What’s in the Works?

11/08/2025

A shiny new webpage. About one hundred deadlines.

I’m less than 3 months from the traditional release of Modern Divination, and it’s hard to believe it’s almost here. Firstly, because it is not here yet. Secondly, because a version of the book was technically here already.

But this is a new version. A version available to more people across a wider range of countries. This time, it has translation deals (France, Italy, and Ukraine so far!) and a marketing budget from someone that isn’t me. I haven’t the faintest clue how it will be received. Just thinking about it makes my skin tingle with anxiety…

The truth is, I had finished both books in what is now known as the Spells for Life and Death duology by the time I sold the rights to Tor UK, and another book had already started to cook. I’ve lovingly referred to it online as “mystery third book,” as I was tackling the process of it much differently than Modern Divination.

See, Modern Divination came to me slowly. It was a labor of love over many late nights and long days working in a cubicle. I used Aurelia and Teddy’s fraught love story as a frequent escape, and so I dragged it out, coming back to it in different ways, like an AO3 ship with too many AU fics. Crafting the book required me to develop a romance with it: meet the book, discover the heart of the book, fall deeply, head-over-heels in love with it, and (hopefully) ride off into the sunset with it on a velveteen white horse.

The idea for mystery third book hit me like a hangover. It left me grasping for half-remembered dreams and shreds of inspiration that I swore had invaded me the night before but couldn't quite latch onto. Then, like the photographic evidence of that wild night out, it all came back to me, clear as day: my contemporary, tragicomic, reincarnation, road trip romantasy.

It’s a mouthful. Unfortunately, I can’t get rid of any of those words without jeopardizing the spirit of the book, which is chaos.

Early on, I knew I wanted to keep this book closer to my heart. I didn’t talk about it online until it was almost finished. I’ve shared the entire document with, maybe, two people since its completion.

I don’t know what the future holds for it, but the present of it is strange. I’m trying to love it but I only have so many hands. One is frantically promoting Modern Divination so I can start a career in publishing. The other is doing edits for book two, Quiet Spells. And I only have two hands.

For now, mystery third book sits in the back of my coat closet collecting dust. I’m hoping that the winter brings me some much needed relief. I’d love to be able to share it with you all soon.

— Isa

Commissioned art for “mystery third book” by Nastya Litepla