New Sandu Christmas story for your holiday wish list! šŸŽ

šŸ’„Well, I have an exciting announcement to make—to my surprise šŸ’„

Due to some other things that I still can’t yet announce [vibrates with frustration] there has been a thrilling development in the Blood & Ancient Scrolls series stories

For Supah Sekrit Reazins, the period of time in Blood Ex Libris where Sandu disappears out of Noosh’s life for three months (right in the first chapters of the book) needed to be told from Sandu’s point of view, giving the full story of his capture, torture, and escape for the very first time…

And, since it takes place over the holiday season, well, if Die Hard can be an Xmas movie, this story should absolutely follow in that grand tradition šŸ§ØšŸŽ„šŸ§Ø

So, the first draft of the story is going to be complete before Turkey Day, and after that it will be beaten into shape by my amazing editor, and gotten out in ebook form in time for holiday shopping!

This was, as you will remember from previous emails, so very much NOT the plan. But since I need this story pronto, and since it’s being very obliging and damn near writing itself, I am not fighting the utter reworking of my life and calendar.

Those of you who have been grumbling about how often Blood Depths has been put off will be grumpy with me, I understand. However, I cannot deny the results of the last newsletter’s poll, wherein those of you who want to see rough snippets were very vocal and undeniable.

FINE THEN, but only because you insist

So, I’m going to bow to your demands—which is not easy for me because I really prefer to present finished drafts of things and pretend they were that good from the very start —and start including ā€œThe Raw Viewā€ into newsletters.

Because of the few of you who didn’t not want the slightest bit of spoilers, I will always put that section at the bottom of the newsletter, and give lots of warning in advance.

The 100 Minutes War

My pretty boy and me, in our Viking-era finest. Be terrified!

I would have spent the whole weekend on the computer banging out the whole story in just seven days, except for the fact that I had made plans I couldn’t get out of for last weekend. The SCA event called the 100 Minutes War happens this November weekend every year—generally taking over my birthday, but that’s not a terrible thing, because it’s one of my favorite SCA events of the year, and I get to see lots of people whom I adore.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures this year, because I was showing my bestie and her husband around their first SCA event, and working with Archie to set him up for success in being a good and happy Service Dog, so I didn’t have the phone out much for pictures. However, here is Archie and me in our matching Viking garb in a rare quiet moment in the day.

It was very good to be off-screens for the weekend, and the later good whisky and good mead fueled naked hot-tub-under-the-stars party was really a quite perfect way to celebrate a birthday! (There were three people celebrating their birthdays in the tub, so we had a fair bit of celebrating to get through! And, no, there will be no pictures from that šŸ˜‚)

But now, rejuvenated by getting as close to an am’r sort of weekend as one can get and still be kee (there was a huge pitched battle plus dubious decisions in a hot-tub šŸ˜‚) I’m getting back to work getting you the stories you need! Indeed, I would already be back in the Sandu Xmas story if I didn’t have to write this newsletter, so I’m going to keep it short and get back to what you really want from me…

šŸ†• The Raw View šŸ„©Ā šŸ†•

Here’s a touching reunion of dear old friends from the Sandu Xmas story (title forthcoming as soon as I can make up my mind)

āš ļøāš ļøāš ļø WARNING SPOILERS āš ļøāš ļøāš ļø WARNING SPOILERS āš ļøāš ļøāš ļø

Now that you’ve had a taste of it, I hope you’re looking forward to the story as much as I am to sharing it with you! šŸ’–

To those who have made it this far down, you are fucking amazing and I adore you! Until two weeks from now, be good or be good at it!😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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The story of Blood Ex Libris

Post the insane Spooky Season events and marketing drive, it’s a time of fallowness for this author. Of course I’ll do a bit of Winter Holiday stuff, but the real highlight of my book promotion year has just passed, and now I want to just focus inward—and get that next novel closer to publication šŸ’Ŗ

That means the newsletter this month are not going to be the high energy, thrilling affairs you’ve gotten used to. If what I am doing is research and pure creation, it’s not much to write about. Here are some pictures from the weekend, of me continuing the research part…

At the library, grabbing 2 more research books!

Diving right into the research, with my co-author helping!

But yeah, unless I share snippets of the writing with you, we’re not in a very dynamic place right now—from your point of view. From mine, I’m actually in the place I like best, which is just me and the page, and the words pouring out of my mind onto the page.

Where, sadly, they won’t come out perfect the first time, but will require lots of editing—and sometimes being deleted in chunks and completely reworked. But I’m a very weird writer, and I actually enjoy the ā€œpolishingā€ process as much as the pure creativity part, so as far as I’m concerned, all the best parts of being a writer are ahead of me, this month.

There’s a bunch of new readers to this newsletter—warm greetings to those of you who signed up at the Pandemonium Spooky Geek Faire! So I thought for this newsletter I’d go back and tell the story of how Blood Ex Libris came to be in the first place.

I knew I’d wanted to be an author all the way back in 1st Grade. (Although it was ā€œauthor-illustratorā€ at the time. Sadly, reality has forced me to admit the fact that I cannot draw images the way I can draw with words.) In case you were wondering, this ā€œwhat do I want to do when I grow up momentā€ came in between ā€œpaleontologistā€ (which since I couldn’t say my ā€œlā€s yet was said as ā€œpaweontowogistā€) and ā€œthe Goddess Athenaā€ (I apparently thought it was the kind of job that would have openings—which turned out later to be the plot of Fred Saberhagen’s excellent Books of the Gods fantasy series, so I was not the only one thinking about that!)

I wrote stories. I had ā€œpublishedā€ my first book by then. It was about the legend of the phoenix, and it was called ā€œThe Firebird,ā€ and I did both the story and illustrations in Crayola marker. ā€œPublicationā€ was being displayed in the local library. I was deeply proud.

I was constantly working on stories after that. I always had a story I was working on, but the novels never got more than a few chapters in.

When I was 17 I became sick and never got well again. I was finally diagnosed with ME/CFS, but before I ever got a diagnosis I had found one of the things that would help get me through, and that was science fiction. I started by plundering my parent’s library, then whenever I was well enough I dragged my unwell ass to the local library and brought home huge stacks of books, which I used as pure escapism from my physical reality.

