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.
How very exciting!! Good luck!!
Thankyou!! 😍
Yessss I’m so excited!!!!
I’m so glad to hear it!!
As you already know, I’m so excited about this!
🥺💛💛💛 the way you’ve supported this book from the beginning is everythign to me 😭
OMG OMG OMG CONFIRMED QUEER MCS I AM SO EXCITED. I loooove Jeremy so so much too! OMG I CANNOT WAIT. That sucks so much that your old publisher closed their YA section tho ugh *sends warm hugs* This will be a cool fun way to do it though, and I’m so excited! Definitely subscribing ASAP!
Thank you😭😭 this is literally the kindest thing. I’m really excited that people still have a chance to read this 🥺👌🏻 even if this way wasn’t my first option.
THIS IS EVERYTHING!!! YOU KNOW HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THIS!!!
I’M SO HAPPY 😍😍😍😍
!! i have never been more longing for patreon than i am nowwwww i’ve read TBWSH twice and am GOING to get my grubby little hands on a patreon subscription for this
I’ve never actually commented before, but you’re one of my favourite authors!! i love everything you’ve written, your writing style is wonderful (it reminds me of Maggie Stiefvater and Laini Taylor) and i’m really excited to read this when it comes out!
This comment really makes my day!! Honestly these are the kindest words. (And it’s really nice to meet you 😌🙌🏻)
This is so exciting!!!
So glad!!😍
Cait, this is so exciting!! All the best with books 2 and 3!
YAYYY this is such awesome news, I am so happy for you! I am so sorry that the journey was so rough, but I love that you will be able to release it in a way that both supports you AND you feel comfortable with! I’ll definitely be subscribing!
Cait, I’m so, so happy that you’re finally going to get to tell this story! I’ll definitely be reading the sequels, but probably only when the story is complete because I don’t do well with serialization personally. I’m SO excited to get to see from Avery’s point of view though, and to just see more of the De Laineys in general! I really just cannot wait!
Time to reread 🙂
What a way to kick off the New Year! This is very exciting news! Good luck – I hope it goes amazingly!
I am a writer myself (amateur dreamer) who realized… “oh crap” I like to write in present tense… all I wanted was to look at some examples and find passages from them to help me write better. Well… you caught me. It began with A Thousand Perfect Notes. I couldn’t stop. Finished that. I didn’t think i’d be interested in TBWSH… but still, i read chapter 1. And THEN… i couldn’t stop! I stayed awake until that book was done putting aside all other responsibilities! And then I finished it. It was finished and I was empty. It was a great ending, but it left me empty and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I have been this pit of anxiety and despair for days now and I don’t know what do. So I turned to google. Maybe some fan somewhere may have written a very good continuation? But I found this instead! Something so much better! I am beyond excited and I lay here in bed when I should be sleeping but I woke up because I had to investigate and now I’m so happy! The only thing that matters right now is reading this book! Forget life for the moment. I am so sorry the publishing didn’t work out but my sanity is forever greatful you were so generous and shared this. I am like a starved puppy who just ate canned dogfood for the first time ever. I ate it up sooo fast and licked the bowl clean and now i am begging for more like a damn fool. Pitiful but i’m okay with this. I am about to subscribe to something new without thought because that’s how hooked I am! Another few days of no life here i come!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I hope it warms your heart to know how much your books do to people ❤️