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Skyla Dawn Cameron

My characters kill people so I don't have to.

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January 17, 2021 By Skyla Dawn Cameron 1 Comment

“When’s That Book Coming?” Winter 2021 Edition

Well, we made it! Or some of us did. I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt increasingly like a zombie movie where fewer and fewer people haven’t been bit, and I’m not sure if I’m going to be a casualty during the climax or make it in time for the cure. Friends have been sick with covid; friends have lost large numbers of family members to it. I’ve been locked down in isolation since last March and it looks like I’ll be here until the fall later this year.

I don’t think a huge amount is different from the end of the year recap but onward!

What’s New

The Silent Places!

I’m so grateful to everyone who bought a new book by me in a totally different genre, and also those who left a kind review. I’m still tremendously proud of it and so glad many of you enjoyed it.

I also continue to be the absolute worst person at evaluating triggers for people, so if you found the domestic violence warning at the start insufficient, I am very sorry. I do hope going on Imogen’s journey provided at least some catharsis and validation for the survivors who read it.

Also new…the Etsy shop is live!

…after Christmas, which certainly bungled some plans to sell signed books, but the pandemic delivery of paperbacks did not come on time.

Still, if you know someone with a birthday coming up–or someone you want to send a gift to just because–I’ve got a few gift packages ready. The gift boxes come with quality handmade goodies in addition to a signed book and packaged ready for giving.

The other thing launched in 2020 will go into the next section…

What’s Upcoming

…because it’s still in progress!

About half of Season of the Bitch is up at Patreon. I’ve still got to get this month’s last few chapters done and posted, then it’ll conclude next month. It’s funny that fifteen years ago I was doing eSerials regularly, often writing by the seat of my pants, and finishing chapters the night before posting them–and it was fine!

Now? JFC I am too old for that shit. I much prefer everything done in advance, but this is my fault for last minute thinking I was going to write a short story that turned into a novella.

You can catch up for $1/month (or sign up for a year in advance with a discount), getting this and other goodies as well as the big archive of other stories in thanks for your support of my writing.

A few months after it’s done and I’ve had a chance to run it through edits, I’ll post it in its entirety for all patrons, and there’ll be an annotated version looking at the differences between the zero draft and the final for those into that kind of thing.

And also, this little thing up for preorder…

So I’m keeping the initial worst-case scenario date of June 1.

Might it be ready sooner? Maybe. If it is, the paperback will release early. But honestly, this book…I’ve been banging not just my head but throwing my entire body against it for months. I had problems I didn’t know how to fix, going in circles, desperately trying to talk it out but Shawn hasn’t been too helpful. Mentally I’ve been, uh, a little taxed these last several months, so not in the best place to figure it out. I finally feel like I’m on the right track but this next revision pass is very, very slow…then it’ll need another pass from me to smooth it out, then the copyeditor gets it, then I do another pass, then I have to proofread…

June 1 seems the best amount of time for me to get this right, and honestly I think anyone put off by that date has likely already abandoned the series, so I can’t worry about it. And even if it’s all polished and ready sooner, that gives me a buffer of time to get more work done on other books before I have to deal with people stealing this one–the violation of piracy always leaves me a wreck for several weeks.

This new one is also set to be at least as long as Emperor’s Tomb (possibly a little longer when all is said and done), so it’s a beast to work with but will give readers a good chunk of distraction to fall into while the pandemic rages on this summer.

Betrayal and sacrifice follow Livi Talbot on her darkest adventure yet.

Still reeling from the ultimate betrayal that has set her entire world off-kilter, the hits keep coming when Livi’s estranged mother—who abandoned the Talbot family twenty years ago—shows up without warning. She’s looking for a pre-Incan stone idol in the ruins of an abandoned Spanish mission that has escaped looters for centuries, and she wants Livi to find it.

