Back it here!

The funding goal is €2,200. The sooner it funds, the more likely it is for Kickstarter to push it to other people. You can also support by pledging a donation without actually purchasing one of the tiers, if you’d prefer.

By backing this campaign, you’re basically pre-ordering the first two books of the series. Book 1 has undergone some minor content changes—but nothing major, for those of you who’ve already read it. I have tiers to accommodate both those who’ve already read book 1 and just want book 2, and those who are brand new to the series.

You’ll also receive ebook versions of both books roughly a month before their respective releases. (January and February 2027 are the planned release months).

There are also a couple tiers with early bird prices for just the first 24 hours. And lots of fun add-ons too!

Thank you so much for your support. 💕

~ Alexandra

At the time of writing this, I am deep in developmental revisions for two projects, am finalizing the Kickstarter for the first two books of The Stelnove Saga, and am already thinking ahead to future books. So I thought a little update where I lay out my current plans was in order.

The Stelnove Saga Kickstarter

If you follow me on social media, you probably know I have been talking a LOT about this series in my goal to reach more people and get up to 100 prelaunch followers. Currently we’re at 53, so if you haven’t had a chance to follow yet, you can do so at the link below (and please share with someone who might be interested!)

Follow the Kickstarter!

I also have little milestones to celebrate along the way to 100 followers. :)

**The official launch date is Tuesday June 16th.**

Special Edition Covers

I am also so excited to share the special edition covers that for now will only be available through the Kickstarter! They were done by David Gardias, and I am just blown away by his work.

Illustrated endpapers will also be included! I can’t wait to hold the physical books in my hands next year.

What I’m Currently Working On

Along with The Stelnove Saga, I’m also doing developmental revisions for a Northanger Abbey-inspired Gothic novella that I’m referring to as "Project Chains” (title TBA). It’ll be releasing this fall, with more information to come!

Here’s my incredibly rough pitch (I’ll be working on the blurb as soon as I finish revisions):

When Anna is sent to marry the reclusive heir to an ancient manor, she believes her only problem to be keeping him and his family from finding out that hers is ruined. But when she learns that he’s a Conservator, part of a group of people with the unique ability to understand and preserve the living language of art and architecture, and that his task to preserve Dalithkane Manor has been failing, she realizes she might have gotten into more than she can handle. With Hector keeping secrets of his own, and strange experiences Anna has at the manor confusing her, she will need to learn to sort fact from fiction, reality from imagination, and be true to herself and those around her in order to keep Dalithkane from unleashing something far darker that could threaten their whole land.

Both this novella and Stelnove Saga 2 are due to their next editors on June 15th! After that, I’ll have a short reprieve to focus on the Kickstarter and other admin tasks for indie publishing.

On the back burner is my Edinburgh fantasy standalone with Unicorn Tapestry vibes. I do plan to finish draft 2 later this year after the novella and Stelnove Saga 2 are finished, and will most likely publish it before Stelnove Saga 3.

I know, I know. That probably goes against all marketing advice for indie authors, but I don’t care. I care more about staying true to my process and producing good quality books. I pushed myself too hard to get Stelnove Saga 2 finished in a specific time frame, and I am currently paying for that with developmental revisions. This four-book series involves a lot more in-depth planning and research than my projects usually entail, so I want to give book 3 the time it deserves. Besides, I’m tired of the Edinburgh fantasy being constantly on the back burner—it’s a great story that I’m excited about and features a main character with scoliosis (the severe, back brace-required kind, not the “I’ll see a chiropractor about it” kind)1 and childhood friends-turned-lovers (after a tragic separation). So I’m itching to finally polish it and get it out in the world!

Beyond these, I do have an idea for another story, but I’m not going to say anything about it yet because it’s still simmering. I also had so much fun developing the world of Project Chains and became a lot closer to Anna and Hector than I thought I would, so I’ve also toyed with either expanding the novella in the future or writing a full-length novel sequel.

What I’ve Been Reading and Watching

I haven’t been doing a whole lot of either of these while working on revisions, but I’m hoping to catch up on my TBR after I finish. I have a lot of indie books I plan to get to while I’m in the U.S. later this summer. Currently, I’m working my way through The Agony and the Ecstasy, which has made me weirdly nostalgic for my time living in Florence and my Master’s program. It’s a very well done, thoroughly researched book.

