One More Month!
The Cat and the Comma Issue #18
Yet another month has come and gone. With this passage of time, some exciting updates! Let’s get into it.
Misc. Professional Update
There’s one more month (38 days!) until A Sharper, More Lasting Pain comes out! I have plugged the manuscript into Draft2Digital and IngramSpark for ebook and physical, respectively. You can find a complete list of places to read and order from here! If you’re new here, ASMLP is my sapphic fantasy dark academia novel about three Casters at a magic college and the tragedy that befalls them. You can add it on Goodreads as well. It will also, upon release, be available on itch.io.
I’m continuing to cement myself in more public spaces and doing more author events. Here’s a current list of what I’ve got going on.
I am waiting to hear more about the next big indie author event at my Barnes & Noble. So far, I know it’s the first weekend of October, which means it’ll be prior to ASMLP’s “official” release, but I’ll still be able to sell it there! I’ll either be there October 6th or October 7th. Either way, I’m very excited.
I have an ASMLP book launch scheduled at a local bookstore on October 12th!
I have my next author signing scheduled for the first weekend of November!
I am still looking into how to get myself enrolled as a vendor in the Tulip Festival, one of the biggest spring events in my state. This would be… HUGE.
I am also looking to do an author event at yet another book store by the end of the year… but nothing official yet. I do have an in for how to contact them, though.
Additionally, I have another anthology compilation coming up! I can’t speak too much about it yet, but here’s what I can say: my inclusion is a short story about a witch who, after a bad breakup, learns the value in being alone and reconnects with the gods she used to worship. I am GREATLY excited to get to speak more about this… but all in good time.
Lastly, I finished my first semester back in school! As a refresher, I’m going back to school to get an AFA in Written Arts/Creative Writing, which will transfer to a BFA at a different university. I am, unfortunately, having to take a gap semester already as my workplace is the one footing the bill and, due to going on strike soon, they wouldn’t cover the fall semester because of when it starts. I’m hoping to get back into things in the winter semester. In any case, if you want to see what I wrote for my Fiction I class, I’ve made all those excerpts available for members of my Patreon.
Speaking of, if you’re a member of my Patreon, you can see some secret ASMLP art that’s in the works! Part 1 of 3 has been completed.
Writing Update
I’m still working on Across This Hollow Distance, my gothic fantasy novella inspired by the myth of Eros and Psyche about a woman married off as a ghost bride and her dead wife’s monstrous secret. I’m still currently planning to release this by April 1st, 2025, though progress has been a bit slow-going. Though the draft hasn’t been finished yet, I’ve gone through earlier segments to do some rewrites because the amount of things bothering me about this draft were becoming insurmountable. Here’s an excerpt of where I’m at.
At last, the fateful day arrived.
Rianne had set herself to pacing once again, turning over the particulars of her monstrous bride’s face in her mind. The elongated, bestial snout. The thick ridge of fur down her spine. The reflective quality of her eyes in the dark. To not see her wife, even now, wounded her most of all. But then she heard the distinct slam of the front manor door and her thoughts and her feet ground to a halt. Heart quaking, she pinned herself against her bedroom door and listened for hints of the conversation sure to be taking place below.
Across This Hollow Distance is part of a planned trilogy of standalone novellas set in my overarching fantasy world. This collection explores humanity vs. monstrosity and relationships with the monstrous through three different lenses. This novella is the first book and A Bitter-Tasting Blade is the second, planned to come out sometime in October 2025. There is a currently-untitled third novella planned as well… all I know so far is it’s heavily inspired by the Healing Church in Bloodborne and involves a woman imprisoned by a cult with the supposed cure to the world’s monster crisis within her blood and the monster woman who arrives to the church seeking said cure. I still haven’t been able to think too much about this.
Media Update
I didn’t track my reads last month too well. That said, still reading through We Will Devour the Night by Camilla Andrew, as well as The Fealty of Monsters by Ladz. I also recently picked up The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K. S. Villoso and Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. The latter came highly recommended by my writing group, so I’m excited to read it.
I’ve also picked up a few more ARCs that I’m not ready to talk about yet. Maybe next month!
Otherwise, I’m rewatching House [again]. I’ve been playing Kirby Airride lately with my partner, as well as playing Pokémon TCG… The CLASSIC TCG. We’ve moved up to fossil set. I still long for the old days of MMOs and looking at World of Warcraft and Runescape… but I’ve been playing Elden Ring instead.
Blog and Video Update
I’ve expanded this section to include YouTube videos, as I have a YouTube account I often do livestreams from. I’ve posted my first actual video, which was part of a final for one of my college classes. It evaluates different forms of notetaking and their efficacy (to me!) and my findings about them.
I’d love to do more videos and blog posts in the future. I still want to make one, some day, about my views on myth retellings… because I have plenty to say. And, of course, I’ll be recapping my publication experience with ASMLP soon enough.
The Cat Recommends
I like to use this space to shout out other indie writers, cause I think we could all use a boost from time to time. This time, I’m using this space to shout out Morgan Dante, author of The Saint of Heartbreak which just got released yesterday!
Two of the Bible's greatest villains...
After his betrayal with a kiss, Judas Iscariot dies in despair and goes to Hell. When Christ saves other souls during the Harrowing of Hell, he leaves Judas behind—but not alone in the ninth circle, where the most detestable traitors go. Callous, resigned, and abandoned by God long ago, the Devil sees Judas as a pathetic wretch, but he soon finds a kindred spirit. As the centuries pass, they struggle to find even a sliver of happiness in Hell.
Doomed by the narrative, will they find happiness, or will their story continue to be a tragedy?
Info about it can be found here. Buy it here.
The Cat Thanks
One of the perks for higher-tier patrons is shout-outs at the end of newsletters. Special thanks to Ceph, Hannah, and Larkspur. If you want to have your name here with theirs, subscribe to my Patreon!
And that’s a wrap. I wish you well on all of your endeavors and hope you stay safe.
Kindest regards,
Alex