Lincoln Law

2024 is coming to a close, and as we hit the 1/4 mark on the 21st century (how!?!), I look back on the year with fond eyes.

January to May was mostly spent doing final revisions to With Scars of Spirit the final book of The Deimachy Trilogy. May saw the release of the book. To break up the revisions of the book, I also worked on The Truth of Stars, the prequel novella to the Deimachy. This is the first draft, the edits, the beta read and the final pass. All in preparation for a release in September.

During that time, I also worked on some revisions of The Mastersweep, my chimney sweep murder mystery for the Ampersand Prize. It didn’t win, and wasn’t shortlisted, so expect a version of that book to come to you in the not-too-distant future. I’m really proud of my little mystery, and I hope you enjoy it when it comes out.

With that conclusion, there shortly followed the prequel novella in September with The Truth of Stars. Both the final novel, and the prequel have been received well, which is the most I can ask for really. Expect more from the Deimachy in the future, though it’s a ways down the track. I’ve already started brewing up some interesting ideas for what’s to come! One about the Skybinder Civil War, and another prequel novella about Bree.

Overall, I’m incredibly proud of Scars’ ending. It took a lot of work to get there, and it took a few turns I did not expect at all. And while it’s not the end for that world, it is an ending.

Once Truth of Stars was out, the remainder of the year was spent dipping between two projects. One of them, slated to become a big fantasy series, is tentatively titled Titan Tamer Seven. Think of it as my love letter to Digimon and other monster tamer animes. Finally, around September, I started work on a new book called Nestled with the Nameless One. It’s a cozy(ish), romantic(ish), tongue-in-cheek(ish) story about an Eldritch God who falls in love with his sacrifice. It’s about 1/3 done, but I’ve only got a rough outline, so it may end up longer. Stories have a habit of growing in the telling.

I took some time off in November and December to visit my partner in the UK, and now spending some quality time with the family.

Overall, it’s been a busy busy year. My schedule for 2025 is no less chockers.

Tentative 2025 Schedule:
Jan-May: Final revisions on Beyond the Mistline and preparation for publication May 1. Also, writing on Nestled with the Nameless One. My day-job will also change come March, so there’ll probably be a little bit of teething time to allow for me to adjust.

BTM will receive a proper launch, with both a hardcover and a soft cover release, so keep an eye out for details in the New Year.

May – September: Likely spent polishing whatever the next novel-length project will be (there’s several options, but a few things are up in the air with some so I’m waiting for those balls to drop). I’m hoping by this time to have the first draft of Nestled done, too, so I want to be preparing this one for publication a little later in the year as a much smaller release. It’s a silly little book, but I think you’ll all enjoy it.

September – December: Hoping to have finished a lot of pre-work on Titan Tamer Seven, or whatever I decide to write. As such, this will probably be prime drafting time.

Somewhere in amongst that I’ll have a life.

To close off, I just want to share (again) the gorgeous artwork made by Danil Luzin for BTM. I may never recover from how gorgeous it is.

Have a safe and happy holiday period. I’ll see you in 2025.

Link x

Happy Springtime! And also Happy Birthday to meeeeeee (in a few days).

August was a quiet month on the writing front. I’ve been focusing on studying my new uni courses and hopefully doing well there.

The good news is that The Truth of Stars, the prequel to the Deimachy trilogy, is out now. I’m incredibly proud of this story. It’s my first attempt at a novella, and also my first attempt at writing in the world of the Deimachy something which was not originally planned. It contains a lot of backstory I wanted to include about Kaori, but just couldn’t.

I have written the book to be readable at any point in time during the trilogy. HOWEVER, some readers have suggested it’s best to read before book 3, as some of the spoilers are a bit too spoilerific.

September will likely be another quiet month for me. I am hoping to continue my revision of Beyond the Mistline but I make no promises. Right now, priorities are uni and work.

See you next month!

First and foremost, I wanna say a huge thank you to FanFiAddict for hosting the cover reveal. I’m really excited to finally be sharing this cover, after holding it secret for a little while.

I want to say a huge thank you to Nozomi Matsuoka (@NozomiMats on Twitter/X). Without any futher ado, here’s the gorgeous cover of the first ever Deimachy prequel!

Kaori, before she becomes Kaori, is the focus of the novel. I wanted to present her without her mask, in an especially revealing moment for her. It’s not 100% scene accurate–that’s on me going for an emblematic cover rather than a specific scene–but I’m hoping it captures the emotion and conflict in Kaori.

