Splitting the Halcyon Universe into two subseries (and NEW COVERS!)

This is an announcement I've been percolating on for a long time. I'm so excited it's about to start happening!

If you're here for the TL;DR version: The Halcyon Universe series will be getting beautiful new illustrated covers and splitting into two subseries.

Now for the details and the "why"...

As I mentioned in my last post, the Halcyon Universe is a world I've been building for a very, very long time. Petrichor Blooms, The Invisible Bright, and The Taste of Lies are all based on characters and plots that I came up with when I was in my teens. These stories are linked by the Ediya Experiments plot, which begins in Petrichor and concludes in Taste. Though I wanted them to stand alone as easily as possible, if you read them out of order, you'll miss out on some of the context and backstory.

On the other hand, Adrift in Starlight and The Black Sands of Hades are both side projects that I wrote for fun, to flesh out the world more in my head. Though they're tangentially linked to the events of the main series, they are true standalones: reading them out of order won't impact your experience at all.

That's why, when I recently published The Black Sands of Hades, I created an entirely new series for it. Halcyon Universe: Side Quests is the new home for BSOH and, soon, Adrift in Starlight as well. It kinda does what it says on the box and creates a separate umbrella for standalone side stories that don't have to be read in order.

Meanwhile, the "main" series will soon be republished under a new subseries as well. Halcyon Universe: The Dragon-Touched Sequence will hold the three books related to the Ediya Experiments plotline.

I don't have new books planned in either of these series for some time; I'm currently working on a secret fantasy project that takes place in a whole new world. But I've left myself a lot of growing room in these two subseries. I may return to either or both of them in the future.

Now for the extra-exciting part: I'm commissioning all-new illustrated covers!

MiblArt did a fantastic job making my current covers bright and eye-catching. But there are some things you just can't do with stock images, and I've always dreamed of having my covers illustrated by an artist. That's why I've reached out to @FlavulousArt (the absolute legend behind our art pieces for the Tempted By anthologies) to illustrate two new covers for the Side Quests subseries, and @Vitkovskaya_art to create a trilogy of art pieces for the Dragon-Touched Sequence.

These new covers will begin rolling out later this year, starting when my small-press contract for Adrift in Starlight expires in May. I'll be republishing the book with the new cover and an all-new bonus epilogue. The same will happen for Petrichor Blooms in November.

If you're super in love with the existing covers, this is your sign to pick up physical copies while you still can! But I personally can't wait to reveal the new covers because, y'all, these artists did not save any talent for the rest of us.

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<3 Mindi