R. Haven's Blog

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday; November 26 2025

Glad Day book market! It’s happening this Sunday, November 30th, and I’m going to be there! I really hope to see people, familiar and unfamiliar, because I’m sure there’s going to be a ton of fantastic indie literature for sale. Supporting artists is more important now than ever, with the rise of genAI and all the pointless pulp it’s flooding the market with.

I’m nearing the end of my first university semester. I’m thrilled with my marks in some classes, and want to work harder in others. My highest mark so far is a 93% in sociology, though, which has me downright giddy – I’m going to have to celebrate it somehow!

But after the final. Trying not to put the cart before the horse, here.

Also exciting (maybe not as exciting in the grand scheme, but I’m thrilled) is that I’ve got more free time to read lately! I actually got to pick up a book and read the first chapter, and once I wrap up work-related stuff today, I plan on reading more.

Here’s a fun fact: I read more fantasy than horror.

It’s weird, given my overall Everything. I love horror. The problem is, I don’t always trust that whatever horror media I’m consuming has more to say than just ‘wouldn’t this be fucked up?’

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that’s exactly the type of horror I’m craving. The haunting hypotheticals. The stuff you know is 100% impossible and unbelievable, but it’s still fun to be freaked out. But I’m a sucker for social commentary, and I want horror that makes me think.

Fantasy, whether it’s dark or complex or whatnot, is strangely better at doing that than horror is. Well-written fantasy holds a mirror up to our society, exaggerates and minimizes what it needs to, and there’s an element of horror in that I find fascinating. What do we normalize? What is such a given, in the world we live in, that we can’t imagine a fantastical society without it? What’s considered magical, without being magic?

It's just cool. Fantasy says so much about our current social climate whether it intends to or not.

Oh god I already view everything from a sociological standpoint. I’m only just realizing this. Suddenly I understand why it’s my best subject right now.

Full Plate; November 19 2025

I can’t remember the last time I felt this busy, and I’m not even doing all the things I’m planning, yet!

I’ve got a few cool concepts brewing on the writing side, including a creative nonfiction book that came out of left field and a short story collection based on the tale that won me the Inkwell Literary Festival’s second place award. Mercifully, I’ve already finished writing my essays for university, but finals are coming up and I need to go over my notes. Additionally, I’m preparing a bunch of stuff for the Glad Day book fair on November 30th – in addition to my books, I’ll have other fun merch at my table such as stickers and temporary tattoos (I mentioned this last week but I’m still jazzed)! Anyone in or around Toronto should stop by!

Earlier today, I also had an appointment to go over my schedule for next term. I wound up having to drop one course to make it work, and I’ll be able to take it next year, but I’m still a bit sad over it. It sounded really interesting.

I have no idea how long I’m actually going to be in school for, the longer I think about it. At least six years, in order to get all the necessary courses in, most likely… But if I go for a Master’s, it’ll be even longer. That’s something I’ll have to decide in advance to make sure I keep up the marks I need for it.

Which brings me to the other thing I’m sad about, which is that my average in one of my classes dropped pretty drastically after my last test. One third of the questions were on a class I’d missed, and the supplemented notes I went over didn’t have the answers… They were probably little things mentioned over the course of the lecture that the notetaker missed, or figured wasn’t key info. I got in a bit of a slump over it, if I’m being honest.

But c’est la vie. I can’t change it now! I can just do the best I can going forward.

Glad Day; November 12 2025

I’m vending at Glad Day’s Book Fair on November 30th! If you missed my last blog post – which would be understandable, because I updated over the weekend, which isn’t the norm for me – you probably didn’t see me talking about it, but I’m very excited!

If you live in Toronto (or the GTA) and can make it to 32 Lisgar St, there’ll be plenty of local authors selling fantastic potential holiday presents. Just sayin’.

In addition to selling copies of my own book, The Other Face of Sympathy, at a $5-off discount, I’ll have some fun related swag! Lapel pins, stickers, temporary tattoos… Those will all be going for $2, or you can take one for free with purchase of a book!

I’ll also be signing the books, if that sweetens the deal at all.

I hope I see you there!

First Is The Worst; November 8 2025

Mid-week update!

I hoped to have some surprise dates to post about, to be honest, but I haven’t received a confirmation yet… Nonetheless, I thought I’d let you all know about a couple of things!