Something you may also notice is I’ve used a different cover artist from the original trilogy. There are a few reasons for this.

First and foremost, I wanted this cover (and any subsequent covers within this series) to give a different feel than the others. I want people to look at these covers and know they’re connected, but that it’s not part of the core series. The Novellas are meant to supplement the main story, but need to be identifiable. Molly Phillips did an amazing job on the original trilogy, and those covers aren’t changing.

And yes, that does mean I’m hoping to make more novellas in the world of the Deimachy in the future.

I also love being able to use different artists and different styles. I have a cover coming down the line for Beyond the Mistline from a different artist which is also gorgeous. But being able to work with different arts, work through my process with different artists, gives me the opportunity to open up my options and use different styles.

And on a personal note, I hired Nozomi to create a gorgeous cover for my other novel, The Thunder Path, which for a plethora of reasons, I’ve been unable to share. And Nozomi killed it with that cover. So hiring them for this cover is a very roundabout way of me making up for the fact they haven’t been able to reveal the cover or the artwork thus far.

I hope you love the cover.

And don’t forget, you can sign up for an ARC of the novel here.

See you in September for the release!

6 months through 2024, and I am left wondering where exactly the year is going.

Entering into July is always a busy time for me, as I turn my attention to CYA Conference in Brisbane. For anyone that’s interested in getting into the publishing industry with their writing, and wants the opportunity to meet with editors and agents, you should definitely check it out.

On the horizon is the cover reveal for The Truth of Stars, which is due to be revealed on FanFiAddict.com in the next few days (July 1st, but US time, so it’ll be closer to the 2nd for me). Hopefully you love it when you see it. I have a post I’ll make when the cover is revealed in full explaining some of the choices.

This month has mostly been focused on a final pass of The Mastersweep, and working on new scenes for The Truth of Stars, which is closer to release on September 1st!

Speaking of which, if you want to read it early (as early as August 1st!) there is an ARC signup form for a free eBook copy of The Truth of Stars, in exchange for an honest review. You can sign up for the ARC HERE!

No new work on newer projects aside from some very basic worldbuilding stuff. But we’re moving on!

See you in a day or two for the cover reveal!

Happy winter everybody (in the Southern Hemisphere!)

On this chilly Saturday morning, I am sitting underneath my nana blanket, listening to my new on-repeat hyper-fixation, Caskets. Their album Reflections is a great, angry, grungy, post-hardcore type vibe. Perfect for your inner disenfranchised teen our outward elder emo. Especially Guiding Light. I’ve had that one on repeat a lot.

It’s that time of the month again.

With Scars of Spirit is OUT NOW! The first few weeks of sales have been consistent, and I am incredibly proud with how this trilogy has wrapped up. So far, the few reviews I’ve heard have been positive. If you’re interested in buying it, please go here. It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited.

This means my attention is turning to The Truth of Stars.

I completed the first read-through of the book and while it’s definitely got some good bones, there’s a lot of work to be done on it. I’ve been brainstorming ideas lately to try and build out the story a little more, coming up with new scenes and sequences. I can’t wait for you to read it!

Which means some more exciting news to announce.

The Truth of Stars will be available SEPTEMBER 1ST.

This means 3 months from now, you’ll have this exciting little novella in your hot little hands. I’ve already seen the cover, and it is GORGEOUS. Nozomi Matsuoka has crushed it again. Expect more news of that to come a little later.

The current schedule for that looks like this:

July 1st: Cover Reveal

August 1st: ARCs sent out to ARC readers

September 1st: Release Day!

There may be a little variance here and there, but that’s essentially the flow of things.

The next month will be heads-down-bums-up on work with this novella.

Beyond the Mistline will be the book to come out after that, and its release schedule will depend on how my life ends up looking for the last 6 months of the year. Ideally, I’d like a January release, but I’ve got a busy few months ahead and a lot of life changes coming down the line, so it will depend on things there.

All going well, we’ll have a cover reveal before the end of the year, though. And THIS COVER (!!!) (done by Danil Luzin) is also stunning. My first full wraparound cover, which is a bit exciting, and a bit niche as far as things to get excited over go. That one’s cadence will likely be October cover reveal, ARC release in November, and then January release (again, all going well).

