Tag Archives: seasonal horror poetry collection

She’s heeeeere: Friday Update

10 Friday Apr 2026

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News:

She’s here! In the Dollhouse We All Wait is officially out far and wide, in ebook and paperback. An evergreen reminder that this is splatterpunk/extreme horror and not for everyone, but if you’re already deep in the horror thicket and you enjoy the philosophical nuance of the Saw and Hostel movies, this is probably your speed. It has all the trigger warnings (except animal cruelty, unless taxidermy counts), so read responsibly. I’m still very excited.

You can read an excerpt here at Linzé Brandon’s A to Z Blog Challenge, where I is for IN THE DOLLHOUSE…

I also have an in-depth interview at Crystal Lake’s YouTube channel, if you want to hear me talk about where DOLLHOUSE comes from and what it means to me.

The paperback of A Nightmare for All Seasons has been approved. Both the glossy and matte looked really good, but I liked the matte better. Both the ebook and paperback are now live.

“Mirror Writing,” a narrative poem, is a finalist in this month’s Shallow Waters flash fiction contest at Crystal Lake’s Patreon, near the end of the 20 posted stories. ($5/month tiers and up to read and vote, lots of fun)

Works in Progress:

I thought about doing a bit of creative non-fiction this week, but car troubles have dominated my landscape. These things do mean that I got some solid reading done. No writing progress on anything, which is actually kind of a relief, in a way. Still resting until I get the proofreading edits for Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8).

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin (found it, finished)
The Shining by Stephen King (finished)
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman (finished, almost in one sitting while waiting at the car place)
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Singalong playlist
Lily Kershaw

Things I’m Watching:

From Dusk Till Dawn
Anaconda (2025)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Hoarders series (finished)
True Haunting series
Matlock (new) series
Tracker series
Prodigal Son series
Wayward series
Home Town series

Poem of the Week: (throwback to April 2022)

an afterlife dilemma
empyrean light blinding
to a blissful ignorant eye
or gehennan revelation
sour gnostic bite from
yggdrasilian roots

Scrubbing dirt: Friday Update

03 Friday Apr 2026

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Yep, I’m well into burnout. My brain isn’t functioning properly, and I’m making mistakes I don’t usually make, breaking my usual processes by accident. It’s time to take care of myself as well as I can, step back as much as I can.

However, I got my contributor’s copies of In the Dollhouse We All Wait, and she’s beautiful! (Cover art by David Kozlovsky) I also got my proof for the paperback of A Nightmare for All Seasons. It’s glossy, and I want to check it in matte, plus I noticed alignment issues, but I’m insanely happy with this poetry collection, even if poetry is a niche area.

News:

The paperback of A Nightmare for All Seasons needs to wait for the changes and approval, but the ebook is finally available now here.

To celebrate the release of In the Dollhouse We All Wait next week, Crystal Lake is putting the ebook of Question Not My Salt on sale for 99c.

As with Dollhouse, take care of the content warnings, but if you enjoy gross and gruesome, you’ll have a blast with Question.

Works in Progress:

Since finishing the Never & Forever initial edits, I’ve been doing writing adjacent work, like finalizing A Nightmare for All Seasons on Amazon and Draft2Digital, creating promotional materials for it, doing an interview for In the Dollhouse We All Wait (of course I just have to be doing all these long-titled projects all at once). I’ll continue doing not much on the writing side until the proofreading edits come through for Never & Forever. Once that’s done, I’ll work on May Cooler Heads Prevail, but with no deadlines. I want to put it out in May or June, so there’s no hurry. I think I want to tweak the Dracula reimagining one more time, too.

When I want to write again, I won’t be able to stop. In the meantime, I’ve got plenty of edits to work on and books to read.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
The Shining by Stephen King
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Singalong playlist
Billie Eilish
Megan Joy
Eurielle

Things I’m Watching:

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call
Man on Fire
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Matlock (new) series
Queer Eye series (finished)
Tracker series
Prodigal Son series
Home Town series

Poem of the Week:

carve away the splinters
but save the marrow
fashion a key from bone
the skeleton key
of suffering
of screaming pain
it’s the only way
you can ever
get out

Creek rising: Friday Update

13 Friday Mar 2026

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

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Photo by Taufiq Klinkenborg on Pexels.com

News:

In the Dollhouse We All Wait is available for preorder, for release on April 10. Remember, be careful with the trigger warnings. It has everything except cruelty to animals (unless you count taxidermy). Primary warnings are sexual sadism and medical experimentation.

I just finished up the final touches to A Nightmare for All Seasons, so I’ve contacted my cover artist, Don Noble, about the ebook cover and the paperback wrap. So if you’ve been longing for a seasonal horror poetry collection, it’s coming your way soon.

Works in Progress:

After sending Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8), I’ve been taking a bit of a break, which is a misnomer, because I’m always working somehow. I got some videos shot for Dollhouse promo, which I don’t like doing, but I guess a challenge is good for me now and then. I went through Nightmare a few rounds through, figuring out some formatting issues. I’m going to do a write-up or two for additional Dollhouse promo. I also had to do my taxes on Wednesday. So I ended up busy anyway, and I need to work on that.

I’ve received edits for Never & Forever back from my publisher already, so I’ll be starting on that after the write-ups. No rest for the wicked, but I’ll continue to do my best.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
The Shining by Stephen King
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Agnes Obel
Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Queer Eye series
Ghosts (US) series
Watson series
Tracker series
CSI: Miami series
CSI series (finished)
Home Town series

Poem of the Week:

I cut into it
It cuts into me
Where I cut I split
Where it cuts it sighs
Our blood mingles
Into liquid embrace it shivers
Fight becomes a dance
An exquisite joining
Of opposing forces
Becoming one
In bloodshed
In my head