Anna Pendragon Rides Again | Love in Netherford | Giveaway Time!

We’re back in business. After a bit of a hiatus, I’ve restructured my newsletter to be, hopefully, bigger and better. There is so much going on this year, I just didn’t have time to wrestle with a tool that was being a jerk. So here we are!

Thankfully social media exists, and many of you are also Patreon members, so you know I’m still kicking around. I have six books coming out between this month and the end of next year, and lots of other fun things in the works (like going to Glasgow because Worldbuilding for Masochists has been nominated for a Hugo Award — also did I mention I’m a host there, now?)

ANYWAY. The biggest news from this month is that Queen of None is officially re-released from the amazing folks at Solaris Books! It’s been quite a whirlwind, and I just finished up an AMA on Reddit talking about all things Arthuriana and fashion history. Also, I’ve been listening to the audiobook narrated by Deborah Balm and she is so freaking good. Listening to someone perform your story is just an astonishing experience.

I cannot wait for the audiobook of Queen of Fury, mostly because I’ll get to hear Gawain and Hwyfar, and I just might die from joy.

The other super exciting thing is that we’re renovating our third floor attic, and I’m going to have my very own office. I’m calling it the Witch Tower currently, and it will contain my eccentric multitudes. I can’t wait to share the progress!

Love in Netherford

I’m going to share this image here, before anyone else gets to see it! As some of you know, I wanted to commission some custom art for both my book series (you can read more about the Portraits of Fate at the website).

LaLa LaMuerte absolutely nailed Edith and Poppy, below! My ginger witch and my brilliant and chaotic Brightwell lass, dancing together and slowly falling in love. I’ll have similar ones for each couple in the series! LaLa asked me at one point if she’d put in too many flowers: impossible! The crocuses are from a super important scene, and there is no such thing as too many flowers!

I can’t wait for you to meet them.

What’s Growing in the Garden?

I’m an avid gardener, and living in North Carolina means I have a wonderful, long season for all things blossoming and blooming. It’s a mix of natives and other perennials, but I’m slowly considering what I can grow with an idea toward plants I could use to make perfume.

Below are some of my favorite natives, Stokes’ asters. I have three different kinds, including white, and the butterflies just absolutely adore them to no end. They’ve spread throughout the garden after the last few years, and the result is this gorgeous blue/purple blossom all throughout.

Fragrance in Focus

Something that’s been remarkably therapeutic for me in the last few months—really all of 2024 so far—has been my perfume journey. When I traveled to Switzerland the last time, I stopped at the Duty Free in Zurich and sniffed a whole bunch of Guerlain perfumes. I’ve worn perfume for a while, but something shifted in my brain when I got my hands on those fragrances. I realized that I’m missing something.

So I went on a journey. I’ve been ordering sample sets, known as coffrets or discovery sets, and have found some gorgeous fragrances. I’ve also been doing a fair amount of traveling, including to the Guerlain boutique in New York where I met perfumer Delphine Jelk, and have indulged in some amazing fragrances.

It might seem like a meaningless endeavor, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Our sense of smell is so important—it’s the only sense that doesn’t get interpreted. It’s just straight to the brain! I feel like the whole world smells different to me, now. And it’s changed the way I’ve approached writing in a lot of ways.

Though I’ve tried dozens of houses, Guerlain still remains my favorite. It’s one of the oldest houses in France, too. And you know I’ve been diving into the history.

Here’s a great little overview if you’re interested on how to smell like a perfumer.

What I’m Writing

So, for those of you keeping track at home, I’ve delivered 5/6 of the books I have under contract with Solaris. The last, The Game of Hearts, is due this summer. To the utter shock of no one, one of the main characters, Basil Hode, has become a bit of a perfumer. And he’s been, through the hand of fate, paired up in business with one Roland de Grateloup, French werewolf, libertine, and bane of his existence. Of course they’re going to fall in love.

You haven’t met Roland yet, of course, but I have, and this book has him taking a look at himself a bit more deeply. He’s the Emma of this story, a matchmaker from privilege who has a habit of missing social cues and being stuck in his own, rather narcissistic, head.

But he is growing up, as it were, learning that he might value things more deeply… and value one person, in particular, even more so.

So it was surprising to write this little snippet, which is a rather untempered look at himself:

That’s it for now! Thank you for subscribing and supporting me in my endeavors.

OH! And you’re automatically entered for a new giveaway of the sparkly edition of Queen of None just by subscribing to this newsletter! I’ll pick the winners next week.