Here’s a copy of my newsletter from April 16th, 2024. Sign up via my website to get newsletters directly to your inbox (and remember to check your Spam folder for the confirmation email when you sign up!)
Hello fiends!
Moving is stressful as fuck. Holy crap, friends, I haven’t moved house for 16 years and the last time I did it was from a two-bedroom apartment to a house only a couple of hours away in the same state. This time, I’ve just moved from that house (with 16 years of accumulated shit) into a new house not only in a different state, but overseas as well. Still Australia, but to Tasmania, which is like moving to a different country, really. The Bass Strait is 450km across between Geelong in Victoria and Devonport in northern Tasmania, which is the route the ferry takes. I drove the 850 km to Geelong with my dogs then took that ferry after weeks of packing up the old house, throwing away stuff we didn’t want any more, cleaning, fixing, and more. My wife did an amazing job of cleaning and repainting lots of stuff to leave the old house in as best shape as we could and now it’s on the market. Fingers crossed for a good and quick sale. But after all that stress, what a relief it is to finally be in our new place.
It’s bloody lovely down here in Tasmania. We’ve wanted to move here for years and finally stopped talking about it and took the leap. It’ll take a while to settle in, but I’m so glad we did. And in case you’ve been wondering why it’s been a while since the last newsletter, well… now you know.
In the meantime life has been progressing in spite of us. There’s a few bits and pieces to share here. Firstly, and very exciting, is that pre-orders for my new novel, Blood Covenant, have started. At this point you can only pre-order the paperback direct from Cemetery Dance Publications or the Kindle from Amazon. Other stores will follow presently and the release date is officially May 24th. It’s all very imminent. I’m really excited about this release and hope you’ll give it a go.
Here’s the official blurb:
Whatever happens, don’t bleed.
What should have been a breeze of a bank heist for James Glenn and his crew goes violently wrong, forcing them to flee, blood-stained and angry. They stumble onto a remote lodge that doesn’t open for another month – a perfect place to lie low until the heat’s off.
Except it’s occupied.
The Moore family, just arrived to prepare for the season, are taken hostage by the criminals, but not without bloodshed. And when blood gets spilled, something ancient notices. Something malevolent. Something ravenous.
Their only hope is the youngest Moore, teenager Rueben, outside and unseen when James and his gang arrive. It’s up to Rueben to get help and save his family, but the influence of the ancient evil is taking a toll on him as well.
And here’s the page on my website dedicated to the book, where you can read the first three chapters for a taster. Those pre-order links are live there too and there’s also a Goodreads button, so please add it to your Goodreads shelves if you’re keen.
Nothing works better magic in publishing than word of mouth, so please tell people about this book. And second to that is pre-orders, so if you are able to, a pre-order helps enormously. Thank you!
In other news, my novella from last year, The Leaves Forget, has been nominated twice in the Aurealis Awards. Twice! It’s a finalist for Best Horror Novella and Best Fantasy Novella. It’s a thrill to score those nominations and the all the shortlists are simply packed with amazing talent, so check out everything there for some good reading.
And on the awards front, my story “All the Eyes that See”, which was published in Cosmic Horror Monthly (issue 42), has been nominated for an Australian Shadows Award for Best Short Fiction, which is also a solid thrill. Again, check out those jam-packed shortlists for a plethora of great reading.
Fingers crossed on all counts there.
As for what’s happening now and in the future, my new novel is with my agent right now, so I’m looking forward to some feedback on that before too long. And the one before that, which is yet to find a home, will probably be my next big project. I had a chat with my agent about that book and how I might rewrite it a little bit to make it more appealing to publishers. I’m a bit daunted by the task, but I will tuck into it with gusto because I am a fucking professional.
Before that, however, I have a couple of short stories I’ve been commissioned to write, so I think I’ll probably tackle those first. Staying busy as always.
What I’ve Been Enjoying
With the move and all the subsequent mayhem around that I haven’t been reading and watching as much as usual. However, I have been slowly working through the American Horror Story franchise. I fell out of watching those some time ago and decided I needed to catch up. I recently wanted AHS: Roanoke, which was a clever idea and pretty well-realised. I almost stopped watching because Kathy Bates’ accent was so atrocious and you only find out why about halfway through. I’m glad I stuck with it though. That was season 6. Season 7 was Cult and that had loads of potential. The problem there was that it felt like it was written by committee and stayed on for too long. If it was only about 8 episodes it could have been amazing, but it was just dragged out too far. I’m about to start in on season 8, Apocalypse. We’ll see where that goes.
As for reading, I’ve been catching up on more Charlie Parker thrillers. I bloody love this series by John Connolly. There’s something like 20 books in the series and I’m up to about 15 now. I get the audio versions read by Jeff Harding, who does a brilliant job. Highly recommended.
Right, that’s about it for me for now. Sorry I’ve been quiet and I’ll try to get back onto the roughly monthly schedule of newsletters again now as things settle down.
Take care of each other and especially of yourself.
Al