will also write my new short story due for the summer workshop. Finally, I will be reading through all the books I’ve bought in the past several months before I choke under my TBR. 😂
And of course, I will be preparing more bonus content for you to enjoy. 😄
This is only a beginning…
Thank you so so much for being a reader of True North. I can’t believe this concludes the first issue. I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing it.
If you want to share your thoughts about this issue, suggest content ideas, or anything in-between, please:
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Become a Paid Subscriber
If you want all the details of what’s in it for you, you can read my first post about it here. But basically, you get bonus content from my published books, exclusive content including short stories, author interviews (soonish), Q&As with me (soon), and lots lots more, which I will add on a monthly basis.
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It’s now or never. I can’t wait to count you among my special subscribers.