I’ve also been re-watching Medici for roughly the thousandth time, purely for the v i b e s as I work on Stelnove Saga 2. Tommaso Peruzzi in it still strikes me for how much he looks like Helori in my book, but it’s hilarious because they could not be more different as characters. I could totally see Caterina Sforza as Clemenza (personality-wise too), Simonetta Vespucci as Caterina, and season 2 Lorenzo would be a passable Gianpaolo (with spectacles, of course).

Sometime I would love to write an essay on the religious undertones and Lorenzo’s redemption arc, particularly in season 3. What I really appreciate about this show—other than the fact it’s not as gratuitous on the intimate scenes as other period dramas, though there are still too many for my liking—is that it takes religion seriously. The pope and other religious figures are not treated as ridiculous caricatures to brush off. I love how we see, even if subtly, Pope Sixtus grappling with his guilt, and Father Carlo could not be a purer man—the scene where he talked to Clarice right before the Pazzi Conspiracy almost undid me. In an age where there really were bad popes and corruption in the Church, it’s nice to see the nuance, that there still were good figures within it, and people who were legitimately pressured to act in certain ways due to circumstances and outside influence. Probably nothing was more poignant to me than when Giulio publicly forgave the man who killed his mother and prayed before him [spoiler coming] with Lorenzo, who had just murdered Riario, watching. And Father Carlo pointing out to Lorenzo that, yes, he had saved Florence and his family but at the cost of blackmail and murder !!!!! * chef’s kiss * I love it so much: really thinking about both the ends and the means, and bringing eternal life into focus with the context.

That’s about all on my end. Exciting things are coming, and I can’t wait to share more! If you’d like to support me, considering buying me a coffee. And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming announcements!

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After months of silence on the writing update front, I finally come with a slew of good news and exciting updates.

Most of you probably know that last fall, I had to cancel the Kickstarter for the second book of The Stelnove Saga after the abrupt shutdown of my publisher. Since then, I have been working on independently publishing the series myself, revising the second book, and have also gotten caught up in a secret side project that I can share more about this summer.

I also shared the prologue and first five chapters of book 1 of The Stelnove Saga here on my Substack. You can check them out, along with short stories and bonus content on the landing page here.

The title of this post sort of gives it away, but I present the first of two special announcements…

I’m running a Kickstarter this summer!

I initially didn’t plan to do my own Kickstarter until I’d independently published one or two books regularly and gotten a feel for the process. But late this fall, I had the urge to do one anyway for The Stelnove Saga. I couldn’t push away the feeling that I’d let an opportunity slip between my fingers when I’d cancelled book 2’s back in September. I also believe in these books so much, and a Kickstarter seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate my rights reversion and a fresh new start to the series.

So in June, I’ll be running the Kickstarter for special edition hardcovers of the first two books! Along with helping me celebrate the new start to this journey, the funds for the Kickstarter will help me cover the costs of professional edits, cover designs, ISBN purchase and copyright registration, and the fun rewards you get alongside the books!

I’m so excited about this, and I have the best team supporting me behind the scenes. Please give the pre-launch page a follow so you don’t miss when it goes live!

Join the heist!

The cover reveal for the second edition of book one, Of Constellations and Clockwork

Ta-da!

Benita did the gorgeous cover for the first edition, and while I was sad to part with it, I thought it best to re-do the cover to, again, mark a new beginning for this series. I loved that we were able to include the fountain motif that appears in the book. Book two’s cover reveal will be coming in July!

This is the regular retail cover that will be available through the usual distribution networks after release early next year. The special edition covers will have their own reveal when they’re ready. ;)

What else I’ve been up to in writing and life

If you follow me on Instagram or even on Notes here on Substack, you probably know I’ve also been working on a Northanger Abbey-inspired fantasy Gothic novella. It’s a cozy romance, so a bit lighter in terms of tone and stakes than The Stelnove Saga, but it does have some darkness and creepy elements to fit a “Gothic vibe”, and some more serious philosophical/academic undertones like The Stelnove Saga. I’m currently revising the third draft of it following feedback, and it’ll be going to my developmental editor in mid-April as soon as she’s finished with book two of The Stelnove Saga.

Otherwise, I’ve been enjoying life here in the Italian countryside. I’ve gotten into creative journaling again. Publishing has made me realize I need some protected writing that’s only for me, that no one else will see. That’s what my journals are for. I can be as weird, as genuine, as fun, as creative as I want without worrying what anyone will think or say about it.

I started off with a Hobonichi Techo Cousin this year, and while I loved the planning aspect it provided, the one-page-a-day began to feel too restrictive to me. I don’t want to have multiple notebooks for different things. It feels more streamlined and organized to be able to stick everything—planning, journal entries, notes on my writing projects, commonplace book things—all in one.

