Today, we celebrate fathers. My latest novelette, Undead Folk, is all about a young woman trying to overcome her grief about losing her father (and her dad—if you know, you know) in the midst of surviving a brutal dystopian land.

Yesterday, we revealed the cover of its upcoming sequel, Dead Folk, via the lovely folks at Night Worms. Much love to Ashley and Sadie for putting that together and helping give it an awesome send off. If you missed all of the hullaballoo yesterday, here is the cover for your waiting eyes.

Artwork is done by me. I wanted this one to have a very different feeling from the first book. While that one has a touch of magic, tenderness, and falls into quiet horror fairly easily, Dead Folk will be nothing like it. Here’s the synopsis:

Once upon a time, a woman thought she made peace with her grief. As she tended the dying land, she befriended a fox: a symbol that reminded her of her beloved father who died at the hands of a selfish doctor. But grief is perennial and after she loses her new friend, she discovers hope was just an illusion, too. Magic meanders back into her life and with it, a hunger for retribution unlike any felt before.

Dead Folk is John Wick meets His Dark Materials in a sequel from the best-selling May release, Undead Folk.

Coming August 28th, 2024.

Yeah. I said it. John Wick. Remember when Keanu Reeves loses his dog? There’s revenge and then there’s revenge.

Pre-orders for paperback are now open on my website in the shop. You can reserve your copy here.

Undead Folk has been out in the world for over a whole month! In that time, we’ve sold almost 300 ebooks, over 200 print books and have remained in the top sales of LGBTQ Fiction/Gay print sales for Ingram. I’m so touched and moved by how people have responded and reacted to this book. Thank you all immensely.

Want to support some of your favorite indie bookstores and pick up Undead Folk from them? That would be wonderful of you! You can find it at some of these excellent locations now:

Gibson’s Bookstore (Concord, NH)

Print: A Bookstore (Portland, ME)

The Green Hand Bookshop (Portland, ME)

Little Ghosts Books (Toronto, ON, Canada)

Sherman’s Maine Coast Bookshop (Portland, Damariscotta, Boothbay, Rockland, Topsham, Freeport, Falmouth, Windham)

Bucket O’Blood Books and Records (Chicago, IL)

If you’ve seen Undead Folk floating around any other bookshops, feel free to let me know so I can give them a shoutout in the next newsletter!

I’ve actually punched though a couple books this month and I’m super proud of it! Deep by Aquino Loayza was a fun cosmic trip to a northern Maine town plagued by a dark malevolent entity beneath the ocean.

The Electric State by Simon Stalenhag was pitch black in its portrayal of humanity in an alternate 90’s world where humanity has fallen prey to the hypnotic allure of virtual reality that machines can offer. I’m slightly terrified for the Netflix adaption of the book which is set to come later this year. They’ve spent an insane budget and have hired a lot of summer blockbuster actors to play roles. I hope that it maintains its dark, contemplative, and quiet story while building upon the world a little more but doesn’t become an explosive-heavy adrenaline kick. We’ll see.

Currently reading:

We got to watch John Wick 2 and 3 (which were violent and delightful). I’ve also been catching up on some 80’s classics (not horror) as research for my current WIP. I watched Weird Science and Say Anything the other night.

Currently watching:

Not playing anything currently but have been watching my friend, Todd Keisling, play Stasis, which has been super entertaining and terrifying. I’m also John Wolfe’s replay of Bioshock.

There’s lots of events on the docket once summer is out of the picture! I’m excited to spend the next several weeks going to the beach, eating lobster rolls, and enjoying iced coffee from Dunkin like every other Mainer. But as soon as we get past my birthday, it’s go time!

August 28th: Dead Folk Release Day

September 7th: Spooktastic Book Fair (Framingham, MA)

October 3rd: Dead Folk Book-Signing/Reading at Novel: Book Bar (Portland, ME)

October 5th-6th: Zerv-Con (Cape Cod, MA)

October 15th: Books and Booze Reading Series (Brooklyn, NY)

October 19th: Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival (Haverhill, MA)

-Kat