February is here!

Can you believe that January is finally over?! Yikes. I mean, didn't January feel like it went on forever? One week felt like one month, and for a while there it felt like it would last the whole year. 😳

How are you? I hope you're still finding some happiness in this terrible world. I can't believe that this year has started in such an awful way, but I suppose that's what happens when people vote against their best interest. Or don't bother to really listen when someone tells them they're a fucking asshole. Or can't be bothered voting. Or maybe, just maybe, they let their hate and racism win over common-fucking-sense.

I could go on and on about this, but with every theory we'll all get angrier and depressed about the fact that our society is getting dumber by the moment.

So, let's move on.

Since I finished my latest WIP a few weeks ago, I've been catching up on a few things. I read and blurbed two very cool upcoming books. They were awesome, and I enjoyed the hell out of both. I also updated my domain name because having my own website is very important to me. And started sorting out several clustered areas around the apartment that are starting to weigh on me mentally.

Does that happen to you? I can usually function just fine with piles of small clutter, but eventually it starts to bug me. I'm nowhere near done, but the only way to do this is to tackle one bit at a time. I actually like sorting through stuff, but it's mentally exhausting.

I've also read a few books:

SHOCKAHOLIC by Carrie Fisher

CATS LIKE CREAM by Renee Miller: 

WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix

And I'm halfway through BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley. I'm also totally addicted to HELLO KITTY HAPPINESS PARADE. My husband found this game on special the other day, and I've been playing it ever since. 😅

Oh, and the coolest thing that happened this week is that my debut short story collection was released on Tuesday!!! OMG. I'm SO excited.

I mean, look at this beautiful book:

I absolutely adore this cover because it captures the vibes of my tales perfectly. Luke Spooner/Carrion House did such a fantastic job! 😍

Here's the summary: A dark gathering of 17 melancholy horror tales where mothers, lovers, friends and monsters intersect with disastrous and tragic consequences.

These are horror stories that I've written and rewritten several times through the years until they became the best versions, which is what you'll find within these pages. 😊

There are already quite a few reviews on Goodreads and I love finding out which story each reader prefers. It makes me very happy.

If you're interested in grabbing a copy, it's available on Kindle, paperback and KU.

Asides from reading and celebrating a new release, I wrote a 2,400-word short story on my phone the other night. It's a slice of rage. A violent dystopian horror tale that came out of nowhere. I'd like to revise it sometime this week. I didn't plan to write anything because I'm supposed to be taking a mental break, but I don't question when the words strike. 😁

We also watched a few movies: NOSFERATU (aesthetically stunning, dark and Lily-Rose Depp was amazing, but it was just okay), SMILE 2 (cool horror story that makes you question everything that's happening), and THE LOST BOYS (to celebrate finishing another vampire first draft). And we started watching SEVERANCE, which is fantastic. Can't wait to see more.

Anyway, that's about it. Just thought I'd post a bit of an update.

Hope you have an awesome week! ☺️

My Debut Collection...

Hey!

How are you today?

If you follow me on Bluesky, then you might have caught a glimpse of the 17 daily posts I've been adding this month. That's one for each of the stories in my upcoming debut short story collection...

MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS.

If you missed them, these are the graphics that I created for each tale:

 

And here's the 

Table of Contents:

1. ALL MY PRETTIES

2. LOST IN TIME

3. GOLDSMITH’S ODDITY

4. CLARA’S PHONE

5. SOMEWHERE TO BELONG

6. OTHER SIDE OF ME

7. THE GIRLS DEVOURED BY THE WOODS

8. SHORELINE

9. THE MAN IN THE RED SUIT

10. OF YOU, THE END

11. A PORTRAIT OF DEATH

12. FADE INTO NIGHTMARE

13. LADY OF THE HOUSE

14. SLIPPING INTO

15. ALLURE

16. STALKING THE SHADOWS

17. FINDING SURVIVAL

Plus, here's the blurb:

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

This beautiful cover was made by Luke Spooner/Carrion House and it's absolutely perfect.

I mean, look at the full paperback cover:

You can now pre-order an eBook copy, and the paperback will be available on release day, which is January 28.

A few very cool reviews have been added on Goodreads already.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll check it out!!

☺️

Word Count Update!

Well. It's Friday, and I thought I'd post an update.

No, wait a sec! It's past midnight here in Sydney, so I suppose it's technically Saturday. LMAO.

Either way, it's time to weekend. 😁

So, how are ya? What have you been doing this week? How's the new year treating you? I've been busy writing, but the world is such a fucking mess right now. Between people idolizing loser billionaires who have no fucking clue, greedy haters who can't mind their own business, and intense climate change events... I just don't know where the fuck we're going. Or WTF we're doing.

I really wish we paid more attention to history, instead of repeating the shitty parts over and over. Ugh.

Let me get back to the writing. I'm working on my current WIP and still having a blast.

Here's my progress:

• Monday: 58,120 (+4,521w)
• Tuesday: 62,584 (+4,464w)
• Wednesday: 69,251 (+6,667w)
• Thursday: 73,961 (+4,710w)
• Friday: 79,223 (+5,262w) 

Not bad, right? This was actually the first full week of writing I've had for a while after so many cool public holidays. And because I'm so caught up in what's happening, during every session this week I churned out high word count additions.

I stopped at a good spot tonight. The downward spiral to the end is going to be intense and very bloody. I can't wait to write it, but won't go back until Monday.

Also, if you follow me on social media, you might have noticed that this week I started posting graphics & small quotes from my upcoming short story collection. I'm having a great time sharing bits and pieces about each individual tale. There are 17 of them, and I've already shared five.

Oh! The first Goodreads review for MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS has been posted and it's fantastic! Check it out HERE! I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you, Rose Devours Books. 

One last thing, since a lot of crap has been going on with Meta—ranging from AI bullshit, removal of fact checking, allowing hate speech—I'm seriously thinking about signing out of the two social media accounts I have with them. I haven't decided yet, but I'm certainly getting sick and tired of fucking asshole tech-bros.

In the past two years I deactivated accounts at NaNoWriMo (gross behaviour with minors), Substack (gave nazis a platform), Twitter (destroyed by a dickhead) and Discord (nothing related to the actual app, more a bad association because of assholes). 

No matter what, you can find me on Bluesky, which is where I post the most. ☺️

Okay, that's it for today. Have a great weekend!!