One:

For my Toronto-based readers, the oldest queer bookstore in the world, Glad Day, has reopened at a new location – and they’re celebrating with book fairs and all kinds of other fun stuff! On November 30th, they’re going to be hosting a fair where local authors will be selling their books. I hope to be one of them, but don’t know for certain that I will be, yet. Either way, it’s worth checking out!

Two:

I was interviewed on Youtube podcast ‘First Is The Worst’! If you’re interested in hearing a bit about my journey in finding and working with my agent, Kaitlyn Katsoupis, or want to know a bit about my publishing of The Other Face of Sympathy, check it out!

If you’re an author interested in being interviewed or signing up for a first page critique, you can contact the channel owner via FirstistheWorstPodcast@gmail.com!

Talk to y’all again on Wednesday!

EDITED AS OF NOVEMBER 9…

 

I got the confirmation last night – I will be at the Glad Day book fair this November 30th!

I hope to see you there!

Anthology Party; November 5 2025

I hope y’all had a happy Halloween! I’ve got stuff brewing on my end, and as excited as I am to talk about them, I don’t have details nailed down. So I won’t discuss those today.

I’m thrilled to report that the launch party for an anthology I contributed to (Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive Horror) went very well! I read aloud and only tripped over words once or twice. I met some fantastic people and had a great time at Little Ghosts Books, where I hope to eventually kick off a late-launch party for my own book! That might not be for a while – life is busy and the publishing industry is busier – but I can be patient.

Also happy to say that I got my midterms done with, and my marks were all in the 80s range, so I can breathe! My goal is to keep them around the 80% region as much as I can – unless, by some chance, I do even better. I wouldn’t say no to that.

My final exams are booked for early December. Those, I’m the most nervous for… My classes that focus on memorizing dates are especially hard for me. I just don’t have a head for numbers. I chose writing to avoid numbers, dang it.

And speaking of writing! I’m starting to receive feedback on the novella I last wrote, which has me itching to write new stuff again. I wrote some poetry and I have an idea for a short story I want to write, so we’ll see if I can find the time to get that past the concept stage.

Remember to take a bit to relax, if you’re anywhere near as busy as I am!

Focus Up; October 29 2025

I feel like I’m running so behind, this Halloween season! I only decorated the house yesterday. Very unlike me.

However, I am thrilled to report my kid is developing a sense of the macabre. This was all her:

 A thing of beauty.

I was also going to sew my own Halloween cloak for my costume this year, but ran out of time. I wound up ordering one instead, and now I’ve got to spend an afternoon painting and distressing it in the way I want. Not this afternoon, though, because I’ve got to get back on top of research for my social work practicum essay…

Housework has kind of fallen behind too…

And I have class tomorrow, so I have to plan around that…

Hoo boy. I’m busier than I thought.

Which makes it such a shame that my motivation to write is high, right now. I have an idea for a book that follows another story I’ve written, one that features some characters All Grown Up and experiencing life post-horror novel, from the perspective of a heavily traumatized girl with psychosis.

Then, naturally, whole new horrors descend on them, but it’s written almost like a romance novel. I don’t know, I want to see if I can pull it off.

Now is not the time, though! I’m too busy! I can’t do it!

… Unless…

No! Gotta focus. I gotta.

Probably.

Back to Business; October 22 2025

Can*Con’s come and gone, and I had a fantastic time! I met some fantastic people – writers and readers alike – and I’m already thinking about next year, getting all excited to go back!

I’ve missed conventions. There’s an energy at a con that can’t be matched anywhere else. They all have their ups and downs, but they really do give you a unique, inexplicable vibe I can’t compare to any other kind of event.

Now it’s back to regular life, though. Midterms, essays, chores. I’ve had a few bad pain days and grappled with disability issues. I’m typing while my TENs unit attempts to shock my shoulder into shape, in fact. I don’t regret committing to such a busy weekend (or spending time on the dance floor) but wow do I wish my body didn’t pay for it in such a major way.

I’ve got too much to do to start on a new project. And yet…

I don’t know, I feel weird when I’m not writing/working on a story. Maybe I’ll let myself poke around some short story concepts if I can’t commit the time to a novel. The problem is, the only ideas I have are for longer-form fiction.

