• Demons of Oblivion
    • Bloodlines
    • Hunter
    • Lineage
    • Exhumed
    • Oblivion
    • Novellas, Shorts, & Collections
  • River Wolfe
    • River
    • Rebellion
    • How the Werewolf Stole Christmas
    • Wolfe
  • Livi Talbot
    • Solomon’s Seal
    • Odin’s Spear
    • Ashford’s Ghost
    • Emperor’s Tomb
    • Shiva’s Bow
    • Yampellec’s Idol
    • Charon’s Gold
  • Elis O’Connor
    • Season of the Bitch
    • Blood Ties
    • Witch Hunt
    • Soul Spell
  • Waverly Jones Mysteries
    • The Killing Beach
    • A Wild Kind of Darkness
    • Alone at Night
  • Standalone
    • Soulless
    • The Silent Places
    • Dweller on the Threshold
    • Watcher of the Woods
  • Boxsets
    • Hauntings: Two Tales of the Paranormal

Skyla Dawn Cameron

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

  • Books
    • Demons of Oblivion
    • River Wolfe
    • Livi Talbot
    • Soulless
    • Elis O’Connor
    • The Silent Places
    • Dweller on the Threshold
    • Watcher of the Woods
    • Waverly Jones
    • Boxsets & Bundles
    • Content Warnings
  • Skyla
    • Newsletter
    • FAQs
    • Skyla’s Home for Wayward Strays
  • Blog
    • Soundtrack Sunday Overview
    • Comment Policy
    • Evil Writer Blog Posts
    • Evil Writer Blog Posts – Old Site
  • Patronage
  • Shop Books
    • eBooks Direct
    • Signed Paperbacks
  • Upcoming
  • Hire Skyla
You are here: Home / Archives for state of the union

May 1, 2023 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

“When’s That Book Coming?” Spring 2023 Edition

Normally these updates post quarterly: Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct. So I’m a few days late here, but April was, well, April, and I wanted to get my monthly update out to patrons first.

What’s New

Watcher of the Woods released in February in eBook paperback, and hardcover.

I’ve done a couple of shorts for Patreon:

Both Vignettes are Waverly Jones prequel bits–that’s three now at Patreon.

“That’s it”, I almost typed, as if a new novel release and some new shorts is nothing lol.

What’s Upcoming

Of course, Waverly Jones Mysteries is finally starting at the end of this month!

Waverly Jones has been called misanthropic. Distant. Obsessive. Manipulative. And that’s without people knowing she talks to the hallucination of her dead sister.

She’s also a private investigator.

After a lengthy absence, she’s returned to Port Milton amidst the biggest homicide investigation her hometown has seen in over a decade. Bodies of middle-aged men have been washing ashore and the police have confirmed foul play but not much else—making it the perfect case for someone like her.

Particularly when she’s the one to find the latest body.

It’s not a coincidence Waverly happened across the newest victim. She’s been combing the beach because these men match the age and appearance of Detective-Sergeant Sebastian Kyle, missing these past eleven years after investigating the now-dormant serial killer who made Waverly’s sister his last victim.

Her familiarity with the murders has left her well-prepared when hired by the wife of one of the dead men, giving her a professional reason to dig deeper into these crimes. Have the police unintentionally fumbled this case in the wrong direction, or does the widow not know as much about her husband as she thought?

Port Milton has always had its secrets, and Waverly will drag every single one into the light to get to the bottom of this mystery. And maybe somewhere along the way, she’ll get another step closer to who killed her sister and what happened to Sebastian Kyle.

MAY 30

Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook – Payhip – Paperback – Hardcover

Signed paperback on Etsy – Hardcover Gift Box

There’s currently an extended preview at Patreon.

The hardcovers are lovely.

It was a massive expense I am not going to get back–I’ll probably have to reevaluate next year whether or not I can afford to keep doing them. But for me, personally, I adore this book and I’m so glad to have it.

So those are up on Amazon, or I have one in a signed gift box at Etsy still left.

