Happy Birthday to SON OF THE SIREN

Photo by Aneta Pawlik on Unsplash.

On July 2, 2024, Son of the Siren made its debut. Published by Oliver Heber Books, this YA standalone fantasy is inspired by three fairytales: The Little Mermaid, Allerleirauh, and The Wild Swans. It's been described as:

A thrilling YA fantasy where dark magic, enchanted realms, and a deadly curse drive half-siren Lirien on a relentless quest to save his family and defy his fate. --New In Books

To be honest, there was a huge part of me that never thought I'd see the day a book of mine would be published and out in the world. I felt like I was in a constant state of, "This has potential, but it's not quite there yet." Like a hamster running in a wheel, I kept writing, hoping that someday I would find a publisher and audience for my stories, but for the longest time, it just didn't happen. I always wrote with the intent that I would have readers somehow, so I just kept going.

When Kim Ostrom and Tanya Anne Crosby agreed to take me on, I felt myself flooded with emotion. My dream had finally come true! But being an author isn't just writing--it's marketing and promotion and lots of other stressful things. While OHB has done a lot of amazing things for my book, there was a lot I needed to do, too.

I chronicled how that went in this blog post. Basically I wasted a lot of money on things that didn't work, but with the next book, I'll know better where to put my focus and my funds.

Anyway, amazing things have happened with Son of the Siren, like the release of the audiobook with the exceptionally talented J. Kindred narrating. I really want more people to get out and listen to him, because he did a tremendous job with all the different character voices and accents. If you are on the fence about which version of Son of the Siren to get, I strongly recommend the audiobook. It's like attending live theater.

Another bright spot was the fact that Ingram Spark selected Son of the Siren for the Ingram Spark Author Exhibit at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition 2025, which literally just wrapped. There are a lot of benefits to being featured, but I won't be able to see ROI for a while. I just hope that librarians and young adult readers will discover it and enjoy it.

Things haven't always been sunshine and roses, though. I can't disclose much but with a year out in the book world, Son of the Siren hasn't quite found its audience, not for lack of trying. So while I plug away at my forthcoming trilogy, I need to keep working on Son of the Siren, too, and keep finding ways to promote it to a dedicated readership.

I'm going to leave you on a positive note with this video from Instagram, as it's one of my favorite reviews of Son of the Siren:

I'm so proud of Son of the Siren and am happy it was selected to be my first published book. Next up for Oliver Heber Books is my trilogy, The Name and the Key, The Step and the Walk, and The Fear and the Flame. These books will be published in 2026 and 2027, and I am working on them right now on a deadline, whee! I hope with every book I write, I get better and better, but I will always look on Son of the Siren with a great fondness.

Thank you, readers.