Did you imagine I meant firsts and second as in competition? Well, not so. I don’t have a competitive bone in my body, unless I’m competing against myself, but that’s another story for another day.
The firsts refer to my first ever acceptance from the highly respected fiction mag Haven Speculative. They’re a tough market to crack, so I’m delighted to have my work published by them.
The story is called Host, and you can read it for FREE here: Host by Catherine McCarthy
If you do find time to read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Set on the West Wales coast, it’s a weird mix of body and eco horror. I used one of my husband’s photographs as a visual stimulus…
The other first refers to my first ever translated work. Mosaic will soon be published in Spanish by Dilatando Mentes Editorial, and this weekend I had the thrill of choosing the final cover design. It’s a beauty and really does the book justice. More on that soon!
The second refers to sad news turned positive in that Off Limits Press, who published my novella Immortelle back in 2021, have decided to cease trading. It was an honour to have been published with them, and I sincerely wish Waylon Jordan all the best going forward.
The good news is that my dear publisher Sobelo Books jumped in and offered to publish a second edition, so Immortelle will be reborn at the end of August 2025. A fitting occurrence for a book about immortality, right?
Last but not least, I guess by now most of you will have seen the news about META stealing (for want of a better word) our books without our permission and with zero financial compensation to train their A.I.
Indie writers such as myself, and indie publishers, too get a raw deal out there in the big wide market. We don’t have anywhere near the budget the big traditional publishers have to spend on marketing. With that in mind, it’s been good to see more and more indie publishers selling directly from their own websites, and that includes my upcoming novella from Sobelo Books.
Death of a Clown can now be pre-ordered DIRECT from their website: Death of a Clown pre-order
In a time when Amazon and a handful of consumer giants rule, please consider ordering direct from the little guys. It would mean the world to me and others in the same boat.
That’s all for now. I have a crazy week ahead, which includes a 200 mile round trip to visit my dad on what will be his 91st birthday. I’ll be taking him for a heart scan on his birthday, too. It’s been tough lately, and there have been times when I wasn’t sure he would make this next milestone, but I’m grateful for the fact that I’ve had him this long.
Thanks for reading.
I wish you all a great week!
Catherine McCarthy
Congratulations on all the good news! Thanks for sharing 'Host', I love the blend of the beauty of the shore with the lurking horror. Poor Gethin! What an atmospheric photograph you had to inspire you! Fantastic to hear you will have a Spanish translation of Mosaic! I hope the first of many languages! :) I am really sorry to hear about Off LImits Press winding up but thrilled to hear Immortelle got a new home, it's one of my favourite of your stories! :)
Congratulations on everything!
And I read the story.
I loved that it was inspired by one of your husband's photos. And I found it a very disturbing tale indeed, which I'm sure was of course your goal. And I did not need to read your bio to know that you are a fan of the Cthulhu's mythos. I am also reasonably sure that you enjoy the works of your countryman, Ramsey Campbell, who is one of my favourites.
Like Campbell's, your writing is very elevated in style, and seems to draw feelings into the reader beyond the words themselves. Maybe this is in part because the reader of such tales has an idea, a not-quite-vaguely preconceived notion of where the work may be going, but I really think that it is the writing itself that builds that sense of a dread lurking just beyond your ability io grasp it or put your fingers on it right until the end. And even if you can anticipate the end, the incrementally disquieting (and also disgusting, but in the cool way that I know you were going for) ride there is the point, isn't it?