James Ashwood, Dark Romance Author

I’ve been getting ready for the release of The Deeds of the Flesh, and I just finished its final proofread. The file has been sent off to KDP and awaits its book birthday.

The cold here has been unbelievable—we reached -9* last week! Even though it’s currently snowing, it’s scheduled to get up to 25* today, which feels downright balmy.

This weather makes it hard to want to do anything except curl up in a blanket and snooze, but I’m excited to get this series published as soon as possible.

Can you believe it’s only a couple weeks until release day on February 12?!

This book is the second in my Palaces of Thorns series after The Wickedness of Man, which gives further insight into the Magda and Caleb’s story.
The Deeds of the Flesh also gave me the opportunity to open up the world, flesh out some of the existing characters, and even introduce some new ones.

Did you know?

The series titles are based on Christian text and myths as described in the Bible (some that are pretty racy!). Even the series’ name, “Palaces of Thorns,” has a biblical origin.

Not all of the books I write will have elements of religious overtones in them, but Palaces of Thorns will. I did plan to have this series set up the shared universe that all of my other books will take place in. (Even if the book monster du jour isn’t devils and demons.) So far, there are four books planned, and I have several others coming in as well.

The Deeds of the Flesh gave me the opportunity to flesh out a lot of characters’ backgrounds, some of which are fun, and some which are quite tragic.

Once book two is released, let me know which characters would you like to see independent stories about. I may have a couple branching character stories planned in the works as well.

I can’t wait to give more details and release information about book three, whose name is still TBD. I’ve finished writing it, so it’s moving into round one of SERIOUS edits as we speak.

What stories and dark romance concepts are you hoping to see from future books? Let me know in the comments.

I hope you’re staying safe and warm out there!

Yours in secrets and shadows,

J.A.