Category Archives: Writing

Lips of honey: Friday (kinda) Update

16 Friday May 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Series, Short Stories, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Photo by Kat Smith on Pexels.com

My audacity for being late comes from being social this morning and afternoon, when I’d usually be drafting the update. This happens so infrequently that I can’t refuse it when it does happen.

Then, due to heat and humidity, I had a massive headache coming home after working, so I needed to wait for that to settle down, too.

News:

“The Devil’s Bathtub” posted on May 11 at Crystal Lake’s Patreon. Those familiar with Bluebirds (Thorns Book 3) might have recognized the locale for the horror story—not the same place, but the same inspiration.

Works in Progress:

It took a little longer to finish up the first round of edits for Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) than anticipated, so I’ve only been working on Masque second-round edits for a few days.

T&C (M7) had about 13K words cut, from 89K to 76K. I’m not satisfied with the climactic scene, because I feel like I didn’t use Chekhov’s gun, but I don’t have time to address it right now. I’ll muse over possible solutions until I can return to T&C.

I’ve only been working on Masque for three days, and I’m about a tenth of the way through, but I’m still charmed. I’m really fond of this piece. There’s something about the writing that tickles my brain. I think it’s because the alt-history style allows me to embellish and play without being as jarring as in contemporary.

20 pages in 2-3 days is not going to cut it if I want to make the deadline, so I have got to buckle down. Could this country not have a crisis for a few weeks, please?

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin

Things I’m Listening To:

Old Favorite Playlist
Delain
Cindy Morgan
Let’s Talk About Love by Celine Dion
Live Around the World by Queen + Adam Lambert
Live for You by Rachael Lampa
Lost Whispers by Evanescence
Love and War by Fleurie
Lover by Taylor Swift
Lover. Fighter. by Svrcina
Mean Girls Original Broadway Soundtrack
Midnight in the Garden by Lily Kershaw
My December by Kelly Clarkson

Things I’m Watching:

Home Town Takeover series
Say Yes to the Dress series
Spring Baking Championship series
Elsbeth series (finished)
NCIS series
CSI series
The Equalizer series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

Pulling the strings: Friday Update

09 Friday May 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Series, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

News:

Nothing this week.

Works in Progress:

Did some decent work on Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) the last two days. Hope to finish the first round of edits by the end of the weekend, which makes finishing Masque‘s second round of edits by the end of the month a little dicey, but I’ll buckle down. I don’t have anything I have to write this month, just a piece of flash fiction to edit. Body is gearing up for an early period, so I’m not sure what the next few days are going to be like, writing- and work-wise.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin

Things I’m Listening To:

Old Favorite Playlist (basically everything I listened to in college)
Legally Blonde Original Broadway Cast
Les Miserables movie soundtrack
Let Go by Avril Lavigne
Let Yourself Go by Kristin Chenoweth

Things I’m Watching:

Jeopardy Masters series
Home Town series (finished)
Ghosts (US) series (finished)
Will Trent series
Elsbeth series
NCIS series
CSI series
The Equalizer series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

The endless poison: Friday Update

02 Friday May 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novelettes/Novellas, Poetry, Short Stories, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com

News:

A Coup of Owls announced their 2025 line-up of novelette collections, and my raw, grimy, sexy story “Glory to God,” about a displaced goddess at a gloryhole, comes out in their Halloween 2025 collection featuring Othered horror romance. This is a story I conceived of over fifteen years ago but didn’t have the inspiration or guts to write until I was initially putting together my bathroom horror collection.

My body horror poem “Exhibit” is featured in this issue of Memento Mori’s free newsletter Morsus Vitae.

I did an interview roughly a year ago with the Merry Writers Podcast, and they posted it earlier in April, but I missed it. You can find it at a number of podcast places, but also here on YouTube. I talk a little about Question Not My Salt but mostly about my writing process and my love of the horror genre.

