Short Story Audio: The Duke's New Clothes

I'm taking a break from all the Magiford discussion to share this special treat just for the fairy tale readers among us! On the Finding Fantasy Reads podcast fantasy author Karyne Norton narrates a new short story every week by a different fantasy author. She only features clean fantasy and if you check the Youtube channel for the podcast you will see she has already shared short stories from several authors you recognize from Shea-con including: Kate Stradling, Deborah Grace White, and Hanna Sandvig. Karyne narrates each story herself and she does a great job with adding inflection and overall providing a nice listening experience. This week Karyne featured two of my short stories on her podcast: The Duke's New Clothes and the Robber Maiden! Click here to listen on Youtube! Or to see the other listening options on the podcast website click here.

The Duke's New Clothes is a bonus short story for the Fairy Tale Enchantress series (it is mentioned in book #1 but you don't see it in the book). The Robber Maiden is a bonus short story for the Snow Queen saga, and the rest of the short stories for this series are in the audio book boxset on Audible.

If you prefer to read instead of listen here are the links to both of the short stories:

The Duke's Clothes

The Robber Maiden

Magiford Side Character Short Stories

Fun Fact Time! Did you notice that the short story bonus I release for book 2 in a Magiford series is always from the perspective of a side character? I've been doing this intentionally from the start because I only do viewpoints from the heroine + hero in the book, and it's fun to see what the side characters are thinking/going through! (Sometimes the other bonus short stories are also from the perspective of a side character but I always make sure the book 2 is from a side character's point of view.) Let's take a look at the side character stories I've written for the past book 2 releases!

The Annoyed Eminence - Magic on Main Street 2 I know this short story just came out but I wanted to make sure you saw it was available, especially because I have seen Champions wondering what the Drakes' reaction was to the events near the end of book 2. When I was writing the scene from Considine's perspective I knew this is what was going on in the background (and I was laughing about Killian's suffering) and I was so happy I got to share this as a short story! (Warning: This short story has massive spoilers for book 2, so don't read it if you haven't finished book 2.) A Jaded Vampire - Hall of Blood and Mercy 2 Since the Hall of Blood and Mercy series is the series that overlaps the most with the Magic on Main Street series, let's talk about this one next! This side story is once again focused on vampires but this time it is from the perspective of Rupert! Yes, Rupert the vampire stars in multiple short stories! This story gives a look at Rupert's backstory but it does include spoilers for the first two books in the Hall of Blood and Mercy series.

A Lawful Wolf - Pack of Dawn and Destiny #2 The Pack of Dawn and Destiny series is the first time I wrote a Magiford Supernatural City series that visited Magiford but the main location was another place (the small town of Timber Ridge). Because of this, even though it takes place at the same time as the Magic on Main Street series the characters don't interact at all. This short story has massive spoilers for book 2 (United) to the point where all I can think to say that wouldn't be a huge spoiler is this short give you more perspective as to how the humans of the town view the local werewolves. Enemies, Friends, or Terror? - Court of Midnight and Deception 2 I got carried away when I was writing the Court of Midnight and Deception series and I include WAY TOO MANY side characters! I love all of them so I regret nothing. In the books I gave more page time to Skye and Indigo so for this short I wanted to focus on Eventide and Azure (Eventide is the faun that helps Leila a lot at the beginning and Azure is the naiad who is Leila's driver and in charge of the cars owned by the Night Court). It also gives you a perspective of how the Night Court views the relationship between Leila and Rigel.

A Clocktower Meeting - Gate of Myth and Power #2 This short story packs a double punch because you get to see the Regional Committee of Magic characters plus a very annoyed Aristide, Ker, and Charon. It's technically a prequel, so it won't really spoil anything for the main series but it is likely to be confusing if you haven't read at least book 1 in the Gate of Myth and Power series. Did you notice the build-in-progress clocktower cameo in the Magic on Main Street series?

Magiford Series Timeline

All of the Magiford Supernatural City urban fantasy trilogies are packed with humor, battles, and a sweet, slow burn romance! Each series was written to each tell a standalone story, but they are connected to each other and you'll recognize overlapping side characters if you read all of them.

But it can be confusing to know what is the best order to read through the different trilogies because some of them are taking place at the same time.

To clarify, there is not an official reading order but if you are trying to avoid spoilers between the series you can read them in one of these orders:

Order of Publication: Hall of Blood and Mercy –> Court of Midnight and Deception –> Pack of Dawn and Destiny –> Gate of Myth and Power –> Magic on Main Street

Chronological Order: Hall of Blood and Mercy –> Court of Midnight and Deception –> (Either: Pack of Dawn and Destiny OR Magic on Main Street) –> Gate of Myth and Power

Here is a graphic showing the chronological timeline, which might make it easier to understand:

The four series in the middle of the graphic (including the series for Shiloh which isn't written and won't be released for a while) are all related to each other because they all deal with the search the Paragon has been doing and the reason he is hanging out in the Midwest. Read Gate of Myth and Power series for more details about his search, I'm trying to avoid sharing spoilers!

The other books, including Pack of Dawn and Destiny, Magic on Main Street, and the unnamed series I am writing next are obviously part of the same Magiford world but they aren't related to the Paragon's search which is also the reason why he does not have a major role in these books. You can think of them as spin offs! While I am talking about the Paragon: NO the Paragon is NOT the ML for Shiloh's series or my next series. I haven't decided yet if I will write a series for him - if I do it will be several years in the future before it happens. As you can see in this graphic, if you compare the published order to the chronological order we went back in time with the Magic on Main Street series and these books directly overlap with the timeline of the Pack of Dawn and Destiny series. And yes, the next non-standalone series I release is also going "back in time" because it will take place before the events of the Gate of Myth and Power series.

In 2026 I wrote a new Magiford standalone story that takes place in the same world but isn't set in the city of Magiford and it isn't connected to any of the other trilogies. I've create this updated timeline graphic to reflect this change.