There are about eleven of you signed up to get the prequel short story delivered the day before the book is out. If you’ve preordered, or if you order the paperback/hardcover before the deadline, please forward your receipt/proof of purchase and get on the list! There are no immediate plans to publish that story, which means this is the only opportunity to get it outside of buying the hardcover.

I do wish I was doing some kind of launch even virtually, but I live in fear of no one showing up, and my anxiety spikes with those kinds of things. I might rewatch the pilot of Twin Peaks that day and livetweet it–if so, I’ll post ahead of time in case anyone wants to join in. If the bird site even still exists at that point.

A Wild Kind of Darkness is out November 7. This is Waverly Jones #2.

I’ve written the jacket copy so it doesn’t spoil anything, but I’ll skip posting it here anyway. Preorder in eBook is now live: Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook 

Alone at Night (Waverly #3) is out April 2, 2024. It’s also up for preorder: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook

Tentatively after that, there’ll be one a year.

Also coming soon in paperback is Soul Spell, Elis O’Connor #3.

Serial killer and witch Elis O’Connor finally has a lead on her missing brother, and it’s brought her right back to the person who betrayed her, the one witch she doesn’t want to ask for help: Melinoë Takata.

While she weighs whether or not hopping dimensions with someone she doesn’t trust is worth it—or whether her brother is indeed a lost cause, considering it’s probably a one-way trip—once more the police coming knocking at her door. But this time they don’t bring suspicions and hopes she might incriminate herself: now they have actual evidence for arrest. With more than a hundred kills under her belt, it was probably only a matter of time before the OPP’s occult department was ready to charge her with murder.

The problem? Their evidence is for one homicide she didn’t commit.

And relying on Melinoë might be her only way of getting out of it.

It’s formatted and out for proofing right now. I’m aiming for June-ish. The eBook will temporarily be available for all patrons and then go up to $5+ patrons while the paperback will have a wide release.

What about Elis #4? Well…

What I’m Working On

I’ve got some health stuff going on, including a procedure the end of June, and it’s at that point I’ll have a better idea of what my summer schedule will look like (if I have to change medications, I might be looking at new side effects, and I don’t want my workload overburdened). To that end, I’m focusing right now on getting freelance work done and money saved up, as well as focusing on various writing commitments, so I’m delaying the start of Elis’s serial Hell Fire by a couple of months. I’m hoping I’ll be in a better position to start it in August.

I really hate doing this, but I can’t have delays with my preorder books, so I have to focus on those right now.

There are also some upcoming shorts for Patreon, one is done and the other in progress (plus some West POV stuff I owe).

Otherwise I’m focused on AWKoD revisions and trying to keep my head above water.

I hope y’all get a chance to read Waverly this month and enjoy.

Share. I'll be your best friend.

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: state of the union

January 18, 2023 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

“When’s That Book Coming?” Winter 2023 Edition

Once again on the treadmill over here with my coffee and a 90s playlist. Let’s dive in.

What’s New

The big release was, of course, Charon’s Gold last October. I’m hoping that one finds its audience at some point this year. It was a very personal book–they all are, but like Yampellec, it cut pretty deep for me–and at the very least I hope it hits someone else the moment they need that story.

Witch Hunt also released in paperback–this is Elis O’Connor #2, at long last. Patrons at $5 can grab the final ebook, while everyone else can still get the rough draft in the archives.

In December, I posted the final vignette/short for the year at Patreon, which I do every other month. It was set at Christmas time post-Charon’s Gold, centered around Livi and her family trying to navigate former traditions while so much has changed in their lives. It’s called “Happily Ever After” and it’s available to all patrons.

Soul Spell also ended at Patreon, with the final update posting a few weeks ago. I’ll have the final draft of that on my radar soon (more below).

What’s Upcoming

Just under four weeks away now is my next standalone horror book, Watcher of the Woods.

I know, I know, Valentine’s Day is for romance books and I don’t go here, but it’s a long way until next October for horror fans like me, so here’s me throwing a bone for people who want something a little spookier.

