Next Book: The Hellebore Society

In case you hadn’t heard, my next book is coming out on January 10th, 2025! But I thought it might be good to get all the details in one place so…here you go!

What book is this?

It’s called The Hellebore Society and it’s a modern fantasy about four friends in their forties (say that three times fast!)

Is this a Mud Witch Sequel?

No, it’s not. I am currently working hard on Mud Witch 2 (real name still to be decided) but I’m still in early stages of research and drafting. If you want to check out my Instagram page, there will be lots of content about the research I’m doing on that, since I’m spending a lot of time on it right now. Here’s the link to that: https://www.instagram.com/thedillawaydiaries/. Just be aware that this is my professional instagram page, not my personal one, so if you follow me personally, you won’t see that content.

How can I get the book?

It will be available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle.

When can I pre-order?

I’m still finalizing little details like, you know, the cover, but as soon as you can preorder I will put a link on my website, on my Facebook, and on Instagram.

What’s it about?

Twenty years ago, four friends went out to a bar and came home the newest members of a magical society. They can barely remember that night, but the secretive Hellebore Society didn’t forget about them. Now they’re forty, and Mel, Talia, Josie and Kate have been called into action. Someone’s been using stolen technology to break into the world’s most secure locations, and it’s their job to stop them. Luckily, the Hellebore Society’s got a garden full of extraordinary plants to help them out. But twenty years is a long time. Old hurts and new frustrations threaten not just their friendship, but their mission. Can they overcome their quarrels in time to catch the thieves? And more urgently, can they also make it to daycare before they get charged extra for late pickup?

The Hellebore Society is a fantasy that that tells the story of four women working to recover stolen magical artifacts…and possibly the parts of themselves they didn’t realize they’d lost along the way.

Why did you write this? (And not a mud witch sequel like we wanted?)

To be honest, I started Mud Witch 2 immediately after I launched the first one, but for some reason, I just got stuck. So I set it aside and started writing what I call “my midlife crisis” book. I started looking around at all the extraordinary women around me and thinking about how dumb it is that we hear about teenagers and young adults saving the world when most of us don’t reach our full vitality and competence until long after we’ve said goodbye to our 20s. My brain started asking…what would it be like to take someone who wasn’t some ingenue and ask them to save the world? So many younger people aren’t sure of themselves and that plays out in their story. But these women, they know how to get stuff done…what would that look like? And how would their lives change?

Why is it called The Hellebore Society?

I named this book (and the Society) after the hellebore, which is also known as the winter rose. It doesn’t bloom in spring, or even summer, like most flowers. No, most hellebores don’t even think about blooming until November or December. And that made me think of a lot of the people I know, including myself, who didn’t find what they wanted to do or even who they wanted to be until later. There’s something special about a person bringing half a lifetime’s worth of experience to their endeavors. It’s richer and fuller and also, somehow, less frantic and harried. I like to think there are a lot of hellebores out there in the world, just waiting to bloom.

If you have any other questions, put them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to get to them!