Will You Love *Ring of the Axe*?

When you pick up a book, you’re making an investment. Maybe you’ve invested some of your money into it. Certainly you’re investing some of your time--a sliver of your life, your attention. 

So what are you going to get in return? 

Ring of the Axe is the type of fantasy (ahem, romantasy) book that I like to read. Built partially on what I find exasperating in the genre. 

But it’s not just the mirror image of what irritates me. It also brings to life things that I love in books: people falling in love, characters questioning their own identities, surprising settings, and OF COURSE some magic that was hiding in plain sight.

Here’s more on what to expect from Ring of the Axe (without spoiling anything). Does any of this resonate with you?

A page turner 

I write from a starting point of characters and relationships, but I worked REALLY HARD to map out an intriguing plot to keep you guessing and keep the pages turning. 

The clock is ticking and the stakes keep getting higher as Chelsea searches for the secret of why Magic is moving people indiscriminately across worlds…as well as the solution that will keep her anchored to her real life. 

(Again, I cannot stress how hard this was for me, a vibes reader. It was my greatest challenge and greatest area of learning for writing a full novel.)

A break from the young heroine

I love reading about a teen or twenty-something riding into battles, discovering hidden power, and rising to be a benevolent ruler. 

But…I’m almost 42, y’all.

the other old girl at the writing desk: Poe.

I want new role models to ride into battle with. Heroines who have kids, and jobs to hold down. Heroines who wonder if they’re in perimenopause.

I seek heroines who I can grow old with. 

I crave main characters of a certain age who are nevertheless bold, brave, powerful, loveable--and totally relatable. 

That’s Chelsea and her friends. Chelsea is in her 30s. A mom, an accountant, a divorcee. As Ring of the Axe opens, she’s mostly concerned about keeping up at a Halloween party when she feels well past her partying years. 

I’m bringing these characters to life for all of us seeking strength through the middle of our lives. 

Open doors

Because I’m striving to write fabulous but realistic characters. It follows that many of them have fabulous but realistic sex. 

Ring of the Axe certainly isn’t the spiciest book in this genre. Far from it. But the doors are open on those sexy bits. Consent is discussed. Protection is used. Chelsea is a thoroughly modern woman who enjoys sex and isn’t ashamed of that.

Furthermore, Ring of the Axe is not a slow burn. Sure, I have to tease you a little bit with untimely interruptions, but in the current draft, clothes start coming off in Chapter 2.

Now, I’m not going to promise to never write a slow burn. But this one definitely isn’t.

Skipping my ‘icks’

There are some things going on in romantasy that I’m not interested in having in my books. Don’t get me wrong, I will read books with these conventions all day and all night. But they’re not for me. 

me when a book misses all my least favorite tropes
(also me when a book DOES have all my least favorite tropes)

Here are some romantasy conventions that you will NOT find in my books: 

• Men who are hundreds of years older than their partners. Blech, no thank you. Again, I will read books with mismatched ages all day long, but I can’t really bring myself to write them. 
• Outrageous penises. I’m building toward a diverse universe in my books, which will necessitate a diversity of genitalia. ROTA is sort of vague on this stuff now, so you’ll get to use your imagination.  
• Troop movements. Not interested. Maybe in some future sweeping epic I’ll muster the interest and the knowledge to map out troop logistics. But ROTA is not that book. 
• Complex courtly politics. Similarly to troop movements, I cannot keep track of this stuff as a reader. So it doesn’t show up in my writing. What I can offer instead is deep interpersonal relationships and characters with complex backstories. 
• Fated mates. Sorry, this just isn’t really part of my world view. Love to read stories of bonded pairs, but I’m going to give my characters the burden of choosing love and working hard for it. 

Familiar but fantastic

Something extraordinary is seeping through into the Chicago that you might know and love, but nobody’s noticed yet. 

Chelsea is swept up in that magic too--hurled from her bed and onto a fiery hillside where a mysterious man controls the flames below.

Some of my favorite books watch what happens when the familiar collides with the fantastic. When places we’ve walked by a thousand times take on a new dimension. When people content with their ordinary lives rise to a supernatural challenge. When fantasy penetrates reality. 

not coincidentally, that’s also the motto of my publishing LLC

If you’re into all that too, you’ll love Ring of the Axe.

A way back into reading…fantasy specifically

You hear mixed reports about the state of literacy these days. People seem to be buying more books than ever, while our collective attention span and critical thinking skills might be on the decline. 

Either way, if you’re not much of a reader (or have been away from it for a while), may I suggest Ring of the Axe? It’s exciting, accessible, and compelling. I hope you’ll eat it up and want to come back for more. 

And if you’re not much of a fantasy reader, may I recommend a delectable portal fantasy whose FMC is firmly grounded in the real, contemporary world? This might just be your gateway to a whole new genre…

A promise of a future fandom

I’m already obsessed with Ring of the Axe (if anybody should be, it’s me) and the amazing people who’ve read early drafts. We are a community. And we’re accepting new members. 

There are going to be future books in this same universe (now that I’ve written this first one, just you try to stop me from chasing this feeling again). 

There is going to be a community of readers here.

We’re going to be the community of ephemerals. 

yes, I'm already making merch

People who can move the boundaries between worlds and who see the mysteries in the everyday. People who lean into adventure and come out the other side transformed. 

People who believe in magic.

A gateway to your own creativity

Ring of the Axe has been my creative release. It was born of spending a lot of time with books, escaping for a while only to return and realize that my own reality is just as fantastical as any novel. 

My not-so-secret hope is that you, by going on this creative journey with me, are also inspired in your own creative exploits.