The night before my first in-person author event, I tried to stay as busy as possible. I worked, watched distracting shows, and made graphics for social media. Basically, anything that might keep me from thinking too hard about what I had agreed to do.

I took the muscle relaxer that usually helps me sleep, but I still tossed and turned. I felt like Owen Wilson in Armageddon when he says he is 98 percent excited and 2 percent scared, or maybe 2 percent excited and 98 percent scared. That was me. I knew both feelings were in there somewhere, but I could not have told you which one was winning.

Since I am nocturnal, I woke up around noon the next day. I was more nauseous than usual and immediately started trying to get everything ready: my outfit, makeup, nausea medication, books, pens, markers, and bookmarks. I checked everything more than once because my brain had apparently decided this was the moment to stop trusting itself.

My partner and I finally left for the bookstore. The drive was about forty minutes, so I put on a Charli xcx playlist and sang the entire way there. Singing is one of the best ways I have found to calm my nervous system, and I was going to need all the help I could get.

When we arrived, it felt like there was a bowling ball sitting in my stomach. I was already dragging, so I walked around the bookstore for a while and acquired an iced latte, which was probably not the most logical treatment for anxiety and nausea, but it felt necessary.

Then it was almost time for me to be introduced.

I waited backstage and peeked out at the audience. There were about ten people, and a few of them were cradling my book in their arms.

My book.

That part still does not feel real.

I had prepared several sections to read and practiced them ahead of time, but I had not actually timed any of it. We had promoted the event as a reading, signing, and Q&A, so I assumed people would have questions and that the conversation would fill the rest of the hour.

I came out, said hello, and told everyone I would begin with a reading.

For the first few minutes, I shakily read the opening paragraphs of Hiding Lies. I had somehow forgotten exactly how dark the beginning was, so I might reconsider starting with that section in the future.

As I sat there reading, terrified and sick to my stomach, one thought became very clear:

I never wanted to do another event again.

I finished the first section and tried asking if anyone had questions.

No one answered.

I read another passage, this time from Adam’s point of view. I had not prepared anything to say about it, but I started explaining what I had been thinking while writing the scene. That broke the silence a little, but when I looked at the time, it was only 7:20.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do next.

I asked again if anyone had questions.

Crickets.

Then my partner, bless his heart, called out, “Why don’t you talk about how you wrote it?”

Something immediately changed.

I began telling everyone about the life of Hiding Lies, how the story had developed, and everything that had gone into making the book. As I spoke, I saw people smiling and nodding. My nerves started to fall away.

Questions came. Then comments. Then more questions.

What followed was forty-five minutes of an intimate, incredible conversation with readers.

People told me that my book had made them feel seen and understood. One woman in particular shared that she had experienced feelings similar to the ones I had while writing it. It was incredibly brave of her to say that in a room full of people.

I have never experienced a connection like that before.

I definitely want to experience it again.

By the end of the night, I had gone from thinking I would never do another event to immediately understanding why authors keep doing them, even when they are difficult, exhausting, expensive, and terrifying.

I am going to keep trying to arrange events, beginning here in the Pacific Northwest, where I live. I would also love to do one larger event or small tour each year. My health and finances will always have to be a major part of those decisions, and I have to be realistic about what I can manage.

But I am so grateful that I was finally able to give Hiding Lies the event it deserved.

I got to talk openly about what the book means to me. I got to hear what it meant to readers. I got to nerd out about Small Town Slasher, slashers, horror, and writing with people who genuinely wanted to be there.

For the first twenty minutes, I thought the night was confirming every fear I had.

Instead, it became one of the most meaningful experiences I have had as an author.

All, I’m so happy to share that we have hit one of our preorder goals!

We have gotten over 100 preorders at one of our indie partners: Praire Lights!

We partnered with 3 indie books stores for our preorder campaign to give away a poster of the book cover. Our goal is to achieve 100 preorders from each store! Help us support these stores!

This is such great news! If you haven’t preordered yet, please consider preordering at one of these today:

https://mystgalaxy.com/list/what-feeds-below-preorder-campaign

https://www.twistedspinebooks.com/what-feeds-below-pre-orders

It’s also incredibly important for us to get preorders at Barnes and Noble, because more preorders increase the likelihood of them stocking the book well- this can make or break a book! And the only breaking we want to do is onto a best selling list!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-feeds-below-tatiana-schlote-bonne/1148696541?ean=9781967967247

and as a reminder, if you can’t swing the $17.99 right now, the ebook is $3.99 everywhere! (Though I know you will want a physical copy once you read it!)

I would love the first book from my imprint to be a bestseller and this book deserves it!

Thank you early readers and reviewers and thank you to everyone who had already preordered!

Let me know below if you’ve already preordered or if you’re preordering right now

We're halfway through the year and our monthly themed book club! So, I decided to create a spreadsheet where everyone can share their favorite books they've read in the book club. Use it to find recommendations or if you're looking for books for specific themes.

By importing information into the spreadsheet, you're allowing me to share your recommendations in future content (Bindery, YouTube/IG/TikTok)

My only "rule" is to please make sure the books you're adding you've actually read for the book club.

