Hello Readers! I am technically on vacation. I say technically because the husband was called into work on day one — a “minor” work issue that took half a day — so I tagged along, sat there very helpfully, and at least got a free lunch out of it. Vacation: so far so good.We are now attempting to reset, tackle some house projects, and pretend that laundry and clearing out clutter count as relaxing. The rain has arrived in the desert — genuinely welcome, genuinely needed — and it is doing its level best to slow down every outdoor project involving anything that needs to dry. I need that stain to dry. The rain does not care. The desert needs the water more than I need a dry afternoon, and I know this; I accept this; I am fine with it. Errands, at least, remain unaffected. Small victories. Now. Let’s talk books. The Richmond Academy Series — The Full PictureFive books. One year. All of them either in your hands or on the way.Before Trial by Air lands in October, this is the perfect moment to catch up, start fresh, or finally convince that friend who keeps saying they’ll read it someday that someday is now. Here’s everything:  Trial by Fire — Book One Available now and on Kindle Unlimited.Shayla arrives at Richmond Academy as the girl who can’t control her spark — a Phoenix Guardian in a school full of students who can. What follows is a story about finding your power, your people, and your place in a world that wasn’t built for you. Everything starts here.  Trial by Sea — Book Two Available now and on Kindle Unlimited.The stakes are higher. The secrets are deeper. Georgios has a mermaid heritage with a very inconvenient price tag, and Shayla and Georgios are pulled into a series of deadly underwater trials that push their trust to the breaking point. Just when they think they understand what’s happening around them — the tides shift.  Trial by Earth — Book Three Available now and on Kindle Unlimited.The pivot point of the series. Darker twists, earth powers, and Georgios’s Minotaur heritage stepping fully and finally into the light. This is the middle of a five-book arc — and if you know anything about what the middle means, you already know things get heavier before they get better. They do. Worth every page.  Trial by Air — Book Four October 2026. Pre-orders are open now.This is the one I have been waiting to write since the very beginning.From the moment I started building the Richmond Academy series, I knew I wanted Shayla to fly. She is a Phoenix. Flying was always part of who she is — but letting her get there too early wouldn’t have worked. The series needed her to earn it, element by element, trial by trial, until she was finally ready.Book four is where she gets there. And I cannot wait for you to read it. Pre-order Trial by Air  Trial by Spirit — Book Five December 2026. Pre-orders are open now. The finale.Shayla’s ending. The conclusion of a five-book arc I have been living inside for over a year. I’m writing it now, and I have feelings about it that I don’t yet have words for. Pre-order Trial by Spirit A Question for You If you were a student at Richmond Academy — which element would you want to master? Fire. Sea. Earth. Air. Spirit. Hit reply and tell me. I genuinely want to know. Bonus points if you tell me why — and bonus points if your answer changes depending on your mood.  The Not As Written Series Not Your Maniac Pixie Dream Girl is out now, and Wisteria Creed is waiting to meet you. Half-Pixie, half-Sidhe Fae, graveyard-shift radio host, firm policy against being anyone’s idea of harmless. A Wendigo situation in San Diego that turns out to be considerably more complicated than advertised. A reluctant partnership with the one detective in the city willing to take her seriously. A slow-burn romance and a found family built in the margins of a city that doesn’t know what it’s looking at.  Read Not Your Maniac Pixie Dream Girl now And coming later this year — Not Your Book Boyfriend, book two of the Not As Written series. Wisteria has the life she fought for. New Avalon is about to send someone perfect to watch over her. Perfect is not what it looks like. More soon. Anthologies Still Available  Once Upon A Fairytale — Original dark fantasy fairytales, available for pre-order at $0.99. My contribution: Half-Coin Promise — two best friends, a split coin, and a promise that carries them through labyrinths, fog-wrapped citadels, and cursed valleys to their happily ever after.  Seasons of Magic: Summer — Out now. My story, The Flames of Lammas, is inside — emotional, transformative, and the kind of magic that stays with you.  Pre-order Once Upon A Fairytale for $0.99  Grab Seasons of Magic: Summer Thank you for being here even on the quiet vacation weeks. You make every issue worth writing — even the ones written while waiting for stain to dry.Happy Reading, Wendy P.S. Trial by Air is the book I have been building toward since book one. Shayla is a Phoenix. She was always going to fly. October is almost here — and so is the moment she finally does. Pre-order so it lands right on your Kindle the day it drops.

