New year, same bullshit? Maybe? Hopefully not?

2024 feels like an absolute failure on the writing front. I did not get the things done I’d intended when I had the time off–I had to work 12-hour days literally leading up to the very last “in the office” day despite doing everything I could on my end to ensure things weren’t left to the last minute, and I was so wound up and stressed, it took forever to decompress.

Not doing that again.

I don’t make a lot writing, but it makes up a high enough percentage of my income (50-75%) that I cannot let other people abuse my time and have it affect my own projects like it was.

As a result, there’s that fall hole in my schedule this year, and I won’t have anything to fill it. This will have a very negative ripple effect on my income but, well, here we are. Lesson learned. Nothing I can do about that but focus on what I do have scheduled and to never be in this position again.

What’s New

The Taiga Ridge Murders released!

Some people liked it? I think? Or not sure what to think? It’s probably good that I assume everyone hates everything unless I’m told otherwise so I’m rarely disappointed lol. But I still love it and that’s what counts.

What’s Upcoming

Still only listed at Kobo so far, but Waverly Jones Mysteries: Vol I is out March 11. I guess I should upload it elsewhere (due to the $12.99 price tag, it will not be on Amazon).

That gives you a couple of months if you’re a new reader to catch up in time for the fourth, Silent All These Years which is still set for May 6 but might yet end up bumping by a few weeks.

It’s the twelfth anniversary of Meadow Milton’s murder, and Waverly Jones is at last taking on the missing person case of Detective Sebastian Kyle.

Given both his former position in law enforcement and proximity to notorious—and now-dormant—serial killer The Crossroads Butcher, the case should be at the top of everyone’s priority list. But with the enemies Waverly Jones Investigative Services has made with the local authorities after uncovering corruption on the force, the inquiry into Sebastian’s disappearance—and who was responsible—has hit a standstill. Now Waverly’s determined to get some long-awaited answers as she delves into his past—both professional and personal.

Meadow’s anniversary dredges up skeletons everyone has kept buried, however, and Waverly isn’t innocent either. A true-crime podcast, bolstered by online rumours, is about to drop a bombshell, suggesting old choices—including a murder—are catching up with her. There’s precisely one revelation that could threaten not only the career she’s built but the friendship she now has with the only man she’s ever loved, and the clock is ticking down to when they expose their suspicions to everyone…

Unless someone stops them permanently.

The price goes up to $5.99 after release so preorder if you want to save a little: Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook 

I should have the hardcover cover reveal this spring…when I am actually done it. Note that it will not be in paperback as the third book did not sell enough to justify me continuing–it’s ebook and hardcover for the foreseeable future.

There is one cool new thing coming likely around the same time: in working on the revisions, keeping notes for myself about things, and seeing other readers who use sticky notes and highlight passages in the books to track the clues, I decided it might be cool to have a semi-blank journal for those three or four readers who want to follow along and try to solve the mystery.

It’s set up to look like it could be Wavelry’s, with coffee stains on some pages, notes to herself and doodles. It also will have the timeline surrounding Meadow’s murder and I’m working on a couple of road maps that show where significant events occurred (where Det. Kyle’s car was found, where Meadow was last seen, where bodies were found).

I’m pretty excited, just a fun little extra project where I can be creative and do something a little different. It’ll just be through KDP, I will probably only sell a couple of copies so that’s easiest.

For the audiobooks, I know Solomon’s Seal is presently in progress, as the narrator passed along some things to double check. I made some narrator suggestions but I have no idea who it is and I probably won’t listen, but the voice actors in these productions are all excellent so I’m sure it’ll be great. More updates as I get them.

What I’m Working On

Well, as down as I’ve been about things, I did get that next big revision pass done on Waverly 4, as well as a final pass, and it’s now in the editor’s hands.

It’s also, uh…152K words.

That is now the longest book I have–Yampellec’s Idol was just shy of 151K IIRC.

Despite cutting a lot, it did need some flesh, and there’s just…a lot going on. And unless the editor tells me to sacrifice various character moments, I can’t see a drastic cut, because so much information is coming at the reader, some downtime is needed and generally that’s going to come in the form of YEARNING and LONGING so here we are, a million words of Waverly being awkward and pining while having lengthy murder conversations.

I got 21K into Demon Fall and realized the reason it wasn’t working for me is that I was not getting to the story early enough. So the stuff I’ve got can stay, but I need to go back and revise the beginning.

That will be my next thing here, I think, I’ve gotta get it scheduled at Patreon. (This is the fifth Elis book, which should be the penultimate one; in the event I get the series done, I’ll consider releasing them wide as ebooks again, starting with Witch Hunt, but we’ll see. That would be a couple of years away.) And I need to revise Hell Fire and get that out in paperback, hopefully by the summer.

I’m back to my usual schedule now, more or less, which means Wednesday is my writing day. I have to unplug more–that was the only reason I got through that big Waverly pass the end of December through the first of January. It’s really hard because online is my only opportunity to socialize, but my brain gets so scrambled with email and DMs and social media and the terrible, terrible news, I can’t always handle it.

So I’m unplugging tonight before bed and will put the WiFi back on either before bed or Thursday morning, and see what I get done.

Linking to this excellent Kameron Hurley post–if you’re on social media, you’ve seen it from me probably, but just in case you haven’t. It gets into some of the stuff I’ve been thinking about as well.

