Hi, friends!

We are nearly 2/3rds of the way through the year, and it feels like it just blinked past. Needless to say, I've been at mach speed since March; I'm ready for a slight slowdown before things get busy again this month. Sorry for the late newsletter, I promise it's worth it!

In case you don't know, I am both an author and an illustrator, and so both things will be addressed in this newsletter!

Also, before we hop in, I want to make an announcement! I've done the same newsletter structure for about a year and a half now, and it works, but it feels like I'm just shouting about my workflow. I don't know how much value that actually gives you as a reader. So, I've changed things up a bit! I'm doing something different, starting with this month's newsletter.

Each month, I'll be picking a deep-dive topic to talk about before we hop into the "What is coming up/what I did" sections. I've also condensed those sections a bit. So, I hope this makes the newsletter a bit more of a conversation than a "LOOK AT ME" shout.

I hope you like this change in direction! With that, let's dive into this month's conversation.

What's this month's newsletter about?

Deep-Dive Topic of Interest - Why your genre?

Upcoming Releases and Deadlines – Events, Timelines, Crowdfunds, Promos, Releases, Reminders... What all is going on?

Current Goals of August– There’s a lot going on in August, particularly centered around Aloe, Such Sweet Sorrow, and crowdfunding. September and October are busy season, as well, and the events coming up will be announced below!

What I Worked On In July – Let’s break July down, shall we? What did I work on? What went well? What didn’t go well? The recap helps me quantify what I’ve done this month, and also shows a bit of transparency to what I’m working on week-by-week.

August's Deep Dive - Why your genre?

This section of the newsletter is something new I'm trying in order to add a bit more value to it; something more than just listing my accomplishments and plans. I want to have conversations with you all; sit in intelligent discourse with like-minded people. Each month will have a section dedicated to a thought, something I want to talk more about in terms of research, something that is relevant to being an indie or self-published author, etc.

I’ve been thinking about this since pretty intensely since a friend asked me on Substack this week. I think I landed on a good way to break this down. When I answered, my thoughts wound up making my reply fairly long, and I'm still thinking about it, so now I ask you — why your genre?

I like to think of genre as differently painted houses, or cars on the highway, where the street or the highway are our access to the information being presented, and the houses or cars are the stories involved. The paint, make, and model inform the story inside, and create an identity and a flavor to the core inside. The story is what's driving the narrative — what makes it run, or feels like a familiar space — but the genre gives it a flair.

Tina (who asked me this question originally — if you aren't aware of her, check her out here ) referred to herself as a literary omnivore. I love that term, and I’d probably point towards being one as a reader, myself. I read anything that catches my eye and sounds interesting, so long as the story grips me. The story is the most important thing.

That being said, I write almost exclusively horror and dark fantasy. I’ve written one paranormal romance, as well, but I am most comfortable and thrive in the genres that expect you to explore the uncomfortable. Even my romance ventures have elements that thrive in my horror and dark fantasy — told from the point of view of someone who would likely be considered a villain, or the main character is systemically at a disadvantage in their station.

So, this question —Why your genre?— got me thinking about this in-depth. Why do I choose horror and dark fantasy, when I read anything from cozy romance to extreme horror? Why do I gravitate towards supernatural characters and depictions from the point of view of an 'other', and why do I choose these lenses for it?

I think I have two reasons for this—

The first reason is that as a society, we make it nearly impossible to talk about the uncomfortable things.

The things that unsettle us.

The things that make us grieve.

That scare us.

That make us rail against the injustice of the world. The things that we know are wrong, but we turn a blind eye to because to acknowledge them means that we are either in part complicit, or need to take responsibility and stand up. As a direct result, these difficult topics are harder to handle and navigate when we ARE faced with the in-real-life equivalent.

The dark genres don’t allow the uncomfortable things to hide. They shine a microscope on them, but also make it so that we CAN explore the uncomfortable in a safe and therefore empowering environment— that we can face the things that bind us or block us and figure out what to actually do about it. By traveling along with the characters through their misfortune or trials, we learn as they learn without actually facing the peril of claws or teeth.

My second reason for writing my genres — horror, dark fantasy, supernatural romance — is seeing the unseen and making them known. I write a lot of things from the monster or the undesirable entity’s POV to show where their humanity lies. Monsters are often an allegory for an ‘other’, something we don’t understand and thus fear. But, if we can understand something as terrifying and undesirable as a monster, then how can we not understand something adjacent to us like another human? How do we let our biases drive us when we don’t think about it? Shining a spotlight on the unseen ultimately helps us broaden our minds.

