DEAD LOVE: Coming Soon

I've been working hard (AND hardly working) on DEAD LOVE, the next installment in the DREAMS FOR THE DEAD series. It was difficult to come up with a plot (WHAT EVEN ARE PLOTS) and then it was difficult to implement that plot, but I think I've managed to do it in a way that will segue into the next book (which I'm planning to make full-length, hopefully). I have almost 30k words, and it won't be much longer. I didn't want to drag this out for very long, because oh my god, Leila is TRAUMATIZED. But she deserves a happy ending, and I hope some people will want to read it.

In the meantime, here's the playlist!

Up Next!

It's been almost two months since I published my latest book, Some Velvet Sin, a dark YA love story. I promised myself I'd take a good long break before starting my next project, because when I write I tend to neglect things like my health (although I sometimes neglect that when I'm not writing, because being healthy is hard!!!).

Anyway, I did take a little break, but I also wrote. Because that's what I do. I already have almost 20k words! The difference is that this time I'm really trying not to put added pressure on myself. Even just sending rough chapters to my wonderful beta reader, Nenia, I feel such pressure to be perfect. But I really shouldn't hold myself to standards that I don't hold others to!

So, yes, my next book is underway, and I will do everything in my power to make it great, but I want to make the process just a little more enjoyable.

I don't have a title yet, but this book will feature toxic love in a small town, murder, weird families, and a haunted house! Oh, and plenty of smut. There will probably be a few trigger warnings, I'm guessing. I'm already pretty much in love with June and Dante, and I'm basically shouting "NOW KISS" as I write (they have not yet reached the point of kissing).

Now I'm off to do something that is not writing, because I DO deserve breaks! But rest assured, I'm always mentally plotting. :)

SOME VELVET SIN Soundtrack + Update

It's been two and a half months since my last update, and I've been working hard to finish my next release. SOME VELVET SIN is a YA love story full of angst and death and cool teens, set in the 1950s. Love is doomed... or is it???

I have another round of edits to do before the final draft is ready, and a synopsis to write (gulp). I've also been working on the cover! The release date (no set date, just whenever I'm done) is getting close. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm actually really sad to be finished writing about these characters. That's not normally something I feel when I'm done with a book, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

As usual, I've put together a list of songs. This one ranges from 1950s rock 'n' roll to psychobilly, with a couple others thrown in for mood.

"Poor Little Fool" - Ricky Nelson
"Young Blood" - The Coasters
"Need Your Lovin' (Oh So Bad)" - Ronnie Hawkins
"Let's Elope Baby" - Janis Martin
"You're My Halo" - Jeremy and the Harlequins
"Please Don't Leave Me" - Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'N' Roll Trio
"You Break My Heart" - Charlie Thompson
"Insane" - The Meteors
"Fallen Angel" - Pokey LaFarge
"Lust" - The Raveonettes
"Graveyard Tree II" - Koffin Kats
"DESPERATE LOVE" = J.D. McPherson
"Flowers by the Door" - T.S.O.L.

Bonus songs for the prologue and epilogue: "Don't You Want Me" by Human League and "Space Age Love Song" by A Flock of Seagulls

Listen on Spotify!

Add SOME VELVET SIN on Goodreads!

Writing Update, One Year Later

It's been almost a year since I did a writing update, and I've published two books since then! I thought I'd take the time to list some new projects I have planned, including my WIP.

Some Velvet Sin: This is my WIP, and it will be the first YA I've written since Psychopomp. Like PSYCHOPOMP, it's a mature YA with dark themes. My inspiration for it comes from many places: a dream I had years ago, movies made in the 80s/90s but set in the 50s, psychobilly music, and a dash of mythology, to name a few. SVS is about cool dead teens and love that lasts beyond the grave. It takes place in the 1950s U.S. and the underworld.

Untitled: My next smutty romantic thriller has no title yet, but I've been thinking a lot about it (which is annoying since I'm not currently writing it). I have a lot of characters to work with and some evil plotting to do. This will take place in a small, desert Texas town, where everyone remembers the past and dark secrets make people do bad things. Like in A Pale Shadow, I plan to make the romance hot and toxic. >:D

Dead Love: OH HI LEILA. I haven't forgotten about you. I've come up with a new idea for how to tell Leila's story, and I hope to feel inspired enough to write it soon. It won't be a long book, but I'm having trouble making her story interesting because I happen to have no idea how she ends up with a fulfilling life. Poor girl, she can't catch a break. Stay tuned.

