The Tides That Reign
With the end of 2025 fast approaching, it’s time to give some updates on the various projects I’ve got in the works.
The big one, of course, is the upcoming The Tides That Reign rebrand Kickstarter! At the time of writing this newsletter, my pre-launch page is sitting at 48 followers! Considering my last Kickstarter for Of Chaos and Eternal Night began with only 22 pre-launch followers, this is a massive upgrade.
I’m hoping to do better though.
Most successful campaigns launch with upwards of 100 followers, which felt unobtainable when I first put up this page, but we’re halfway there. Please, share my story with anyone you think might enjoy it, and let’s see if we can’t hit that milestone!
Covers
Maria Areta, the artist behind the beautiful character and scene artwork I so often post, is hard at work on the cover illustrations for books one through three. I cannot wait to share them with you as they are finished. I’ve seen preliminary sketches, and I’m already blown away by how much of an improvement they are over the originals.
Copy-Edits
After several months of revisions and last-minute tweaks, book 3 is off to my copyeditor. This is the manuscript’s final stage before formatting to get it in shape for the hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions.
Those who purchase a copy of Before the Ghost Sea through the Kickstarter will also get an amalgam of bonus material included in the physical copy that will not be available upon general release next summer!
If you are interested in a free, advance e-copy of the manuscript before the campaign is launched, consider joining my Street Team, where you will gain access to all my future Advance Review Copies (ARCs)!
Robby Recommends
Finally, I’m introducing this new segment to my newsletters where I shout-out projects by fellow creatives whose upcoming or existing works I’m really excited about! Please consider supporting them too. These are all awesome people from the indie author community who I think are excellent storytellers.
The Fall of the House of Valenziaga: A Special Edition Novel, Trip Galey
Not all mothers love their children; not all rulers deserve their crown.
When an unexpected confrontation reveals to Virtus Valenziaga just how cruel and monstrous his mother truly is, he will do anything to escape her control and flee the Legendary House that has been his home and family for over twenty years.
But escape is something far easier said than done. Brutal magic, societal expectation, and his missing heart all bind him tightly to his mother Vainglory and to House Valenziaga. Virtus cannot simply walk away.
Can Virtus find and recover his heart, break the ties that bind him, and evade the machinations of his ambitious adopted sister, the temptations offered by an impeccably painted crime boss, and the petty rivalries of the scions of the rest of the Legendary Houses?
If he can’t, he’ll be trapped in his living hell forever—and even if he can, will House Valenziaga survive the betrayals it will take to secure his freedom?
The Fall of the House of Valenziaga is a high-stakes, science-fantasy family epic. If you love lushly imagined settings, strange magics and impossible sciences, and queer characters that are both smart and sexy, you’ll live for this latest tale from Trip Galey!
Tea Tale: Book 2 in the Tales of Trelvania, Kristina Kelly
Check out Kristina W. Kelly’s next story in the popular cozy sapphic fantasy romance with D&D elements!
Tea Tale is book 2 in the Tales of Trelvania, set in winter around their winter holiday.
Divine has learned a lot about herself, her magic, and her goddess. But now she and Saph are getting ready for the Midwinter Nights Faire, and that’s the worst time for her magic to go haywire! Back it on backerkit!
RD Pires 