Author: Vermilion Baine

COVER REVEAL AND BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

Vermilion Baine

2025 is almost over (what a loooong year) and we FINALLY have an official cover reveal for DEATH AND HER BOND!

Death and Her Bond is the first book in my gothic fantasy series, The Plague Knight series. You’ve seen the “black, white, and gold” cover, which will be available in paperback through retailers that aren’t Amazon or directly from Ingramspark. But the Amazon paperback edition and all hardcover editions will feature the new cover design by Selkkie Designs!

IMPORTANT! The official cover reveal will occur the 29th of Novmber (US Time). Please do not share the cover on social media until Saturday. To join my cover reveal team (and get the chance to win signed books), use this signup.

THE BLACK, WHITE, AND GOLD EDITION

THE NEW AND OFFICIAL COVER DESIGN

I tried a new type of cover for this series, and I am so, so happy with it!!! I will be doing a special edition with printed edges and foiling, so look out for that.

THE BLURB

I REFUSE TO BELIEVE ALL HORROR COMES FROM MAN AND ALL WONDER COMES FROM THE GODS.

THE MORTICIAN

Valyn Marrow has vowed to serve the victims of the Black Heart plague, prepared to spend her life saving theirs. Instead, she spends her nights grinding the dead into ash.

THE PLAGUE KNIGHTS

Valyn is a plague knight’s squire. Only the knights wield the Black Heart’s cure—a costly gift from their death goddess. Their holy fire burns away the contagion without consuming the victim—if the afflicted is found in time. Once Valyn earns her own knighthood, she’ll be able to doctor the living. But, for now, her nights are filled with dirges and smoke as she cremates those lost.

THE SACRIFICED PRINCE

Her path to knighthood is grueling, but clear—until Valyn aids the brooding and strange Prince Callum Everhart in what was supposed to be a routine dissection. The plague is changing, and Valyn unexpectedly finds herself helping the prince investigate the cause. Is mankind to blame for this blight? Is it nature fighting back? Is it a god?

The prince believes it’s something worse, and Valyn hates to agree with him.

BLACK FRIDAY SALES!

I joined a 99 cent Black Friday Sale hosted by Romance Book Lovers ! Check out their site for ebook deals from November 28th thru December 1st! The Fey Hotel ebook is 99 cents through this time and The Academy of the Dead is at $2.99. Please share the link. There are a ton of great ebooks on sale.

ARIZONA BOOKISH EVENTS

I’ll be sharing local Arizona events in this newsletter now. Here’s what is coming up! I will be at the Readers of the Valley January 18th, 2026 event.

NAMELOCATIONDATE
Tales & Tumbleweed Book FestivalMesa, AZNov 30, 2025
Mesa Book FestivalMesa, AZDec 6, 2025
A Very Merry Book CrawlPhoenix, AZDec 6, 2025
The Enchanted Quill Grand Opening (Mobile Bookstore)Phoenix, AZDec 7, 2025
Readers of the Valley Holiday EventGlendale, AZDecember 12, 2025
Readers of the ValleyGlendale, AZJan 18, 2026

NEW ART REVEAL!

By @lizzie.bizzii

My Birthday and Publishing Plans for 2026!

Vermilion Baine

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! We went trick or treating for the first time with our toddler, and he had so much fun. He was very spoiled with his wagon setup. I free-handed the Lightning McQueen because I was too tired to drag out the projector to trace it, lol.

MULTI-AUTHOR BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY

If you aren’t already following me on Instagram , I’ve recently switched to mainly posting there instead of TikTok. If you want to stay informed (you’re subscribed to my newsletter already so you’ll also get all the info here!), please follow me there. I’ll also be hosting a giveaway there for my birthday (November 11th), so please look out for that! A group of lovely authors will be joining me.

New Author Photo Shoot Results!

I recently had a professional photo shoot done to replace my author photo! What do you think? I like the left one best.

2026 PUBLISHING PLANS

I know 2025 was a slow year for me (no releases but I did have a baby!), but 2026 is GOING TO BE WILD! I have THREE special, SECRET projects coming next fall, a LOT of art on the way (Atticus fans rejoice!), and I plan to publish two books. Death and Her Bond, the first book in my new gothic fantasy will release Spring-Summer 2026. In October 2026, I will release a cozy, witch romance novella. You can check out the vibes below, and I will NOT be explaining them.