LINK TO SPREADSHEET

The spreadsheet is editable for everyone. You may recommend as many books as you'd like, you'll just have to fill out the row again. If you need to know what the theme was for each month, check the second sheet.

Let me know if you need any help, have questions, and/or if you're having trouble accessing the sheet. You can comment here or ping me in Discord.

Is this the first time you're hearing about the book club? Find more information here.

The book club is run entirely in Discord. CLICK HERE to access the Discord.

Welcome to your exclusive deep dive into the mind of V.S. Lawrence. While our public teaser focused on the campy side of horror, we saved the real writerly talk and the deep cuts for our First Edition members.

In this full interview, V.S. Lawrence opens up about the heartbreak behind Just Us, Here, her squeaky wheel brainstorming process, and why she can no longer eat bologna thanks to The Outsiders. From Scooby-Doo chase music to the relatable motives of horror icons, this is the complete conversation.

1. V.S. Lawrence in Three Words

Q: For readers discovering your work for the first time, how would you describe your books in three words?

V.S. Lawrence: "Nostalgic, campy, broad."

2. Turning Fears into Fiction

Q: Your Goodreads bio mentions that you grew up being scared of everything. What are some fears that have found their way into your stories?

V.S. Lawrence: "I actually have a huge fear of fire, likely from the time I went to blow out my birthday candles when I was young and ended up catching my hair on fire instead. But fire has found its way into a couple of my books, as well as bugs. Cockroaches, spiders, maggots... all have found their way into my books and give me the creeps."

3. The Heart of Horror

Q: Horror can take many forms, from creepy and atmospheric to downright terrifying. What kind of horror do you enjoy writing most?

V.S. Lawrence: "The versatility of horror is one of my favorite things, and I've been having so much fun exploring several different types. But campy, fun horror has my heart."

4. The Spark of Just Us, Here

Q: Your upcoming novel Just Us, Here explores social media, isolation, and a farmhouse that may be hiding dark secrets. What first sparked the idea for this story?

V.S. Lawrence: "A couple of years ago I had the idea for a book where an influencer is experiencing something terrifying in front of her audience, and thought it would be so interesting to explore the idea that for so many of us, it's almost impossible to look away from a trainwreck. We see people falling apart online and feel the need to comment on it, take it all in as entertainment, and I felt that having the comment section stand in as a character almost would be a really fun way to explore that idea."

5. Why Haunted Houses Hit Different

Q: Many readers are fascinated by haunted houses and places with history. What makes a setting feel genuinely unsettling to you?

V.S. Lawrence: "Our homes are supposed to be our safe place, the place where we can relax, unwind, let our guard completely down. But when the floorboards start creaking, strange noises happen, things start moving, it rips that sense of safety right out from under you. It's also presenting us with the idea that maybe there is something after death, that maybe we leave a small piece of ourselves behind that ends up desperate to be seen and acknowledged."

6. The Allure of The Patch

Q: The Patch centers around a cursed pumpkin patch and a town haunted by its past. What drew you to that premise?

V.S. Lawrence: "I'm obsessed with pumpkin patches. It's one of my all-time favorite things to do in the fall, and when I was asked to write something for the Totally Freaked! series, I felt like the classic new kid in a new town that had some interesting beliefs surrounding a pumpkin patch would be a really fun addition to the series."

7. The Scream-to-Laugh Ratio

Q: Several of your stories seem to blend horror with humor and adventure. How do you find the balance between scares and fun?

V.S. Lawrence: "Honestly, I think horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin. Both rely on building tension and timing so that the joke or scare lands just right, resulting in either laughter or screams. I think finding the balance is similar to either straight horror or comedy; you don't want to hit the reader with scare after scare, or joke after joke. It loses its impact if it's a steady stream. But with horror and comedy, it's kind of neat because you don't always know if the tension is building to a scare or just a funny moment, and I think that makes it even more fun to write (because I don't always know, either.)"

8. The Tone of Just Us, Here

Q: If readers could only know one thing before picking up Just Us, Here, what would you want them to know?

V.S. Lawrence: "It's bleak. This book is me trying my hand at modern gothic, and so tonally it's very different from what I've put out so far. It's a slow burn and a little heartbreaking and it doesn't have a hopeful ending like many of my other books do."

9. The Brainstorming Process

Q: What does your brainstorming process look like when a new story idea first appears?

V.S. Lawrence: "A lot of times my book ideas come from a single scene that pops into my head, or just a seed of an idea, and then I try really hard to figure out how to build something up around that single image. I sit down and make a really rough outline that usually doesn't include the ending, because I always struggle with those. I'll bounce ideas off of friends or family as I work on the outline, and bulk it up as I go. Then, when I start the first draft, chunks of that outline just go right out the window as things go off the rails and I have to go back to talking through the new possible paths that the story could take until I finally get to the end. But even then I might find myself having to change the entire ending."

10. Deciding What’s Next

Q: You've written everything from ghost-hunting adventures to camp horror and cryptid chaos. How do you decide which idea to work on next?

V.S. Lawrence: "I have a million idea seeds floating around in my head and my notes app. I tell myself I'm going to work on X project next, but when it comes down to it, I have to work on the idea that's loudest. The one that keeps jumping forward, pushing images and scenes to the front. It really is a case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease."

