the kings of nowhere

The Kings of Nowhere Is Officially Out NOW!

3rd Apr 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 17 Comments

Well it’s officially here!! The Kings of Nowhere is completely up on Patreon.

And I’m just going to be emotional here for a minute. My soul has just lain down on the carpet and is sobbing — in both relief and nerves, because this book that has existed alone in my head for 5 years (with only one reader before this) is now OUT THERE.

The Kings of Nowhere is deeply special to me. It’s not perfect or groundbreaking or world changing. I don’t even want it to be. It’s just a story and it means a lot to me. And I know it means a lot to so many readers too.

That is all I wanted.

I’m also really pleased the dates worked out like this 🥺 I didn’t know when I’d finish posting when I started in January. But the final chapters went up on Autism Awareness Day (April 2nd) and also 2 days before The Boy Who Steals Houses release day (April 4th, 2019). Just worked out so well!

Avery has never been held so tight yet with such tender reverence as in that moment, and he craves it like a boy starved.

Choosing to publishing on Patreon was definitely an unconventional decision.

But I’m so glad I did this. It’s been a fun and lovely environment. I’m still hoping to move towards self-publishing and getting physical printed copies done, so the funds I’ve raised through Patreon will definitely help. I don’t know when I’ll figure this all out though. Soon? Hopefully. In the meantime the Patreon will remain up for anyone to read at any time! Just subscribe while you read and then unsubscribe when you’re done. Easy 😌👌🏻.

It is also on Goodreads if you want to add it or review!

There will be a 3rd and final book in The Boy Who Steals Houses trilogy. I have written half of it so will let you know when I’ve figured out a release date.

I’m starting a newsletter so if you’d like to keep up-to-date on info about The Kings of Nowhere (and any of my upcoming books) this is the time to sign up!! I will only haunt your inbox with irregular news 👀👌🏻.

Sign up for the newsletter here.

Avery Lou is to blame. He is a boy left howling his agony under a moon made of broken glass, and he has driven them all to ruin.

I can’t say thank you enough for supporting The Kings of Nowhere.

I am just so grateful for the comments, and DMs, and shares. Seriously, if you have at all interacted with this book or even just silently read — thank you. Publishing TKON came with a lot of heartache and battling feelings of failure. I worked my guts out trying to get this book to sell, but my experience with traditional publishing has always been a mess. I’m working on other projects to submit to publishers (fingers crossed please 😭) but I just didn’t want to let the TBWSH trilogy go. I’m so glad it gets to exist.

(Thank you for reading.)

Feel free to ask any questions you’d like below!

The Kings of Nowhere is LIVE On Patreon + Cover Reveal!!

7th Jan 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 3 Comments

I’m so so excited to share the official cover for The Kings of Nowhere with you!!!

Just softly exploding with love right now, not gonna lie 😍 The colours! The little houses in the background! The brothers! The fairytale vibes!! It is everything.

A special thank you to the amazing Melissa from @thereaderandthechef for this stunning design 😍🥺💛 I wanted something that complimented The Boy Who Steals while being a little different as the sequels get this fresh new chance of being out in the world. It couldn’t be more perfect. And thank you to MTMC Tours for the epic cover reveal tour over on instagram (there’s also an intl giveaway where you can win an exclusive ebook of The Kings of Nowhere!)

Avery Lou has given up stealing houses — now he’s meant to build them. Forced to stay with the De Lainey family until Sam’s return from juvie, Avery feels like he’s drowning. He hates that Sam chose the De Laineys instead of running away with him. And he hates working in their construction company while Vin, the thief who hurt Sam, still walks free. Avery wants revenge.

Swapping the sharp-edged world of burglary and car theft for the homey chaos of big family life is a wild adjustment, and Avery’s determined to sabotage his time with the De Laineys and get locked up with Sam instead. Avery just has to stay immune to Jeremy’s charming shenanigans. Easy…sort of. But Avery’s war against Vin has brought trouble to the De Lainey door and he can’t survive this fight alone.

Starting reading the first chapters on Patreon now!

I’m uploading chapters weekly (Saturdays is posting day!) and the first chapter is also FREE if you want to take a peek. So, so much thanks to everyone who has signed up!!!

If you want to know more about why I’m posting on Patreon instead of The Kings of Nowhere being published traditionally, I’ve explained more in my recent post here. Feel free to ask anything in the comments also!

[Special Announcement] The Boy Who Steals Houses Is Getting…Sequels!

17th Dec 2021 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 20 Comments

The Boy Who Steals Houses was always meant to be a trilogy.

That was my dream, right from the start, and you know what? I’m going to have sequels. 🤨🙌🏻 This is a complicated post because (a) I’m really excited about writing sequels but also (b) this is not exactly a book deal announcement. Let me explain!!

(Also I confess I’ve been talking about the sequels on my instagram/twitter for a while now but am only now getting around to blogging it — forgive me!! And also follow me on instagram where I hang out far too much.)

THE KINGS OF NOWHERE is coming to Patreon in January 2022!