I also released the blurb for Death and Her Bond. Please read below.

THE MORTICIAN

Valyn Marrow has vowed to serve the victims of the Black Heart plague, prepared to spend her life saving theirs. Instead, she spends her nights grinding the dead into ash.

THE PLAGUE KNIGHTS

Valyn is a plague knight’s squire. Only the knights wield the Black Heart’s cure—a costly gift from their death goddess. Their holy fire burns away the contagion without consuming the victim—if the afflicted is found in time. Once Valyn earns her own knighthood, she’ll be able to doctor the living. But, for now, her nights are filled with dirges and smoke as she cremates those lost to the plague.

THE SACRIFICED PRINCE

Her path to knighthood is grueling, but clear—until Valyn aids the brooding and strange Prince Callum Everhart in what was supposed to be a routine dissection. The plague is changing, and Valyn unexpectedly finds herself helping the prince investigate the cause behind the terrifying progression. Is mankind to blame for this blight? Is it nature fighting back? Is it a god? The prince believes it’s something worse, and Valyn hates to agree with him.

HAPPY RELEASE DAY, CHELLE!

Celebrate Chelle’s new release, Claiming the Curse! If you love gothic romance (and if you are here, you should lol), then here’s something to add to your TBR!

Arianna Belmont will sacrifice everything to save her terminally ill love. Silas Belmont will protect his beloved no matter the cost. With their curse-bond solidified and their soul entwined, they’re determined to endure gruesome fates to preserve their mates.

Death lingers in the shadows, waiting to ensnare Silas. There is no cure to the wasting sickness ravaging his body. Teetering towards his demise, he would rather proceed to the Great Beyond than risk Arianna’s wellbeing or place his subjects in harm’s way. His martyrdom is her saving grace, keeping her hidden in Presspin far from those who’d collect the bounty on her head.

The world Arianna built in Belmont Manor is crumbling, with her blight and life spiraling out of control. Unwilling to accept Silas’s fate, she enacts a desperate measure to restore her husband by sending a raven requesting aid from an ex-disciple, unwittingly bringing doom to their doorstep.

Yet an unexpected hope arrives, when a mysterious stranger infiltrates Presspin with the promise of an antidote. Arianna must decide to trust the unscrupulous rogue or let her spouse die.

With a fight against time, will Arianna rush headlong into danger, throwing caution to the wind on a slim chance at a miracle, or will Silas force the pair to remain true to course, to safeguard his wife, leading to his fatality?

Find out in this twisted gothic snow white reimagined, Claiming the Curse, the second in the Aralian Series following the inaugural story, Unmasking the Curse.

What I’m Reading

After one-too-many missions gone sideways, telekinetic Liana Avila has caught some negative attention. She’s one bad day away from ending up on a wanted poster, and hotheaded EVOS Agent Wallace is now tracking her as part of the government’s ongoing effort to “maintain civility” between superhumans and the shapeshifting aliens their powers come from.

Shaking Wallace is impossible, especially after Liana is caught in the crossfire between the rebellion she’s a part of and EVOS. So when Liana is critically injured, she has no choice but to let Wallace capture her.

Instead of arresting Liana, Wallace has different plans: use Liana to take down Stryker, the unhinged leader of the rebellion. Liana refuses. Stryker is her boss, after all.

But Wallace is persuasive. and Liana has lost enough faith in her future to play along. Besides, if working with EVOS means learning about the enemy, it may be key to the rebellion’s plight for restoring justice to a world desperately in need of real heroes.

For Agents of Shield fans!

That’s all for now! Keep reading, stay safe, and stay gothic!

Happy (Almost) 6 Month Anniversary to The Fey Hotel!

Vermilion Baine

Hello, readers! On July 14th, 2024, it will be the six month anniversary of publishing my debut novel, The Fey Hotel! To celebrate, I’ll be running a sale on Amazon (US and UK) on the ebook! If you want to snag the $0.99 ebook or share the sale (which I would really appreciate), I’ll include the link. This is my first sale EVER so grab it while you can! Sale will run July 14-17th, 2024. I will send a newsletter reminder of the sale on July 14th. The Fey Hotel Amazon Ebook

Also on July 14th, I planned to share the cover of The Academy of the Dead. The illustration is so close to being completed, but I may miss the mark. Hopefully, I will get the illustration Saturday and we’ll be able to run the cover reveal on time. I will say though, that I think it’s my best cover yet!