Livi wants to be anywhere but home, and a trip with her family to Peru is just what she needs to clear her head—even if it involves reconnecting with her mom. But a heartbroken adventurer is a distracted one, making Livi the perfect target for supernatural guardians in the jungle…and more danger from those closest to her that she might not see until it’s too late.

Preorder: Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook

Although there is no date yet (maybe starting this summer?) 2021 will also bring Elis O’Connor back to Patreon in Witch Hunt.

As previously said, Elis’s series is pretty much dead in the water otherwise. I thought I might’ve been able to alternate it with Livi’s books, but I can’t really spend all the time writing unprofitable things, so I’m going to let some other projects simmer this year and see what else might fit in that space.

(Doesn’t mean I won’t ever continue Elis’s series, but after Witch Hunt it’s on the backburner and will probably be used for Patreon serials when I feel inclined to pick it back up again. Working on a failed series is a little like being kicked over and over again, though, and not exactly conductive to the fun and excitement one needs when writing–especially when I’m already prone to depression, and when I need to use my limited time for things I’ll get paid for.)

What I’m Working On

Um…stuff and things!

Revisions are eating a lot of my brain right now along with freelance work. I’m looking at taking a week off of freelancing every quarter this year just to have a rest and focus on writing so I don’t get too burned out. I’m also waiting to see what other zero drafts are going to bubble to the surface and be ready to be written this year.

I’m doing my annual re-read of one of my favourite series right now prior to the next book’s release, and considering Livi Talbot. I wrote Solomon’s Seal first in 2012, so these books have occupied my brain for nearly a decade. Because I don’t keep notes, everything is jammed in my brain, and I think it’s probably time to build like an actual series bible.

When I’m done this revisions pass on Yampellec, I think I’ll just take a week off from everything and reread the entire Livi series–or at least the main books–and build a proper bible. We’re not quite halfway through the series and this’ll save me going back to flip through things every time I forget something, as well as check all the very early threads I laid out and have been weaving in. (There is also an incredibly stupid factual error in Shiva’s Bow I missed in research that I’ve been meaning to correct, so I might as well do that too.)

Other than that…we’ll see what I get done this year!

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December 29, 2020 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Gifts and Sales

I’d intended the recap post to be the last of the year, but checking in here with a couple of time-sensitive things (and one ongoing).

First up, a Boxing Week sale over at Payhip!

Save 25% on all my ebooks–including boxsets and new ones–with the coupon code BOXINGDAY at checkout. Common ebook formats available–mobi, epub, and pdf–so it should work with any ereader or app.

Good until January 4 2021! Head here.

If you’re on Kobo, you can also get the Livi Talbot Vol I boxset for just $4.99 until January 4 2021 (contains the first three novels and novella). Grab that here.

Next, if you’re a writer type, I’ve got a premade cover sale going.

I’m booked up into mid-February at this point for graphics, but this is a great and affordable way to get something really quick (I can typically turn around a customized cover in a couple of business days, once I have the title info). If you’ve got a story needing a cover, I might have the perfect thing for you. All genres available.

Save 20% off everything (including trilogy and duology sets) with the coupon code BEGENTLE2021 until January 4 2021. Head here.

Finally, not time sensitive:

Image may contain: text that says 'THE SILEN SILENT PLACI PLACES A NOVEL SKYLA DAWN CAMERON S'

My print books finally arrived and I’ve got some for sale up at Etsy. You’ll find single copies of The Silent Places available or gift boxes with several handmade goodies in addition to the book–a knitted mug cozy, a beaded and sterling silver bracelet, and a keychain–packaged in a gift box ready for giving. Both the single books and the gift boxes come with a free digital download code so you can enjoy an ebook copy wherever you go in addition to your paperback.

You’ll find the shop here. I’d been working on everything prior to Christmas but the books didn’t arrive in time–they’d still make a lovely gift for someone special whether a birthday, an anniversary, or a just-because present.

