Done, Done, Done, and Done!

My second foray into the world of the Nightshade family is done. Yes! The final chapter happened pretty organically since I actually had so many options to choose from, and I just had to let myself go in the end. Well, that plus the fact that we're back to Standard Time, and while I turned back the clocks, I still woke up an hour too soon, which will likely mess up the rest of my day. I know it's made writing the final chapter a bit touch and go.

That said, I understand the state where you're so, so tired or caught somewhere between sleep and wakefulness is the moment when inspiration hits you the most. I get it; I can see why that can happen. In my case, I just opened the file and dove in, completely clueless as to how the closing chapter will unfold. I think it turned out really well despite taking a direction I didn't even consider before, and it was another reminder that Narcisse's journey into self-discovery is vastly different from Viktor's. 

It's quieter, more personal. More aligned with a mortal's experience, not a god's. And behold the book's "theme song" (which got me off to a good running start, inspiration-wise):

Anyway, it's done! And I've got the rest of this month to revise, rewrite, edit, and all that good stuff. There might be more significant tweaks I'll be doing compared to Nightshade's Emporium, but we'll see how things look. 

And with this announcement comes another important one: I've decided to keep the same calendar for 2025 as a goalpost, which means March 1, July 1, and November 1 release targets. I said "goalpost" because I'd like to be adaptable to unexpected events happening. The Perfect Rochester might very well get bumped up to February 1 with the rest of the books following suit, but I don't want to commit to anything completely yet. I like the idea of getting myself so far ahead as to be working on, say, The Shadow Groom a full year early. 

And if that happens, I'd be more than happy to squeeze an extra book for an earlier release here and there, and that would be awesome. 

All right, then. Time to relax and be lazy -- maybe even take a couple of naps with my sleep cycle so out of whack now.

Now Available: 'Voices in the Briars'

And here we go! Voices in the Briars, my vampiric take on the "Bluebeard" fairy tale, is finally out in e-book and print formats. 

Here be the blurb:

The reserves of St. Jerome's orphanage have never enjoyed an easy life. Born with disabilities or deformities, they're separated from the rest of the orphans and are marked for a future working for the guilds or in noble households as servants. At least that's the belief for as long as the orphanage has been around.

Lóránt Kárpáthy was born mute and as such has become the target of bullies. He's also drawn the attention of fiery-tempered Dávid Bodnár, an older boy who gladly takes on the mantle of Lóránt's protector. The two friends find solace in each other's company through shared daydreams and hopes for the future.

It's a close bond that is soon tested when David is adopted while Lóránt becomes the special beneficiary of a mysterious patron. A patron who sees to Lóránt's education and sudden exclusion from the rest of the orphans when he's sent to live in near solitude in St. Jerome's north tower.

A childhood of colorful daydreams in spite of heartbreak falls prey to dark hallucinations that devour time. To the blood-soaked secrets of a family descended from a line of legendary hunters. To the appearance of a strange nobleman claiming the hand of a young man, a nobleman who brings his new husband to a sprawling manor hiding its own secrets behind its shut doors, its sepulchral corridors, and its army of silent servants. There are secrets outside as well—among seductive roses and hungry, whispering briars.

And woven among those secrets is the terrible truth behind St. Jerome's reserves.

Set in the dark dreamscape of 19th century Hungary, Voices in the Briars is a gothic gay romance and a retelling of the "Bluebeard" fairy tale.

The book's gallery page is over yonder, and you can check out some tidbits behind the writing of this book.  There are actually a few other things that never made it to the gallery page, but that's par for the course with these fun extras about my books, and that's okay. It's written purposefully to read like a dark fairy tale, and it was a real treat coming up with ways on how to turn the original story on its head while making sure everything lines and up and makes sense. 

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the book if you decide to check it out, and thanks so much for the support.

Happy Halloween!

I was supposed to post something this past Sunday, but as it happened, internet was down for the whole damn day. By the time things were back up and running again on Monday, I didn't have the energy or the motivation to get on here and say stuff. Not that much has happened, frankly, so you're not missing out on anything.

But yes! It's Halloween! 

October used to be my good month, the month were things went swimmingly and left me in pretty high spirits, but this year's been a real doozy of a dung pile. Then again, I lost my mojo when the lockdowns took place, and I couldn't seem to get it back again. Oh, there've been a few glimpses now and then, but on the whole, I think the pandemic's left a deeper than expected scar in my mind though I'm able to counter it still with my writing. 

