--Kirsten Weiss
It's a new year, and both me and Susan Witsend are excited to be breaking in our new planners. This year I decided to try a six-month planner, because I start to get bored with my old planner mid-year. This way I'll be forced to get a new planner in July and maybe I'll actually... plan.
But here are my projects for the year.
The Tea and Tarot Cozy Mystery Series
Book seven in the series, The Sword in the Scone, launches February 14th. It's finished and ready to go, and I'm really happy with it. Most of the action takes place outside San Borromeo (Patron Saint of heartburn sufferers), which initially felt a little weird to write. But it was the only way I could figure that made sense to wrap up Brik's past. And I think it worked.
Next up in the series is Hyperion's book on Tarot, The Mysteries of Tarot: A Work of Imagination. And if my subtitle seems a little... odd. That's because "a work of imagination" is the dictionary definition for "fiction," and this book is a little odd. It's not my usual. I took Hyperion's Tarot blogs, edited them, and compiled them into the book. The premise is that he's just gotten the manuscript back from his beta reader--a mystic friend who lives in the woods. And there's a murder mystery in his notes for each card. So it's a real book on reading Tarot, but it's also fiction.
I have no idea how I'm going to market this, but I'm having so much fun with it, I don't care.
In other Tea and Tarot news, the mysteries are being turned into audio books. My voice actor came down with laryngitis so things are slightly delayed. But I'm excited about making them available on audio.
I'm also planning a Tea and Tarot novelette. I have no title, and no idea what it's going to be about, but the story will likely take place over the holidays.
Which brings me to my evil scheme...
I plan to publish something every month starting in February and running through October. The only way I can pull this off is with a mix of regular-length novels and novelettes, including a Witches of Doyle novelette just in time for Halloween.
The Paranormal Museum Mysteries
I'm still struggling for a title, but the first draft of the next paranormal museum mystery is done, and there are big changes in the works for Maddie and the museum. They're good changes. But most of us hate change, and Maddie is no exception, so there'll be some stress and resistance. And of course... A MURDER!!! That book will launch at the end of July.
To warm people up for it, I'm going to write a Paranormal Museum novelette. Again, zero idea what it'll be about, because I'm apparently not the kind of author who plans out her entire series in advance.
I also have a paranormal museum role-playing game in the works! It's 95% done. All I need to do now is test it, and then get the art and format it into a game. That will come out in August. I had a lot of fun creating the games in the back of the books in my Big Shot series, and some author friends have encouraged me to keep on with them.
The Wits' End Cozy Mystery Novels
Book 8 in the Wits' End series, The Bantam Menace, will launch April 25th. That has been flying through edits at misterio press. So... good news for Wits' End fans! Here's what the cover looks like:
Break in wedding shoes ✓
Walk through venue ✓
Solve murder.
Reformed control-freak Susan has organized the perfect rustic mountain wedding with the love of her life, Arsen Holiday. But she doesn’t have a contingency plan for murder.
When an early arriving guest is found dead, the murder appears senseless. After all, the victim’s only connection to the family and the town is thirty years in the past. But Susan is convinced this isn’t a random crime. And as she keeps digging, she discovers dark secrets that haunt the people Arsen loves best.
Susan will have to tread carefully to avoid provoking her soon-to-be in-laws as she unravels Arsen’s past. And she’ll have to move faster than a bridesmaid leaping for the bouquet. Because a cunning killer seems determined to stop the wedding. At any cost.
If you love quirky heroines, twisty mysteries, and laugh-out-loud humor, you’ll love The Bantam Menace, book eight in the Wits’ End cozy mystery novels.
New Series
I've been toying with this idea for a long time of a Doyle Witch spin-off series that will be more paranormal women's fiction--with mystery but also with a little more romance. I plan to write three books in that series this year, for publication in 2024.
And that should keep me pretty busy for 2023.