Cakepops and Kitsune
Been MIA... but for good cause
I spend a lot of time here talking about the trends, tropes, and character archetypes that can contribute to sustaining toxic elements of culture. The unfortunate fact is that no book can be lily-white when it comes to unwittingly reinforcing problematic norms. We write stories that are rooted in our experiences and, unfortunately, every single writer on the planet has inherited some sort of generational trauma, learned to work around systemic discrimination, and caved to some (sometimes small, sometimes large) element of privilege that someone somewhere else in the world does not have access to. Writers are flawed human beings. We will never write anything that’s perfect.
But we still try (or, at the very least, I do…)
Which is what I’ve spent the last month doing… Trying…
I don’t know if I’ve succeeded, but I’ve done my best to write a wholesome holiday story that examines both the weak-spots in society and the weak-spots in the previous Sanctuary Witch short stories.
Today, I’m happy to announce Cakepops & Kitsune, the third Sanctuary Witch short story.
Yuletide is here again, but Annette doesn’t feel much like celebrating. There’s no snow, her oven’s broken, but most of all, Midnight, her kitty-cat familiar, is missing. When an old annoyance knocks on her door, she wants nothing more than to yeet him back into the snowless winter cold. There’s just one problem: she’s still a sanctuary witch, and someone needs her help.
Warning: this story contains crafty fox spirits, belated baked goods, and sparky salamanders. Read with all due holiday cheer!
While I’ve done my best to make sure you can read the Sanctuary Witch short stories in any order without overwhelming confusion, Cakepops and Kitsune does touch on events that occurred during last year’s holiday short story, Brownie Removal Service. As such, I am gifting you all of the Sanctuary Witch short stories. Here is the publication order:
Brownie Removal Service (Last year’s winter short story - 5-10 min read)*
Soulstone Sanctuary (This year’s Halloween short story - 20-30 min read)*
Cakepops and Kitsune (This year’s winter short story - 50 - 75 min read)*
*These are estimated read times to help you get an idea of the size of each story
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for following me! You’ve given me a much-needed boost this holiday season. Click on the link above to go to the Sanctuary Witch bundle page, where you can choose which books you want to download. They’re all free!
Last but not least, I’d love to hear what you think. Comment your favorite moment or your favorite story. (And if you don’t want spoilers, then please don’t read the comments!)