Hey ,
This is the monthly Thursday NL for S.M. McCoy for all things fantastical sci-fi fantasy and paranormal adventures with a splash of romance.
You read correctly, I'm going to be pulling the Divine Series: Blood Crescent, Blood Rebirth and Blood Queen from KU, and archiving the series.
More details on this and what's to come after our indie Highlights!
Indie Temptations:
I'm the pack’s most valued witch, trapped in servitude, craving freedom.
He’s a mysterious, smoking-hot werewolf shifter exiled from his pack.
Now, he needs to overcome their rejection by pretending to be my fated mate.
Except I know it's not pretend.
Crimson Melodies is a gender swap Beauty and the Beast story full of snap and spice in this rockstar romantasy set at a haunted Hollywood hotel.
A tempting she-wolf challenges my pack's survival, and my heart.
The Onyxfangs dominate Schuylkill with an iron grip, and their captivating alpha heiress, Cora Onyxian, is forbidden fruit.
When our paths cross in a city bar, the primal pull between us ignites, revealing a fated mate bond.
But fate has a cruel sense of humor; our packs are bitter rivals, and a centuries-old curse threatens our very existence.
Goodbye Divine Series!
(The Audiobook will still be available with ACX after summer)
Reply to this message if you'd like a promo Audible copy of the book, and I'd be happy to give you one while I have some available. It was narrated by Tara Marie Kirk
This is a YA Dark Fantasy with witches, demons, energy vampires, and all from Chrystal's POV, my very first completed series. Many of you have loved this series, and it is because of it that I am here writing for you all today, but it's time to say goodbye and feel more confident in my current author self.
Rewriting the divine series with my more adult author self I believe is the best thing for me to feel more confident in my backlist catalogue.
I didn't really understand author platform, branding, or reader expectations at the time, I just wrote a book I wanted to read. (I also TRULY committed to a writing exercise in creating a story with a fluid stream of consciousness from a single confused mind being fucked with by vampires with mind altering magic that slowly understands more and more as the story unfolds. I love it, but it's a very niche kind of experience. Love it or hate it.)
I still do that. Write what I want to read, but my vision of my brand is more clear now.
So, the signed print books I have in stock are being cleaned out to make way for the new author me.
Broken Books Publishing - Payhip
Don't be too sad about it, it's a good thing.
WE ARE GETTING A DARKER, SPICIER, ADULT ROMANTASY
It means you're all going to get a spicier, darker, romantasy more in line with what you love about Taking Medusa, Kingdom of Acatalec, and even my alien romances.
We are talking COMPLETE rewrite from scratch.
It will be Darker, Spicier, and no longer YA. Yes, it will follow the original story line, but it will deviate as it's being aged up and as I'm writing it from scratch, there will be new scenes, reimagined old scenes, and above all utilizing the story and world building I've developed over the years to completely reVAMP this story with better execution and be a story I'm even more proud of.
The Divine series had several lovely 5-star reviews throughout its book life, and it served its purpose of igniting my passion and forcing me to take my dreams more seriously, but it was my very first finished book series. Each book got better with each launch, and they still do!
But, it's time to retire the old YA series, and bring it back to life because I really do love this story and I think it can be so much better with my upgraded skills and my new understanding of what I love to read, as well as being better at what I do, CREATE magical romance adventures!
This project will go a lot smoother than other projects since I've written the book already and the story bones are basically formed, plus I have several other completed books under my belt and have a better feel for things. There are key events I will be keeping the same, though, completely rewritten from scratch. I promise you will still be surprised and have twists in the journey that were unexpected even if you read the original series. This adaptation is going to be fun, darker romantasy with spice, and I'll even throw in a "Good Girl" in there. (wink)
- Dark Fantasy Romance
- Energy Vampires
- Witches
- Astral plane
- Academy for supernaturals (No, I will not have it be all teenagers, it's aged up, the academy is for all ages.)
- Magic Training
- Found Family
- Blood Play
- Mind Games
- Demons
- Djinn
- No Fade to Black (Steam included)
- Dual POV from FMC and MMC
Add to Goodreads TBR: Serpent's Curse of the Seven Talismans by S.M. McCoy | Goodreads
I will be releasing the WHOLE STORY in one hardcover volume, a standalone with the whole romance. This will not be released as a series of books. I'm straight writing the whole arc from start to finish then launching the whole thing next year. Before I finish writing book two of the Dark Gods Rising, before I write the next book in the Treasures of Trillume series, before I edit book two of the Kingdom of Acatalec series.
I'm drawn to seeing this new version completed, so I can feel confident that no matter which book a new reader picks up that they will get to know my writing style as it is now.