It was then that I first read Robert Heinlein and Samuel Delany. Both of those writers made me decide, ā€œI can really do this!ā€ and I started writing a science fiction novel.

The first iteration of the science fiction novel that I will actually finish someday…

That novel got stopped and restarted for years, each time coming in at a different angle. I kept realizing that I hadn’t really lived enough to tell the story I wanted to tell. I was keeping busy with life (getting my research in! šŸ˜‚) so there was no rush—but I had no doubt that I was a writer and that I would eventually get a novel done and out into the world.

And then one night, I dreamed the first sex scene from Blood Ex Libris—in detail! I woke up, and grabbed my laptop and wrote it out. In doing so, I realized I knew it was Vlad Dracula but he was going by another name, and I knew a fair bit already about the main character Noosh. So I went back to the beginning of the story and started writing it, to catch up to that first sex scene.

And then I kept going. There was a huge set-back when I lost about 3000 words I’d written, and I stopped writing for six months because I was so upset about it, but I finally got over it and dove back into finishing the story. (It’s crazy to me now that I nearly didn’t write the book because I had lost only 3000 words. On a good day, I can write that many words in one day!)

Anyway, that’s the story of how Blood Ex Libris, and the whole Blood & Ancient Scrolls Series began. There’s a lot more story about the story, about how I managed to get it out into the world for you to read, but that’s for another time.

I’ll go back to working on the next novel now, as I know so many of you wish I’d get it out NOW. Thank you for your patience in waiting for it! And thank you to all who made it this far in the newsletter today. You are the bestest of fans and I so deeply appreciate you! šŸ’–

Until the next newsletter, be good or be good at it! šŸ˜‰

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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Trick or treat! šŸŽƒšŸ¬šŸ§»šŸ‘»

This is it! The week of Halloween! I don’t know what you’ve been doing (possibly focusing on small wee issues in other aspects of life, not that there is anything news-worthy happening these days…) but as you can see from my previous September and October newsletters, this holiday has taken over my life for two months.

That’s OK. I chose this life when my subconscious presented me with a dream that would become the first words I wrote in Blood Ex Libris, and I chose it again when I pushed myself to write the whole book, no matter how hard it was (it was not the first novel I started writing, but it was the first novel I finished), and I chose it every day, because it would be vastly easier to get a normal day job that pays the bills, not trying to make it as an indie author in this cold and uncaring world.

Since I chose it every dayā€”ā€œEvery day is Halloweenā€ā€”here I am at the rewarding end of an intense and exhausting … well, let’s call it a ā€œcrucible,ā€ in honor of the play about the Salem Witch Trials, and thus stay on theme šŸ˜‰

I have a lot to get to in this newsletter, so let’s dive into the open top of the jack-o-lantern, shall we?

First Off Is Poll Results & This Year’s Halloween Costume Pictures!

The results of the ā€œWhat book would you like to go on sale for Halloween?ā€ poll was hands-down That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story šŸ“ā€ā˜ ļøšŸŽ‰

So Archie and I both dressed in pirate garb, to celebrate That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story. (He and I are both more pansexual than ā€œlesbian,ā€ but we hopefully got the ā€œvampire pirateā€ part down 😁)

On the ultimate nerdy level, these images were shot at an SCA event, which provided a lovely wooden building that was reasonably a pirate ship. Of course, this did also mean that the attendees of the event were affectionately teasing me about being a pirate the rest of the day šŸ˜‚ Here, for your enjoyment, are the results…

As you see, I saved the best for last, as Archie is really stepping up his role as ā€œauthor’s dogā€ by now being the most compelling part of the marketing 😁 And as per your request, That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story (in ebook) is dropped to ONLY 99c until midnight on October 31st! I’m not planning to do this sale ever again, so if you do not already have your ebook copy, avast ye and grab yer plunder!

(If you want a paperback copy and think it’s unfair that only the ebook is on sale, email me and tell me you demand a sale on the paperback in the grand piratical tradition. I will send along a coupon code, because one must respect the Pirate Code!)

Ā Last Sunday was Pandemonium’s Spooky Geek Faire…

and let’s just say it reaffirmed that Pandemonium Books & Games is one of the best places in the world to vend. I love the staff at Pandy, and I love the people who frequent the store. ā€œFreaks, Nerds, and Weirdosā€ was an MTV program back in the ā€˜90s, and it’s the people who I feel most comfortable around (being all three of those things, myself) and it pretty well describes the fabulous people who come through Pandy’s doors. So I knew that the people walking past the my table would enjoy all the elements of my books: the dark fantasy/horror genre to start, and then the working in of historical characters with nerdy Easter Eggs, my method of creating the am’r using both myth and science, the fantasy language I created for the series, and of course, Noosh being a librarian and loving books so much! (Also the queerness—there is much intersection of the queer communities and the geeky communities šŸ©·ā¤ļøšŸ§”šŸ’›šŸ’›šŸ’ššŸ©µšŸ’™šŸ’œšŸ¤ŽšŸ–¤)

My bestie came out to sit with me (and sell my books better than I can) and while I had intended to take a bunch of pictures, we ended up with only this selfie—but what more did we need?

Caffeined-up vampire pirates ready to sell you books!

The Art of Writing Vampires, with Paulette Kennedy

Last week I had a treat I’d been waiting for all spooky season, to discuss the art and science of writing vampires. If you missed it, click below for the whole discussion, in which I explain my ā€œBuild-A-Vampire Workshopā€ theory and bring up an old Romanian myth where vampires had tails…

Instagram post by @pkennedywrites


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What’s next?

First and most important, the rest of the newsletters for this year will go back to having regular updates of my progress in the next novel. Yay yay yay! You don’t know how frustrating it’s been not to be working on that 🫤

But besides that, there are about to be two Very Big Announcements that I think will have you all very excited. I’ve been working on some stuff behind the scenes and not able to mention it (which is also frustrating šŸ˜‚ ) so keep watching this space for moreā€¼ļø

For those of you who have read this far, have an amazing Hallowe’en and please send me pictures of you in costume or your decorations! šŸŽƒ Until two weeks from now, be good or be good at it!😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

šŸ’ž Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here.

