Well hello there, fellow wallowers!

I logged in to start writing this and then had a brief panic attack because––wait, did I accidentally miss a month? I did not. This January just feels like a lifetime.

So far this year, I've:

• Finished the rough draft of my magic embroidery novel

• Sent it to a couple of trusted writing friends and my agent for feedback

• Learned to use a snow blower (hey! we finally got snow!)

• Finished dialogue edits for the final season of my audio drama, The Way We Haunt Now

• Worked on about a hundred tiny things for the crowdfunding campaign, which launches in February (*checks notes with alarm*) tomorrow

• And outlined the audio fiction class I'm teaching with MetroWest Writer's Guild in March

All this, despite starting the year with a back sprain and day job obligations and dogs who demand walks. //pats self on back//

Anyway, there's a definite theme to my work this year, and that theme is AUDIO.

The Way We Haunt Now

As I mentioned, I'm preparing to crowdfund the final season of The Way We Haunt Now, which I used to describe as lighthearted horror before cozy horror became a whole thing. This season is massive and, if I do say so myself, magnificent (I feel comfortable saying that because so much of what makes it magnificent is the work of my cowriter, Georgia Mckenzie, the sound designer, Brad Colbroock, and the voice actors, who bring so much talent to the roles.

Audio drama is a collaborative form of writing, to me. I encourage the actors I work with to include adlibbed takes, because over the course of things they get such a deep feel for who the characters are and how they exist in the world.

It's difficult to talk about the plot of a third season without spoilers, but I'm so incredibly excited to share the end of this story––and in particular I'm very proud of Josie's final story arc (written largely by Georgia Mckenzie) as well as Alicia and Danny's. So, I've made a list of non-spoilery things you can expect in the final season:

I've learned so much writing and producing the show, and it is such an honor to be able to send it off into the void in a big way.

But, uhhhhh, speaking of big? It will have cost me $8,114 (not accounting for my own time and effort) by the time all is said and done.

Thankfully, I received a grant from Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts to cover $2,000 of that. But I need more help to make this haunting happen! Anything from financial support to simply spreading the word about the show and our crowdfunding campaign throughout the month of February would be immensely helpful.

The Way We Haunt Now Season Three | Indiegogo

A cozy horror audio drama about friendship, found family, & fighting to change your story.

Audio Drama Recommendations

Curious about the wide world of audio drama, and not sure where to start? In addition to my own show, I highly recommend:

• Palimpsest every season is a new story featuring the same mysterious, terrifying house. It's brilliantly done.

• Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery from midwestern folklore to ghosts to weirdly-specific town festivals, this series has got it all. Breathtakingly poignant and spooky by turns.

• Victoriocity this is the series that got me into audio drama in the first place. So, blame the Sugdens for all the chaos I've wrought with my audio drama (jk). It's an alt-history Victorian romp featuring a robot Queen Victoria endowed with the consciousness of Prince Albert, conspiracies, caper-vibes, and more.

• Wooden Overcoats rival funeral home owners on a small island in the English Channel? A unique and amazing narrator? Romance????? I love this show so much, and listeners of The Way We Haunt Now will, too.

• Someone Dies in This Elevator an anthology series in which every episode features someone dying in an elevator. The folks behind this show take their premise to amazing lengths.

• Land Whale Murders full disclosure, I have a cameo in the first season. Have you ever wanted a satirical, 1800s New York City full of conspiracy and quirkiness? Boy, is this the show for you.

• Primordial Deep a science fiction thriller with X-Files vibes and deep sea horror. Who doesn't want that?

That's all for January, folks.

Thanks for wallowing with me,

Courtney