| Hello Readers! We are a little over a month away from Trial by Earth dropping; the rain has finally shown up in the desert like an uninvited guest I am absolutely delighted to see, and the writing cave is running at full capacity.It’s a good week. Let’s talk about it. The Richmond Academy Series — Where We AreFor anyone just joining us, here’s the full picture: Trial by Fire — Book one. Shayla arrives at Richmond Academy unable to control her spark and leaves something entirely different. Available now and on Kindle Unlimited. Trial by Sea — Book two. Shayla and Georgios face underwater trials, deepening secrets, and a mermaid heritage with a very inconvenient price tag. Out now and on Kindle Unlimited. Trial by Earth — Book three. Pre-order open now. Releasing August 25, 2026. And oh, do we need to talk about this one. Start with Trial by Fire Continue with Trial by Sea Pre-order Trial by Earth Trial by Earth — Let’s Talk About Book Three Here’s something I don’t think I’ve said out loud yet: Trial by Earth is the book I almost wrote second. I had the water book and the earth book swapped in my original plan. But the deeper I got into this story — the darker twists, the weight of what happens to Shayla and Georgios here — the more I knew it belonged in the middle. Book three of five. The pivot point. The place where everything gets harder before it gets better. And it is darker. I warned you I’d keep pushing these characters, and I meant it. What makes this one different is the powers. We’ve seen Shayla’s fire. We’ve seen what water demanded of Georgios. Now we’re grounding — literally. Shayla develops earth powers in this book, and there is something about grounding energy, about roots and stability and what the earth asks of you, that hits completely differently against the chaos of everything happening around her. And Georgios. His Minotaur powers come forward in a way we haven’t seen yet, and writing that side of him has been one of the most genuinely fun things I’ve done in this series. He’s been patient. He’s been steady. Book three is where we find out what’s underneath all that steadiness when it’s really, truly tested. This is the middle of a five-book arc. If you know anything about five-act structure, you know what the middle means. Things shift here. Not everything shifts the way you’re expecting. I have two questions for you, and I genuinely want your answers — hit reply: What do you think is coming in Trial by Earth? Theories, guesses, wild speculation — bring it all. I love seeing what readers expect versus what actually happens. What are you most worried about for Shayla and Georgios going into book three? (I’ll just be over here, reading every reply, saying nothing.) Last Call — Seasons of Magic: Spring Seasons of Magic: Spring disappears at the end of July. That’s soon. If it’s been on your list, this is your official final nudge. My story, Magical Matchmaking — clumsy witch, skeptical mundane man, love spell that goes gloriously sideways — is in there, along with a full anthology of magical stories. Still available on Kindle Unlimited. After Spring comes Seasons of Magic: Summer, available for pre-order now and arriving August 1st. My contribution this time is quieter, more emotional — a woman reclaiming herself after everything. I’m proud of it in a different way than Magical Matchmaking. Grab Spring before it’s gone Pre-order Summer now Coming September 1st — Not Your Maniac Pixie Dream Girl The pre-order is live, and I am barely containing myself. Meet Wisteria Creed: half-Pixie, half-Sidhe Fae, graveyard-shift radio host, and a woman with a very firm policy against being anyone’s idea of harmless. When a Wendigo tears through her San Diego neighborhood, she calls it in — and gets Detective Trevor Gibson, the one cop in the city willing to take her seriously. What follows is a reluctant partnership, a slow-burn romance, and a case that keeps getting worse in exactly the ways she should have seen coming. Because the Wendigo wasn’t random. Someone has been capturing them. Studying them. And now that someone has decided Wisteria herself is the most interesting thing he’s ever found. She’s spent her whole life being told she’s not quite enough. She’s about to find out exactly how wrong that was. Pre-order Not Your Maniac Pixie Dream Girl From the Writing Cave The rain arrived in the desert this week, and I cannot overstate how happy this has made me. We went from triple digits and suffering to actual clouds and actual rain and temperatures that feel like the atmosphere remembered we are living creatures with limits. I went outside voluntarily. It was a moment.The shoulder is doing so much better — and I may, fingers firmly crossed, be done with PT after my evaluation in August. I refuse to jinx it by saying more than that. But the idea of being free — truly free, arm working, PT behind me — is keeping me very motivated in the writing cave. And the writing cave has been genuinely buzzing. So many projects, so much happening this year and into next. I am busy in the way that feels alive rather than exhausted, and I am grateful for every word of it. Thank you for being here, for reading, and for replying when I ask questions. You make this worth doing every single week. Happy Reading, Wendy P.S. Trial by Earth lands August 25th — and after that, we head into the wind. Book four is where Shayla finally gets to fly. Just thought you should know what’s coming. |
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WENDY CHEAIRS 