Rembrandt: professional napper, accidental writing coach, and absolute speed demon at the dog park

📖 Book 2 is with my editor!

Book 2 of Promised to the Pyre has been sent off to my wonderful editor Sam — the same brilliant woman who edited Book 1 🥳

Did I send it at 23:49 the night of my deadline? Yes. Yes I did. Luckily Sam is in a different time zone, so technically she received it at a very reasonable hour. Technically 😅

This is such a huge milestone and it still doesn't feel completely real. I've worked on this draft since December, and all summer I've been editing and polishing right up until those final minutes, and now it's out of my hands for a little while. It feels amazing and terrifying in equal measure.

Hi friends 🧡

I hope your summer has been as good as mine, because wow—it's been a really lovely one ✨

I've spent most of the summer deep in Book 2 edits, working mornings and evenings so I could actually enjoy the sun during the day. Swedish summer is short and precious and I was NOT about to miss it. Though I'll be honest—I only managed two actual evenings outside the entire summer. The rest went to editing. Worth it? Absolutely 😅

The other big highlight: I dogsat for three weeks! His name is Rembrandt, he's a three-year-old whippet, and he is the most precious soul 🐶 He looooves to sleep in, which meant I got a solid hour of writing every morning before he finally woke up and we headed out for our walk. Honestly the perfect writing companion. The apartment felt ridiculously quiet after he left, and I'm now fully convinced I need a dog of my own someday 🥹

🔥 Elyn went off script

Okay so here's something I haven't told you yet, and it's a big one.

You know how authors sometimes say their characters have a mind of their own? I used to think that was kind of dramatic. I no longer think that 😂

I had the ending of Book 2 fully plotted. I knew exactly where things were going, exactly how they'd land, and exactly how that would set up Book 3. Elyn looked at my beautiful plan… and absolutely refused to follow it.

She went completely off script. And when I say off script, I mean she took everything I had planned for the ending and threw it into Valfreja's eternal flames. I tried to steer her back. She was not having it. And honestly? When I stopped fighting her and let the story go where she wanted it to go… it was better. It was so much better. Sometimes I really do need to shut up and listen to my characters 😅🔥

BUT—here's the thing. Because Elyn rewrote the ending of Book 2, pretty much everything I had planned for Book 3 is now out the window. And that's honestly fine. One of my favourite parts of writing is the plotting and figuring out which path to take to get where we need to go. I love that part. But it does mean Book 3 will take longer than I originally thought.

And based on how Book 2 ends… I really don't think you'll want to wait too long between Book 2 and Book 3. (Yes, that's a tease. No, I will not elaborate 😇)

So I'm considering something, and I want to hear what you think: what if I push the release of Book 2 to around February or March 2027? That way I can get a solid head start on Book 3 and make sure the gap between the two doesn't stretch on forever.

I know you've already been so patient, and I'm incredibly grateful for that 💛 But I'd rather give you two books closer together than rush Book 2 out and leave you hanging for ages waiting for Book 3.

📚 Book recommendation

I need to talk about the Off Campus series. I need to. Because OH MY GOD 😍

So here's the thing, you know how I have this habit of accidentally starting a series on book 2? Yeah. I did it again. I picked up The Mistake without realizing it wasn't book 1, and by the time I figured it out I was already in too deep. So I just… kept going. I read books 2 through 5 and I regret nothing 😇

These books are SO fun. The banter is incredible, the guys are absolutely delicious, and I tore through them. If you love college romance, hockey boys, and characters who make you laugh out loud, please read these. I haven't watched the series yet (I wanted to finish the books first), so I can't compare the two, but I absolutely recommend the books.

Also, can we talk about the fact that I keep accidentally skipping book 1 in romance series? At this point it's becoming a talent 😂

If you've read the Off Campus series — who's your favourite couple? Mine is Allie and Dean, hihi. That door slamming scene… IYKYK. It literally had me gaping at the wall 😍

That's all from me for now! I'm going to enjoy what's left of summer while Sam works her magic on Book 2.

With bookish love 🖤
Vendy

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