In addition, although “Turning Tail” didn’t win anything last month, my story “The Devil’s Bathtub” is a finalist in this month’s Crystal Lake Shallow Waters flash fiction contest, featuring the theme Fools. It should post for $5/month tiers and above on May 12. This one is a story I’ve wanted to write for a while, loosely based on a place on my grandparent’s land in the Ozarks.

Works in Progress:

I’d hoped that gig working during the afternoons and early evenings and being too tired during the nights would lead to more focused work during my mornings and my Wednesday ‘weekend.’ This has not been the case. I’m sorry, but this administration (federal and state) is soul-sucking, and the anger and helplessness I feel all the time is not conducive to productivity. When logic, reason, and compassion don’t work as arguments, my brain gives a near constant 404 error. It’s not good for me.

I’ve managed to make a dent on the first round of edits on Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7), but not as big of a dent as I would have wanted. My plan to finish the first round before doing second-round edits on Masque, however, remains. But I have to remember that Texas Frightmare is this month, and that takes at least three days off my schedule for writing. I want the world to be a better place so I can do my work, damn it.

Concerned that tariffs will eventually lead to less gig work for me as it finally hits inventory or to skintier tips (which we’re heavily dependent on, so remember to tip your gig workers).

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin

Things I’m Listening To:

Old Favorite Playlist (basically everything I listened to in college)
Svrcina
It’s No Secret Anymore by Linda Eder
Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection Soundtrack
Joanne by Lady Gaga
Josh Groban by Josh Groban
Kaleidoscope by Rachael Lampa
The Last Five Years Original Cast Recording

Things I’m Watching:

Mufasa: The Lion King
Talk to Me
Ghosts (US) series
Will Trent series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
NCIS series
CSI: NY series
CSI series
Criminal Minds series
Slasher: Guilty Party series
The Equalizer series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
The Bondsman series

Alone in my wanderings: Friday Update

25 Friday Apr 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Series, Short Stories, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

News:

Nothing professional this week.

I think my gig work is getting to me. I’m so focused on my tasks, which is the part I enjoy, but I think shopping and driving hit me with a lot of stimulation that I don’t consciously process. I started feeling really overwhelmed and despairing on Tuesday, couldn’t concentrate on my editing, so I went out and did a few more jobs that night to feel like I could accomplish something and ended the day feeling dead inside. Then, on Wednesday, which is my ‘weekend’ but I still couldn’t concentrate, I went to bed early (for me) and set my alarm an hour later. I slept nine hours total and felt a little better afterward. I’m still not a hundred percent, but I think I need to remember to prioritize my sleep. I’m also still having a medical recurrence. It’s not dire, just uncomfortable.

The heat isn’t helping either, and since my car A/C is struggling above eighty degrees, it probably needs repairing before we head into ninety and hundred degree days (this summer is forecast to be even hotter), which isn’t helping my stress levels. Depending on the repair, it’ll cost two weeks’ work or a month and a half’s work. I’m supposed to be rebuilding savings here, but my car’s demanded a lot of my money lately. I believe it’s tax deductible, since I work contract delivery, but since I’m poverty-level already, I’m not sure that helps much.

Works in Progress:

I finished the first flash piece and submitted it. Then I wrote the second, but just as I was ready to submit it, I reread the sub call and discovered that the deadline was two days earlier, not the end of the month like I thought. That really took the wind out of my sails, which might have been a contributing factor to the above. I was super proud of both pieces, and I just had to put the second one in the trunk. I don’t know when I’ll have the opportunity to use it, since horror sub calls have gone down considerably.

Once I was able to concentrate again, I got back into editing Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7). I’m only a fourth of the way through the first round. I don’t think I’ll finish edits by end of the month, but I’ll complete the first round of edits, then pause and do the second edit of Masque so that I can submit it to the Quill & Crow sub call for novels coming in May. Then I’ll finish up T&C (M7).

