iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

LOOK👏AT👏HER👏 VOIDWALKER, my spicy romantasy in a sweeping new world, arrives AUGUST 19! A smuggler crossing the Void between worlds, caught in a cutthroat coup. A carnivorous immortal lord with everything to lose. A temptation, for how sweet the monster’s fangs might feel...

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Reposted by S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥

Gollancz @gollancz.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

From the author of the Sunday Times-bestselling #ThePhoenixKeeper, comes a sizzling fantasy romance in a sweeping new world 😈 Walk the void on 19 August 2025. Pre-order VOIDWALKER by @authorsamaclean.bsky.social: geni.us/VoidwalkerHB Illustration: @fdasuarez.bsky.social Design: Rachael Lancaster

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Pinterest. I swear to god. Don't walk in here with that "review your reports and violations" nonsense for an image I pinned because YOU showed it to ME. I need all these pictures of shirtless men for ART 😭

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Do you ever find the perfect announcement song for a book that's like, five releases in the future, so now you've got to sit on it for the next few years like

media.tenor.com

a man looking out over the ocean from a pier

ALT: a man looking out over the ocean from a pier

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

I finally did it. I bought lavender syrup. Let the winter of lavender matcha lattes begin.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I really wish my cat's single brain cell could process that chomping on the plastic christmas tree makes him throw up. But alas.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

VOIDWALKER 2025 😇 (love me a monster boi who is utterly pathetic for the MC)

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Do I REALLY need to look at my Spotify Wrapped when I already know it's going to be filled with nothing but edgy monster smut bait??? Delightfully, this is an amalgamation of playlists from all three different books I've been working on 🤣 (#1 and 5 are VOIDWALKER, #2 and 6 are Voidwalker sequel 😇)

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

🚨VOIDWALKER CHARACTER ART🚨 I’ve been drawing VOIDWALKER art for over a year, and I finally get to start sharing it! Drumroll please, as I introduce:

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

This thread is focused on contemporary romance, but a lot of the points hit home for why romantasy feels like such a feast or famine genre to me, why a ship either falls flat, or turns me feral for days.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Today, I'm thankful for . . . all of YOU! 🥰 All the readers who've picked up The Phoenix Keeper, and all the reviewers who have shared your wonderful thoughts on the book. I get to write and share more stories because of YOU supporting me and believing in my words. So truly, thank you ❤️

A woman with a shocked expression, holding a hand up to her mouth, and holding a copy of the book The Phoenix Keeper.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Watching Arcane finale. Me: I need at least one couple to survive this show. My very straight boyfriend: I don't think Jayce and Viktor count as a couple. Me: . . . Him: . . . Me: . . . Him: They're just good bros. Ok, buddy. Whatever you say.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

It's truly the best and worst feeling to be in the middle of revisions, but also constantly inundated with fun new ideas for this book (and for the other book I'm drafting, setting those aside as a December treat...)

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Calm morning, enjoying how the sunlight falls on the bookshelves, working on revisions for my third book. Can you believe 2024 is almost over? I feel like I still have so much I want to read, so much I want to write. Here's to a productive weekend 🥰

Colorful bookshelves in dim light, with a diagonal swath of sunlight falling across some of them.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

My grocery store has put all the cold medicine into one of those locked cabinets. Including the saline spray. I have to summon an employee to unlock the saline spray for me. The saltwater. The regular water with regular salt in it.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

The most humbling part of edits is when you have a brilliant idea for a new sentence, you find the perfect place to add the words, you pat yourself on the back for being an editing genius. Only to keep reading and discover you previously drafted the same sentence, nearly word for word a page later.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Have you read THE PHOENIX KEEPER and wonder how my next book compares? Are you new to both? Well look no further!

A graphic titled Compare and Contrast. Two book titles are placed side by side, The Phoenix Keeper with an image of orange and gold phoenixes in flame, and Voidwalker with an image of a woman walking through a night forest as a creature perches in a branch above her.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Loving the vibes over here as everyone migrates, but I'm not seeing nearly enough cats. Show me your cats! 🐈‍⬛️❤️

A fluffy black tuxedo cat, rolling on a table next to a copy of the book THE PHOENIX KEEPER.

