Miss Me?
Did you miss me? I mean, yeah, I know it’s not like I’ve been gone for years or anything, but I admit I’ve been a little on the quiet side lately. There are reasons, of course, and some of them are even good reasons. If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me explain that I am currently working on 3 books right now, and all of them need to be done by the end of 2020. That’s the main reason. The other reason is: Not much has really happened that warranted a blog post from me.
I tried to do interesting and exciting stuff while we were in a hard lockdown, but honestly, we mostly just binged The Exorcist TV series and played PS4.
Now that we’re on Level 3 Alert, however, my life seems to be slowly going back to normal. So, I sincerely hope you didn’t miss me too much. But if you did miss me … well, thank you very much, and I missed you too!
Let’s get on with this week’s What’s New Wednesday!
Books
My current obsession is James Herbert’s The Rats trilogy, which I absolutely love! I’ve finished the first book and have moved on to the second one, but I’m really digging the evolution of the story. What’s more, the writing is superb. Definitely worth delving into if you’re in the mood for murderous rat tales.
The other book I’m working through is Armageddon House by Michael Griffin. It’s a novella with an interesting premise that’s weirdly very relevant to what we’re all experiencing this year with the global lockdown stuff. This one looks super promising, folks.
TV Shows
White House Farm is a limited miniseries that’s based on a true crime that happened in the 1980s in England. In the beginning, I got some Amityville vibes, but eventually it turns into a police procedural. The casting is excellent, the acting is brilliant, and the show is really well-paced. So, if you’re looking for something along those lines, give White House Farm a try.
I also recently binged Killing Eve, which is out of this world AMAZING! There’s a balance between seriousness and hilarity that simply can’t be beat. Of course, I have to point out that I just love Villanelle. She is such a memorable (and weirdly lovable) character … Everyone will enjoy this one, so check it out.
Snowpiercer was released on Netflix a few weeks ago, and so far I’m super intrigued. I remember watching the movie when it came out, but I can’t really recall if I enjoyed it. Maybe it’s time for a rewatch. Anyhow, the show is really top notch and delves into a dystopian future with class issues on a dystopian train. Give it a go if you’re not too depressed about our current situation. It’s good!
Games
I don’t really have the time to play games and I’m not always keen on console gaming (I’m more of a PC gamer), but Husband showed me a trailer for A Plague Tale: Innocence, and I fell in love. I think it’s got something to do with the rats. LOL! Nevertheless, the game-play is smooth and the graphics aren’t too shabby either. So, if you’re looking for something for PS4, try your hand at this one.
On the Writing Front
Last month, I found out that The Night Weaver won a Silver IPPY award in the Horror category, but for some strange reason the news still hasn’t sunk in. I guess it’s because the global issues we’re all dealing with is just so overwhelming. I mean, it’s weird to celebrate anything at the moment, right? I dunno. What I do know is my book looks GORGEOUS is with its brand spanking new medal … *happy sigh*
In other news, recently Crystal Lake Publishing released a new Crystal Classic, and guess who was fortunate enough to help make it shine? That’s right. 🙂 Yours truly got to write the foreword for Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu—a great little vampire classic that, I don’t know, just inspired an entire sub-genre of horror!
So, earlier in the post I mentioned that I’ve been working hard on 3 projects that I would really like to have done by the end of 2020. Remember? Yeah, so I can’t say much about them just yet, but …
- Book #1 (new series) – I’m almost done with this baby. While I can’t go into the details about this book just yet, I will say it’s completely different to any of my other work. I thought I’d challenge myself by branching out into a new genre, so I’m both scared and excited.
- The Night Weaver #3 – Is halfway done. I’ve had to push this one back a bit, in order to finish off something else, but it’s not a bad thing. Sometimes, my ideas need to stew a while before they really take shape, so I’m grateful for the extra few months away from this world.
- Standalone Horror Novel – This will be a HUGE book (at least, it’s HUGE by my standards) and there’s a lot of research going into it (which I do in between all my other projects). If all goes well, I’ll hopefully start working on it by the beginning of September and have it done by the end of December.
Apart from the above-mentioned books, I have The Bone Carver (The Night Weaver #2) being released in October, and a re-release of another book coming in 2021 (with two more books to be written to complete that particular trilogy). In other words, a lot of things are happening, even though I’m quiet. 🙂
This isn’t even taking into account all the editing I’ve been doing … Phew. Maybe I should stop sleeping altogether, come to think of it. LOL!
On that note, I think it’s time for me to stop babbling and get back to work before I fall too far behind on my daily target. I’ll try to check in again soon, but I can’t make any promises. (I may have psyched myself out writing about all my work. Whoops.)
Hope everyone is safe and healthy!
Monique
