New year, new newsletter! Last year was wild, and before I give you guys the updates for this month, I want to take a second to reflect on 2022. I had two YA novels released, both of which were accepted with so much love and sparked phenomenal discussions—which is truly one of my favorite parts about telling a story. Midnight Horizon closed out the books for Phase I of the High Republic and resonated deeply with so many people. My first comic series The High Republic Adventures wrapped up, finishing this chapter in the lives of the Star Hopper Padawans. Soon after, I went on tour for my second YA novel of the year, Ballad &Dagger. This was a very personal novel to write and all the love for it—including the book being featured on a billboard in NYC!—has been so gratifying.
My first Marvel Comics run Trail of Shadows ended with a bang right and a few months later was the first Star Wars Celebration since the pandemic. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, seeing folks connect with a character that I created so much that you cosplay them will never not be sublime. Here’s some of my favorite moments from Celebration. (Qort cosplay by Isabella and Sian Holt cosplay by Mac)
Closing out 2022 with a cool feature—my YA Urban Fantasy series Shadowshaper Cypher was ranked Number Three “25 All-Time Best Book Series for Teens” and my Adult Urban Fantasy series The Bone Street Rumba was ranked Number Twelve in “The 25 Best Fantasy Book Series Ever Written” by Reader’s Digest.
On a more personal note, 2022 was my first full year of fatherhood; the experience has been amazing, hilarious, fun, scary, chaotic, delightful, hilarious, exhausting and also hilarious — as I’m sure you’ve seen from my twitter posts featuring the ever-adventerous Tito, and I have cherished every second of it. I couldn’t do any of this without my inspiring and magnificent wife, Brittany, who has also had a successful year and even more projects to come in the new year.
Enough looking back on 2022, it’s a new year! Coming out TODAY is Issue #2 of The High Republic Adventures, and in this issue we get a deeper dive into the antagonists of the series The Dank Graks! Head over to your local comic shop and pick up a copy! The preview came out last week but here it is just in case you missed it. My little chaos babies are about to take over the galaxy mwahahaha!
Coming out this May is the Sequel to Ballad & Dagger, The Last Canto of the Dead. Make sure to get your preorder in because you don’t want to miss this next chapter in Mateo and Chela’s life!
While you’re at it, you should check out The Mimicking of Known Success, a new Tor.com novella by my wildly talented sister, Malka Older! It’s a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance set on Jupiter; you’re going to love it.
I closed up the DJO Store last month, but don’t worry it’ll be back up around mid-February! Thank you to everyone who supported the shop, I hope you all enjoyed your books.
That’s all for this month. Have a wizard new year!
—D
I thought you where gonna talk about the dank graks in this one?
That Star Wars art is SICK, homie!
Happy New Year and congratulations on your continued success!