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You🫵choose the Halloween sale! šŸŽƒ

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast

I had an amazing time talking with Heather Rose Jones on her wonderful and detailed podcast about queer women in history and historic literature, plus coverage of the field of sapphic historical fiction.

If you are watching my videos on YouTube, would you please follow me? It turns out that YouTube treats you better if you have 100+ followers. So if you take a moment to click on ā€œFollowā€ you could really impact how YouTube works for me as a marketing platform. Us Indie Authors need every little bit of help, and this one is free and only takes a second!

Here’s the link to the episode, Episode 325: On the Shelf for October 2025. The interview with myself starts at 26 minutes in.

After we finished the interview, we kept chatting for another hour! It turns out that Heather is also in the SCA, so we had a of shared experiences and overlapping interests. It was actually really good that I hadn’t stalked her too hard before the interview, because after it was, over, I googled her name and realized that I’ve been using resources that she put online about historic sewing methods for years. If I’d know it was that Heather Rose Jones, I would have been all fan-girly and tongue-tied šŸ¤“šŸ¤Ŗ

The Spooky Geek Faire is only FIVE days away! šŸ—“ļøā 

This image is also a teaser for this year’s Halloween pictures… šŸ‘»

Featuring vendors with one-of-a-kind art pieces, handmade plush, illustrations, comics, books, and more! ⁠No sign-up or entrance fee are necessary to attend.

Sunday, October 19th from 12 PM to 5 PM at Pandemonium Books & Games 4 Pleasant St, Cambridge, MA 02139

I WILL be bringing my famous mulled cider again this year, so come down, buy any of the books from the series that you are missing or get your books signed, and have a glass of cider and hang out in one of the coolest places in the Boston Area!

Author-y stuff

I discovered over my time doing vending that the old first person description on the back of my novels was turning some potential customers off, so I took a moment to make new back-of-book text and to add some wonderful new blurbs to the cover as well. I’m really happy how it came out—here’s a video of me unboxing them and you can see the delight on my face!


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Oct 23rd will be a special Halloween LIVE with Paulette Kennedy

Paulette is brilliant fucking author, and if you haven’t read anything by her yet, you have a real treat in story for you. She writes this kind of historical feminist gothic fiction that is absolutely addictive. It’s hard to say which my favorite of her books is, but I am deeply fond of The Artist of Blackberry Grange, which (I think) is the most delightfully escapist of all her work. Her newest project is still available in Kickstarter, as part of the Once Upon A Gothic set, and it’s a retelling of Dracula from the eyes of one of Dracula’s brides. I had the privilege of reading it as an advance review copy and it’s soooooo good. You should definitely check the set out.

Anyway, now that I’ve given Paulette due adulation, I’m so excited to announce that I get to hang out with her (and all of you) on October 23rd on her page on Instagram, doing an IG live to talk about vampires and Halloween and Things That Go Bump In The Night. This newsletter won’t be published again until after the 23rd , so I recommend that you either go follow Paulette or keep an eye on my IG page, as I will be posting a notification there before showtime.

The last time we talked was a really excellent conversation, but in the year intervening we’ve gotten to know each other better and had this deeply satisfactory mutual appreciation society develop 🄰 so this year the discussion is going to be absolutely next level, two literary geeks just feeding off each other’s intelligence and having a blast with it, so seriously, don’t miss it!

And Now It’s Time! YOU Choose the Halloween Sale! 🫵

I couldn’t make up my mind on which book(s) should go on sale this Halloween. And then I thought, ā€œYou know, the Newsletter Readers always know best: Ask Them!ā€ So that’s exactly what I’m doing. Are you missing a book from the series? Need one to give as a gift? It’s like ā€œTrick or Treatā€ only it’s just the treat 😁

Finally, I did that video for Banned Books week that I talked about in the last newsletter. Here it is. I got a little passionate as I was making it, so when I start talking about your first amendment rights, I actually surprised myself by getting really heated, which you can actually see. I knew I cared deeply about this topic, but was not expecting to get so passionate on camera like that!

For those of you who have read this far, I’m YOUR fan, you glorious and fantastic creature! šŸ˜ Until two weeks from now, be good or be good at it!😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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Raven’s Embarrassing Halloween pictures from when she was a kid 😳

First off, a dark welcome to all the people who signed up to this newsletter from the Salem Vampire Market vamp I think you’ll feel right at home here šŸ§›ā€ā™€ļø

Young Raven’s Halloween Costumes (AKA, the embarrassing pictures video)

As requested by poll, here’s the video of pictures of Young Raven’s Halloween Costumes. As I was going over my mom’s photo album, I realized how acutely embarrassing posting these images were going to be, but I had promised them to you lot, so here you go!

One More Time, With Feeling

I still really need more reviews of That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story, so I’m offering a treat in return for your time in writing the review šŸ¬

Please just take a moment from your day and click here and just write a thing or two that you enjoyed about the story. As with Amazon, it’s quantity over quality, so it really doesn’t matter if your review is not long or detailed, as long as it is there šŸ™

Once the review posts, email me (you can just hit reply to this newsletter) or message me on IG or FB and let me know you’ve done a review, and I will mail you one of the shiny new stickers that were so popular at the Salem Vampire Market in appreciation šŸ“Ø

You know you need one of these!

To get you in the mood to write your review, here’s a video I posted last week about how I named the ships in That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story ⛵

Salem Vampire Market recap šŸ§›ā€ā™€ļø

Well, that couldn’t have been a much better vending experience! The fantastic people at Vampfangs had put the vendors into a beautiful space with both Salem feet-traffic (both locals and tourists—and there was no shortage of tourists that weekend—just getting to the Salem Old Town Hall was almost impossible!) and with gorgeous vampires from the Endless Nights Vampire Salon that was taking place on the upstairs floor.

After the lukewarm sales at Dark Forest Oddities Expo, I had not dared to hope my books would literally fly of my shelf, but I have never sold so many books so fast in all the time I’ve done vending. From the minute the event started until the last minutes before closing, I barely had a chance to take a sip of something or sit down for even 30 seconds.

