Oh, Look, a Holiday

Wow. I'm finally enjoying a five-day break from work, which is something I haven't done since the lockdowns. There's a really long story behind the significant lack of PTO hours accrued since 2020, and I'm not going to start. Suffice it to say, I reached a milestone at my current job and am finally (FINALLY) reaping the benefits. I'm expected back next Thursday, and this holiday-of-sorts was planned specifically to fall on my birthday, which is Tuesday (Aug. 26).

I originally requested all of next week off, but I changed it as I wanted to allow myself one last hurrah in November before the holidays come, and the company goes into black out mode till after New Year's. 

So what's been up with me? Well, writing, of course -- or more specifically, revising and editing The Twilight Lover. It's also giving me lots of room to think more and more about the book that comes after (Doppelgänger) and how best to approach it. I've been significantly enjoying writing and revising + editing The Twilight Lover that I'm again being swayed into turning Doppelgänger into a dark comedy, but I'm trying to rein my impulses in. Until I settle down on a plot since there are so many paths to take with the idea (so what else is new?), the tone can be considered afterwards. 

The Shadow Groom, which comes after Doppelgänger, is a comedy, though, while Camera Obscura and A House of Profane Gods are both drama, so at least I've got some kind of balance going by way of tone. But as always, that's looking too far ahead, and I need to zero in on one thing at a time. 

In other news, my library card's been getting a wild workout lately. I've been checking out two or even three books at a time, and then there's also Hoopla, where I can check out digital books or audio books or even films and series. That said, I'm reverting back to print books when it comes to library loans, but as for purchasing books I want to own, I'm still a heavy e-book user. This is the only "vice" I now have as I get older, and what used to excite me in my twenties or even thirties no longer raise my interest. 

My eyesight needing extra help with font size adjustments aside, a quieter and more solitary pursuit has always been my thing. As a kid, I've frustrated people by pointedly ignoring them because I'd rather read my book than be with them (Dad absolutely loved seeing me read, though, so thank you, Dad). 

I recently reset my e-book library by updating old Kindle collections and turning them into .epub files, which I then re-uploaded while removing other books that are either one-time reads or DNFs. At the moment my e-book library's reached that sweet spot of containing only my favorite books (which I do reread when the mood strikes) and new titles. And so between that and my jaunts to the public library, my reading addiction's nicely satisfied while I'm also able to keep a close tab on my spending.

So you can guess what I'll be doing through Wednesday, eh? SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME! I mean, really, that'd be the best kind of dilemma to have as far as I'm concerned.  

'Helleville' and Road Trips

And not to mention Beetlejuice. 😀 

It's been a century since I last enjoyed a road trip, and that includes my favorite destination of the Sierra Nevada mountain range -- well, specifically Mammoth Lakes, Yosemite, and all the incredible places east of the mountains. And it's this glorious mountain range and its surrounding landscape that shaped Helleville's otherworldly nature. 

One of my favorite movies (ever!), Beetlejuice, got me worked up about writing an environment and its residents that were specifically designed to frighten people back into the straight and narrow but ultimately failed. And, largely, because it was so convenient not to have to pay for anything and also so much fun living in a literal ghost town with your own house ghost. 

What I love about Beetlejuice was how much more interesting the world of the dead seemed compared to the living even though bureaucracy is just as bad as that in the world of the living. Still infinitely funnier and interesting, but you get my drift. It's echoed in another Tim Burton classic, The Corpse Bride, which I also adore. In that movie, the world of the dead is a thousand times more colorful and fun than the drab and dreary world of the living. 

Anyway, I ran with that idea while locating Helleville in a desert-like area that mirrors the Sierras. And as much as I didn't want any of the residents to leave (go me!), of course I needed to demonstrate that the punishment doled out to sinners is stupidly short-sighted (which isn't even the worst thing about the machinations behind Noah and Dot's inter-dimensional trip). I do highly regret them leaving their house ghosts behind, but that can be a plot bunny for another book entirely. 

This song helped me along not so much because of the music itself but because of the video and its celebration of untamed nature. The location chosen also accurately captures the gorgeous and awe-inspiring sights I enjoyed when I went to those road trips.

Helleville is currently 50% off through the end of this month. Go here for the book page and the links to all online stores where you can get a copy.  

'Banshee' and Classic Victorian Ghost Fiction

This book was one of three with which I started my writing journey (Icarus in Flight and Masks: Rise of Heroes -- now a part of my Masks omnibus -- were the other two), and for this, I wanted to lose myself in my favorite genre, which is ghost fiction. Not of the modern interpretation involving killings and monster-like ghosts, but traditional haunted house fiction. 

This was pretty much my first ever attempt at writing a novel-length ghost story. 

