What We're Writing: Jenn's in Copyedit Mode

 JENN McKINLAY: One of my favorite phases of book producing is the copy edits. Hopefully when the edits arrive, enough time has passed that I've forgotten the book and can now look at it with fresh eyes. I am currently working on the edits for WITCHES OF QUESTIONABLE INTENT and I just got the cover art, which is absolutely stunning but I can't share the whole cover yet. 

I can, however, share an itty bitty piece of it and I'll share a snippet of the story so you know what the glimpse of cover refers to. 

Here's the bit of the cover:

 

So, who/what is this little fella? Here's the snippet from a scene where the protagonist Zoe is visiting a magical midnight market: 

     I glanced around Marvello’s trove of items. There were clocks, mirrors, sets of dishes, maps, lanterns and books…so many books. It was easy to see why Tariq loved Marv’s booth the most. I began to sort through the titles of books, looking for items of interest. I was reaching for a volume on a nearby shelf when a tiny flicker of flame shot out at my fingers followed by a puff of smoke.

     “Ouch!” The flame had grazed my finger but hadn’t burned me. “Marv, I don’t want to alarm you. but I think there’s a fire in your books!”

     “Oh, no!” Marv and Tariq hurried over to the shelf.

     “Right there!” I pointed. Sure enough another little lick of flame appeared.

     Marv laughed and said, “Oh, don’t worry that’s a bookwyrm hatchling.”

    Tariq noted my confusion and explained, “A baby dragon.”

    I clapped my hand against the side of my head a few times as if I was trying to dislodge water. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that because it sounded like you said a baby dragon?”

     “I did.” Tariq gestured to where Marv was moving aside books and reaching into the shelf.

     I felt my jaw drop when Marv pulled his hand out of the opening and pinched between his thumb and forefinger by the scruff of its neck was a tiny black dragon, no bigger than a baseball.

     “That’s not…you’re pranking me,” I said.

     “Hold out your hand,” Marv said. “This little fellow is named Titus. He won’t hurt you.”
     My hand shook a little bit but I held it palm up and Marv dropped the bookwyrm hatchling into it. The little fellow stretched his neck, sniffing the air between us. He was stupid cute and I desperately wanted to pet him or squeeze him, but I didn’t want to terrorize him as he was so tiny, so I didn’t do anything.

     He circled my palm, his tail twitching and his tiny leathery wings flapping, like a dog trying to settle into the best position for a nap. Once he settled, he folded up his wings and tucked in his tail. A puff of smoke came out of his tiny nose and he closed his eyes. I would have thought I was hallucinating but I could feel the pin pricks of his tiny talons on my palm, his steady heartbeat, and his slow inhale and exhale.

     “But…I don’t…isn’t it dangerous to have a little guy who emits fire near all of your books?” I asked.

     “Oh, he’s not the only one,” Marv said. “I have five bookwyrms. They eat mold and dust, and they’re fire is like witch fire where it doesn’t burn but it does clean the books quite nicely.”

This is one of those moments where I desperately wish that what I write could be real. Wouldn't it be cool to have a bookwyrm, maybe two to keep each other company, on your bookcase? 

Reds and Readers, what/who/where is something you've read in a book that you wish was real?

WITCHES OF QUESTIONABLE INTENT comes out Nov 10th. It was originally Oct 27th, so who knows if it will move again, but it'll be this autumn either way. Here's a more detailed description: 

A librarian witch must use her bookish knowledge to track down a dangerous, magical tome, in this enchanting novel from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Thanks to her training as a librarian and her newfound magical abilities, Zoe Ziakas thinks she has a handle on her job at the Museum of Literature safeguarding the secret collection of enchanted tomes known as the Books of Dubious Origin. But when Jasper Griffin—the colleague she’s been crushing on—reports that their most volatile acquisition, The Book of Shadows, has been stolen, Zoe’s carefully cataloged world unravels.

This isn’t just any magical text. It carries unquestionable power, twisting truth into illusion and turning allies into enemies. Once its power is unleashed, no one can trust what they see or who they are.

To track down the book, Zoe, Jasper, and the rest of the BODO team plunge into a perilous hunt that takes them from shadowy midnight markets to demon-infested streets, all while wrangling an unpredictable hellhound puppy. But when the thief begins to invoke the book’s darkest spells, Zoe faces an impossible challenge: How does she stop a curse that can rewrite reality itself?

If she can’t separate fact from fiction, the story won’t just end—it will be erased.