Skyla Dawn Cameron

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

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“When’s that book coming?” Fall 2022 Edition

It’s release month and I don’t really have time to even think about that, which is probably both good and bad. But I’ll get to that.

What’s New

Still no Witch Hunt yet but it’ll be out later this fall. It should go much smoother next year with Soul Spell–it’ll be out for copyedits in the spring and should release in paperback in the summer in time for Hell Fire to start serializing at Patreon.

New Patreon shorts have gone up–there’s a Waverly backstory short, Once Upon a Rainy Day, and a Pru POV one set after Yampellec’s Idol called She Will Be. I’ve got a West one in progress as well that’ll go up for his tier probably next week set while he’s off on his own hunting the Nostoi while Livi’s busy in Charon’s Gold, and all patrons will get a new Christmas one in December about Livi set after Charon’s Gold.

The bimonthly vignettes/shorts are part of a reward for reaching a huge Patreon milestone ($500/month) and are available to all patrons because every dollar counts and has supported the writing of these books. And patrons can make suggestions!

Although it’s not exactly book-related, I did put a lot of work into the two-part patron podcast thing, Letter of Shaming a Murderer about That Murderer from That Viral Thread in August. Part 1 covers my dealings (and correspondence with him) in 2014; Part 2 covers the discovery of his arrest, trial, and conviction (and yes, I name names). It’s for the Patreon writing tier at $2/month.

Other than that, Soul Spell has continued serializing, and nothing else releasing as everything has been gearing up to this month.

What’s Upcoming

Well…I guess we should talk about this thing.

Yeah after a lot of stressing and fears it would be delayed, I’m still making the release date of October 25 and some copies are out in the wild between paperbacks and patrons who get eARCs.

I don’t even know what readers are left at this point? Because apparently I had the great idea to have a slow-burn buildup full of red flags that turned off readers thinking “Oh, this’ll be another alpha male douchebag romance. 🤮” early in the series and then last book pissed off the ones who had stuck around because they thought “Oh, this’ll be another alpha male douchebag romance! 😍” (FWIW: I don’t think West is an alpha male douchebag; I think he’s self-isolating, deeply traumatized, and doing his best, but I recognize some people see things differently.) I’m hoping everyone left is “Yes, I love messy people trying to work through their shit” because, well, that’s apparently my jam. I’m much more interested in how damaged people with a lot of baggage work through their issues and heal (against a big epic backdrop) than playing out another version of “her love heals him” (or, worse still, her love doesn’t heal him but she just accepts a toxic relationship).

Anyway. We’ll see! The most important thing (or so I tell clients when they want reassurance) is that I have been telling exactly the story I want to tell, the story I’d want to read, so at the end of the day at least there’s that.

It’s probably best I don’t have a lot of time to dwell right now–I’m working 10-12-hour days including most weekends and my most recent bloodwork still had inflammatory markers despite the fact that I feel fine so my medication dose has been upped and…that’s fun. I’m very tired and I don’t have time to breathe let alone celebrate a new release (boo) or bracing for people hate it (yay).

So. Preorder! Please don’t hate it–or don’t tell me if you do!

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Smashwords | Payhip | Paperback

Next up…I have a release on February 14 for Valentine’s Day!

…yeah, it’s horror.

Bless you if you’re excited by all the new romance books in February–I’m glad you have that–but me, I just want horror and murder. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Because Witch Hunt‘s schedule was all messed up and I didn’t get it out when I’d intended, I spent the time revising that when I should’ve been doing another pass on Watcher of the Woods, so I’m a little behind there but the copyeditor is ready for it when I’m done and it should release on time.

I wrote this one for NaNoWriMo last year and while it’s set in the same world as Dweller on the Threshold, it’s not a sequel (and has a very different narrator). In some ways it’s much darker than Dweller and certainly is less funny, but I ended up very proud of it.

eBook is up for preorder now and it’ll be in paperback and hardcover in February.

Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook 

And of course, at last, Waverly Jones starts next year!

The Killing Beach (aka the book that took me four years to write) is up for preorder everywhere, May 30 2023, and there’ll be not only paperback but a special Nancy Drew-style hardcover edition upon release.

The second book, A Wild Kind of Darkness, is out November 7 2023. The third, Alone at Night, will either be spring or fall 2024, depending on when the “final” Livi book is done.

The second Livi boxset (containing Shiva’s Bow, Yampellec’s Idol, and Charon’s Gold) will be out everywhere but Amazon next September.

And, of course, Hell Fire (Elis O’Connor #4) should start at Patreon summer 2023.

What I’m Working On

I mean, mostly I’m working on keeping my head above water.

