15% off Friday November 25th thru Sunday November 27th
For the winter-loving, outdoor enthusiast, coffee-drinker, romantic, book-devouring person in your life…
Consider The Wild Oblivion Gift Box. Includes: signed copies of THE WILD DARK and HALLOWED OBLIVION, Maine whole bean coffee from my local roaster, a themed mug, two stickers, a bookmark, and chocolate cherries.
For the academic, tea-lover, anglophile, historian, collector, antiquarian, hobbyist in your life…
Consider The Collection Gift Box. Includes: one signed copy of The Collection, English Breakfast tea, European honey, a themed mug, two stickers, a bookmark, and English shortbread.
For the night owl, vampire-lover, puzzle-solver, spiritualist, monster-hunter, bibliophile in your life…
Consider The Monstrum Chronicles Gift Box. Includes: signed copies of VOX, AEQUITAS, and MEMENTO MORI, character-specific tea blends from Adagio Teas, a themed mug, two stickers, a bookmark, cream-filled chocolates, and a mis-fortune cookie.
For the e-book reader, red-eye flier, long commuter, coffee-shop lingerer, eater of books in your life…
Consider an e-book version of ORCHARDS or HALLOWED OBLIVION. Two short stories in The Wild Oblivion series that take only 90 minutes to read and enjoy.
For the horror-reader, fox-lover, blanket-entrenched and book-obsessed person in your life…
Consider supporting a small, one-person owned and operated horror press and buy some Strange Wilds Press branded merch. Four colors available in the hat and the shirt. All are made to order and shipped through Printable.
As a small business owner, I thank you for talking a look at my wares and considering them in your upcoming seasonal gift buying. Many of these books are the products of years and years of writing and self-promotion. Every time someone takes a chance on me and my work, I am grateful.
Hello subscribers old and new! A lot has happened since last month’s newsletter. As we bustle through July, I’d love to let you know what’s been going on the last couple weeks as well as what you can look forward to the rest of this summer and beyond!
The Monstrum Chronicles RE-VAMPED editions launched last month with a lovely day long procession of vampire-themed shenanigans. Each of the three books in the series (and one short story) received new interior layouts, brand new covers, deleted scenes, music playlists, and new forewords. I have copies available for purchase on my website as well as via Amazon for paperback and ebook. Thanks to all who came out and helped celebrate!
Have you heard the news? I have a TikTok account! Well, to be fair, I’ve had one but I just wasn’t posting very often at all. Aiming to change that going forward though. If you are a fellow Tiktokker, follow me @katherinesilvaauthor .
WHAT ‘CHA BEEN READING
I’ve plowed through some extraordinary books in the last month including Samantha Kolesnik’s Waif, Hailey Piper’s The Worm and His Kings, Donnie Goodman’s The Razorblades In My Head, and Eric LaRocca’s You’ve Lost A Lot of Blood. Each one was a unique and terrifying experience in its own right and I definitely recommend them all to you!
Up on the docket next are:
Beguiled By Night by Nicole Eigener
Your Mind Is A Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper
Nightfall: Nightmareland Volume 1 by Daniel Barnett
Three Days in the Pink Tower by E.V. Knight
This one kind of came out of the blue… At the same time, this is unlike anything I’ve written before. This short story is a combination of prose and poetry and startling black and white imagery with descriptive typography. While it’s a short read (only 38 pages), I’m hoping readers will feel moved, pulled, and changed by the content inside.
The book will only be available via ebook and is only 99 cents. It is currently up for pre-order via Amazon and B&N. Links will be below along with a description of the book.
“I am losing all the little things that make me who I am…”
Brody Aritza was lost to the Wild Dark when he was killed in the line of duty. But then something happened. The thin wall between life and death parted and he found his way back, back to the woman he loved. It wasn’t right though: he was dead and she was alive and they couldn’t be together. But he found a way to fix it. He could possess others to keep her safe and maybe…maybe they could be together after all.
Orchards takes place after the shocking conclusion of THE WILD DARK. Thrust into darkness once more, Brody must sift through time and memory as he clings to what little pieces of humanity remain in his ruinous soul. This short story will leave readers hungry for THE WILD FALL: Book Two of The Wild Oblivion, coming in 2023.
If you are a book reviewer and you’d like a free digital copy of ORCHARDS (or any other book in my catalog), please email me at strangewildspress@gmail.com to request a copy!