Fluffy tuxedo cat sitting on a chair in the sun, in front of bookshelves.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

When it's a good edits day, and this book is feeling 🔥🔥🔥 Y'all won't see this one until 2026, but trust me, were COOKING.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

We're introducing ourselves again? I'm Sarah! The (still can't believe I can say this) Sunday Times bestselling author of The Phoenix Keeper, a cozy fantasy about a magic zoo. My next book, Voidwalker, is a monster romantasy (Aug 2025). I'm bi, an ecology professor, and have two fluffy tuxedo cats

A woman in glasses with black hair, dyed red and purple ombre. Behind her is a bookcase full of pretty sprayed edges.

A stack of books, different versions of THE PHOENIX KEEPER, sitting next to a laptop open to a promo image for VOIDWALKER. Both are sitting on a desk mat with a phoenix in flight.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

New book baby's first 100 adds on Goodreads! 🥳 It's still surreal to see my book (and my second book now???) appear on Goodreads, to see that placeholder cover with my name and title on it, to see real readers adding it to their lists.

Yellow placeholder cover of VOIDWALKER by S. A. MacLean, alongside a screenshot of Goodreads stats showing 100 add for "Want to read", with a background photo of green aurora over pine trees.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 01/01/2024

2023 was ... transformative I sold my debut adult cozy fantasy. And while we've been quietly accruing a *mountain* of news that can't be announced yet, I can safely say that I'm watching all my dreams come true, and it is a FEELING 🥹 2024 is going to be an incredible year 🥰

THE PHOENIX KEEPER, SUMMER 2024

Jungle plants sprout around the text, and a red and gold phoenix flies overheard.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 02/11/2023

I have never been so *viscerally* aware of how many ellipses are in my books as I am while doing copy edits right now 😵‍💫

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 28/10/2023

It's my birthday, and there are cover shaped things in my inbox 👀

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

There's always one week where the burnout *really* hits. Where I officially shift into survival mode for the rest of the semester. This is that week. I feel it.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 14/10/2023

Like, I've been ruining my characters' lives for the entire book, sure. But I'm REALLY ruining their lives in this climax...

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 13/10/2023

I have acquired my first Smol Pumpkin™️ of the season. Let the fall begin.

Single hand holding a small orange pumpkin. In the background is an out of focus kitchen.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

Interrupting my normally scheduled book ramblings to bring you: Mantis friend!!!

A large green praying mantis looking toward the camera, hanging upside down on a lightbulb beneath a patio umbrella.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 04/10/2023

One Dark Window was one of my top reads last year. Two Twisted Crowns is a MASTERFUL follow-up, easily another favorite this year. The stunning prose. The clever magic system. The monster girls. The god-tier simp energy that is Elm Rowan. 🙌 Don't miss this one!

Hand holding an ARC of Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig. Cover shows a woman with dark hair and a red dress facing away, with two twisted trees on either side. In the background are bookshelves, including One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 02/10/2023

✨GollanczFest is returning March 2024✨ Check out this amazing author lineup! And flower crowns! Plus, a little birdie tells me, there will be some fantastic phoenix features aflight at the festival 🔥 Don't miss out! More info at: bit.ly/gollanczfest2024

Black/blue background with the text: GollanczFest 16 March 2024. Head to bit.ly/gollanczfest2024 for more details. Behind the text is a red and gold phoenix in flight, her tail covered in flame.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 01/10/2023

It's so weird working on a book three years down the pipeline because what do I TALK ABOUT here?? I could tell you my characters are having an extremely rough time right now fighting an angry pseudo-angel over a piece of glowing antler but you don't even KNOW THEM.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

Last night, my boyfriend accidentally nudged a rug with his foot, spooking our two cats so bad that one ran into a wall and the other vanished into the bedroom. Truly, such fearsome predators.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 29/09/2023

Once again lamenting over my placeholder chapter titles. I have zero clue what this chapter SHOULD be titled, only that it probably shouldn't be THIS 😂😭

