Tag: fiction

  • What Abandoning a Manuscript Taught Me About Writing

    So, in previous posts I talked about working on a cozy gothic fantasy for myself as a brain cleanser after the darkness and heaviness of Carmilla’s Gambit and Wolf in the Sanctuary. After drafting 21,819 words of this manuscript, I abandoned it. And I’m not sad, because the process of deciding to abandon this manuscript…

  • Unexpected Inspiration for Wolf in the Sanctuary

    Wolf in the Sanctuary, my Louisiana Gothic novel about a popular romance novelist seeking a career pivot into gothic fiction, features a lot of expected and unexpected inspiration. Given that there is a Rougarou, many would expect the old Cajun legends surrounding this werewolf-like creature to have been inspiration, and they were. The same goes…

  • What Happened to Those Dark Fantasy Short Stories?

    Earlier in the year, I teased a series of dark fantasy short stories in the vein of The Witcher meets Dark Souls, a series I called Tales of the Veiled Rose. That’s been put on hold, but it is still coming. But it is on hold for two reasons. The first is dark content burnout. Carmilla’s Gambit and Wolf in the Sanctuary both…

  • Villainous Stakes and Motives

    With the release of Carmilla’s Gambit only a few days away, this post is going to contain a complete scene, an early scene, that should have no spoilers for anyone who has either read the book’s blurb or followed the series. That being said, this scene will demonstrate some of the stakes that are being…

  • Carmilla’s Gambit – 7 Days Out

    Two book releases in the next three weeks. Carimlla’s Gambit enters the world next Tuesday, 3 June, and Wolf in the Sanctuary howls from the bayous on 10 June. I’ve put my dark fantasy Patreon, Tales of the Veiled Rose, on hold for now. In fact, I’m going to be taking a break from Sam…

  • Time Off to Recharge and Write: But for Myself

    So, in just over a week, Carmilla’s Gambit will be released with Wolf in the Sanctuary following the week after. So, what comes next? A semi-break so I can recharge and come back refreshed. And yes, I canceled the Patreon for my Tales of the Veiled Rose dark fantasy series—at least for now. I love…

  • Toasting the End and the New Beginnings: Changes to Sam Hain’s Adventures After Carmilla’s Gambit

    Carmilla’s Gambit will bring the first major arc of the Adventures of Sam Hain to an end, for the most part. There is only one loose thread from the promises put forward in Liam’s Doom that needs to be resolved. But we are moving toward two major changes in the world that will impact the…

  • Religious Trauma and Horror: Thoughts and Questions

    File Settings Done Title Description Thumbnail Will be cropped to a 3:2 aspect ratioUpload DraftPreviewContinue Style Button More Help your friends start a Substack Know someone who would be great on Substack? Insert your referral button to get credit for bringing them onboard and expand your network for recommendations, cross posts, and more.Not nowAdd referral…

  • Carmilla’s Gambit: Building a Phantom Strike Team

    Carmilla’s Gambit: Building a Phantom Strike Team

    So, I’ve said before that Carmilla’s Gambit will do some world-building and reveal some secrets and relationships that I’ve had planned for a while. I won’t give too many spoilers, but I will reveal a few tidbits that I hope will pique interest in the novel. Again, yes, this is the seventh book in my…

  • The Unmarked, Backwards Grave: Symbolism in Wolf in the Sanctuary

    I rarely talk about symbolism in my books. That’s for the readers to decipher. After all, what is symbolic to me might not have the same meaning for a reader. And yes, your English teachers were often basing what they taught you on some scholar’s opinion of what the “symbols” of a text actually are.…