Blog Revival

 

Welcome back, friends!

You may follow me on social media but it's been several months since I've posted here. And even if you do follow me on social media, you may have noticed that I haven't been quite as active on any of my platforms lately. Which leads us directly into why I'm slowly reviving my blog!

To put it as concisely as possible, life is busy and social media can be stressful. I had some health issues at the end of last year and early part of this year, plus changing jobs (I'm now back to working at a fine arts museum. Yay!), and I've just been feeling a general disconnect from the sort of energy that social media platforms bring. The only one I truly enjoy using is Instagram, but I don't have a whole lot of free time to create visual content on a regular basis to make the algorithm love me. 

So, in the spirit of staying connected while also protecting my free time, I've decided to attempt to start posting here weekly (most likely my posts will go up on Mondays) and I will still post links to my social media platforms to let you know. I will also use them for other occasional posts, but at least you'll know that this is the place where I'll be more regularly and I hope to be able to share so much more with you here about what writing projects I'm working on along with life updates and things that just generally interest me.

I'm hoping this will be a much more personal way to stay connected with you all while providing a place you know you can go to find out updates and more about my books!

Please feel free to let me know what you'd like for me to post about here and if there are any specific topics that you'd be interested in seeing me cover.

I'll be back next week (like I said, hopefully Monday!) with updates on my progress with The Dapper Detective.

Thanks for reading!

🖤 Dez

Spring Updates

 

Happy Spring!

Summer is nearly here and it's hard to imagine that we're almost halfway through 2022 already. I haven't posted here since the beginning of the year so I wanted to share some updates on what's going on in my writing life!

There's a lot going on in the world (we all know so I won't get into it here), and I feel as though--to an extent--the weight of it has slowed down my writing process this year; BUT I am consistently writing, so I do have a few things to update you on.

Work-In-Progress

My main project at the moment is the sequel to The Dandy Medium (the paperback edition is currently on sale on Amazon). This M/M Gaslamp Fantasy catches us back up with Alfie and Sebastian several months after the events of the first book. New crimes are afoot and this time they heavily involve the citizens of the Night District. I won't say too much, but a certain vampire and his underground society play a huge role in this story! As for progress, I'm about 1/4 of the way through the first draft.

Coming Soon

If you enjoyed the Dreampunk Anthology Mirrormaze then you'll be pleased to hear that a second Dreampunk Anthology will be releasing later this year titled Somniscope! My short story contribution to this one is titled Looped and is a surreal, psychological drama. A bit different from what you've seen from me so far but still in line with my Dreampunk style (ex: ROAM series). This new anthology, featuring a wonderful group of Dreampunk writers, will release in December 2022.

Aside from writing, I've also taken on a role as a Proofreader for NineStar Press! I'm thrilled to be able to keep finding ways to contribute to the LGBTQ book community.

As you can see, I'm keeping busy. But I am hoping to get into the habit of updating this blog more regularly.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Until next time, Happy Reading!

- Dez

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Pre-Orders For CURSED ASYLUM Available Now

 

Hello, friends!

CURSED ASYLUM (The Dead Oaks: Book 4) is now available for pre-order on Amazon! This final installment in my YA MM Paranormal Novella series, The Dead Oaks, releases October 26th. Just in time for Halloween!

Blurb:

In the final installment of the series, The Dead Oaks Paranormal Society is offered the opportunity of a lifetime to compete against several other teams of paranormal investigators on Fright Team TV, a reality television special, for the chance to win a show of their own!

The production takes them on location to one of the most haunted asylums in North America. But will the group be able to survive the temptation of fame and a chilling curse from beyond?

If you need to catch up on the rest of the series, the first three books are now only 99 cents each!

And if you're already a full-fledged D.O.P.S. fan, you can show your support by grabbing an official Dead Oaks Paranormal Society t-shirt from Redbubble! ROAM merch is also available.

Keep an eye on this space in October because I'll be sharing more things soon! 

Author Life: Morning Writing Routine

Confession: I did not start out as a Morning Writer by any means.  When I first began my writing journey, I was a Midnight-3AM Writer.  I would say this was because I was trying to live that Gothic-Dreampunk-By-Moonlight-Creative-By-Candlelight lifestyle but the truth is that it was the only way, at the time, to fit a solid chunk of uninterrupted writing time into my day.  I'm a wife, mom, and had a full-time job (I was a graphic designer for a decade and then did a brief stint as an Executive Assistant at a Fine Arts museum).  Now that I have the opportunity to stay home (which I am extremely grateful to my husband for being so incredibly supportive), I've been able to figure out what time of day I'm actually the most creative when it comes to writing.  You guessed it--mornings!

I like being able to start the day with a fresh mind so I can truly focus on whatever story I'm working on.  Also, knocking out a writing session first thing in the morning makes the rest of the day feel like a breeze no matter what I have going on because I'm already starting out feeling as though I've accomplished something.

Here's what my typical Morning Writing Routine looks like these days:

7:00 A.M.

Wake up.  Get morning chores out of the way.  Check emails.

8:00 A.M.

Make coffee. Review where I'm at in the story and then begin the morning's writing session.  I know a lot of author's like to take breaks every half hour or so but I'm more of the type to set a parameter for a session and then solidly work through it.  I'll either give myself a world count goal to meet or just a time frame (usually an hour and a half to two hours) depending on my progress versus whatever deadline I've given myself to complete the draft.

10:00 A.M.

Get dressed for the day and review my planner and To-Do lists.  I usually get some laundry going around this time and return any calls/messages/etc.

11:00 A.M.

My husband and I meet up for lunch every day which is nice and I'm incredibly happy that we're able to do that.

11:30 A.M.

MORE COFFEE!  And back to writing.  I'll finish up whatever scene or chapter that I was working on that day or use this time to do any needed research.  If I've already met my writing goal for the day and I don't have the energy to jump into a new scene then I'll use this as Administrative time to work on the more "business" side of things like marketing, promotion, and brainstorming content ideas.  This session usually lasts until about 1:00 P.M.

That's my Morning Writing Routine!  I have no clue how interesting/dull you all might find it. haha  But if you enjoy these sorts of posts then be sure to let me know in the comments or on social media.  I love to hear from you guys and if there are any topics you'd like to see me cover in terms of writing or publishing then please feel free to ask!

Thanks for reading!

- Dez -

HUNTER is now available at:

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