11. Publishing Surprises

Q: Looking back on your journey as an author, what has surprised you most about publishing books?

V.S. Lawrence: "How kind the horror community is. I've been welcomed so warmly by readers and authors alike and it has been such an amazing experience I never expected."

12. The Power of Nostalgia

Q: What role does nostalgia play in your writing, especially with stories like 80s Ghosts and Chalupacabra Y2K?

V.S. Lawrence: "It plays a huge role. A lot of horror readers grew up reading things like Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Point Horror, and I think many of us kind of want to recapture the feelings we had reading those books. Back when we devoured books and were rewarded with pizza and didn't have phones demanding our attention 24/7. I know for me, writing things set before we were so distracted is a way to relive those experiences, almost. Even if it's an idealized version of the past, it's a fun thing to escape into."

13. Twist Planning

Q: Do you tend to outline every twist and scare ahead of time, or do some surprises reveal themselves while you're writing?

V.S. Lawrence: "In most of my outlines I know that [something scary happens here] but it's only when I'm writing the scene that what that scary thing actually is reveals itself."

14. Creating Memorable Villains

Q: What makes a horror villain, monster, or supernatural threat memorable in your opinion?

V.S. Lawrence: "Honestly, it's the ones whose point of view is actually kind of relatable. Like, the ones I can understand why they did it. Think Carrie, Frankenstein's monster, and even Pam Voorhees."

15. Horror Shaping

Q: As a reader, what books or authors helped shape your love of horror?

V.S. Lawrence: "Definitely R.L. Stine's Goosebumps. I can vividly remember walking to the swimming pool with my sister and making up our own plot lines for new Goosebumps books."

16. Best Writing Advice

Q: What is one piece of writing advice that has stuck with you over the years?

V.S. Lawrence: "That if you want to be a good writer, you have to read. Read a lot, and read widely. I have seen firsthand how my writing and creativity improves when I'm reading voraciously."

17. The Fictional Dinner Guest

Q: If you could spend a day with one fictional character from any book, who would you choose and why?

V.S. Lawrence: "I'd love to meet Jay Gatsby and go to one of his parties! I'm not really a party girl, but I mean, a Gatsby party would be a must."

18. The Adaptation Goal

Q: Your bio says your books feel like "Scooby-Doo chase music." If one of your books were adapted into a movie, what would you hope viewers would say afterward?

V.S. Lawrence: "That was so much fun!"

19. What’s Next?

Q: What exciting projects, stories, or spooky surprises can readers look forward to from you next?

V.S. Lawrence: "I'm working on a collection of Christmas horror stories for this Christmas, and there may or may not be another slasher in the pipeline!"

Support the Author & Grab Your Copies!

Check out the links below to follow along and grab your copies:

• Official Website: vslawrence.com

• Follow on Instagram: @vslawrence.author

• Goodreads: V.S. Lawrence Author Page

Shop the Latest Releases:

• Pre-order Just Us, Here: Amazon | Signed & Special Pre-orders

• Order The Patch: Amazon | Paperback with Retro VHS Packaging

Welcome back to the blog! If you like your horror with a side of nostalgia and a dash of the "downright creepy," you are in for a treat. Today we are chatting with the brilliant V.S. Lawrence, an author who knows exactly how to turn our everyday safe spaces into heart-pounding settings.

From cursed pumpkin patches to the terrifying isolation of a viral livestream, V.S. Lawrence’s stories explore the thin line between entertainment and true terror. We sat down to discuss the upcoming novel Just Us, Here, hair-raising childhood fears, and why horror and comedy are actually best friends.

Enjoy part one of our interview below!

1. V.S. Lawrence in Three Words

Q: For readers discovering your work for the first time, how would you describe your books in three words?

V.S. Lawrence: "Nostalgic, campy, broad."

2. Turning Fears into Fiction

Q: Your Goodreads bio mentions that you grew up being scared of everything. What are some fears that have found their way into your stories?

V.S. Lawrence: "I actually have a huge fear of fire, likely from the time I went to blow out my birthday candles when I was young and ended up catching my hair on fire instead. But fire has found its way into a couple of my books, as well as bugs. Cockroaches, spiders, maggots... all have found their way into my books and give me the creeps."

3. The Heart of Horror

Q: Horror can take many forms, from creepy and atmospheric to downright terrifying. What kind of horror do you enjoy writing most?

V.S. Lawrence: "The versatility of horror is one of my favorite things, and I've been having so much fun exploring several different types. But campy, fun horror has my heart."

4. The Spark of Just Us, Here

Q: Your upcoming novel Just Us, Here explores social media, isolation, and a farmhouse that may be hiding dark secrets. What first sparked the idea for this story?

V.S. Lawrence: "A couple of years ago I had the idea for a book where an influencer is experiencing something terrifying in front of her audience, and thought it would be so interesting to explore the idea that for so many of us, it's almost impossible to look away from a trainwreck. We see people falling apart online and feel the need to comment on it, take it all in as entertainment, and I felt that having the comment section stand in as a character almost would be a really fun way to explore that idea."

