An Upcoming Halloween Sale And Villainous Playlists
Hello, readers!
There’s a lot that happened within the past two weeks with me! I’m just going to dive straight into it this time, starting with the following:
Harlow Mystery Halloween Sale - Coming Soon!
I’m happy to share that all books in the Harlow Mystery series will be 25% off from October 25th to November 1st, 2024! This is to celebrate Halloween coming up. (Please note: The sale doesn’t apply to Amazon, but it does apply to all other retailers.)
If you know any readers who want to dive into a new murder mystery series, let them know about the Harlow Mystery series! Think of it as “Only Murders In The Building,” but every case is not isolated to one specific building. They all have their own buildings. If you like murders in isolated locations, ensemble casts, and amateur sleuths, they’ll love this series.
I also will be posting about the sale on my socials! Feel free to share that in your stories, your reblogs, and wherever else you share them with your fellow readers. Thanks in advance for your support, and happy reading!
Wicked Tunes Are On The Way - New Playlists Coming Soon!
New playlists will be arriving in the Freebie Library, readers!
Several months ago, I shared four playlists, which each one being for the main characters of the Harlow Mystery series. This time, I’ll be sharing three new playlists for three characters from the Harlow Mystery series - specifically, the murderers/villains!
However, this means that these villain playlists will contain spoilers. They do reveal the true murderers from each Harlow Mystery book. If you’d like to avoid spoilers, I suggest reading the books first before listening to the playlists.
The first playlist will be shared on October 25th, when the Halloween sale begins!
Guest Blog for Shepherd
I had the lovely opportunity to write a guest blog for Shepherd! In this post, I shared my top three reads of 2024! (Please note: They consider the 2024 year to span from Nov. 2023 to Oct. 2024).
Thanks to the Shepherd team for this opportunity!
What Am I Writing Lately?
When I finished drafting “Nostalgiacore” and sent it out to beta readers to read, I initially realized that I had no other writing projects that I immediately wanted to work on while waiting on receiving feedback.
Yes, I know I have several works in progress (WIPs), with some of them belonging to a series. But for some reason, I just couldn’t come up with any urge or need to edit them. I also coudln’t think of anything new to write - at least nothing that was novel-length.
This isn’t typical of me. Usually I’m quick to get inspiration from pretty much almost anything (or a specific few things if I’m fixated on them enough). I decided to take a couple of days off writing any specific project.
Fortunately, this was the right solution for me. Only about four days later, I came up with a new novel idea! And yes, that means I’m currently writing the first draft of that book right now.
I can’t really say much about what it’s about currently, as I’m still drafting it. However, I hope to give more information in the eventual future.
What Have I Done Other Than Writing Lately?
Back on Oct. 12th, I attended a webinar hosted by the Festival Of Literary Diversity (FOLD) called "Energy is Currency: 8 Ways to Cultivate a More Sustainable Writing Career with Chelene Knight.”
Knight gave some great insights on conserving your energy to prevent burnout and cultivating a more sustainable writing career. FOLD mentioned having the webinar recorded and posted on their Youtube channel, so keep an eye out for the video there! I highly recommend that you check it out.
I also attended Self Pub Con last weekend (Oct. 19th-Oct. 20th)! Self Pub Con is a free writers’ conference run by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is a global membership association for self-publishing authors. ALLi hosts Self Pub Con every year, and it’s available for non-ALLi members to attend virtually along with the ALLi members. I’m not an ALLi member, but I do find writers’ conferences like these helpful to check out.
Also, since I know that some of you followed me from Self Pub Con - hi, fellow writers! I hope all of you find this newsletter both useful and entertaining.
I also have done the following:
Continued progress on the author interview masterlist! The goal is to have the masterlist ready by sometime in December 2024. However, if I can’t get it done by then, I hope to have it ready by February 2025. I’d like to get at least 50-60 entries on the masterlist to start, and to add more later on as needed.
Submitted some poems to lit mags and contests to be considered for publication!
Updated my Press page with a new press kit and updated interview topics!
What Have I Heard Lately?
I want to recommend two podcasts this time! The first one is “No Write Way” with V.E. Schwab. Yes, I’m talking about the same V.E. Schwab that wrote books including the Shades of Magic series (books that I reviewed years ago!) and “The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue.”
In this podcast, Schwab sits down with other authors and discusses their origin stories, creative processes, work-life balance, and how they bring their stories to life. This podcast will probably be more fun for my fellow writers to listen to, because the craft and business of writing is so varied nowadays. It’s so fun to hear about others’ writing journeys, too!
Some episodes I recommend are:
“Stop trying to make other people happy”: An Interview with Rebecca Roanhorse
“Think of it like a mixtape”: An Interview with Isaac Fitzgerald
The second podcast I recommend is “Welcome To Night Vale.” This is a satirical paranormal fictional podcast taking place in its titular location.
Fun fact: I actually used to listen to Night Vale episodes regularly, but stopped after the first 175 episodes. As of this writing, there are over 250 episodes (not including the live episodes or the bonus ones). Night Vale was the first podcast I ever listened to, and what got me into listening to many other fictional podcasts back in around 2015-2016. I decided to do a marathon run of listening to every episode of Night Vale so far, and I’m so glad that I did!
Some episodes I recommend are:
“The Sandstorm” (Episodes 19A and 19B - I promise that listening to these back-to-back is worth it!)
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
One of the most notable books I read lately was “Cover Story” by Susan Rigetti. The heroine ends up becoming a wealthy heiress’ ghostwriter after they met during an internship…but soon discovers that there’s more to this heiress than meets the eye.
I can tell that it’s very heavily-inspired by Anna “Delvey” Sorokin’s story. However, the writing was so fast-paced and interesting that I couldn’t put it down until the last page.
Other recent reads include:
“How I Write” by Janet Evanovich
The Witch Haven” by Sasha Peyton Smith
“The Cocktail Waitress” by James M. Cain
Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).