I thought I’d been careful with my schedule this year but I ended up squeezing in a lot of favours and now I’m drowning, particularly as I’m trying to keep up with writing commitments–I love freelancing and working with my clients but I’ll have to change things up next year for sure. I only have two things on my plate at the moment but they’re both big ones, and in addition to that I really need to finish another pass on Watcher of the Woods, write Silent All These Years (Waverly #4), finish some Patreon rewards…and, oh yeah, start working on Hell Fire (Elis #4), and Untitled Livi 7 (trying to make that into a series ender for public release is heaping a lot of extra pressure). And there’s another couple of horror books to write. And I’m hoping to write Untitled Waverly 5 and Untitled Waverly 6 before next spring so that I’m super ahead of the game.

(Yes, Norah MacBeth is from Dweller on the Threshold–there’s a book-within-a-book in Watcher of the Woods and I’m going to write that book under Norah’s name because I love that premade cover I did and someone bought it for me.)

So I’m likely not doing NaNoWriMo this year–last year I wrote 150K, so I tend to go a little overboard and I just don’t have time for that this year.

But I have to be writing something. I’ve been exhausted and stressed the last few weeks, unable to even rest because all I can ever think of is just How Much I Have To Do, but when I finally finished a short for Patreon I felt a ton better. Turns out I don’t need (much) rest, I just need to actually write! Who would’ve guessed lol.

Anyway, this was a big one. Expect a couple more Soundtrack Sundays on the blog this month in preparation for Charon’s Gold‘s release. Happy October–I hope you get lots of fun spooky books to read, and please hit me up with horror recommendations! (Ones where animals don’t die, thanks.)

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Next Year’s Release Schedule

This is part proof-of-life post (although another will be coming on Sunday for Shawn’s birthday, theoretically), part actual update.

This week has been marginally better in that I don’t seem to be having the panic attacks and frequent tachycardia–last week was bad enough I very, very nearly considered an ambulance when even medication couldn’t get my heartrate down after an hour–but that might also be due to the lack of human contact. I did spend basically all of last Sunday and most of Monday just crying nonstop for no reason except that it was a taper day for my meds and that’s what happens when I come down, which was not my favourite thing. But Tuesday was unexpectedly a semi-normal workday, as was today, and hopefully that means the end is in sight. I also only had one episode of internal bleeding so SCORE. And my biopsies are all cancer and pre-cancer free.

A couple of bedrest days have lead to binge-watching The Vampire Diaries because apparently I am still making bad decisions. My Platonic Murder Wife checks in regularly and keeps me company when I need it–it’s that weird spot where I absolutely should not be alone, but it also might be safest if I am–and as usual, she and Shawn are probably why I’m not dead yet.

I’m more than halfway through Soul Spell, which is Elis #3…which was supposed to be called Hell Fire, but it’s taking longer to get to the reason WHY the book was supposed to be called Hell Fire, and I just decided to bump that to Elis #4. Confused? Me too! But the end result is that yes, Elis will be back this summer (#2 concluded at Patreon last week) with her third book, now called Soul Spell, and the fourth one that will serialize next year will be called Hell Fire.

I’ve tried my best to keep my Wednesday writing days, along with the Saturday night write-ins, though that’s sometimes challenging as well. I did not have any new words in me yesterday, but I pulled out Watcher of the Woods and…made some more decisions.

Watcher in the Woods–standalone, but set in the same world as Dweller on the Threshold–is going to release next year ON VALENTINE’S DAY (February 14 2023) because either I have terrible timing or I expect other people would rather read a horror book on a romance day like I would. (Why not both?)

A big reason I pulled it out is because Dweller on the Threshold actually has four times the preorder numbers Livi #6 does. And to be honest…that’s still a pretty low number, but it’s not insignificant, so I thought having another standalone hauntings book for preorder when this one comes out in April would be a good idea. I’ve assigned it some ISBNs, set up preorder pages, and given it a dedicated page on my site so…I guess we’re doing this!

As a result of that, I’ve decided to keep Waverly #1 in spring but just bump it later, so The Killing Beach is officially set for May 30 2023.

Most stores won’t list preorders earlier than a year before the release date, except for Kobo, so both are live there now and the books pages here will update as other stores come up (Kindle for Watcher will be next week).

Here’s what that all looks like:

I literally had just redone the graphic to replace Hell Fire with Soul Spell and then redid it again, but here we are.

The UPCOMING page also has everything listed in one handy place.

