Oh boy.

So it’s been…not great? I’ll spare everyone the details, it’s just constant stressors here, and also in my immediate circle. At least none of us are dead yet, I guess(?) (provided everyone’s current cancer tests come back okay? and yes I know multiple people being tested for cancer omg).

It means I have very little book news, though I will still do my usual update here for folks looking.

What’s New

So all that released was just the Waverly Jones novella “Haunting at Hayward House”. The StoryBundle has concluded and it’s not available anywhere at this time.

It does take place after the upcoming fourth book, though, so I’ll be including it in the hardcover next year (along with a bonus short story, set after the novella, too–it’s just a little Waverly New Year’s Eve short I wrote a few years ago, before any of these were published, and it’ll got up at Patreon Dec of next year too).

More on that book in a second.

For patrons, there’ve been the usual shorts, including one set during Alone at Night from Waverly’s mom’s point of view, which was really fun to do. Rachael Milton, as difficult as she is, has long been holding the family together after so much loss and trauma, and it was a good reminder that Waverly is extremely difficult as well and has made a lot of bad choices. She is, at the start of The Killing Beach when she’s just moved back home, a stranger in many ways to her family, so these books have involved rebuilding relationships and trust.

What’s Upcoming

The next confirmed big release is The Taiga Ridge Murders.

I need to do another round of cleanup on it and send it for copyedits, hopefully by early August, to give time for formatting and proofing in the fall.

I’ve done some A+ Content for some books–I’m not convinced they’ll help with sales but familiarizing myself with it means it’s something else I can offer clients (also the Waverly one hopefully will be seen by folks who don’t realize the hardcovers are fancy and have extras).

It’s been thirteen years since Maya McGlynn set foot in Taiga Ridge Lodge, the northern Ontario luxury resort where she grew up. She was Maisie, daughter of the caretakers, and thought of the lodge as her own.

That was when her parents were arrested as serial killers.

It’s been ten years since Maya last had contact with the lodge’s owner, who promised her—upon the conviction of her parents and her whole world forever altering—that she’d always be taken care of.

That was when she changed her name and stopped returning his calls.

It’s been two years since Taiga Ridge Lodge had visitors. Since bookings wavered and rooms were closed off, its halls grew silent, and it never fully reopened after pandemic lockdown.

That was when she forgot it existed.

Now, Maya has received notice that the owner has passed and, as promised, she is being taken care of: Taiga Ridge Lodge and all its property is hers to dispose of as she sees fit…as soon as she visits her old home to make the final arrangements.

Now, a winter storm approaches, trapping her with restless ghosts, a stray cat, and a single voice on the radio for help.

Now, Taiga Ridge Lodge might not let her go again.

Kindle | Kobo | Nook | iBooks 

I’m excited to tackle the interior for the print, I’ve got some pretty things I’d like to do with it with snow and ice graphics. Two friends have read it early and loved it, so that’s a big relief.

I’ve reread the book a couple of times now in between rounds of revision on it and I love it–it was challenging, as for the bulk of the book it’s just Maya by herself, or talking to someone on the radio (or the stray cat she’s acquired). I’ve always leaned heavily on dialogue and character interaction, so focusing on a single character for the bulk of the scenes was tricky, but isolation is a big part of the book–and both the lodge and the weather are their own characters. It may not be for everyone, but if you’re into female rage, palpable atmosphere, and are curious about what I think constitutes the most romantic lines I’ve ever written (no, really!), then please check this out.

Coming November 12!

(I realize this is right after the US election. I’m sorry.)

While it’s not up for preorder, probably March-ish will be Waverly Jones Vol 1, which gathers the first three books in one bundle.

This will be at Payhip, Kobo, Apple, and Nook (so everywhere except Amazon, because of their pricing bullshit).

Hoping I’ll be able to then get it in some Kobo promos to push the release of the fourth, which is up for preorder.

As the twelfth anniversary of Meadow Milton approaches, Waverly Jones Investigative Services tackles the missing person case of Detective-Sergeant Sebastian Kyle–and whether it really is linked with The Crossroads Butcher serial homicides or not.

But the anniversary dredges up the skeletons everyone has kept buried, and Waverly isn’t innocent either. Old choices—including a murder—are catching up with her, threatening not only the career she’s built but the friendship she now has with the only man she’s ever loved. Because someone knows what Waverly has done, and the clock is ticking down to when they expose their suspicions to everyone…

Unless someone stops them permanently.

