The Hughes News June 2023: BIG things are on the Horizon!
Jun 08, 2023 8:52 pm
Hey there !
It's been a hot second since I sent out a newsletter! A LOT has changed and will continue to change in the coming months, so I wanted to update y'all!
Life-wise, I'm still in the process of divorce. Mediation is happening later this month, so I'm stressed about that. But hopefully, it'll be over soon. Thanks to the amazing support of our bookish community, I've been able to pay my attorney! I put up divorce fund busts to raise money for the divorce and sold out SO FAST!! I'm still working on completing those (I had roughly a hundred).
Outside of that, just pushing my way through a depressive episode (I have MDD) and working around EDS and fibro flares. Just another Thursday.
But BEYOND those things, SO MUCH has happened and I'm excited to share them with you!
The biggest news?? I'M A CONFIRMED AUTHOR AT STEAMY LIT CON!!! Tickets are still available so snag them before they're gone!
*insert excited trash cat opossum flailing here*
Now, I've tabled at conventions as an artist, but never as an author, and I'm SO EXCITED!! To celebrate, I'm creating my first-ever Book Boxes and merch! There will be one for Thorn's Dove, Rhuger's Pearl, and Rhuger's Cridhe. In between art commissions, I'm creating new art for the Orc Matched series and just ordered my first batch of postcard prints, bookmarks, and poster prints!
If you pre-order a Book Box, you'll get a FREE 11"x17" poster print of the cover art I created when you pick up your order at Steamy Lit Con!
Not going to Steamy Lit Con? That's okay! You can still pre-order all the goodies here and I will ship them out AFTER SLC!! (They won't come with the free poster, but there are still a ton of goodies inside!)
What's in the book boxes?
- 1 signed paperback (personal inscription optional)
- 2 - 5"x7" SFW postcard prints
- 1 - 5"x7" NSFW postcard print
- 3" Sticker of the FMC
- 3" Sticker of the MMC
- 4" Sticker of the FMC & MMC being sweet
- 2"x8" Bookmark
- 1.5" Button Pin
You can also order items individually, including signed copies of the books! Please note that I will be using a hand stamp of my signature as I'm disabled. Any requested inscriptions will be handwritten, of course!
In that vein, I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm still busting ass on my art commissions. I've swapped nearly all of my writing time for doing the divorce fund busts. I'm currently a quarter way done now! Once I get past the halfway mark, I'll reopen the DFBs. Additionally, I'm still dedicating time to completing my regular art commissions!
Normally, I give myself a day off every week. But there's too much to do, so instead I've been spending that time working on artwork for my book boxes and merch launch and co-writing Moose Knuckle Boxing with Miranda Sapphire.
Here are some pieces I've done recently:
If you'd like to support my art you can become a patron on Patreon OR you can commission art from me over on Artistree. Just know that if you want to commission me, I'm currently full. I'll announce openings on Instagram!
You can see all (with a few exceptions due to author requests) of my art up on my website!
So as I mentioned, I'm co-writing a new book called Moose Knuckle Boxing. It is a slapstick rom-com moose shifter romance that centers around an MMA fighter moose shifter FMC and a trainer MMC up in Canada!
It'll be the first in a series of moose shifter books under the series name Mount Maple Shifters. This project is a pressure valve for Miranda Sapphire and me as we work on other, more serious, projects. I'll be honest, writing this has helped with my depression SO MUCH. We've already got beta readers who are doubling as content readers both for the MMA portion and also for the Canadian jokes. Because we don't wanna be douche canoes. We want this to be as fun for everyone to read as it has been for us to write! It would be amazing if we could finish MKB in time to launch it for Steamy Lit Con!
As a treat, here is the hook for Moose Knuckle Boxing:
GEMMA
In my line of work, you expect a hook to the face. You don’t expect the patriarchy and capitalism to K.O. you with a nickname like ‘Moose Knuckle’. All it took was one clothing line to push their new athletic gear onto my PR person, and 12 rounds against my rival with a seam lodged so tightly up my plotte my foremothers felt it. Nothing like turning on the TV after the match that made your career to see every channel hyper-focusing on your crotch as you roundhoused your rival in the face.
The irritating part? I’m actually a moose shifter. Yeah, never thought you’d read those two words together, did you?
No one expects a butch-looking 5’5” female MMA fighter from Regina, Saskatchewan with a joke beaver and maple syrup tattoo sleeve to change into a thousand-pound moose that will happily ruin your day.
Beyond MKB, I'm still brainstorming for Sharn's Honeybee. There are big things that happen in that book beyond the short that was included in the I Am The Fire charity anthology. It will also be an introduction and setup for the next four books, so I'm having to plan and plot carefully. Plus I have Sigg's Kitten and Rhuger's Tinsel to complete this year. (Please note, Rhuger and Amelia are having their HEA, there is no other person, nor is there cheating. Tinsel is Rhuger's nickname for their baby, Tinuviel, who is born on the Winter Solstice in Rhuger's Tinsel. He's gonna be a devoted gooey sweet dad!)
Additionally, I've got a Sci-Fi Why Choose on the back burner and I'm still going through my old novel Thistledown - now Flower from the Flame - to rewrite it and add the MMC's perspective. That one is a paranormal romance with witches. SO YEAH... All of that is happening!
If you're not aware, I'm BIG on uplifting fellow authors and community members! We've got some new orc books to drool over and I wanted to share them with you! (TW: NSFW art below!)
I had the IMMENSE pleasure and honor to sensitivity read for Finley Fenn for The Beauty and the Orcs!! Finley Fenn is such a sweet wonderful bean, and she is so careful and considerate in how she portrays experiences that aren't hers. I was incredibly impressed also with the changes she made where needed. She not only made the changes, but she enriched the story with those changes. Honestly, I have nothing but respect and adoration for Finley as a person and an author. And I wouldn't be writing if it weren't for being inspired by her and her work.
I've written a full review over on my blog if you'd like to read it! I had the absolute honor to not only create the cover art for Agnarr's Teacher, but also be a developmental editor for the story! Jenifer's portrayal of anxiety is so wonderfully on point. And the low-angst, high-steam nature of her writing is soothing. Jenifer is a lovely person to begin with and her thoughtfulness and kindness shows in her writing. Jen was the first person to commission me when I opened up art commissions and I've been blessed to have her commission multiple pieces!
Trish is an amazing person to begin with. One of my favorite people in our book community! But her books are also absolutely amazing! She just released Abandon - a Romancing the Stone-esque adventure romance that is just *chef's kiss* I also had the privilege of creating some artwork for her book!
Zoe Ashwood's Black Bear Clan series is continuing and I'm so excited! Her Orc Protector has been out for a few months, and you can pre-order the next book in the series, Her Orc Gentleman, which comes out in December!
Lastly, I co-host Smut Tea Stories Podcast with Jenifer Wood and Jersey Konlyn! May's episode is about Aliens! We just released the first part of the episode (because it was such a chonky boi!) and will be releasing part 2 soon! We had a special guest on the episode with us as well! Petra Palerno hung out with us as we gushed about Ruby Dixon, Ursa Dax, Ella Maven, and more!
Go check out Part 1 now and listen to our previous unhinged episodes on all of your favorite streaming services!
Thank you so much for being you! I'm looking forward to sharing more about my worlds and projects in the coming months! Love y'all!