I’m also playing with ideas for Meridian Book 8. I feel like I have a good concept, but not a story yet. I’ll continue turning it over in my head.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin

Things I’m Listening To:

Agnes Obel
Svrcina
Hadestown Original Broadway soundtrack
Halestorm by Halestorm
Heart of a Hurricane (Extended) by Beyond the Black

Things I’m Watching:

Oddity
Wolf Man (2025)
Sinners
Celebrity Jeopardy series (finished)
Ghosts (US) series
Will Trent series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
CSI: NY series
Slasher: Guilty Party series
S.W.A.T. series (finished)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
The Bondsman series

As the world keeps burning: Friday Update

11 Friday Apr 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Series, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Photo by Flora Westbrook on Pexels.com

News:

None to share this week.

Works in Progress:

I edited the first chapter of Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) and sent it in, and I got the final edits of Tattered & Torn (Meridian Book 6) back, so I’m working on that now. It’s moving quickly, but I had some car issues yesterday that means I didn’t get to do any edits at all. As soon as I finish with T&T, I’ll write some quick flash, then go back to working on T&C, shooting for sending it in by the end of the month.

Because Quill & Crow Publishing put up their novel submission call for this year, and it opens next month and closes June 1, which means I now have a hard deadline for getting dark alt-history Masque edited and submitted. I’ve trained for this.

Gig economy is exhausting and basically minimum wage after travel costs, but it’s still more than I reliably make writing, so it continues to be worth my time as a stop gap until I can finally get a steadier job (what a time to be looking). I am not looking forward to working in a Texas summer. I’m already melting like candle wax in the afternoons, my car A/C works but struggles, and we haven’t even cracked 90. I hate sweating.

But for now I still have free mornings (barring car troubles that send me to the mechanic), and I’m making sure to take a day off every week for my sanity and to get ahead on my writing. Trying to be more efficient with the time I have, but politics continue to make that difficult.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (finished)
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry

Things I’m Listening To:

The Mist soundtrack
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark soundtrack
Knowing soundtrack
The Best Damn Thing by Avril Lavigne
Brave Enough by Sara Bareilles

Things I’m Watching:

Reacher series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Abbott Elementary series
Ghosts (US) series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
The Hunting Party series
Criminal Minds series
S.W.A.T. series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
The Bondsman series

All boys, except one, grow up: Friday Update

28 Friday Mar 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Poetry, Series, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

News:

A reminder that I’ll be participating in a virtual Horror Talent Showcase tomorrow, March 29, 8-10 PM EST, which you can sign up for here. I’ll be reading “Venus,” a narrative poem from the Verdant with Splinter and Thorn vicious spring section of seasonal horror poetry collection A Nightmare for All Seasons. I’ve done a virtual reading before for Queer Saints II, and it was a lot of fun.

Book & Candle (Meridan Book 5) by my other name is out in ebook.

Some good news on the medical front, but I’ll talk about it more when the labs get back. However, due to medical stuff, I’ll have to wait until next week before I start my venture into the gig economy. I’m excited and nervous in turns.

Works in Progress:

I finished the two short stories and decided to save the third for next month, because I had a lot of real-life things distracting me this last week. However, I also received the first edits for Tattered & Torn (Meridian Book 6) from my publisher, so I’m getting on that. I’m hoping to finish by end of the weekend or Monday. Then I’ll turn around and start my double edits on Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7).

During a walk, I thought of a juicy concept for a Meridian Book 8 that makes me excited about trying to write in that world again. It may be something I play with after Masque edits. I think eight books in a series feels more complete than seven, and it’ll address an important recurring theme in the other books.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause (finished)
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry

Things I’m Listening To:

Svrcina
Eurielle
Lily Kershaw

Things I’m Watching:

The Substance
Ma
Twisters
The Twister: Caught in the Storm
Meltdown: Three Mile Island series
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Watson series
Ghosts (US) series
Abbott Elementary series
Elsbeth series
The Hunting Party series
CSI: NY series
CSI series
Criminal Minds series
Spring Baking Championship series
Reacher series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

Deeper and deeper we go: Friday Update

21 Friday Mar 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Series, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

News:

I had a really excellent phone and in-person interview this week that unfortunately did not yield fruit. So it looks like gig economy starts for me next week. I’m also having some medical issues piling on me all at once, and it’s uncomfortable and embarrassing and frustrating (and hopefully harmless). I could use a break.

