Happy 4th of July everyone,

There is a particular kind of quiet before a book goes out into the world. The manuscript is finished. The files are locked. All that is left is the waiting, and the hoping, and the small daily work of making sure the right readers find out a new door has opened.

That door opens on July 29, when The Hollow City, Book Three of the Hollow Clock Saga, finally reaches shelves.

If you have been with this series since The Hollow Clock first pulled back its curtain, thank you. If you found your way in through The Hollow Cathedral, or slipped in sideways through the prequel novella The Hollow Asylum, thank you too. Every reader who has followed these characters through fog and gaslight and grief has helped build the world that The Hollow City now steps into.

What The Hollow City Brings

This installment picks up the threads left smoldering at the close of The Hollow Cathedral and pulls them somewhere darker and stranger. Without spoiling the turns ahead, expect the saga's usual promises kept: atmosphere thick enough to touch, a love story that refuses to look away from itself, and an ending you can trust even when the road there is not gentle. Queer love, every genre, always a happy ending. That has never changed, and it is not changing here.

An Invitation for First Light Club Members

For those of you already inside the First Light Club, you know this space exists because you went looking for more. You found The Hollow Asylum, you stepped through, and you became part of the inner circle of readers who get the earliest look at what is coming next.

This month, that membership comes with something extra: the chance to name a watchmaker's apprentice in the Ash Quarter, a character who will appear in The Hollow City. Entries close July 14, so if you have not sent in a name yet, now is the time. Consider this your personal invitation, ahead of everyone else, to be part of the story before it fully arrives.

If you are reading this and you are not yet a First Light Club member, the door is not closed. A new invitation goes out to readers every month. If you would like one, let me know, and I will make sure you are on the list for next time.

eliaskeane@eliaskeane.com

What This Month Looks Like

Between now and July 29, here is what is happening behind the scenes and in front of you:

• A Goodreads giveaway for 100 copies of The Hollow City is open now and closes July 15. If you have not entered, there is still time. - https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/442800-the-hollow-city
• Advance reader copies are going out, and early reactions will start trickling in over the coming weeks. If you are an ARC reader, thank you for reading early and speaking up. If you want to be an ARC reader please let me know and I will send an invite to The First Light Club and a link to an early ARC release of the book.
• New content is coming to TikTok and social media, small glimpses of the world and its characters, built for anyone who wants a taste before the full book arrives.
• And once The Hollow City is out, the whole Hollow Clock Saga will be part of a BookBub promotion in August, with all three books priced at $2.99 for the rest of that month. More on that when it happens. Don't forget that The Hollow Asylum is free to all as an exclusive download on my website - https://eliaskeane.com/landers/the-hollow-asylum

The Part Authors Do Not Always Say Out Loud 

Here is the truth about publishing a book in 2026: writing it is only half the work, and sometimes it feels like the smaller half. Getting a book seen, actually seen, by the readers who would love it, is its own quiet battle. Algorithms shift. Feeds are crowded. A hundred other books are asking for the same five minutes of someone's evening.

The one thing that has never stopped working, in any era of publishing, is a reader telling another reader "you would love this."

So here is my call to arms, if you are willing to answer it. If you have read The Hollow Asylum, The Hollow Clock, or The Hollow Cathedral, or found your way into the Bear Hunt Stories, or followed the Rourke Correlation through its long conspiracy, or sat with Still Water or Reflections from the Lexingfield Murders, and any of them stayed with you, even a little, tell someone. A friend who likes gothic fantasy. A sibling who has been meaning to try queer romance. A family member who just wants a book with a happy ending guaranteed at the end of it.

Word of mouth is the oldest marketing tool there is, and it is still the one that matters most. Every recommendation you make is worth more than any ad I could run.

The Hollow City arrives July 29. Thank you for being here for it, and for everything that comes after.

Yours, Elias