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook 

That’s it for absolute confirmed stuff, at the moment.

What I’m Working On

I had four edits on my plate in June but got everything off, and though I’ve got a bunch of covers in progress, this has left me about two weeks where I can spend evenings on revisions. Once again tackling Waverly 4 and other than a couple of spots, I think I’ve got it all sorted out. This is the messiest zero draft I’ve ever had to tackle of my stuff, I think. And this book will be so long, omg, but I hope it’s worth it. Lots more for everyone to add to their conspiracy boards.

There’s some stuff behind the scenes right now and if it goes through, I’ll have an announcement about it and I am hoping to take some time off of freelancing in the fall. This will give me the breathing room to fast-draft more Waverly and get That Other Big Finale Book off my plate.

I should have had Hell Fire revised, polished, and in paperback by now, and Demon Fall either launched or planned to launch. I have done neither. I cannot stress this enough, like I literally have not had room to breathe for months. The only new words my brain has been capable of–in between a bazillion projects and personal crises and rarely sleeping and PTSD nightmares when I do–is distant-set stories that I can’t even post for patrons because they’re full of spoilers…which, I believe, is my brain’s point, that I have to write stuff just for me to regain some sanity.

Demon Fall is at least started, but since Waverly is up for preorder, it has to have my focus–I’ve gotta get at least one solid round of revision in so it’s not full of square bracket notes and contradictions. So…more Elis in the fall, I hope? *sob*

Other Important Stuff

So I still don’t have Patreon stuff duplicated at Payhip.

I will also have to move Etsy stuff over to Payhip as they’re increasing their fees for Canadian businesses. They already take such a massive cut of everything, including shipping (which I make no money on, I’m using Canada Post’s rates!) and monthly fees for my listings, I am not putting up with more fees. This’ll be a headache for signed books and I won’t be able to sell to certain countries, but I usually only sell in US and CA anyway, so I’ll get the shipping calculated and set something up. Expect the shop to close sometime before the August 15th date when the new fees go into effect.

Anyway, hopefully some more news by the time summer is over, and in the meantime just know that mentally I’m here still.

I haven’t slept all week and I think I’m about ready to crash for the weekend, and this should have gone up last month, so let’s just jump right in.

What Released

The third Waverly Jones book!

Two months ago, Waverly Jones was given a reason to remain in her small hometown of Port Milton indefinitely. Her problem is that even for a private investigator who has solved several high-profile cases, her client pool in the area is limited, and there isn’t enough regular work to justify taking on the odd pro bono job—especially when strapped for cash because her agency is no longer a single-person operation, either.

For the first time, Waverly has an assistant—one who is as much her moral compass as he is a welcoming face to those in need of an investigator. So when the grieving, working-class mother of Madison Simmons—whose body was found in the woods after the spring thaw—comes to them for help, Waverly can’t say no, even if the sliding scale won’t be enough to cover it.

Despite the failure of authorities to look for Madison when she went missing, the death has since been confirmed a suicide. Still, questions plague her mother: why the sudden change in Madison’s behaviour before she died? What factors drove her to suicide?

And could there have been another person involved?

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

That’s three books in that series out in under a year. I’m beat and now we’re doing yearly releases while I draft the rest.

I thought at this point it was really obvious, both given how I’ve talked about the books as well as in the text itself, but just to reiterate: this series will have an endpoint and that is when The Crossroads Butcher case will be resolved. Each book itself has its own mystery that concludes, while weaving in the series arc. I call this The Buffy Arc Method, which I also use with Livi Talbot, so the books are like episodes with conclusions but there’s a season-long arc that has its own structure as well.

This isn’t me stretching that mystery out because I feel like being awful; it’s because it directly ties to the characters and their arcs. The primary players need to be in the right place themselves for the various reveals, I even inserted two books not originally planned just to ensure everything falls the right way. The seventh is in progress, I’ve got rough titles and primary plot points for the concluding five volumes. After that, I might write Waverly standalones, just because I have a lot of ideas that won’t make it in the main series (because as much as I don’t want to rush it, I also don’t want to drag it out with filler).

I am just stating this all up front, again, before I start to drive myself insane second-guessing whether this was somehow unclear previously.

What’s Upcoming

In a couple of short weeks…

Waverly will be at StoryBundle!