My only sale right now is The Killing Beach on for the rest of month at Kobo for $2.99, no other sales yet on the docket but watch this page for updates.

Final personal note: our hail mary pass for Libby seems to be working. She gets a whole combo of meds because I don’t even know what part is working, but whatever. I hand-fill capsules I give her three times a day and her food is on backorder here so I am about to spend a small fortune I don’t really have on the heels of Shawn’s dental xrays to some imported (who needs groceries!), but she’s feeling better and that’s what matters.

I have actual news for you this time!

No, no, not about that–seriously, it isn’t written, it may never be written at this rate, please stop yelling at me.

Let’s go!

What’s New

Nothing new released, other than a couple of Patreon shorts.

I made the decision this summer to take Elis’s books entirely off my plate for the sake of my stress level, so Hell Fire in paperback and Demon Fall in ebook are pushed to next year. The paperbacks only sell maybe half a dozen copies and although it makes life easier on me to have a story serializing monthly (so I don’t have to come up with excerpts), I don’t have more than two chapters written. So I’m not losing money by not having that stuff done, but I’m still frustrated.

What’s Upcoming

Two and a half weeks to go and it’s time to visit chilly isolation of the haunted Taiga Ridge Lodge!

I’m excited for people to read it. Again, it’s very different, but it’s got so much I love in it so I hope folks connect with it.

I’m waiting on a test copy of the paperback because it’s got some full bleed images (and maps of the lodge), then I can finalize the hardcover too. Print will launch the same time as the ebooks (unsure if I’ll have any for sale myself since the postal strike is looming).

Kindle | Kobo | Nook | iBooks | Payhip 

I don’t know why I’m so connected to cold settings–I think there’s an inherent isolation to them, which I’m also very drawn to (probably growing up alone a lot, which Maya and I have in common).

Though it’s only on Kobo so far for preorder but will also be on Nook, Apple, and via Payhip–the first Waverly Jones boxset is out March 11, 2025.

Not Kindle, of course, because they force the $2.99-$9.99 price point and I take a significant financial hit if I go over or under, and no thank you. My boxsets do well enough at higher prices internationally and on other platforms, and KDP can sit this one out.

I figure that’ll be sufficient time for new readers to catch up as the fourth book is out May 6, 2025. Note that it’s gonna be a huge, hefty book, and is taking a lot of work, so the price point of $4.99 will be going up to $5.99 after release, so preorder now and save a buck if so inclined. Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook 

I’ve talked about all this stuff repeatedly–so what is actually new?

Well, I have worked out a deal with Everand (formerly Scribd) for some audiobooks.

It’s difficult for me to give up control, even of rights I know I can’t afford to exploit on my own, but it’s an opportunity to have some work accessible to new readers, and I can certainly use the income. Contract signed, files delivered, now I’m waiting to get paid and listening to some narrators to offer suggestions.

A few years ago when ACX opened to Canada, I briefly looked at the royalty-share option for production as I couldn’t afford to produce any myself, and consistently in the scenes I offered, it was always West everyone read wrong. Maybe I just wrote badly but everyone opted for voicing him like this douchey alpha male PNR hero and it was so grating, I was getting annoyed and just couldn’t be bothered continuing to listen to auditions. So if I have a worry, beyond Canadianisms being mispronounced, it’s that Livi will be read like cliché alpha-male PNR (PNR is fine but that is not West). I did send along guides so fingers crossed.

It no doubt seems like a weird thing to get bent out of shape about–who cares, right?–but the reason I haven’t been able to write the last one is because the books no longer feel like mine. The hatemail, the constant theft, the shitty comments over the years has all chipped away at that connection and that love I used to have for them. So I just hope they end up with a narrator who gets them and particularly his complexity as a character. And who can also say “foyer” the right way.

More news when I have it!

What I’m Working On

Revisions on Waverly 4 has been the big thing. I finished another huge pass. The book is currently sitting at a ridiculous 137 238 words and that’s without doing a pass to add flesh. I’m going to trim out what I can, but there’s a whole lot going on in this one.

Right now it’s cooling, though. There are some books–like The Taiga Ridge Murders–I could confidently revise, edit, proof, format, and release a year after I wrote it. But the fourth Waverly book was written December 2022 and I am still fighting with it. Sometimes I wish I could just…not care. That I could be the kind of writer who just tosses up a book without thought, like how much easier it would be. Let’s be realistic–this book will never make back even pennies on the hours I’ve invested in it, from drafting to critically looking and writing myself an edit letter, to all of these revisions, to just the past two years spent picking it apart in my brain to try to work out the problems and find solutions.

But not only would not putting in that work be a betrayal of the few readers I have, it would be a betrayal of me. It would be a betrayal of Waverly and her story. It would be a betrayal of these books of my heart. So no matter what, this behemoth of a book is going to be the best I can make it, even as it delays me working on other stuff.

As of November 1, I’m off freelancing and unplugging the WiFi. Literally. I’m terrified I’m too exhausted and burned out to actually write anything, but the best chance I have is to just be unplugged as much as possible. I’ll be on to post links to the new book, to update the blog with the book’s playlist, but I’m going to stay offline as much as I can. I’d love to write a new horror book but I just finished the SH2 remake (it’s fantastic) and I’m afraid I’ll just be writing Silent Hill. I should probably write Elis, though. I want to write more Waverly. We’ll see.

I hope you check out Taiga Ridge!

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!