5. Why Haunted Houses Hit Different

Q: Many readers are fascinated by haunted houses and places with history. What makes a setting feel genuinely unsettling to you?

V.S. Lawrence: "Our homes are supposed to be out safe place, the place where we can relax, unwind, let our guard completely down. But when the floorboards start creaking, strange noises happen, things start moving it rips that sense of safety right out from under you. It's also presenting us with the idea that maybe there is something after death, that maybe we leave a small piece of ourselves behind that ends up desperate to be seen and acknowledged."

6. The Allure of The Patch

Q: The Patch centers around a cursed pumpkin patch and a town haunted by its past. What drew you to that premise?

V.S. Lawrence: "I'm obsessed with pumpkin patches. It's one of my all-time favorite things to do in the fall, and when I was asked to write something for the Totally Freaked! series, I felt like the classic new kid in a new town that had some interesting beliefs surrounding a pumpkin patch would be a really fun addition to the series."

7. The Scream-to-Laugh Ratio

Q: Several of your stories seem to blend horror with humor and adventure. How do you find the balance between scares and fun?

V.S. Lawrence: "Honestly, I think horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin. Both rely on building tension and timing so that the joke or scare lands just right, resulting in either laughter or screams. I think finding the balance is similar to either straight horror or comedy - you don't want to hit the reader with scare after scare, or joke after joke. it looses its impact if it's a steady stream. But with horror and comedy, it's kind of neat because you don't always know if the tension is building to a scare or just a funny moment, and I think that makes it even more fun to write (because I don't always know, either.)"

Want Deeper Access? 💎

This is just a small preview of our wonderful conversation with V.S. Lawrence! Premium members of The First Editions can log in now to unlock the complete, unedited Q&A.

Support the Author & Grab Your Copies!

Don't miss out on these spine-tingling reads. Check out the links below to follow along and grab your copies:

• Official Website: vslawrence.com

• Follow on Instagram: @vslawrence.author

• Goodreads: V.S. Lawrence Author Page

Shop the Latest Releases:

• Pre-order Just Us, Here: Amazon | Signed & Special Pre-orders

• Order The Patch: Amazon | Paperback with Retro VHS Packaging

Hello Cozy Family!!

Today I’m going to be doing the first deep dive into the updated school curriculum reading list that I recently shared, starting with primary school (8 - 10 years old).

What would you add or take away from this list? Do you agree with my suggestions?

My main aim and goal with this list is to inspire and create readers earlier on. So many people find the books they read at school to be a chore and not interesting to them in the slightest. Because of that, so many people give up on reading entirely, and it is only a select few who then go to find a passion and joy in reading again in their adulthood. 

If we want to create readers at an early age, we need to find books that they will enjoy, that they can be passionate about and actively seek out the next book in the series or similar books after finishing it. We need to spark that love for reading early and then actively and continuously fan the flames of that passion with books that kids might actually be interested in. Books they can see themselves and their experiences in. Books that are fun and relatable and timely for the age that they are first picking it up. 

With that all in mind, here are my suggestions for primary school (8 - 10 years old):

• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

• A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

• Best Friends Forever by Lisa Williamson

•  … + a graphic novel tbc (suggestions welcomed!)

Percy Jackson

In my opinion, Percy Jackson is the ultimate recommendation (for all age groups really, it’s timeless). It’s fun, it’s filled with adventure, it emphasises not using technology (something a lot of parents are, very validly, attempting to do, due to concerns surrounding the amount of technology kids are exposed to), and it is also a brilliant representation for ADHD and dyslexia. 

So many children, myself included, found themselves in the pages of this story. Connecting to the characters, wanting to go on wild adventures and quests, and loving the possibilities that the world of Percy Jackson presents to them. Demi-gods are among us and you could be one! Magic is real and in the world around us! 

The incorporation of mythology, explaining away how monsters come and go, why the average mortal wouldn’t notice them, and how heroes exist and defend us all. You could be a demi-god, you could be a hero, you could be a mortal who is clear sighted and able to see through the mist into the magical world around us all. 

The imagination, the adventure, the representation - all of this, and so much more, is why I think that every child should be introduced to the world of Percy Jackson at some point. To introduce these books in a school setting, where teachers and educators are helping to promote the use of imagination and creativity, as well as presenting children with fictional role models that might struggle with the same disabilities as they do, characters that constantly overcome all the challenges they are presented and work together through it all - it’s just so very important and something Percy Jackson does it spades!

A Kind of Spark

Speaking of representation and how important that is for children, especially young girls with autism as that is sadly something that doesn’t get diagnosed until much later in life, A Kind of Spark is another brilliant book that I would highly recommend be taught and shared with children in schools. 

Not only does it follow a young autistic girl, which is an incredibly important representation, but it also talks about the witch trials and making sure the women and girls who were persecuted are not forgotten. This book allows for an inspiring and unique look into the witch trials across history, and provides an opportunity for children to research their own local areas to discover the local history (whether that be witch trials related or not). 

Creating a memorial for the women who died in the witch trials in her local town is a passion project for the main character of this book. It opens teachers and educators to a world of possibilities, asking children to research into something they are passionate about as well. A collaborative class project to create the equivalent of the witch trials memorial that was in the book but relating to their local area or to a topic that the children have collectively decided is important to them (whether be historical, environmental, commemorating the work of someone in the community, etc).

