C. L. Clark // Cherae

The Magic of the Lost trilogy is complete! Touraine is a conscripted soldier, born in the colony of Qazal and raised in the heartland of the Balladairan Empire. She was a child when she went to war for the first time, and her only goal for the future is to rise in the ranks of the Colonial Brigade. That all changes when she and the other conscripts return to the colonies to crush a rebellion, and the ties of blood and magic prove stronger than she thought. Luca is a princess and her uncle is a usurper. If she wants to claim her throne without civil war, she needs to earn it—and she’ll start by quelling the rebellion in the south. Then, she’ll move to problems closer to home. All she needs is help from a soldier with flexible loyalties. Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and on battlefields, Touraine and Luca haggle over the fates of nations. But some things aren’t for sale. Lucky for you, these books are. You can get all three books of the Magic of the Lost trilogy, anywhere fine books are sold. Deleted scenes and more at the 🔗 in bio. #theunbroken #magicofthelost #sapphictrifecta @orbitbooks_us @orbitbooks_uk

A Wolf Has No Mercy. I had the great honor of bringing the coolest character from @arcaneshow and @riotgames to life in Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, a novel out in February 2025 @orbitbooks_us @orbitbooks_uk You’ve already seen her in action in Season 2 Act 1…this book will show you where that ruthlessness began. 😈 Pre-orders open now! @leeloo10481 @fortiche_prod #arcane #ambessa #melmedarda

Went on a hike today and made a new friend— Shout it from the mountains: from the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free! 🇵🇸

Finally got a dice tray! And desperately needed storage. It came just a week later than my big DnD weekend but it will have another time to shine. This beauty comes from @sphinxstationery . Scroll to the end to see it uh at current capacity. 😅 Featuring gifts from friends and readers, and the sterling dice makers @soulforge.dice and @noekcleardice . So uh…how many dice sets do you have?

cryptic notes from the revision mines. truly, craft is attention and iteration. #warmongers #writingtips

Book mail! @grimdark.magazine physical subs are very sexy, you should subscribe. @hanfrankan #ASnakeAmongSwans is also very sexy, so you should preorder it.

It’s #transdayofvisibility and six weeks ago almost exactly, I got top surgery! For those who don’t know, six weeks post-op is usually when you get the general “all clear” from your surgeon, so it feels like a lucky confluence. A sign. Even though I haven’t swung a sword or a kettlebell or run for six weeks, I feel fantastic in my body. I’ve spent about 82% of that time shouting, “I HAVE NO BOOBS!” Or asking my friends if they “want to see my tits” (being good friends all, they said yes). Now you get to see them, too. You’re welcome. This is a very personal thing and I’m a firm believer in personal boundaries, but this #tdov it seems especially important to remind people that their votes to “protect women and girls” are bullshit and the dollars they spend on wizard school franchises have real and harmful consequences to real people. For example, I’m from Kansas. When I go home to visit family, the new drivers license restrictions mean driving might be more dangerous for me than before, because I may not “match” a police officer’s idea of my gender marker. And when these restrictions, these bathroom bills, pass in one state, others are emboldened to push further. Hate is contagious but so is care. So, hi. I’m here. Just like I’ve always been. (NB: I still don’t care what lists you put me or my books on. Women, nonbinary, trans, dykes to watch out for, whatever.) Props to @ryanjessiman for the tattoo (2023). It’s sitting perfectly. Also lots of thanks to the friends who showed up with info, check-in texts, snacks, swords, and daggerheart. ❤️

reading day. some stuff that’s helping me revise the #fellrunner novella. cheers to @grace_curtis_posts and @mznieboer for the recommendations. ✌️

