❄️ Ice Storm Inbound...Thanks A Lot, Swanie ❄️
Jan 25, 2026 3:01 pm
By the time this email hits your inbox, my part of South Carolina is supposed to be buried in ice. Which means I might be off the grid for a while, so after I get this email written (at 11pm EST on Saturday), I have to throw one more together and schedule it for Tuesday. Multiple free & discount book events zooming your way right when winter's bashing half of the U.S.
Giving a major side-eye toward my Teuton characters with ice elements. Look Swanie, I know I gave you a hard time in His Name Was Augustin, but is it really necessary to punish the author like this? You snagged yourself one of the hottest, most insightful Black Priests in existence, and this is how you treat me? 😒
Kidding. Kidding.
(Maybe it's Karl who's having a tantrum. ❄️ Might have to complain to Skye about this. You can find his story in Gift of Wind.)
My Weird Idea
Considering I don't know how long the power and internet will last around here, I'll have to dig deeper into this idea one of February's newsletters. For now I'll state that the one thing that warms my indie author soul is connection with the readers who enjoy my books. That moment of one-on-one, personal connection where you think to yourself, "Yep! This person gets it!"
I know.
That's WEIRD. 🫣
I'm supposed to want to cough up a new book every 3 months and then sail off into the sunset like some pirate diva who thinks readers are brainless robots full of money, not inquisitive humans just like me. As an introvert I should shudder from the prospect of connecting with people. Don't I prefer cats, anyway?
I do.... 😽
But.
I'm probably living in the wrong era, because I have this yearning to sit around the campfire and blab about my crazy Teuton stories with people who want to listen and share their muses on the situations my characters face.
I should be a bard, not an author, apparently.
So here's my question, and YES PLEASE ANSWER even if I won't like your answer.
If I start making YouTube videos where I read (aloud) a chapter or two of one of my books and then share some 'insider info' on the chapters, would you be interested in watching those videos? 🤨
Your honest answer ⬇️
Depending on what kind of feedback I get from you, I might put together a Google Form with questions exploring this idea. Fair warning that I have absolutely 0 experience doing any sort of video stuff, and I don't have 'good' recording equipment (nor can I justify affording any of it at this point). So if I do go ahead with this weirdo idea, you'll be seeing videos of the raw, real, C.L. Carhart—not some sparkling Barbie with perfect lighting, make-up, and studio.
Because that's definitely not who I am.
Which you probably already know if you've read any of my books. 😉
While some people are making (and abandoning) New Year's resolutions, I'll continue on like Lunajane writes:
Book Fairs and Promos
We've got some bookish events happening this week, and the first one is the illustrious Bookuary. This is a smaller book fair featuring free and discounted eBooks in various genres from now until January 26th. Check it out by clicking the graphic. Once you scroll to the bottom of the page, there's a button to click that will bring up the next pages. There are 5 pages total, and Gift of Snow is hanging out on Page 3. 😊
Just in case the power and internet vanish before I can throw another newsletter together, I'm also dropping the link for Romance Book Blast, which officially lands on January 27th. Some of the books might already be set to free, since the organizer advised authors to set their books free early due to the wild weather we're getting this weekend. Click now to catch those early birds, and don't forget to click again on Tuesday!
Now for a couple BookFunnel fairs going down until the end of the month. Lots of great reads waiting for YOU right here:
Other Books You Might Like
In honor of the Snow-pocalypse (or Ice-pocalypse we're getting in South Carolina), I've found two different Snow White retellings for you to peruse this week. Whether you're battling winter's cold or relaxing in a cozy climate, it's always the right time to discover how other indie authors interpret that age-old fairy tale. 💃
In a city of steel, concrete, and Magick, a wicked queen trapped a mighty warrior with a curse...
In the tiny village of Somer, far from the city, Cherie knows nothing of the evil spell. Her home is a safe, Magickal place. The Fae travel freely along its roads, Magickal humans and animals are welcome, and everyone is hidden from the Queen’s sight by Jack Frost, the local ghost, who blurs the Queen’s mirror with snow and ice.
But when Jack’s spell begins to crack, the Queen’s eyes fall on Somer. Nothing will keep her from abducting all of Somer’s Magickals, not even a war with the Fae.
To avert a war, save her village—and herself—Cherie strikes a perilous bargain. Aided only by Jack and her own small Magick, she’ll set off on a quest … If she fails, she’ll lose more than her life.
SNOW WHITE meets Persephone . . .
Seven shades. One runaway goddess. A fate even the Fates couldn't foresee.
Fleeing her overbearing mother, Snow White tumbles through a hidden chasm and lands at the gates of the Underworld. Sneaking past Cerberus, she finds refuge among a group of eccentric shades who inhabit the seers' pit of Tartarus. Though they warn her of Hades's wrath should she be discovered, Snow White is captivated by the hidden wonders of the Underworld, a place far more enchanting than the bleak prison her mother described. But when the Fates intervene, casting her into an enchanted sleep within a glass coffin, her fate rests in the hands of the very ruler she has evaded.
December Adventures
If you forgot that my husband and I drove from South Carolina all the way to New Jersey...then back...then halfway down the Florida peninsula within two weeks during the holidays, well, I nearly forgot about it at this point too! 😆 But I set aside a couple pictures from both places for you to see. In the first one I'm standing with one of many decorated trees on the Ocean City beach in New Jersey on Christmas Eve. It was around 40° F (4.5° C) outside. 🥶
Next is a mysterious water bird hanging out at a pond at the center of Florida on New Year's Day. I think it was around 60° F (15.5° C) outside when my husband and I joined his grandma on a quiet stroll around this pond. Much warmer than New Jersey, but still chilly for Florida in December!
Let's hope we can all get some temperate weather here soon. In the meantime, I wish you a pile of fascinating books to read, and stay warm if you're in the snow/ice zone with me!
Talk to you soon,
C.L. Carhart
PS - Don't forget to answer my poll under the 'My Weird Idea' section!
Bookuary:
https://sykbookuary.my.canva.site/
Romance Book Blast (Jan 27th):
https://www.romancebooklovers.com/
Get Gift of Snow for free; it's going back to paid next month!