There are so many potentials and possibilities that can come from studying A Kind of Spark!! So many wonderful lessons on community, history, and being kind to and accepting of one another. 

Best Friends Forever

This is a book that I believe is best read and studied just prior to children moving from one school to the next. In the UK, that would mean moving from primary school to secondary school (aged 10 or 11 depending on where in the year their birthday falls).

Following friend dramas and the challenges of moving schools, both incredibly scary things to children and quite literally their entire world at that point in their lives. This book shows how people grow, how cliques are formed, how friends drift apart and new friends are made. Things that can feel like the end of the world to a young child, all put into perspective and providing hope that it will all be okay. 

From just this perspective alone, I truly believe that Best Friends Forever is a book that all schools should teach, or at the very least show, to children before that absolutely terrifying change occurs of moving schools as you get older. There are many wonderful lessons, both morally and topics that can be used in the classroom, within this book, but it is the peace of mind and confronting the relating of moving schools that I think is the important reason this book should be taught at schools.

Graphic Novels 

Honestly, I am still debating which graphic novel specifically that I think should be included in this list. However, I do think it is important that a graphic novel be included. 

Not only are they another form of storytelling, which in itself is a wonderful lesson to cover in a classroom, but it is also an easier form of storytelling to consume if a child is struggling to read chapter books. Whether that struggle originates from dyslexia or attention span issues or a variety of other reasons, graphic novels are a way for children (and adults) to consume literature, use their imaginations, embrace their creativity, and find stories that grip them.

The hope is one day that passion for graphic novels might translate over into reading full length chapter books, but even if it doesn’t, reading is reading - and reading anything at all is the most important thing.

There are also infinite possibilities of combining English literature lessons with art lessons when using graphic novels. Showing children how the two forms of creativity can be combined, getting them to create their own comic strips, looking at the different art styles used in graphic novels, and so much more. 

Graphic novels are accessible and a route into reading that many overlook or look down upon, when they really shouldn’t. Reading is reading, and all reading is good. Especially if it can inspire creativity and imagination, and nurture a love for storytelling, no matter the form it is in. 

If you have suggestions for which graphic novels you think would be amazing for children to look at in schools, please do comment your recs below! I would love to look into all suggestions!

Until next time, 

Charlotte xx

Every month, one of my paid members' perks is to pick a book for me to read. This can be one they read with me, or one they want me to simply read and review. For July, I was really excited to see the group pick Headlights by CJ Leede. I had Leede on my radar, and had heard some really good things about this one in particular. A few of the members were using me as a canary in the coal mine to test this one out, and a few read along.

Anyone who has been reading my reviews over the last year knows that I have been loving stories that don't fit easily into one genre. Genre bending/genre mixing stories that do more than one thing really well have been hooking me for some reason. Headlights is my first CJ Leede book, and I was really impressed with the layers that she built in to this story, and the different genre elements of the story that helped propel this one to some weird, wild places.

I have heard this described as True Detective meets the X Files, and I think that's a reasonably fair assessment. Headlights tells the story of an agent with a traumatic past with some possible supernatural skills who gets pulled back into investigating a series of murders that he was unable to solve in the past. What begins to unfold is part detective thriller, part murder mystery, part folk horror, and part cosmic horror. It is a story about trauma and grief, nature and man's destruction of it, and the horrors of our past and how we face and reconcile who we were and are.

The book is divided into 6 parts. As I first jumped into part one, where we get Daniel's introduction, some mysterious background, and his route back into the fold of this investigation, I was a little put off by the writing. Much of the first part, especially our main character's internal monologue, is written in that staccato "Blake Crouch-esque" micro paragraphing style. I think this writing style has its place, and can be used to build some tension, but for me I only enjoy it in small doses. As with Blake Crouch, it often makes me feel like I'm reading a screenplay versus a book, and I wind up fighting with the story, trying to avoid the skimming that this style pushes me towards. I was worried at first that the rest of the book would be a dump of this style of writing.

However, as we get more into the meat of the book, this style was definitely mixed in, and I began to understand why Leede was using it. Daniel's character suffers from post traumatic stress, and is constantly questioning and fighting himself, and this micro paragraphing became a good insight into how his mind was working. When juxtaposed with the dialogue and the exposition, we get the sense of someone who is calm on the outside while a war of feelings and thoughts wages within. There was a chapter in part 4 where this technique felt a little heavy handed to me, but again overall it was used well. As someone who also deals with cPTSD myself, I thought the subject was handled well, and it was a really interesting exploration of trauma and its impacts. I can certainly relate to Daniel and how sometimes, you look calm on the outside but inside you're a mess.

The horror elements of the book were also really well done. We have supernatural elements, cosmic horror, some folk and eldritch horror mixed in, with a sprinkling of gore and body horror. The book is also a love letter to Stephen King's The Shining. Our main characters have a connection to the cosmic and supernatural and they "shine," we get a scene in the hotel that inspired the book, our main character's mom loved The Shining, and we get multiple other nods and references to the story. This creates a fun element to the story for King fans.