It’s hard, though, to find chunky journals, even harder to find beautiful, good quality ones. I discovered Allie Ryaz journals when the algorithm happily led me to her Instagram page. 1,000 pages?? Beautiful PU leather with a protective cover??? Koji paper???? YES.

I can fit everything I want in here without fear of filling it up in only a few months.

Project Fire and Shadow, my Edinburgh fantasy with Unicorn Tapestry vibes that I’ve been working on off and on since 2021 is still going steadily but slowly in its second draft. My plan is to finish draft two once Stelnove Saga 2 is finished later this year. I then hope to focus more on it in 2027, get feedback, and prepare its own release. While there are going to be four books in The Stelnove Saga, I’m going to take a lot more time on book 3 because this series involves quite a bit of intensive planning and research. After struggling in the early drafts of book 2 to get it done within a set timeframe, I’ve learned I need to give myself space on this particular series.

I know this goes against the currently popular rapid-release culture with books, but I’m quite against that phenomenon. So if you too are more interested in being intentional about the books you read and appreciate giving stories the time they need to grow and flower (without over-exaggerating; I will get book 3 out on a reasonable schedule), then you’re in the right place.

Let’s chat. Tell me below what you’ve been reading lately.

• What’s happening to The Stelnove Saga now that I’m getting rights back

• Respond to the poll and comment to give your input on how I approach serialization

• New character art!!

• Author Feature: Anne Elizabeth of The Roots Trilogy!

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This was supposed to be an announcement of the launch of the Kickstarter for book 2 of The Stelnove Saga, Of Ruins and Repentance.

Instead, I come with disappointing news.

If you follow me on Instagram, I already made an announcement there, but essentially Story-weaver Publishing is closing its doors. Of Constellations and Clockwork is no longer available for purchase, and I’ll soon have full rights back.

To say it has been disappointing to have this happen right before the Kickstarter and right as I was beginning to gain traction on social media in finding a readership for the book is to say the least. I could write a novella on the many ways in which this past year has slapped me in the face, and on my utter bewilderment that something like this could happen twice in less than six months. I’m still a new author too, still laying a foundation for my audience, and I fear the threat to my readers’ trust this might cause.

But this doesn’t mean The Stelnove Saga is going away.

As I said, I will be getting full rights back, so I will be self-publishing the series. The problem is, I don’t know a thing about self-publishing and am already struggling to keep up with book 2, which was supposed to go to my editors in November/December, so there’s no way I can also handle running a Kickstarter more or less on my own too. Plus taking care of two tiny children and returning to my day job.

So here’s what’s going to happen:

I’ll be posting less frequently on social media for a while as I focus on book 2 and learn more about self-publishing. Thankfully, I have a fantastic support system in writer friends and the freelancers who made up the team at Story-weaver and are graciously offering their assistance in this chaotic time. I am beyond grateful for them.

During this time, I will be serializing Of Constellations and Clockwork here on Substack. As of now, I do not believe I’ll be posting the entire book, but rather a large portion of it. More details to come. But as the book will be living here for the time being, it would mean so much to have people engage with the chapters through discussion, liking the posts, and sharing about it on and off Substack. My goal is to continue building my readership and engagement. Each chapter will come with bonus content like annotations, research, discussion questions, behind-the-scenes, and more.

I’d like to start that engagement now, so please respond to the poll below on how frequently you’d like chapters to be posted and commenting below what kind of bonus content you’d find interesting. And if you’re new to The Stelnove Saga, you can read more about it here.

For those of you who are more interested in the personal essays that primarily characterize this Substack, I will continue sharing those as well. Once I figure out the schedule for the above, I will fit in the personal essays too.

In this time, I will also continue revising Of Ruins and Repentance, and as far as I know, the timeline for release remains more or less unchanged. It was supposed to be released next fall, and I still plan to do that. If anything needs to change, I will update you all.

Right now, I have an over-arching arc for four books, that can be read as two strongly connected duologies: as in, the main conflict from book 1 is wrapped up in book 2, but something else is introduced that leads to two more books. The characters in books 3 and 4 will remain mostly the same as the first two. This is my plan, but books 3 and 4 are tentative as I don’t know as much about them yet.

This is subject to change, but I am considering doing a big release/re-release of the first two books next year, with potentially a Kickstarter to help create hype and offer the perks I was planning to offer in the original Kickstarter. Again, as I know more, I will update.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your understanding in this difficult time.

I am a planner, and I don’t like plans changing, and—most important of all—I hate disappointing people. One way or another, I will get the first two books to you all, and then we will go from there.

