February Writing Updates
Writing Post Cute but Deadly's Release
It’s been five weeks since Cute but Deadly was released! I’ve been grappling with the strong urge to finish the finale, along with the creative desire to take a little series breather and pump some fresh air into my skull. The past week and a half, I’ve taken a little break from Verfallen to work on some concepts and plans. I discuss those in this blog, but make sure to read the disclaimer below.
DISCLAIMER: In this blog, I talk about books that are NOT my main WIP. Cute but Vicious: Verfallen 4 is my main WIP. Books that aren’t my main WIP are liable to change—including when I hope to write & publish them. It’s not atypical for me to start talking about books a long time before I actually finish them.
→Cute but Vicious: Verfallen Asylum 4 💉
Cute but Vicious: 35k words written out of an anticipated 65k.
Originally, this was an additional, final two acts of Cute but Deadly, so I’ve been developing it further. I now have the space to give a few things attention that I realized needed it. Particularly, some characters need a little more time than they would have gotten if this were all packaged up in “Baz’s” book (Cute but Deadly). Cute but Vicious is everyone’s book. And I do mean everyone. Cute but Creepy characters are back in the picture.
I’m going to do a Cute but Creepy reread shortly. I tend to switch how I think of the characters depending on the POV I’m in. So I keep thinking of Zero (aka Dr. Stein), Gonzo, and Hazel, how Bree and Baz think of them, since that’s whose mindframe I’ve been writing in for a year+. Hence, the reread.
I wish there were spoiler text on Substack so I could share some specific things. 😭
→Seasonal Side Effects ❄️🎃
Slaying the Holidays will become a series (of standalones), and I’ll be publishing a HALLOWEEN book.
I will be rebranding Slaying the Holidays (new cover!) this Spring and plan to release Trick or Treatment before Halloween this year. It’ll be another dark rom-com novella featuring misguided killing in the name of therapy. The MMC is like if the Duolingo Owl had a baby with Jigsaw … and that baby became a therapist 💀 (and the FMC is his phobia-ridden patient).
There will be a third book in this series, too. These are all standalones, and the characters are not connected with one another.
→MAD (Mutually Assured Devotion) Aka Secret New Series Which Isn’t Much of a Secret 🖤🔪
I’ve been teasing and talking about a brand-new enemies-to-lovers, forbidden dark rom-com series under my contemp pen name for a little while. Book one is called Loathe You More.
There’s been a huge development for the series. I was going over my unpublished books, and really liked the banter in a rom-com called Freudian Slip. Also, its themes easily match this series (y’all are gonna GET SICK of the psych themes I stg, I am sorry this is who I am 😭). Anyway, I’m going to rewrite Freudian Slip, and it’ll be titled Detest You Dearly. Since there’s already a 50k-word version, it’s got a huge head start. Therefore, it’ll now be book one in this new series (especially because the setting will bleed [just a little] into Loathe You More).
ANYWAY, the MMC is a grumpy psych professor who collects & sells human bones online in order to pay off his massive student loan debt. Also, he hates the FMC (who keeps hitting on him and is his student).