Ultimately, genre is just the vehicle in which we choose to tell our stories, but some genres fit some topics better than others. And, I think that’s why I ultimately consume wide but create narrowly. So, if you're a writer, what about you? Why your genre?

What's coming up in August?

Hire Human Artists

An undated happy circumstance and something I think everyone needs to know - Another author-illustrator that I know (Aimee Cozza, who is very pro-active and supportive in indie spaces) has teamed up with a group of people to put this together: https://hirehumanartists.com/

It's a rather large database of human artists that take on work. It used to be a google sheet but they've turned it into an actual searchable website. People have to apply to be on this, and they're vetted.I think it's a lovely way to bring eyes to artists and not have to second-guess their work. Here's my listing.

Aloe needs ARC readers!

If you've been here for any amount of time, then you know what Tales From The Night Garden is. Lemon Balm was my debut, and Aloe — the 2nd book in the trilogy — was officially funded in June. Now, while it's with the editor, I'm still looking for ARC readers!

Aloe is an LGBTQIA+ contemporary dark fantasy. If you haven't read Lemon Balm, that is available too by request through the form if you need! The form is closing August 14, I'll be getting back to responders on the 15th ♥ Sign up here!

Uncanny and Uncouth needs ARC readers!

Uncanny and Uncouth is a collaborative anthology that several writers have been working on, led and curated by Vanessa Perry at Mythmount Press. We're gearing up to search for ARC readers! This is our first call. We're aiming for sending the directions out on September 14th and the ARCs on September 17th.

It's speculative fiction, and a healthy blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, all with a gothic twist! If this sounds like your kind of jam, please fill out the form here!

Current Open Commission Slots

Commissions are currently open, if you message me. As it stands I'm in the middle of restructuring how I take them — Someone was nice enough to give me an invite code to V-Gen, which is a platform that is anti-AI and by invite only. In an effort to consolidate my commissions to one singular place, I'm moving my stuff onto there. This also makes it easier to search for me.

As it stands, I currently don't have much on there. I'm working on building up my profile and putting all of my offerings onto the back-end before I can officially take commissions through them, but I figured I'd share the news now! My goal is to have the commission options open by the end of the month. We'll see if I can get there. In the meantime, here's the profile. I'll hopefully have at least a few options up within the course of the next week. I SHOULD also have some pre-made book covers listed within the next week.

I have three slots open, for now!

1 - OPEN
2 - OPEN
3 - OPEN

Releases

October 1 - Uncanny and Uncouth Speculative Anthology - This is a speculative fiction anthology organized by Vanessa Perry/Mythmount Press. There are a lot of heavy hitters with beautiful prose and compelling storytelling involved. I have two stories in it — Sanguivore and Gaps In The Mist.

October 23 - Aloe, Tales From The Night Garden Vol. 2 - Aloe is the second book in the Tales From The Night Garden trilogy, and was successfully crowdfunded in June of 2026. It's currently in the middle of developmental edits. Backers will get a special early release sometime in September, but October 23rd is when the book is available widely! I'm excited to release this out into the wild.

November 16 - Rainbow Lights and Winter Nights - This is a charity anthology that is raising money for The Trevor Project. My supernatural romance novella, Yule Parlay, is one of the stories involved! Only on Amazon; the story will be released as a standalone sometime in 2027.

In-Person Events

September 12 - Sip and Story
5pm - 9pm CST
@ Tardigrade's Bookshelf, Appleton WI

October 3 - Boozy Bookfair
5pm - 9pm CST
@ Badger State Brewing Company, Green Bay WI

October 24 - Aloe Launch Party!
11AM CST
@ Author Apothecary, Oshkosh WI

Virtual Events

Hosting #TBBChat on Bluesky - September 5th at 6pm CST
Hosting #TBBChat on Bluesky - September 26th at 6pm CST
#Sustember Prompt Game on Bluesky - Sept 1-30

Promos, Sales, and Crowdfunds

Aloe's Crowdfund Surveys go out August 21 - If you backed Aloe, thank you so much for helping me bring my story to life! I'm still on track for my release schedule. The post-campaign surveys are anticipated to go out August 21st. This may be slightly earlier, but I want to give myself time to read through and implement my editors' notes before I start sending out the surveys! Please keep an eye on your e-mail.

Such Sweet Sorrow Crowdfund Campaign Launches October 29- Such Sweet Sorrow is a grief horror, and it is near and dear to my heart. I wrote it over the course of the last month of my brother's battle with cancer, and the months of aftermath when I was dealing with my own grief and big emotions. It's a standalone novel, and I'd highly appreciate it if you kept an eye on the crowdfund! You can follow the campaign here now! Please do this — I need followers in order to launch! Also, if you like to support indie authors, there are 38 other campaigns within The Book Bazaar - many of them horror, and many of them queer.

