Hi, hello! I’m Courtney. You’re probably here because you heard about my debut fantasy novel​. Or maybe you liked my ​cozy horror audio drama series​ and wanted to learn what else I’m up to. Or, hey, maybe you had one of those dreams where you’re falling and falling and falling from an impossible height, but when you startled awake you were staring at your computer screen. Whatever the case, welcome.

Hi there fellow wallowers,

In this issue of the newsletter I have one purpose and one purpose only: SCREAMING ECSTATICALLY about my amazing cover. Because, friends? I finally get to show it to you.

Ready?

Take a deep breath!

AHHHHHhhHHHHHhhHHHHHHhhhhhhHH!

Isn’t it stunning? My team at MIRA have outdone themselves. I’m so, so grateful to Imogen Oh (the illustrator) and Tara Scarcello (the art director) for perfectly encapsulating my story in such a vibrant and compelling way. There are so many little hints about the story here! And those flowers? Plot relevant.

Truly, it’s the cover of my dreams. If it’s activating your grabby hands, good news! You can pre-order Higher Magic right now!

I recommend ordering through your local indie or Bookshop.org, but it’s available on all the major platforms!

Here’s the cover copy:

In this incisive, irreverent, and whimsical dark academia novel for fans of Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series and R.F. Kuang’s Babel, a struggling mage student with intense anxiety must prove that classic literature contained magic—and learn to wield her own stories to change her institution for the better.

First-generation graduate student Dorothe Bartleby has one last chance to pass the Magic program’s qualifying exam after freezing with anxiety during her first attempt. If she fails to demonstrate that magic in classic literature changed the world, she’ll be kicked out of the university. And now her advisor insists she reframe her entire dissertation using Digimancy. While mages have found a way to combine computers and magic, Bartleby’s fated to never make it work.

This time is no exception. Her revised working goes horribly wrong, creating a talking skull named Anne that narrates Bartleby’s inner thoughts—even the most embarrassing ones—like she's a heroine in a Jane Austen novel. Out of her depth, she recruits James, an unfairly attractive mage candidate, to help her stop Anne’s glitches in time for her exam.

Instead, Anne leads them to a shocking and dangerous discovery: Magic students who seek disability accommodations are disappearing—quite literally. When the administration fails to act, Bartleby must learn to trust her own knowledge and skills. Otherwise, she risks losing both the missing students and her future as a mage, permanently.

Want more cover reveal fun? Over on Instagram, I put together some reels to mark the occasion!

Thanks for wallowing with me,

Courtney