There was an issue with the booth set up that had me running late enough that I wasn’t full in costume when the doors opened. After selling the first couple books in only half my costume, I had the delightful experience of selling a book while being laced into a corset—girl power if ever there was! ā™€ļøšŸ’Ŗ

And the customers? I had three librarians! There were gorgeous vampires in completely perfect regalia. There was a woman who had come to Salem for the first time to celebrate her birthday and was buying my book for herself (you know she got the second book for free as a birthday gift!) There were fascinating people with fantastic hair and piercings and tattoos and hats. Everyone was super friendly and so appreciative — they kept thanking me for writing the series. I could get seriously spoiled by that šŸ¤—

With my best buddy ​Lauren from Eclipse Costumes​ beside me and energy like that, I’ve seldom had more fun and I’ve never sold out completely of Blood Ex Libris before – by the last hour I had to start writing down contact info for people to order the books 🫠

Thank you Endless Nights Vampire Salon attendees and the good people (and tourists) of Salem for such a warm welcome and incredible support and encouragement. That’s just what this indie author needed 🄰

Instagram post by @raven.belasco

Banned Books Week

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.Ā The ALAĀ OfficeĀ for Intellectual FreedomĀ (OIF) compilesĀ lists of challenged booksĀ as reported in the media and submitted by librarians and teachers across the country.Ā 

While the whole is devoted to talking about Banned Books, October 11th is Let Freedom Read Day. Check out the suggested activities and see what you can fit in to your schedule or put up on your social media šŸ“…

I’ll be making a reel for that day, and I haven’t finished it yet, but I have gone over a list of banned books, to see what I’ve already read (and add some new ones to my TBR list!) It was 34 pages in total (and getting longer every day) 😧 and I figured my list was long enough before I got through all of them, so here, in no specific order, are some Banned Books I’ve read (often unaware that they were ever banned at all šŸ™„)

  • Lord of the Rings

  • Where The Wild Things AreĀ 

  • Bridge to TerabithiaĀ 

  • Where The Sidewalk Ends

  • Stranger in a Strange LandĀ 

  • 1619 ProjectĀ 

  • Black BoyĀ (& Native Son)

  • Invisible Man

  • The Great GatsbyĀ 

  • LysistrataĀ 

  • Persepolis

  • Maus

  • A Farewell To ArmsĀ (& For Whom the Bell Tolls)

  • The Handmaids Tale

  • 1984Ā (& Animal Farm)

  • Lord of the Flies

  • Brave New WorldĀ 

  • LolitaĀ 

  • Hitchhikers Guide to the GalaxyĀ 

  • Go Ask Alice

  • The Call of the Wild

  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

  • A Day in the Life of Marlon BundoĀ 

  • The Golden CompassĀ 

  • The Satanic VersesĀ 

  • FreakonomicsĀ 

  • Pillars of the EarthĀ 

From this weirdly eclectic list, these books in particular deeply impacted my life: Lord of the Rings, Where The Wild Things Are, Bridge to Terabithia, Black Boy, Where The Sidewalk Ends, and Stranger in a Strange Land. I cannot image the person I would be now without those books, and I feel so grateful that I grew up in a state that didn’t truck with book bans, and in a household with parents who let me read anything that was on the shelf of the home library, and let me have free choice at the public library.

Please take time during Banned Books week to talk to someone about the topic, or post something about your feelings about book banning, anything. This is a really desperately vital topic in the US right now, and the more we talk about it and raise awareness, the more we take steps to fight it, the more we support our freedoms, and the freedoms of future generations, and the future of libraries in this country.


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Amber Benson & Raven Belasco Hellmouth Con Video finally up!

For technical and boring reasons, it’s taken a minute to get this done and posted, but Maven of the Eventide and I were both committed to finally getting it up there, and together we made it happen!

This chat with Maven and Amber Benson was seriously one of the highlights of my life so far. The questions were great, the conversation was the best, and the audience was the superior kind you can expect from Buffy fandom. Go watch and enjoy it!

There’s still time to have your vote counted…

For those of you who have read this far, I’m YOUR fan, you glorious and fantastic creature! šŸ˜ Until two weeks from now, be good or be good at it!😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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New Stickers!!ļø Raven at Vampfangs Vampire Market šŸ§›ā€ā™€ļø

Happy Spooky Season! šŸŽƒ

So this is not going to be an image-rich newsletter, because my desktop computer had an emotional meltdown and is off at a spa-getaway at the computer repair shop. Without that desktop, I can’t create any of my planned marketing or promotion for this Spooky Season, so it’s been a nasty little setback.

That said, the upcoming next vending event is this coming Saturday!

This is your excuse to wander around Salem MA in full vamp costume!

I will be vending at the Vampfangs Salem Vampire Market, which is on the same day as their Vampire Salon and can be attended in conjunction with each other!

  • Vampfangs Salem Vampire Market

  • Sept 20th 2025

  • 3PM-9PM

  • Old Town Hall

  • 32 Derby Square, Salem, MA 01970

This is your excuse to roam Salem in full vampire mode, supportĀ local goth artists and artisans, and then party with the undead. It’s a perfect warm-up for Halloween!

Stickers!

In strangely thrilling news, the stickers I ordered back in the beginning of August have finally come in (I was supposed to have them for the DFO Expo, dammit) and they are really gorgeous and I’m so excited about them!

It’s the subtlety I love most about them…

These will be available for free to newsletter subscribers if you come down to a future event to say hi, or if you order something from ravenbelas.co you will absolutely get a sticker in the package. (If you have been putting off ordering one or two of the gorgeous leather bookmarks, this is your sign…!)

That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story still desperately needs reviews šŸ™

If you’ve read this novelette and haven’t left a review yet, I still seriously need reviews because I cannot start marketing the book properly until I have met a certain threshold of reviews. Please blame Amazon for me being annoying about this, but this sweet little story has the potential to really get wider attention, and one of the things holding it back is the lack of reviews. People are reading it, loving it—and just not reviewing it. So pretty pretty please, just give a few moments of your day šŸ™ It doesn’t need to be a long review, even just a sentence will do. You will have my eternal gratitude!

Here is a link that takes you directly to the review page.

An author’s eye view of the Dark Forest Oddities Expo

As you’ll remember, the last event I did was a brand new goth/queer/freaks, geeks, and weirdos kind of event, that mixed vendors with burlesque performances, drag numbers, and general delightful chaos.