You can support me by subscribing to this Substack and sharing it. I highly encourage engagement and sharing the chapters themselves as I release them. As far as I understand, the Goodreads page for book 1 will remain up, so please rate and review on there as well.

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Since I had to cancel the Kickstarter and was hoping on that to fund the publication of book 2 (professional edits, formatting, ISBN purchase, cover design, etc.), I also kindly ask that you consider making a donation through my Ko-Fi to assist me in covering those costs. I’m going to say the cliche line, but it really is true: any amount helps.

As a plus, I do want to show you all the new couples’ illustration of Clemenza and Gianpaolo I commissioned from Meileen (@meileen_art on Instagram)! She was fantastic to work with, and I highly recommend her. This was going to be available as a print through the Kickstarter, and whether or not I run a Kickstarter for these books, I do plan to offer it at some point as “swag” for readers.

It’s from the “cistern scene” in Of Constellations and Clockwork, for those who’ve read it. :) I call it “When the Enemies Become Lovers”.

Finally, in happier news, my writer friend Anne Elizabeth is concluding her Roots Trilogy soon! Book 3, Return to Roots, in her enchanting Japanese-inspired portal fantasy will be available November 11th. I had the pleasure of interviewing her:

1. How does it feel to (nearly) have a finished trilogy out there?

   “Having the third book up for preorder feels so surreal. In a month and a half, the trilogy will be complete and out there in the world. It’s honestly a relief though, mixed in with the excitement! I’ve loved working on The Roots Trilogy, and I have learned so much throughout the process, but I am really looking forward to taking a break from that universe and work on some other projects that have been brewing.”

2. What was your inspiration behind this series?

   “The first book which eventually became a trilogy, was inspired by my love of Japan and its people, history, and culture. I wrote what became the first draft a few weeks after I returned from helping with the 2011 tsunami relief efforts, and the love of using medieval Japanese myths and legends in my writing has grown even more since then. This trilogy won’t be the end of stories in this universe!”

3. What was the most challenging part of the writing/publication process?

   “The most challenging part of the writing process was knowing book 1 could have been even stronger and better, but not having the skill set at the time to make it so. Publishing that book grew my writing skills by leaps and bounds. Plus, I had amazing editors for this trilogy who all taught me so much, and I now have tools to apply to my next projects! By book 3, I found myself much more confident both in writing, editing, working with my editors, and in all the parts of publishing itself. I am still learning though, and the more I learn, the more I realize exactly how little I know!”

4. Tell us a bit about your world-building process for this series.

   “Book 1, A World Within Roots, was very loosely based off Japanese myths and was more focused on character building, and the cultural customs of medieval Japan. Book 2, Roots Unearthed, had much heavier world building with other countries, war, and played even more into the myths surrounding Ryujin, God of the Sea. So that book required more extensive research for the world building. As for book 3, Return to Roots, that was not only the most difficult book for me to write but also required the most research out of all three. I play much more into the PTSD side of things, as well as more cultural world building, and alternate worlds, so spent a few months just reading and researching much of these aspects before I even began writing the book.”

5. Are you working on anything else now?

   “I am currently writing a standalone time travel fantasy which I am calling Project Rose for now! It is all outlined, and about a third of it has been drafted. I am also working on plotting/outlining a couple of other projects which I’ll keep under wraps for now!”

TORN BETWEEN WORLDS. TORN BETWEEN LIVES.

Juliet Barrows, the Otherworlder, has survived the Uprising, even though betrayal has torn her apart. Tristan is captured, Saya has escaped, Adnan is missing, and Juliet is back home. But echoes of her encounters with Natsumi remain, along with her warning, “Beware the pretender!”

Home is not what Juliet remembers. Her brother returns to haunt her as she strives to act the part of an amnesiac and live a normal life. But it’s not so easy to forget the past five months. Her parents demand normalcy, Cam doubts the truth, and Juliet doesn’t know what she wants. Her heart and her mind are at odds as she longs for what she lost. Realizing she is fighting a losing battle, she leaves her parents to find Adnan and seek peace.

What happened in Ryujin is not over: Tristan must be dealt with, Natsumi must answer questions, and new leadership must prove itself under the threat of war. Worlds clash as Juliet faces tests of her will and endurance. Torn between who she is versus who others want her to be, she must take the final step to overcome her past and present fears.

You can find book 1, A World Within Roots, here! Book 2, Roots Unearthed, here. And be sure to pre-order book 3, Return to Roots, here.

Keep being joyful,

Alexandra

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