Alethea's Big Announcement
THIS IS MAJOR. Are you ready??!?
This is it. No burying the lede.
We got the Woodcutter Sisters back!!!!!!
(Seriously. There are not enough exclamation points in the world.)
WAIT, WHAT? Yes, that’s right. The rights for Enchanted, Hero, and Dearest reverted back to me on October 24, 2023. Harcourt (then HMH, now HarperCollins) does have a grace period to sell the old book stock, etc, so don’t freak out if you see the old covers on sale for a minute. (The audiobook rights are held separately with Brilliance/Audible, so all of those will remain in print.)
SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Now, we prepare for a massive relaunch.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? We’re going to use Beauty & Dynamite as our canary in the coal mine (since B&D is both a great introduction to me and a perfect companion to Enchanted). On January 11th—my birthday!—we will be releasing an updated version of the Beauty & Dynamite e-book, along with a paperback, hardcover, and special-edition paperback with a separate cover. Leading up to that we’ll be celebrating with social media lives, new t-shirts and stickers…the list goes on!
(Please help support the launch by giving Beauty & Dynamite all the love you can…and by buying plenty of stickers and T-shirts!)
THEN…assuming all goes well…on February 11th, we re-release Enchanted. In hardcover and paperback, with a new cover. PLUS a special edition alternate-cover paperback. And MORE celebratory merch leading up that that release! And then we do it again for Hero…and then again for Dearest…
…and then I get to release Thieftess. Thursday Woodcutter’s book. FINALLY!
And all before the end of this year! 😳
Just a heads up, with so much coming in 2024, we are phasing out some things. From here on out, Friendly Friday and SmileMail will only be delivered via Patreon so that we don’t clutter your inbox and make you miss an important announcement (unless you really want us to…in which case, following me there is free)!
2024 is going to be amazing, my friends. My family. My Brute Squad. I love you more than words can say. Thank you for staying by my side for so long. You have been my rock and my inspiration. These next few years won’t be just a celebration of the Woodcutters; they are also a celebration of YOU. We are going to have SO MUCH FUN! Are you ready??
(omg…I have so much work to do…)
Much love and so many hugs!
xox
~💜~
Alethea
Publications
After years of waiting, the updated e-book, paperback, and hardcover editions of my cult classic memoir Beauty & Dynamite will be available on my birthday, January 11th!
Once upon a time, a young girl walked into a world of wonder and delight. But that's not where this story starts.
The young woman published a nationally recognized children's book and edited a star-filled collection of stories to benefit the tsunami relief effort. But that's not where this story ends.
Meet Alethea Kontis, whose life is an adventure that tears through these pages like a hurricane of inspiration. Carrot-a-day cancer cures and Murphy as a guardian angel (yes, that Murphy, the guy with all those irritating laws) are just a part of the daily routine for the Incredible Whirlwind of Beauty and Dynamite, the force of nature masquerading in human form.
Through essays, poetry, and commentary from family, friends, and famous authors alike, a world of Blood Oaths and road trips, broken hearts and mended cars, comes alive with the strength of one woman's conviction that the world is there to be befriended.
You have now been introduced.
Let your adventure begin.
Other Publications
“Twinkle” - the story of Peter Woodcutter - is part of the Artifice and Craft anthology of stories about magical objets d’art, and Peter has a magical carving knife! So he makes a wooden doll in the image of the sisters who all went on adventures without him, and then wishes on a star for a friend… #Pinnochio
My story “The Chaos Crushers’ Day Off” - featuring a bunch of unlawful D&D characters who play a fairy tale RPG on one of their down days - is in the new Castle of Horror anthology Volume 10 - Thinly Veiled: Saturday Mournings!
New @ Patreon
Patreon Update: All subscriber levels (yes, even $1) now have access to #FriendlyFriday, #SmileMail Saturday, the Poetry Project, and Project T-Shirt. COMING IN 2024: Monthly exclusive short fiction for Patrons! And STICKERS!
Missing any of the 2023 Project T-Shirt designs? Head over to my Amazon Storefront to purchase your favorite(s) today. All designs are available in standard t-shirt, women’s tee, sweatshirt, pullover and zip-up hoodie, and more!