Google Calendar Link

Want to keep up with the events happening, but everything is too overwhelming? I hear you. That's why I have an event calendar that you can add to your google calendar! Check out the invite here.

August Goals

Top Overall Goal - Get Aloe Edited

This, in many ways, speaks for itself. I should be getting Aloe back sometime in early-to-mid August, which is great! As soon as I get it back, I want to hit the ground running on edits. It'll be what I largely am focusing on in the back half of the month.

In the meantime, I'll also be working on illustrations for the physical copy of the books, matching it to the style of Lemon Balm's first release. I'm excited to get this ball rolling and have a shiny product to share with the campaign backers!

Top Writing Goal - Finish Such Sweet Sorrow Draft/Edits/Campaign

In the first half of the month, I'll be working on Such Sweet Sorrow as much as possible. I want to finish this pass-over before I get started on editing Aloe, if I can. And, I should be able to! But, August is going to be very heavily writing-focused in order to get this project off of the ground.

I have a lot to do yet for this project, but I should be able to get it done with ample time left over. The book does not need to be finished before the campaign launch.

Top Art Goal - Get Commissions Up and Ready

This one also speaks for myself. With commissions down, I can't make money. If I can't make money, I'm in trouble. So, I need to get this done as fast as humanly possible. The only problem, is that there is a lot to do to make that happen! So far, I've re-written my terms and conditions to better fit the platform, and I've started to add my services into the commissions section.

They also have the option to list pre-mades, so I'll be getting that done as I have a few available! I quit the agency that had them held up in limbo, so I'm excited to get them up in front of people's eyeballs.

Other Honorable Mentions

• Fair Pricing Article - I've been wanting to write an article about fair pricing. I'm still in the research phase of this, and I've been exceedingly busy on top of it, so it's admittedly taking me a while.

• The Healing and Scarred Thorn Decks - I really want to keep the art style of the Tarot decks consistent with what's in the books. The rewrites of the book also heavily altered certain details of the story, so I'll need to revisit the card illustration ideas. I'm looking at restarting from the ground up -- which is frustrating, but also ultimately how projects like this go if you start with unfinished source material. I'm excited to jump back into these, either way! This will likely not be touched this month, but I'm aiming to start working on card art again in September!

• Portfolio - I want to finish revamping my portfolio. It's been sitting on the back burner for a bit, and I'd love to make that more of a priority so that people aren't confused by what I do.

• Threads of Scarlet Gossamer - Tiffanie and I had to step away from Threads of Scarlet Gossamer again, but we plan to pick it back up! I'll take it off of the list until it becomes relevant again.

• Sprints of Consciousness - I've been thinking about reviving this and dusting it off again. But, I'm not sure that people want that. And I don't know what form it would take. What do you all think?

What did I work on in July, anyway?

Week-by-Week Breakdown

Nub of the week (1-4) - I finished my short story Gaps In The Mist. I also spent a fair bit of time planning my teaser page for Such Sweet Sorrow's crowdfund, working on commissions and setting up potential commissions, working on my website, and finalizing my July newsletter to send.

Week 1 (5-11) - I spent a long time working on commissions. I also worked on a short written piece for a contest. I input fresh inventory into my shop and my Square for markets, printed marketing materials, and vended at a Local Author's Fair (Which was a successful and really fun time!)

Week 2 (12-18) - Heavily worked on the commission, I also edited 2/3rds of Chapter 2 of Such Sweet Sorrow, created and published an ARC form for Aloe, and prepared and presented a presentation on Backerkit Teasers.

Week 3 (19 - 25) - Finished out that commission and spent a chunk of time editing the first chunk of Sanguivore (a short story). I also put out the paid supporter rewards Patreon and Ko-Fi (late unfortunately) and sent out a teaser for Such Sweet Sorrow.

Week 4 (26-31) - I switched up my approach on the newsletter and spent most of the week drafting this. I also started working on V-Gen. I started building out Such Sweet Sorrow's Campaign and the graphics for it, and also made a Such Sweet Sorrow Bookmark. I spent some time thumbnailing Such Sweet Sorrow's book cover, as well.

As Always, A Final Reminder -

I offer art services and have my books and merch for sale directly through me!
Commission Me • Shop

You can also tip me or become a member
Ko-Fi • Patreon

And, if you're looking for anything else — Socials, Pre-orders, info, etc.
Website • Links • Discord

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a fantastic month!