I’m extremely excited about the lineup. I wrote a bonus novella, Haunting at Hayward House, that is included with The Killing Beach just for StoryBundle.

This will run from May 22 until Jun 13 and I’ll have lots of details for you later.

Current status of the Hell Fire paperback is… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I had like three nervous breakdowns in April and depression got pretty bad, and I am so exhausted, I just have not pulled it out to revise and ready for edits. I also have no ETA on starting to serialize Demon Fall. Again, I am tired. All that stuff is still vaguely slotted for “summer” and if you point out summer is almost here, I will be very cross with you.

BUT don’t forget…a new horror book!

Kindle | Kobo | Nook | iBooks

Nothing bad happens to the cat.

I’m hoping to do some cool things with the interior for the hardcover with this one–in general I try to do nice print books (Dweller and Watcher both have fun extras in the layout, both paperback and hardcover) but I am going to try to step up my game here.

So far the only firm thing set for 2025 is Waverly 4, Silent All These Years, which is currently in revision and up for preorder at Kobo. Other links coming early next week.

I know what I would like to release fall 2025. I do not know if I will have it written or not. If it’s not drafted by this fall, well… We’ll see if I can write another horror book or bump up Waverly 5 instead.

What I’m Working On

Waverly 4 revisions. I finally, finally know what I’m doing…sort of…mostly. It’s so much work (god, why do I spend so much time on things that will make pennies when I’m done?!? lolsob) but once I get these main pieces into place, later revisions should be easier. I hope.

Then I guess I have to tackle Elis’s books.

Last time I mentioned adding a Payhip alternative to Patreon. That is still on the agenda, I just…I am just so tired and spent all of April like this–I think I’m only partially upright yet.

Now I’m hoping to sleep the sleep of the dead, so I can be refreshed and tackle finishing the freelance to-do list this month. My medical stuff was all moved to this month as well, so crossing my fingers I’m still in remission.

More StoryBundle details coming soon!

I’m not sure what’s new here, but the quarterly newsletter went out yesterday, so it’s time for one of these on the blog too.

It’s been A Week. My day planner was full (this month is very full) and I had some grand plans for cleaning* but a couple of things waylaid it. It’s all out of the way now (including, once again, issues with my medication; I don’t know why the pharmacy keeps having issues, or whether it’s something with the claim going through to insurance, but AGAIN my case manager fixed it, and I’m positive she’s a witch or something and one day I will dedicate a book to Ola). But after my med delivery today, I lay down for an hour (not quite napping, but resting my eyes, which almost has the same effect), took a walk to get some fresh produce, and had a mocha frapp, and I can report that has near the same restorative quality as a shower day reset.

(*cleaning = I dug out the Organization Solutions for People with ADHD book that I bought years and years ago when I was like “Huh, wow, all of this ADHD stuff applies to me but I don’t have ADHD” LOLOL yes, really**. Anyway, Krista Ball (who posted her brief review here) and I have been going through it and applying different things to our respective households and it’s definitely helping, although you wouldn’t know it to look at my apartment.)

(**I am not diagnosed, and I’m very hesitant to self-diagnose, but we’ll just say that while I remain on the family doctor waiting list to ask about it, gosh, yes, I kind of fit the woman-in-her-forties-finally-admits-she-might-have-ADHD stereotype.)

So today has been organizing my massive to-do list for tomorrow and doing some admin tasks, like this and some website updates (I rearranged the home page to better feature my latest release and what’s new).

What Released

Waverly 2 is out, A Wild Kind of Darkness. Near and dear to my heart, because the book’s mystery is based on the unsolved murder of my good friend’s aunt–and gives Waverly a whole lot of feelings that were fun to delve into. And again, the handful of people reading it are enjoying it. (To quote a Kobo review: “I love how this series centers women and really appreciate the masking, abolition, and cat rescuing on top of a smashing good mystery.” That’s the series: centering women, and medical masking/police abolition/pet rescue atop mystery solving.)

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Payhip | Paperback | Hardcover | Signed Paperback on Etsy | Signed Hardcover on Etsy 

Several new shorts at Patreon, as well–the last couple are set in the Elis/Demons world and link to Hell Fire as that’s about to conclude in February.

What’s Upcoming

Waverly’s back, first with a short at Patreon–“Take Your Dog to Work Day”–coming next month, and then April 2 Alone at Night releases. That puts it at three books in less than a year, and then we’re moving to a one-a-year schedule.

