I
received some great news on the 4th of August. I heard from
the American Fiction awards that my book, Lying with the Devil, had won first
place in their Psychological Thriller category. I will be receiving my award in
the mail here, shortly, and will be able to add it to my shelves. So, not only
am I a best-selling author but an award-winning one too! This year seems to be
only getting greater, and it’s only August. I’m looking forward to the future.
I
have some more great news. Lying with the Devil: Redemption has finished and
will be heading to print, and I will be receiving my pre-sell books to look
over for confirmation, then it’s off to the market! So, with an early release,
I will be entering it in a few 2020 contests as well, so, wish me luck on that
front. I plan on making another promo image as I did with Lying with the Devil’s
audiobook, and it’s sure to be a killer.
My
birthday and my daughter’s birthday is coming up. Since my daughter is just
about as morbid as I am, we decided to share our birthday party and have a cannibal
themed one. We’re making a brain-shaped cake, with severed finger and gummy
eyeball cupcakes. I bought decorations that will cover the rooms with blood
splatter, random body parts, and hanging, bloodied knives and tools, and we
bought candy that when you bite into it will fill your mouth with candied gel
blood, perfect for pictures! She wants me to be the serial killer at the party,
so I have a butcher’s knife and a bloody apron to wear, and she picked up a
headband that makes it look like she has a pair of scissors sticking out of her
skull. She wants to pose like I’ve murdered her on the floor, and on the table,
and take lots of pictures of our day together. I’m not sure if I should be
proud, or afraid, or both. Both, both are good.
My
writing has been slow lately. I have been taking a break from it as I had
jumped completely into Prey for Me without a pause after I had completed Mr.
Lonely. My brain was fried, and I didn’t want to push myself without any
passion or inspiration and have this story come out crappy as an end result of
me being tired, and delirious. However, I am feeling a lot better, and I feel
ready to get back to work. I’m on the 4th chapter for the book, and
so far, my beta readers are telling me they’re starving for it. If you haven’t guessed
it. Prey for Me is my first take on a cannibalistic serial killer, and let me
tell you, I have been having a lot of fun with it. I’m in love with Viktor, my
killer, and his love for Mia, the girl in my book that he’s leading down a
similar path of death, decay and violence. Mia is far from innocence herself,
as you find out, so don’t feel bad for her. This is truly a twisted Romeo and
Juliet story. Except they eat people.
Here’s
a snippet for you: The sobbing echoed
in his mind like a reverberating drum, but he could remember the warmth he
felt, flush and hot against his frostbitten cheeks. His empty stomach growled
like some sort of rabid animal as he chewed, delighting in the scents that
swelled his senses as the harsh winter whipped around them in dizzying
flurries. The body that laid in front of him was of an eighteen-year-old soldier
of his unit; he, only nineteen at the time, but he felt no remorse as his mind
dwelled on survival, but he couldn’t deny either that he was reveling in the
taste, like pork, only slightly bitter. While the others seemed traumatized at
the act; while the others damned themselves for the taste of the forbidden
fruit, Viktor was savoring it as befouled crimson dripped from his quivering
lips and down his thick winter jacket. His hand tightly coiled around the
combat knife’s handle, shaking with the adrenaline he felt coursing through
him, as he eyed the others. Some of them were hesitatingly chewing, others were
vomiting, one had wandered off into the snow to seal his own fate instead of
following in their deranged footsteps. It was then he began laughing, his mouth
full of sloppy flesh; it was like a divine comedy playing out before him. His
laughter grew, louder and louder as it carried out into the drift. A monster,
they called him; he was a beautiful monster.
Anyway,
that’s it for updates. Have a good weekend!
