CURRENT WIP: THE BONDLESS GOD

Returning to the Hollow Court, revisiting old wounds, and apparently developing a problem with goats.

If you thought we were finished with the Hollow Court after Ash & Ever, I have some news for you.

We are absolutely not.

I've been working on The Bondless God, the second installment in The Hollow Court Series, and I figured it was time to share a little about what I've been up to, what readers can expect, and why I've somehow managed to write over 123,000 words about fictional people who desperately need therapy.

When I first started writing Ash & Ever, I knew I wanted to create a world that readers could get lost in. A world full of magic, complicated relationships, impossible decisions, and characters who occasionally make me question why I gave them free will in the first place. What I didn't necessarily anticipate was how attached I would become to that world myself.

And apparently, I wasn't ready to leave it behind.

So, what is The Bondless God about?

Without giving too much away, The Bondless God picks up after the events of Ash & Ever. The Hollow Court is still standing, but surviving something and figuring out how to live afterward are two very different things.

Seris, Cael, and the Third are learning that saving a court doesn't automatically mean knowing how to run one. There are people to protect, alliances to navigate, wounds that haven't quite healed, and an alarming number of administrative responsibilities that Seris would probably rather solve with a dagger.

Unfortunately for her, leadership involves considerably more paperwork than stabbing.

But rebuilding the Hollow Court is only part of the story.

Something isn't right. Memories aren't lining up the way they should. Things that once seemed certain are becoming increasingly difficult to trust, and something ancient has begun making its presence known.

The deeper our characters dig, the more they begin to question what they actually know about the past, the bond connecting them, and themselves.

And if there's one thing we've learned about Seris, it's that telling her not to investigate something is essentially an invitation.

A little darker, a little deeper, and a lot more personal.

One thing I really wanted to explore with this book was what happens after the big, world-altering events.

Fantasy stories spend so much time building toward the battle, the betrayal, the big revelation, or the moment everything changes. But what happens when the fighting stops? When everyone has to wake up the next morning and figure out how to exist with everything they've experienced?

That's something I've really enjoyed writing.

There is still magic, danger, mystery, and plenty of tension, but The Bondless God also spends more time with the characters themselves. Their relationships are changing. Their understanding of each other is growing. They're grieving, healing, questioning things they once believed, and occasionally managing to have a normal conversation without someone threatening bodily harm.

Occasionally.

I wanted readers to have more time inside the Hollow Court. To see how it functions, who lives there, what rebuilding looks like, and how our favorite characters behave when they aren't actively trying to prevent the end of the world.

Spoiler: some of them are considerably worse at ordinary life than they are at surviving near-death experiences.

This book also deals heavily with memory, loss, identity, and the things we hold onto when the people or places we love begin slipping away. There are some emotional moments in this story that were genuinely difficult to write, and I hope they resonate with readers in the way I intended.

I also hope you'll forgive me for a few of them.

Now, about the goats.

I feel like I need to address this separately because, frankly, I have questions for myself.

Somewhere in the process of writing a dark fantasy novel about ancient gods, grief, and the terrifying consequences of forgotten history, goats became a recurring issue.

Not metaphorical goats.

Actual goats.

I wish I could provide a reasonable explanation for how this happened, but I genuinely cannot. What I can tell you is that they have caused more problems than any livestock reasonably should, and I have absolutely no intention of removing them.

Consider this your warning.

Where are we in the writing process?

The exciting news is that the first draft of The Bondless God is officially complete!

It came in at just over 123,000 words, which is slightly more than I originally intended. Apparently, when I give these characters more room to breathe, they take that as permission to occupy an entire additional wing of the bookstore.

I'm now in the less glamorous stage of preparing the manuscript for publication. Revisiting scenes, refining details, making sure everything connects the way it should, and catching all the little things that inevitably slip through when you're spending this much time with one story.

It's exciting, frustrating, rewarding, and occasionally makes me want to close my laptop and pretend I have never heard of creative writing.

But seeing everything come together has been worth it.

My goal is to release The Bondless God in 2027, and while I'm not quite ready to announce an official publication date, I'll be sharing more updates, excerpts, character content, and behind-the-scenes looks as we get closer.

If you haven't read Ash & Ever yet...

Now would be a pretty good time to start!

Ash & Ever is the first book in The Hollow Court Series and introduces you to Seris, Cael, and the complicated world of covens, courts, blood magic, and bonds that were never supposed to exist.

It's where everything begins, and you'll definitely want to experience that story before diving into The Bondless God.

If you've already read it, first of all, thank you. Second, I hope you're ready to return, because these characters have quite a bit more to say.

And if you're new here, welcome! I write emotionally complicated fantasy, have a fondness for morally gray characters, and apparently believe fictional people shouldn't experience prolonged periods of peace.

I'm working on that last one.

Probably.

One last thing...

Writing a sequel has been such a different experience from writing the first book. There's something really special about returning to characters who already feel familiar, but it's also a little intimidating knowing that readers have expectations, theories, and attachments of their own.

I want this story to feel like a natural continuation of Ash & Ever, while still offering something new. More of the world, more of the relationships, more reasons to fall in love with these characters, and perhaps a few reasons to be very, very concerned for them.

Thank you for supporting my writing, sharing my books, and giving this strange little world of mine a place on your shelves. It still means more to me than I can properly put into words.

I cannot wait for you to see what's waiting beneath the Hollow Court.

And until then, remember: just because a story ends with everyone still breathing doesn't necessarily mean everyone is okay.

With love,

C.L. Cossette

The Bondless God | The Hollow Court Series, Book Two | Coming 2027

Want to catch up before Book Two? Start with Ash & Ever, available now.