August 2023
dispatch 10
Oh, hi there :) It’s me
Now, you may be asking: Hatteras, where were you last month? Well, I’d love to tell you, but it was honestly such a blur that I probably couldn’t come up with an answer if I tried.
Most of this month has felt that way as well. For me, summer is one nonstop marathon. Between my day job (where the season only ever gets more harrowing) and all of the reading/editing obligations I have for Diet Milk, there was hardly a second to breathe. I fell behind on a lot of fun personal things, and my monthly newsletter was unfortunately one of them.
We’re back on schedule, though! This is coming later in August than I’d have hoped, but I’ll take sliding in under the finish line over missing another update. Thanks for y’alls patience, and also thanks for being here! Back to my regularly scheduled sharing 🙂
What’s going on in the writing world?
Not much has changed since my June newsletter. I haven’t had much free time, and as a result, only one new (little) thing was finished—or was it? I’m still debating with myself on that one, but hopefully by next month I’ll have an answer.
For the most part, I’ve been chipping away drafts, filling up my brainstorming document, and making plans to finally complete some older second drafts. Also, the usual suspects from my completed folder are on rotation. Things are progressing; we’re just on the tortoise path.
The contract for Gladys Glows at Night, (my radium girl zombie story) that I reported the acceptance of in June, has been returned. I have to keep quiet on her a bit longer, though, as I haven’t got the go-ahead to speak publicly, but I’m absolutely dying to spill. Keep your eyes peeled!
On Sub
vaginae christi, a Queer theology
—being considered by The Baltimore Review
Girl, Missing, Found At Panagia Pefkovounogiatrissa, a true crime poem
—being considered by The Baltimore Review
Lot’s Wife, a lamentation
—being considered by The Baltimore Review
The Blighted Bride, a bleak folk horror tale
—being considered by BFS Horizons, Broken Antler Magazine, and for the Eldritch Harvest anthology from Pyre Magazine
Acquisitions & Recent Publications
‘My Best Friend’s Deathday’ has been accepted into Make Your Presence Known, an upcoming horror anthology (2024) from Off Limits Press!
Writing Corner!
What Winter Takes (status: complete, revising)
Current word count: 67.5k
Goal word count: 67—80k
Completion goal: winter ‘23—spring ‘24
Have you ever started a novel at a transitional period in your life, named and modeled one of the characters after a friend that ended up dying, changed the target audience from YA to a adult then back to YA again, then when you finally completed the draft, had no clue what to do with it? If you have, then you’ll know where I’m at with WWT. I love this story, and getting to the end was such an accomplishment. It’s an entirely self-indulgent Arthurian fantasy—centering around Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, and a gnarly curse—that I know others will enjoy, but getting past the personal revision stage has been like pulling teeth.
So much has changed for me since the day I started it. I moved cities, bought a house, got married, severed ties with my (at the time) best friend, lost another one too soon, and leapt through so many emotional hoops that, if I were a Pokemon, I would’ve hit my end evolution before penning the last sentence. The novel itself is like a map of my recent past, and when I sit down to work on a section, it’s like going back in time. I can remember, with sometimes painful clarity, exactly what I was up to when I first wrote it, which is making editing a little taxing. But I’m saying it now: I’m committed to doing it!
I want this polished and ready to go on sub by sometime next year. I have my first beta reader waiting in the wings (thanks, Hen, if you’re seeing this). All I have to do now is get down to it. Wish me luck!
Blood, Bitch! (status: drafting)
Current word count: 7k
Goal word count: 14-20k
Completion goal: spring ‘24
Was my original goal to have this done in time to submit to Lady Mantis Books inaugural erotic horror novella call? It was, and I guess technically I still could. They’re open for marginalized authors until 1/31/24, but I’m not going to pressure myself to try to make that! This WIP has been making glacial progress for about three years, and while it’s 100% possible that I’ll hit stride and have it done/edited by this coming January’s end, I’m not going to be upset (or surprised) if that doesn’t happen.
This is one of those stories that, like Ida’s Empty Coffin, is meant to sit with me and evolve, I think. Is it a sexy monster fucker dark fairy tale fantasy? Is it SO genre that I can picture it next to my own favorite escapist fluff? Yeah, it’s definitely both of those things, but it draws heavily on some rather personal traumatic experiences. I’ve mentioned before that the stepmother, Druscilla, is based so heavily on my own stepmother that I may end up owing her royalties, and that’s made the writing process both cathartic and emotionally exhausting.
A few key scenes and sentences come to mind when I consider this, which I may share blurbs of in future updates. For now, though, I’ll be keeping y’all in suspense! She’s a creeper, but she’s worth the wait, in my humble opinion.
August Reading line-up
Merciless Waters, Rae Knowles (finished, currently blurbing)
The Promise of Plague Wolves, Coy Hall (ARC)
Death Troopers, Joe Schreiber (a comfort reread!)
Lords of the Sith, Paul S. Kemp (another comfort reread!)
Summer is a time of rereading for me mostly, when I can get to anything at all. With how busy I get, I don’t have much brain space to spare on getting invested in new plots. However, you’ll notice two fresh ones up there! The first, from Rae, was an ARC sent to me to blurb. Which, wow, first of all! I was beyond honored when she asked. I’m working on it now (burbs are hard, dammit; so few words with so much goodness to sell!) with my review soon to follow, and honestly, I couldn’t recommend it more. MW officially releases this November, so if you haven’t preordered yet, there’s still plenty of time. I’ll give more details in my review, but trust me when I say this is one sexy maritime spooky you won’t regret splurging on!
That’s all for this month! Keep an eye out for updates from this and my snatch of other series. In the meantime, follow my journey elsewhere! You can find me on insta, twitter, and goodreads! If you like my work and want to support me, also consider dropping a donation on ko-fi.
Stay spooky!