Ask the Author: Laura Thalassa
Answered Questions (183)
Laura Thalassa
Yes! There will absolutely be a third and final book in the main series! I haven't announced the title or the release date yet, but I'm already plotting the book out! More information to come!
Laura Thalassa
He was not! But there are other crossover Easter eggs that tie the series together! <3
Laura Thalassa
Gah, you know, it's been so long that I cannot exactly tell you why I decided on Memnon as a name, besides the fact that most readers would hear it and get an ancient vibe from it. It was one of the first and oldest details I came up with for this story idea (which I began somewhere around 2016/2017). I decided to keep Memnon's name as is, despite the fact that it is not Sarmatian as a nod to my first inception of the idea. But it is pure coincidence that it is similar to "Manon" from The Craft (which I've never actually seen)!
Laura Thalassa
Oh, I'm so happy you enjoyed Pestilence and the book's pacing. To be perfectly frank with you, I usually add in my chapters during the very last stage of edits for my books, Pestilence included. Usually I add in the chapter breaks where it feels like there is a true or good transition point. It just so happened that a lot of events happened very rapidly in that book, hence the short chapters. :)
Laura Thalassa
I'm working on The Curse that Binds (Bewitched #1.5/2.5) as we speak! It was originally slated to be a prequel novella, but it's already 70k words and I'm only halfway finished with it. Eep! It doesn't need to be read between books 1 and 2 (Bewitched and Bespelled). In fact, it can totally be skipped if you have no desire to read about an ancient love story. But it is still definitely happening! <3
Laura Thalassa
Awww, day made! I can't wait for it to release as well! In my humble opinion, I think I might like it even more than book one! <3
Laura Thalassa
I think you might want to pass on Bewitched! There are graphic spicy scenes, violent action scenes, and probably more cursing than an average book. For something more YA, I might suggest The Cruel Prince or Daughter of Smoke and Bone (both absolutely amazing first books in a series). I hope that helps! Happy reading!
Laura Thalassa
As far as I know, they will not be available in hardback. Bloom Publishing owns the print rights to that series, so it's basically up to them whether there will be hardback versions of the horsemen books. But as of right now, it looks like the books will just be available in paperback.
Laura Thalassa
Thank you so much! That series was so fun to write! If you want to read another series of mine, my most popular series is my Bargainer series. It's paranormal/fantasy romance and is a complete series--the first book is Rhapsodic. If you like more villain-gets-the-girl and post-apocalyptic vibes, then I'd suggest reading my Fallen World series (also completed); the first book is called The Queen of All that Dies. Happy reading!
Laura Thalassa
Thank you for the book love! As for the questions:
Tips for writing well-crafted characters—give them really fleshed-out backstories and personalities, which basically means writing up character bios, just so that you get a good idea of who this individual is, and how they would approach various topics and situations. Once you get a feel for who they are, then it’s pretty easy to know how they’ll react to certain situations.
What was one thing that surprised me while publishing a book? I think being an indie author, the entire process of publishing a book was pretty shocking. I started self-publishing back in 2013, so ten years ago, and back then, being an indie wasn’t a very established route. There weren’t many cover designers and formatters, and the marketing options, both on Amazon and on social media were very limited. (I don’t think there were ads on social media or Amazon at the time.) So back then, the entire process of getting a book polished and published and making it look as professional as those published by traditional publishing houses was something I wasn’t really prepared for until I just went for it. I think now, the most shocking thing is how quickly the publishing landscape changes from year to year. For instance, BookTok is really big, and it’s a way to market books, but that really wasn’t the case a few years ago. Likewise, indie books would never be carried in bookstores up until a couple years ago, and creating hardback books only recently became an option on Amazon’s publishing platform. And it used to be that free giveaways were a great way to get marketing for your book, but now that’s not as widely used. So I’d say that as someone who’s been in the industry for 10 years, the rate at which the industry changes has continually surprised me.
Tips for writing well-crafted characters—give them really fleshed-out backstories and personalities, which basically means writing up character bios, just so that you get a good idea of who this individual is, and how they would approach various topics and situations. Once you get a feel for who they are, then it’s pretty easy to know how they’ll react to certain situations.
