The cat’s out of the bag about Hall of Blood and Mercy and its seven week launch, so now I can finally clear up on what to expect for the rest of the year.
As some of you noticed, I didn’t hold my annual Hero Poll. Worry not! It’s still coming, I’m just rearranging my schedule this year!
Let’s start with New Books.
As you know, you’re getting an urban fantasy trilogy–Magic Forged, Magic Redeemed, Magic Unleashed–this February, March, and April.
Next, I hope to start working on Book #3 of the Elves of Lessa, and ideally I miiiiggghhttt write #4 right after I finish #3. (Don’t quote me on that, though. It’s mostly going to depend on how I’m doing.)
Those books will take me through spring and summer to complete, so I’ll hopefully begin writing Trial of Magic (Fairy Tale Enchantress #4) in late summer with a December release as the latest-possible time you can expect to get it. (That might sound like a while, but the Fairy Tale Enchantress series is a beast to write and a beast to edit, so the whole process takes at least double the amount of time of a regular book.) This brings us to….
Summer of Polls!
Since Trial of Magic is the last timeline intensive book that will be a…well…trial, instead of doing a summer reading event this year we’re going to have a summer of polls! We’ll have the Annual Hero and Heroine Poll, but we’ll also have a poll for secondary characters, and favorite animal sidekicks! (There are A LOT of secondary characters, so there will be a lot of polls!)
As far as additional events go, as usual around December you can expect a Christmas event, and hopefully we get to do some fun stuff with the return to Lessa and when we return to Angelique. Don’t take the planned writing times as 100% set in stone–a lot of it depends on me (aka if I or Perfect Dog gets sick, I lose WEEKS of writing time)–but also how complex the stories are and how quickly I can work through them. This is my ideal but reasonable schedule, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep to it!
I really love all your books but I’m loving Magic Forged more than anything I’ve read in as long as I can remember. I can’t wait for the other two books in the series!
My mom can’t wait for you to write more Retha….Solus Miles is her Darcy. (Her words, not mine!)
I cannot wait to return to Retha either! 😭
Me neither. I was hoping for something this year. Guess we’ll have to wait.
Lessa!! Can’t wait for more of those books! But please, don’t burn yourself out writing this year!!! We REALLLLLLYY don’t want that to happen!
Your writing schedule sounds grueling, but for an avid fan I am thrilled. Please don’t burn out! I am so excited that the Elves of Lessa are getting more books. I just re-read the first two and loved them as much as the first time I read them. And of course, the fourth in the Enchantress series. I need to go back and re-read that series too, just to catch up! Can’t wait for the new series to come out – I like urban fantasies (as long as they are clean). God bless you, Kitty!
Yay!!!! I’m so excited, that’s a lot of wonderful stories and fun things to look forward to! Thank you so much for the update Kitty!!! I hope that, most of all, you’re continuing to take care of yourself and enjoying life with Perfect Dog. Thanks for your hard work and thank you for keeping us adoring fans in the loop! I hope you’re getting the chance to rest and relax a bit now that the Magic trilogy release is right around the corner! <3
Agreed with the other comments- make sure to take care of yourself! I’d much rather wait a while for your books and get to enjoy new material for years than get a bunch of fast, furious releases for a while, only to have you burn out and step away!!
Also, can’t wait for more Lessa — that is so exciting. ❤️
I look forward to reading your new series (I’m not usually really into urban fantasy, but if you wrote it I’m sure it’ll be good). But I cannot *wait* for Angelique, even if those books are a bear to write. I can imagine how complicated the timeline gets! I wrote a book with six intertwining fairy tales, and I thought I had kept an eye on the timeline, but when I went to actually make a calendar of events, I realized just how much I’d gotten wrong! I had to go back through and change all sorts of stuff to make it all fit. It’s gotta be even crazier with lining up all of those books, and especially when you can’t change the ones that are already out! That said, Angelique’s story has pulled me in like you wouldn’t believe, and waiting for December is going to be painful.
I loved the Lessa books and will look forward to those. Also really looking forward to a new Retha book and wishing we didn’t have to wait until next year for those! I used to play a MUD that reminds me a bit of Retha, except no graphics of course. I found myself rather missing that sort of gameplay while reading. I wish I could play Retha myself! Minus the getting-stuck part. 🙂
I am excited about the new series but still hoping to see a sequel to Life Reader! That was a great book and I have been waiting sooo long for the sequel. Check it out if you haven’t already!
I wish your version of burnout looked as good on the rest of us. This new trilogy sounds really exciting and I can’t wait to read it.
I am kind of sad we will have to wait at least another year before getting another Retha installment. But you have to write what you feel like writing or it won’t be fun anymore, and then you’ll wish you had a corporate desk job or something. Which we would all be even sadder about.
Exactly! You took the words right out of my mouth – er, fingers.
Having fun with your writing is the most important part!!!
hey, kitty are you going to follow Farrin s’ idea from 2019 hero poll interview ??
Which one are you referring to?
2019 Hero Poll Interview (Merlin, Emerys, Solus Miles, etc.
No I meant which idea.
Farrin: Hold a “most popular K. M. Shea Couples’ Poll,” – This idea
Right. I got it. It would be great if that happened too. So many polls!
Yay! This is so amazing. Be well Kitty. So happy!
