Shauna Lawless's Blog
June 10, 2023
May 2023 Writing update
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all keeping well!
May was another busy busy month, however June is about to get even busier. I’m on deadline – with means my nose must be flat to the grindstone so the manuscript for book 3 is with my editor before I go on holidays.
Wish me luck!
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
The paperback is now out everywhere apart from North America, Australia and New Zealand.
The dates for these releases are:
N. America – 8th August 2023
Australia/NZ – 5th September 2023
Back home, it’s been lovely to see the paperbacks when I’ve been out shopping in Waterstones. Honestly, to be on one of the main tables is a dream come true.
When I was younger, I’d beg for book tokens for birthdays and Christmas – and these were always the books I checked out first.
More good news – I’ve reached 1,009 ratings on Goodreads this month, which is amazing. I will stop giving you this tally now that I’ve reached 1,000 – but it’s been lots of fun to watch this tick up and knowing that people are still reading my book so many months after publication.
The Words of Kings and Prophets
The marketing work for The Words of Kings and Prophets – Book 2 in The Gael Song series – is ramping up!
Now all the editing work is completed, this is the fun part.
So, things for you to know.
Release dates are expected to be:
UK/Ireland/Europe/Commonwealth publishing area – 14th September
North America – 3rd October
Australia/NZ – 28th November
E-Book/Audiobook – 14th September (all territories)
The audiobook announcement is my big news since last month – and this is now available to pre-order on Amazon. I can also confirm that Aoife McMahon is returning to narrate the story.
If you are a blogger/bookstagrammer/booktuber or review books on TikTok, you can request an arc via Netgalley.
Also – if you are a blogger/booktuber/Tiktoker, please let me know if you are interested in joining my blogtour. Quite a few have emailed already, which has been lovely to see!
Writing news
I’m currently working on editing book 3 of The Gael Song series. I am already about 72% though the editing process and will keep going throughout June as the book has to be handed in at the end of the month.
I also can say that…
I have signed a two book novella deal with HoZ – both of which are set in The Gael Song world! I don’t have any more details to share yet regarding titles and release dates, but I can let you know that the first novella has already been handed in!
That's all my news for now!
And remember if you are reading this to add my books to your TBR/rate/review - it all helps!
I hope you are all keeping well!
May was another busy busy month, however June is about to get even busier. I’m on deadline – with means my nose must be flat to the grindstone so the manuscript for book 3 is with my editor before I go on holidays.
Wish me luck!
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
The paperback is now out everywhere apart from North America, Australia and New Zealand.
The dates for these releases are:
N. America – 8th August 2023
Australia/NZ – 5th September 2023
Back home, it’s been lovely to see the paperbacks when I’ve been out shopping in Waterstones. Honestly, to be on one of the main tables is a dream come true.
When I was younger, I’d beg for book tokens for birthdays and Christmas – and these were always the books I checked out first.
More good news – I’ve reached 1,009 ratings on Goodreads this month, which is amazing. I will stop giving you this tally now that I’ve reached 1,000 – but it’s been lots of fun to watch this tick up and knowing that people are still reading my book so many months after publication.
The Words of Kings and Prophets
The marketing work for The Words of Kings and Prophets – Book 2 in The Gael Song series – is ramping up!
Now all the editing work is completed, this is the fun part.
So, things for you to know.
Release dates are expected to be:
UK/Ireland/Europe/Commonwealth publishing area – 14th September
North America – 3rd October
Australia/NZ – 28th November
E-Book/Audiobook – 14th September (all territories)
The audiobook announcement is my big news since last month – and this is now available to pre-order on Amazon. I can also confirm that Aoife McMahon is returning to narrate the story.
If you are a blogger/bookstagrammer/booktuber or review books on TikTok, you can request an arc via Netgalley.
Also – if you are a blogger/booktuber/Tiktoker, please let me know if you are interested in joining my blogtour. Quite a few have emailed already, which has been lovely to see!
Writing news
I’m currently working on editing book 3 of The Gael Song series. I am already about 72% though the editing process and will keep going throughout June as the book has to be handed in at the end of the month.
I also can say that…
I have signed a two book novella deal with HoZ – both of which are set in The Gael Song world! I don’t have any more details to share yet regarding titles and release dates, but I can let you know that the first novella has already been handed in!
That's all my news for now!
And remember if you are reading this to add my books to your TBR/rate/review - it all helps!
April 1, 2023
February 2023 Writing and Reading Update
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all keeping well!
I seriously cannot believe that February is over. It’s already getting a bit warmer and the evenings longer – and I am impatient for Spring to arrive. How about you?
February for me has been very busy. Lots of excitement (and anxiety) is building as the structural edit for The Words of Kings and Prophets is now finished!