What was one thing that surprised me while publishing a book? I think being an indie author, the entire process of publishing a book was pretty shocking. I started self-publishing back in 2013, so ten years ago, and back then, being an indie wasn’t a very established route. There weren’t many cover designers and formatters, and the marketing options, both on Amazon and on social media were very limited. (I don’t think there were ads on social media or Amazon at the time.) So back then, the entire process of getting a book polished and published and making it look as professional as those published by traditional publishing houses was something I wasn’t really prepared for until I just went for it. I think now, the most shocking thing is how quickly the publishing landscape changes from year to year. For instance, BookTok is really big, and it’s a way to market books, but that really wasn’t the case a few years ago. Likewise, indie books would never be carried in bookstores up until a couple years ago, and creating hardback books only recently became an option on Amazon’s publishing platform. And it used to be that free giveaways were a great way to get marketing for your book, but now that’s not as widely used. So I’d say that as someone who’s been in the industry for 10 years, the rate at which the industry changes has continually surprised me.
Laura Thalassa
So happy to hear you enjoy my books--and my Bargainer series in particular! As for Bewitched (releasing April 2023), it takes place in the same shared universe as my Bargainer series, and I've been told by at least one reader that it does have similar vibes to my Bargainer series--though I'll leave that up to you to judge for yourself!
Laura Thalassa
There won't be any new short stories with Callie and Des, though Rhapsodic has an extended climax and the novella, The Emperor of Evening Stars, has a newly added spicy scene.
In the future, I do plan on writing books about the other kingdoms (Flora, Fauna, Day, etc.), so there will probably be some Des and Callie cameos there!
In the future, I do plan on writing books about the other kingdoms (Flora, Fauna, Day, etc.), so there will probably be some Des and Callie cameos there!
Laura Thalassa
That would be awesome! My publisher owns the full rights to the series, so it is totally up to them whether that happens!
Laura Thalassa
It depends on which version of the book(s) you're looking for! The covers for the series have been redone, so the original versions are no longer being printed. That being said, I know several bookstores still have the original covers in stock (but once they sell out, that's it).
If you're looking for the new covers, they're being rolled out at the moment, so you might just check back in to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. until they've been restocked.
Lastly, if you're looking for The Bargainer omnibus (which is a single book that contains all three novels and the novella in the series), that one is already out of print, and you'll have to look on sites like eBay for a copy of it. This one won't be back up in print because I made the omnibus when I held the rights (since the series was originally self-published). Now that a traditional publishing house owns the rights, it's up to them whether they'll make an omnibus version of the series.
I hope this helps! <3
If you're looking for the new covers, they're being rolled out at the moment, so you might just check back in to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. until they've been restocked.
Lastly, if you're looking for The Bargainer omnibus (which is a single book that contains all three novels and the novella in the series), that one is already out of print, and you'll have to look on sites like eBay for a copy of it. This one won't be back up in print because I made the omnibus when I held the rights (since the series was originally self-published). Now that a traditional publishing house owns the rights, it's up to them whether they'll make an omnibus version of the series.
I hope this helps! <3
Laura Thalassa
Awwww, thank you! As for your question, unfortunately at this time I am not. The books are too big to combine into one giant omnibus, and while a boxset would be freaking amazing, as an indie author, that's not something that self-publishing platforms offer at this time. Maybe one day! <3
Laura Thalassa
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Laura Thalassa
Awww! So happy you enjoyed my Fallen World series! I don't have any plans to revisit that world, unfortunately! As for books that are similar, I haven't read many that are similar, though I will say, Land of the Beautiful Dead by R. Lee Smith was linked with The Queen of All that Dies here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ for years. One of my readers suggested I read it, and I did, and it was f*cking amazing. Just unlike anything I've read before. There are similar enough elements to The Queen of All that Dies that you might enjoy it, but the book is its own thing!
Laura Thalassa
Hi there! Thank you so much for the huge compliment! Unfortunately, I have no plans to make a boxset of my Four Horsemen series, though that would be amazing! The Bookish Box and The Arcane Society are doing special editions of the books (but not as a boxset, just as four hardcover novels) if you want something a bit fancier than my paperbacks!
Laura Thalassa
This makes me RIDICULOUSLY happy to hear! There are so many good books out there! As far as the time goes, there was a long period of time where I lost my ability to enjoy books. I don't know if every author goes through this, but I couldn't tease apart the writing from the reading. Luckily, in the last couple years, that all changed. I don't have a ton of time to read, to be honest--mostly just an hour or so in the evenings--and I'm a slow reader, but there's just something about reading that does it for me in a way that TV doesn't.
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