I do have a little bit of good news on the publishing front, but I can’t give details at this time.

My fifth Meridian book under my other name is going wide on March 25, but you can pre-order it now. Book & Candle is a witch’s magic shop in mystical hotspot Meridian, TX. Her partner is stolen by succubi unknown, so she hires a dangerous veteran demon hunter to help her go scorched-earth to find him again. If you like tropes, it features enemies to lovers and age gap between older characters. You do not need to have read any of the other Meridian novels; they’re stand-alones. Tattered & Torn (Meridian 6) is also already available for pre-order.

Works in Progress:

I sent Tattered & Torn in to my publisher earlier this week and apologized profusely for being late from what I promised. She should get back to me by end of next week to do the first round of edits from her side. I don’t anticipate that these should take a long time to take care of.

I wrote some flash fiction and am in the middle of writing another short piece. I might write one more before going on to Tooth & Claw (Meridian 7) edits. I’ve also been mulling over a potential new book 8, created wholly from scratch rather than anything in my series notes, although I wouldn’t want to do anything about it until I finished my Masque edits.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause

Things I’m Listening To:

Svrcina
Singer-songwriter playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Trap
Venom: The Last Dance
Heretic
CSI: NY series
CSI series
Criminal Minds series
Spring Baking Championship series
Slasher: The Executioner series (finished)
Reacher series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series

Cat hair: Friday Update

21 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Series, Short Stories, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

News:

Nothing to report, other than that I’ve been house-sitting two cats for a few weeks, which ends today. Being alone for long stretches of time during a coup isn’t the most fun, so I struggled at first, but it’s been years since I’ve lived with cats, and I’ve really missed it. It was nice to learn that I haven’t lost my touch. My personality is very catlike, which lends itself to good practices. I’ll miss getting to know them and gaining their tiny trust.

Works in Progress:

I wrote/edited those two short stories and submitted them, then edited one of my accepted stories for publication.

I’ve started working on Tattered & Torn (Meridian 6) now. Still hard to focus, but I think I’ll enjoy the slash-and-burn of the first editing round. It’s a longer initial draft and probably needs to lose about 15K in the first pass.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause

Things I’m Listening To:

Pop music playlist (Listening to sad ladies was representative of my feelings, but it wasn’t helping me; pop has been a little better for the moment right now. A lot of it is recession pop, so that makes sense.)

Things I’m Watching:

The Princess Bride
The Lost City of D
Conclave
The Watchers
Fear Street trilogy (finished)
Two-Sentence Horror Stories series (finished)
Columbo series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
The Irrational series
Will Trent series
Abbott Elementary series
Ghosts series
Home Town series
Watson series
The Hunting Party series
NCIS series

Poring over front pages: Friday Update

24 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novelettes/Novellas, Short Stories, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

News:

“Delirium” should appear in a few days on the Crystal Lake Patreon for the month’s Liminal Spaces Shallow Waters contest, voting a few days after that, if you want to enjoy a month’s worth of liminal flash fiction horror.

I had some good news that fell through because I withdrew, so I’m still reeling a bit from that.

Works in Progress:

I continue editing the Dracula retelling, but as anticipated, the inauguration inaugurated a great deal of distraction and fear, which is not conducive to productivity. I hope to finish it before the end of the month, but I won’t at the present pace.

Given that the future I thought we were going to have in a reasonable world is gone, I’ve lost a lot of urge to publish and gained a greater urge to hunker down and just write my things until the world makes sense to me again. I don’t know when that’s going to be.

I’ll have things to put in the WIP section of my updates. I’ll finish the Meridian series. I’ll still put out A Nightmare for All Seasons, maybe other poetry collections in the future, because they have the lowest of stakes. If a submission call crosses my path, and something I’ve written or that I have an idea for fits, I’ll take it. I enjoy doing the Shallow Waters prompts. But I don’t think I’ll be in an almighty desperate rush to be read or to try to make a living off of this anymore.

