Recently I was asked to interview with the wonderful D&T Publishing for Women in Horror (WIH) month – February 2021. At first, I was, admittedly, taken aback because I live with a serious case of imposter syndrome — I mean ‘Women in Horror’, why would I be asked?! Why would anyone be interested in what I have to say? Then it dawned on me, Hey, yeah, I am one of those – a woman who writes horror! Needless to say, I agreed happily, in support of a wonderful publishing house run by wife and husband duo, Dawn and Timothy, who do so very much for the indie horror community. They even warmly accepted one of my little dark tales, ‘Neighbours’, into their dark fiction anthology ‘After the Kool-Aid is Gone’ last year.
With a massive line-up of planned publications this coming year, they are a publisher to put on your ‘to watch’ list for sure! Check them out by visiting their website and socials:
KJK Publishing is the company behind Amazon best-selling horror anthology collections such as ‘100 Word Horrors’ and ‘The Horror Collection’.
Owner and Author, Kevin J. Kennedy, recently invited me on-board as Editor of KJK’s successful ‘The Horror Collection’ series! As a fan of these collections, I couldn’t say no — delighted to be part of Kennedy’s team.
These books are a great pick up for fans of the genre, or as an introduction to the many flavours of global indie horror. Hosting a hugely diverse selection of horror voices across the spectrum of the genre, these books are a great way to find a new author or stir your appetite for a sub-genre you maybe wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. Connecting readers to emerging and seasoned voices in indie horror, THC books should be on your books to read — if you haven’t already that is. With eight books in the series so far, book nine is due for release this month, and the next two are in progress — including a special ‘Extreme Edition’, it’s fair to say KJK Publishing has started 2021 sprinting with all manner of sharp objects straight at your eyeballs!
The newest book in the series — ‘The Horror Collection: Yellow Edition’ features stories from; JC Michael, Kyle M. Scott, Lex H. Jones, Mike Duke, Sarah Tantlinger and Zoltan Komor. This lot promise spine-tingling, haunting chills, and a good heap of ‘What the fuck did I just read?’ bizarro. Love it! All wrapped in the signature THC cover created by Michael Bray.
Its predecessors can be purchased individually or as a set. All of these books are also available to read free to Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Next in the series will be ‘The Horror Collection: Ruby Edition’ and ‘The Horror Collection: Extreme Edition’. Invited Authors have been propositioned, and submissions are rolling in! This is going to be lots of bloody fun!
As ever, shares and reviews are massively important in this crazy game, especially to indie writers and publishers. Please, if you take the time to read — leaving an honest review on your preferred platform is appreciated by ourselves and other readers. We love to hear what readers think — Thank you! Happy reading!
It’s coming up to National sex day/awkward date day/chocolate day, or Valentine’s day if you prefer. With that theme in mind, The Macabre Ladies ‘Dark Valentine’ is currently on sale until the 14th. Being horror, it’s fair to say it hosts a bit of the good ol’ ‘Anti- Valentines’ vibe — it’s worth grabbing a copy or better yet, pick up the boxset which includes an array of flash holiday-themed horror!
Also, February is Woman in Horror month, so picking up something from this female-fronted horror publishing duo or indeed anything where a WIH contributes, is a great way to support the community, while (hopefully) finding a great read – we all benefit! Just don’t forget to leave a review!
While on the subject of The Macabre Ladies, book three in the ‘Drabbles of Dread’ series is out on the 16th of February! This one with themes of the supernatural. Currently, it’s an absolute steal to preorder before release day. I have five new flash pieces in this one too.
In my last post, I talked about a short that I finished writing — which I had loads of fun with. I am de-fuckin’-lighted to announce that ‘Fuckin’ Maggots’ was accepted into The Evil Cookies’s ‘Gorefest’! Thanks to Editor, K. Trap Jones, for welcoming my little offering of smut and splatter into the anthology. Looking forward to getting my hands on the rest of the stories in this one when it’s released — more info to come.
In the meantime, if you enjoy splatterpunk horror, check out The Evil Cookie’s already published books: The Evil Cookie Publishing
Best-selling indie Publisher and Author, Kevin J. Kennedy, also recently outed me as Editor in KJK Publishing’s new The Horror Collection: Yellow Edition. This guy is truly a force in the indie horror community, producing work not to be missed, and an absolute pleasure to work with. I am stoked to be working on this best-selling, predominantly invite-only, anthology series. I can tell you right now — book nine is a going to be a belter!
While that’s in the works, the previous eight books can be nabbed as a set or individually over at Amazon.
It’s only heading towards the end of January, and I’ve too many ideas for this year! That being said, channelling one at a time and arranging my notes into some semblance of order is the (lifelong) personal challenge. Unless it’s for someone else my sense of organisation, with my own creative projects, can be chaotic.
On the well-organised side (the joy of the Gemini), I have opened the doors and made Word Refinery public! If you haven’t already, feel free to check out Word Refinery pages. I am opening up my editorial and proofreading diary to new clients. More info here:
Writing has been slow burn this month, with the exception of one completed short story – which, hands up, I love. It’s wicked — I can’t wait for folk to read it. It’s parked for an upcoming submission, but if it doesn’t make the cut (I really hope it does!), it will be published this year, I may even squirrel it away for my solo collection.