It was a mixed bag event for me. On the plus side, I did reach a new audience who hopefully will stick around (welcome to those of you reading this newsletter after signing up at or after the expo!) and in particular, met these fantastic old school goths who brought great conversation to my table, and then bought a copy of every book I had to sell. Future customers have a lot to live up to!

Duck Duck Goose is so over. Now we play Goth Goth Pirate!

On the downside, however, the table itself was so expensive that I only made $5 over that expense in sales, meaning I really can’t afford to do that event again. It also was a physically grueling day (trying to shout about the books to potential customers over the throbbing music of the performances takes a lot out of you) and I ended up too sick to get out of bed for three days after it, which is always a scary risk for a chronically ill person like me doing vending. So on every level the costs of doing this event were too high, but I am glad I tried it, and I made some great connections with new readers and fellow vendors, so it was not a disaster, just not something I should repeat.

Blood Depths (Book IV) finally back at sea! 🌊

After the saga of me losing my sensitivity reader and deciding to just do a bunch more research and hoping that, by the time I find a replacement this new character has had enough thought and new knowledge/understanding go into her that the reader won’t suggest any massive rewrites at the eleventh hour, I’ve finally gotten into a good place with Blood Depths again.

After I had crammed a massive amount of information into my brain, I realized that what I needed to do was an actual writing exercise. I sat down and wrote the new character’s auto-biography, up to where we meet her in Blood Depths.

This is a new thing for me. I’ve always just been able to create, hold, and understand my characters in my mind, not needing external stuff. But this complex character is going to require a lot from me to get her right, so I wanted to intimately know every detail of her life and how she felt about the things that had happened to her, the choices she’d made, etc. it also gave me a most-perfect opportunity to fully discover her voice, so that writing her can be as easy as writing Noosh or any other character.

What do you know? It worked! I had a great time doing the exercise, and now I am able to take what I have and rework this new character’s chapters so that she is consistent and fully-realized (and also I am hopefully not seriously messing up culturally or otherwise on that level.)

So now I can happily sink back into crafting the story, making it better than it was before, and then finally start rolling out new chapters. I feel really good about the choices I’ve made and the writing I am now doing…which to be painfully honest is a relief, because I was feeling a bit lost at sea (pun, hahaha) for a few weeks there.

Being a writer is really hard, you know! šŸ˜‚

In great news, my computer guy just called to let me know that I can come in and pick up my now relaxed and revived machine šŸ’ƒ (When do I get my own spa week, is what I’d like to know?!šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø) so the next newsletter will be back up to the usual standards!

Thanks, as always, for your patience and support as I navigate through the challenges of being an indie author. I really rely upon you newsletter readers as my rock, the people who are seriously there for me, who actually read the whole damn thing and take the time to click on stuff. A lot of other author’s newsletter have vastly less numbers of people even opening the email, and the fact that so many of you do is something that bolsters me through the rougher parts of trying to make it as an author. So please know how much you are appreciated!

There’s still time to have your vote counted…

As always, be good or be good at it!😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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Spooky Season Is Upon Us! šŸŽƒ

Greetings and Salutations this Season of the Witch šŸ§™ā€ā™€ļø

First up in today’s newsletter, please take a moment to vote for That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story for Best Sapphic Rivals-to-Lovers story

It’s the 29th book down on the poll (to make it easier to find.) There are only four days left of polling, so please just take a moment right now to click – you don’t have to sign up for anything, just vote and done – and thank you! 🄰

Diving into Spooky Season šŸ‘»

You may remember that last newsletter, I was whining that I didn’t book as many events as I’d hoped for the Spooky Season. Well, one of the events I had given up on came through! (Sadly, doing a reading at my local library fell through—I’m really sad about that one, as I have not yet done a reading at a library and I feel like I’ve not really made it as an author until that happy moment in my life occurs.)

The first event of the season is coming up on Saturday September 6th . That’s the Dark Forest Oddities Expo, and it’s a BIG ONE.

There are over fifty vendors, food and a bar serving themed drinks, a horror themed burlesque show and drag performance, a cosplay contest, and more!

It will be 11am to 6pm at the Boston Marriot Peabody, 8A Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA – Only $10 to get in (tickets available at the door) and FREE parking! More info here.

Eclipse Costumes and I will be vending side-by-side, so come hang out with us, and check out the pirate corsets that will be available in honor of That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story! We will also have a PRIZE WHEEL with some fantastic Halloween-themed prizes!

If you can’t make it to this event, then on Sept 20th I will be vending at Salem Vampire Market!

I would love to give you more information on its hours and such, but they have not been published yet. So just mark it on your calendars and I (hopefully!) will have all the information for you in the next newsletter!

The next event will be the Spooky Geek Faire at Pandemonium Books & Games, on Sunday October 19th. More about that event in the next newsletter as well!

Update on Book IV: Blood Depths āš“

There is an exciting important character coming up in this book (as well as seeing lots of old friends again, including Sadie the Goat and Gallus Mag!) and I had found a sensitivity reader to help ensure that I got this character right.

However, after sending the first half of payment, the company ceased communicating with me (everyone steer clear of Salt and Sage Books!) and while I have done what is needed to get my money back, I am desperately lacking a Somali-American female sensitivity reader.

When I wrote about my issues with getting the permissions to use the lyrics to ā€œBela Lugosi’s Deadā€ in a previous email, one of you amazing readers stepped up and helped (and again thank you to that fantastic friend!) so I am just putting it out in this newsletter, in case by some incredible coincidence, one of you knows just the right woman for the job. Just hit reply to this newsletter if you do, or have any other information that might be useful—and thank you, all of you, for being the best readers an author could hope for. I know I say it a lot, but I really do cherish you and your support means the world to me 🄰

Anyways, in the absence of that sensitivity reader, I have stopped writing for a bit to go back and do more research so that I have an even deeper understanding of this character, and hopefully, by the time I do find my sensitivity reader, I’ll have done such a good job of writing this character, and there won’t be too many cultural fuck-ups to catch.

