May Wrap, June Plans
Chaos, Infections, and Things That Go Bump In The Night
Hello and Happy June!
I can tell you that May felt like a whirlwind of chaos at my end. Let’s start with the new writing room. We had the builders in until October last year. Once they left, we went into my daughter’s birthday, my son’s birthday, and then Christmas, so the spare room became a dumping room. Piled high with random stuff we needed to sort. Well, I finally got onto this, decluttered, cleared it all out, and decorated it. It is now my lovely, welcoming writing space, and I could not be more thrilled. However, about 3 days into this project, I fell poorly with a kidney infection, which knocked me off my game for around 2 weeks, then just as I started getting better, my letting agency scheduled a house inspection for 4 days time.
At this point, the house was in chaos because of decorating and decluttering, and being poorly. So we banded together and gutted the place beforehand, with many tip runs, charity drop-offs, and a lot of hard work. During all this, I was frantically rewriting Crestwood Falls 2 as I was aiming to publish on the 31st and still needed to edit, proofread, and have a cover designed. I was also taking part in the Autocrit Nightmare Fuel course.
Needless to say, I had to delay publishing for a few more days, shifting the publication date to the 5th of June. Sadly, though, this was pretty much the only writing I got to do over the month.
I am glad that June has arrived and with it, a sense of calm. I have managed to get everything sorted and submitted to KDP on the 31st, ready for publication. I am just waiting for a proof of the paperback before I initiate that. My house is now immaculate and decluttered, and I have a lovely space to write. I am 2 weeks away from finishing the Nightmare Fuel course, too, and have now started brainstorming a story as a result of the work with that.
So, Crestwood Falls 2!
It is finally here. My Crestwood Falls journey started back in Covid and now, with the release of this final part of the duology, it comes to an end. I have learnt so much about writing and publishing throughout this time, and as much as I loved writing Freya’s journey and cosy fantasy, I am more than ready to lean into my dark side now.
If you would like to pre-order a copy of Crestwood Falls: Inherited Magic, you can do so on Amazon (ebook only until the 5th) and Kofi (pre-order signed paperbacks and book bundles only).
Also, how gorgeous is this cover? It was made by Brianna Raine, who is a horror author and cover maker, and this was her first Fantasy cover, which she has excelled at making. If you wish to check her out, you can do so here.
June Plans
Other than marketing stuff, June is going to be a big writing month (I hope). I aim to finish the Horror Collection I have been writing and putting together. I am aiming roughly for a combination of stories totalling around 50k words, and I have about 15k left to go and have set a deadline for publication mid-October.
I am also working on finishing the winter romance I started a couple of years ago and worked on over last Christmas. Again, I am not far from the end of that and have set a tentative publication date of mid-December.
I will also be starting two new stories (this is where my ADHD really shines lol). One is a creepy psychological horror that my mentor described as a mix of Chernobyl Diaries, As Above, So Below, and The Dyatlov Pass Incident, and the other is a summer splatter horror (Think very 80s style)
I will also be finishing up the course I have been taking, which I highly recommend. Of all the writing-oriented courses I have taken over the years, this is one of the few in which I have really learned things and, as such, adapted how I write. It is packed with resources and content, too. I would definitely take another of their courses now.
Recommendations
Books/TV/Film/Podcast/Music, etc
Books:
Island by Richard Laymon - 5*
The Place That Never Existed by Jim Ody - 5*
The House of Whispers by Tom Carter - 5*
TV/Film
Murder Suspect - Netflix
Supernatural (I will rewatch this show until I die) - Prime
Podcasts
Mr Ballen - Spotify
The Black Tape Files - Spotify
Music
John Carpenter inspired music playlist on YouTube
If you have any horror recs, I am absolutely here for them! Please drop them in the comments below.
That’s all from me, folks!