It’s been a few weeks since The Embers of Daylight released, and with folks reaching the end of the trilogy, I think it’s time to start talking about what’s next for The Book of Roses.
This post contains minor spoilers for The Embers of Daylight.
The Book of Roses might have reached its conclusion, but that doesn’t mean I’m out of stories to tell in this setting! As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have two more novels written that will be published later this year. To set expectations: these will be shorter, simpler books intended to work as standalone stories that anyone can enjoy regardless of whether they’ve read the main trilogy. That being said, they will take place chronologically after The Embers of Daylight and feature some familiar characters, so they should be enjoyable both as an entry point into the series for newcomers and a continuation for existing readers.
The first book, Lavender’s Wolf, will be releasing on July 13th (cover reveal in a few weeks!). This novel follows Elizabeth’s son Wolfram through his teenage years as he leaves home to train as a squire. I wanted to dip into the martial side of medieval life with this one and see what it would be like to explore a character similar to Sir Edward if he wasn’t a complete scumbag. This is a bit more of a “boys with swords” novel, though at its core it’s a romantic coming of age tale that touches on themes of male vulnerability. It’s probably the largest departure from my standard fare in this series so far, so I’m eager to see how people react to it!
The second book, Calia’s Needle, will be releasing on October 15th. We move on to Wolfram’s sister Calia in this novel and turn our attention in a completely different direction once again – this time to the world of medieval tapestry weaving. Believe me, it was a lot of fun figuring out how to pack a novel about tapestries with emotion and drama! The story follows Calia in her early twenties after she completes an apprenticeship and is offered the chance to work on the greatest weaving project in the kingdom’s modern history. But Calia’s talents earn her the ire of the ambitious and prideful artist in charge of the project, leading to a rivalry that threatens dire consequences for both of them. In contrast to Lavender’s Wolf, this novel is more focused on personal relationships and family dynamics, where the greatest conflicts are internal rather than external.
So, after Lavender’s Wolf and Calia’s needle, what then? Well, I’ll have exhausted the backlog of novels I’ve been working on for the past five years, so I’m going to have to write some more! It may be a little while after Calia’s Needle before the next book comes out, but I’m hoping to get a lot written this year in between editing novels for release. Since the next two books are focused on Wolfram and Calia, I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going to happen with their sister, Livy. I do have plans for a Livy novel, but it’s a little more ambitious than the other two, so it probably won’t be the next release immediately after Calia’s Needle. Nothing is final at the moment, but the working title for Livy’s novel is The Song of Silver, and it will focus on the lives of minstrels, merchants, and outlaws, featuring an ensemble cast like The Book of Roses that will probably necessitate a longer story. I don’t know yet whether it’ll be part of a new duology, trilogy, or if it’ll stand alone, but I plan on making it at least as long as one of the mainline Book of Roses novels.
There’s also one more project I have in the planning stage, and this one is likely to end up being the novel I publish between Calia’s Needle and The Song of Silver. It’s a departure from the current chronology, looking back in time to the end of the war that brought King Ralf to power prior to the events of Elizabeth of Rosepath. This story will feature Sir Roger, the vice-ridden knight of Kinedwyn we met in A Heart in the Hills, viewed through the eyes of the nun tasked with nursing him back to health after he suffers his terrible face injury. I dropped a couple of hints in The Book of Roses about Sir Roger’s dark past, and I’ve always been curious to go back and explore the man he might’ve been before age tempered him into the character we know. Needless to say, Roger will not be a good person in this story. I can’t say much more at the moment (since I haven’t even written the book!), but I’m excited to see how the project develops. The working title for this novel is Mender of Monsters, and I hope to release it at some point early in 2025. I originally planned this one as a short novella, but I think I have enough material planned to get a whole novel out of it, so we’ll have to see.
Beyond that, I have no current plans that are developed enough for me to talk about, but I’d like to continue telling future stories in the Book of Roses setting if people remain interested in reading them. Expect more updates later in the year! I may write a retrospective post in the coming months on The Book of Roses now that the whole thing is out, but that’s just a little indulgence for me and anyone who’s interested in hearing more about my creative process.
Until next time, happy reading!
Kelly River 