Telling More Stories...

How are you today? I hope you had a great week!

I spent this week doing a bunch of things, while hoping that the rain would go away. We've been having too much rain lately and it's bugging the hell out of me because I like to bitch about shitty weather. 😫

I just want more than one sunny day during the week. Is that too much to ask? At least spring is around the corner. Two more weeks of winter left. Can't wait because I'm done with the cold.

So, my main goal was to get another short story (that I wrote last weekend) finished. This one turned out to be quite a sad tale, and a lot longer than I thought it would be. It broke my heart, though.
 

Total word count: 5,848.

And here's my vampire world update: two novels, one novelette, and twelve short stories. Very cool.

It's funny how this keeps happening. I finish a story, decide to take a break and figure that it'll take at least a few days before I get started on a new one, but then I go for a walk and start drafting the next one in my head. LOL. It's really amazing, but these characters are loud, and I can't ignore them.

Another awesome thing I'm enjoying is the way I'm toying with different styles and formats to tell these tales.

Anyway, the first draft of the next story is done at: 1,758. I suspect the next draft will probably push it over the 2k mark, but I'm glad I wrote another one to add to the collection. 😊

Well, aside from the writing and revision, I read another novella. I also got a bunch of spring cleaning done and reorganised my bookshelves. It was a lot of work and I felt sore the next day, but it was great.

One last thing, if you're interested in checking out my debut short story collection, MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS, you can grab a Kindle copy for 99c! Sale ends on Monday.

Okay. Hope you all have an awesome week!

BARGAIN ALERT!

MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS

Cemetery Gates Media

My debut short story collection.

A dark gathering of 17 melancholy horror tales where mothers, lovers, friends and monsters intersect with disastrous and tragic consequences.

CHECK OUT THE REVIEWS ON GOODREADS

👻😈💀

AN UNNATURAL LIFE by Erin K. Wagner

An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I read that this novella was Murderbot meets To Kill a Mockingbird, I HAD to check it out.

812-3 is a robotnik and he's in prison because he killed a human worker, but he says he didn't do it. His lawyer, Aiya Ritsehrer, agrees to post an appeal, but in Europa, the military doesn't appreciate her interference...

I really enjoyed this SF tale. Not just because it's set on Jupiter's moon, Europa, and introduces an intriguing robot character, but also because it explores a lot of interesting themes.

Prejudice. Violence. Conspiracy. Disrespect. Violation of an individual's life. What constitutes an individual? How the moral code is so easily corrupted by humans.

I also liked Aiya because although she carries her own prejudices and is fed up with people, she still wants to do the right thing. No matter what that means, which includes putting herself in danger.

It's a bleak and sad story, but it's great! And I enjoyed the writing style and worldbuilding.


View all my reviews

So Many Short Stories!

How are you today? Did you have a nice week?

Although the rain stuck around last weekend, it eventually went away during the week. So we finally got a chance to catch up on the washing and went for walks around the river without pesky umbrellas. But it's supposed to come back. 🙄

The last time I posted, I talked about finishing another short story. Surprise, surprise, I ended up doing the same thing again.

Last Sunday, between sorting a bunch of stuff, I ended up writing a new shortie (1,550w) on my phone. And then worked on it some more, and more... until I completed the final read-thru on Thursday night.

Total word count: 3,395.

This story came to me pretty quickly and during my afternoon walks, I ended up coming up with several twists and turns that strengthened the narrative. I'm very excited about how it turned out. And of course, I've already started another short story.

Yeah, the vampire world I created keeps getting bigger and bigger. The best thing about it is how much fun I'm having with the many characters who won't stop whispering their stories directly into my brain.

So, here's the update: two novels, one novelette, and eleven short stories.

Asides from that, I spent most of the week reading the rest of the Carniepunk anthology. The book contains fourteen stories and I enjoyed thirteen of them. There's a single awful story that I can't believe was included. I mean, eleven of these stories are absolutely fantastic. This is definitely one of the best anthologies I've ever read because the majority of the tales were so interesting and well-written.

You can read all of the individual reviews below.

I also read a novella and started another one. 

Yeah, I'm reading as much as I can between writing and sorting. And grabbing whatever book I feel like at the time. I love reading and books and stories so much.

Well, that's about it. I'm going to enjoy a three-day weekend with my husband.

Have an awesome one! 😁