Final copy of cover

Welcome!

I’m Emily Swaim, and you’ve reached the website for my fiction writing. Scroll on and learn more about my debut novel REVEN, coming in Spring 2026.

REVEN

A steampunk retelling of Peter Pan about the lengths we’ll go to escape the past.

After losing her mother, 15-year-old Wendi Darl has worked hard to support her family and keep her academic scholarship. But an innocent mistake puts all her efforts to waste, and Wendi is soon staring at a potential future behind bars.

So when charming Peter appears outside her home and asks her to run away on his flying ship, of course Wendi accepts. He’s offering her a magic necklace that would let her defy gravity. A home with friends who appreciate her. An escape from all the mistakes of her dead-end life.

However, Wendi may have fallen into worse trouble than what she left behind. Peter’s magic is dangerously powerful, and a hook-handed stalker has vowed to steal it for himself. Both sides see Wendi’s arrival as an opportunity to break the stalemate and end their rivalry once and for all.

No one is going to save her – if Wendi wants her happy ending, she’ll need to steal it for herself.


Content Warning
This book has subject matter that some readers may find upsetting. An alphabetical list of challenging topics is provided below.
  • Ableism
  • Acephobia
  • Ageism
  • Aggression against animals (in self-defense; no animals die)
  • Arson (property damage only; no loss of life)
  • Body horror (magical)
  • Child abuse (physical; emotional) and child endangerment
  • Classism
  • Colonialism
  • Death of a parent (illness)
  • Dismemberment of a hand (referenced as backstory)
  • Grief
  • Immolation (threatened)
  • Imprisonment
  • Murder and manslaughter
  • Outbreaks of mass illness
  • Panic attacks
  • Police extortion and corruption
  • Racism
  • Religious extremism
  • Slavery
  • Toxic friendship dynamics
  • Transphobia and parental rejection
  • Violence (brawling; sword fighting)

ARCs

ARCs will be available soon

Preorders

Don’t delay – preorder today! (You can also ‘try before you buy’ and download the first three chapters for free.)

About the author

Emily Swaim

Hi, I’m Emily Swaim, author of REVEN: Across Golden Skies.

I was born and raised in Kansas City, which I will argue has some of the best food in the country. I went to undergrad at Kenyon College in Ohio and did my MFA at California College of the Arts in California.

While I read widely across genres, my writing tends to stick to fantasy or science fiction (I just cannot bring myself to write stories set in the real world.). My novella Kilohedon won Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future Contest, and my short story The Witch and the Fool featured in Luna Station Quarterly.

If you’re looking for my science journalism work, I regret to inform you that you are on the wrong website. My nonfiction portfolio is at SwaimWords. It’s a similar name, I know. You can also find my articles directly on Healthline, Business Insider, Verywell, GoodTherapy, ClearHealthCosts, and Rover.

When I’m not writing, I am probably elbow-deep in a craft like painting, crochet, or stone carving. I also enjoy anime, tactics RPGs, yoga, and getting lost in the woods. It is my policy to tell every dog I meet that they are perfect and deserve all the scritches.