I’m still at work on This House Will Kill Again. Because ORCHARDS turned into a random (but lovely) necessity this month, I missed time working on this one. For those of you who might not remember, this is my Archive 81/House of Leaves/Downton Abbey mashup novel that I’ve been trying to get out for a couple years.
THE WILD DARK was featured on reviewer Nisar Sufi’s website, Literary Retreat. View it here.
I recorded an episode on the Terrifying Tomes of Terror podcast with Chance Forshee. We talk about THE WILD DARK and the upcoming sequel, slated for release next year. (I recorded this before ORCHARDS was even a thing.)
We watched all kinds of horror last month including the latest season of Stranger Things and The Black Phone. We will be watching NOPE when it premiers in theaters next week as well as the new Netflix adaption of Resident Evil. I just hope it’s better than Welcome to Raccoon City…
I’m off to a joint birthday party today! Cake and sunshine are in my imminent future and that only makes me more happy.
That’s my June/1st half of July wrap-up! If you want more regular updates about me and my projects, be sure to subscribe to my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, or whatever else you see my face on!
Winter has been fairly productive here. I’ve been consuming lots of horror content and have been churning ideas in my ice cream-making brain as I write more short stories and work on getting novels in shape for submission and publication.
THE WILD DARK is currently at 28 brilliant reviews on Goodreads and 13 on Amazon. This might not seem like a lot to most of you but I’m absolutely over the moon. Every person that leaves a review or rating helps me get closer to selling the book to more people. Visibility is everything to indie authors and the more word-of-mouth is spread about the book, the more people will give it a try.
Click on the photo above to get to the online shop!
Got a book-lover in the family that you’d absolutely love to spoil this holiday season? Consider giving them a curated gift box from an indie business this year! Available now on my website are three different book gift boxes for your perusal. I’m offering THE WILD DARK, The Collection, and Night Time, Dotted Line boxes, complete with small goodies that relate to the stories. Each gift box has 5 or 6 items and a surprise item that will be wrapped for the recipient to open. Scroll to take a look at some of the offerings this year!
THE WILD DARK gift box is for that outdoorsy coffee-lover in your life who may or may not have a penchant for dark fiction. Included in this box are: a signed copy of THE WILD DARK in paperback, a local whole bean bag of coffee, a mug, chocolate-covered cherries in liqueur, stickers, a bookmark, Sno-Seal waterproofing and a mystery item (Emergency Blanket may not be the item everyone gets…). Only ten in stock. Hop over here to make your purchase today!
First of all, I’d love to thank each and every one of you who has purchased a copy of THE WILD DARK. You have instilled such a feeling of triumph in me, that I can’t express with enough love and gratitude as I’d wish. I could seriously hug each and every one of you (or shake your hand if you’re not the hugging type). If you’ve read and reviewed or rated, thank you doubly. Reviews are the lifeblood for an indie author to get their book out into the world and get noticed. Each and every review or rating that comes in, no matter how you felt about the book, is welcomed.
We have some awesome stuff in this month’s newsletter, including the opportunity to purchase a holiday 2021 book gift box early before sales officially open up, news about my books, NaNoWriMo, future releases, and more! Scroll on!
Hello, my wonderful subscribers! The day we’ve been waiting months for has finally arrived! Yesterday, THE WILD DARK was let loose upon the world and is available for purchase in either paperback or e-book. You’ll find some links below as well as some other highlights from the last month.
Release day is a really important day for us indie authors. It’s the day where the book gets established in its best-seller ranking, namely on platforms like Amazon. I know there are people out there who decidedly do not like Amazon and don’t wish to support it. There are plenty of wonderful brick and mortar bookstores who you can order from (check out Indiebound).
For those of you who don’t mind shopping at Amazon, please pick it up as close to release day as you can! The more sales that come through on or near release day, the more opportunities other readers will have to see the book and want to purchase it. The higher up it goes on the best-seller list, the better visibility it gets.
I’ve done most of the work on this book all on my own (cover design and out-reach marketing included) and can say that, as someone who does this because it’s my passion, I am overwhelmingly grateful to everyone who has bought, shared, and reviewed the book so far. Thank you for taking a chance on my book and me. You have my deepest thanks and kindest regards.
We got the grand-dame of reviews with our first official Kirkus Review. Among the lovely things they had to say about THE WILD DARK was “Silva’s prose writhes with angst and urgency…” which has me pretty tickled. If you’re curious about the rest of the review, you can find it here.