Two months ago, Waverly Jones was given a reason to remain in her small hometown of Port Milton indefinitely. Her problem is that even for a private investigator who has solved several high-profile cases, work is limited, and clients aren’t consistent enough to compensate for some pro bono cases who need someone like her.

One such case lands at her desk: the body of Madison Simmons was found in the woods after the spring thaw, and the death has been confirmed a suicide. Her working-class mother doesn’t doubt this, but she’s still after answers. Why the sudden change in Madison’s behavior in the year prior to her death? What factors drove her to suicide—and could there have been another person involved?

Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook 

There’ll also be a special edition hardcover, like with the others.

It amuses me terribly, and hopefully amuses the people who know Waverly, to have the “please don’t call me nice” thing. Even though a big part of the series is reframing the ways in which we view ourselves after being told something for an entire lifetime, she knows what she is and what she’s done and she’s so resistant to any kind of label suggesting she’s kind.

From Alone at Night for y’all:

After that, around June or so, Hell Fire (Elis O’Connor #4) will release in paperback, and then I’m hoping to start serializing Demon Fall (Elis #5).

I’ll be closing out a the year with a new horror book, The Taiga Ridge Murders on November 12. I’ve done a couple rounds of revisions on it now, and it’s sitting at around 74K words. I’m really happy with it at the moment (esp the stuff I find deeply romantic; related: some folks are going to beg me to stay away from writing anything romantic ever again lol).

It’s been thirteen years since Maya McGlynn set foot in Taiga Ridge Lodge, the northern Ontario luxury resort where she grew up. She was Maisie, daughter of the caretakers, and thought of the lodge as her own.

That was when her parents were arrested as serial killers.

It’s been ten years since Maya last had contact with the lodge’s owner, who promised her—upon the conviction of her parents and her whole world forever altering—that she’d always be taken care of.

That was when she changed her name and stopped returning his calls.

It’s been two years since Taiga Ridge Lodge had visitors. Since bookings wavered and rooms were closed off, its halls grew silent, and it never fully reopened after pandemic lockdown.

That was when she forgot it existed.

Now, Maya has received notice that the owner has passed and, as promised, she is being taken care of: Taiga Ridge Lodge and all its property is hers to dispose of as she sees fit…as soon as she visits her old home to make the final arrangements.

Now, a winter storm approaches, trapping her with restless ghosts, a stray cat, and a single voice on the radio for help.

Now, Taiga Ridge Lodge might not let her go again.

Like my other standalones, it’ll be available in paperback and hardcover, but if you’re into ebooks, you can find it up for preorder. Also NOTHING BAD HAPPENS TO THE CAT.

Kindle | Kobo | Nook | iBooks

I’d really like to get a map of the lodge designed. I think it’s beyond my skillset, even though I can see it in my head. But I’m still figuring out if I can hire help for the Waverly 3 drawing or if I’ll have to use one of my own this time, so I’ve got a few months to consider it.

What I’m Working On

All revisions all the time for the next couple of months.

Alone at Night is out for edits, and I’ve got a handful of little tweaks and things in my head for when I get those back, along with whatever is called for in edits.

The Taiga Ridge Murders will need another thorough pass when I’ve had some distance.

Hell Fire needs revisions for the paperback/final patreon ebook release.

Silent All These Years needs so much revision I wish I could clone myself so I had someone to talk the book out with.

I’m hoping after I get through the next month or two of freelance + cleaning with the damn ADHD organization book + doing some general things for my health right now, I’ll have rested enough from everything I wrote last year to dive in and finish Waverly 7 plus write some new things. Top of the list has to be Demon Fall so it can start serializing.

Another big thing is getting a Payhip subscription system off the ground.

I’ll be duplicating Patreon posts, and it’ll essentially be an alternative for readers who would prefer it. Because every time Patreon does something boneheaded, people leave, and I’m hoping some might consider popping over there instead of leaving entirely.

To be frank, nothing I’m publishing is terribly profitable right now. Dweller on the Threshold being featured in a Kobo email gave me a good boost in the fall. Waverly sales are…negligible. Preorder numbers for the horror book are abysmal (which is not unexpected; there are certain buying patterns with different readerships, and it’s very different with standalones vs series; that does not mean the standalones are never profitable, but that it’ll probably be several months after release before I actually see more than a dozen people buying it).

