Ashlea Stannard's Blog: being a teen author in 2022-- the harsh reality

okay-- i've done it. i've worked on this book for five years, and now it's finished. it's out in the world, it's making waves, it's finding readers. the hard bit is finished.

so what do i do with myself now?

okay, well, obviously i keep writing.

my plans for the future involve a flurry of different crime romances, all set in the same universe in different small towns around maine, with a few of the same characters making cameos in each one.

at the moment, i'm working on a trilogy following arlo and olive, who are thrown together when arlo is accused of a murder he doesn't remember commmiting and olive is the sister of the victim. it's intriguing, it's fun, and it's on a huge scope compared to my first novel. i mean, it affects so many more people than just three or four. it's gorgeous already and i'm only 5,000 words in.

if i go ahead and finish this project, then we're looking at a release date of 2024, or maybe late 2023. definitely not the five years we had before-- don't worry! in the meantime, i'll keep you all happy with bonus content, and art, and maybe even a special edition or two :) and i'ma lways looking for alpha readers, so drop me a dm if you're interested!