One of the thins that impressed me the most is how Leede built tension as the story goes on. She never resorts to using cheap scares, opting instead to constantly build the fear and horror of the story while mixing it with the mystery and tension of the crime solving elements. Ultimately, some of the horror is what we as humans are doing to nature, to our environment, and to the world around us, and how that world can fight back. We get supernatural horror elements and cosmic horror blending in as time goes on, and the interplay with these and the violent/gore horror of the murders creates a very multimodal tension and fear.

The last two parts of the book were a brilliant catharsis of all of that tension. We get the reveal about the murders, why they were happening and who did them, and what role our main characters played. We get a beautiful exploration of our main characters' relationship, especially as it relates to accepting who we are, and accepting the people we love for who they are. Leede also does a great job exploring how facing our trauma and facing the difficulties in our past and present can lead to a better understanding of self and the world around us, and bring us some peace about the less peaceful elements of our lives. This includes some exploration of family dynamics, and how our subconscious can affect our conscious being.

My only issues were some of the writing elements, as discussed above, and I did want a bit more time at the end exploring some of the horror, as well as maybe a bit more time exploring what ultimately becomes of our main characters. On the whole, however, the great elements of the book ultimately far outshined the downsides.

Overall, this was a wonderful story, and I had a ton of fun with it. I would highly recommend you check it out, especially if you like weird horror that blends genres to explore big themes. I will definitely be reading Leede's other books! And if you want to read books like this with me or pick books for me to read, make sure to check out the Dark Traveler's membership tier!

4.25/5 Stars

Format: Hardcover

Welcome back to what I'm reading this week!

Another week is here. We are getting closer and closer to fall which makes me soooo happy!

I'm currently finishing Partially Devoured by Daniel Kraus and am about 10% into The Reddening by Adam L.G. Nevill.

This week I'm reading

Slasher Summer by E.L. Chen

What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle

July is supposed to be a slow month for publishing. But that doesn't mean these July releases should be overlooked.

This month delivered some of the most quietly extraordinary fantasy releases of the year and of course they are all by women, and of course they all center women who refuse to be diminished by the worlds they inhabit. That is not a coincidence. That is what happens when you pay attention to the right voices.

Here is what you might not have known was out this month:

The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood by H.G. Parry release date: July 21

Wales, 1941. The world is at war and people everywhere have begun dreaming of King Arthur. The dreams spread like a plague, flooding sleep with visions of a returning king. But librarian Elaine Ambrose dreams of the Lady of the Lake instead and she is certain it is not a sign of salvation.

This is Arthurian legend refracted through the very real terror of WWII, written with the kind of lush, atmospheric prose that makes you feel like you are reading by candlelight in a blacked-out cottage. For anyone who has ever wanted their mythology to carry actual weight.

Misery's Wife by Joan Tierney release date: July 14

A trans woman sets out to rescue her sister from the Kingdom of Misery. She is aided by Luck's sister, Jinx — which tells you everything you need to know about how this journey is going to go.

This is a queer cli-fi reimagining of a Portuguese folktale, and it is exactly as lyrical, strange, and emotionally devastating as that description implies. Tierney writes folklore the way it was always meant to be written — as a map of what it costs to love someone and what you will burn down to bring them home.

Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza Chan release date: July 28

Opium War-era Hong Kong. The Au family are demon hunters — blessing shrines, honoring the dead, keeping their city safe from yiaoguai incursions. When British colonists disrupt the Hungry Ghost festival and Kiamling's grandmother is seized by something no one has seen before, Kiamling must lead the search with a mismatched crew of unexpected allies.

Babel meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the comparison being made and honestly it earns it. This one has the rare quality of being genuinely fun while also having something real to say about colonialism, family expectation, and what it means to be the daughter who is supposed to hold everything together.

There you have it! Three July releases. Three women. Three worlds that feel nothing like each other and everything like the kind of books Ink & Ether exists to put in your hands.

-The Keeper

It's time to vote on what the Fiction & History Sickos Book Clubs will be reading in August! I'll have the polls up later this evening in our Discord and those will run for 3 days. Bribery and bullying is expected and encouraged. Below are the four books for each club that will be put up in the vote with a back cover blurb for each.

A quick reminder that to participate in the voting/discussions, you'll need a membership at the Sicko or above tier, that unlocks those channels in our Discord.

Here they the options:

FICTION SICKOS BOOK CLUB OPTIONS

THE ODYSSEY by HOMER (any translation)

We all know what this is and why it's here, right? Cool. Moving on.

THE MOUNTAINS SING by NGUYỄN PHAN QUẾ MAI

"With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North. Years later in Hà Nội, her young granddaughter, Hương, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Hồ Chí Minh Trail to fight in a conflict that tore apart not just her beloved country, but also her family."

JAWS by PETER BENCHLEY

"A great white shark terrorizes the beautiful summer getaway of Amity Island, and a motley group of men take to the water to do battle with the beast. A heart-pounding novel of suspense and a brilliant meditation on the nature of humanity, Jaws is one of the most iconic thrillers ever written."