I have a few other ideas on the back burner, but they aren't realized enough for me to say much about them just yet. These ideas include supernatural men up to no-good shenanigans (obvs) and a third book in the Aecoria series! So many ideas, so little time.

A PALE SHADOW update + soundtrack

A PALE SHADOW is now available to buy on Amazon! You can also add it on Goodreads. I love how it turned out, and I hope others do too. I'm still thinking about the characters even though I'm done writing it!

This book does come with trigger warnings, and I've done my best to list them all in the Goodreads blurb. I'll list them here too: neglect, mentions of alcoholism, mentions of abuse, abuse of minors, suicide, rape, death, mature sexual situations

As usual, I've made a soundtrack for the book! I wanted to keep it somewhat nostalgic, as much of the book takes place in the nineties and early 2000s. But there's also some random stuff thrown in for fun.

"Hey Everybody" - Rubblebucket
"No Signs of Pain" - Azure Ray
"Sugar Kane" - Sonic Youth
"Graffiti" - Throwing Muses
"July Flame" - Laura Veirs
"Landmines" - The Action Design
"Found Out About You" - Gin Blossoms
"Violet" - Hole
"Heaven or Las Vegas" - Cocteau Twins
"Goddess on a Hiway" - Mercury Rev
"Mistaken for Strangers" - The National
"Rusted Wheel" - Silversun Pickups
"Night Time, My Time" - Sky Ferreira
"Blinding" - Florence + the Machine
"Feeling This" - blink-182
"Love" - Caress
"Ghost" - Gouge Away
"Lemon Eyes" - Meg Myers

Happy reading!

WILDFLOWER HEART Soundtrack

With WILDFLOWER HEART coming out soon (hopefully in the next month, which would be about a year since I released Lament!), I thought I'd share the soundtrack that helped inspire me to write. It was tough to pick songs for this book, but I think my choices fit it well.

"Ashes on the Riverbank" - Thieving Irons
"A Forest" - Bat For Lashes
"Be Wild" - M83
"It's A Good Life" - The Horrors
"Your Way" - Ecca Vandal
"Fish" - Wye Oak
"Time to Wander" - Gypsy and the Cat
"Warm Water" - Bear in Heaven
"The Death of Me" - Meg Myers
"Holy Places" - BRANDENBURG
"Dancing Barefoot" - Caress
"NARC" - Interpol
"Old Leaves Shiver" - Laura Carbone
"Lover" - In the Valley Below
"I Feel Free" - DILLY DALLY
"Drift Away" - GOLD ZEBRA
"Madder Red" - Yeasayer
"Dreams Never End" - New Order
"Armida" - Lust for Youth

Listen on Spotify!

Updates to follow! Find me on Goodreads in the meantime!

Writing Update!

Hey all! I can't believe it's been only four months since my last book came out. Feels like an eternity. Anyway, here's the timeline of my upcoming projects.

Wildflower (tentatively titled): This is a sequel to Sea and Sky. It takes place in the same world (Aecoria) but follows all new characters. I'm also moving it away from the sea and into a mist-shrouded valley beside the forest. There's an adventuresome heroine and a grumpy but secretly sweet hero. Plus a silly brother who drinks a little too much! Plus a forest sprite who keeps trying to kill people!

Dead Love: This is going to be a short installment in my Dreams for the Dead series. It will follow Leila, Dawn's best friend, as she deals with the trauma of having been held captive by a psycho vampire. I've written a little so far, and it's pretty bleak. Because... trauma. Not everyone wants to bang a vampire, you know?

A Pale Shadow: I have always planned to write a coming-of-age story, but I kept running into dead ends with my ideas. They were all just so blah and boring. Then I finally figured out a way to put my own spin on the genre, and like magic, the ideas started flowing. So this will be a sexy coming-of-age story (thriller, perhaps?) about a girl who moves to a town with deadly secrets. I'm very excited, since these characters having been sitting around for years with nothing to do.

And that's it for now! Happy reading! <3