For this book as well, I wanted to keep as close as I could to more realistic historical fiction so that the gay relationships are hidden and given the coming-of-age treatment that leads Nathaniel to greater self-awareness. His falling in love with another man is one of the key experiences he has to go through as a teenager in Victorian England as well as the only child of a vicar.  

abandoned old church (image from Pinterest)

This is also one of two books in my backlist that underwent a more recent update in that the final chapter was added once the rights all reverted back to me, and I prepared the book for self-publishing in its final format. The original story ended with a vaguely represented HFN, which didn't sit well with a number of readers who were hoping to see Nathaniel find happiness after the losses he was forced to endure. 

And that thought stuck with me easily enough since I did agree with the readers and saw how unsatisfactory the ending could be for those who wanted to be reassured (me included). So I added the epilogue, which still kept to the more realistic approach to the story while clarifying Nathaniel's future. 

Since I hadn't read Susan Hill's The Woman in Black when I first wrote this book, I did find a lot of inspiration from my favorite ghost story films and horror TV anthologies from the 1970s. There was also The Turn of the Screw, which will forever be one of the stronger literary influences for me when it comes to creating and maintaining tension and atmosphere.  

Banshee is one of two books that's 50% off through the end of August. Go here for the book blurb and links to the stores where you can purchase a copy. 

August Backlist Bonanza: 'Banshee' and 'Helleville'

For August's Backlist Bonanza sale, we have

BANSHEE

Nathaniel Wakeman is the only child and son of a modest vicar, who lives in the quiet and idyllic confines of the Isle of Wight. When his maternal grandfather dies, Natty's mother reconnects with her estranged and wealthy brother and his family in hopes of raising Natty up in the world, to urge him to go beyond the humble life he's always known.

Though his cousins show no particular regard for him, one of them, at least, lures him away from his retired life and introduces him to the world—and to the son of a baron from Somerset, Miles Lovell. Natty gradually finds himself drawn toward the older and worldlier gentleman and returns to his father's vicarage a changed young man. He also seems to have attracted the attention of a ghost, one that has followed him back to the island.

Haunted by a woman in white, who seems to appear when he's at his weakest, Natty struggles with his own nature and with his family's increasing difficulties. His mother is distant, hiding things from him as she never has, and his father is aging before his eyes. Quarrels between his parents grow more and more frequent, and Natty's increasing terror of familiar and beloved footpaths add to the spiraling tension at home.

While Natty tries to find his place in the world, his childhood is crumbling around him, and he becomes more and more convinced that his persistent ghost is a harbinger of doom.

and

HELLEVILLE

All fifteen-year-old Noah Hipwell wants is to go through high school in peace. Yet he finds himself suspended after a bully pushes him too far, and Noah's forced to defend himself. His mother, fed up with the school's indifference to his plight, pulls him out completely and leaves Noah uncertain of his future while they look for a good and safe school for him.

All Dorothy "Dot" Hipwell wants is to go through single motherhood in peace. Yet she and her son are harassed by weekly phone calls from her evangelical family hell-bent on guilt-tripping them both back into the fold. Then Noah's grandparents ask strange questions about their old van after dropping cryptic references to a group called The Soul Warriors. Pushed to her limits, Dot takes Noah away for a much-needed getaway, only to find themselves suddenly transported to an alternate world, where a town called Helleville awaits them and all other condemned souls.

Along with warm-blooded, living human beings, the Hipwells rub shoulders with zombies, vampires, house ghosts, and occasional "green vomit piles" while picking up the pieces and sorting out what could very well be an eternity in a bizarre, fanciful, and humorous world of ghouls and banned books.

When residents suddenly disappear one by one with no trace and for no logical reason, however, doubts being "housed" in an alternate world for their sins are raised, and time suddenly becomes of the essence as Noah and the rest of Helleville's condemned race to find answers to what's quickly turning into a dangerous puzzle.

From today through the end of August, both books are 50% off in e-book format from online stores. Click the book titles to go to their respective pages and the links to where you can purchase them.  

'The Twilight Lover' is DONE

Another book done! And it was a fun one to do -- a radical departure from what I first planned for it (originally a dramatic story but is now a comedy) because I wanted something cheerful to offset the heavier tone of Compline. 

I technically have room for more chapters, but I stuck to the base length of 26 since I'd like to expand each with the rest of the word count. The current draft tops out at just over 45k words, and the remaining 4k+ will be used for expanded passages and dialogue (of which the draft has several). 

And to celebrate, here's a video of a song that pretty accurately captures the book's plot and mood.

Man, this song was pretty big back in my day, and while I didn't really think much about it then, I appreciate the sentiment now with the book that's just finished. 

So we're on track for a Nov. 1 release, and I'll have all of August to work on revisions and edits. September will be the final sweep, and then I'll get going on Doppelgänger.