#TheUnbroken is 5 YEARS OLD TODAY! My first novel! Years! FIVE! I wanted to do a little look back at its life, so here are just a few pictures from the years since that oh so fateful day. So often, when people say publishing a book changed their life, it feels like it has to be a “six figure deal” or hit lists or win awards. The Unbroken did none of that. My deal was modest, the growth was slow and steady, driven by word of mouth. It was nominated for some nice awards but lost them all. But people connected with it. People talked about the women in its pages, people talked about its themes, its queerness, its messiness. I’ve gotten to travel the world, to meet readers, authors, even actors from all over the world and at every stage of life and profession. And it all started with this book. I have so many words, none of them quite adequate for how it feels, but I did share 5 thoughts I had about the experience thus far on the blog. Most important words? Thank you all for being here. I couldn’t have done all of this without you. ⚔ Long live the #sapphictrifecta! I’m also doing a few giveaways— Insta, comment and repost for: - 1 audiobook (US only, Google Play code) of The Sovereign, book 3 of the Magic of the Lost trilogy My Website, comment on the birthday post for: - 1 of 5 audiobooks (US only, Google Play code) of The Sovereign, book 3 of the Magic of the Lost trilogy - 1 FULL SET of posters of @studiotommy.co Magic of the Lost cover art I’ll draw lots at random! ⚔ @orbitbooks_uk @orbitbooks_us

Back in Feb, I posted something new to the website—a bunch of SFF books featuring butches. A few years ago—probably for the release of The Faithless—I was asked by Google Books to come up with a themed list of books for them to feature. I wasn’t sure where to go with it, at first, but eventually I settled on what I knew best and what I knew I could come up with an appreciable number of. It was also what I wish someone might have curated for me once. “Where are the butches? What about the masculine women?” Bearing in mind that not all of us masc of center peeps hold well with the identity of woman, and maybe some characters don’t either…I still made a massive list of a bunch of my favorite books featuring butches and masc lesbians and others who felt like they belonged in that category, or I feel a kinship with their presentation as I read. This isn’t an exhaustive list of all that exist, just some that I liked. And some even have straps. 😇 The few featured here are just a few that I adored, either out now or coming this year. The rest are on my website. link in the bio. @everina_maxwell Call Me Traitor @buehlmeister Daughters’ War @dr.bethanygjacobs These Burning Stars @lincodega Pasha the Storm Something else you miss out on if you haven’t subbed to the newsletter. 😘

The August 2026 @grimdark.magazine novella is cracking along and has a more official title than ‘#monsterslayer’—Allow me to introduce you to FORTUNE’S WAKE! Kill the beast. Earn some coin. Get the girl. Or at least, that’s how it was supposed to go. Kova of Stormwatch made a promise when she left her mother and sweetheart weeping on the shore back home: she’d earn her fortune slaying the beasts that haunt the woods and the horrors that lurk in the shadows, or she would die trying. But to do that, she needs an apprenticeship with a master monster hunter. The best of the best: Sayre Boarbane. Pity that Sayre works alone. When Sayre drags Kova home by the ear, they’re both in for a rude awakening. Kova’s mother? Missing. Kova’s lover? Taking long walks on the beach with a stranger. And all those monsters Kova wanted to slay? They’re back in Stormwatch, dragging villagers into the ocean. I’m not going to say message ‘fortune’ and I’ll send you my five secrets to slaying monsters, but…if you’re a reviewer and you want a copy, let me know. 😉🗡️

CL Clark’s Magic of the Lost trilogy is one of the most compelling and powerful political fantasy trilogies of the last decade. Full of toxic relationships, complex morality, warring nations, betrayals, revenge, and some very mean and yet compelling lesbians, it is hugely tragic and deeply satisfying. Also, Cherae is one of the most buff swordwielding authors in the genre so I asked for permission to illustrate them, which I did with added Sands outfit. Enormous thanks to @orbitbooks_uk @gambit589 for sending me a paperback copy of The Sovereign a few months ago and you know what @clclarkwrites you know what you did and maybe I’ll forgive you one day #swords #magicofthelost #thesovereign #pencilportrait #lesbians