Let's Talk About The BookTok Viral Sequel (That's Not Even Out Yet)
For Mist and Tar has recently garnered a lot of attention through BookTok due to the content warnings and dedication for its sequel, For Blood and Flame.
First of all, HELLO! This is the first official newsletter sending to over four hundred of you today. If you’re getting this, and you don’t remember who I am — my name is Jinapher J. Hoffman, and I am the author of For Mist and Tar, Veil of Fate, Heir of Fate, Wars of Fate, and Heart Eater. At some point in the last year, you subscribed to my newsletter, whether it was for ARCs or release alerts. Now, I’ve migrated my mailing list to here on Substack, but don’t worry, you don’t need to do anything differently (except maybe hop on your web browser and go to Wrathos Books to explore all the awesome things I’ve built out for you to read and enjoy)!
There are so many exciting things in the works from a For Mist and Tar audiobook to an expansion of Heart Eater. So, without further ado, let’s dive in to the regularly scheduled content.
For Mist and Tar has recently garnered a lot of attention through BookTok due to my promotion of its sequel, For Blood and Flame. But before we dive in…
Since For Mist and Tar (FMAT) released, I've published four other novels (one of which — Heart Eater — I'm unpublishing to expand and revise, so if you can't find it, that's why). While the books are not part of the realm of Alchemight, they are part of Wrathos, my multiverse of feminine rage. I've grown so much as a writer since I first published For Mist and Tar. In many ways, its sequel is a thousand times what FMAT was.
The setting, as well, is infinitely darker. If you've read FMAT, then you have some idea as to why. If you haven't read it...
Why is For Blood and Flame going viral? Well, it may even be the reason why you subscribed to my newsletter. The dedication, content warnings, and several quotes have caught interest, leading a whole new crowd of readers to For Mist and Tar.
Check out this For Blood and Flame teaser:
***Rights reserved to the copyright owners of the music and video clips. Text, quotes, and book concept belong to me.
"To those who understand a woman's silence is her fury, and a fictional character's death is as painful as reality. But you're not only willing to endure both Fury and Death; You came here searching for them. Let us burn together... Lastly, to the pieces of myself left between the pages, may you rest in peace."
— “For Blood and Flame” by Jinapher J. Hoffman | The Dedication
The Queens of Fury and Death must rise. The ultimate Sacrifice will be made, and the realm will be Forged. Welcome to the end of Alchemight.
On Writing For Blood and Flame (Potential Spoilers for For Mist and Tar Past This Point)
I’m going to try to be as spoiler-free as possible, but seriously:
I drafted For Blood and Flame for the first time in 2021. It was right after the first draft of For Mist and Tar was written, and it was nothing compared to what it is now. At the beginning of 2023, I completely scraped my “draft zero” and started over.
Now, I’m finally able to hold it in my hands after two years of stewing over this story.
If you’ve followed my writing journey for the last year, then you know the emotionally devastating toll this book has had on me. I wrote For Mist and Tar from a ‘broken’ place. I was healing and had a lot of work to do on myself, which I mostly accomplished…Until I started For Blood and Flame again and had to put myself into the shoes of a version of myself I wasn’t anymore.
It took several mental health break(down)s, but what I have now is a relatively finished product. It still needs some minor work before I send it to ARC reviewers.
However, I am incredibly proud of this book. I truly believe its the best book I’ve ever written, and honestly, it should be. I’ve grown so much since For Mist and Tar, and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am that you will get to see that growth very soon.
A Story of Fury, Death, Sacrifice, and Forged:
Okay, there will definitely be spoilers in this section. You’ve been warned!!
For Mist and Tar ends with a subjectively happy ending.
*pauses for dramatic effect around the word ‘happy’*
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t happy, but everyone did get what they wanted. Vellene rose to her potential and refused to remain confined by her father’s abuse. Sure, she’s trapped on an isle with poison in her veins, but pish posh. She’s the Queen of Fury (which I’ve advertised everywhere, so its not really a spoiler).