BUTCHER'S CROSSING by JOHN WILLIAMS

"It is the 1870s, and Will Andrews, fired up by Emerson to seek “an original relation to nature,” drops out of Harvard and heads west. He washes up in Butcher’s Crossing, a small Kansas town on the outskirts of nowhere. Butcher’s Crossing is full of restless men looking for ways to make money and ways to waste it. Before long Andrews strikes up a friendship with one of them, a man who regales Andrews with tales of immense herds of buffalo, ready for the taking, hidden away in a beautiful valley deep in the Colorado Rockies. He convinces Andrews to join in an expedition to track the animals down. The journey out is grueling, but at the end is a place of paradisal richness. Once there, however, the three men abandon themselves to an orgy of slaughter, so caught up in killing buffalo that they lose all sense of time. Winter soon overtakes them: they are snowed in. Next spring, half-insane with cabin fever, cold, and hunger, they stagger back to Butcher’s Crossing to find a world as irremediably changed as they have been."

HISTORY SICKOS BOOK CLUB OPTIONS

1177 BC: THE YEAR CIVILIZATION COLLAPSED by ERIC H. CLINE

"In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians... A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age―and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece."

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY by ELIZABETH KOLBERT

"Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the Sixth Extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us... provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. In the ten years since the book was originally published, evidence of the Sixth Extinction has continued to mount, making its message more urgent than ever..."

HOW TO HIDE AN EMPIRE: A HISTORY OF THE GREATER UNITED STATES by DANIEL IMMERWAHR

"A pathbreaking history of the United States’ overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire... tells the fascinating story of the United States outside the United States. In crackling, fast-paced prose, he reveals forgotten episodes that cast American history in a new light... Rich with absorbing vignettes, full of surprises, and driven by an original conception of what empire and globalization mean today, How to Hide an Empire is a major and fully enjoyable work of history."

BLACK FLAGS, BLUE WATERS: THE EPIC HISTORY OF AMERICA'S MOST NOTORIOUS PIRATES by ERIC JAY DOLIN

"Set against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration, Black Flags, Blue Waters reveals the surprising history of American piracy’s “Golden Age” - spanning the late 1600s through the early 1700s - when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond... depicts the star pirates of this period, among them the towering Blackbeard, the ill-fated Captain Kidd, and sadistic Edward Low, who delighted in torturing his prey. Upending popular misconceptions and cartoonish stereotypes..."

Babyyyyyyyy...let me tell you about Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan.

I am about 80% through, and when I tell you this book is taking me THROUGH THEREEEEE.

First, content warning: this book covers domestic violence, sexual assault, and trauma in very detailed ways.

We follow Iris, who is a young woman navigating love, ambition, and the choices we make when we want to believe the best in someone.

Iris is a beautiful, light-skinned Black woman, and colorism plays a major role in this story. She finds herself drawn to a man who, deep down, she senses has a darkness within him, but she ignores those instincts. As time goes on, their relationship takes a much darker turn as his controlling behavior becomes increasingly abusive.

Meanwhile, our other main character is watching from the sidelines, hoping that eventually he will choose her.

This book explores so many conversations that I honestly don't think we have enough of, and Kennedy Ryan doesn't give us easy answers. Instead, she guides us through the pain and lets the reader sit with the complexity.

Conversations around colorism and privilege.

Conversations around domestic violence and why leaving isn't always as simple as people think.

Conversations around spirituality, family, motherhood, and the generational impact of trauma.

Conversations around Hurricane Katrina and how deeply it impacted Black communities in Louisiana.

Conversations around femininity and the ways women navigate using their beauty, relationships, and femininity to survive and create opportunities for themselves.

And she weaves all of it together in a way that makes the story feel incredibly lived in.

This book is HEAVY.

The depiction of abuse is extremely detailed, and Kennedy does not shy away from showing the psychological and emotional impact of trauma. We are placed inside Iris' mind as she experiences these moments, and honestly...it was a lot.

I wanted to throw up. I was shocked. I was not expecting Kennedy Ryan to go there.

I had to take a break.

But that's also what makes this book so powerful. It tackles topics that are often ignored or simplified, while allowing the reader space to wrestle with their own thoughts and feelings.

This isn't an easy book, but it's an important one.

Have you read Long Shot? What were your thoughts?

Recently, I finished a book that is entirely too hard to describe. Not that I can't, just that it won't make much sense because for a majority of the book nothing made sense.

Which is why I loved it.

We have been craving something inventive and new in fantasy. Something that isn't brooding shadow daddies and chosen ones and grimdark and dragon Europe. A deviation from stories of magic and wizards and court intrigue that makes us think, gives us something to chew on, forces us to change what we conceive of as fantasy.

Benjamin Liar gave us that in The Failures. Tenfold, he gave us something that actually feels new in fantasy. Nothing makes sense, he explains very little, but in a way where it doesn't matter and the inventiveness of his world is enough to string along my curiosity for over 500 pages. We have a desolate mountain world, automata, immortal gods, superpowered beings called Behemoths, world-ending giants, portals, sorcerers that vanished, a sun covered in buildings, a universe bereft of sky.

