The April I Started Finding My Way Back

 


April has been a month of finding my way back—focusing on health, rebuilding energy, and getting things moving again.

I’ve continued posting Kiss Me After the Kill, celebrated new releases of The Starlight Prince and Starlight and Stolen Secrets, and started planning future romantasy projects.

 Read them here: https://www.inkitt.com/ClareDugmore

I also celebrated 16 years of marriage, enjoyed special family time, and may have found a new hobby in loom knitting.

Sometimes progress looks quiet—but it still counts.

Want More?

Read the full April update here:
πŸ‘‰ https://claredugmore.com/blog/the-april-i-started-finding-my-way-back

What’s more dangerous to a centuries-old vampire than sunlight? πŸ–€

 

Hey Besties!

I hope your week has been wonderful.

It’s certainly been an eventful one for KISS ME AFTER THE KILL, with chapters ten and eleven going livewith Lucia turning up at Azrael’s penthouse apartment demanding answers!  πŸ‘€

➡️You can read both chapters here: https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1685437

I also launched a 10-chapter ebook sample of Kiss Me After The Kill, if you’d prefer to binge it that way this weekend.

You can get it from BookFunnel here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/uen6bk3d54

And don’t forget, if you want the next chapter the moment it drops, all you have to do is join the KMATK update list and step inside Azrael’s Inner Sanctum — where you’ll get:

🩸 Weekly chapter links (so you never miss an update)

πŸ–€ Sneak peeks of what’s coming next

✨ Early news (including the Amazon release once the serial is complete)

Join Azrael’s Inner Sanctum here: https://2e2f8d.share-eu1.hsforms.com/2q6pua8QzTFeB1bLU-gSbRA

Until next week, have a fabulous weekend, and take care of yourself.

T.T.F.N

Clare πŸ–€


KMATK - Two new chapters… and things escalated fast πŸ‘€

 

Hi besties,

This week in Kiss Me After the Kill… things escalated. A lot.

Lucia finally gets a moment to breathe — to feel like herself again — and it lasts exactly as long as you’d expect before everything goes horribly wrong.

Knife to throat wrong.

But… Azrael.

And if you thought the rescue was the moment that changed everything?

It wasn’t.

Because instead of disappearing back into the shadows like he’s supposed to…

He takes her for coffee and cake.

(Yes. Really.)

And somehow, that moment might be even more dangerous than everything that came before it.

πŸ–€ Chapters 8 & 9 are now live:

https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1685437

If you’ve been thinking about starting, this is a really good point to jump in — there’s enough there now to properly sink into the story, and things are only getting more intense from here.

As always, thank you so much for reading, sharing, and being here with me. It genuinely means the world.

Clare πŸ–€

--

P.S. You’re also invited to Azrael’s Inner Sanctum — my weekly KMATK update emails with new chapters and sneak peeks: 

https://2e2f8d.share-eu1.hsforms.com/2q6pua8QzTFeB1bLU-gSbRA


New KMATK Chapters Are Live—and the Stakes Just Changed

 

“Her engagement wasn’t love. It was a countdown…to captivity.”

The noose is tightening around Lucia's neck in this week's two new chapters of dark, forbidden love, vampire romance KISS ME AFTER THE KILL.

The more she learns about her fiancΓ©, Vaughn, the worse it gets...

Read the new chapters here.


A Sneak Peek At What's To Come...

Lucia tried attacking him with her body spray, but he easily knocked it out of her hand, and before she had a chance to scream, his palm pressed against her mouth. Even when she bit down on the flesh, her attacker didn’t flinch.

“He told me you were a feisty one,” the man said, using his other hand to reach into his belt and produce a knife, the blade glinting off the single streetlight in the alley.

“Said you needed to be taught a lesson about what happens to disobedient girls,” he went on, pressing the blade to her throat.

She didn’t need to ask who had paid this armed man to attack her, it could only be Vaughn.


If you want to follow along as the story unfolds, I’ve created a KMATK update list — a place where you’ll get:

🩸 Weekly chapter links (so you never miss an update)
πŸ–€ Sneak peeks of what’s coming next
✨ Early news (including the Amazon release once the serial is complete)

If you want in…

πŸ‘‰ [Join Azrael’s Inner Sanctum]

🩸🌹You’re Invited To Azrael’s Inner Sanctum🩸🌹

 

Hey Besties,

This week has been a BIG one for Kiss Me After the Kill — the first six chapters are now live on Inkitt πŸ‘€

From here on, new chapters will be dropping every Monday and Friday. The story is fully complete, so there’ll be no delays… just a steady descent into chaos πŸ–€

I’ve also set up something a little extra.

