Thinking Time...

Hi, how are you today? I hope this week treated you well. I've been doing a bunch of different things.

A lot of thinking. And sorting. Some spring cleaning. Plenty of reading.

For most of this year, I've been so consumed with my own writing/planning and other stuff that reading has taken a bit of a backseat. If you check below, you can see what I read the last few days. One novel. One short story. One novella. All awesome and very entertaining.

Asides from enjoying some cool stories, I also continued what I started last week: revisiting novels that I thought were already done. Until I decided they weren't. LOL. 

Well, the longer novel was finished (again) last week, but not the shorter one. That story required a lot more thinking. So much that I decided to chat to my husband about it. He's very good at listening and offering great insight when I feel a bit lost or stuck, plus talking to him always helps me figure things out. And this time was no different. While discussing the issues I had with this story during one of our river walks, something very obvious clicked into place.

The reason why I couldn't stop thinking about this particular novel turned out to be very simple. In its current state, it doesn't work. And I quickly realised that attempting to fix all of the issues I have would require a complete rewrite. Something I just don't have the enthusiasm for right now.

There's only one thing left to do. I'm going to shelve it. I don't know if it'll be forever, but this version is back to sitting on my hard drive as a WIP. I might return to it in the future, but I might not. If I do, a complete rewrite is the only way to salvage the best parts. If I don't, it was a learning experience.

Either way is fine with me. Some stories work and some don't. But it feels good to have made a decision so I can move on to other projects. 🙂

And that means that I can now daydream and brainstorm my next WIP. This is a vampy story that's been renting space inside my brain for months. I love these characters and the snippets inside my head. I'm looking forward to joining their adventure soon.

Well, that's it for now. We've got a three-day weekend, so I'm very excited.

Have an awesome day!!

REALITY BUT MORE FUN by Madeleine Swann

Reality But More Fun by Madeleine Swann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me start by saying that the cover is absolutely fabulous. And the story intrigued me so much, I got stuck into it last night and didn't want to stop.

Jade and Louise are sisters staying in the surreal Belle Epoque theme park with their mother. They're not supposed to stay there long, but can't remember how long they've been there, and stranger things than usual start to happen...

Peculiar. Bizarre. Awesome.

I found this story to be utterly delightful in its quirky weirdness. It's quite the trippy ride and the imagery is bright and beautiful with a very dark veneer. I love stories where everything seems perfect and lovely, almost to the point of being a sugary utopian experience... but the ugly truth slowly pushes its way through.

First, it's a simple glimpse at the utter confusion about what's really going on, but it doesn't take long for the eerie truth to become clear.

The sisters were quite charming. Louise is married and trying to do the right thing by her mother. While Jade longs for adventure and finds herself in the clutches of an unsavoury individual with questionable intentions. I also really liked Samir and Gillian because they're quite the problem-solving duo.

I had a LOT of fun reading this charming slice of strange, and loved the descriptive writing style.

 

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SOXORCIST II by Jamie Kort

Soxorcist II by Jamie Kort
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I have to start by thanking the author for sending me a copy of this depraved slice of horror. It's the fourth erotic sock puppet story I've read, and it's certainly turning into Jamie Kort's subgenre. 🧦🪡

Anyway, here are my thoughts:

The Soxorcist needs help. She's sick and something is stirring inside her stomach, but what she finds is a terrifying nightmare worse than her memories...

O.M.F.G. The stories in this series might be short but require a lot of brain bleach. That doesn't ultimately work because the dark and gross imagery weaves its way so deep that the filth seeps too fast to stop.

In usual fashion, this story is as weird as fuck. Bizarre in too many ways to list without spoilers. Also very addictive. The writing is engaging and I didn't stop reading until I reached that very violent and disturbing end because I always want to know how it's going to end.

I also really like the addition of Sam the Raven.

If you enjoy being grossed out, but at the same time, intrigued by a storyline so strange that you're sucked right in... then definitely check this out. You won't regret it. Or maybe you will. 😅

 

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SWEETPEA by C.J. Skuse

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had my eye on this for a while, and when I found out a new show based on this book was coming out, I wanted to read it before watching.

Rhiannon is a bored editorial assistant caught in an unfulfilling relationship. She has an adorable dog she loves. She's also part of a group of friends she barely tolerates, and has an unhealthy addiction to making kill lists. But these aren't her biggest secrets...

Well. Rhiannon is really something, isn't she? She's certainly a flawed character, and quite unlikeable in many ways. She's full of insensitive opinions, isn't exactly nice, and has quite a few skeletons in her closet.

The journal/diary storytelling style really worked for me. It dragged me into the events that were unfolding very quickly. I also like how Rhiannon conveniently drops clues about the bizarre situations she finds herself in. Some details aren't clear right away, but it doesn't take long to figure out what this sweet little psycho is up to.

She certainly has a way with words. And men. And with insults. Lots of politically incorrect assumptions and judgements are made in this tale of murder, deceit, and how a violent past can morph someone's way of thinking forever.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Rhiannon's insane adventures. But like I said, she's not the nicest person in the world, and that's fine because while she's obviously a disturbed individual who constantly attempts to justify her despicable behaviour, there are a few glimmers of goodness that shine through. Occasionally.

Great start to the series, and that cliffhanger ending... 😳!! Good stuff.


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Hey!

How are you today? Long time no blog, right? 😅

But seriously, it's been a while since I posted an update, so I thought I'd pop in to chat.

Last month was really cool because my husband had annual leave and we went for some lovely adventures, long walks, and got plenty of rest. Then a long weekend followed... and now, Halloween Month is here. Yay.

A few great writing things happened. I made another book announcement: my haunted house ghost story, THESE STAINED WALLS, will be released by Horrorsmith Publishing next year. So excited to share this creepy story with the world.

Very happy about this one.

On the 30th of September, my latest book was released. NUMB (named after this very appropriate Linkin Park song) is my love letter to demonic possession stories. It's a bit THE EXORCIST and a lot SUPERNATURAL. I hope readers enjoy Chester's story. It's sad. It's creepy. And it's available in eBook and paperback right now!!

There are also some cool reviews already posted on Goodreads.

My other fantastic news is that my very first self-published book, ONLY DARKNESS,  will be released on October 31st. That's exactly 19 days from now. 

I'M SO EXCITED! Not just because I can't wait to share this story, but also because it turned out really nice. The paperback copy is especially lovely. The formatting was done by Fabled Beast Design, and he did a great job capturing my vision.

I mean, check this out:

These are the author copies and the book looks FANTASTIC! Because the first half of this book has been previously published, I wanted this version to be very different. So, the former novella became a novel told in two parts.

The Kindle version is currently available for pre-order and the pretty paperback will be available on release day.

I hope readers give my lovely creepy book a shot. ☺️

Asides from all of the cool news, I've been mentally sorting through some of my finished stories. One thing that I love to do is talk to my husband about my writing plans whenever they start to plague my mind. Chatting things over always helps me make a plan, and that's exactly what I spent this week doing.

I decided to re-revise two stories that I thought were done because a bunch of different ideas/directions struck out of nowhere. I actually finished working on the longer story and I'm SO happy with the changes I made. I think this makes the story much stronger and I also fixed some unexpected errors while I was there.

The other story is next week's problem because I have more details to sort out first. ☺️

Well, that's about it for now.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!!