My whirlwind week!

And a message from the heart...

Well, folks, it’s been quite a week!

First of all, I’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported the launch of A Moonlit Path of Madness. You helped make the day special, and I appreciate every single one of you. It’s wonderful to see people’s feedback on Goodreads. When a reader truly ‘gets’ what you were aiming to do with a story, it’s reward in itself. The response to the launch, especially on Twitter, was so overwhelming that by the time evening came around I had to switch off and go play my current favourite game—Demonologist.

More on A Moonlit Path of Madness here: bit.ly/3IQSOTm

The second bit of news I have to share is the announcement of a Publishers Marketplace deal for my forthcoming Young Adult novel, The Wolf and the Favour. This one’s an escape from the world of horror and instead dabbles in the realms of dark fantasy. It’s a story told from the heart, one that stems from the many years I spent teaching Primary School children, including those who were neurodivergent.

I say it’s Young Adult, but I believe it has crossover potential too. I firmly believe the book world is sorely lacking when it comes to stories that provide a positive take on neurodivergence, and hardly ever depict such a person as being the hero of their own story. The Wolf and the Favour is my attempt to redress the balance.

Keep your eyes peeled for a cover reveal shortly. For now, here’s a little more information...

The third significant event of the week, as far as writing goes, is that I signed a contract with Off Limits Press for a short story appearance in their forthcoming anthology, Make Your Presence Known which will feature stories of seances, conjuring, and communication with the dead.

So yes, all in all, it’s been an eventful week!

That said, if you’re a writer yourself you’ll know that successes tend to come in batches, as do rejections, but if you’re just starting out on your writing journey I’d like to offer a piece of advice: Never allow the apparent success of your peers to make you despondent. We all start at the bottom, and to even begin to establish a name for yourself and win the confidence of editors and publishers takes time and patience. Write from the heart. Write the kind of story you want to read, one you feel is missing from the literary world, and eventually, with time and perseverance, success will find you. Believe me, I’ve had my share of knock-backs.

I’ll end by wishing you all a great week and ask that you keep your eyes peeled for the launch of my novella, Mosaic, which will publish on the 8^th of August with Dark Hart Books (an imprint of Dark Matter Ink).

https://darkmattermagazine.shop/products/mosaic

More on that next week!

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Yours from Wales,

Catherine McCarthy