Watcher is, though, about relationships. Romantic ones, yes, but also friendships, parent/child relationships, and how in all of them people aren’t always what we want them to be. And what some people will do to make someone else who they want.

It’s easiest to describe it as horror, but I also consider it a paranormal domestic thriller.

You can get the paperback or hardcover now (coming soon to my Etsy shop, hopefully by the first of Feb) or preorder the ebook for February 14.

Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook – Paperback – Hardcover

After eighteen months staying home under rolling pandemic lockdowns with her girlfriend Joy, artist Thea Palmer has decided the strained relationship has run its course and she’s ready to end it—right after the stress of her birthday has passed.

Unfortunately, her surprise party comes with a special gift from Joy that puts the breakup on hold: a week-long cabin rental in the tiny northern Ontario community of Hope Falls, for just the two of them.

No phone.

No internet.

No contact with the outside world.

Joy says it’ll give them the perfect chance to reconnect and maybe restore Thea’s creativity after pandemic stress wearing down her desire to paint. But the cabin creaks at night under invisible steps, and the woods have trees that seem to shift in the corner of her eye. Thea swears she sees a strange white figure on the lake beckoning to her and an empty boat that drifts by in the early morning mist.

And Joy…Joy seems to be someone else entirely.

How To Catch Up: You don’t have to with this one! It is set in the world as Dweller on the Threshold and takes place a year later. There’s one crossover character, but I tried to treat it more as having hints and Easter eggs than necessary to read them both.

I’ve added it to my shelf now (still waiting on the hardcover) and it’s meant I have to shuffle some things around. Still three more paperbacks coming this year, so I’ll have to rearrange my setup, but right now the brag shelf is across the room from where I sit and work, and I like that.

There’s another shelf with my old serials in print form, small press work and anthologies, and pen name work, but this is everything in print from the past nine years.

Since I have stuff up for preorder like a year in advance at this point, I’m not going to go through all the upcoming stuff in detail in these quarterly posts but instead focus on whatever is closest to release.

Still, a reminder that there are more things coming, some of which are up for preorder.

Soul Spell (Elis #3) will be out in paperback at some point, probably in the summer. I haven’t done a revision pass on it yet so there’s no ETA, but the hope is to have it ready before the fourth book starts.

How To Catch Up: If you’re sticking with Elis’s series, you’ll want to read Blood Ties (#1) available everywhere books are sold, Witch Hunt (#2) available in paperback at Amazon or ebook at Patreon, and probably Season of the Bitch (prequel) though that’s not 100% necessary. This summer I’ll update the full Elis/Demons of Oblivion reading order list with some additional upcoming short stories and that closer to Hell Fire‘s start.

The biggie this year will be the launch of my new mystery series.

If you’re on Patreon, you know I’m fucking terrified this year. It’s a very big risk. But also, I’ve been in worse positions, and new books in new genres mean new Kobo promos I can get into. I have to hope all this work will pay off and Waverly will find her audience.

With all of my books, invariably someone says to me, “I could hear you narrating the whole thing”. Which is funny when you consider how vastly different the narrators are, but yes, there’s a lot of me in all of them. Outwardly I might sound like Livi, but I often find her the most distant from me, probably because she’s an adrenaline junkie; Zara, when in her most pain, is probably the closest to me at times, but also she’s more my id and not how I actually am. Ani in Soulless comes close at times, and certainly River is how I felt growing up when forced to deal with people.

Part of the pandemic and my fuck-you-forties, though, is stripping a lot of niceties away, and that’s what Waverly represents.

It’s part of why, I think, I had so much trouble initially with the book, trying different POVs and tenses, ultimately settling on first present. For the same reason I don’t think she’d translate well into a visual medium (as much as I see everything in my head full technicolour like a movie), I couldn’t write her in a most distanced POV. She lives in her head a lot of the time, and to understand her outward behaviour I think one needs to be in her brain. She’s my uglier inclinations–obsessive, anxious, manipulative, unfriendly and misanthropic, self-isolating–but she’s clever, darkly funny, and competent. After years of having little contact with others, and seeing how little others care for me and vulnerable people, I find it extra difficult to interact with people. At the end of the day, Waverly is my comfort place, where I can disappear and give no fucks.

