It's time for the final check-in of the To Bargain With Mortals anniversary readalong!

YOU'VE MADE IT! Four weeks and one whole book later, we have made it to the end of To Bargain With Mortals and as of today she is officially one year and one day old <3 Baby's first birthday.

Thank you all so much for joining in for this. It was somewhat spur of the moment (I think I decided to do this like two or three weeks ahead of time) but I knew we could make it happen and I'm SO happy that we did. It's been such a joy to revisit this book a year down the line (and, not to brag, with the added context of having read multiple versions of book 2) and to be able to share R.A.'s thoughts and insights with you as well. There were even a couple in there that I didn't know before this either!

It's time for the final reading quiz!

This is it. Your last chance to rack up those points. As a reminder, the person who scores the best across all four weeks' quizzes at the end of this readalong will win a one-of-a-kind hand-annotated copy of TBWM annotated by R.A. Basu and myself!

Take the final quiz here.

(I think this actually might be the hardest one, purely in terms of its specificity, so...good luck)

And in case you've been behind on the schedule or forgot to take some of them, I'll also link the quizzes for

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

On that note...

TBWM INSIGHTS WITH R.A. BASU:

I had less to say in this section because a lot of it ties to book 2, so people will just have to wait for the book 2 anniversary readalong:

Chapter 38

"No matter what the papers said about the summer's peak or humidity or ocean currents, they knew the truth: Poppy Sutherland had summoned that storm, washing half the city with her wrath." 

This is just an absurd miss on my part, but in early drafts, Hasan and Harithi never acknowledge the giant apocalyptic storm that Poppy summons on her wedding day. When I did my Bindery edits, my editor called it out and so I made sure to include this.

Chapter 39

Reading this book feels a lot like putting on one of my playlists and going "oh my god, I love this song!" at every song like I didn't make the whole damn playlist or write the book myself. But oh my god, I love the scene where Clarence drags Richard. Clarence is more complicated than I ever set out to make him. He's a willing and enthusiastic participant of the colonial machine of extraction, but he is also a devoted father who wants what he thinks is best for his daughter. What a guy. I love this song.

When I was drafting, I didn't include telegraphs until this scene. I knew snail mail was too slow for the purpose of pacing, so I decided to use telegraphs. Then during the Bindery edit, my editor asked me if telegraphs are an option for urgent communications, why doesn't the headmistress or Poppy telegraph Poppy's parents back in chapter one to arrange her early return home? I ended up moving the school to a more rural area (away from the nearest telegraph office) and making the headmistress very anti-technology to address this plot hole. Now you know. 

Chapter 41

"I forgive you," she whispered.

I went back and forth a LOT on this one. Even though Clarence obviously loves his daughter, he has also done a lot of harm to her and the Virian people. There are drafts where she doesn't say this. Sometimes she takes too long to decide, other times she decides she can't forgive him and can't bring herself to lie about it. These variations didn't feel right to me. Clarence's request for forgiveness in his last moments is so that he can go to his death feeling at peace. After his sacrifice, Poppy would not withhold that, even if internally she doesn't know if she can forgive him yet.

Chapter 44

Hey, remember that time that Zeyar said that thing about Harithi reading Miss Marnapur and then decided to change the subject when pressed about it? Remember the way those two were always taking swings at each other and Hasan was like "wow they must hate each other"? Also, remember how Zeyar started off as Zeus, who is married to Hera? Me too.

Chapter 45

Originally, there had been a scene where Hasan rallies the crowd outside to convince them to storm the building, but it got cut so that it would be more impactful when backup arrives without Poppy knowing — especially since this whole time, she's thought that Hasan won't help her now that he supposedly has his brother back. 

Chapter 47

"When you bargain with mortals, the terms can change at any time." 

I love a good title drop, though it wasn't in the draft originally. When I sold TBWM to Bindery/Emma, it had a different title which I hated (A Reckoning of Flood and Flame, if you must know). I am awful at titles. The first draft of TBWM was titled "h&p draft one" back when it was a Hades and Persephone retelling. Then when I dropped that thread altogether, I renamed the word doc "stormfire" which was just a mash of Hasan and Poppy's respective powers. Then when I had to submit to Pitch Wars, I was forced to give it a real name, so at the last minute I gave it the generic fantasy treatment. Since then, that particular title pattern has become particularly popular with romantasy books, which my book was no longer.

I really wanted to change it before the Pitch Wars agent showcase, but couldn't come up with anything better. Then thank god Emma wanted to change it too when it sold, so we put our heads together and went through a bunch of ideas before we came to this one. And when I did my dev edit, I slipped it into the book. Finding a good place for it was tricky, but I'm happy with where it is.

There's a lot more I want to say about this chapter and the events that occur, but it would all be spoilers for book 2 so... maybe another time? ;) 

Epilogue

My grandmother was upset that Hasan and Poppy do not get married, which is hilarious to me because in the first draft, they do get married in the epilogue. It was a very different book, which just goes to show that you don't always write the story you want on the first try. To Bargain with Mortals revealed itself in stages, over several years, and with many collaborators who all made it much better. 

WE'RE FINISHED! We've made it to the very end! We did it!

If you have not already, I would dearly appreciate it if you would rate or review TBWM on Goodreads, if you use it. While for most of us Goodreads is simply a rating and searching site for books, in publishing it carries a ton of weight and everything from "Want to read" adds to full reviews sincerely matter for a book's continued success. Storygraph/Fable/Pagebound/etc. reviews are very much appreciated as well!

The only place to go from here is forward, so in case you missed yesterday's post I am thrilled to tell you that book two, TO CONSPIRE AGAINST GODS, is hitting shelves July 13, 2027.

It's available to add on Goodreads now AND it's already up for pre-order if you're so inclined. Much more on that in the coming months, but for now I will leave you with the synopsis and our wonderful cover.

Poppy Sutherland clawed her way to the seat of Vicereine against all odds, and now she wants to lead her people into a new era of equality.

But gaining power is easier than keeping it. The Council of Lords kills her reforms, her people are tiring of her slow progress, and the empire has installed a new Welkish duke in her own house with an army at his back. Poppy is about to learn what her father's chair is actually worth—and what she might have to surrender to be of any use to Viryana at all.

The conclusion to the Reckoning Storm duology, To Conspire Against Gods is a blistering reflection on power and sacrifice, name and inheritance—and what it costs to unmake the world that made you.

<3