Subject: [Curiosity & vibe]

Preview Text:

Dear Readers and Friends,

Okay, so. Apparently my newsletter provider decided — without asking me — to only send this to 10% of my list. They called it "optimizing." I call it a betrayal. If you haven't heard from me in a year, I'm sorry. I was here the whole time, writing books and talking into what I now know was a very small room.

Quick "what did I miss" summary: publishing, vacationing, rinse and repeat. I've been deep in A Girl's Guide to Supervillainy — supervillain romance, found family chaos, and happy ever afters with a little bite. Catch up on the series HERE.

Which leads us to...

📖 Inside the Lair / Writing Update

Cover reveal and preorder alert — Nessa's book is almost here!

Nessa Mintz can read anyone's mind with a single touch.

She still didn't see him coming.

Falling for Thunderbolt was never part of the Ladies in Leather's revenge plan. Neither was starting to wonder if maybe — just maybe — he's one of the good guys.

Her team wants justice. Her heart wants the hero.

And her telepathy is absolutely no help when the feelings are her own.

Mayhem releases May 1st. You can pre-order HERE. Advanced readers get it April 15th. If you want a free copy in exchange for an honest review, hit reply and I'll add you to the list.

👀 Classified Intel / Exclusive Content

First: Here's something you won't find in the book.

Nessa didn't come from nowhere. She came from my husband.

Not the telepathy — though honestly, sometimes I wonder. But the real estate investor part? That's him. He buys properties at sheriff sales, hunts down the overlooked and undervalued, and turns them into something. Nessa does the same thing. Neither of them has ever met a neglected building they didn't immediately start mentally renovating.

He also never skips a good party, which is very much Nessa — that mix of sharp and strategic on the outside, genuinely warm and a little chaotic on the inside.

The difference is my husband has never bought a roller rink. As far as I know.

I didn't plan to write him into a supervillain romance. But the best characters have a heartbeat borrowed from somewhere real, and Nessa has his.

Don't tell him I said that. He'll be insufferable about it.

Second: I hired an IT intern. By "hired" I mean I asked my oldest kid, and by "paid" I mean home-cooked meals and a line on the resume.

First project: fixing my website, because apparently readers want to see images. I know. Shocking. (Though the fact that you're here reading my rambling suggests I wasn't entirely wrong about what you like.)

The first update is live — the Supervillain series page is revamped. I'd love for you to check it out. http://www.joynellschultz.com/supervillainy

🌏 Through the Portal / Lets have Fun

Let's play. Two truths and a lie — hit reply with your guess, or wait until next month when I reveal the answer.

1. Blood & Holy Water is my favorite book I've written.
2. My worst-selling series is Tales of the Fairy Godmothers.
3. I grew up helping take care of animals at my family's zoo and once hand-raised an orphaned monkey.

Which one is the lie?

More soon 🖤

— Joy (aka Joynell Schultz)

Writing you otherworldly stories where love is the greatest magic.

[website] · [Facebook] · [Instagram] · [Goodreads] · [Bookbub]

P.S. All the Girl's Guide to Supervillainy links are HERE. Mayhem on Amazon is HERE.

P.S.S. First look at my brand modernization, forced upon me by my intern — I started with Love, Lies & Clones (my first book, so it felt right). New cover, updated blurb. Click the graphic to see it all put together on Amazon. Or a revamp on my webpage (where you can grab the free prequel short story.)