Secrets ARC call and Ambitious Plans
This newsletter got away from me. *Future Fox rage*
Hello Foxes!
I’ve committed! The Secrets We Save has an official release date, and it’s soon: 14 March!
After a terrible accident, heiress Ursa Torpalfab is expelled from the Vi Academy for magical pilots and sent home to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. But the worst is not over, and she soon finds herself embroiled in a dangerous plot to eradicate magic – alongside Del Fevre, a secretive artist and definite arsehole who may or may not be on her side.
This is the regular, available everywhere, non-illustrated e-book edition*, and I’m excited to see it make its way in the wider book world. To that end, I’m looking for ARC readers.
If you like reviewing books, I’d love for you to join the team!
You can review anywhere – your retailer of choice, Goodreads, StoryGraph or your own bookish blogs or socials – and in as many or as few words as you like. Full details on the sign up page.
*In case you weren’t around last July, there was a Kickstarter for a pretty illustrated edition. Illustrated editions will return exclusively on my website later this year and in the next Whisperers Kickstarter.
Speaking of which…
Fox’s 2025 Ambitious Plans
(Because my plans are always Ambitious.)
I recently noted that when I tell you I’m going to do something here, I feel more obliged to get it done. Can’t make any promises, of course, but here we go!
(Skip on down if you’re more interested in a book fair than me arguing with my future self.)
Kickstarter
Obviously, Whisperers #2 is on the list, and that will happen either later this year or early 2026 depending on how quickly I whip the manuscript into shape.
The other candidate, if Whisperers #2 doesn’t play nice, is hardback editions of Lightless 1-3, since they haven’t ever been in hardback and I want to put pretty new covers on them.
Either way, there will be a Kickstarter, probably around July.
Writing
I have a long list of projects, and they can’t all get written this year. Top of the pile is:
1: Soulshards (Lightless #4)
A ragtag bunch of traumatised (well, they would be, after three books of high drama) magical superhumans attempt to stop a war breaking out.
I want to draft this before I forget absolutely everything about my plans. Today, I came across this stunningly opaque note in the outline:
Daro can turn himself into a human ball
I have absolutely no idea what that means. I’m taking suggestions if you want to email me and offer theories!
2: The Lies We Whisper (Whisperers #2)
Ursa runs for council – good luck with that – and Del learns a terrible truth about his old spy agency.
It’s ready for betas. I think. Maybe. I’d like it edited by July. Shouldn’t be hard. I think. Maybe.
3: Whisperers #3/4
Political drama, corrupt institutions, espionage, angsty romance, can’t say more, spoilers
I think it’s two books. It might still merge back into one chonker. Either way, I want these ready for editing, or at the very least beta reading. Most of the words are there, but there are some rather horrifying canyons marked with square brackets and very rude notes for Future Fox.
4: Angels (Whisperers spin-off)
Santo gets his own romance, the joy of which is rather offset by having to deal with his horrific past.
Pretty sure I will need to write this alongside the Whisperers revisions so the plots all line up, and I suspect this story will fill in the canyons somewhat. Oh, I hope it does.
I want to get the bones of this down. A messy draft full of holes is fine. (Sorry, Future Fox.)
5: The –
Future Fox: Stop. Four projects in a year is quite enough.
Present Fox: But –
Future Fox: NO.
Fine. Publishing, then
And see if we can’t sneak something else in. Foxes are, after all, crafty sorts.
The Lightless novellas
Come hell or high water, I will start putting these within reach of readers! But possibly quietly, as an early access thing for Lightless fans. I won’t have time to get them all edited, covered and through the proper publishing process but I do want you to be able to read them before Soulshards if you’re a completionist reader and can’t stand not knowing what happened in a side story once you get a whiff of it in the main novel. (It’s me, I’m that reader.)
There’s all sorts of fun, including a superhuman circus, some amateur sleuthing, a mischievous puppy, magic pilot academy, heists, spies and buildings burning down.
The Lies We Whisper
If I can get it edited by July, Lies will be Kickstartering!
A Serial Choice
Aha! Here we sneak in another writing project. One chapter a week. How hard can it be?
Future Fox: This is a terrible idea
Present Fox: BUT FUN
I have two plans for serials that have been kicking around for a while, and I have bits written for each (take that, Future Fox, shhh never mind the mess).
Shall we have a vote? Let’s have a vote. Can’t guarantee it’ll happen, but you never know…
One Masked Ball: dark fantasy gender-swapped Phantom of the Opera with twisted magic and wars among gods. I’ve given the Persian a bigger part (I always felt he, or she in this case, was cheated) and am exploring the backstory between her and the Phantom, which is quite devastating. Enemies to lovers, lots of theatre.
Squilly Meen: satirical (or maybe just silly) fantasy featuring a swashbuckling, saxophone-playing, space-time-magician courier who wears pants made entirely of pockets and frequently forgets to make deliveries because adventures. What, you thought your parcels were delivered according to linear time?
Don’t tell Future Fox about –
Future Fox: What is this?! Don’t we have enough to do? Take the poll down! Take it down now!
Present Fox: No time! Must get on to the book fair! Toodle-oo!
Fantasy of every flavour
Looking for some fantasy or sci fi for February? This is an eclectic selection with everything from centaurs to spaceships and fairytales in between. Not all in one book, although one could have fun with centaurs on a spaceship with a fairytale spin…
No centaurs on spaceships, Future Fox will spit. I was supposed to be working on the Soulshards outline tonight, but as you can see, this email rather got away from me. It’s bedtime. Thank you for listening to me go on about plans. It does actually help me to lay it out like that!
Do tell me what you think Daro’s human ball might be, check out the book fair, join the ARC team if you desire and I’ll see you again (with a shorter missive) soon!
Happy reading,
Kel