Yes, I will continue to improve and become better as I go, but I have a better idea and understanding of my writing style and voice, which means even though every book should improve, I will still remain proud and recommend my entire backlist because it matches with my platform. As it stands the current series does not match up with what I want my author platform to be about as it's YA, my first attempt at completing a series or a novel for that matter, and its style though my voice is in it, it is not the same feel as the rest of my books. And I can clearly see with my current author eye that my execution of the story was not where I want it to be.
This is what I've decided I'm going to finish first because it's been a constant ache in my heart that I don't feel as proud as I could be. And I think about this story a lot. I see it in my mind like a movie.
We'll be getting Lathar and Chrystal's POVs and I'm so excited! I think the writing of this one will go pretty quickly since I have these characters flushed out really well.
You can support this new adaptation below by pre-ordering the hardcover 6X9 from my author store or the ebook: Broken Books Publishing - Payhip
You can read an unedited first chapter at the bottom of the email!
I will be working on having this book available for people who have pre-ordered to be able to read the book as it's written. More details to come.
Thank you for understanding and for those of you who have stuck with me from the beginning and watched my writing improve, THANK YOU from the bottom of my squishy heart.
A shout out to William, Was, Tom, and Amy for being some of my first supporters in my author career. I highlight them because they started as strangers, and are the first to message me or support what's going on with my writing for a while now. William listens to whatever book I give him on audiobook. Was reads everything I write and he's an awesome writer as well as an in-depth reviewer! Tom jumps on board and betas with my books since Kingdom of Acatalec, and I value his opinions so much because he's a brilliant writer himself. I always submit my books the Amy's Bookshelf Reviews, she's so supportive of the indie community, and she's probably not on my newsletter, but huge shoutout for everything she does for indies!
Along the way, I've gained more supportive friends as well, including LaWanda, Holly, Velvet, Becky, Wendy, Michelle, Ketty, Pat, Pearly, Sylvia, Cynthia, Sandy, Alissa, Erin, Sarah, Kyla, Tammy, Donna, Harleem, Jan, Heidi, Margo, Steph, Kim, Leah, Nathan, Emily, Brien, Joyce, Heather, Jackie and more! Thank you to everyone who is on my ARC team, everyone who has ever emailed me and replied to one of my emails! I know I haven't covered everyone's name, but know every time you message me and support my journey, I am grateful and filled with fuzzies.
TAKING MEDUSA launching October 3rd 2023!
Tropes
Dark Prophecy
Love Triangle (but not ick like)
Fated Mates
Found Family
Second Chances
Monsters Vs Gods
Greek Myth Retelling
Modern Fantasy Adventure set in the lost city of Atlantis
Mermaids
Kraken
No Cliffhanger (Sets up the next book, but a complete standalone story)
Villains misunderstood (question who's the hero?)
Romantasy
First Person POV (third person prologue)
REVIEWS
Read more on the zon: https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
Support Taking Medusa a Greek Myth Monsters and Legends Retelling by grabbing your copy from the zon, become a verified purchase: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6NXSN7X
Add Taking Medusa to your GR TBR here: Taking Medusa (Dark Gods Rising, #1) by S.M. McCoy | Goodreads
~Stevie, author of all things fantastical and otherworldly adventurous, mom of a few humans in training... including my hubby. Overall booknerd, and yes... I am writing this in my pjs. Why not?
This Newsletter is weekly on Thursdays! But I can move you to the monthly, if you'd like to hear from me less often. Just reply to this email saying "monthly".
(This is the MONTHLY email)
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Thank you for being part of my author tribe! Please take a moment to follow me on the socials if you haven't already:
Check out Dark Gods Rising- Taking Medusa:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6NXSN7X
Check out Kingdom of Acatalec: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4V9867P
Check out the Divine Series: (DISCONTINUING)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MB9JJ7K
Check out the Treasures of Trillume Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSRBF8T9
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I also do not buy/spam emails. If you are on this newsletter it is because you clicked a marketing consent when you entered a sponsored giveaway for books, grabbed a free copy of one of my books, read one of my books, saw me on socials and thought, hey that person seems like my kind of weird and decided to click that join newsletter to find out more. Affiliate codes help support this newsletter and future books.
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SNEAK PEEK:
Nameless - Chapter One
The streets were buzzing with wasted life as I stood there unmoving in the throngs of rushing feet thundering in my ears. It was loud, but that's what stilled the chaos of my mind, and the questions I couldn't answer. My face remained impassive to the annoyance the humans felt at having to dart around my form. If only they knew the danger that lurked within the husk of my existence.