Her first book is in copyedits right now, and you’ll get to meet her on May 30 in The Killing Beach, and continue her journey November 7 with A Wild Kind of Darkness.

The Killing Beach: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook

While I only have Kindle preorder numbers, I count six of you who have preordered the second book of a series you haven’t started yet, and that’s six people who will buy anything I write, I guess. If you’re one of them, THANK YOU. That means a lot to me.

At this point it’s looking more and more Waverly’s third book will slot into spring 2024, but we’ll see how the next few months shape up.

There are also a slew of Patreon things upcoming–stuff I have to finish writing, including West POV from Charon’s Gold and a bunch of vignettes. But that’s more…

What I’m Working On

In addition to those shorts mentioned above, the big thing right now, having finished my last WIP–the fourth Waverly Jones book–is writing Hell Fire, Elis O’Connor #4, to start serializing at Patreon this summer.

I’ve made word count, a bit at a time, at the Saturday Night Write-ins at my Discord server. Unfortunately, I’m diving into this book with exactly two scenes in my head, both of which are late in the book, so I’ve gotta figure out how to get there.

It comes together a little easier when I’m actually writing instead of thinking about writing–amazing how cyclical things can be, that’s how I used to write–but I’m burnt out and catching up because of holiday bills, so hoping I make more progress in February.

When I’ve got a super rough zero draft, I’ll go back and do a revision pass on Soul Spell, so I can ensure all the pieces are in place to set up things in Hell Fire, then do a pass on Hell Fire before scheduling it for serializing. Then I can turn my attention to…well, let’s see: horror books in progress, Waverly 5, Livi 7, etc.

Anyway, that’s all for me today–I’ve been on the treadmill a couple of hours now and my legs will feel like noodles, I’m sure, but I’ve gotta get some breakfast.

Oh, and Shawnie’s doing well–we’re transitioning back onto dry food and he doesn’t seem to have trouble with it. I’m very relieved, but back to saving up again in case he needs the rest of those teeth out later this year (please oh please oh please no).

Here he is taking my spot on the couch while I’m on the treadmill.

Share. I'll be your best friend.

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: state of the union

October 15, 2022 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

“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.)

Share. I'll be your best friend.

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: livi talbot, news, state of the union, update

July 16, 2022 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

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

As I said last week, Summer Revision Madness is underway here at Chez Skyla. Charon’s Gold is off for copyedits, and I finished a round on Witch Hunt last night, so that’ll be off when she’s ready for it. I’m diving into Soul Spell next, to get it cleaned up a bit and the last bundles of chapters scheduled for patrons.

What’s New

All new at Patreon.

Soul Spell started at Patreon in June. There have also been two new vignettes/shorts at Patreon: one was Future Days from Zara’s POV (set during a Witch Hunt flashback) and the most recent Livi’s Choice about the abortion she had a few years prior to Solomon’s Seal.

I finally made up a Demons of Oblivion/Elis O’Connor series reading order in PDF, current as of July 2022, so if that’s your thing, download here.

Oblivion-Elis-Reading-OrderDownload

What’s Upcoming

Unless the copyeditor thinks it’s going to need a huge amount of work (which is possible!), Charon’s Gold should still be coming out October 25.

Preorder links: Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook (paperback coming in October)

Witch Hunt will come out in paperback as well in the coming months. Scheduling is a little messed up due to factors outside my control and I don’t want to toss a bunch of things at the copyeditor at once, so that’ll wait to go out until sometime next month.

Watcher of the Woods is still on track for February 14 2023–it’s on my revision schedule for August.

Preorder links: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook (there’ll also be hardcover and paperback upon release)

Remember, there’s some crossover with Dweller on the Threshold as they exist in the same world, but you should be fine to jump in without it (though seriously, Dweller is super fun, please go buy it!).