(If you’re local, hit me up with an email to save on shipping–I can take payments via e-Transfer and arrange contactless pickup in town.)

My depression’s been bad for the past week and I’m trying to get a few things done–like the next Elis chapters for Patreon–while battling brain demons. We’re now under lockdown in Ontario, although I still see a lot of people out and about. I’m excited to eventually get vaccinated later in the year and then continuing to not have contact with other people.

Shawn’s been under the weather–he seems prone to bad hairballs and at a risk of blockage, because of course he is–and is finally feeling better after several rough days. The one thing I’m looking forward to is proper vet visits again eventually.

Happy Almost New Year!

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December 15, 2020 By Skyla Dawn Cameron 1 Comment

So This Is Christmas…

…and what have you done? 🎵 🎵 🎵

This was a rather unprecedented year for fuckery and I am…sort of pleasantly surprised at what I actually got done?

There were a lot of jokes early lockdown about “Now’s the time to write that novel!” and then of course no one actually got anything done because it’s hard to focus on art during such a period of instability (unless your brain was wired for it). And while I largely felt like I did very little…it turns out that is not the case.

So this will serve as my end-of-year recap and (likely) last post of the year (omg YEAR).

Counterpoint: Always Kill a Boy on the First Date

A post-Oblivion novella that serialized last year on Patreon and released January 28 2020 everywhere else. I was writing it concurrently with Blood Ties, but I didn’t initially know the two would tie together; I kept feeling like I was missing something toward the end of both of them, and then suddenly I put two and two together and realized how they fit. I think both stand alone fine on their own, but I hope some readers of this one had a “Aha!” moment when they got to the third part of Blood Ties.

That brings us to…

Blood Ties

The zero of this one finished in January and serialized on Patreon, then released June 2 2020 in ebook and paperback.

I didn’t advertise it as a spinoff to not scare off new readers, which may or may not have been a mistake, I don’t know; I do think it stands alone fine but is much richer when you have the full history. I’d always known Elisabeta’s birth was in the cards (although I didn’t get to write it with the premature ending of the main series) but I had no idea she was going to be a serial killer until she started talking to me.

It has not done well enough to justify continuing the series, unfortunately. I’ve started Witch Hunt, and when it’s done next year it’ll serialize on Patreon and then release in paperback, but piracy was super high with this one and not enough sales to compensate. I had at least three more planned after that (Hell Fire, Soul Spell, Demon Fall) but that’s on hold right now.

A new series with a pansexual serial killer main character was definitely a risk and one I don’t regret taking–readers who bought it tended to love it, and even if I don’t get to do all the things I was planning with it, I’m very glad to have at least some of Elis’s story out there.

And my last big public release of the year…

The Silent Places

I started The Silent Places early in the year and wrote it in chunks at a time before finishing and revising it during my birthday holiday in September. It went through several rounds of revisions and edits and released December 8 2020.

I had absolutely no idea where this one would go with readers. And I still don’t really know–it’s early yet (a week since release). But the handful of people who’ve read it and reached out have loved it, and it’s the kind of deeply personal book I hope hits the right readers when they need it most. There was a lot I wanted to say about survivors, trauma, and the broken system that fails victims, and I feel like I’ve at least done that as well as I possibly can–which is is the most I can really do. (And it has a cover quote from LILITH-FREAKING-SAINTCROW so omg about that still.)

Thus far it’s done okay–it had more preorders than the next Livi Talbot novel (so far) and it’s sold better in a week than Blood Ties did in six months, at least. Which is not enough to live on but it’s promising nonetheless, and I’m hopeful that’ll bode well for the next domestic thriller currently simmering in my brain.

With releases out of the way, what writing did I actually finish?

