This month could not have been busier if I planned it that way. I kept busy with work events and social events, there were plumbing issues in my kitchen, one of my cats is getting surgery tomorrow. And somehow, I managed to get ahead in all of my reading and writing goals.
Although I haven’t done much “writing” this month, I’ve done a lot of editing. As of 15 minutes ago, I finished the latest round of edits on Modern Hauntings (ahead of schedule, I might add). I trimmed the fat where it was needed, cleaned up mistakes I missed in earlier drafts, and put the beta reader feedback I received to good use. These early readers wanted more – more gore, more terror, more exploration of the relationships between the characters – and I gave them more. This latest draft is almost 5,000 words longer than the last one.
Next on the writing and editing list will be hiring a developmental editor for Modern Hauntings and writing the much anticipated first draft of Skull Daddy II (and no, I won’t share the full title of this sequel with you just yet).
But the project I’ve been focusing on the most this month has been planning for The Tunnel publication and launch party. I received the copy edits a week ahead of schedule and used that time to implement the necessary changes and order the books. I know how long it can take to print and ship my books, so I wanted to make sure I placed the order as soon as possible to guarantee there were no unpleasant surprises the closer we got to the launch party. In fact, as of this morning, the first half of the order arrived!
And yes, whether you pre-order or show up to the launch party, you still have to wait a month before you get to read it. But the reviews from my wonderful ARC readers have started to appear on Goodreads, so I highly recommend you check those out if you want a taste of what’s to come.
I’ve done a ton of planning and prep work this past month so I can spend the entire month of March hyping it up, promoting it, and teasing some fun surprises I have planned for you folks. Keep an eye on my socials for all the juicy details, and make sure to subscribe to my newsletter before March 6th to hear about the important stuff before anyone else. There are some fantastic artists coming to the party, and there’s going to be book merch! There may also be some freebies involved, but you’ll have to wait until March to find out more.
Until then, stay spooky!
