Author: Manda Kay
Some Updates (or adventures in manda trying to think with all this heat)
Hello hello! It’s been a minute over here, but I figured here was as good as any place to let you know about some cool new updates 🙂
Firstly, I am now officially on Barnes & Noble! So if you have a Nook or a plethora of gift cards for over yonder (I know I do), you can go into it with Vincent and Vivian 🙂
Secondly, I am working on setting up an online shop where you can order signed copies, stickers, art, and more goodies that would otherwise be available at events I attend. It is a mighty work in progress, but we are going slow and steady.
Thirdly, book four of The Necromancy Series is in a state of drafting. I am planning on having the first draft (aka a bunch of scenes I want with no rhyme or reason) done by the end of this month. I have my editor booked for early next year.
Fourthly, there will be two new art pieces coming soon! There’s also stickers I had commissioned that I haven’t yet released officially, but those of you who have been to Nebraska Books and Booze have gotten a sneak peek.
And finally, if reading challenges are your thing, you should check out the one over on Cozy Books Corner. It looks like a fun time. Also, I am a slut for reading challenges and making cute journal pages about them.
Annddd that’s it for me!
Until next time, little loves 🙂
Love always,
Manda Kay <3
What Should Have Been Hate (or a list of some triggers)
Hey, little love. Funny seeing you here.
If you are new here, hello, hello! The Necromancy Series is a dark gothic romance. What Should Have Been Hate is the third installment. Reading What Should Have Been Love and What Should Have Been Death is strongly recommended.
Some call it trigger warnings. Some call it spoilers. My favorite people call it the menu.
What Should Have Been Hate ends on a cliffhanger. It contains the following content:
- Language
- Violence
- Torture
- Prostitution
- Dub-con
- CNC
- Memory of rape
- Drug use
- Social anxiety
- Trauma-bonding
- Shibari
- Assumed infidelity
- Stabbing
- Framing innocent people
- Anal play
- Stalking
- Safe words
- Meltdowns
- Self-harm
ARC Form Is Live
Want to read what happens next before anyone else?
The ARC form for Book Three of The Necromancy Series is now live! Read the synopsis, triggers, and (tentative) dates here.
Love always,
Manda Kay <3
Hello there, little love (or long time, no talk)
Listen. I have been woefully non-present, both here, my newsletter, and socials, for no other excuse than I just don’t vibe with my phone lately. If you’re wondering why, oh friendo, have you seen the state of the world lately? No thank you 🙂
Despite all that, I wanted to drop in to give you a little update.
- Book three of The Necromancy Series is currently in developmental edits, and I plan on taking some *extended time* off work to get him good and ready for a final round of edits, then begin the fun of getting the good word out.
- The Necromancy Series will have four total installments. It turns out Vincent and Vivian had plenty more to say.
- I have several events planned for this year, which I will update over here as more information comes up. As always, at these events, I will have special things planned–whether it be a raffle giveaway or bookish freebies.
- There is a special giveaway going on over here, where if you upload your reviews for the first two books of The Necromancy Series, you will get a one tarot card pull with a letter from Vincent sent your way.
- I am in the works of setting up an Etsy page for signed and swagged books, especially for those who aren’t able to attend in-person events.
- Itsy Bitsy will be getting a refresh, complete with art lovingly gifted to me from fans of Frederick and Jethro. I’m totally not still crying about this.
- I will be taking another look at blog/newsletter/social schedule, not only to assure you that I am alive and well (mostly), but also to give you the updates you deserve about the characters you love. <3
Until next time!
Love always,
Manda Kay <3
What Should Have Been Death (or a list of some triggers)
Hey there, little love. If you’re here, you wanna know the dirty deets of what to expect for Vincent and Vivian.
Bad girl.
If you’re new here, hello! The Necromancy Series is a dark gothic romance. What Should Have Been Death is the second installment. Reading What Should Have Been Love is strongly recommended before diving in.
What Should Have Been Death ends on a cliffhanger. It contains the following content:
- Language
- Manipulation
- Violence
- Strangulation
- Mild body horror
- Prostitution
- Coercion
- Sexual trauma
- Dub-con
- Blatant non-con
- Infidelity
- Grooming
- Trafficking of a minor
- Revenge porn
- DDLG
- Blue-balling
- Trauma-bonding
- Drug use
- Social anxiety
- Questionable morals
ARC Application Now Open!