If you haven’t joined the ARC team for The Academy of the Dead, don’t miss your chance! ARC SIGNUP AotD

If you’re in the Arizona area, I’ll be singing copies of The Fey Hotel at the Happy Valley, AZ Barnes and Noble! I’ll have my stickers and art with me. Hope to see you there! Date: July 13th, 2024 11am-2pm

I’ve been spending more time on Threads than Tiktok, so here’s my profile to find me there! VH Baine Threads

BETA Reader Signup

Vermilion Baine

Hey, everyone! I know I just had a newsletter, but I’m 20% through editing The Academy for the Dead for beta reading, and I don’t think I provided the signup here. If you are interested, I hope to get that out to beta readers by July or sooner. BETA READING SIGNUP

Synopsis: The Academy of the Dead is a standalone paranormal romance. In a world where the modern meets the magical, humans, witches, and other paranormal creatures live and work together. This dual POV follows two necromancers that attended the same magical college in the Northeastern US. Maddox and Atticus grow from childhood friends to academic rivals, and reconnect as adults to work on the same research team. Their project? Translate part of the missing book of the dead. Their shared past gets in the way of their working relationship, but Atticus refuses to explain why he betrayed Maddox so many years ago. While Maddox struggles to forgive her former best friend and keep things between them professional, an unexpected enemy threatens to rise.

Perfect for fans of Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, Crimson Peak, Jane Eye, Phantom of the Opera, and Lisa Frankenstein

Tropes: forced proximity, academic rivals, duels that turn spicy, family secrets

ARC Signups and More!

Vermilion Baine

Good afternoon, everyone! A few updates-the first draft of the Academy of the Dead is completed! We are looking at a publication date of October 11th, 2024. You can sign up for the ARC team and the Cover Reveal team now! Our double cover reveal will by July 14th!

ARC TEAM SIGN UP

If you signed up for my permanent ARC team, you don’t need to sign up separately for The Academy of the Dead, but the form includes content warnings if you wish to see those. If the warnings are something you don’t vibe with, no worries! If you decide not to read (for ANY reason), I won’t remove you from the permanent team and there’s no need to give me a heads up. Every book is different, schedules change, and I don’t want anyone feeling like they HAVE to read. ARCs will release around September.

My ETSY shop has been restocked with hardcover editions of The Fey Hotel! The new art print of Elden is included with the signed editions.

My personal updates! My husband took a 3 week trip out of the US and is back! He booked us a stay at a resort on his return, which was a complete surprise! We enjoyed a pool with a waterfall, some good food, and peace and quiet. We are also starting to work on my home office. We have the goods to start the electrical work, and I’ve ordered a standing desk. I’ll share updates of the office as we go.

New Elden Portrait and other news

Vermilion Baine

I’ll just start off with the new character art I commissioned for Elden! Once I receive the prints, this will be included in the signed copies of The Fey Hotel! If you are preordering The Academy of the Dead from me, I will include this print as well, since I think most of you have also read The Fey Hotel. PREORDER LINK FOR THE ACADEMY OF THE DEAD

I am organizing a COVER REVEAL TEAM for the next standalone in the Haunted Creatures, Haunted Places series. The Academy of the Dead is a paranormal romance about two necromancers that attended the same magical college, started off as friends and became academic rivals, and now are on the same cursed project together. My goal is to have 100 sign ups for the reveal, we’re almost 40 percent there! Please share if you can! Participants will have a chance to win a physical copy of The Academy of the Dead (US residents only). If we hit 100 sign ups, I’ll commission a portrait from Loran Desore for our new MMC, Atticus! COVER REVEAL TEAM SIGNUP

What else is new? I live out in the desert and my husband had to help fight a brush fire. It traveled very far; it even made it to our neighbor’s fence! It was very stressful packing up to possibly leave our home behind. And I was worried about my husband out there as well. We have both fought fires while we were in the Navy, but those were small electrical fires. Thankfully it seems to have stopped!

MY UPCOMING ARIZONA EVENTS!

Academy of the Dead Art, Giveaways, and Updates!

