Long Time No See!
Holy moly has it been a while, huh?
I took a bit of a break from blogging. I guess that was obvious, haha.
To say the end of my 2023 was a bit of a cluster would be putting it rather lightly. I won’t get into it here (honestly, it was a lot and it was tough, but I am okay!), but I am back! I am here! Blogging shall resume!
Okay, so what have I been up to, you ask?
Let’s take a look!
Wandering But Not Lost
I have a story published in this amazing anthology! My tale, “Wandering But Not Lost” is a story about a doctor moving to a new town and finding out the town is under s strange covenant! I am super proud of this story, so definitely check it out! The anthology is themed around the human body so each story highlights a certain body part. Mine is about the uterus! Again, I am really happy with how this story turned out and Ryan Marie Ketterer did an amazing job as editor. You can grab a copy now!
Art
I also was commissioned to do the internal illustrations for Welcome To Your Body! How exciting is that? Each art piece was done to mimic vintage/Victorian medical textbook diagrams. A cool fact is that I asked the authors to write out the “labels” for their art pieces. Some did, some thought their writing was not great so asked me to do it for them — the end result though is that the art is super unique to the story. I am so happy with how every piece turned out. Check this one out:
Pretty gruesome right? Again, you can grab a copy of the book now! Read my story, check out my art, and definitely let me know what you think!
Prompts
Another cool opportunity I got was from J.W. Donley, who invited me to submit a prompt to his book: 100 Unusual Prompts for Writers of Horror, Weird, and Bizarro Fiction. I decided to submit an illustration as a prompt. So if you’re a writer and cooking for inspiration, check it out!
Authorcon 2024
Went to Authorcon in April in Williamsburg! Apparently I didn’t take any photos, haha. Oh well.
I had a ton of fun. I will say, I was a little anxious going into it because it was the first real big event I went to following all the life events that occurred end of last year. Honestly, that may be why I forgot to take any photos.
Still I had tons of fun, got to hang out with awesome friends. I split a vendor table with friends, sold some books, went to Grady Hendrix’s “Paperbacks from Hell” show, and overall just had a great time. I really enjoy Authorcon because it’s a smaller, more intimate con. It feels a lot more casual and was a good way to step back into being social/travelling.
Stokercon 2024
At the end of May, I also went to Stokercon in San Diego. That was super exciting! I spoke on two panels: “Manifesting Mythos” and “Creating Audio Stories”, did a live reading from my story “Wandering But Not Lost”, had a vendor table, and participated in the mass author signing.
I really enjoyed meeting new friends and reuniting with old.
It’s always so refreshing to chat with fellow horror lovers, about writing, and to just relax and socialize.
Also I sold out of books, which was quite the ego boost!
Podcast
I am still podcasting regularly with my cohost and fellow author, Carson Winter! Honestly, it was probably to best way to keep track of what I was up to, haha. If you haven’t already, check it out! Carson and I chat all things horror writing — from sub genre discussions, to answering Reddit questions, to having guests on. Check it out!
Launch Parties
Been doing tons of these! I’ve really been enjoying hosting launch parties for fellow authors, it’s always a ton of fun, and I get to meet new people! If you missed it, I’ve hosted:
His Unburned Heart by David Sandner
The Psychographist by Carson Winter
12 Hours by L. Marie Wood
One Eye Opened In That Other Place by Christi Nogle
Asylum by Sarah Hans
Check those out if you haven’t already!
Future Plans
I’ve already got my ticket for Stokercon 2025! I am likely going to go to Authorcon next year as well. As for this year, I am trying to arrange some local events for myself to do live readings or get vendor tables at local conventions.
So I can already announce that I will be at the Colorado Festival of Horror in Denver, Sept 13th - 15th! I will have my own table in the vendor room and will be selling my books and some handmade crafts! So if you’re also in the area or attending the con, make sure to come and say hi!
I will update as I go if I attend other cons/events this year so definitely keep an eye on my blog!
Writing
Yes, I am still writing! Currently, I am 20k words into a space horror WIP. I did take a break at the end of last year due to stress and all that, but I am getting back into my regular writing schedule, which makes me so happy. I missed writing.
My hope is that I can have a new book to sell in Sept for the Colorado Festival of Horror, maybe a collection or novella?
There’s also a novella call in October I am hoping to have something for.
My current project feels like it may be novel length material though, so who knows how it will all go. Wish me luck! Yall like space horror too right?
I think that’s all my news! Thank you for sticking around, dear reader! I’ll be posting reviews again soon, I read a ton of books the months I was gone so I have tons to write about!
x PLM