That future is gone. For now.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder (finished)

Things I’m Listening To:

Fleurie
Lykke Li
Lily Kershaw
Ruelle/Maggie Eckford

Things I’m Watching:

Moana
Knives Out
Brilliant Minds series (finished)
Hannibal series
Will Trent series
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
Found series
The Irrational series
Abbott Elementary series
Home Town series
White Collar series
NCIS series
CSI series
CSI: NY series
Columbo series
Broadchurch series

Poem of the Week:

ghost haunting the organ sewn in place of your own,
echo of DNA memory, the graft of a soul
hitchhiking in yours for a while. see, feel things
not your own. honoring that which gave you life again
won’t hurt. two hearts in symbiosis on borrowed time.

Snowed in: Friday Update

10 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Poetry, Short Stories, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oh yeah, it’s Friday. Sorry, been snowed in since yesterday, so time has no meaning. And this is Texas, so snowed in pretty much means that there is snow or ice and it’s sticking, so Amanda doesn’t go outside in it. Amanda doesn’t do wet cold.

News:

I’m back in the Shallow Waters contest at the Crystal Lake Patreon ($5/month tiers and up). This month’s theme is Liminal Spaces, and my story, “Delirium,” comes out around January 29, the second to the last in a group of 20 pieces of flash fiction. Join us if you like bite-sized themed horror fiction.

Preorders for WriteHive’s cozy speculative anthology Rescuing Curiosity are open now, coming out March 6. My story, “Marginalia,” is part of this one. I rarely write cozy or stories set in the future, so this was out of my comfort zone twice.

Works in Progress:

I finished the first edit/rewrite round of Masque two days ago, taking the story from 110,972 words (including about 4K words of notes and outline) to 97,811 words, which is a perfectly respectable number. So that’s the first rounds of the Dracula reimagining and Masque done and dusted. I’m taking a few days off to do a few smaller things before diving back in. The submission call I anticipated isn’t open, so I’m not in a hurry to meet a hard deadline by end of the month.

The last two days, I’ve been furiously working on getting A Nightmare for All Seasons for publication, including purchasing an affordable cover, reading the poems out loud to make sure they’re right, writing the introduction and the back cover copy, creating graphics for the main title page and section title pages (which I’ve never done before, and I’m really proud of myself for doing through Canva for free, even though they’re basic; it takes the book to the next level and emphasizes that these are five discrete sections), and meticulously formatting the uploaded document in Atticus (which had already paid for itself before this). Atticus is set up for prose, not poetry, so it’s fiddly, but I’m really happy with the end result.

I’m waiting on getting the cover back, and I have to also wait on some outstanding poems on sub, because I didn’t know I was going to include Lullabies for an Apocalypse in the collection when I sent those poems out. At this point, I’m hoping I can self-publish this sometime in February if I receive rejections. Longer, though, if something’s accepted and I have to account for exclusive rights. Yes, if someone’s willing to pay me for poetry, damn right I’m delaying for a pet project few people are going to read. Either way, it’ll be ready. I should set it up in the Poetry/Short Story page tomorrow.

Through the weekend, I think I’ll work on a few flash fiction pieces on the docket. Then I should be able to start on second-round edits for the Dracula reimagining.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

Things I’m Listening To:

Christmas playlist (finally got through the whole collection, which is a lot, and now I’ve got it on random until I start working on the Dracula reimagining again)

Things I’m Watching:

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Jumanji
I Saw the TV Glow
The Holiday
Barbie
Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell
Glass Onion
Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled
Prince of Darkness
Brilliant Minds series
Found series
The Irrational series
Abbott Elementary series
Home Town series
Longmire series (finished)
Great British Baking Show: Holiday Edition series (finished)
Monk series (Season 6 finished for New Year’s binge watch)
Columbo series
CSI: NY series
S.W.A.T. series

Poem of the Week:

take care not to offend
your friendly neighborhood
coven of witches
lest your foolishness
burst from you like stuffing
and leave you in stitches