Liar demands a lot of his readers in this book, but he rewards you with beautiful prose and fun, unique characters that I fell in love with. He leans into their failures, the things they get wrong, they ways their human nature interferes with them doing the right thing. We get a woven story that is stretched between timelines and characters, slowly converging and revealing to us that there is a quest we are going to learn about and it failed spectacularly. Now, the ghosts of that quest are coming back to haunt everyone. The worst part?

Nobody knows what the right move is next.

I want to talk about the characters, but I feel to do so is to betray some special moments in the book that you really have to be there to understand. Suffice it to say, you will be meeting a lot of people and people-adjacent characters. I loved The Killers' POVs. I love how he has this gritty, complicated cast of characters that slowly converge and when you realize who they all are, you will actually gasp. His use of portals and this peculiar arcane mystery of lost knowledge and dead Ages is fascinating. We learn about Dirt Magic and Silver Magic and Old Gold and this entire lexicon of terms that is unique to his world, a language that is special to these characters and people that I don't see anywhere else.

I think my favorite thing about this book is the intensity of the world building. If you love a layered, complex, dreamlike world with tons of lore you will only start to pull apart in book 1? This is for you. Liar created this gigantic space all contained within the fabled Mountain that blocks out the sky. He gives you pieces without betraying the whole because part of the journey in The Wanderlands series is the story of the world. To explain hierarchy and location and kingdoms and portals would be to give away the plot and the story, which he is allowing to unfold as he teaches you about the quest our... characters... must go on.

I don't care to say "heroes" because all of them are anything but. West and Candle and Winter and Bear and all of them are flawed with a history that isn't exactly heroic and where nobody knows who is making the "right choice". Liar does an excellent job of showing you right and wrong are, often, dependent on your perspective about a problem. That is one of my favorite themes - the flexibility of morality and human nature. His characters are all spectacularly gray. Even the character we consider a villain or villain-adjacent is one I found myself rooting for several times. He twists you and turns you until it's very difficult to articulate why one person is "right" and another is "wrong".

The Failures sets up something so unique to fantasy that it has to be read to be understood. I cannot go into a lot of detail because the detail is the story. This book is ambitious as hell and very well written. Though I found Liar repeating themes and details and moments a lot, I can see why the choice was made to do it. I have a memory like a steel trap and I read fast, but if you're a slower reader and things get tangled? I can see losing track of the details that are so critical to his tale. Still, it never muted the beautiful, lyrical writing style of Liar, which was something I deeply loved. It called back Tamsyn Muir or Hiron Ennes for me, two authors I adore. He writes in such a sing-song way that fits the story fantastically. Everything in this tale is familiar, yet alien. Ours, yet not ours. Like looking at a TV remote underwater. The things we anticipate or think we understand bend just slightly until they become something new and foreign, demanding we consider what is "normal" in this world versus our own. The way Liar writes is so well suit for this task that it made the experience of trying to hold onto everything he says... charming? I think that's the right word.

The Failures is a story that's all its own. It's demanding, but it rewards you with a delightfully complicated world, characters that really shine and test your morality and patience, and sets you off on an adventure where you truly don't know what the correct answer is - or if there even is one at all.

Tuesday is the best day of the week for readers — new release day! Book discovery is hella broken, so it can be easy to miss publishing announcements of fresh titles. Here is a roundup of romances hitting shelves today that have a Rebel Ever After vibe. I haven't read any of these titles yet, so this isn't an official endorsement, but they are authors I respect and want to see succeed.

[This isn't an exhaustive list of every romance novel published today. If you are an author with a progressive romance coming out soon, please email brosandprose@gmail.com to get it on my radar!]

Thighs Wide Shut by Hayley Fleming (Dial Press) — Hayley wrote a great essay for People Magazine about what inspired her to write a romance about a heroine with vaginismus.

Unfinished Business by Clare Osongco (Dell) — this GoodReads review really sold me: "You may think this is a book about a ghost haunting Slack. You may think it's a romance featuring a High Value Man™. It's actually about the horrors of capitalism."

Just a Highland Fling By Naina Kumar (Dell) — You probably know Naina as the author of Say You’ll Be Mine and Flirting with Disaster. I did not know she was also a civil rights lawyer?? Anyway, the love interest is described in the marketing copy as "a hot desi bagpiper from the wedding who just happens to be Neelu’s recent one-night stand." Yes please.

Married with Benefits by Ellie Palmer (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) — A NEW MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE FOR HEALTH INSURANCE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE!!!! LET'S F*CKING GO!!!!

The Princess Trap (Deluxe Edition) by Talia Hibbert (Sourcebooks Casablanca) — Love to see a beautiful reissue of a brilliant author's backlist. I hear it has the touchstones of a Talia Hibbert classic: casually bi characters, the celebration of fat bodies, a good mix of angst and steam. Plus a royal fake engagement! Hibbert included the following content warning on her website: "Please be aware: This story contains scenes of abuse that could potentially trigger certain audiences."

Vera Stein Is Fine by Julie Murphy (Avon) — Heroine in her 40s!!! Murphy has written a bunch of books, including If The Shoe Fits and the YA hit Dumplin'. She also writes romances with Sierra Simone, like A Merry Little Meet Cute and Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl, which is burning a hole in my TBR.