Book Sales, Drafting, and Game Demos - June 24th, 2025
June is almost over already!
This month seemed to fly by really quickly, but I’m grateful for the opportunities that came my way this month. Also, I got an awesome shout-out by my own university college alma mater for my poetry chapbook.
And yes, if you read that last part, you now have an idea of when my magical girl-themed short story collection “Stay Magical” releases - September 2025! But which day, exactly? You’ll find out (and see the official cover) in mid-July!
3rd Place In Lodestar Children's Services' Poetry & Art Contest
I won 3rd place in the 2nd Annual Poetry & Art Contest run by Lodestar Children's Services! Thank you so much to the Lodestar team for selecting my poem to be among the winners, and congrats to everyone else who placed in the contest!
Pride Book Fair Sale!
I’m happy to share that my book “Winner Takes All” is part of two of the Pride Book Fair sale bundles on Itch.io this week! Pride Book Fair is a virtual book fair event hosted by indie author Erinn Harper on Instagram and Bluesky during the month of June (Pride Month). The purpose of the event is to uplift and support queer authors and books!
A BIG thank you to Erinn for organizing this! I encourage all of you readers to check out and purchase both book bundles during this week. The Contemporary & Historical Fiction bundle is $16 USD for 30 books, while the 100+ Books Bundle is $100 USD for the entire bundle (less than $1 USD per book). They’re really good deals, and ideal for summer reading. I’ll link both bundles below!
Get the Contemporary & Historical Fiction Bundle: https://itch.io/b/3078/pride-book-fair-contemporary-historical-fiction
Get the 100+ book bundle: https://itch.io/b/3084/pride-book-fair-the-big-bundle-of-queer-awesomeness
Harlow Mystery BIRTHDAY SALE!
All ebooks in the Harlow Mystery series are 25% off throughout all of June 2025! As of this writing, there are only 6 days left until the Harlow Mystery book birthday sale is over.
Purchase "Winner Takes All" (Book 1): https://books2read.com/u/4EL8ro
Purchase "Engagement To Die For" (Book 2): https://books2read.com/u/38Wn7V
Purchase "Bloody Fantasia" (Book 3): https://books2read.com/u/38veQa
Please note: The sale doesn’t apply to Amazon, but it does apply to all other retailers (including Itch.io, where I have a discount sale bundle for all three books).
The sale ends at the end of June (June 30th 2025)! Let your fellow murder mystery readers know if they’re looking for a new book series to read! Thanks for your support.
What Have I Written Lately?
I spent some time writing more of the Infinity Nikki-inspired book, as well as getting comp. titles for it. I’ve added said comp. titles to the Infinity Nikki-inspired book entry on my WIP page, so take a look at that for more info. Also, I finally have a working title for the book: “Our Fates Were Sewn Together!”
I learned that I need to write two extra chapters for the book for the sake of worldbuilding and plot reasons combined. I’m not thrilled by that part. Writing magic systems (and making sure my own characters are aware of them) can be difficult and tedious, but the effort will be worth it in the end.
I also started writing a new book. Yes, I can already hear some of your readers being absolutely baffled by this considering how much I talked about “focusing on finishing older projects vs. starting new ones” in a past newsletter. Fortunately, this one is a standalone cozy fantasy book, so at least I don’t have to concern myself with sequels or worldbuilding continuity beyond this book.
There isn’t a title for it yet, but it is inspired by books like “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, “The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst, “Bookshops & Bonedust” by Travis Baldree, and very mild elements of the game “Little Goody Two Shoes” developed by Astral Shift (I promise that my book is not a horror story).
I also submitted some short stories and poetry to various contests & literary magazines for hopeful publication. I’ve had a pretty good track record for publication this year so far, so I hope to continue that through this summer.
What Am I Playing Lately?
I didn’t really spend much time listening to podcasts during the past two weeks, because I mainly spent that time playing game demos. One of my favourites was Discounty, which I would describe as “Stardew Valley, but you’re running a grocery/convenience store and not a farm.” The player must run a store every day, as expected. They also can spend time outside of running the store completing favours for other townspeople and (hopefully) revitalizing the town in the process.
I also found out that one of my favourite games, Bravely Default, got a remastered version published for the Switch 2 console. Now I hope that they remaster Bravely Second, its sequel, as well! For those unaware, Bravely Default originally was released for the Nintendo 3DS, and it quickly became one of my most favourite games when I played that version. For those who have been following me for a long time, you’re probably also aware that I wrote a ton of fanfiction for this particular fandom (mostly centered around 2-3 specific characters taking place post-events of Bravely Second). Considering this, I’m really glad that one of my past favourites is finally getting a remastered version! I hope it revives the fandom and that it will, in turn, lead to more Bravely Default/Bravely Second fanfiction for me to read.
What Have I Read Lately?
I’ll be honest: I didn’t read a lot during these past two weeks. If I did try to read, I ended up putting them in the DNF (did not finish) pile.
However, I did complete reading some books, which includes:
“Bookshops & Bonedust” by Travis Baldree
“Hijab Butch Blues” by Lamya H.
“The Tortosaurus” by Katie Cottle
Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).