Sweet September is here and it’s now officially spooky season! September is one of my favorite months of the year. The craziness of summer is over, cooler nights are incoming, changing leaves, longer nights, and the time to enjoy writing and reading horror has doubled for me. August was a hectic month with the release of The Wild Fall. All of the marketing and lead up to the release left me in a drained state for a few weeks and I’m actively still recovering from it.

As a self-published/small press author, the amount of work you have to do to ensure that your book succeeds is tremendous. Since I am acting not only as the author, but also the publisher, I am in charge of the cover, the layout of the book, getting ARCs out to early readers and reviewers, asking for blurbs, setting up podcast appearances, blog tours/interviews, reading and signing events, maintaining a presence on social media, interacting with groups I’m a part of, etc. I’m exhausted to say the least. With another book coming out in October, I’m spending September getting ready for that launch and am trying to practice a little more self-love/self-care. It’s easy to lose yourself in marketing, in performance, and in anticipating results. It clearly became too much for me (and I didn’t allow myself any recuperation time in the middle).

So…here’s a brief recap of August before we swing into what to expect in September…

The Wild Fall: Book 2 of The Wild Oblivion is now available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook wherever books are sold. If you are a fan of dystopian horror/fantasy with lots of themes surrounding grief and existentialism, this is right up your alley. If you would prefer a signed copy of the book, I have them available via my online shop on my website. You can order through here.

I went on a whirlwind road-trip to Toronto for my book launch and got to spend the afternoon at Little Ghost Books, one of the loveliest indie horror bookshops in the community. I signed lots of copies of The Wild Dark and The Wild Fall (which can be found in store and online), drank some wonderful coffee, and chatted with the bookstore owners and employees (Thanks again to phi, Chris, Kristin, and Tim McGregor for being so supportive!).

All in all, it was a 9 hour road trip to and from upstate NY and I got to enjoy some time with my family as well. If you want to support this awesome bookstore (and me) you can order the books through them here.

After a week of r&r on a family vacation, I vended at Pages & Pints, an event hosted by Mayflower Brewing Company in Plymouth, MA. The drive was long but the rewards were sweet and I got to sample some excellent beer while slinging books. All in all: it was a lovely, short show and I’ll happily keep it on my radar to attend next year if it happens again!

This month, I’ll mostly be working behind the scenes to prepare for the release of Lost Oblivion, sequel to Hallowed Oblivion, coming out in October. We have a cover reveal coming in about a week or so that I’m very excited about. There’s also an audiobook announcement coming soon. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled on my socials for those…

My goals are to start working on a new project this month. I put up a question a week ago gauging interest in what project I should work on next: short story collection or novella. Most everyone who weighed in wanted the novella. It’ll be my goal to get that written over the next couple months.

It’s also my goal with this one not to self-publish it. I’d really like to sell it to an interested small press and start spreading myself out from Strange Wilds Press. I may also be considering the idea of looking for others’ books to publish as we head into winter of 2024. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it’s something to keep an eye on…

As for events this month: I have but one. I’ll be hanging out at Spooktastic Book Fair on Saturday September 30th along side some of my favorite people (I cannot wait to FINALLY vend with Rob Ottone and Aquino Loayza.) If you’re in the Boston area near Jamaica Plains, you should come find us and buy spooky books! It promises to be an incredible time.

We rewatched all of the original 90’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies this past month which was a much loved blast from the past. Also watched were:

I’m in the initial plotting stages for my new novella (currently Untitled). I’m wrapping up Lost Oblivion and have written two short stories to sub to anthologies. Should hear back this month whether they’ve been accepted or not. Cross your fingers for me!

Until next time friends!

KSilva