So, yes, it’s been another slowdown, which delights neither you nor I. But I have only one more book to basically devour whole before I feel ready to rework what I’ve already written (and honestly, it’s mostly adding some details, and doing a little rewriting, but that part won’t take very long. The stuff I’ve learned is mixing with my existing ideas for the character and it’s all becoming clear andĀ actionable in my mind—which is a relief, I won’t lie šŸ˜‚ )

This story is definitely not rolling out in linear order anymore, but then, Blood Ex Libris was massively reworked during the years I was trying to place it with an agent or publisher, and Blood Demands had that situation where OrĆ©lie the Self-Anointed basically inserted himself into the book against my objections, so really only Blood Eternal has ever been a particularly linearly-written book, and it’s basically a frame story for the origin of the am’r, so I’m not even sure it counts šŸ™„šŸ˜

Excuse this shorter newsletter, my dears. I am overwhelmed with ā€œSpooky Seasonā€ prep. The coming few newsletters are going to be as stuffed with goodies as you could hope for, but for today, I’m signing off. As always, be good or be good at it!😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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The Funny Business of Sex Scenes 😜

Hey Fabulous Readers! I hope your summer has had some lovely bits in it, so far.

I’m going to start with a listing of my Spooky Season events šŸ‘»

It’s a strangely short list at present, but that’s because either I didn’t book things back in April/May (for places that have their shit together) so I am annoyingly waitlisted for a number of events, or I’m still waiting to hear back (from the places that don’t have their shit together.) It has been entirely frustrating. I started the process of planning my September/October right after I got back from Hellmouth in June, and I was too late for some events and too early for others. I need to make copious notes for next year’s planning, obviously.

Right now, the schedule is:

šŸŽƒĀ The Dark Forest Oddities ExpoĀ – September 6th Ā 

šŸŽƒ Pandemonium’s Spooky Geek Faire – October 20th (link coming in a future newsletter)

šŸŽƒ Possibly doing a reading at my local public library on the week of Halloween (I just need the event coordinator to get back to me)

None of my local events that would have a good customer base for me are having vending at their October 31st events, so on Great Pumpkin Day I will just do my annual tradition of taking the day off and carving a huge-ass pumpkin and then handing out candy. I’m conflicted because Halloween is on a Friday this year, and I would really have liked to work a fun event. But at the same time, taking the day off to observe my goth High Holy Day is probably much better for me.

Me starting my annual Day of Carving back in 2022

So now that you have marked those in your calendars…

My most recent article for Publisher’s Weekly Booklife!

Honest, I swear, I didn’t actually intend to write about sex! When I asked Booklife what they wanted me to write for them next, they said, ā€œActually, an article on writing good sex scenes would be perfect,ā€ and what else was I to do, except write an article that actually I am perfectly qualified to write 😁

It’s gotten some lovely compliments through, so I am very happy I wrote it, and I hope it helps some author write a better sex scene!

Ooey-gooey am’r

Here’s the most recent from my ā€œThings I’ve Learned From My Charactersā€ Series…

I know, I know. It’s so lovey-dovey. But if anyone deserves that, it’s Zoraida, who went through one of the more excruciating losses of love of any of the am’r.

(If you have no idea what I’m talking about, may I recommend to you Blood Triad, where Zoraida tells Noosh her heartbreaking story…and then finds something unexpected…)

My next item is a plea for those of you who have read That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story to drop a quick review of it on Amazon.*

Amazon treats books differently the more reviews they get. That is: the more reviews your book gets, the more exposure it is given. You can imagine how stressful this is for authors. When we need more exposure the most we don’t get it! Amazon is truly pure capitalism: the better you are doing, the easier it gets for you.

The myth of ā€œhard work will reward youā€ doesn’t apply on Amazon (as it doesn’t really apply in larger capitalism, either). You can bust your ass writing a brilliant book, work hard to both get a great cover artist and afford to pay them what they deserve, learn all the tricks of optimally laying out a book and the cover to best attract readers, learn how to write the best and most appealing copy about your book, put in time and money learning how to find the best keywords and categories on Amazon, you can do everything, and your book will languish on Amazon, getting no sales, because you don’t have enough reviews to make it ā€œcount.ā€

This is why pretty much every newsletter now, I am begging you for reviews. I need lots of things to go right for me to succeed as an author, and many of those things are luck-based and not in my control (which is deeply frustrating for someone who is happy to do the hard work to get where she needs to go!), but one of the things that is proven to work, and which I have some control over is getting reviews for my books.

So part of my job is finding the ways to encourage you to take a moment from your day and post a review up on Amazon. I’m not asking for a huge time investment, even just writing a one sentence review saying you enjoyed reading the book is enough to boost the book’s value in Amazon’s cold, uncaring eyes.

This is what I hate most about being an indie author. Stephen King doesn’t have to beg for reviews. His publisher is doing everything they can to help him succeed. Which is in no way casting aspersions on Mr. King’s writing, it’s just that ā€œRank hath its privilege,ā€ and he has gotten to a place where there is a whole machine set up to help him succeed. Indie authors have nothing to help us succeed, and writing good books doesn’t actually help us. Even the best, most incandescent writing can get lost because it just doesn’t have the money behind it to get it in front of enough eyes that it can start building its own momentum.

If you think my last sentence means that people who write mediocre books but have lots of disposable income to throw at marketing and promotion will see those books do better than great writers who don’t have money to throw at promoting their books, and who don’t hit a lucky moment where the right person in the right mood on the right day just happens across their book, you are thinking right.

And it makes me angry. Ā 

But there is nothing I can do except try to learn all the tips and tricks I can to get the Blood & Ancient Scrolls series to that lucky moment.

And beg you for reviews.

* Noto Bene: Of course the ā€˜Zon is evil and it is regrettable that I must do business with them. For those of you who have sworn off them, please know that I envy your ability to do this, and for you the other three places where reviews can help me are:

šŸ“š Bookbub

šŸ“š Goodreads

šŸ“š The Storygraph

Okay, that’s it for me for August. I’ll see you September 2nd !

