November is here!

How are you today?

Well, a new month is here and as far as the world goes, it hasn't started well. I still can't believe the news that came out of the US the other day. I find it devastating that so many people voted in favour of lies, hate and inequality. Instead of choosing a highly qualified candidate who stood for the right to choose, growth, and equality.

I'm saddened by these results. We live in a very disappointing world. I will never understand people, and somehow always manage to underestimate their capacity for cruelty. But I really shouldn't be surprised because I've had my fair share of shitty stuff thrown my way this year.

Anyway, the reason why I decided to post an update is because I started writing a new story this month. That's right! After a year full of editing, revision, rewriting, and having to deal with some pretty shitty stuff, I finally got stuck into a brand new WIP.

I used to take part in NaNoWriMo, but after the distasteful stuff that happened last year, I deleted my account. Yep. After sixteen years of participation, I vowed to never take part again and actually finished last year's novel on my own.

That I decided to get stuck into a first draft this month could be pure coincidence because I'm finally ready. Or it could be that muscle memory has drawn me back in. 😁

Either way, I got stuck into it this week:

• Monday: 2,342w 
• Tuesday: 6,146w (added 3,804)
• Wednesday: 10,378w (added 4,232)
• Thursday: 14,371w (added 3,993)
• Friday: 17,535w (added 3,164)

I think this is a great start. Not just because of the word count, but also because I really like how the main character's story is unfolding.

This idea has been renting space in my brain for months now! I've put together a Playlist, collected a bunch of inspirational pics, and have a document full of snippets and scenes that are ready to be written. And I can't wait for some of these scenes to come up because this story is sexy and raunchy, and full of horror. Did I mention it's a vampire book set in the late 80s? 🦇

Can't wait to see where these characters take me. I mean, I know where they're going but some of the getting there is still a mystery. LOL.

I'm also not sure if it's going to be a novella or a novel and don't have a total word count goal.

A week ago my first self-published book, ONLY DARKNESS, came out. This happens to be a re-release and it's a project that means a lot to me because rewriting/editing this, and turning two novellas plus a short story into one book, helped me deal with the shitty publishing stuff I went through earlier this year, so when I read the first review today, I was SO excited.

Oh, you know what I did last weekend? I binged AGATHA ALL ALONG & LOVED IT! I loved the witchy vibes and the little twists in the last half of the series were all very cool. I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of WANDAVISION, so I wasn't sure what to expect... but this was awesome! Much better. Even the different decade eps fit better, story wise.

Well, that's about it for this week.

Take care, take it easy, and have a great weekend!

SALLY'S LAMENT by Mari Mancusi

Sally's Lament by Mari Mancusi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favourite movies. Sally is one of my favourite characters. Sally and Jack are one of my favourite couples. So of course I wanted to read this lovely book.

Remember when Jack discovered Christmas Town? Well, imagine it was Sally and Zero who actually discover the tree and find themselves in the snowy wonderland. Except, Sally discovers there's something really dark going on...

I loved this! I was captivated from the very beginning because the opening scene is directly from the movie, but seen through Sally's POV. After that, this becomes a whole different story, an amazing adventure that both Sally and Jack share together. And because of that, the way their connection grows is more organic, and romantic.

I found this reimagining of Christmas Town intriguing, and loved the new cast of characters that are introduced. Plus the scenery, because this adventure expands the winter wonderland to include some dangerous places. Not to mention that Sally having her own agency makes her mission to help those who need it most even more exciting.

Yeah, I LOVED this charming story. 😍


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CASTLE OF THE CURSED by Romina Garber

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to admit that the first thing I noticed about this book was the awesome cover. It certainly captures the creepy gothic vibes I enjoy so much.

After Estela loses her parents under mysterious circumstances, she feels like her life is over. She's totally alone and desperately wants answers. But when she finds out she has an aunt living in Spain, she suddenly finds herself inside a castle called la Sombra. A place full of secrets and shadows...

Wow. What a wonderful and strange story this turned out to be. It's about a teenager who is struggling with the grief of losing her parents and has trouble moving on. And if that's not enough, she has to move halfway across the world to discover her heritage, while uncovering a bunch of shocking secrets about her past. And learning Spanish from scratch. As well as realising that there are many things hiding in the darkness.

I really like how Estela changes as the new experiences she's forced to face shift as quickly as her surroundings. How she discovers that she didn't know anything about her parents, and that the world is full of unfathomable mystery. Her voice is strong and interesting, and I love the writing style because it really dragged me in.

There's an air of darkness that shadows the story from start to finish and the depth of weird that throws the story into unexpected territories was enough to keep me glued to the pages.

Oh, and did I mention that there's also a love story buried within all of the danger and uncertainty? Plus a twist that I quite enjoyed.

Great book!

 

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It's Release Day!

Happy Halloween!

Today is the day...

My first self-published book is now available! And you can grab a copy from Amazon right now.

To say I'm excited doesn't even begin to capture the way I feel about this book being out in the world again.

This particular story has gone through a lot, and I'm not even joking when I say that. The first version (which is only the first part of the book) got caught up in some pretty nasty business earlier this year, but I refused to focus on all that crap and instead forged ahead to put together a novel in two parts, that tells the story some of you might already be familiar with. As well as the continuation in the Roscoe family curse.

I want to thank my husband, Eugene, because this was his idea in the first place, Erin Al-Mehairi for doing the final copy edit, and Adrian Medina from Fabled Beast Design for not only the perfect cover, but also for the book's awesome interior.

This has been a wild ride and I hope you'll revisit, or take a look around Brittle for the first time. I'm not sure if you'll Suffer or Surrender, but I hope you enjoy it.

THE DARKNESS IN THE WOODS BECKONS HER...

A bleak tale about a cursed family and the mother trying to keep them together. The Exorcist meets Hereditary in this small-town horror story that will force you to embrace the darkness.

SUFFER

Kae Roscoe’s daughter vanished sixteen months ago and all she wanted during her absence was for Molly to return. But when her daughter comes back, she isn’t the same.

Molly hardly speaks and refuses to eat. The only emotion she displays is violence.

As much as Kae hates to admit it, there’s definitely something wrong with Molly, and her reappearance sets off a dark turn of events that threatens to tear the town apart.

SURRENDER

Summer Urbina has finally graduated from college and is excited about spending time with her mother. But as soon as she gets home, everything feels odd.

When her best friend sends an ominous text, Summer decides to trek across the country to make sure he’s okay.

She might not understand why, but the town of Brittle seems very familiar. The darkness calling her from the woods threatens to consume her entirely, and she’s not strong enough to resist.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Thank you for reading!

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!!