On that front, it’s been a year since I’ve personally published. In remedy of this I am collating some short stories with a couple of unpublished pieces to put out a collection this year – potentially in the summer, depending on editorial commitments, which take priority.
Just dropping by with a quick 2020 writing (or more subbing) wrap up since it seems to be the thing to do!
On my first year actively subbing and writing for specific calls, this has resulted in 58 pieces accepted for publication. 42 of these have been published this year – 8 Short Stories, 13 Flash Fiction, 20 Drabbles and 1 Poem. The remaining 16 accepts will be out in 2021.
I have been lucky to have my work appear alongside some cool folk from around this wee planet. Thankful and grateful for the opportunities and encouragement from my friends, family and writing community. Writing wise it’s been a pretty fun year — I’ve learned so much and developed some new skills along the way.
Newly released for the death of 2020 – The Sirens Call eZine is out now! Celebrating a world of horror and dark fiction from around the globe, Sirens Call Publications have put out issue 52 containing 130 pieces of Horror and Dark Fiction. All honouring the theme of death. I am chuffed to have one of my own stories Snake appear in this issue. Snake first appeared in Concoction: A mini Anthology of shorts which is still available in print and ebook from Amazon worldwide. To get your hands on The Sirens Call eZine – where you can read online or download your copy FREE – head to their site:
Shadows engulf mother Earth, shade and still-cold stretch through half the globe as Batara Candra embraces her most impossible love, Batara Surya. Two halves of a singular coin. Coming together only briefly once every eighteen years. A passing lingering embrace that ripples waves of darkness, causing tides to threaten to turn, waves of anarchy and torrents of cold panic; what if they never let go?
Doomed love or doomed planet by total eclipse — an impossible love where no-one truly wins. Love must pass through the penumbra, saving this world from suffocating darkness or burning light.
Gnashing and gnawing at my innards Viscera shredded; trauma tombs embedded Stitch in bells, weigh down the nauseating flapping Jangle a euphonious jingle Steady placement of chinked shield Conceal agonies.
U-bend blocked There my guilt brims Shame for wishing away rapid cell division Liquor and voluntary scalding Natures way away Life folding poured out Out of Order; terror of disorder
For two, a freshly dug hole The morning after Mourning follows Nipping at heals with the snow A hollow in another garden There, a piece of my heart lays A depression for my first’s succession
She wants to see my torment on display To harvest in morbid grief games Pretend she’s just the same Catfish loss-mother Conspiring tiring Yearning to reap from the suffering leaks of my soul Observe my lamentations trapped in a fishbowl To don a cape, be in control Prodding my wounds, infecting
Imitation empath storing stories Catalogued, indexed, held hostage Latching of grief vampires Sucking ephemeral life’s marrow Chipping stones off my bones
An archaeologist scraping the shovel No delicate brushing of bristles Attention desperation Desecrating my pain Self-appointed steward on my cradles grave.
This year, my first attempt at NaNoWriMo didn’t hit the goal. Winter always seems to be a time of heightened drama, in opposition to the slower, warmer, more reflective side I long for at years end. Quieten the noise, slow down the pace. It doesn’t seem to matter the ingredients placed in the cauldron; there’s no slow and steady blending and simmer, it’s a sporadically exploding bomb — spewing shrapnel into the eyeballs and the roof, and right now it’s barely holding up. With that my focus was and still is in tatters, December may be more about finding all the pieces again and trying to fuse some sanity and peace. Anyway, my Backyard Asylum novel project only reached 14k – quite a distance from the 50k goal! I beat myself up throughout November with exhaustion and lack of creative time to drive into it. That’s been quite prevalent this entire year more than just the month, but it did feel more saturated. Such is life; she likes her curveballs and depression likes to wrap her fingers around my throat for periods of total torment. She’s a cruel demon indeed. So, it’s been a case of prioritising basic practical needs over desire. Although creativity is certainly a need, when it’s embedded deep, which fuels desire — without the sparks of passion there is little will to trudge through the more mundane, life has to be more than that — the fight continues. I’m rambling now, this slump shall pass! So, while Backyard Asylum is written in my head, I have to sacrifice some sleep, muster some energy from the ether and hit the keys — though maybe without the daily word-count pressure, which did me no good this first time around. Regardless, I am happy with what’s down for this WIP novel — its bones are horrific in a promising way. There’s a lot to work through and develop, but I’m confident it will in time progress so I can nail this first draft and go deep into sculpting and editing through the rough edges. The characters have meat, and there’s some strong scenes pinned already. I spiralled off into research more than physical writing a little more than planned, such is the ‘panster’ way. As much as I tried to avoid the temptation, I have my eye on a few open-calls for short stories. Nothing new and substantial has been written on the front yet, but there are some ideas stewing, so I’ve some snippets of poetry to go back to and work on to develop into a full-blown piece.
In summary, my first NaNoWriMo died in week two. But, the story itself will come into being, I am pleased with what’s been written so far, it’ll just take a little longer to get there. It’ll be a priority for 2021.