If you want to follow along as the story unfolds, I’ve created a KMATK update list — a place where you’ll get:

🩸 Weekly chapter links (so you never miss an update)
πŸ–€ Sneak peeks of what’s coming next
✨ Early news (including the Amazon release once the serial is complete)

If you want in…

πŸ‘‰ [Join Azrael’s Inner Sanctum]

Or, if you’d rather start reading right away:

🩸 [Read on Inkitt]

🩸🌹 NEW SERIAL NOVEL 🩸🌹

 


What if loving her meant breaking every rule he’s sworn to obey?

The first three chapters of my forbidden vampire romance, KISS ME AFTER THE KILL, are now live on Inkitt.

Chapters 4 & 5 arrive April 3 — with new chapters every Monday and Friday.

If you love:
πŸ–€ a heroine reclaiming her power
🩸 a vampire assassin bound by brutal rules
🌹 a slow-burn romance that defies everything
…this story is for you.

READ HERE πŸ‘‰https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1685437

Anniversary Sale

 


What if your spell for love called someone from the stars?

The Starlight Prince turns one on 25 March, and to celebrate, I’m running an anniversary Countdown Deal from 25–28 March.

Starts at 99p / 99c πŸ’«

A hunted witch on Earth.
A shapeshifting alien prince bound by fate.
A love story for outsiders trying to find where they belong.

Grab it here: https://books2read.com/TheStarlightPrince


The Starlight Prince FrontAbout The Starlight Prince

One spell. One ancient ritual. One fated collision between a runaway witch and an alien prince.

Madelyne has spent her life being hunted for her magic and hiding from a world that wants her burned. Desperate for a place to belong, she casts a full moon spell for love—never expecting a shapeshifting alien prince to crash into her life.

Kalas, heir to a galactic throne, has waited years to complete the divine ritual to find his fated mate. When a celestial vision leads him to Earth, he discovers Maddie: powerful, guarded, and completely unlike anyone he's ever known.

Drawn across the stars into a world of royal politics, ancient prophecies, and godly intervention, Maddie must decide whether she’s ready to embrace her destiny—or fight for a freedom she’s never known.

With passion that defies galaxies and a love that challenges fate, can two outsiders find their home in each other?

A spicy sci-fantasy romance with a HEA, fierce loyalty, emotional vulnerability, and bitey alien courtship

The March When ALL My Plans Went Off Track

 

March has been one of those months where absolutely none of my plans stayed on the track I originally set for them.

At the start of the month, I announced I was serializing The Briardell Chronicles. By the end of it, I was announcing that I’m actually serializing Kiss Me After the Kill instead.

In my latest blog post, I talk about why I made that decision, why Briardell now feels too special to serialize, and what this shift means for my long-term publishing plans as I work towards becoming a hybrid author.

I’m also sharing another big creative decision: pausing The Kindred Creativity Club for the foreseeable future, as well as some personal health choices I’ve made this month.

So yes — March has been full of pivots, rethinking, and a lot of “this was not the original plan.”

Read the full post on my website.

Author Announcement Regarding Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight

 


I want to start by thanking everyone who has liked, commented on, or shared my recent Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight posts on social media, and those who read Chapter One and left reviews.

Your support and enthusiasm mean the world to me—and it’s actually because of that support that I’m making this decision.

Earlier this week, while my husband was helping me edit and revise the latest chapter, he asked me a question that really stuck with me:
“Why are you giving this away for free? This is the best thing you’ve written. Why aren’t you querying it?”

So I took some time to sit with that.

There’s something about Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight—and the Briardell world as a whole—that feels different from anything I’ve written before. I’ve loved every project I’ve worked on, but Briardell feels… special. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing, and at the same time it feels surprisingly natural and instinctive.

Over the past year, I’ve grown a lot as a writer, especially since learning that I’m AuDHD and giving myself permission to explore the kind of stories I truly want to tell. Through that process, I’ve realised something important: I genuinely believe the Briardell Chronicles could be the story that opens the door to the next stage of my writing career.

Because of that, I’ve made the decision to pause the serialization of Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight while I explore other publishing opportunities for the Briardell series, including querying agents and editors.

I still believe strongly in the power of serialized storytelling, and in pursuing multiple publishing paths as a hybrid author—so there will be some serial-related news coming soon.

In the meantime, thank you again for all the love and encouragement you’ve shown me and the Briardell Chronicles. I’m incredibly excited about where this story might go next.

With love,
Clare

 

Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight Chapter One is Live


Happy Monday! A new week means a new chapter of Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight.

In this week’s chapter: Bethany Hwathorne's life is at a crossroads, as she loses her job, feels isolated in her home, and a kindly neighbour reminds her that she's different.

πŸ“– Read it exclusively on Inkitt:

https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1653146

New chapters release every Monday.

New to the story? Start from Chapter One here:

https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1653146