As anyone will tell you in publishing, sometimes it’s very quiet, sometimes it’s very busy. November to January was quiet post the book launch of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, however, in February, publishing activity picked up again.
So what’s coming up you ask? Well, I’ll tell ya!
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
The paperback is out in U.K./Ireland/Europe on the 11th May 2023. Very excitingly, the paperback will feature an extract of the prologue of book 2!! That’s right. New content will be available with the paperback release.
(The USA/Canada paperback release is in August 2023.)
I will be doing a giveaway for newsletter subscribers once I get my copies, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Another exciting announcement is that The Children of Gods and Fighting Men WON the ‘Best Traditionally Published Debut’ by FanFiAddict Magazine. I literally couldn’t believe it.
There were lots of amazing books nominated across all 4 categories, so if you are looking for a recommendation, have a wee look at all the nominees.
I also appeared in Fantasy Faction’s top 50 books of 2022.
I made it to number 22 myself – and I have to say there are a lot of amazing books here. Several of which I have already read, and another batch are on my TBR for this year.
In terms of personal milestones, I reached 700 ratings on Goodreads this month, which is amazing. If you have left a rating or a review, thanks so much. It means a lot.
If you haven’t yet, please think about doing one. It can be anywhere at all – goodreads, amazon, waterstones, social media. Word of mouth really does pay off.
Another huge surprise was the traction I gained in Europe over the last month. The English editions seemed to gather a bit of momentum and I reached number 1 in my Amazon sub categories in Spain, France, Germany, and The Netherlands. How amazing is that?
The Words of Kings and Prophets
Aside from the paperback, the next big thing for me will be the release of The Words of Kings and Prophets – Book 2 in The Gael Song series.
As I mentioned above, I’ve been very busy with this. The structural edits are now completed and I expect the copy edits to be in next week. That’s a very quick turnaround, however, I do enjoy this part of the process. It’s really nice to get the book into as great a shape as possible before it hits early reviewers and Netgalley.
If you are a blogger or review for Netgalley, do keep your eyes peeled. I’d guess that it will up for review by May.
It’s also nice to note that all the preorder links for America and Canada Amazon are now fixed. It’s also now available to pre order at Barnes and Noble.
Release dates are expected to be:
UK/Ireland/Europe/Commonwealth publishing area – 14th September 2023
North America – 3rd October 2023
Audiobook – is expected to be ready around the same time as the UK book release, however, that is not confirmed. I will keep you posted as soon as I know more.
Writing
I’m currently working on book 3 of The Gael Song series and I’m 105,000 words in.
I’m happy with this progress as I also spent two weeks in February doing the structural edits.
I know the copy edits will be in by the end of next week, which means that a significant portion of March will be taken up with that. However, I still would like to think that I’ll be around the 130k mark by the month end – which actually means I should be finished the drafting phase – or at least very nearly.
This is right on schedule and means I can spend April – June editing and polishing before I hand the manuscript into Head of Zeus.
Social media
This month I took part in a booktube interview with Steve Talks Books, and I took part in a writing advice video put together by ToriTalks.
The main video I want to talk about, is the one I did with Steve Talks Books. This was a spoiler review and chat of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men – so I got asked lots of questions about the plot and characters. If you’ve read the book and want a listen, here is the link.
For those who haven’t read, maybe leave it until later. It’s full of spoilers!!
Events
I will be talking about my book with Fantasy Fellowship on the 3rd March. This is on the topic of mythology – so if that’s something you are interested in, check that out!
In person events that I will be attending in 2023 are:
London Comic Con (28th May)
Cymera Edinburgh (4th June).
A few more details have trickled in – and I know I am appearing on Sunday the 28th May at the London ComicCon at 2:30pm. My panel is on fantasy and folklore – should be very interesting!!
Thanks for reading! I’ve gone over my books and writing in this blog update, but my newsletter also covers my reading updates and will have some giveaways in the next couple of months.
Oh, and here are the goodreads links to my book!
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
The Words of Kings and Prophets
https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/form...
I hope you are all keeping well!
I seriously cannot believe that February is over. It’s already getting a bit warmer and the evenings longer – and I am impatient for Spring to arrive. How about you?
February for me has been very busy. Lots of excitement (and anxiety) is building as the structural edit for The Words of Kings and Prophets is now finished!
As anyone will tell you in publishing, sometimes it’s very quiet, sometimes it’s very busy. November to January was quiet post the book launch of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, however, in February, publishing activity picked up again.
So what’s coming up you ask? Well, I’ll tell ya!