Vermilion Baine

Hey, everyone! We have some exciting updates! The Academy of the Dead, the next standalone in my urban fantasy series, Haunted Creatures, Haunted Places (renamed from Enchanted with the Enemy series), is almost completed! The first draft that is, haha.

I do have some cute art to share of our new main characters, Maddox and Atticus! This art will be featured in stickers and some acrylic key chains for those of you that are preordering The Academy of the Dead.

Did someone say preorders? I have preorders open for signed copies of The Academy of the Dead. There is a signup form. I’ll be sending an invoice later on when I’m ready to order the books! What will preorders get you? You’ll get a wrapped and signed book, stickers, character art, key chains, sprayed edges, and maybeeee more. I’ll include the blurb below. Sign Up Form

When will the cover be revealed for AotD? I have the landscape cover completed. (This was done by the artist who did the dog and castle cover for The Fey Hotel hardcover edition.) Once the character cover is completed, which should be in July, we’ll have a double cover reveal! If you’d like a chance to win a copy of AotD, please join my cover reveal team! Cover Reveal Team

Upcoming Events in Arizona

NOW IT’S TIME FOR SOME INSTAGRAM GIVEAWAYS!

I have a giveaway going on, and so does CK Andersson, the author of Shadow Dance! I will link the giveaways below!

VH Baine Giveaway

Upcoming Events and an Interview!

Vermilion Baine

Hey, everyone! I’ve been busy working on The Academy of the Dead. I have all art for this standalone already booked, and I can’t wait to share! I have commissioned a cartoon sticker, a piece of scene art for the hardcover edition, and I ended up booking with the artist that illustrated the dog cover that everyone loves!

You may have seen a cover for The Academy of Dead that I designed using one of the commissioned illustrations. I love that cover, and I’m proud of what I made, but the special hardcover will have a printed on cover drawn by the same artist as The Fey Hotel. She just does such a good job, and I want the books to match. Sorry for the change! The character cover artist for The Fey Hotel will also be illustrating the AotD character cover. I may use the other one I made for a special edition for a book signing or similar event. I’ll share it for those that are curious.

I hope to have a double cover reveal in June, so please join us if you want to participate in the cover reveal! Participation gets you an entry in a giveaway for a paperback of either The Academy of the Dead or The Fey Hotel, your choice.

Cover Reveal Team Sign Up

In other news, I just did an interview with Youtube’s Bookish Lady Knight! I’ll link that. Please go check out her page and watch for her future interviews.

Bookish_Lady_Knight Interview

My future events! I am doing a few events in Arizona, and I would love to see you there!

I am now on Threads! I’ll link my profile here.

Signed Hardcover Restock! And More Exciting News!

Vermilion Baine

I have exciting news! Besides the news that my Etsy store has restocked the signed hardcover copies of The Fey Hotel. My book is currently on display in the Chandler, Arizona Barnes and Noble! It’s located in the Chandler Fashion Mall, where I had my first signing.

This has always been a dream of mine, and I happened to have my signing marker with me, so these are all signed! I almost cried in the store, but I powered through it. I’m very thankful to the Chandler B&N for giving my book a chance! I did sell one while I was signing and handed him a bookmark!

Thanks for following along! I may be a little indie author, but so many of my dreams are becoming reality!

Happy Indie Author Month!

Vermilion Baine

Hello, everyone! This newsletter is really just to show off my first commissioned artwork for The Academy of the Dead! Polina did an amazing job with these two characters! Our MMC, Atticus Blackwell, comes from two long lines of necromancers and his mother’s side runs the world’s largest supplier of apothecary supplies. He’s Maddox Abernathy’s former academic rival. Our FMC, Maddox Abernathy, comes from the Abernathy coven mentioned in The Fey Hotel. She is the only necromancer in her family of green witches.

Last newsletter included the prologue to The Academy of the Dead. You can view this on my website or my Discord server! DISCORD

An update on my hardcovers! I have a restock of my signed hardcovers of The Fey Hotel! It should arrive sometime next week. Those that signed up for the wait list will be notified when the listing drops.

Wait List Sign Up

Academy of the Dead July Cover Reveal! I hope to have the cover reveal in July, but you can sign up to participate now! I will be using the same artist as The Fey Hotel used! One of the participants will win a signed copy of The Academy of the Dead (US Only). LINK