Some knew on instinct alone to keep their distance, and the others... well, not everyone deserved to be saved. I certainly wasn't worthy of such things. Not knowing my past didn't change the gut-wrenching knowledge that it was filled with shadows and blood. I could feel that darkness even now calling to me, luring me into a trance, needing only a moment of weakness to take control.
A thump of a human's shoulder doing little damage to my position at the edge of the walkway between roads sent a thrilling pulse of energy through my nerves. For a brief moment I felt my heart beat, and just one pump that said I was more than death. More than a predator in the human city that I wandered without aim.
The male dressed in a second-hand suit and scuffed shoes stumbled across the street weakened by our encounter.
They were so fragile, humans, without any defenses around the precious life force that leaked from their mortal flesh. All it took was one touch, and my starved vessel took too much, and yet I needed more. All it would take was a single drop of my blood spilled and to breathe in the precious essence surrounding me. There wouldn't be a human standing on this street when I was done.
I knew this without a doubt, without truly remembering how it was possible, or when I had done it before. But I had done it before, and a darker part of me knew I'd do it again. It was just a matter of time. Time, I had in abundance. My age was unknown, and my appearance was youthful, but I couldn't trust any of it.
Even now my face changed. As if the human could sense the intrusion on his aura, he turned at the edge of the other side of the street. His eyes widened as they met my own, and I chose this moment to move as I found dealing with human authorities to be unnecessary and a small voice in my mind knew there was something more dangerous than me out there hunting for oddities. I was an oddity indeed, I thought with a wicked quirk of a stranger's lips.
I ran across the street, too fast for human eyes to track, all lights and sounds slowed around me. Wind whipped through the brown hair, so much like the male still staring across the way where I used to stand. A soft whistle within his throat told me he'd yell out once I stopped, only to realize I was no longer there, but behind him.
"Hey!" he screamed, pointing at nothing when I stopped in front of a shop window so clean, I could see my reflection. It wasn't mine once again. What stared back at me in the glass was the face of that human I'd taken energy from.
I couldn't be sure what my appearance was after all these years of wandering.
Before he could shake the confusion of his eyes deceiving him, I brushed the hand of a woman as she angled between the moving mass of humans rushing to work. Her worry trickled down the connection, and I severed it before it could consume me. It was long enough I could already feel my face changing again, and I walked, disappearing into the crowd of noise that thundered in my head because I didn't wish to feel what lurked in the shadows waiting for me to return.
It was a strange feeling, knowing that I shouldn't venture close to that well of viscose darkness that called to me, but not fully understanding why. Why was never the right question, I reminded myself. Why's don't change anything. One day soon my past would come to haunt me, but there was a thrill in that. An excitement brought a smile to these unfamiliar lips as I eagerly awaited the day, I would have no choice but to seek out the depths of that hole within me and see what chaos came from it.
My spine straightened as I walked across from the human's hospital. There was so much energy spiraling around, yet the taste of it on my tongue was dry and bitter. There was no satisfaction in consuming the energy of the dying, but there was something about this day, this place that beckoned me. I felt a need to enter, and as I sniffed the air, there was an aura that tasted sweet... addictive.
My fangs ached, and I hadn't felt this kind of interest in the days and nights that seemed endless for long enough that I couldn't recall when I cared last. It was faint, but I followed it. The essence seemed out of place for a death facility, and as I entered the scent did not become stronger. Another amusing and perplexing occurence.
A woman with a white coat approached me with an annoyed furrow of her brow. She'd attempt to stop me from venturing, but she wouldn't get the chance. The surrounding humans slowed down as I quickly approached in a blur. With a knuckle I played with the human, dragging it along her jaw, marveling at her fragility and how she didn't leak energy around her like a waterfall for me to taste from.
It wouldn't stop me from gathering what I needed from her, a strong will did not mean she was protected from what I was. Her eyes drooped from exhaustion from a simple touch, and spun her around, taking her coat from one arm, threading my own through the sleeves to trade spots with her.
To any human in the room, she didn't move at all, and my features morphed into her face as I donned her doctor's coat. In my arms was a sleeping human that I easily guided to a chair in their waiting room. There wasn't another thought spared for the unfortunate human to cross my path. The badge on her coat granted me access to the trail I followed, and yet another surprise greeted me when I entered the room it lured me to.
There was nothing of interest in this sick room. Just a boy, who smelled of death. He'd be gone before he slept this night. Glancing down my small female nose at him, I tried to see if I'd missed something in my first assessment. Sniffing the room, I wrinkled my nose in distaste, the only solace was a small, barely-there taste of sweetness that I had been hunting.
