Thea Harrison

Back by popular vote (for those who don’t know), The Unseen is the first of four encore novellas that I’m writing about Dragos and Pia. These are a series of linked stories, and they want to be told in a different way than I have told stories before. These are (hopefully) going to read like a serialized story.

Normally I don’t like cliffhangers, so I don’t write them. But these are different. There will be cliffhangers, guys.

I’m sorry, but that’s all there is to it. It is what it is. Cliffhangers. The good news is, the stories will be released pretty quickly, so you won’t have long to wait for each one.

The story has been finished and edited. We’re compiling the final file now, getting it formatted, and we are ON TARGET for having the story available for purchase through my website on 6/27.

There is no pre-order capacity on my website. As soon as the story is up we’ll be hopping up and down and yelling about it.

Audio and paperback—yes, there will be an audio version. Sophie Eastlake is on board! *throws confetti* I’ll be sending her the final file tomorrow, and she will start recording. No, there won’t be a coordinated release.

The audio will come after the release of the e-book and paperback–and yes, there will be a paperback version too. Always remember: when we know something you will too. When the audio and paperback are available, we will hop up and down and shout about it! Promise!

Now that the blurb is finished, we’re going to get pre-orders up, and as soon as we have those links we’ll share links with you for Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Google Play for wide release on 7/13.

NOOK READERS Sadly, I will not be distributing new releases through Barnes and Noble for the time being. With COVID-19 and the massive hit to the economy, Barnes and Noble is struggling to survive. Authors received notice that they’re not paying some of their royalty obligations. While Barnes and Noble have protected self-published authors thus far from this shortfall, there is no guarantee they will pay royalties in full to self-published authors moving forward.

I want so badly for Barnes and Noble to survive, but I’m not willing to risk the revenue from my sales to their liquidity crisis, or potentially sacrifice a paycheck that I need to pay my rent and buy food if they withhold from paying their royalty obligation. For that reason, Nook readers will need to buy my stories from my website for now.

This will work (at least for this title) in your favor, because you’ll own the story outright and will upload it yourself to your e-reader. If Barnes and Noble do go under, I’m not quite sure what will happen to Nook and the stories readers have already purchased.

When I have confidence that Barnes and Noble will survive and pay their royalty obligation, I will release books through them again.

More not-so-fun stuff. As you know all too well, 2020 has been hard for everybody.

That includes me.

One of my challenges has included being in downtown Denver for the protests. Don’t misunderstand – I adamantly support Black Lives Matter, and the protests have been important and legitimate in every conceivable way. If I weren’t in the risk group for COVID-19 I would have considered joining them.

As you also no doubt already know, there has been some activity that has not been legitimate, such as damage done to property and looting. (None of this has been done by legitimate protestors!) In Denver, while we had curfews, I heard sirens at night and a pop-pop-pop sound that I do not believe was cars backfiring.

I was never in danger, but it was stressful and uncertain. I did more than pay attention to the curfews—I made sure I was in my house with the doors locked before nightfall.

The stress of this messed with my ability to write with the warmth and humor that these stories should have.

I’ve been working on strategies to maintain my writing voice and protect my creativity. I am writing, and I like what I’m producing. But it is a challenging to project with any degree of certainty when the second story will come out. It may be August – which is one month after the wide release of The Unseen.

Or it may be September.

EITHER WAY THE NEXT STORY WILL COME QUICKLY.

I just can’t and won’t promise August with any degree of certainty. Have faith and rest assured, as soon as I know something, you’ll know it too.

Did you make it through all that text?

Now for the fun stuff! There’s the blurb of The Unseen (to be available for purchase on my website on Saturday!).

From NYT bestselling author Thea Harrison comes the first in an explosive new quartet of stories set in the Elder Races world…. Dragos and Pia are back by popular vote!

***THIS STORY ENDS IN A CLIFFHANGER***

Saying goodbye to their old life in the Wyr demesne in New York may be hard, but Dragos and Pia are determined to create a new life in the Other land of Rhyacia.

At first, everything seems idyllic. Rhyacia is paradisiacal. Accompanied by old friends and new allies, the future looks safe and bright for Dragos, Pia, and baby Niall.

But strange things are happening beneath the picturesque façade. Items move unaccompanied, buildings collapse without justifiable cause, and even the most Powerful residents of Rhyacia can provide no logical explanation for the events transpiring. Whispered rumors point to something called the unseen.

As Dragos and Pia investigate, they uncover a greater mystery than they could have imagined, and they realize the startling truth…

They’re not alone in Rhyacia. The land Dragos had thought was uninhabited hides many secrets, a shocking history that’s not quite ready to be buried, and something more.

Something ancient, evil, and hungry. Something that wants to consume Dragos and take everything he holds dear.

Something that just may be powerful enough to overcome the dragon…

***This is book 1 in a series of 4 connected novellas. The first three books in this set will end in cliffhangers.***

*whispers* Cliffhangers