Screenshot of text: Chapter 40 TOXIC DADDIES

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 26/09/2023

Opened up my doc to write for the first time today, only to discover ... I already wrote 286 words of zero draft? At some point this morning? In a haze I completely forgot about?? It would seem 7am Sarah decided a character is getting shot through the chest with an arrow. 7am Sarah had no chill.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 22/09/2023

Received some monstrously exciting book mail from @orbitbooks.bsky.social this week 😈 Excuse me while I vanish into one of my most anticipated reads of the year 👑👑

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

Yesterday, someone was stabbed at my college. The number of student messages I got saying they didn't feel safe coming to class, but worried about missing the quiz, has me livid actually. No. Honey. Mental health is more important than cell structure, and I'm so sorry if anyone told you otherwise.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

I don't need Spotify wrapped. I know it's just Castlevania Bloody Tears Epic Version repeated 9000x on my commute as I choreograph the climactic battle of a book I might write five years from now.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

I feel like I need unique content to post here, yet all I can come up with is "at least there's no monthly fee?"

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 18/09/2023

Awaiting the day when an industry professional inevitably has words with me about my chapter titles. But for now I'm just having a great time.

Screenshot of text reading: Chapter 38, I'll have you know that I'm god's favorite.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 08/09/2023

Do you ever pick up a book, and it welcomes you in with a soft smile, a big hug, a delicious little treat of banter and rivalry and pining glances? Then all of a sudden you look down and somehow your heart is shredded and bloody in your hands? So I finished Divine Rivals ...

Hardcover book of Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, Fairyloot edition, black and white art of a woman and a man in old-fashioned dress, facing each other, holding the same letter between them. Book is set on a background floral pattern of beige, orange, and teal.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 06/09/2023

Today, out there in the real world, a person was asking about my debut book, and they asked how many chapters is in it. Not word count. Not page count. How many CHAPTERS. And my brain made dialup noises.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 02/09/2023

It's raining outside. I've got a jar of matcha. And I have the entire day free to relax and draft a very steamy chapter 😌

A black laptop sitting on a lap, in a green armchair, an arm holding a glass jaw of matcha on the armrest. In the background are bookshelves to the right, a window looking out on rain and trees to the left.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 01/09/2023

Confidently declaring this "egguin" one of my best purchases of 2023. I feel no need to explain.

Hand holding a plastic contraption of six black penguin egg holders, with slots to insert the eggs to their bellies. Egguins are being lowered into a pot of water to boil the eggs.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 26/08/2023

One of my favorite nooks on my new bookshelves! I finally got my little Folk of the Air light hooked up, and it's so cozy and nice and I love it 😌

Photo of white bookshelves. Center frame is a lit up box with a scene of Jude and Carden stargazing. Left of the light is a collection of black hardcovers of The Folk of the Air series. To the right is a front-facing hardcover of The Stolen Heir.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 25/08/2023

Just casually screaming about ✨multiple vague things✨ on this lovely Friday

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 24/08/2023

The first three avocados I opened were black and rotten inside. The fourth was not ripe enough. All four felt exactly the same on the outside. Avocados are a masochist's fruit.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 21/08/2023

There may come a day, for the sake of diversity, where I write a relationship that doesn't involve at least one (1) hopeless simp. Today is not that day. 80k of drafting done 😤💪

Text excerpt reads: Her smile bloomed in earnest, and he was ruined, a lowly husk commanded by the curve of that mouth.

Below, @authorsamaclean and an antler graphic in gold.

Background of black with golden sparks.

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S. A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now!!! 🔥 @authorsamaclean.bsky.social · 18/08/2023

New office view! In our old place, our cats always fought to be near me while I'm at my desk, and there was no space for them 😭 Now, they have a snug cushion next to me. Monty also loves the view, up on the second floor where he can survey his domain like a proper tyrant 😌

Long haired tuxedo cat looking at the camera, laying on a thick gray pillow on a wooden desk. To the sides are a potted ivy and a glass with long feathers. Behind, a large window looks out on a sunny lawn with trees.

Long haired tuxedo cat looking out a window, laying on a thick gray pillow on a wooden desk. To the sides are a potted ivy and a glass with long feathers. A large window looks out on a sunny lawn with trees.

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