It wasn't him. It couldn't be this boy, yet I approached in curiosity. He stared at me with golden brown eyes framed with sweaty sandy hair clinging to his clammy skin. He wasn't afraid. Though he should have been.
"You aren't my doctor," he stated with just as much curiosity for me as I had for him.
Lies burned in my throat, and I had no reason to deceive the human. "No," I replied, a powerful resonance vibrating in my voice that echoed in the room.
The hairs on the boy's arm stood at attention, a sign his body recognized the threat of a predator, yet whatever fear was in the boy was long gone. He knew death was close, and it was his own body that failed him.
He rested his head back into his pillows and sighed. "I didn't know what to expect, but I hadn't thought I would be important enough to have an escort."
The amusement of it was enough to keep me listening to the boy. He thought me his reaper to take him to the afterlife that I didn't even believe existed.
Perhaps it did for humans, not that I would ever know for certain. Death for my kind was not the same.
My eyes caught on a bracelet of plain blue thread twined on his wrist in a pattern of knots. The more I stared at it, the more I saw the way it gathered energy from around the room and funneled it into the boy...
Diviners.
The word popped into my mind from a place I could only explain as the catalogue of information I knew without knowing how I knew it, or from whence it came. It just was.
This item was magic, and diviners were rare. Perhaps this detour was not a waste after all.
Darkness pooled in my chest like a fuel tank waiting a spark to set it aflame. I wished to dance within the heat and feel the magic in my veins as I once had many years ago. It was a tether keeping the boy alive, but even with it he would die soon.
"Have you ever made a deal with a devil?" I asked with a gleam in my eye. I could have simply persuaded the boy to tell me what I needed to know, but this way was much more satisfying. Never the easy way, I thought to myself, where was the fun in that?
"I've thought about it," he replied, and I smiled, even knowing that my fangs elongated in anticipation of snatching the bracelet from his knobby bones.
Patience was something I had spades of. So, I waited. Not a word. Simply staring at the boy for an answer.
"Are you saying you can save me? Like with magic?" He tugged at the bracelet, rubbing it between his fingers and spinning it around his wrist absently unaware that magic was the only reason he was breathing in this moment.
"I don't do miracles," I corrected. "Even the most powerful of witches couldn't save you," I said with a yawn, becoming bored with my interest in the boy. It was clear a diviner thought there was something special about him, but what? I thought about leaving, but my eyes transfixed on that trinket he toyed with about his reddened flesh. His eyes were growing glassy like he would sleep soon, and I pushed my own energy out into the room to help feed the magic that held him together. His eyes jolted open with renewed borrowed life.
I wasn't sure why I did it, all it did was prolong his suffering in a body that couldn't hold him much longer.
The boy nodded in understanding that he was going to still die regardless of our deal and his wish was just as unexpected.
"My parents aren't ready to lose me. If you can't keep me alive, then can you at least make sure they aren't suffering when I'm gone? Maybe change their memories so they believed I made it to college and that I died in my sleep in a relapse they couldn't have known about? Give them some more happier memories first?"
Fuck, I thought as a sense of obligation to promise this human a better exit from this world came over me. But I wouldn't. What reason did I have to do anything but pretend I could do what he wanted of me? The lie sat heavy in my veins like sludge before it could ever reach my tongue.
So, I said what I could, "And what are you willing to give for this favor?"
"My life," he said astutely. "You don't have the same face you had when you came. I should have known someone like you wouldn't have any one face, but mine could be yours after you give my parents a few more years of happy memories."
"You do realize that these memories won't be of you at all. It is no more real than your dreams." Why I tried to dissuade him from this I didn't know. But I felt the truth of his words, that's what he wanted. It pained him that his death would harm others. What a strange feeling that was to sense that ache coming off of him in waves, and what was worse... it was a pain I had felt before but wasn't sure how.
"They will be real enough for them, and directly or indirectly I will still be the reason they have more time," he said with a fiery determination that made him cough and wheeze.
I bit my lip to draw a drop of blood. I spit into the air, and the drops hovered above him before I really thought about what I was doing.
"All of your memories are mine," I said with a stoic expression. That's all I wanted from him, but this nagging twist in my gut told me I felt something for this wasting human's existence. I would think about giving his family more memories, but I'd make sure they had time to say goodbye, even if it was just a copy of who he was.
"I won't need them anymore," he said resigned to his fate.
I watched as his essence was sucked out of his body, tendrils snatched back by the bracelet's magic, and others pooled into the orbs of blood above him.