At any rate, while I'm glad to see the end of this month (at least this year's version of October), I'm also celebrating all things autumn, all things spooky, and I'm looking forward (here I go again) to November and December and the coming winter months. Winter comes a very close second to autumn for my favorite season, so yeah. Yay.

This coming weekend will also mark the end of The Perfect Rochester as I only have two more chapters to write, and that's it for that book. It'll be rounds of revisions and edits following, and then I'll get started on Compline, hopefully in December. 

And since it's Halloween and I'm in the mood for a bit of escapist nuttiness, I finally got going on Van Helsing (2004), which is on Netflix at the moment. It's cheesy, it's fun, it's cheesy fun. And since I never got to see it when it first came out, I thought to make up for lost time, and I'm having a blast. As long as I shut my brain off and just run with it, it's a fun movie, terrible accents and all. 

However, if you're in the mood for some classic haunted house horror films sans the gore and jump scares, I still highly recommend my Holy Trinity of haunted house films:

The Changeling (1980)

The Orphanage (2007)

and The Others (2001).

So many ways of telling a ghost story. So many angles and PoVs to take. And, of course, they all have a mystery at the core of each ghost story. I'll never get tired of these three, and I also turn to them now and then to help feed the muse. Anyway, however way you want to celebrate Halloween, be safe, everyone!

Coming Down the Homestretch, Et. Al.

I finally finished my share of postcards for swing states, and I burned through the last twenty postcards with my ears getting blasted by the soundtrack to Underworld (2003), my favorite of the franchise. I mean -- all movies I've seen (first four, anyway, and I've yet to see Blood Wars) are technically guilty pleasure viewing, and I can't get enough of the first. 

And that makes me think about urban fantasy and how I never really got to tackle that -- beyond Ambrose and maybe some of my republished gay YA stuff. Much of what I've written so far are largely comedies, and I'd like to tackle something along those lines again a la Ambrose but with something other than ghosts. 

I know vampires and werewolves are pretty common in urban fantasy, so I'm going to have to look farther afield and see what else can be used. Not gonna lie. I'd love to mess around with variants of the vampire and lean heavily on all things occult. And it would be a nice break from my go-to settings of historical fantasy / an AU Victorian Europe. 

Something to think about now that I'm nearly done with The Perfect Rochester and am about to get preliminary stuff going for Compline.

Playing Catch Up

 

image from Don't Eat the Paste

Okeedokee, I filled out my ballot and sent it out. I'm also down to the last twenty postcards to sign and send out to a swing state, and then I'm done! At least I'll be done with anything to do with this year's elections. 

I recently started talking about my comfort series, The Great British Baking Show, and my predictions were based on only two episodes of this year's series. Welp... I've got to update them now after Bread Week, which saw one of the stronger bakers leave for, sadly, good reason. He fumbled the ball in the signature round, and the stress got to him. I could tell from the way he commented on his performance and his hopes for the showstopper round that he was getting agitated and anxious though I really don't blame him for it. My viewing of previous seasons has convinced me that those bakers who kept their heads and stayed calm and focused had a better chance of making it all the way through.

And that also makes me side-eye Andy, who also tends to panic when things blow up in his face. I pegged him as one to watch, but I've got a sinking feeling his nerves will get the better of him. I hope not, but this scenario's painfully familiar.

That said, I'm so happy to see my top three still competitive with Dylan coming out shining in the end, and with that I'm adjusting my predictions to add Nelly into the mix with Georgie a close second. I love that Nelly brings flavors from diverse sources (Eastern Europe and Asia). But seeing as how it's only the third episode so far, it's too early to tell, and the situation can still throw a curve ball. I do have to agree with Paul Hollywood's observation, though: this group of bakers are so far some of the most talented I've seen in the competition. Everyone seems to have style and substance pretty well-balanced -- more consistently than what I've seen in previous series, anyway, because any goof-ups tend to be small.

And in other news, the early November projected completion date for The Perfect Rochester is very much real as I'm looking at two chapters being added to the usual total of 26. But no problem there. Compline continues to reshape itself as new ideas and possibilities cross my mind, and I might just throw out any and all elements that have been inspired by Belouis Some's Some People (which I discussed a while ago). The epistolary narrative is the same, but the main plot as it reflects my take on "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is morphing and taking paths I've never even considered but are very, very promising. 

I'll be talking more about it soon. In the meantime, it's a case of "steady as she goes" in writing.