Anyway, that means it’s crucial to keep patronage alive and make it as easy as possible for folks to access monthly support. Payhip actually allows a lot of the same things Patreon does, although I’ll have to use a third party to connect Discord, and I have to do some work setting up the page and graphics and that.

It’s hard to launch mid serial so I’m planning to make it public March 1.

That’s it for now. Hoping next week is quiet so I can focus on work and laundry (because my life is that exciting).

What Released

I’m don’t think anything big released publicly since the last update in…July? But I do have Hell Fire (Elis O’Connor #4) serializing at Patreon now.

Elis O’Connor has finally crossed to the Oblivion dimension in search of her missing brother, joined by his witch ex-girlfriend Callie Young and part-demon Melinoë Takata.

Even though the dimension is dying, she figures her brother should be easy to find given he’s all but a prince to the creatures there. Instead, she finds a world descended into chaos and war, its former antichrist ruler toppled, and his supporters hunted down and slaughtered.

And the instability of the dimension during its death throes means they don’t have a lot of time left to find Devdan and get home again.

Elis figures at least being in another dimension means some of her troubles—like the police on her trail for her serial-killing extracurricular activities—will be on pause, but unfortunately, she’s not without enemies in Oblivion either.

Because someone believes the sins of the mother should be visited upon the daughter—and as the only child of prolific assassin Zara Lain, there’s a lot Elis can be made to suffer for.

Once again, Patreon is the only place to get these in ebook form, at least until the series is done 2-3 years from now, at which point I’ll consider a wider release (but am not guaranteeing it). There is a chance I’ll be setting the serials up at Ko-fi as a second option, but I don’t have the spare hours in the day right now for that.

We’ve had three Hell Fire bundles of chapters so far. That’ll pause in November for the extended preview of A Wild Kind of Darkness and then the rest will post in December, January, and February.

In August, patrons also got a short story about Gavin from Dweller on the Threshold/Watcher of the Woods and it introduces elements from Stranger in the Halls.

I’m fiddling a little with that book–I’m having trouble figuring out where it starts because it’s structured a little differently than the others, but if you want to know what it’ll be about, you’ll find the rough jacket copy at the end of that story.

What’s Upcoming

In three short weeks, Waverly’s second book releases. A handful of folks already have special edition hardcovers headed their way, though I do have some signed paperbacks still. (I’ll have more hardcovers in stock soon, and they’ll be on Amazon.)

A startling find has altered Waverly Jones’ whole world and given her a reason to stay in her hometown of Port Milton—which means she needs work to pay some bills. So when she’s asked to look into a sixty-year-old double homicide cold case, she takes the job, no matter how unlikely it is to be solved.

Behind decades of rumours and theories—most of them scandalous and unsubstantiated—a portrait of an unconventional woman in a very conventional small town takes form, and the murder baffles even Waverly. The evidence and case files are gone, the leads from sixty years ago were dead ends, and while there is no shortage of suspects and motives, it seems impossible any of the witnesses are still alive—let alone the culprit.

On top of that, the mystery disappearance of the detective she’s been in love with since she was seventeen finally has some answers, but has led to even more questions. What actually befell him eleven years ago? What happened to The Crossroads Butcher?

And will her sister’s body ever be found?

Again, this one picks up right where the last one left off (or about thirty hours later).

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Payhip | Paperback | Hardcover | Signed Paperback on Etsy | Signed Hardcover on Etsy (sometimes gift boxes are also available)

For patrons, the bimonthly short is written and scheduled for October 30–this is Zara’s POV, from when Elis was little. It’s a Halloween one, obviously.

I have been planning to write this for ages. Originally it was going to be a wide release (and possibly a little longer) so you might have seen it briefly on my Upcoming page here a few years ago. But let’s be honest: everyone hates my short stories lol. I think they go into them expecting novels? I have no idea, maybe they’re just terrible, but I’ve actually taken the River short and novella off from sale widely (I think Rebellion is still at Kobo, maybe?) because I sell maybe one or two copies every one to two years, and they tend to get one-starred. Publishing is hard enough, it’s not worth the sanity points for something I might make thirty-five cents on.

But we’ve hit a point in Elis’s series where this event from her past–that both Elis has hinted about as well as Zara did in Future Days–is going to be relevant, so this seems like a great time to post it.

Also upcoming, as I think I mentioned here: a rare sighting of everyone’s favourite bog witch at Kobo in another week.