Also in 2023…

The first two Waverly Jones Mysteries have their release dates set for next year, late spring and late fall.

The Killing Beach is up first on May 30 2023.

Preorder links: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook (there’ll also be hardcover and paperback upon release)

A Wild Kind of Darkness is out after that on November 7, 2023. Currently the only place you’ll find the preorder is at Kobo but the rest will be up in November.

Alone at Night will be a 2024 release, though I’m not sure where to slot it yet.

Summer 2023 will involve serializing Hell Fire (Elis #4), which I haven’t started yet.

Considering I try to space releases out, yes, this means the final Livi book will not be a 2023 release–I could miraculously finish the mostly un-started zero draft by the end of fall, but it seems unlikely, and even if it happened, I always need a lot of time for revisions and edits (and probably extra time with this one). So the very earliest will be spring 2024, probably.

If Elis is the six books I’m expecting it to be, the sixth and final will serialize at Patreon in 2025, so Livi 8 will start there probably 2026 if I’ve got my math right.

What I’m Working On

Thus far this year, I’ve written Alone at Night (Waverly 3) and Soul Spell (Elis 3). I’ve been in revision mode, but I really want to finish the next Waverly book I’ve already started (which…okay so I realized I’m writing them out of order, so it’ll later be book six rather than four). I miss writing new things regularly, working on vignettes for Patreon notwithstanding, and I’m hoping to clear all these revisions off my plate by fall so I can write Waverly 4 (the new one) and 5 by the end of the year.

Share. I'll be your best friend.

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: Demons of Oblivion, elis o'connor, livi talbot, state of the union, update, waverly jones

April 25, 2022 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

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

I’ve been putting this state of the union off for a couple of weeks as I’m pretty tired, pretty broke, and pretty stressed, but it’s due! And there’s still a few more days of a thriller sale at Kobo, so here we go.

What’s New

Dweller on the Threshold released! And most folks really dig it!

I’m so glad, as it means a lot to me.

Dweller links: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook – Smashwords – Payhip – Paperback – Hardcover – Signed Copies on Etsy

Patreon also had a Nate-POV vignette post that was set after Witch Hunt.

What’s Upcoming

So much stuff!

Another vignette is coming to Patreon hopefully on Wednesday when I finish writing it (right now they get one every other month, and they can tell me what to write).

Soul Spell is starting June 3.

This is Elis’s third novel (yes, that was supposed to be Hell Fire, but I had to swap some things so now Hell Fire is #4 and next year’s book). New chapter bundles will post the first Friday of every month (except October, which will have a Charon’s Gold extended preview).

There’ll be, I think, two more books in her series after Hell Fire to round it out to six, but I’m not entirely sure yet.

Here’s about Soul Spell:

Serial killer and witch Elis O’Connor finally has a lead on her missing brother, and it’s brought her right back to the person who betrayed her, the one witch she doesn’t want to ask for help: Melinoë Takata.

While she weighs whether or not hopping dimensions with someone she doesn’t trust is worth it—or whether her brother is indeed a lost cause, considering it’s probably a one-way trip—once more the police coming knocking at her door. But this time they don’t bring suspicions and hopes she might incriminate herself: now they have actual evidence for arrest. With more than a hundred kills under her belt, it was probably only a matter of time before the OPP’s occult department was ready to charge her with murder.

The problem? Their evidence is for one homicide she didn’t commit.

And relying on Melinoë might be her only way of getting out of it.

Witch Hunt in paperback has no ETA yet.

A cleaned up draft will go up in May for patrons to read ahead of Soul Spell posting but it has not been through edits yet.

Once it’s cleaned up, what I might consider is offering another serialized option with the polished version of Elis’s books going up at Ko-Fi or Gumroad. Patrons still get a finalized copy (everyone gets it when it’s done, and then it bumps to $5/month for new users), but it’s another thing I’m vaguely considering.

