My Dutch cover
Today I wanted to show you my Dutch cover! I’m delighted Long Live Evil is being published (simultaneously with the US and UK) in the Netherlands - Luitingh Sijthoff is the most amazing fantasy publisher, who publish George R.R. Martin and Naomi Novik. My Dutch editors kindly said they were over the moon to publish this story about the magic of books. And I’m over the moon with this cover: its amazing sprayed edges, the sword, the serpent (we always have our evil snake mascot!) and dove motif, and the fairytale roses. Because behold the heroine of the story… and behold my villainous protagonist, who is in fact her wicked stepsister. Discover the villain within!
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I want people to understand that I dont like GGY in a "Gregory is the villain and is evil and has a villain arc" way but in a "Gregory is tragic and was ripped away from his life before he was controlled but he finds a new one with Freddy and Vanessa who went through what he did and they work together to make sure what hurt them never hurts anyone else ever again and they live and love eachother and are happy despite how hard glitchtrap tried to ruin everything" way
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I like to think shen yuan's relationship with his er-ge is messy and complicated and hurts but it's also... very close?? they yell and they fight and they most certainly never apologize, but they'd take a bullet for each other without having to think twice about it.
average siblings relationship basically LMAOOO. I bet his er-ge would never call him his friend. I bet his er-ge would run to an airport for him.
as for shen yuan's eldest brother... we know that he's apparantly gentle, but I like to think sy overthinks his relationship with him. thinks that though they don't hate eachother, he feels more like an acquaintance da-ge has to treat well rather than his little brother. his da-ge has always been so busy, shen yuan can't even name his favorite color if he tried.
(little does he know his da-ge always checks in with others to how sy is doing, always planning weeks in advance what to get him for his birthday when he can't make it, all of them unique and well thought-out. but he's always so nervous sending them. he wishes he wasn't so busy. he wishes he could listen to his little brother talk about those 2d men he doesn't really understand. but it seems to make his san-didi happy, and that's enough)
they both promise to make time for their a-yuan's 20th birthday. after all, they promised last year that they wouldn't celebrate in the hospital's artificial garden, but at their mother's butterfly garden. their a-yuan has always been the type to adore her butterflies, being able to remember their scientific names and patterns and even certain myths associated with them. he loves those butterflies almost as much as he loves sea animals. they'd make it this time, they would. they'll all spend shen yuan's birthday together. once their sister picks up a-yuan, they'll make it up to him.
that day, they get a call from the hospital.
they don't see their sister until the funeral, with newly cut and choppy hair.
none of them mentions it.
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The hero is tired. Then again, what else is new? They’re always tired- it’s in the job description. After all, they’re often roused in the middle of the night because a villain is wreaking havoc on the city. If they’re lucky, the hero is simply woken by their own nightmares. Regardless, they get little time to themselves and even littler sleep.
Lack of sleep is an everyday occurrence for the hero. When they walk into work that morning, they push their exhaustion to the side like always and resume work. They fight villains, apprehend thieves, help citizens. All in a day’s work. For a while, the hero almost fools themselves. They almost forget their exhaustion and fatigue. Almost.
It all comes to a close about five minutes before the hero is scheduled to go home. The villain is lurking on some high building a few miles away and the hero is assigned to go fight them, retrieve them, do whatever heroes are supposed to do. Admittedly, the hero isn’t entirely clear on what their mission is. They stopped listening to their boss after they heard “Here’s the plan.”
The hero gets to the rooftop within ten minutes. They’re definitely not breaking any records for speed, but at least they’re present. The villain turns around upon hearing the door slam behind them. Their enemy grins, gesturing widely with their arms and saying something that gets entirely lost in the brisk wind. The hero just sighs under their breath, bends down to assume a fighting position and blocks the villain’s blows.
The villain is particularly fast today. The hero is only really able to fight defensively, as they’re expending all their energy trying to keep their enemy at bay. Perhaps the villain takes notice of this, because they cackle and somehow manage to increase their speed. The hero has to put all their concentration towards not being hit, which proves to be an increasingly difficult task.
A siren sounds on the street below. The noise wouldn’t even reach their ears on a typical day, but today, the hero stops for a moment. They tear their eyes away from the villain and that is their fatal mistake, because, in their distraction, the villain strikes. Before the hero can take another breath, there’s suddenly a knife lodged between their ribs.
The hero stumbles a bit, suddenly feeling off balance. There's a faint rushing sound in their ears and their breaths feel harsher and more labored. They look down at their chest with wide eyes, watching as their shirt slowly turns more crimson. The world around them suddenly feels far more topsy turvy.
“You were supposed to dodge that,” a strained voice that must be the villain’s sounds. The hero is certain they’ve never heard their enemy sound so bothered before. Unfortunately, that’s the least of their concerns. The knife is ripping pain out of them, drawing a strangled gasp out of their throat.
“S-sorry,” the hero chokes out, for some reason. Admittedly, they’re not at all sure why they’re apologizing for getting stabbed. Their mind is far from clear, however, as pain, confusion, and weariness battle for prominence. They fall to a kneeling position and place a hand on the ground, trying to fight off the swirls dancing over their vision. Their free hand trembles as they reach to grasp the knife.
“Don’t pull it out!” The villain’s exclamation makes them flinch so hard that they nearly fall over. The hero looks up, only to find their enemy staring down at them. There’s an annoyed expression on their face. “Gods, you’re so stupid.” They’re pushed backward to sit. The villain crouches at their side, one leg propping them up as they squint at the wound.
“You’re the one that stabbed me,” the hero huffs, trying to resist the urge to close their eyes. Their eyelids sting as they try to keep themselves awake. They know, however, that they shouldn’t let their guard down in front of the villain.
“You were supposed to dodge that, obviously,” the villain remarks, as if theirs is the only logical conclusion. Their hand is warm, almost painfully so, when it rests on the hero’s side.
“Just shut up and fix me,” the hero hisses, clenching their fists. Their grip is remarkably weak, from what they can tell. They don't have to look up to know the villain has an incredulous look on their face- raised eyebrows and disbelieving eyes. “Please.” Their desperation must show on their face, because their enemy sighs.
“How could I say no to that face?” The villain grins mockingly, their attention flittering between their wound and, well, their face. The hero blinks dazedly, wondering why their enemy sounds like they’re in a tunnel. “Hey, whoa. Don’t fall asleep on me...” The rest of the villain’s words fall on deaf ears, as the hero succumbs to their exhaustion.
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