What I’m Working On

I don’t even know how to answer that at this point–I’ve got nothing I’m seriously writing, as I have to switch gears and get another round of final revision done in Alone at Night before it goes for editing.

There are three horror novels “in progress” by which I mean I have a few thousand words but nothing seriously chewing at me to be written. Waverly 7, too, but I’m trying to hold off on that one until a little bit more gels in my brain (we’ll see).

That, still, is basically all I want to be working on though. It’s all Waverly all the time in my head.

I think that speaks to my anxiety right now. It’s bad, but it’s that undercurrent of anxiety in the background that is nonstop, so there won’t be a moment where the tension releases (maybe some in two weeks when I find out if the shots are working or not, but there is still tax stuff, and pet expenses as Rodney’s anemia is confirmed to be worsening). There is a lot about Waverly that is reconnecting me with when I was a child and very alone and writing as a way to cope with anxiety and trauma because it’s mystery based, which is what I used to write back then, and has bits of Twin Peaks’ DNA in it.

It is also not selling, like, at all lol, so “write a thing basically only a dozen people will end up reading” might be what I need right now, because fewer readers should hopefully mean less hatemail.

Other than that, I’m just catching up on freelance stuff–I’m still behind on email from when I was on holidays as every email I send results in three more at this rate (not a bad thing! Email me as needed! I need/want work! Just prepare for longer wait times the deeper my answer needs to be!).

A Note About Patreon

Yeah Patreon is doing a…thing again.

Remember how it started as a return to the art patron model? Which is why it’s called “Patreon” and supporters were “patrons”?

Why keep doing a thing like that when they could mash it into an attempt at a social network blog site and push non-paying members on us?

I’m big mad. At least I found a way to turn the “join for free” button off of the main page.

If you want free updates, you’ll find them here at my blog or at my newsletter. Patreon is not the place for that. Patreon is where I make money, just like Kobo and Kindle and so on.

Anyone previously following me has now been converted to a “member”, which skews the number of patrons (and why I think, in part, they removed the “goal” feature). Only I have access to how many are paying.

This does not alter my milestone goal, it’s just that patrons will have to trust me with regards to the numbers. The dozen folks now listed as “members” are not eligible for the eventual contest, nor are their numbers counted toward it. They cannot join the write-ins. I do not blame anyone who wants to join for free, but trying to be clear about my terms–you still have to be an actual patron supporting my work monthly to get stuff there.

It’s taken three treadmill sessions to write this and now I have to be off again. My eyelid is twitching from eyestrain but I don’t have time for rest, so here we are.

What Released

Last quarter was pretty busy.

The third Elis O’Connor novel, Soul Spell, released in paperback (grab it at Amazon or at my Etsy shop, which I will reopen when the local heatwave eases) in May and was available to all patrons in June. It’s now for patrons $5+.

And, of course, The Killing Beach released.

I looked back at old sales and preorder numbers for previous books to remind myself not to be totally discouraged, that it takes a long time for a new series to find it’s core group of even 50-100 readers who buy it and are devoted and talk it up. The couple of people who read it upon release enjoyed it and love Waverly, which means a lot to me, and have confirmed that the hardcovers turned out beautifully (still one in my Etsy shop with a gift box, once I reopen after the heatwave).

Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook – Payhip – Paperback – Hardcover – Signed paperback on Etsy – Hardcover Gift Box

It’s still her head I most want to be in right now (reasons I dissected a little here), although her fifth book is still on hold for me.

I finished a couple of Patreon shorts. First is Heartbeats, which is Nate POV and set primarily during Soul Spell but also has a flashback to what would’ve been Demons of Oblivion #8, with Zara.

I’m also doing a West two-parter for his Patreon tier–Father’s Day part 1 has posted, and part 2 will be later this month. It’s a tricky one, set in the series’ distant future (well after what will be publicly published) and right before his limited edition pandemic novella I posted a few years ago. I’m not sure who will read it, but hopefully the spoiler-adverse download it and tuck it away for much later.

It helped me a lot to write it–it was an easier way to try to reconnect with the series and reopen that door to it again that I had to firmly close to release the previous book. So I’m glad I did it.

What’s Upcoming

I finished and scheduled Patreon’s next bimonthly short for August and it’s a Gavin POV one set after Watcher but before the final book.

