Dawn's Journal

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Would you rather: build bone statues or cook the mushrooms growing from your wallpaper..?

Hello my darlings.

In four days, The Seventh Sister is out in the world. And yesterday I got to hear some of the audiobook version. I am in love, obsessed, enthralled by the gorgeous Eva Kaminsky, who narrates. She makes me feel like I’m right there, in the rain-slicked, humid forest, under the creaking roof of Beltane House, dancing beneath moss-draped trees, on my knees in supplication to Daudir.

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By the way, if you’re an audiobook listener, the audiobook is on sale now, so pre-order if you fancy a steal.

I’ve been struggling to read this year. Physical books and ebooks both. I haven’t put my finger on exactly why, outside of my strange brain being my strange brain, but audiobooks have been my constant companions. I’ve re-listened to a few old favourites and discovered new ones. The fact that I get to hear my own words read back to me is a special kind of delight.

As a reminder, the pre-order form for The Seventh Sister is here, and the artwork for the pre-order gifts remains some of my favourite.

If you feel like treating yourself twice, my other 2026 novel is also up for pre-order.

From the author of The Madness comes a haunting folk horror fable of lost sisters, old gods, and the terrible power of belief left to rot in the woods.

After the tragic death of their parents, the seven Ward sisters are sent to live with their grandmother on the remote forest island of Beltane, a place suspended between time and shadow. What begins as an attempt to mend their fractured lives soon twists into a waking nightmare, where grief bleeds into childhood fantasy and ancient rites awaken a dark and eerie devotion to Daudir, the Forgotten God of the Wood.

When another cruel tragedy strikes, the sisters are left to fend for themselves, learning to live with death as a constant, lurking presence. The fragile world they’ve carved splinters beneath the weight of isolation, and the forest around them grows restless…

Years later, a cryptic letter summons the surviving sisters home. Drawn back into the wild embrace of their dangerous faith, they confront a truth more terrible than memory, and the dreadful secret that waits, silent and sentient, in the depths of the all-seeing trees.

This lyrical and haunting folk horror explores how trauma can root itself in the soil of childhood, how love can curdle into obsession, and how gods, especially forgotten ones, never stay buried for long. But at its heart, it’s about sisters: how they fracture, survive, return, and reckon with what they’ve made together.

I’m so excited for you to meet the Ward sisters!

💜 Juniper

🧡 Hazel

💛 Clementine

💚💚 Holly & Ivy

💙 Willow

❤️ Poppy

Before I leave you, one final question to answer:


Would you rather build effigies from the bones of a carcas . . . or cook your meal from the mushrooms growing from your wallpaper..?

Dawn KurtagichComment