I did my first show in over a year at Bangor Comic and Toy Con last week where I sold an incredible number of early editions of THE WILD DARK, met some lovely people (including several of you guys!) and picked up some pretty sweet books to read in return. Thanks to everyone who made it such an incredible weekend and stay tuned for next year’s BCTC! (I’ll definitely be there!) Here are a few photos of the set up and the weekend.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? We’ve got some events lined up for October and November and I’m super excited to get deeper into them. For more information about each one, please refer to the EVENTS section of the website.
Author Reading/Book-Signing with Vose Library in Union, ME – October 20th Halloween Reading with Kevin St. Jarre, Meg North, and E.J. Fechenda at Maine Sport Outfitters – October 23rd NEHW in Salem – October 29th and 30th Freaks & Artists’ Guild Presents LIVING ROOM @ Mr. Kim’s in Portsmouth, NH – November 9th Author Reading/Book-Signing with Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH – November 14th
That’s everything for today. If you’ve ordered a copy of THE WILD DARK, I’d love for you to take a seasonally appropriate photo with it and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter! And while you’re at it, if you’re not already following me, please do that, too!
Thank you all for being so supportive and awesome! Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter.
Want to win a chance at getting an early copy of THE WILD DARK? There are ten copies up for grabs on Goodreads! All you need to enter is a Goodreads account, where you can keep track of all those wonderful books you’ve yet to read. Click the button above to get started!
What else is new? How about a sneak peek at the first chapter of the book? You can hop on over to Book Funnel and sign in with an email address to download a first taste of the book. No worries, that email subscribes you to my monthly newsletter, where you can get first look at exclusives, premier news about the book, and extras that everyone else won’t get to see… Click the photo below to go to Book Funnel!
I’ve been having fun on Instagram the last couple weeks participating in a couple of themed book challenges! If you don’t already follow me, hop on over to my insta and add me, for all of your bookish delights!
I got confirmation today that Bull Moose, one of New England’s awesome book vendors is going to carry THE WILD DARK at six of its largest stores! They have the book available for pre-order which can be found here. Support local bookstores and pre-order your copy now.
I’ve got a tentative TBR (to-be-read) list for August, which I can only half commit to because of how incredibly busy I’ve been in getting THE WILD DARK off the ground and ready for its launch in October. These are some of my hopefuls. Maybe they could be on your TBR pile, too?
What gear would you want to get through the apocalypse? Today, I’m sharing with you a few of the things that my characters in my upcoming book use to get by. THE WILD DARK releases for pre-order today and I figured what better way to celebrate than share some exclusive details not only from this book but…the next one!
Hello my avid dark fiction lovers! I have the wonderful distinction of getting to interview NOT DEER MAGAZINE today. You may have heard their buzz on Twitter as they post short but brilliant sparks of dark stories and poems, accompanied by intriguing imagery and compelling titles from submitters to their online publication. Today, we’re talking to editor-in-chief, Rowan, and co-editors, Taylor, and Thandiwe.
Introduce yourselves! Who are the brilliant minds behind NOT DEER MAGAZINE?
Rowan: I’m Rowan, the Editor-in-Chief. I write fiction and poetry, primarily about feral women and the rural gothic. I mostly keep the website updated and correspond with contributors, but my favorite part of running the magazine is reading submissions.
Taylor: I’m Taylor. I’m a co-editor. I like poetry. I’ve had work published in a few places and I especially like flash fiction and micropoetry. I write about the way love can rot. I enjoy reading submissions. I also tend to be the primary person running our Twitter.
Thandiwe: I’m Thandiwe, one of the co-editors. I love fantasy and things that verge on the edge of the surreal. I write fiction and poetry circling the ideas of identity and finding one’s place in the world. I run our Instagram but I really love reading for the magazine and creating cover art.
What does the name “Not Deer” stand for?
Rowan: We’re named after my favorite cryptid, the Appalachian Not Deer.
Taylor: It stands for deer that aren’t normal deer. When the deer aren’t deer, that’s when you know to run.
Thandiwe: There is something seriously wrong with that deer. Is it even a deer? Things are getting twisted and the fog is creeping in.
What was your goal in creating NOT DEER MAGAZINE?
Rowan: I saw the need for a literary magazine that specifically made most of its space for marginalized creators. The goal is to be an environment that presents work from creators who are often overlooked when it comes to horror as a genre.
Taylor: We wanted to create a space where creative horror written by women and under-represented voices are spotlighted. So much of modern horror is dominated by men equating violence against women to good horror writing and we wanted a space void of that. Not Deer was Rowan’s idea and Thandiwe and I jumped on. We were all in the same major and are part of a writing group so it was really easy to coordinate.
