I don’t generally mind winter. I like the snow, the quiet of a winter forest, and I don’t drive enough for the awful impact it has on the roads to bother me. But, even though winter and I get along, I find it’s always like a guest that overstays its welcome. I don’t hate them, still want them to come around, but wish they’d fuck off and go home just a little bit sooner. I’m not a that point yet, but I’m keeping an eye on the clock. I suspect I’ll be done with this weather long before I’m able to see it out the door.
The cold has been useful in one regard. Since I’m working on my collection of cold/ice/snow themed horror stories, it’s been an immediate resource for details and descriptions. There’s an enjoyable synchronicity to writing a snowstorm scene while, outside, there’s a snowstorm. Since my last monthly update, I’ve managed to finish, and post, the last two horror stories for the next book. It’s shorter than the other collections, which were both over 225 pages. This one’s getting about a hundo shaved off and are looking like it’ll be around 120 or so. Still, a respectable size. I’ve changed the name to simply Red Icicles, because it’s more clear on a cover. Speaking of covers… I’ve got a mockup going. This isn’t done and has a heap of issues I’m aware of. It’s a mockup, that’s the whole point, to find and fix the issues. Even so, I’m not shy about this whole “one man band” process I’ve got goin’ on, so here’s a blurred out sneak peek.
Editing is well underway. Hoping to launch by April.
Speaking of April, I’ve got a whole bunch of event coming up. I’m doing Dartspeak again next week: March 2nd at the Dart Gallery in Dartmouth. The last one went pretty great. I read my sweet mythic fantasy, Flight of the Kalikanzaros, and everyone was like… “Aww…”. They had time for a second slot, so I read my creepy horror, Motherclaws, and everyone was like, “Ahh….”. So, you know, universal balance and all that shit. Not sure what I’ll read this week.
I hit Alderny Landing Market for the second time and it went well. The drive in was during a windy snowstorm and they hadn’t plowed yet so it was a white knuckle game of “guess where the lanes are”. But, I made it fine. I’m scheduled to be there again on March 18th.
April is where things really kick into high gear. I’ve submitted for a table at the local Lunenburg County Lifestyle Center Easter Market on the 1st. Jill’s got a table there too for her art, and it’s the first time the pair of us will be at a market together with our own stuff! Nice! I assume there will be another Dartspeak on the first Thursday in April, so I’ll be sure to hit that up. After that, on the 15th, I’ll be attending Collector Con in Sackville. It’s a nerd con with an emphasis on toys, comics, and games. All stuff that’s not exactly my products, but is super adjacent. We’ll see how that goes. If I do well, they’ve got 3 more events this year and I’ll add them to my regular sales rotation. I’ll wrap the month with another Alderny Landing Market on the 22nd. Busy busy busy.
At some point soon, I’m going to start dropping the new, massively expanded and rewritten, whole chapters of Witchbough Daughters. I want to post a couple chapters a month (at least) and do that throughout all the way to the end of the book. To accomplish this, I reaaaally want to be sure I have enough lead time. I’m probably do, but I feel nervous about it. It’s been such a stop/start fragmented thing so far. I don’t want that to continue. When I fire it up again, I want it to roll out with predictable reliability from start to finish.
So, that might happen in March. April at the latest. If it doesn’t start next month, I’ll write something new for my patrons. I’m sitting on a pair of short story outlines that need writing. One involves a police investigator who finds a severed hand their fingerprints at a crime scene (not fingerprints on it, like, it’s their actual hand), and the other is an immortal boy who has trapped his death in a bottle and wears it on a necklace. We’ll see what transpires.
I hope everyone’s making it through the cold and gloom that winter brings. Thanks to all my patrons for their support! As I gear up and start going to all these markets, I’m constantly aware that I wouldn’t be where I was without the continued support I had to write the books I’m now able to sell. My patrons are my foundation.
I’m off to edit and write. Catch you later!
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