  • Blood Ties–I finished it in January so I’m counting it
  • Yampellec’s Idol–aka Livi #5. The stars did not align to get it out by the end of the year, but I got the zero draft done by May (and wrote about 80K to top off what I’d already written last year), the first round of revision done, and I’m hoping to finish the next big round by the end of the year. It’s currently up for preorder.
  • The Silent Places–started and finished this year.
  • Asset’s Protocol–a West-POV short story specifically for patrons.
  • My Heart With You–a long West-POV story briefly released at Patreon (contains a lot of spoilers for the future of the series)

Then I have a list of projects started. The two I’ll mention:

  • Witch Hunt–Elis O’Connor #2. I had to take a break when the piracy hit but I’m a few chapters into it and it’ll likely shift to my priority in the near year when I’m through Livi #5’s revisions.
  • Season of the Bitch–Elis O’Connor #0.5. It was supposed to be a fun Halloween short story for Patreon but of course it’s going to be longer than that. Several chapters have posted and it’ll conclude either this month or next.

I’ve other things in progress I’ll talk about more when they’re closer to completion, but I’ve gotten substantial work done on other books as well.

In such a messed up year–in which I broke my fucking foot and didn’t go to the ER “because pandemic”–I feel super grateful to have accomplished what I have, to get a few new stories out there against enormous odds, and to mostly keep my sanity throughout. I am incredibly grateful to all the readers, returning and new, who’ve invested in my existing series and embraced the new standalone thriller. I am, as always, stunned and humbled by my Patreon supporters, who’ve managed to stick with me during a goddamn global pandemic when things are so difficult for so many–they’re why the Livi Talbot series has continued, no question.

If you bought a book this year, got it from the library, told a friend, wrote a review–thank you, thank you, thank you.

The holiday plans are pretty low-key here; I’ve been in isolation since March and that’ll likely continue until late next year when I’m eligible for a vaccine. And even then, I think I’ll probably stay the fuck away from most people because humans are gross and I enjoy not having contact with the majority of them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s better than last year’s last-minute struggle to put together some kind of Christmas, which was not a fun time to be sure; this year I already have the tree up (which Shawn is determined to topple, god help me) and all my plans are quiet and relaxing. Shoutout to my close friend Danni–she of Blood Ties and Damaged dedications (I wrote both books for her)–who is determined I not miss out despite being alone here. She’s singlehandedly ordered a massive Christmas dinner currently chilling in my freezer and cupboard, and delivered a stack of wrapped gifts for me and the cats (that yes, I’ve had to hide from Shawn). Themes of found family permeate my books, and she is an example of why; I know the very best people, and very rarely are they related by blood.

If you’re able to gather with people in your household this year, you’re very lucky. Please don’t forget those in your life who’ve possibly had no physical contact with other humans since March–it’s been a very long road for many who have been trying to do their part to not spread a deadly virus to the vulnerable, and it’s not going to be over any time soon. Reaching out with Zoom-type holiday greetings in lieu of parties, bringing by a plate of food or dropping takeout at the door, wrapping a small gift for under their tree if they have one–I’m very fortunate to have friends who think of these things but not everyone does. It helps those isolated to be treated as though they’re being thought of at all.

Otherwise I’ve grand plans to watch Wonder Woman: 1984, binge Bridgerton, and have a quiet spa day with the goodies in my stocking.

Regardless of your circumstances, I hope you carve out time for a much-deserved lovely holiday season. See you in the new year!

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December 8, 2020 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Release Day: The Silent Places

In January of this year, I was desperate to read a book.

I didn’t exactly know what book, except that it had to be a thriller (preferably domestic)–between editing and my own writing, I have extremely limited time to read for pleasure, and I read almost exclusively thrillers. It also had to be set in the Yukon. Retiring in Whitehorse (or fleeing immediately to, depending on the day I’m having) has become a dream of mine. Every year I reread a couple of Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton books in anticipation of her newest release in that series, but one can only read those so many times before needing more Yukon murder books.

At some point, The Silent Places* just bloomed in my head about 95% formed, including the ending.

So I dove in and wrote the Yukon murder book I wanted to read.