Still speaking of Dweller: the hardcovers arrived on Monday and they came out lovely. At this point, I’m only doing standalones in hardback (maybe Waverly, we’ll see) because the trim sizes are limited so I have to redo my interiors from 5×8 to 5.5×8.5 and I am not putting that energy into a format no one will buy lol but if that’s your thing, you’ll find Dweller and The Silent Places for sale in hardcover on Amazon. I’ll have a Dweller signed gift box and that in my shop probably by the end of the month.

Hopefully I’ll have a cute post here on Sunday for Shawn’s third (THIRD!!!) birthday–he’s got a bunch of presents from me and his aunties, which is basically already a day ending in y for him, but he’s very special.

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Winter 2022 Edition

A book out in paperback, a new preorder–let’s dive in!

What’s New

No official releases, and this is six months after Yampellec’s Idol came out–believe me, I am feeling the hit (I’ve not sold a single ebook yet in January on Kindle lol). But I don’t like to rush things, and if I bumped up the new book to now, I’d then have that big gap until Charon’s Gold comes out (which definitely won’t move up), so I’ll take the hit now rather than later.

That being said…actually the new book is out early for print readers!

Meet Norah and her cats in paperback or hardcover now!

Amidst the 2020 pandemic, Norah Sloane has been sheltering in place with her ex-boyfriend—the equivalent of three toddlers in a trench coat pretending to be an adult—who abruptly informs her he thinks she needs to move out. Coincidentally, her estranged father has just died and left his family’s home to her, and in a fit of defiant frustration, she packs her bags, her cats, and all the toilet paper, and drives five hours north to the tiny village of Hope Falls to claim her inheritance.

Selling the big, partially renovated old house during a global pandemic is out of the question, but the bills are paid for a few months to give her time to get on her feet. It’s the best solution, all things considered.

So what if it’s haunted?

What’s Upcoming

Dweller on the Threshold is out in ebook on April 5 and you can preorder everywhere: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook

Charon’s Gold, Livi #6, is also up for preorder, coming October 25: Kindle  –  Kobo  –  iBooks  –  Nook 

Livi Talbot is no longer the woman she once was.

She has suffered great loss. She has been betrayed.

And after failing to stop the greatest villain she has ever faced, she’s determined to never be blindsided again.

Her first priority is to rescue a suffering soul from the underworld itself. Though fellow adventurer Iluka Grantham is at her side to hunt down the gold coins that will allow her to cross the river Styx, entering the underworld through the deadly Pluto’s Gate in Turkey remans solely on her shoulders. Survival in the world of the dead isn’t guaranteed, even for Livi Talbot, and this journey will bring her face to face with her greatest failures, her biggest losses, and her inability to save those she loves.

And if she survives? The next goal is to go after every person responsible for the death that caused magic to bleed back into the human realm.

Even if they’re family.

Summer should see Witch Hunt get a paperback wide release and Hell Fire will start at Patreon. Elis gets arrested for one murder she didn’t commit, there’s some dimension-hopping with her growing misandrist girl gang, and shenanigans ensue.

March 2023 will also see the launch of Waverly Jones Mysteries with The Killing Beach! No preorder yet–those can’t be more than a year in advance–but it’s coming.

What I’m Working On

Hell Fire has to be my priority right now, though I also am working on the third Waverly Jones book, and a bunch of West POV stuff I’m readying for Patreon. I did manage to take most of December off after so many months of crazy productivity and I’m still pretty tired, though sticking to my Wednesdays and Saturday nights is a good way to ease into things.

Because the process of writing a book and publishing it takes so long–generally whatever you read from me I’ve written one to four years in advance–writers constantly have to be looking ahead. Even if a series end is three or more years away, there comes the question of what next? What should be in the pipeline?

So with Livi planning to end, and Elis ending right around the corner after that, I’m looking at what to fill my time with. Release-wise, I can then start scheduling Elis’s novels for ebook release (I decided I won’t consider doing so until the series is totally written), but writing-wise?

Waverly’s series will probably be six or seven books, and I need to stagger releases to have one every six months so I’ll need something to alternate with it. I’ve got a zombie apocalypse novel I want to write, and I might be good enough now to write the Nairobi Spy Trilogy that’s been in my head for several years though it’s also like a futuristic UF. And another post-apocalyptic dystopia thing circling my brain without landing yet.

But also…I kind of want to get out of writing UF?

I’ve spent so much time with the genre and I truly love it but, as a writer, it’s getting really frustrating how urban fantasy is conflated with paranormal romance. I have no problem with PNR! But it’s not what I write and I do not follow the genre conventions. I never will. Especially writing female protagonists and having a girly name like Skyla, I get put in that box no matter how careful I am to never label my books as that.