And because I’ve had an influx of people searching: it is only at Patreon currently. Blood Ties is my worst-selling novel and also my most pirated. The series was dead in the water until I decided to resurrect it for patrons. If I release it in ebook, it’ll be three or four years from now when it’s done being written. So you can join Patreon, get a paperback, or wait until then! Sorry but this was the only way I could continue it.

Charon’s Gold is still due out October 25 in ebook and paperback.

This is the penultimate Livi novel–a reminder that it’s ending prematurely at #7. (Again, getting a lot of inquiries about this! Sorry but I have to do this for my health. Yelling at me about it does not improve the situation at all!)

Current preorder links: Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook 

Coming into 2023:

Watcher of the Woods is out February 14 2023.

Again, set in the same world as Dweller (and some tiny crossover) but it’s also standalone.

Preorder links: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook (there’ll also be hardcover and paperback upon release)

And, finally, with only one link so far…

The Killing Beach is out May 30 2023.

This is the first PI mystery book, which I’m really excited about. Currently only up for preorder at Kobo but by the end of May it’ll be everywhere else.

2024’s schedule is pretty loose right now with zero preorders, but it feels good to at least have some plans.

What I’m Working On

I finished Alone at Night, which is Waverly Jones #3, and I’ve started the untitled fourth book. Honestly, they’re literally all I want to work on right now, I think because they’re solely mine. I’d like to finish four and hopefully five this year and write six next year before the first even comes out, with a plan to put out one a year.

I also have about 20K left to write on Soul Spell to finish it.

And that’s all that’s new here! Honestly I’m just trying to keep my head above water financially at the moment, as the last few months have been rough for a variety of reasons, and I was paralyzed last week worrying about rent.

Sales

Here are some current things!

Kobo’s got a thriller sale going on until April 30, it’s buy one get one. Solomon’s Seal and The Silent Places both count.

All titles: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/aprilthrillsus

Premade cover sale at my design site: 20% off, coupon code SPRINGSALE at checkout.

Same code works at my Payhip shop and Etsy for 25% off and 10% off respectively.

A Note About Twitter

Yeah the hellsite is being bought by that jackass, so it’ll be even more of a hellsite, but I’m still there for the foreseeable future. If you’re leaving but want to keep up with me…I barely use my FB page, I don’t remember my Instagram login, and I still don’t understand what a Mastadon instance is.

If you want new release announcements, there are two newsletter options. Otherwise…honestly, subscribe to my blog or join Patreon, because right now those are the only other options. Again, I’m staying at Twitter for now because fuck that guy, I get too much work through it to give it at the moment.

Share. I'll be your best friend.

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: elis o'connor, livi talbot, state of the union, update, waverly jones

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »

In Memory of Gus

Become a Patron!

Buy My Books

Kobo | Kindle | Smashwords | Nook | iBooks | GooglePlay | Payhip | Signed Paperbacks

The Killing Beach Preorder Promotion

Get new blog posts in your inbox!

Join 130 other subscribers
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

What I’m Working On

14000 / 75000 words. 19% done!
Waverly 5

7000 / 50000 words. 14% done!
The Only Way Out

10000 / 50000 words. 20% done!
Hell Fire

4500 / 110000 words. 4% done!
Untitled

21000 / 70000 words. 30% done!
Sins of the Mother

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Comments

  • Michael W Lucas on Skiptracing Books, or: Shenanigans with KDP Paperbacks
  • Skyla Dawn Cameron on Where is Yampellec’s Idol on Kindle US?
  • lenabrassard on Where is Yampellec’s Idol on Kindle US?
  • marie1355 on Decisions Were Made
  • Karen on Decisions Were Made
  • D.A Lascelles on Health Update & Sales
  • Skyla on Health Update & Sales
  • Anna Blake on Health Update & Sales
  • Skyla on Last One, I SWEAR
  • Steph Barry (@stephrbarry) on Last One, I SWEAR

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.

read more

  • Amazon
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
Become a Patron!

I'm not inclined to resign to maturity.