I was kind of surprised at his popularity, but he’s a good guy so I guess I get it. That third book, Stranger in the Halls, is not on my writing agenda yet. I took at look at it the other day and realized I need a far better handle on the premise. I usually write most of my jacket copy–at least a rough draft of it–before I write the actual book. If I can distill the premise down clearly and concisely, then I know the book enough to write it. Stranger is still too vague for me to write, although I do want to get to it (despite Watcher really not doing well enough to justify the time spent on another horror book–but then at this point, nothing is justifying the time I’m spending on it lol).

The second Livi Talbot boxset is out on September 19 (the day before Solomon’s Seal‘s seven-year anniversary!?!).

If you’ve not caught up, that’s on Kobo, Nook, and Apple (and will be at Payhip). Reminder: I don’t do bigger boxsets on Amazon because of their pricing system penalizing books priced over $9.99 (and I don’t sell much there anyway).

The next big release is Waverly Jones #2: A Wild Kind of Darkness.

A startling find has altered Waverly Jones’ whole world and given her a reason to stay in her hometown of Port Milton—which means she needs work to pay some bills. So when she’s asked to look into a sixty-year-old double-homicide cold case, she takes the job, no matter how unlikely it is to be solved.

Behind decades of rumours and theories—most of them scandalous and unsubstantiated—a portrait of an unconventional woman in a very conventional small town takes form, and the murder baffles even Waverly. The evidence and case files are gone, the leads from sixty years ago were dead ends, and while there is no shortage of suspects and motives, it seems impossible any of the witnesses are still alive—let alone the culprit.

On top of that, the mystery disappearance of the detective she’s been in love with since she was seventeen finally has some answers, but has led to even more questions. What actually befell him eleven years ago? What happened to The Crossroads Butcher?

And will her sister’s body ever be found?

November 7 2023: Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook 

The first chapter is currently up for all patrons.

There will be another special hardcover edition with an alternate cover and an interior line art illustration (that’s already done) closer to the release date.

Then April 2 2024 will be #3, Alone at Night. Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook 

Tentatively, the first Waverly boxset will be out March 2025 and Silent All These Years, Waverly #4, in May 2025.

What I’m Working On

Whew, that’s a weird one.

I’ve got Hell Fire open in front of me right now, trying to get a zero draft done of that so I can get it scheduled at Patreon. I don’t know if I’ll have enough done by August to start, but I’ve reread chunks of Oblivion to remind me of the world and I’ve been through the first five chapters of Hell Fire and written another thousand words today.

I did get a strong draft of A Wild Kind of Darkness sent off for edits, and I did a quick revision on Alone at Night to get it ready for a heavier revision this fall.

I’m in the position I was in two years ago, although slightly better because at least I have two books on preorder and another done for 2025, but I’ve got all these zero drafts in progress sitting at like 10K words. I’ve written a lot of shorter things for Patreon this year but that’s it, and the lack of productivity is wreaking havoc on my self-esteem. Two years ago, I ended up getting a lot done, but at that point I was six months away from a medical appointment and it helped keep me sane. Now I keep having medical appointments and tests, and it’s hard to keep my thoughts on anything else (leading up to some out-patient stuff last week, I literally replayed Unpacking like six times in a row, no exaggeration).

It’ll be Aug 1 at this point before I know if there’ll be a medication change. No dysplasia or malignancy (which I logically knew was unlikely but my anxiety brain had me already planning my funeral), at least, and remission in some things but not others. Also, my liver is being an asshole.

After spending a small fortune on my senior cats (Doombuggy is fine; Rodney has some anemia we’re looking into), I realized I was spending on them twice what a new treadmill was going to cost me. If Shawn needed a treadmill, I’d get him a treadmill. I still have trouble with that for me.

I’m waiting until my next CC billing period starts, and then I’m getting one, and I’ll figure out paying for it (and getting the broken one removed) later. I have to get that activity in again, and it’s too fucking hot to walk (even at night; a few nights ago the humidity was at 80% and I couldn’t breathe).

So that’s where I am. I think if I’m back to walking a couple of hours every morning, it’ll help overall with writing as well. Hell Fire is top of the docket here, then I’ve got at least 3-4 others–Livi, Waverly, and a couple of these horror books–competing. I’ll need something scheduled for release fall 2024, but I haven’t figured that out yet.

Current Sales

For the month of July, Bloodlines is just 99c at Kobo.