Hey there little love.
Did you vibe with What Should Have Been Love? Are you itching to be one of the first people to know what happens next between Vivian and Vincent?
I hear you. I gotchuuu.
If chosen, you’ll receive an ebook via Bookfunnel on March 1 (tentatively), with release day being March 25 (also tentatively).
Now…wanna hear the blurb???
A second chance, for better or worse, whether she likes it or not.
It’s taken over three long years and a three-story accident, but Vivian finally landed right where she deserves. At least, that’s what she thought. The more time that passes in this new state, the more that unfamiliar sensations flood her mind. There’s an uncanny awareness she can’t shake.
The rules have changed. No longer does Vincent need to keep his wife at a distance, always mindful to keep his hands to himself. While hope of finding a cure for his mistake has snuffed out, a new truth blooms. Finally, he is free to touch the one he loves most.
Vivian is desperate for the normalcy she left behind. Vincent is determined to turn their marriage around–no matter the cost.
If this sounds right up your alley, what are you waiting for? Click here!! Apply!!!
What Should Have Been Love (or a list of some triggers)
Hello, hello! I wanted to give a heads up to those who like to know what they are getting themselves into ahead of time.
What Should Have Been Love is the first in a planned spicy four book series, with the heat level increasing with each subsequent title. It is a slow burn–the absolute SLOWEST of burns–so plan to work for that HEA. The first installment ends on a cliffhanger. It has:
- Language
- Violence
- Sex
- Dub-con
- Non-con
- Cheating
- Knife play
- Grooming
- Trafficking of a minor
- DDLG
- Self-harm
- Suicide ideation
If you have questions about any of the above, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at manda@mandakaywrites.com.
Happy reading <3
What Should Have Been Love (or the inability to leave things alone until I get everything I need)
Writing books is an absolute pain in the ass sometimes. Or at least it is when I make it be that way.
I gave out beta copies last month and promised myself I wouldn’t touch this draft until I get the copies back (which will be by the time this post goes live). That way, I could do one last run-through of the story from beginning to end before getting it ready to send off to agents and seeing where it sticks–if anywhere.
I. Promised.
Instead, the hell do I do? I add another almost 5k words in the name of fleshing things out further.
To be clear, I’m not one of those people who writes way too much and has to cut it down. I am guilty of writing too little, so that it’s barely even a draft and not just an outline, and then expanding from there so I can get all my thoughts down before they float away into the abyss. And to be even more fair, I went from having one stupidly long dark romance to wanting to break it up into three decent-sized books–namely so I would have the ability to expand enough to make it the story I want it to be.
I could have spent my time working on drafting the second book (which I have definitely done some of), but the ridiculous amount of sense of sheer wrongness won’t let me dive head first until book one is 100% good to go. Basically I don’t want my notes to mix in my notebook, and I don’t want to use a different notebook until this one is full. I don’t know, man, it’s a lot of excuses, but it’s fine.
So anyway, I guess my point is that the copy I sent out for beta is not the most current. Whoops.
I guess I just wanted to check in to say that work is being done, and I am nervous to send it out, namely because dark romance is more niche than I would have thought. There’s a billion agents taking romance, but like five who might maybe consider dark romance. At least ones I’m finding on QT.
Anyway, I’m a failure, but I’m also feeling pretty good about being a failure. 🙂
Vincent Blaire (or an informal introduction)
Vincent Blaire, world-renowned masked magician and Illusionist from Hell, carries his eccentricities with him everywhere he goes, both on stage and off. No one has ever seen him without his trademark mask and gloves, not even the love of his life. He keeps a cool distance, and while he would give her the world if she’d ask for it, he is always careful to never lay a hand on her.
Vincent is a master of avoidance, whether it be direct answers to questions or accepting his own emotions. He drowns himself in a cocktail of bourbon and opium whenever he feels the world crashing down around him, content to lean back and notice the beauty in the way it crumbles. When he loves, he’s unapologetically loyal, putting them upon a pedestal where they can do no wrong and nothing can touch them.
Vincent is as pale as he is tall (very). Though he enjoys the thrill of having all eyes on him on stage, he enjoys his privacy more. His favorite place to be is home, preferably with his wife breathing the same air as him, but lately those terms seem to be happening less and less.