I am definitely so excited about EVERYTHING, but, echoing everyone else’s sentiments, if that’s too much on your plate, then don’t worry about us. I’m sure I speak for all your readers when I say that we’ll read anything you write any time you write it, so if all you wrote for the year were more shorts we would love them and love you just as much.
That being said, I really don’t know what to be more excited about looking at your timeline. I was surprised how much I adored the MBRC series, so I know you do funny, urban fantasies really well which makes me really excited to read about Hazel and her story. But then I’m super curious where you could possibly take us in Elves of Lessa (Like do all the attacks from other places have to do with the High Elves? Who’s the next couple you can make a fun and adorable romance for? Will Yvrea only ever have boyfriends or will she finally settle down?) And OF COURSE I know I will love the next Angelique book because, hello, Quinn and Snow White are in them too! AND SHE’LL FINALLY RESCUE EVARISTE *sobbing happy tears* I think this will be an emotional year for me, lol.
And polls are my FAVORITE! You’re interviews are hilarious and I’m curious if our new hero from Magic Forged will be in it and therefore poor Stil will really have hysterics if he gets booted any further down.
*sigh* So much goodness. Thanks for being the best!
Kitty confirmed a while back that the third Lessa book will focus on Ben’s younger brother, Arvel, and the fourth will focus on Seer Ringali’s kid. I am so excited for them both!
It sounds delightful, and I hope you and Perfect Dog stay healthy! If you don’t, however, absolutely take the time you need for mental and/or physical health! Don’t run yourself into the ground, we’ll be here when you get back from necessary breaks :-).
If you do do all those poles…does that mean lots of interviews/little snippet stories for “prizes” :-)? I do love those little snippet stories…
Yes! Same! I loved the exchange of letters for Elle & Severin we got last year!
I USED THE WRONG “polls”! My inner editor now cringes. Apologies to the world :-P.
Hahah, no worries Jocelyn–I used the wrong YEAR in the title of this post! Ahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…
🙂 And thanks for understanding the shift I had to do. I personally wasn’t wild about it–I would have preferred to stick to it. But what I want and what I can actually do are two different things.
(And yes, there will be some snippets/interviews with a few of the polls!)
oh wow so many polls ,That will definitely be a lot of fun .But kitty do not over-exert yourself ,honestly this will be my first poll so I am quite looking forward to it . Eagerly awaiting all your new books and fun stuff
Awww, thank you Sonu! I appreciate the support–and I hope you enjoy the polls when their time comes! (It’s always so interesting to watch the characters popularity change over the years.)
Is this, “we’ll also have a poll for secondary characters, and favorite animal sidekicks” one poll, or two?
They’ll be separate! They’re too different of categories to combine…though I might displace Puss to a secondary character. He’d totally slay all the animal sidekicks…..Unless the Pegasus fandom shows up! 😉
Kitty, go at your pace. I don’t want you yo burn out or totally end up hating writing stories.
I love your books so relax and do you.
Thanks Justine! I can’t tell you how happy I am that you understand. 🙂 Thanks for hanging in here with me!
Sounds like fun!!!!!!! Awesome writing schedule Kitty, I wait with baited breath for all of them, whether or not you get to them this year or next! You are an awesome author! Keep fighting the good fight!
Thank you! <3 I really appreciate the loyalty and the patience--it means a lot to hear it. 🙂 (Er...see it??)
Really looking forward to EVERYTHING that you have planned for 2020! And I really don’t want you to get burned out! But having said that…….no Retha?….., sniff, sniff, blubber, sniff……? (Insert big sad puppydog eyes here)
I agree!! I’m so looking forward to the Retha book 🥺🥺
Hahaha, not at this point. 😉 I’ve got lots of shorts planned for you guys to get you through the year–you get one tomorrow!–and I’m playing around with a few other ideas of how to make something work, but we’ll see…
Thank you for the tentative timeline of what to expect this year; some of us were wondering and this is nice to have. That way we know what to get squeal-excited for next. I’m looking forward to both the Elves of Lessa Books and the next Angelique book I also very much hope you will pace yourself so that it’s fun for you too. I think we do better work when it’s fun (I know I do), and it just becomes drudgery when it’s not. I also think your writing is more fun to read when you have more fun writing. ( I hope that made sense.)
Anyway, can’t wait, but please enjoy writing the stories as much as we enjoy reading the stories you send our way. I’m really excited to get a whole trilogy from you in a different genre. It’s been awhile, and I’m really excited for it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Thanks, Arletta! 🙂 I obviously hope you enjoy Hall of Blood and Mercy, but I’m glad you’re excited about a return to Lessa! (I’ve been chewing over Arvel and his romantic possibilities and I think I found a winner!)
Thanks for sticking through all of this with me!
Are we able to pre-order the Magic Forged on Amazon yet? Can’t wait to read your new trilogy!
Just about! I’m going over a few last minute changes tomorrow and then it goes off to Meg for formatting!
I can’t wait!
You mean 2020?
That was my thought too.
Haha, it’s nice to see I’m not the only one who still does that!
Was coming down to see if someone else had pointed out the typo :-). Totally understandable typo, but I sure HOPE it’s 2020 now!
Same!
Funny thing. I didnt’ even NOTICE!
lol😁
I’m trying to decide if I should be troubled that I didn’t notice the year typo….
Nah, you don’t have to be troubled until you’re past the 6 month mark in a year!