To everyone who made it this far, you’re fucking amazing and I adore you! Until next time, be good or be good at it! 😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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Start your Halloween shopping at the Dark Forest Oddities Expo šŸŽƒ

Mark your calendars: Sept 6th 2025! šŸ—“ļø

Instagram post by @dark_forest_oddities_

Just minutes away from downtown Salem MA, the DFO expo is the perfect place to start spooky season, offering a selection of: Oddities, books, horror merch, Halloween collectibles, jewelry, crystals, comics, Funko, alt clothing, dark art, tarot readings, film premieres, and adult toys! There will be 60 amazing local vendors and live performances and also a cosplay competition with a first prize of $250.00!

My table will be right alongside Eclipse Costumes – which means Lauren and I will be getting up to shenanigans yet again, and also means that you can come, hang out with us, and walk away with books AND a new corset! And I have it on good authority that Lauren will be whippin’ up some PIRATE CORSETS to sell in conjunction with That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story, so there’s your Halloween costume sorted out! (Or, well, at least mine šŸ˜€ )

So save the date and get ready for some treats šŸ¬

Blood Depths Update 🌊

I’ve finished the first third of Blood Depths, and am digging in to a complex transitional chapter…

After a loss of about 20,000 words back when I was first writing my first novel (Blood Ex Libris) , I now save to

  • the local computer drive

  • a ruggedized external hard drive

  • cloud storage

Because you never know what will fail you, and I’m damned if I will ever lose a word again! (Deciding that what you have written down is shit and needs rewriting, and deleting that so you can start fresh is a different matter. You have choice and control over that, which is all the difference in the world…)

When I am drafting, the frequency of saving the file is almost OCD, because I am terrified that the computer will shut down and I will lose the story I’ve just gotten to flow out of my brain into words that exist outside my brain šŸ’­

So, just to prove that writing a book is really not a romantic process, here is what I click on myriad times per writing session šŸ˜‚šŸ˜­

The first third is now off to a new sensitivity editor. I’m trying a new thing, where I get sensitivity edits at three points along the way, so that none of my mistakes get baked in, and I can get any problems sorted before they require massive rewrites (or just not having to go through a 100,000 word document looking for those issues and rewriting around them and hoping I don’t miss anything!)

As we head into the next chapter (Chapter Eight, for those playing along at home) I find that I was overly ambitious in telling you that Noosh would shortly be in Lagos, Nigeria.

It turns out that not only is Africa a big-ass continent—I did already know this, but knowing Africa is huge is one thing and actually looking at the distances in numeric form is a whole other!—but also Noosh needs to get some more information and meet some people before she gets to Lagos (because of evolving plot reasons) and so I decided to scrap the idea of flying from Tangier to Lagos (which was going to be complicated in and of itself—even flying a private plane across Africa is a complex affair) or going around by ship. So we’re gonna drive!

There are two potential routes by car. So we are going down the Atlantic coast, which means we go through Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, and finally get to Nigeria. Plenty of time in which to meet the people we need to meet, and an excuse to bring back a feature from Blood Ex Libris that hasn’t been explored since then…

We shall have some fun! And I already have a resource for editing that section, phew! šŸ˜®ā€šŸ’Ø

So I must amend the ā€œWhere in the World is Noosh?ā€ graphic…

Desert on one side, ocean on the other! And how will the am’r cope with all that sunshine?!

Anyway, I’m sure you all have world maps up on your walls and are moving the pushpin every time I send out one of these, so move that pin back! But next newsletter, I promise there will be forward momentum! šŸš—šŸ›£ļø

So many, many vampire pirates! 🦜

I started Book IV, Blood Depths so damn long ago that actually not many of you newsletter readers will either remember or will have ever heard that the whole point of the novel is vampire pirates. (And thanks again to the wonderful supporter of the series who suggested it to me in a late night phone call, all those years ago! 🄰)

I was still signed with the Terrible Former Publisher back then, and so while I had started the document for Book IV and written the first sentences, I had to take time away from writing it to get the rights for my first three books reverted, and then figure out how to to indie publish them. It took, oh, you know, a few years. I was posting pictures of me doing the original research for the book back in 2021…

Instagram post by @raven.belasco

Instagram post by @raven.belasco

Instagram post by @raven.belasco

Instagram post by @raven.belasco

So this story has been bobbing around in my head all this time, and that’s why it’s crashing forth out of my brain with such intensity 🤯

It also explains so many of the recently-published stories: Boysie Singh and his minions from ā€œInterview with the Vagabond King,ā€ and Sadie the Goat and Gallus Mag from That Lesbian Vampire Pirate StoryĀ are all characters who I found doing research and who I intended to put in Blood Depths as side characters…only their stories are too good to gloss over, so they ended up starring in their own stories as hors d’oeuvres—and once you get to the main course, you’ll recognize these colorful characters from having learned those stories already šŸ’–

So starting down the vampire pirate journey has changed my life, and the stories I write, and I am so happy about that. We are in a time of needing escapist stories to get us through the day, so that we can recharge and keep up the fight. What could possibly be more escapist than vampire pirates? (Well, yes, dinosaurs on a spaceship, but that was already taken! šŸ˜‰ )


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An interview with me about LVP is up at the charmingly named website I ā¤ļøSapphFic

There’s some great questions in there, including what the perfume for the book would smell like, and ā€œWhat song does your character put on to start your book launch party?ā€œ Go read it!

OK, this newsletter is long enough. I’ll ramble on more in the next one. I hope you enjoyed this one, and that you are staying cool and managing to find some moments of enjoyment in your summer.

There will be some big news coming along pretty soon about the next audiobook, and in light of that, I wanted to check in with the newer subscribers on their feelings about listening to books… šŸŽ§

To everyone who made it this far, you’re fucking amazing and I adore you! Until next time, be good or be good at it! 😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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Happy Lesbian Vampire Pirates Day! šŸ“ā€ā˜ ļøšŸ„³

Ahoy, Me Hearties! All Hands on Deck!

