Five more days until the end of the year. I can hardly believe that 2024 has already come to an end: a year filled with many successes and many difficulties. I once again pushed myself as a writer, editor, and publisher to a point where I feel as though I wish I’d taken a step back and examined the need for self-care in the midst of all I was doing.
Don’t get me wrong: I love this gig. It’s a struggle. And there are times when the feast or famine parts of it are exhilarating. At the same time, one of the things that I am finding the most difficult in this career is the necessity to say “no”. Don’t get me wrong: there are absolutely things that I had to decline this year and I felt so sorry for it. I want to be a person that people consider for things, whether its a story in an anthology, a blurb, a reading, or something else. But I also tend to scrape myself so thin that I’m almost translucent.
That will have to be something I change in 2025. There were many times this year that I lamented not being able to go somewhere and do something because of making commitments to things I wasn’t 100% confident I could do. There were many times I questioned my ability to get something done in the midst of dozens of other projects. And there were sleepless nights. And lots of tears. And feeling like I was going nuts.
To that end, here are some stats of what I accomplished in 2024:
Publications:
Undead Folk: Book 1 of the Deadlands (May 1st, Strange Wilds Press) - novelette
Dead Folk: Book 2 of the Deadlands (August 28th, Strange Wilds Press) - novella
Nothingland: Book 3 of the Deadlands (December 20th, Strange Wilds Press) - novella
Violent Endings (October 16th, Undertaker Books) - short story
Writing Projects (Not yet Published)
Sorrow-Eater (75K Novel, on sub)
Where The Soul Goes (95K Novel, coming from Truborn Press Fall 2025)
Audiobook Releases
The Wild Fall (January)
Undead Folk (September)
Lost Oblivion (October)
Dead Folk (October)
Awards:
Maine Literary Awards, Speculative Fiction finalist (3rd time) - The Wild Fall
Events:
Author-Con III (April)
Salem Horror Fest (May)
Spooktastic Book Fair 2 (September)
What Can We Learn From Grief in Horror (StokerCon Virtual Panel)
Dead Folk Book Launch at Novel: Book Bar and Cafe (October)
Audio Book Conversation with Lisa Roumain and Jason Bishop (October)
Halloween Reading at Quiet City Books (October)
Brooklyn Books and Booze Reading Series (October)
Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival (October)
Halloween Horrors at Barnes and Nobel South Portland (October)
Living The Scream (online, December)
Book Design Work - published
Spectrum: An Autistic Horror Anthology edited by Aquino Loayza and Lor Gislason (interior formatting paperback and ebook) - THIRD ESTATE BOOKS
Undead Folk (cover and interior formatting)
Dead Folk (cover and interior formatting)
Bury My Heart With A Keyboard by Jacy Morris (interior formatting on paperback) - THIRD ESTATE BOOKS
Nothingland (cover and interior formatting)
Book Design Work - publishing in 2025
BOREAL: An Anthology of Taiga Horror (cover and interior formatting of paperback and ebook)
Editing Work
BOREAL: An Anthology of Taiga Horror (coming in 2025)
Work with Third Estate Books
Podcasts
Winterviews Series 3 (interviews with Anthony Rapino, Red Lagoe, Micah Castle, Chad Lutzke, Aquino Loayza, L.C. Marino, Mike Tyree, and Angel Krause)
The Palmer Files Podcast
Small Town Creepy Podcast
The Suspense is Killing Me Podcast
Dark Pages (by ReadingThisLife)
Creepy and Geeky Podcast
Dead Folk Launch Party (with Voices From The Mausoleum)
It’s a lot.
Let’s talk about a few of my favorite moments (the bright spots):
Getting to finally spend time in person with Amanda Headlee at AuthorCon III and with her visit to Maine! Amanda is a tremendously wonderful writer and a lovely friend. I am so thankful that I’ve gotten to know her.
Todd and Erica Keisling and game night. Game Nights are every Wednesday night (well, most Wednesdays) hosted as a perk for donating to Todd’s Patreon. This little gathering is something I look forward to every week and have missed the past several due to all of my manic deadlines and holidays. I can’t tell you how much sanity these nights give me. Winding down from things that have happened during the week or just having a good laugh, these two are so special and I appreciate them dearly.
Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. This is an event I’ve had the privilege to enjoy two years in a row. This year, I was so fortunate to get a table next to Tanya Pell, who is such a bright, funny and insanely wonderful writer. And of course, I got to spend time with some of my favorite people: Todd, Erica, and Rob Ottone, too.
A Publishing Deal with Truborn Press: it’s my first ever novel that I won’t be publishing myself and words can’t even describe how anxious and happy I am to be having this coming out next fall.
Getting a balloon at The Maine Literary Awards in recognition of being a finalist three times. Sure, it wasn’t an official award and I think it was really because they had a ton of balloons left over, but I appreciated it and I’m pretty sure it’s deflated corpse is still on the floor in the back seat of my car? Hahaha
Getting to meet readers in person. This is always something that brings joy to me. It’s why I go to do live events. Putting faces to online names or hearing how someone connected with what I wrote is sometimes a reassuring kick that I need. I love to write for me but it feels so much more impactful when someone gets the things I’m writing and that I’ve connected with them.
Favorites of the Year
In no particular order either. Note: these might not be things that came out this year, but they are all things that I’ve watched for the first time this year.
Television
True Detective: Night Country
Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy: seasons one and two
Shogun: Season one
Harley Quinn: seasons one thru four
Detroiters: Seasons one and two
What We Do In The Shadows: Season six
Movies
Abagail
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Under Paris
Woman of the Hour
Dune Part 1
Conclave
A Quiet Place: Day One
Reads
In The Valley of the Headless Men by L.P. Hernandez
The Electric State by Simon Stalenhag
Tales From the Inner City by Shaun Tan
Let The Woods Keep Our Bodies by E.M. Roy
Bury My Heart With A Keyboard by Jacy Morris
Midnight Blue by Grace R. Reynolds
A Clearing Near Vanavara by Kuzma Mac (in BOREAL - coming in 2025)
2025 - a look at what’s ahead
As part of my attempt to keep my schedule open for the new year, I have intentionally left Strange Wilds Press’s publishing schedule open with exception of one glorious book coming in February: BOREAL: An Anthology of Taiga Horror.
BOREAL is currently available for pre-order in paperback and will be available in early January for ebook pre-order. The anthology includes 22 amazing stories from seasoned and brand-new horror authors alike. Get a taste of what to expect from these teaser posters about each story (more coming this week)!
The other release that will be coming likely in late spring/early summer is a spin-off from The Deadlands with Hugh in the driver’s seat. The novella is currently untitled but will see Hugh during the period of time while he’s in Steele’s service and will feature several characters that readers met in Nothingland. This will be a stand-alone book. And of course, Amos and Ella will make appearances as well.
Also on the docket for next year is my release with Truborn Press. No date announced yet, but Where The Soul Goes was my novel mixing Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, The Electric State by Simon Stalenhag and the 80’s.
As far as events, I only have two on the docket so far. AuthorCon IV in Williamsburg, VA at the end of March and my very first Stoker-Con in Stamford, Connecticut in June.
And in February and March, I’ll be doing Winterviews Series 4 and will have several new guests to announce in January. Look forward to those soon.
With all of that said and done, I hope that you all enjoy the next few days between Christmas and New Years’ and I’ll see you in 2025.
-Kat