I’ll have to spend some time ruminating! Which means getting assignments out of the way first.

And on that note, time to get back to reading my Politics textbook.

Coming Up Next; October 15 2025

Can*Con is this weekend! Are you hyped? I’m hyped!

If you read my blog post last week, I mentioned a short story – Legend Half-Recalled – that won second place at a literary festival. So, for fun, I’m going to be selling copies of that short story, signed, and/or offering them alongside the copies of The Other Face of Sympathy that are being sold at the con!

I’ve assembled a lot of fun stuff, I think (shout out to my dad, who helped me get together my swag). I’ve also got custom bookmarks I’ll be giving out with sales, I’ve got a banner to help attendees identify me, and I’ve got my panels all lined up. They are:

 

Friday, Oct 17th:

Sensitivity Reading 101 at 5:00 pm, Leaders Room: If you’re a writer wondering how to find a sensitivity reader, a reader looking to become one, or simply curious about the process and why it’s important, this is the panel for you!

 

Saturday, Oct 18th:

Renaissance Publishing’s Fall Book Launch at 11:30 am, Founders Room: My publisher has a few amazing books coming out (or that are out now!) this fall; we’ll be reading excerpts and talking about our works!

Queer But No Romo at 2:30 pm, Traders Room: Queer representation in books is typically accompanied but romance, but that doesn’t always have to be the case! We’re going to be talking about LGBTQ+ stories that don’t have a romance element.

Embodied in Horror at 5:30 pm, Mainstream Room: Writing body horror takes on a whole new perspective when it comes from disabled creators. Join us as we talk all about seeing ourselves in and writing effective body horror!

 

Sunday, Oct 19th:

Book Signing at 12:00 pm, Newbridge Room: I have a designated time to sign books here, so if you haven’t caught me around the Renaissance Publishing table for a signing yet, you can get your stuff signed here!

 

While I’m no stranger to conventions, this is my first literary-focused con. I’m so excited and I really hope to see people there – it should be a grand time!

Inkwell; October 8 2025

I’m an award-winning author now? The second place award from the Inkwell Literary Festival! The short story that won, Legend Half-Recalled, is up on Archive Of Our Own now for anyone interested in reading!

My 35th birthday also passed – it was on Monday, along with one of my midterms. I was confident going in, but I’m a lot more nervous about it now… I only took 1/3rd of the allotted time, which means I either did Super Well or Failed Spectacularly.

It was a good birthday, though! I hope it’s a positive omen for the year to come.

I’m trying to focus on school now, so I haven’t started a new writing project. The one I just finished definitely works best as a novella – writing up the synopsis made it clear to me, a subplot would’ve dragged the pacing down terribly. That means I don’t have to do anything but wait for beta readers to tell me what they think of it!

What else can I update y’all on…

Ah – if you’re in downtown Toronto at any point, you can hit up Indigo at the Eaton Centre and try to find a signed copy of The Other Face of Sympathy! Or, coming up next weekend is Can*Con, where I’ll be signing books and sitting in on panels!

Hope to see you there!

I Hate You, GenAI; October 1 2025

I missed a post last week! Apologies – I seem to have all my health-related check-ins grouped around this time of year, and in addition to school and finishing another manuscript, I’ve been swamped.

But yes, I did say I finished writing another book! Just the first draft, so now it’s in the beta reading phase, and I’m bound to find typos or errors when I go through it with their notes in mind as well. My biggest issue with this one is that it’s simply too short – it’s more of a novella, but very slightly too long for novella territory.

Story of my life, really. Word count is the bane of my existence.

Anyway, here’s the pitch for this one:

 

Aspiring filmmaker Kennie finds that art - hers and everyone else's on Hickory Brush Lane - is bleeding into reality as she and her boyfriend, Angel, seek their abducted girlfriend, Steph.

Content warnings include reality-bending, blood and gore, cults, bugs, animal violence (but not death), and marijuana use.

 

This one’s my… hm. What’s the opposite of a love letter? Hate mail? This book’s my very wordy hate mail to genAI. I’m really hoping it goes somewhere/gets picked up my a large publisher, because this is another book with a message I feel strongly about.

As always, we’ll see what comes of my work!