Eledar, well, lumis was taken from him. In his moment of weakness, he was forced into a strength he didn’t have. OKAY yes, he may have been forced by the chemi he suspects to have just murdered the love of his life…
Again, I retracted the ‘happy’.
But the question I’ve gotten the most is: What the fuck even happens next? Great question, friend. Let’s talk about what the sequel will cover.
As I said, Vellene is the Queen of Fury, and if you follow me on TikTok and/or Instagram (links will be at the bottom of this post), then you know her sister, Mogaell, is Death. The sequel is going to dive into their rise and ultimate destruction. If you read Wars of Fate, the final book in my Fates of Mirror trilogy and book four in Wrathos, then you’ve gotten a taste of the Gods and the Guardians. Even in For Mist and Tar, you meet Dally, one of the two Guardians of Alchemight.
For Blood and Flame will contain the history of Dally and Bian, Fury and Death. The Gods will appear again, and overall, this book will be a major waypoint in my multiverse. The epilogue, in particular, is going to leave you reeling. The Alchemight Duology will be complete, the story of Vellene and Eledar at a conclusion, but my multiverse is just getting started. I do highly recommend you catch up on my other books before For Blood and Flame releases. You can find my multiverse guide here.
While For Mist and Tar is a dual-POV novel between Vellene and Eledar, you will also be getting the additional POVs of Kadir and Mogaell in For Blood and Flame. All those secrets? They’re going to unravel, my friend.
Some Notes on the Realm and Magic
I learned a lot since For Mist and Tar. It was my debut, and it was my first try at a relatively complex magic system. The good news is with the world-building out of the way in the sequel, I do feel the pacing in For Blood and Flame has gone up a notch. That said, the sequel continues to be as character-driven and emotionally-driven as For Mist and Tar. Honestly, in a lot of ways, I think it sits in the grittiness and grimdark quality of the realm even more.
With the end of For Mist and Tar, all chaos has broken loose. That chaos has no end in sight in the sequel, and the story will focus on the characters navigating their new normal of endless war.
With the overall seriousness of the tone, dialing back on the magic system in a more digestible way was crucial, as well as eliminating those curse words of Frak and Scork (which I honestly think I blacked out adding in the first place lol). Don’t get me wrong, I love the uniqueness of the curse words for “Fuck” and “Shit”, but they felt extraordinarily out of the place in the sequel. So, you just won’t see them. I hope that doesn’t disappoint anyone, but for the sake of the story’s integrity, it had to be done!
Here Lies “Frak”, “Scork”, and my general sanity.
The other big note I have (and the last one) is the simple knowledge that “dimension” and “realm” can be used interchangeably in my multiverse. A certain event will take place in For Blood and Flame that will trigger the characters to begin calling Alchemight a realm rather than a dimension.
When Will For Blood and Flame Release?
I still don’t have an official date yet, but you can expect in early 2024! Even though I’m very close to the finish line, I’m doing my best not to set release dates until books are completely finalized. This way, I can hopefully get ahead, and you can get books faster.
The book is currently with my incredible critique partner, and after I receive her edits, I’ll be doing a full read through of my own. With some final polishing and proofreading, I will then be ready to send out ARCs. I’m also highly considering offering the book early to anyone who wants to read it through Substack, but I’m still working out the kinks. Definitely be sure you’re subscribed, so when it launches, you can get the book immediately!
Alright, that was literally the world’s longest update, but I’ve had so many questions and so little time. Fortunately, with this brand new community, posting is really easy. So you can definitely expect weekly updates moving forward.
What are you most looking forward to with For Blood and Flame? Please do your best not to use spoilers, but let me know below!
Looking to get even more ingrained into Wrathos Books? If you’ve already read For Mist and Tar, then come participate in the Alchemight Chat to talk about your reading experience with other readers!
.Not following me on social media? Keep up to date on my daily writing progress on Instagram or follow me on TikTok to help me boost my videos to new readers.