If you’re a patron (or would like to be one!), leave a comment and let us know what else you’d love to see!
K-Dramas I’ve Watched Since Last Time
Let’s be honest. I finished writing the second Korea book and lost track of everything. But here are a few highlights! (I have so much to catch up on now…)
Destined With You - (Netflix) Look. Rowoon is just beautiful, okay? I could watch 16 hour-long episodes of Rowoon stuck in traffic. This drama could have stunk and I wouldn’t have cared. But it didn’t! Rowoon and Jo Bo-ah (Tale of the Nine-Tailed, Military Prosecutor Doberman) team up in this part-office drama, part-shamanistic adventure involving past lives and love spells and curses and it’s just a LOT of fun. And it ALSO features this fireworks celebration which is now on my growing List of Reasons to Go To South Korea.
See You in My 19th Life - (Netflix) Let me count the ways in which I love Ahn Bohyun. 💜 I loved him most in Yumi’s Cells, and Her Private Life. I hated him in Itaewon Class (but we were supposed to). I even loved his bit part in Descendants of the Sun. Military Prosecutor Doberman was the perfect role for him. OF COURSE I was going to watch this drama. I was just waiting until most of it had aired so I didn’t have to wait so long for the end of it!
Our heroine is played by Shin Hyesun (Mr. Queen, Angel’s Last Mission: Love), and she can remember all her previous lives. ABH plays the boy she loved before she died as a young teen in a car crash in her last life. But was she murdered? Is her presence adversely affecting the people around her? Is this past life thing even solveable?
The cast is fantastic and amazing, and only the writers in the crowd (like me) will be a teeny bit disappointed that the through line is kind of weak. The ending is fine, and satisfying..but I know in my heart it could have been so much better.
Still…watch it anyway!
Celebrity - (Netflix) A short and dark series about the world of Instagram fashion influencers. The acting is great—Park Gyu-young (Dali & the Cocky Prince) is amazing—and it’s pretty fun to watch…but I kind of liked The Fabulous better…
The Fabulous - (Netflix) A short, less dark series about four young friends in the fashion industry. It stars Chae Soobin, whom I loved in A Piece of Your Mind and I am Not a Robot, and features Shin Dong-mi, whom I loved as the sassy manager in Record of Youth. It’s a quickie (as dramas go) and worth the watch.
CLICK HERE to see my Top Thirty-eleven K-Dramas of All Time!
PS: I was asked to be an Affiliate for the DAEBAK subscription box service! (K-pop, K-drama, K-beauty, K-snacks…💜💙) Click here to check it out!
⭐️ If You Shop at Amazon - Help Me for FREE!
Make sure you get there by using one of my Associate Links! (Works best on a desktop, not mobile.) Just click THIS LINK (or any other link I post to get to Amazon), and then buy whatever you need. It doesn’t have to be anything of mine! I will get $ from JB for simply SENDING Y’ALL TO AMAZON. At no cost to you! Bookmark it to save time! - https://amzn.to/3K6BCuk
⭐️ Friendly Friday Roundup
Did you miss any of these fabulous friends of mine and their latest release? Make sure to follow me on Patreon to receive those straight to your inbox! In the meantime, here are the #FriendlyFriday posts of November!
⭐️ SmileMail Meme of the Month
Do you get Saturday SmileMail to your inbox? Make sure to follow me on Patreon to receive those straight to your inbox! In the meantime, here is the most favorited meme of December!
LINKAPALOOZA!
My Storenvy site is back open! Grab your LIMITED EDITION STICKERS while they last!
My personal trainer and massage therapist - the fabulous duo that is Michael and Miya Jones - are working on growing their base. Please follow Maxx Effort Personal Training on FB and Instagram, as well as HealthQuest on FB and Instagram. (Keep an eye out for my adorable sweating in some of those Maxx Effort posts…)
I’m on TikTok! For better or worse…Threads, too. And really, I should post more.
Have you left a review for any of my books? I’d love it if you could leave one for my latest release, OODLES OF DOODLES. Thanks!
Enough About Me
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I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’LL FINALLY SEE THE WOODCUTTER SISTERS AGAIN!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!