Some people sometimes getting involved and kissing does not equal genre Romance and HEAs. I want the freedom to write women who date but end up single. I want to kill off love interests. And I get tired of accusations and hatemail that I’ve misled romance readers when I’ve never advertised to them in the first place.

Tack onto that the issue with readers of self-pub books expecting all series to be swiftly churned out back to back and the amount of pressure that places on me–even knowing I can never be that kind of writer with the books I write–and I really don’t feel like this is the genre for me anymore.

I refuse to use a pen name (because fuck misogyny, that’s why). So I’m left wondering how things might go moving into other genres. I love domestic thrillers, mysteries, and horror–these are all things I’d enjoy writing more of. I’m curious how Waverly’s books will do and what the reception will be, and what genre expectations mystery readers will bring to the books. More standalones like The Silent Places or mysteries might definitely be in my future. And horror. Lots of horror.

I haven’t decided anything yet, but that’s where my thoughts are right now!

I hope y’all are staying safe and taking care out there.

This little monster is recovering nicely after having nine teeth removed two weeks ago! The surgery cost a little less than expected so there’s a chunk of money ready for his next emergency in “his” bank account. We have to stay on top of the dental stuff and he might need more out next year or the year after. Still got those big fangs, though, which he’s happy to bite me with.

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Spring 2019 Edition

When we last left our heroine…*checks*…oh, I’d sold a bunch of books over New Year’s. Sales were really good in January and February. They’ve dropped again now that those folks have caught up with the series (except at Kobo–love you, Kobo!), but I’ve picked up new readers excited about more Livi and who have joined Patreon. So that is amazing, and if you’re new around here, welcome! Please tell a friend or seven!

What’s New

The first Livi boxset is available–this contains Solomon’s Seal, Odin’s Spear, Ashford’s Ghost (novella), Emperor’s Tomb.

I’ve also set for re-release some of Aunt Judy’s books–Teacher’s Pet and Love by the Pound, two of her first books, are up for preorder. I recovered Big Fat Lies and Second Chances: Jack and Gillian with more traditional romance covers, which I think would please her.

Of her stuff, I think I still have a couple of novellas, and her novel Lady Blue left to release.

If you’re tired of me killing and torturing characters, check out her romances! They will not break your heart, as I am wont to do, but as her literary heir, I make full royalties.

What I’m Working On…

Livi #5 is once again in progress–I took a break because kittens–and it’s now up to 50K. I’m maybe at the halfway mark? There’s a lot of filling in to do but it’s coming along. While #4 is a game changer, #5 is what starts to set Livi on her path/mission/calling/whatever you want to call it.

ICYMI buried in the post a few days ago, here’s the look at the covers for the first six, all in a row.

Research for #6 is in progress, but I will likely need a break to let it percolate some. There are books beyond that, they just don’t have titles yet.

Also in progress, as announced last time, is the Waverly Jones mystery series. What was going to be a fairly simple thing I knocked out between Livi books has, of course, gotten a lot more complicated, and I’m actually sort of plotting properly with recipe cards and everything instead of leaving the tangles in my head.

Or, okay, I’m learning to plot before I can actually plot, and yes, I’ve written like forty books without plotting, and keep everything in my head. My brain is a very busy place. Stop judging me.

What’s Upcoming

New Livi novella this month! King’s Bounty is swinging your way in just over two weeks.


Kindle – Kobo – Nook – iBooks


It’s not always whirlwind international danger and adventures for single mom and treasure hunter Livi Talbot—this time, fun’s a little closer to home when she accepts a blind date set up by her brother. A perfect storm leaves her without a babysitter—at least until Dale West arrives at her door and is willing to watch her daughter for a few hours.

But even the nicest evening out can take a sharp downturn fast: Livi and her date are abducted, bound, and dragged to an abandoned farmhouse outside of the city.

No one is coming to save her.

Her date isn’t much help.

And the kidnappers? Well, they’re merely henchmen. The real boss is on their way—and Livi’s not sure she’ll survive long after they arrive.

For Livi Talbot, of course even an ordinary first date is going to end badly.

I didn’t actually have much of a soundtrack for this one, so I’ll be skipping Soundtrack Sunday, but this was the theme for the epilogue (with a bit of this one thrown in for West):

In addition to the kidnapping and West POV babysitting, in King’s Bounty you get:

  • a loose end from Emperor’s Tomb tied up
  • a celebration of Livi being super competent, at least in some circles
  • my editor saying, re: West “If she doesn’t marry him, I WILL”
  • Livi’s favourite mac & cheese recipe

After that…I think we will be looking at Shiva’s Bow releasing in August. I will probably decide that next month and, if that’s what I go with, I’ll have preorder links as soon as I set a date.

