August Newsletter

I really had to bust my butt to do it, but I did finish my Medieval story (The Lightbearers) in time to be featured on the Macabre Monday Substack. I also posted it here, if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet. There are some things I could have done better, but it turned out fine. It taught me a lot about rewriting, particularly when I’m in a hurry. This was a good experience for me overall, and will hopefully help me in my next major project.

Speaking of which… A few weeks ago, I put out a poll to help me decide whether to start another short story or work on a novella next. Either you think really well of me or you actively want to make my life harder, because novella won by several votes. I was going to keep working on the same novella as before, but a much better story idea popped into my head last week. More information will be forthcoming once I’ve ironed out the details, but I’m very excited for this one.

I’ll be on vacation for the latter part of this month, but I’ll see how much I can get done by then. Thanks as always for your support!

What I’m reading:

• Lost Girls, by Andrew Pyper

  • I don’t usually like horror stories with such an unsympathetic protagonist, but I make an exception here because he’s just so interesting. And how often do you read a ghost story from the perspective of a sleazy defense lawyer? The ending felt a little rushed, but very engaging otherwise.

• Sociopath: A Memoir, by Patric Gagne

  • An intimate and surprisingly sympathetic memoir from a woman who knew from childhood that she was very different from other people. Sociopaths have a reputation for being uncaring, cruel, or just plain evil, but the truth is often more complicated. I recommend the audiobook version, which is read by the author.