2022 Strange Wilds Press Holiday Gift Guide

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.

Books can also be purchased individually.

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.

Book can also be purchased individually.

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.

Books can also be purchased individually.

For the mountain climber, campfire storyteller, adventurer, woodland-walker, Halloween-person in your life…

Consider the Hallowed Oblivion Gift Box. Includes: a signed copy of HALLOWED OBLIVION, a small package of Chocorooms, two stickers, and a bookmark.

Book can also be purchased individually.

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.

Print version of HALLOWED OBLIVION also available.

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.

Find them here.

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.

Cheers to you and Happy Holidays!

~KSilva

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September/October Updates

HALLOWED OBLIVION

a novelette from THE WILD DARK

A couple weeks ago, I released my latest work! Hallowed Oblivion is a novelette (about 52 pages) that takes place before the events of THE WILD DARK. It’s part campfire/hiking horror, part Halloween story. This is the first time I’ve written and released a story just for the season and I may make this a continuing theme based on how great the response has been so far!

Here’s a little more about the book:

On Halloween Night, Forest Ranger Hank Feld is called out to the White Mountain National Forest to search for a group of lost hikers. Crushed at not being able to spend the evening with his daughter, Hank sets off into the cold, misty mountains alongside volunteer, Gerard Castle.

But they are not the only things in the woods that night. When they come upon a massacred camping site, they realize there’s something hunting them: a malevolent creature that hungers for the souls of the lost.

A novelette from The Wild Oblivion universe, readers follow one of THE WILD DARK’s characters into the woods for a ghastly adventure, one that might eventually alter the world as we know it…

You can download an ebook copy from my website or order a paperback here

November Hath Come! Gift Boxes, NaNoWriMo & More!

Hello, my wonderful subscribers!

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!

THE WILD DARK – Out Now!

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.

Website (Order an autographed copy)

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

B&N

Bull Moose

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.

~KSilva

The Wild Dark Gear List

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!

What’s up, June?

Due to an issue with my previous theme on the blog, I’ve had to revamp everything about it, including the name. We are now The Kat at Night Blog, where we’ll be discussing dark fiction and, really, lots of dark things. I’m hoping to begin book reviews on dark fiction very soon. I’ve been ordering books up the wazoo to fill time during COVID-19 and I have a TON to read! It’s been a while since I’ve been so excited about reading.

2019 in Review (Hello, 2020!)

A new decade is officially upon us. With it, I’d like to announce some upcoming changes to my business and the blog as well as upcoming releases to get excited about. But first, I’d like to talk a little bit about 2019.

Firstly, 2019 was a year of stepping outside of the box for me. There were a lot of firsts for me (including first tattoo!) and a few lasts. I’ve decided that I don’t want to apologize any more for not getting things up on this blog. I have a lot of intentions. I get excited and my ambition causes me to get carried away with what I’d like to accomplish. I also forget to take care of myself when I do this. That means that I ignore giving myself time to exercise, time to sleep, time to get ready for work on time…

2019 was a year of anxiety for me. I had many beautiful, blessed moments with friends and family this year. I also had several where I realized that I don’t take care of myself nearly as much as I used to. Being able to balance myself means that I can write, and go to work, and occasionally write on the blog, and update my website in a timely fashion. I can play with my cat, pay my bills on time, take my garbage to the dump… all without feeling this terrible weight pressing on me, telling me that I’m doing it all wrong.

Without giving away too many details, I have decided in 2020 to launch new services from my website. I have decided to offer freelance creative writing consultation to writers in the speculative fiction genre. Speculative fiction encompasses everything from fantasy, horror and sci-fi as well as all sub-genres in those main categories. While the details are still being fleshed out, I will be updating my website in the coming weeks with details of what aspects of writing my consultation will include. I’m excited for the opportunity to branch into this part of writing. I’m never more inspired and happy when I feel like I’m helping people with their creative endeavors. This is my answer to giving back to a writing community that has been so helpful to me since entering it.

Along with this news comes upcoming title release news! I’ve just finished writing my novel “The Wild Dark”, a project I’ve been working on since 2013. It’s an apocalyptic thriller with heavy ghost influences and monsters. While this manuscript has a lot of work ahead of it, I’m hoping for a release date in September of 2020. Further details are sure to come.

Last but certainly not least, I want to say that I know I have been very fast and loose with my promises on this blog. I’ve wanted to write so many things this year and haven’t. I wanted to make changes immediately, only to find I lacked energy and follow-through and hadn’t left myself nearly enough time to achieve the goals. I will not be able to continue things like Inspiration Through Music and Cooking Adventures because I don’t have the same energy that I had before when I started those two series. They will always be special and wonderful additions to this blog.

But we must move forward.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting more about what will be happening with The Writer’s Abditory as well as the coming changes to my business. I’ll also be posting more writing-related posts here.

For now, I want to say thank you for riding through the decade with me and here’s to 2020. May you bring happiness, radiance, and color to our lives!

~KSilva

Maine Literary Award Finalist 2019!

That’s right. My novella, “The Collection” has been named a finalist for the 2019 Maine Literary Awards in Speculative fiction. This nomination will be my second with the Maine Literary Awards and I can’t wait to represent at the official ceremony in June with books in tow.

Beginning last year, I sort of “relaunched” my writing career, changing my website, booking new events, and launching a new book. I’ve been so happy with the results of this. However, I’ve also fallen into the no man’s land of not finding much time to write new material. I have nearly four short stories in the works, three novels, and a series I’d really like to write for Kindle exclusively. I’ve also got a house that’s falling apart, a full time job about to move into summer retail craziness, and family and friends to spend time with. Every writer’s quandary is trying to find time to write and do the other things that are important to them.

Spring and the OWC

Spring might finally be here after all. Today, on this fine Thursday, the temperature is supposed to get up into the fifties! Which means the remnants of this week’s snowstorms will probably all melt. Fine by me. I don’t know about all of you but I am DYING for warm weather. I’ve also had this indescribable craving to put my hands into some soil and start gardening. I’m not a green thumb by any means…so this is strange for me.

The beginning of winter is usually when I get excited about spending time cloistered indoors with a hot cup of coffee and that orange dusky light next to my writing space. I like to imagine that I’m going to have all kinds of time to work on various writing projects (including the blog) and in the end, it rarely turns out that way. In fact, there is a point in about mid-February where I become sick and tired of the Maine winter and long for sun and warmer temperatures. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

As a writer, I’m still searching to find my optimal writing conditions or let’s just shorten it to the OWC. Most writers will tell you that they need to carve out any writing time they can, anywhere they can because trying to write while working a full time job, spending time with family and friends, and taking care of a house doesn’t leave much time in between for scheduled writing blocks. The thing is, I believe you do your best writing when you have a space you feel comfortable in, where you can’t be interrupted or side-tracked. Scraps of paper here and there can only get you so far. You still need a block of time to knit it all together, even if those moments are few and far between.

Two Month Update

It’s the last day of February. The temperature reads 10 degrees outside. The sun is warming my tissue-covered living room and I am in a hellish world of hold with the IRS, trying to find out why my refund is late. I’m getting over a cold which came on pretty swiftly earlier this week. Meanwhile, the cat is racing around the room like a deranged squirrel, nearly knocking things over. This is not the hygge life (#hyggelife) that I was hoping for when I wrote my first blog post for 2019.