#2: On the Subject of Magic and Inspiration

Writer’s Corner: The Ashfire King (Summer 2025)

Hello everyone and welcome to the second issue of Prose & Panic!

When last I wrote, I was in the middle of a Book 2 deadline. This time I am…in the middle of another Book 2 deadline! Unlike last time, however, I have a bit more clarity on scheduling, and it feels like the pathway to publication day is a lot clearer.

For now, I can share that The Ashfire King is scheduled for a Summer 2025 release. Given the unexpected slowdowns I’ve experienced with this book, finally having a release season is a HUGE relief for me. (Believe me when I say I have been incredibly anxious to have accurate information to share!) It’s one step closer to a release date, which I’m hoping will be finalized by my publisher in the next few months, if not sooner.

All that being said, for as quiet as I’ve been about this draft, I can’t wait to share all the content I’ve been holding onto. This book has changed a lot in between drafts, which is part of the reason I’ve been holding off on teasers. There’s also the fact that this is a direct sequel so, you know, trying to avoid spoilers!

But some things you can expect from The Ashfire King (spoiler-free):

• Magics new and old. You can expect to see more magical relics in this book, but Ashfire also introduces new magical locations. This type of setting-based magic has perhaps been my favorite to write because it means getting to write places that don’t just have magic, but which function uniquely because of their magic.

• Birds. I laugh about this all the time but actually…there really are a lot of birds in this book. As a storyteller, I’m fascinated by the role birds serve in oral stories and folklore. They can be sages, companions, sometimes even accessories, granting wishes and saving heroes during their time of need. Perhaps it’s natural, then, that Ashfire, a story about stories, has its own magic birds.

• New side characters. The cast in Ashfire expands quite a bit with a focus on showing “the other side” of the plot. (If you’ve gotten to the Stardust ending, you’ll know what I mean!) There’s one particular duo from this new group that I’m excited for everyone to meet. They bring a fun grump/sunshine (except uh, deadly?) dynamic to the book.

• New interludes. The stories-in-stories are a staple of this series and I’m excited to share more of them in Book 2! This book, like the first, draws inspiration from the 1001 Nights tales (you might see a nod or two to the Sinbad adventures…) and from oral stories.

More Book 2 news from me in the near future, but thanks as always for supporting my work and being excited for the sequel!

Sandsea Merchandise!

This isn’t a sequel-specific update, but if you haven’t seen this news online yet, I’m so thrilled to share that I’ve been collaborating with the fantastic LitJoy team on some merchandise inspired by magics in The Stardust Thief—and that two of those three items are now available to buy on their site!

First up: The two-faced coin, which can be purchased here. This replica of the story’s two-faced coin has two sides: A human sultan and a jinn. The coin is engraved with intricate details and even has a unique shape—it’s an absolutely beautiful piece of work and my photos don’t do it justice!

A replica of the two-sided coin, created by LitJoy. The left side is the sultan, the right is the jinn side.

Second, LitJoy has just released a jewelry drawstring bag inspired by Loulie’s bag of infinite space, which is available here. This small bag (which I have affectionally dubbed The Itty Bitty Bag of Infinite Space) is filled with a convenient (and surprising) number of pockets. It’s very eye-catching!

Photos of the bag of infinite space drawstring jewelry bag.

There’s one more object left to be revealed in this series that just might be my favorite. LitJoy went above and beyond with their attention to detail on it and I’m looking forward to sharing it later this year!

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Out-of-Context Mayhem

A section in which I share a screenshot related to my work-in-progress, completely out of context 👍

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Book Teaser: The Ashfire King

For today’s teaser, I’m sharing a couple of lines from a scene that takes place in a new Book 2 location. The cast will visit quite a few new places in Ashfire but this one may be my favorite—a sort-of-library that is more than it seems ✨

But it was the last document she found that the compass arrow reacted to, shuddering visibly as she unrolled the parchment to read the single instruction written on the blank surface: Ihraqne.

Loulie paused. It seemed an ill-conceived idea to set fire to a piece of parchment in a library but…well, she had always preferred leaping to overthinking. And she did, very conveniently, have a source of fire on-hand.

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Music Corner: A song from the WIP Playlist

A song from my Work-In-Progress Playlist

Fun fact: There are 130+ songs on my playlist for the Sandsea Trilogy, and a good many of them are ones I associate with specific characters. For those who’ve read The Stardust Thief, I hope it’s obvious who this one is for!

Shadow of Mine by Alec Benjamin

Everywhere I go, my shadow, it follows behind
Doesn't matter where I travel, my shadow, it finds me
Something that I've come to realize after all this time
I can't escape my shadow, I can't escape my shadow

It won't ever let me go
It goes everywhere I go
It won't ever let me go
This shadow, this shadow of mine (shadow of mine)

We grapple, we battle, but we
Are shackled for eternity
We grapple, we battle
We're shackled, we're shackled, we're shackled

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Outro: Read Arab Voices All Year!

A stack of books by Arab authors.

This month was Arab American Heritage Month, a month-long celebration of Arab and Arab American voices in the U.S.

Over the month, I collaborated with the wonderful George Jreije (author of the middle grade Shad Hadid series) on a series of Instagram giveaways featuring Arab & Arab American voices. Though the giveaways are over, I’ve collected the names of the participating Arab and Arab American creators below, and also thrown in some additional creators from my shelves (see the above photo!). I highly recommend checking out these books for your TBR:

Adult Books: The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem; The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna; The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai, If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga; Bride of the Sea by Eman Quotah; Dear God, Dear Bones, Dear Yellow by Noor Hindi; O by Zeina Hashem Beck; Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

Young Adult Books: The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan; Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim; Six Truths and a Lie and The Next New Syrian Girl by Ream Shukairy; Something More by Jackie Khalileh; Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas; As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

Middle Grade Books: Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije; Daughters of the Lamp by Nedda Lewers; Tagging Freedom by Rhonda Roumani

Children’s Books: The Book that Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed and illustrated by Hatem Aly; Ramadan Kareem by M. O. Yuksel and illustrated by Hatem Aly; The Night Before Eid by Aya Khalil and illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh; Farah Rocks series by Susan Darraj

This is just a selection of books by Arab authors, but there are many incredible releases on the shelves to be found. Thank you for supporting our work—and mine!—throughout the year. Personally, it’s been a joy to share pieces of my Arab heritage in The Sandsea Trilogy, and I’m extremely grateful to those who support and share my work.

It’s back to the deadline grindstone for me, but I hope you all have a lovely May!

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See you next time! —Chelsea

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