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
The paperback is out in U.K./Ireland/Europe on the 11th May 2023. Very excitingly, the paperback will feature an extract of the prologue of book 2!! That’s right. New content will be available with the paperback release.
(The USA/Canada paperback release is in August 2023.)
I will be doing a giveaway for newsletter subscribers once I get my copies, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Another exciting announcement is that The Children of Gods and Fighting Men WON the ‘Best Traditionally Published Debut’ by FanFiAddict Magazine. I literally couldn’t believe it.
There were lots of amazing books nominated across all 4 categories, so if you are looking for a recommendation, have a wee look at all the nominees.
I also appeared in Fantasy Faction’s top 50 books of 2022.
I made it to number 22 myself – and I have to say there are a lot of amazing books here. Several of which I have already read, and another batch are on my TBR for this year.
In terms of personal milestones, I reached 700 ratings on Goodreads this month, which is amazing. If you have left a rating or a review, thanks so much. It means a lot.
If you haven’t yet, please think about doing one. It can be anywhere at all – goodreads, amazon, waterstones, social media. Word of mouth really does pay off.
Another huge surprise was the traction I gained in Europe over the last month. The English editions seemed to gather a bit of momentum and I reached number 1 in my Amazon sub categories in Spain, France, Germany, and The Netherlands. How amazing is that?
The Words of Kings and Prophets
Aside from the paperback, the next big thing for me will be the release of The Words of Kings and Prophets – Book 2 in The Gael Song series.
As I mentioned above, I’ve been very busy with this. The structural edits are now completed and I expect the copy edits to be in next week. That’s a very quick turnaround, however, I do enjoy this part of the process. It’s really nice to get the book into as great a shape as possible before it hits early reviewers and Netgalley.
If you are a blogger or review for Netgalley, do keep your eyes peeled. I’d guess that it will up for review by May.
It’s also nice to note that all the preorder links for America and Canada Amazon are now fixed. It’s also now available to pre order at Barnes and Noble.
Release dates are expected to be:
UK/Ireland/Europe/Commonwealth publishing area – 14th September 2023
North America – 3rd October 2023
Audiobook – is expected to be ready around the same time as the UK book release, however, that is not confirmed. I will keep you posted as soon as I know more.
Writing
I’m currently working on book 3 of The Gael Song series and I’m 105,000 words in.
I’m happy with this progress as I also spent two weeks in February doing the structural edits.
I know the copy edits will be in by the end of next week, which means that a significant portion of March will be taken up with that. However, I still would like to think that I’ll be around the 130k mark by the month end – which actually means I should be finished the drafting phase – or at least very nearly.
This is right on schedule and means I can spend April – June editing and polishing before I hand the manuscript into Head of Zeus.
Social media
This month I took part in a booktube interview with Steve Talks Books, and I took part in a writing advice video put together by ToriTalks.
The main video I want to talk about, is the one I did with Steve Talks Books. This was a spoiler review and chat of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men – so I got asked lots of questions about the plot and characters. If you’ve read the book and want a listen, here is the link.
For those who haven’t read, maybe leave it until later. It’s full of spoilers!!
Events
I will be talking about my book with Fantasy Fellowship on the 3rd March. This is on the topic of mythology – so if that’s something you are interested in, check that out!
In person events that I will be attending in 2023 are:
London Comic Con (28th May)
Cymera Edinburgh (4th June).
A few more details have trickled in – and I know I am appearing on Sunday the 28th May at the London ComicCon at 2:30pm. My panel is on fantasy and folklore – should be very interesting!!
Thanks for reading! I’ve gone over my books and writing in this blog update, but my newsletter also covers my reading updates and will have some giveaways in the next couple of months.
Oh, and here are the goodreads links to my book!
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
The Words of Kings and Prophets
https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/form...
March 1, 2022
February writing update
I had a few blogger friends help me out with the cover reveal on Twitter - which went really well. The artist, Micaela Alcaino came up with the most amazing cover and everyone was very complimentary.
I also had an interview with Nils from the Fantasy Hive blog. If you want to see our chat - mostly about the inspiration for my book and how I write - check this out.
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2022/02/au...
This month, I also finalised the copy edit. It was a lot of fun (hard work too) and hopefully ARC’s will be ready for reviewers by the end of February. I’m getting very nervous/excited about receiving reviews. 😬 The final stage to go through is the proofreading stage. Then I think the book is off to the printers.
In terms of pre-orders, my book is available in Ireland, Europe, America and parts of Asia. Go to the books tab, if you want to see the links for book stores in your country or Amazon.
Now that The Children of Gods and Fighting Men has been edited, finalising Book 2 is my focus. The writing is well underway - and over the next month or two I am hoping to have it finished! Wish me luck there 😁
