Changeling
One thing I've discovered while revisiting a horror world I'd created over a decade ago (SUMMERVILLE) is that when I'd walked away from horror after THE CURSED EARTH (2022), I didn't realize how far away I'd walked.
Simply put, I've so greatly enjoyed working on THE SHUTTERCLIQUE series (three books written so far, with the first one published, and Books 2 & 3 coming out in '25), I find writing horror even less palatable than before.
I've often said that CHOSEN is my only pure horror novel; the rest are hyphenated horror (eco-horror, horror-thriller, comedy-horror). My spirit is too lighthearted and good-natured to happily toss characters I've created into the narrative meatgrinder of horror.
Not saying that I'm struggling with RETURN TO SUMMERVILLE, because I'm not; rather, I'm working on it without that feeling of joy I had with the SHUTTERCLIQUE books.
And I think it's because those books changed my personal experience of writing -- I wrote from a place of joy, versus whatever brain space propelled all of my horror-adjacent work -- fear, angst, paranoia, dread.
Having experienced that, I can't go back. I'm obligated to get RETURN out there, and will fulfill that obligation. But that's all it is for me.
I guess it's for the best that none of my horror-hyphenated books were hits and/or generated audience, because I'm not obligated to meet a demand that's not there.
All of those books represent a 16-year phase of my writerly life (2006-2022) that isn't there for me anymore.
Still going to do my best with RETURN, but my heart's not in my hyphenated horror anymore, and as a Romantic, I can't go where my heart isn't without the work suffering for it.
For the handful of readers who've read and appreciated my hyphenated horror over the years, I'm so thankful you read (and, in some cases, reviewed and rated) my books. There are enough books (10 books: 7 novels, 3 novellas) there to keep a person entertained for a time, but there won't be more of those types of books from me after RETURN TO SUMMERVILLE.
Oasis | The Importance of Being Idle
Simply put, I've so greatly enjoyed working on THE SHUTTERCLIQUE series (three books written so far, with the first one published, and Books 2 & 3 coming out in '25), I find writing horror even less palatable than before.
I've often said that CHOSEN is my only pure horror novel; the rest are hyphenated horror (eco-horror, horror-thriller, comedy-horror). My spirit is too lighthearted and good-natured to happily toss characters I've created into the narrative meatgrinder of horror.
Not saying that I'm struggling with RETURN TO SUMMERVILLE, because I'm not; rather, I'm working on it without that feeling of joy I had with the SHUTTERCLIQUE books.
And I think it's because those books changed my personal experience of writing -- I wrote from a place of joy, versus whatever brain space propelled all of my horror-adjacent work -- fear, angst, paranoia, dread.
Having experienced that, I can't go back. I'm obligated to get RETURN out there, and will fulfill that obligation. But that's all it is for me.
I guess it's for the best that none of my horror-hyphenated books were hits and/or generated audience, because I'm not obligated to meet a demand that's not there.
All of those books represent a 16-year phase of my writerly life (2006-2022) that isn't there for me anymore.
Still going to do my best with RETURN, but my heart's not in my hyphenated horror anymore, and as a Romantic, I can't go where my heart isn't without the work suffering for it.
For the handful of readers who've read and appreciated my hyphenated horror over the years, I'm so thankful you read (and, in some cases, reviewed and rated) my books. There are enough books (10 books: 7 novels, 3 novellas) there to keep a person entertained for a time, but there won't be more of those types of books from me after RETURN TO SUMMERVILLE.
Oasis | The Importance of Being Idle
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