I have been deeply buried under my next new book, The Liar’s Throne. I dedicated most of 2025 to the anniversary editions of The Descent Series, which was a delight and a blessing — but I really, really wanted to get something new done before the holidays.
Although The Liar’s Throne is in the same universe as Atop the Trees, Beneath the Mountains, it doesn’t follow the same characters. I do plan to write another book about Esor an Amen. However, I have a rather complex, sprawling story planned for him (again!), and I suspect it’s going to take at least a year or two to write that one as well. Spoilers: We’re going to see Esor married with a family, and there will be revolution in the Republic. Heartbreak and politics will once again intertwine.
But I’m not ready for that one yet.
So! The Liar’s Throne is a more contained story with brand-new characters that takes place between Atop the Trees and its eventual sequel. We’re still in the Republic of Belarion, but it’s about a century later, following members of Great House Vulasir (no Kovenor) in the southeastern high desert.
I really wanted to do a more team-oriented fantasy book with elements of a dungeon crawl! This happens in TLT. Because I’m still myself, there’s also weird, messy, queer relationship stuff going on between members of the team.
I’ve also found I’m incapable of Just Writing a Normal Book anymore, so there is a lot of poetry in it. Like…a lot.
I’ve only got a few chapters left on this pass of edits. Then it must go off to line editing and proofreading. I do expect it will be released as an ebook on November 11th.
It’s been a year since I last sent a book to my literary agent to reject. (That was Insomniac Cafe.) So my next new book project should be something else that won’t get published conventionally! Haha 🙂 At this point I have a long history of being rejected by traditional publishing, but I keep at it.
While I’m writing That Next Book (a horror novel called DAMN YOUR LIES, stylized in all caps, just like that) I’ll also be working on the Seasons of the Moon Special Edition. That’s going to be a collection of four whole books! It’ll take a while for me to revise, illustrate, and format those the way I did with The Descent Series, but I will be able to put them all into one hefty book.
I’m really hoping that international shipping doesn’t get any funkier. If any books deserve a super-fancy edition with foil and sprayed edges and cool colors, it’s my werewolf books. However, those have to come from either England or China! Hence I will not be promising cool features until we get closer and see how the whole trade thing is falling out.
By the time I’m ready to launch Seasons of the Moon, I wager we’re going to be in the spring of 2026. Maybe then we can do a hardback for The Liar’s Throne? Is that something anyone might want?
If you want to read anything in the meantime, I recently had short fiction appear in Bright Flash Literary Review and the newest issue of Trashlight Press’s e-magazine. (My story is all the way at the end of that one, starting on page 60.)
I hope that everyone is getting time to enjoy the turn of seasons, time with your loved ones, and whatever else you like to do. Have a beautiful week.
~Sara x