Have a great June, everyone. See you next month.

Where did the month go?!

Time is moving awfully quickly here in Broken Antler HQ, but so does the progress. So, I’m sure you’re all clamouring to hear what’s been happening in the Land of Link.

With Scars of Spirit had its final proofread from my very excellent proofreader, Jeanette, and she gave it a glowing review. 5 stars on Goodreads! I’m proud to say I think I stuck the landing.

From here there’s the process of proofing the book (which always involves collecting a few copies with minor errors). At the very least, it’s a version with the final text in it (or as close to final). I usually end up collecting these, and then they collect dust, so I’m probably going to go around to a few Little Libraries and drop them off for people to pilfer so they can collect dust in someone else’s house.

There’s also a gorgeous Omnibus edition now for you folks who want a nice thicc boi! The paperback version of this will be out before long, and the ebook version is already out.

The Truth of Stars draft 1 is done. It’s a pretty great prequel, and it was nice to revisit the world of the Deimachy. It may not be the last story I do in this world–I’ve already been percolating a few different ideas (some involving the existing cast, some not), so who knows if we end up going back? This is still a ways away, but I have commissioned the cover artist (the amazing Nozomi Matsuoka), so that’ll come down the line before long I’m sure. I’ll likely start edits on it in a fortnight or so, once I’ve given it some space.

What’s Next?

After releasing those two books, the next project to be released will likely be Beyond the Mistline, my zipline-rainforest epic. Yes. You read that right. The cover artist, Danil Luzin, has been commissioned, and I’ll hopefully get some drafts of the cover in a few weeks. It’s my first ever wrap-around cover, so I’m very excited to see that.

The book still needs some minor tweaks and a re-read to ensure it’s ready, but otherwise it’ll be next up.

The Thunder Path is still with the publisher, and I’m waiting to hear back from them for if they want to go ahead with anything. If that doesn’t happen, then I’ve already got another gorgeous cover by Nozomi Matsuoka ready to go!

What’ Next-Next?

The next project I’ll start writing in earnest will likely be my creature tamer epic, which for the minute I am dubbing Titan Tamer Seven. We’ll see if that sticks. I revealed a small portion of the first draft’s opening paragraphs on Twitter, so go check that out.

I think that’s quite enough to keep me busy for the next little while.

Now, back into the fray I go!

Hey everyone,

It’s another gorgeous (cloudy) day here in Melbourne. I currently have The Tortured Poets Department playing in the background as I write this. It’s a great album (if one I think could’ve benefited from a tighter editing and song selection).

But that’s not what this is about.

I am happy to report that The Truth of Stars, the prequel to the Deimachy trilogy, is complete.

The final word count for this draft is 20,783, which pops it firmly in the nice, short novella range. I think it’s a great little story, and offers a bit of a glimpse into Kaori’s backstory.

I’ve included the blurb below as a little tease, along with the first few lines.

Step into a world of intrigue and transformation in “The Truth of Stars.”

Before she became the formidable Queen of the Soulmongers, Kaori was known as Jasmine, a tormented Bloodsinger.

Enduring cruelty under the regent’s rule and with only one confidant, Jasmine’s life takes a dramatic turn when a divine voice offers her power and freedom.

But as she grasps at this chance for a new beginning, Jasmine faces a harrowing choice: sacrifice more than just her sanctuary to seize the elusive freedom she craves.

Dive into a gripping tale of sacrifice, ambition, and the price of power in this mesmerizing prequel to the Deimachy trilogy.

And now for the sample:

Sanctuary

Jasmine’s earliest memory was of her mother’s last words.

I’ll be in the stars, she said, looking down on you always. Whenever you look up, think of me, and I will see you.

She died the next day.

So as Jasmine stared up at the stars that night, she allowed herself a blissful moment of peace. A sense so rare and small. But there was comfort there, somewhere amongst the inky firmament.

There’s still a bit of work to be done before the cover and release date is announced, but you won’t have to wait too long.

Some weeks ago, I typed the final words of the first draft of the sequel to A Crown of Blood.

I am incredibly proud of the story, even in draft form. It will take a few months of wrangling, but my goal is to have it to you before the year’s end.

It won’t have a cover for some time yet, but in the interim, I hope I can tease you with a sneak peak at the map:

Now, I will enjoy my last few days of relaxation before I dive into the finale of The Deimachy Trilogy.