His eyes struggled to stay open, but a smile curled on his lips. It was a painless way to die as long as it was done quickly, like falling asleep.
"Human--" I began, a sudden desire to know why he didn't harbor the same fear I tasted from others, or why he trusted me when I hardly trusted myself... hardly knew myself.
Then he spoke, stilling my words, "Victor." His voice was shaking but he knew who he was, a certainty in his name. I could respect that, as that was more than I possessed.
And I wanted it. No, I needed it. What use did he have for such things as his light faded? A grin pulled at my lips as I traced a sharp claw along his chin.
The boy moaned as his essence absorbed into my blood floating above our heads in a black miasma of shadow and ash. My eyes vibrated with power, surely nothing but voids as I felt his pleasure wash over me from the touch of my energy caressing his very life on the cusp of death.
Ah, to feel again, I thought as a sweet taste of the magic in the bracelet reached me through the boy. Divine power. I licked my fangs as the pulse of need begged me to take every drop into myself, but instead I focused to separate the energy and preserve it like the rare treasure it was.
In my distraction, I had cut my host down his temple. Viscous crimson leaked down his scalp and trailed over his ears and neck. A gleeful chuckle escaped my throat while I traced around his face. He didn't scream, only euphoria sang down our connection even as I lifted his skin from his skull. I stared at his shapeless face as his human meat sack turned into the very ash that clung to my blood, forming a large sphere of power pulsating within the room.
I cocked my head to admire what was left, and delicately cupped the flesh in my hands before I dipped my own within the folds. My eyes closed as I groaned. The skin absorbed into my own as flashes of Victor's memories poured into me.
Who was I? I thought about this question so many times, but right now I was as sure as he was moments before.
The door to the attached lavatory was wide open, a tiny mirror staring back at me with the boy's face. My previously dark brown hair fell to the floor at my feet, turning to ash. In its place, the dirty blond strands framed a strong jaw line and light amber eyes with flecks of violet in them. My fangs retracted, and I smiled at myself.
For the first time in a long time, I was excited for a hunt. It felt like something I was made for, like I'd done this thousands of times. Perhaps I had.
The image of goddess printed on my mind as she tied the bracelet on my wrist. Her eyes glowed like the ocean lit up by the moon from within. My dead heart thumped in my chest as I grabbed the small orb with her magic like my body recognized her from my past. There was no interest in knowing who I was before, but the question surfaced about what I would find when she reentered my existence.
The curiosity was delicious.
My fingers squeezed the hungry orb of my blood until it hardened to a black bead, and I pinched it to my ear, my sweet trophy. I could eat the essence swirling around inside, but I was a patient beast, and I enjoyed the feel of it pulsing against my skin.
Sucking in the remaining smoke of power in the room through my nostrils was a familiar sensation of briefly feeling full and lively, but the dying energy of a boy was anything but satisfying.
Disappointment rushed through me like an invading virus and a small nudge in my mind to go see the boy's parents for a final farewell.
My parents, the thought haunted me.
A smile crept up the curve of my mouth as I removed the white doctor coat and draped it purposefully on the chair beside the sick bed.
I walked confidently out of the room, and a panicked nurse grabbed my hands. I wrinkled my nose at the feeling of his energy coiling at my skin. My tongue dried and I pulled my arm free, not wishing to taste him as I pushed his energy back inside his fragile human vessel. It was instinct to take energy offered, just like there was a constant call to absorb the little bead at my ear, but I would sooner kill this human than accidentally remove this small gift from the world. I would not take energy without caution at keeping this divine magic safe. Keeping my goddess safe.
The human prattled on about how I should be resting, and I held his very life in my grasp with a stare as I said with a smile, "Don't you remember? I'm cured. Today is my discharge from your care."
I released him, and he blinked several times before he said, "Your parents will be thrilled to hear the good news when they return from the cafeteria. I can bring you to them. I could use the happiness boost of seeing a family go home." He turned to the other nurse at the desk and asked her to contact my doctor for the missing discharge paperwork.
As we approached the small open space with food, a tray clattered to the floor, barely eaten food scattered and untouched water pooled at the feet of a woman. The man next to her scrambled to clean up, not noticing what she was staring at, before she gripped his shoulder and hallow eyes followed her gaze.
These were my parents, and this warmth tickled at my ear and traveled down to my heart.
I watched in slow motion as they ignored the mess at their feet and arms forced their way around my waist as tears soaked my shirt.
"Time to go home," I said with a chuckle as moisture dripped down my own cheeks. What was this feeling taking over me?
"Victor," my mom said with a sob into my chest.
Victor, I agreed, and lost myself to my new face.

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