Dearest Squad, In 2016, I released Tales of Arilland and Trixter…and right around Trix & the Faerie Queen I began to realize that I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing as long as Harcourt had the rights to the first 3 books. And if I kept writing about Arilland—thus encouraging new readers to pick up Enchanted—I would never…
Dearest Squad, As soon as Saturday freed that dragon in Hero, I knew Thursday was going to be the one to have to deal with it. I just didn’t realize it would take me so long to get there. Hero released on October 1, 2013. I started writing the dragon chapters of Thieftess on April 1, 2026. What would…
Dearest Squad, “Always write when you’re in love.” My mother said this to me once upon a time and, like many such things she’s said to me over the years (“Everything happens for a reason,” “Go write me a new fairy tale”), it stuck with me. Keep in mind—this is my mother we’re talking about. Mom Kontis. OG Mama…
“Become wounded or wise.” —Sadhguru Dearest Squad, I started following Sadhguru on Instagram in 2020. I am always on the lookout for guidance from my gurus. The things he had to say really resonated with me…and not just because I was in the middle of realizing just how Buddhist and Hindu I’ve been my entire life without having the…
Dearest Squad, Yeah. I had to write this chapter. Sorry-not-sorry. I was crying so hard when started writing, and it was at the end of a chapter that was already over 3000 words. ALL these last chapters have clocked in at around 3000 words. [Edit: this essay was written before I broke them all up for…
Dearest Squad, Back when I started this book, I didn’t know any Korean, Portuguese, German, Croatian, or Arabic, and I knew way less Mandarin. I hadn’t yet been to Asia or Africa. My primary language is English. Technically, it’s still the only language I’m fluent in. I studied Spanish in high school until they ran out of classes, and…
Dearest Squad, This chapter is dedicated to my paternal grandfather, Sotos Kontis. I never met him—he died before I was born—but he was an engineer. Specifically, he was an engineer on ships that sailed around the world. After my family fled the Ottoman Empire (Great Fire of Smyrna, Turkey) in 1922, the East Asian ship they escaped on dropped…
Dearest Squad, I have no idea how to introduce this chapter. So instead, I will give you a completely fun fact about me that I bet you never knew: I have always been fascinated by just how many words and phrases in common vernacular (US and UK specifically, though I’m learning that Korean has a few as well) are…
Preorder THIEFTESS here! I think I summed up most of my gratitude for the 2024 editions of the first three Woodcutter Sisters books in the back of Enchanted. But I feel the need to give an extra shout out here to the gracious and wonderful people of Audible. And, of course, my dearest Katy Kellgren. When Brilliance first approached…
Dearest Squad, In 2016, I released Tales of Arilland…
Dearest Squad, As soon as Saturday freed that dragon…
tl;dr: You can buy it directly from the printer…