I will share the links when it’s officially launched by for now, the main things you need to know are:

The Boy Who Steals Houses book #2 is titled THE KINGS OF NOWHERE 😍 and I’m really in love with this title. It’s a direct quote from book one.
The Kings of Nowhere is narrated by Avery! (And one of the De Laineys… 👀)
It will be a trilogy and there will be a book 3 (title/release to be announced)
It will ONLY be available to read on Patreon. This is like a private subscription based blog system. I’m going to be posting several chapters per week. The fee will be low and accessible and basically what you’d pay for an ebook!

‘We are the kings of nowhere,’ Sammy says. ‘We only need us.’

The story behind this story.

I tried so so hard to sell these sequels to my publisher — but things don’t always work out unfortunately. A big reason is the imprint that published The Boy Who Steals Houses (and also my debut A Thousand Perfect Notes) actually closed down their YA section. There were a few other avenues to try and, believe me, I worked so hard and I tried everything. I got SO CLOSE too. There’s a lot of mess I won’t go into — but the end result was a nope.

I won’t lie, there have been a lot of tears over these sequels. After TBWSH released, I had a ton of people ask me if there would be more, and I couldn’t SAY ANYTHING 😭 I was sitting there, hopeful but dreading disappointment.

I wrote the first draft of The Kings of Nowhere back in 2017, during a super difficult time in my life. The book meant everything to me. And I couldn’t quite let it go or shut off the part of my brain that kept spinning stories about what happened at the end of The Boy Who Steals Houses. If you’ve read TBWSH, you know I pretty much left it on a cliffhanger. I’m not intentionally cruel okay!! It was not meant to be the end of Sam or Avery.

In fact, you never got to hear Avery’s side of the story. A lot went down in TBWSH where Avery is off page and Sam is making a lot of assumptions. (But he was fifteen and had one braincell, my anxious little fool, so we forgive him.)

There was a reason Avery crashed that car in chapter one. There was a reason Avery stayed away from Sam over the summer. There was a reason Avery refused to leave Vin.

I’m finally telling Avery’s story 🥺💛 He is my absolute feral, chaotic, queer, earnest and utterly loyal son and I love him so much.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1) Are you going to self-publish?

As of now, it’s only going to be available on Patreon, but I might self-publishing someday. I wanted to release The Kings of Nowhere in a lowkey way and I thought posting it in serial updates would be super fun.

2) Is it going to be free?

It’ll cost you a few dollars to subscribe! You can also wait until I’ve posted the whole book (I’m starting in January so I imagine the whole book will be up by March) before you subscribe if you want. Any kind of support is welcome! I just so appreciate it.

3) Will it have a cover?

Yes! Cover coming soon.

4) Is this like…a full length book?

It’s longer than TBWSH 😂 I’m planning to edit/rewrite chapters as I post (trust me, I’ve written this book SO many times since 2017, I know it inside out — I just want to tighten a few things as I go) so I don’t know the exact word count, but it’s over 80,000-words I think.

5) Will Sam be in the book?

Given the ending of book one…you know where Sam is headed 😪 He is not narrating in TKON. This is Avery’s book — but it’s also going to be co-narrated by [drumroll of suspense] Jeremy De Lainey. (YOU KNOW WHY 😌)

The story takes place 3 weeks after TBWSH ends and it takes us from summer into autumn and winter. There will be flashbacks though, as you discover what Avery was doing during the events of TBWSH.

6) Is it sad 🤨

What do you think?!?! I am writing it, so like, obviously you’re going to BAWL YOUR EYES OUT at the end. (Just kidding heh heh but am I.) TKON is also a little darker than book one. The stakes are higher, the consequences sharper. There’s a lot of angst and trauma to work through as well, since Vin is not done with Avery by far.

I’m just going to break your heart a little little bit.

It has the same contrast that TBWSH has too — dark pasts against a soft and warm life with the De Laineys. I really adore Avery’s arc in this book; the way he basically goes from mangled feral wet cat, to warm and comfortable. He’s such an earnest kid 😭 He deserves better.

7) Do I need to read The Boy Who Steals Houses first?

Look, you can do whatever you want, you chaotic little creature. I will post a recap of TBWSH on my Patreon + this book is narrated by a new character so you could probably dive in without having read TBWSH. But should you read book one first? Yes 😂 Buy a copy! Ask your library to buy a copy! Support this small but cute author! (Clarifying this is me.)

No one asked Avery what he wanted, because they wouldn’t like his answers.
What he wants is revenge.
What he wants is to stop screaming inside.
What he wants is to go home and home is Sam and Sam is gone.

I’m so excited for this upcoming project and so so grateful for your support!!! Feel free to ask me anything in the comments.

Title: The Kings of Nowhere #2
Author: CG Drews
Date Publishing: January 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary
Available: Patreon

Avery Lou has given up stealing houses — now he’s meant to build them. Forced to stay with the De Lainey family until Sam’s return from juvie, Avery feels like he’s drowning. He hates that Sam chose the De Laineys instead of running away with him. And he hates working in their construction company while Vin, the thief who hurt Sam, still walks free. Avery wants revenge.
Swapping the sharp-edged world of burglary and car theft for the homey chaos of big family life is a wild adjustment, and Avery’s determined to sabotage his time with the De Laineys and get locked up with Sam instead. Avery just has to stay immune to Jeremy’s charming shenanigans. Easy…sort of. But Avery’s war against Vin has brought trouble to the De Lainey door and he can’t survive this fight alone.