I’m pretty sure my search history put me on some government watchdog lists but someday over drinks I can tell you a lot about how to get a fake identity in Canada and the loopholes that can make it surprisingly easy (none of which actually made it into the book).

I am super happy to have the book out there. Nervous, of course, because in many ways it’s vastly different from everything else I’ve published. In other ways, though, it’s very much on brand. It’s still a book about monsters, they’re all just human.

It’s my sincerest hope that you enjoy it.

It’s been nearly a year since Imogen Sharp’s husband Nick went missing—and a year of everyone in the Yukon village of Red Fox Lake whispering that she killed him.

With interest in the case rising again as the anniversary of his disappearance approaches, a journalist comes to town and sparks new rumours. Did Nick take his own life without leaving a note? Did he leave of his own volition? Or did his would-be widow have something to do with it as everyone believes?

When the story reaches national news and Imogen’s photo is plastered everywhere, something darker than local rumours comes to her door. Because five years ago Imogen Sharp didn’t exist, and now even the most remote place in Canada can no longer be her refuge.

“Tightly paced, laser-focused, and scorchingly honest–I want to give this book to every woman I know.” – Lilith Saintcrow, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Payhip | Print**

Reminder: the soundtrack is posted here, if you’re so inclined.


* Initially the file was called Silent River. The title was almost Strange Things Done but there’s already a Yukon murder book with that name. The Silent Places was also taken from a Robert Service poem though, in this case “The Call of the Wild”.

** I will have signed print copies available eventually, both on their own and as part of gift boxes with some other pretty things, but not for a couple more weeks unfortunately.

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December 6, 2020 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Soundtrack Sunday – THE SILENT PLACES

The new book is nearly here!

The soundtrack is a strange one because while my playlists normally run heavily in favour of songs with lyrics, this one didn’t. If it was a movie, there would be a lot of long slow pans of isolated snowy landscapes and forests, and the music followed a similar pattern for me. That said, there are still a few with lyrics; the non-vocal ones, know that they were just on repeat most of the time.

SJ Tucker – “Girl Into Devil“
Talked about this one a lot here.
“Shouldering a rifle, more to prove with every breath,//stolen fairytale girls make the difference between life and death.//It all comes down to choices, but you’ve only the hard ones left,//and so, all you can say is//’I belong to me. Even now, even here.'”

Sarah McLachlan – “Answer“
Although her husband Nick has been missing and doesn’t appear on page, this was their song.
“I will be the answer at the end of the line//I will be there for you while you take the time//In the burning of uncertainty, I will be your solid ground//I will hold the balance if you can’t look down”

Gregory Alan Isakov – “If I Go, I’m Goin’“
Likely due in part to it being used at the end of The Haunting of Hill House, but it reminds me of being haunted at home; TSP isn’t paranormal, but there’s a weight to Nick’s disappearance and a sense of his presence in his absence that is like a haunting.

Lotte Kestner – “True Faith” (cover)
I had this one on repeat a lot while writing.
“I used to think that the day would never come//That my life would depend on the morning sun//That the day would never come”

Sarah McLachlan – “Dirty Little Secret“
“But nothing seems to help me since you went away//I’m so tired of this town”

Callum McGraw – “Wayfaring Stranger” (cover)

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – “Wind River“
So my primary music for the book was the Wind River soundtrack. I’ll link here on Spotify but share the tracks I listened to the most. Particularly during the final chapters surrounding the storm, but overall these were my “isolated cold Yukon music” tracks.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – “Three Seasons in Wyoming“

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – “Second Body“

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – “Bad News“

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – “Breakdown“

The Silent Places releases on Tuesday! Preorder now or patrons can download a four-chapter sample at Patreon.

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Payhip | Print

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MEET SKYLA DAWN

Urban fantasy writer. Fifth-generation crazy cat lady. Bitchy feminist. Cranky designer.

My characters kill people so I don’t have to.

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