Happy New Year, Book Friends!

2025 is here! I’m excited for what this new year will bring. Do you have any goals you hope to accomplish in 2025? I have a few, including finish drafting the Heartsmith sequel. But I also have a BIG announcement, which I’ll share further down, so keep reading!

Over the past few days, I’ve reflected on the accomplishments I made in 2024. It truly was a full year! Scroll through the images below to see my 2024 author journey recap.

This month, I am taking part in a Digital Detox with my church that runs until January 28, which means I’ll be off social media during that time. I’ve been looking forward to doing this detox–I feel like January is the perfect month for it too. I’m ready to detach from my phone a bit and use this time to write, paint, read, work on other projects, and overall de-stress.

Speaking of “other projects,” I have just hired a development editor to help me polish the first book in a Fantasy series I started 11 years ago. This 7-book Epic Fantasy series (to date) has been on the back burner for the past 3 years, but now I feel a strong nudge to begin working on it again. I initially queried it back in 2021 for about 6 months, but didn’t get any bites. It’s why I switched gears and wrote The Conjurer’s Curse–that book got my foot through the publishing door. This “unpublished” series is set in the same “world” as The Iron Kingdom Series, and features some of the characters you meet in TCC. So, if you’re a fan of The Iron Kingdom series and were curious about the “larger world,” including who the Immortal King is, you’ll get a kick out of this epic series.

I haven’t decided what publishing route I’ll take with this Fantasy series yet, but I wanted to take this initial step with an editor, and polish it up in case I begin querying it again. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

Writing Update:

I’ve reached 72k words in the sequel to Heartsmith! The Final Act for this book is well underway. I’ve been going at my own pace, not rushing the process. I’ve been consistently putting fingers to the keyboard, blocking in scenes, and brainstorming the action sequences. I’m excited to see it all come together.

Exciting News:

It’s time for my BIG announcement! Drumroll…

Book 3 in The Iron Kingdom Series, The Ghost’s Gambit, is releasing Fall 2025!!! That’s right, you heard it here first.

It’s been quiet on the Iron Kingdom Series front, but I promise you, it hasn’t been neglected. I know many of you are VERY eager to continue Rowan, Tahira, and Akaran’s story, especially after the cliffhanger at the end of The Wraiths of Arjun. This story has all the nail-biting tension, high stakes, duels, action & adventure, and romantasy elements you’ve come to expect from the first 2 installments. There’s a few new surprises in book 3, such as 2 new POVs, which brings the total to 5 POVs for this book, including the villain’s!

This book took me little over a year to draft; I finished it at the end of last February, so I’m eager to dive back into this world and get it ready for publishing. I can’t wait to share this book with all of you. I’ll let you all know when editing rounds begin. I’m excited to start sharing out teasers, moodboards, and book quotes from the characters, plus more Quotes out of Contexts.

The Ink Mages Podcast

One full year of The Ink Mages podcast is in the bag! We had an amazing year hosting our Nerdy Fantasy podcast. Check out our highlights in the slides below:

Join us for new episodes coming in 2025! We’ll be back in February–we’re taking January off to work on individual projects. In the meantime, share our episodes and podcast with your friends. We have also started our new Buddy Read Episodes, where we read and review indie author books. If you have a “clean” Fantasy or Sci-fi novel, be sure to reach out to us to get on our Buddy Read List.

The Ink Mages is hosted by myself and my author friend, Angela R. Hughes (Author of the Once & Future Chronicles).  Our podcast features Nerdy Banter about all things fantasy, world building, story craft, myths & legends, and of course, our own imaginative stories. 

You can find our first episode by CLICKING HERE: The Ink Mages Podcast

What’s on your January TBR?Buy The Conjurer’s CurseBuy The Wraiths of ArjunBuy HeartsmithBuy The Mountain of Gold

Thank you all for joining me on my author journey. I’m looking forward to sharing all the exciting bookish news that’s in store for 2025!

Have a restful January and a Happy New Year!

Let’s Dare to Make-Believe.~Stephanie CottaLinkTreeBook Recommedation:Screenshot

More Than Life is a sweeping tale of romance, fated soulmates, family curses, and dealing with loss and grief. The story opens with quite the gut-punch for the main character, which immediately invested me in the story. I enjoyed the dual-POV for Cordelia and Jaspar, and loved watching their romance blossom. The adventure vibes pick up in the third act, and I’ll admit that I want more. I’m excited to see where the story goes next!

Check out book here