Hello Readers!

Welcome to July.

A new month, a stack of books, one very warm cat, and news I’ve been sitting on so long I may have pulled something. Let’s get into it.

Trial by Fire — Still Only $0.99

If you’ve been on the fence about starting the Richmond Academy series, the fence just got a lot cheaper to climb.

Trial by Fire is still on sale for $0.99 for a limited time — and it’s also available on Kindle Unlimited. This is book one of a five-book arc, all releasing this year, and it’s the best place to start.

Shayla’s story begins here. Don’t miss it.

 Grab Trial by Fire for $0.99

Trial by Sea — Out Now

She’s out in the world and I am still not over it.

Trial by Sea is available right now — on Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited — and if you’ve already read it, you know what Shayla and Georgios are up against. If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? The tide isn’t going to hold forever.

 Read Trial by Sea now

Trial by Earth — Available for Pre-Order

And here’s the news I’ve been barely containing.

Trial by Earth, book three in the Richmond Academy series, is officially available for pre-order. Release date: August 25, 2026.

I’m nearly done. The manuscript is so close to my editor’s hands I can feel it. The moment it’s out of mine, I get to share the cover and the blurb — and I cannot wait. Pre-order now so it lands right on your Kindle the day it drops.

 Pre-order Trial by Earth

Seasons of Magic — A Chapter Ending, A New One Beginning

Seasons of Magic: Spring is still available for $0.99 and on Kindle Unlimited, but it won’t be around much longer. If you haven’t grabbed it yet, now is the time.

My story in Spring — Magical Matchmaking — follows a clumsy witch whose very sincere attempt at finding true love goes exactly as sideways as you’d expect. It’s warm, it’s funny, and the mundane man who doesn’t believe in magic is absolutely going to regret that position.

And coming very soon: Seasons of Magic: Summer, available for pre-order now at $0.99.

My story this time is a different kind of magic entirely.

Lara fled to Oregon to escape a man who nearly destroyed her — but starting over isn’t as simple as running away. Welcomed into a warm and powerful coven, she begins learning witchcraft and the sacred rituals of Lammas, hoping to release the pain she left behind. But when her ex tracks her down and demands she return, Lara’s fragile peace shatters. With her coven beside her and the strength she’s fought to reclaim, she’ll face him under the rising flames of the Lammas bonfire. This time, she won’t run.

It’s more emotional than Magical Matchmaking, more transformative — and I’m really proud of it.

 Grab Spring for $0.99

 Pre-order Summer for $0.99

Something Entirely New — Coming September 1st

Okay. I’ve been keeping this one close to my chest, and I am done waiting to tell you.

I have a brand new series — paranormal romance with urban fantasy bones — and the first book is called Not Your Maniac Pixie Dream Girl, available for pre-order now with a release date of September 1, 2026.

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 he’s 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. San Diego was supposed to be the place where nobody knew enough about her to have an opinion.

She’s about to find out exactly how wrong that was.

 Pre-order Not Your Maniac Pixie Dream Girl

From the Writing Cave (and the Thermostat)

The desert has fully committed to its bit. We’re talking high 90s to 100-degree days, and my household has reached unanimous consensus: we do not go outside. We live inside now. The A/C is not a luxury, it is a lifestyle.

The cats are in agreement — except for Grayson, my solo boy, who has apparently decided that the logical response to triple-digit heat is to climb directly into my lap while I write and radiate as much additional warmth onto me as physically possible. I ask him daily why he does this. He has no answer. He simply purrs and increases the temperature. Cat logic is a mystery I will never solve.

On a genuinely bright note: the frozen shoulder is thawing. Like, actually thawing. My PT said — and I quote — “looks like someone’s been doing their homework” — which is the most validation I have ever received from a medical professional and I am still thinking about it. I can move my arm properly again. I can write nearly a full day without my arm staging a protest. I am so happy about this that I wrote even more books, apparently.

[Your indie author book recommendations go here]

Thank you — truly — for being here, for reading, and for sharing these stories with the people in your life. This has been a big month and you’ve been a big part of it.

Happy Reading,
Wendy

P.S. Next month brings Trial by Earth, the Seasons of Magic: Summer release, and a new series dropping on September 1st. If you think this month was a lot — just wait.