Today is the Day to ā€œgo on accountā€ (become a pirate). Today is the day That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story is officially published, when this good ship weighs anchor and hoists the mizzen! āš“ā›µšŸ¦œšŸ“ā€ā˜ ļø

You may well already have this adorable little book in your library, as a special edition has been available at Hellmouth convention, Readercon 34 (and welcome new newsletter readers who signed up for this newsletter this past weekend—I think you’ll like it here!), and through this very newsletter, but those collector’s edition red covers are officially sold out! If you missed it, well, that’s what you get for being a lubber—but all is not lost, and you can buy the standard edition (which has all the goodness of the story inside the pretty black-and-blue cover) on Amazon and through my website, and of course, requesting it at your local bookstore or library…

As with at Hellmouth Con, this past weekend at Readercon That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story is a book that sells itself. People see the title (which, let’s not forget, you newsletter readers insisted I use—and thank you for that!) and come over to the table to demand a copy. People see it in their friend’s hands and ask where they got it—and come over to the table and demand a copy. By this point in time, I am pretty sure this little book will sell more copies than anything else I ever write.

And you know what, I’m not mad at it. First off, I’m still tickled by the ā€œstory behind the storyā€ (that of Sadie ā€œThe Goatā€ and Gallus Mag’s beef, the whole ear situation, and the happy ending—if you call wearing your former left ear in a locket around your neck a happy ending, but these things were kinda relative in the 1860s…) so I am happy that people are learning that tidbit of pirate / New York history. Secondly, I think I lived up to the story in my retelling of it, so I am proud that for many people, this will be their first taste of my writing. And finally—if it is my fate to be best known for writing a story call That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story, well, honestly, is that such a bad fate? No, it will only make me beam with pride: authorial pride 🄹 and queer pride šŸ³ļøā€šŸŒˆ

The regular request for reviews (authors gotta do this!)

By now you all know that us indie authors are made or broken by how many reviews we can get over on the ā€˜Zon, because books with more reviews get treated differently. And I hope you will all take a moment to do short reviews of That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story, over there.

But for ā€œFinding Bela Lugosi,ā€ it’s another matter. We won’t be listing it on the ā€˜Zon, because it’s only going to be given away, in a variety of different ways. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t get and shouldn’t get reviews, because that’s still deeply valuable to me as an author. So if you have that other sweet little book, please take a moment to throw some stars at it and say a sentence or two šŸ™šŸ™šŸ™

⭐ Review on GoodReads

⭐ Review on The StoryGraph

Readercon 34: It doesn’t get much better than this! šŸŽ‰

In my Con-garb and ready to make friends!

I’m still completely exhausted from Readercon as I try to coherently write this newsletter (thank goodness for spell check, is all I’m sayin’) but while I’m exhausted in body, in mind and spirit I’m energized and bouncing. And honestly, what better way to compliment a convention?

I didn’t even get to any of the amazing panels (and these were primo topics: “Bisexuals in Science Fiction: Still Hip After All These Years?” “Biting the Other: The Transforming Racialization of Vampires,” “The Purposes of Memorable Insults in Sci-Fi and Fantasy,” “The Molotov Cocktail Approach to Plotting Stories,” etc.) and I had a brilliant time. The people who stopped by the table brought excellent conversation. And these are the kinds of readers who ask the best questions. One reader was hesitating, and I said, ā€œHey, ask questions!ā€ and they asked about how I created the am’r, and after we geeked out together on that level, they ended up buying all the books. Another customer queried, ā€œAre you working out your relationship drama and unresolved issues through vampires? Or have you been to therapy outside of writing this series?ā€ and after I recovered from laughing too hard to breathe (this is a deliberate dig at a certain Big Name vampire writer—and not wrong!šŸ˜‚) I assured them that I had done therapy before starting the series, and that these books were really not like that series—and they felt comfortable to go ahead and make some purchases.

THIS RIGHT HERE is what I love best. Readers who know vampires and who are demanding something fresh to the genre. Readers who realize how much there is still to explore in the global vampire mythoi—and want to read it, dammit! Readers who may have read some disappointing vampire stories in the past, but who cannot close their hearts to these eternally fascinating creatures of the night.

To be honest, there were some disappointing moments over the three days of vending: people who came over to the table, and then realized it was vampires on offer and said, ā€œI don’t like vampiresā€ or ā€œvampires are so overdone.ā€

I totally get ā€œdifferent strokes for different folks,ā€ and I personally have genres that I don’t dip into unless I get a strong recommendation from someone I trust, but whenever anyone said, ā€œI don’t like vampires,ā€ I really had to stop myself from replying, ā€œWhich vampire hurt you?ā€ I mean, either you don’t know much about the genre and just assume you don’t like vampires, or yeah, there was one vampire story, be it book or TV or film, that turned you off. And if that is the case, refusing to try another vampire story again is basically cutting off your fangs to spite your face…

And as for ā€œoverdone,ā€ yeah, sure, there have been a lot of vampire books published recently. There have also been a ton of superhero movies produced, and they are still filling theatres and quite a few of them have really relevant messages and novel ways of looking at the genre. And if ā€œoverdoneā€ is really a thing, then why are we even at a genre convention? Because space ships are overdone, and fantasy quests are SO overdone, and sword and sorcery needed to be left behind in the ā€˜80s, and etc. through every facet of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. There is not one genre that can’t be thrillingly alive again through the application of fresh ideas/viewpoints and good writing. Like vampires, stories don’t die, and they just need some new blood to bring them back to their most compelling selves.

My amazing friend and minion-for-the-weekend, El-G. I cannot thank her enough for her energy and endless enthusiasm šŸ’ Shenanigans were sheeeenaniganed!

But, rant aside, I got a lot more enthusiasm for the undead than negativity at Readercon 34, and it was a truly satisfying and inspiring weekend (I even got to attend one of the infamous afterparties, and it was the cherry on top on a perfect fiction sundae!)—I will be back next year, and I hope to see YOU there!

Have badge, will convention! (Also, reppin’ the wonderful Podcast Writers Drinking Coffee! Give it a listen!)


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OK, well, prepping for Readercon took time away from writing Book IV, and of course so does everything else I do—like this newsletter! So I will do what I know you all want most from me, and I’ll go get back to writingā€¼ļø But if you have any questions, thoughts, other stuff to share, just hit ā€œreplyā€ and that email will arrive in my inbox!

For our new readers, there’s an AMA going on, where you can request what I talk about next in videos for YouTube and of course in this newsletter…

To everyone who made it this far, you’re fucking amazing and I adore you! Until next time, be good or be good at it! 😘

šŸ’­ I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note šŸ“Ø

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