Prepare yourselves, boys and girls.

FOR REAL. MULTIPLE KISSING SCENES. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

This is why I don’t write romance–it takes four fucking novels for anyone to kiss, I’ll have gray hair by the time they finally bang.

Waverly Jones should start in the back half the year–now that I’ve committed to plotting, I suspect writing will actually be easier with, like, all this shit in place so I don’t get halfway through and get hit over the head with information I should’ve had at the beginning. *cough*Emperor’s Tomb*cough*

Happy reading! I hope you like King’s Bounty! (Don’t tell me if you don’t!)

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Spring 2018 Edition

Short answer to that question…that book–whatever the book* is you’re waiting for–is coming sometime. Eventually.

Long answer: I lost my beautiful girl last month, and the months/weeks prior to it threw me off my game as well. My heart is broken, I am exhausted and very tired, and I’m trying to keep myself afloat. I’m doing okay in a lot of ways, but I’m still having a lot of nightmares and battling low-grade depression.

What’s New

Not much compared to last time See above.

What I’m Working On

Not going to be the final title!

Chipping away at Livi 3 revisions (the title is likely changing; it’s something I’ll preview for Patrons of Snark first). I’d originally projected a June release.

That’s not happening.

I realized when I started revisions that it was going to need a lot of work, and I’m not done my second pass yet. Despite cutting a lot of boring crap and useless scenes, I had new ones to write, and the word count is creeping up. I could see this one being around 115-120K when all is said and done. For comparison, Livi’s books are normally 105K, but this one is a big, complex thing with a lot of moving parts, and it needs the space to breathe.

I am not entirely convinced readers will like it, but for a book that was never supposed to exist, it’s turned out to be absolutely critical and a fitting end to Livi’s first character arc (the first three books really function well as one complete story). I do think it might be a better book than the others as well, but I don’t necessarily like it yet myself.

Also, if you’re mad at me for certain aspects of Oblivion‘s ending…I will say that there is an apology of sorts in Livi 3.

Okay, but is that all you’re working on?

Nope.

I did finish Tiger’s Memory, the West prequel novel. It clocked in at 76K. The final installment posts next month for the West Is Best Club on Patreon. The Beta of Awesome has it right now–she read the original novella draft, but a whole lot is different in this one. This summer I’ll do a revision pass when I’ve had some time away from it, then get it copyedited and it’ll be an official ebook download for the West Is Best Club.

There are no plans to release it for sale any time soon as it spoils later plot points in the series.

Come July, West stories continue with Solomon’s Seal from his POV.

This isn’t just some of the novel’s scenes from his POV–he has his own story going on when he’s off the page as well, and it’s a glimpse at him trying to balance his various identities as he suspects his cover might be blown, his conflicts with the agency, and Livi managing to unintentionally make everything more difficult.

I wrote part of it a few years ago and I’m not sure how long it’ll take to finish. Afterward, I have West’s Nightmare on the docket–his POV before Livi calls him in Ashford’s Ghost and during the events of that novella. That’ll probably be next year, though.

Also on Patreon, I’ll be doing a Livi postcard story this summer. Patrons at $5+ will get a postcard in the mail every month (for five or six months) from Livi about an adventure she’s on. Folks at $10+ will get bonus goodies, like a travel journal to collect the postcards in and some special gifts at the end.

There are a few additional projects in progress, but I’ll talk about them when I have more to talk about.

What’s Upcoming

I literally have no ETA on Livi 3 at the moment. It’ll take as long as it takes. I’m finishing a revision pass hopefully this week, then I have to go back and do a third to clean up because I’ve made some major changes, then it’ll go for copyediting, more revision from me, proofreading…

So. It’ll be a bit. I’m hoping August? Or September for Solomon’s Seal’s anniversary.

That is not the answer readers want to hear, and believe me, it is not the answer I want to give. But it’s the best I can do given the upheavals in my personal life wreaking havoc on my mental health, and trying to do all this around freelance work.

Other Stuff

I made two Livi posters, they’re in my Zazzle shop (btw some products in the shop require you to be signed in to view, like the Cuntania t-shirts.)

Finally, if you’re on Patreon, or you’re thinking of checking it out, I put together a detailed Table of Contents linking excerpts, stories, and writing essays, and made it a public post so you can see what we do every month.

—–

*Except Wolfe. I have no news on that, so apologies to everyone behind the recent spike in site hits for that one.

MEET SKYLA DAWN

Writer of urban fantasy, thrillers/mysteries, and horror. Fifth-generation crazy cat lady. Bitchy feminist. So tired all the goddamn time.

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

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