Thandiwe: When Rowan brought up her plans for a magazine I was super excited. I loved the idea of a more inclusive publication for horror writing and I really want to give a platform for creators who might otherwise be overlooked for not fitting into an expected mold.
Who does NOT DEER MAGAZINE cater to? Who are your ideal readers?
Rowan: An ideal reader would be someone who appreciates the complexities of good horror. I want the work we publish to be read by people who are open to what the genre is or could become.
Taylor: Our ideal readers are people who want to read good writing. I wouldn’t say we cater to a specific demographic. We only publish pieces that we feel move us, and we hope our readers feel moved as well.
Thandiwe: I don’t know that we cater to anyone specifically. If I like the piece and feel that it fits our theme, that’s a good enough reason for me. I want people to enjoy the environment we’ve cultivated through our publications. If someone encounters our corner of the woods and finds it to their liking, they are welcome to stay, if not, then I wish them well on their travels.
Are you currently accepting submissions?
We are accepting rolling submissions almost always and often have contests. See our submission page for more info.
What are some future goals for the magazine?
Rowan: We nominate for the Pushcart Prize and I think it’d be really cool to have one of our contributors win. We’ve published so much excellent work that deserves to be further recognized.
Taylor: Moving forward, we’d love to put out a print issue. We’d like to do a “best of” issue in print and online. We’d also like to continue to do more contests. If we can ever afford to, we’d love to pay contributors.
Thandiwe: I think the contests will be a fun feature in the future and I look forward to coming up with more themes. I’m excited at the prospect of possible print issues.
What are some other projects that you are working on besides the magazine?
Rowan: I’m working on putting together a hybrid anthology of my short fiction and poetry as well as submitting work to other publications in the small press world.
Taylor: I’m writing a book of short fiction stories right now. I’m reading a lot. I just graduated with my BFA so now that I’m not reading for class, I have time to read for myself.
Thandiwe: I’m currently working on some small short fiction pieces and poetry. Writing more personal non-fiction might be something I’d like to get into moving forward.
Where can people go to find out more information about NOT DEER MAGAZINE?
See our website, our Instagram, or our Twitter for more info.
Is there anything else people should know about the magazine?
We have merch! We are on Redbubble and sell things like stickers, mugs, and tote bags. They’re very cute and the art is done by two of our close friends!
Well, there you have it! Submit to NOT DEER MAGAZINE today! You can find all of their links below!
Welcome, welcome! First off, I’d like to thank all of my long time subscribers here on WordPress. You guys have been through all the iterations of this blog from The Monstrum Chronicles, to Writers’ Abditory, and finally to The Kat At Night. It’s taken some time to finally find a steady pace and rebrand into a place where I feel most comfortable.
That being said, I’m expanding my blog into a new monthly newsletter in anticipation of the fall release of “The Wild Dark”. Said newsletter is being provided through my website and SquareSpace. While I’m going to try and duplicate announcements in both places as best I can, I’d really like to make the newsletter my exclusive place to readers to find upcoming content related to “The Wild Dark” as well as info about upcoming giveaways, pre-order happiness, and sneak peeks.
For those of you who don’t know about “The Wild Dark”, I’ll post the cover below along with a brief synopsis:
Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Raleigh has lost everything in the last few months: her job as a police detective, her partner, her fiancé, and her peace of mind. After a month of solitude at a cabin in the woods, she finally feels as though she’s ready to move on.
But in one terrifying night, everything changes. An unearthly forest realm has begun to creep over the world, swallowing up every sign of human civilization. The woods are fraught with disturbing architecture and monstrous wolves hungry for human souls. In addition, ghosts of loved ones have appeared to select people including Liz’s partner, Brody, who doesn’t remember how he died.
As winter closes in and chaos erupts across New England, Liz fights desolation, resurfacing guilt, and absolute terror as she tries to survive one of the North East’s most brutal winters.
Anyone here fans of survivalism? Winter camping? Apocalypses? Spooky woods? Murder wolves? A strong female protagonist? “The Wild Dark” might be for you! The button below will take you to the website where you’ll have the option to subscribe. (Scroll to the bottom of the main page to find the entry form!) I’ll probably be more diligent with promoting the book there than here. I’d like The Kat at Night to include my writing escapades, but to also be its own entity as well. There will be exclusive content in both places.
The Kat At Night 