With the caveat that we all believe our novels are the bestest, most stupendous thing, ever, I kept going because I knew in my soul that I had a story worth reading. Yes, it was different, difficult to place on ye olde commercial shelf, and it definitely didn't follow trends, but I knew. More than 100 said otherwise ("I love it/ your characters are amazing/ this is so immersive... but—always the but), telling me that it doesn't fit. Still I believed... then I let people read it. Readers, complete strangers I'd never met and who didn't know who I was, loved it, outright saying that it was fresh and new, that finally somebody wrote something with depth, that they were so bored with how homogenized novels had become and this was a breath of fresh air (an actual quote). My faith buttressed, I queried on, writing the sequel and making business plans to self-publish if everyone said NO. Suddenly, offers tickled in, and i took one. TLDR? If you believe in your story, writing, and self enough... and you're note fooling yourself... you'll eventually make it happen.

Rather than writing It Creeps like I should, I revised the concept cover art for Witchful Thinking, so it matches Sweet Wtichteen (coming Samhain 2027 through @whimsillusion ). I know, it needs work, especially the text coloring, but it's still kind of cool, I think.

SWEET WITCHTEEN (Halloween 2027 with @whimsillusion). Every villain is the hero of their own story. Sweet Witchteen is Krystal Greene's story. Draw your own conclusions. - She survives a community determined to break her. Krystal endures relentless bullying, humiliation, and persecution simply for being different. Even when driven to despair, she continues struggling to find a place in a world that has largely rejected her. - She is condemned for a tragedy she tried to prevent. The Miller House fire becomes the foundation of Theillesville's hatred toward Krystal, despite her efforts to save the people involved. Her reward for trying to help is to become the town's scapegoat. - She refuses to surrender her identity to her persecutors. Krystal could attempt to suppress her witchcraft, conceal everything that makes her different, and conform to the expectations of a hostile community. Instead, she insists on being herself, regardless of the consequences. - She seeks forbidden knowledge because conventional protections have failed her. Her relationship with Kari is dangerous, but it begins with a vulnerable girl seeking the strength to survive. When the accepted rules offer no meaningful protection, Krystal finds another way. Is SWEET WITCHTEEN's Krystal heroine or villain? Your thoughts?

The cultists who don't want me and @whimsillusion publishing SWEET WITCHTEEN have moved beyond threatening letters. They're watching me, stalking me, and last night, they vandalized my house. @phoenixmoirai 's team is researching the cult, but little is known.

SWEET WITCHTEEN (Halloween 2027 with @whimsillusion). Is Krystal Greene the villain or the heroine? - She willingly absorbs dark, corrupting power. Krystal draws upon the lingering energy of The Darkness to accomplish her goals. She doesn't simply resist evil; she incorporates it into herself. - She begins to believe she's superior to ordinary humans. By the conclusion, Krystal increasingly regards her supernatural power as justification for refusing the social constraints imposed on everyone else. The bullied outcast is becoming someone who sees mundanes as beneath her. - She saves the people she despises—and believes they owe her. Her heroism is genuine, but her emerging sense of entitlement is troubling. Saving someone's life doesn't grant ownership over that person. - She becomes precisely what the town feared. Theillesville persecuted a little girl for being a witch. In response, she became a powerful, lawbreaking practitioner of forbidden magick who can invade minds, alter memories, and cross into other universes. What if Sweet Witchteen isn't a hero's journey, but a villain's origin story told by the villain herself? Your thoughts?

BREAKING NEWS: SWEET WITCHTEEN (coming Halloween 2027 with @whimsillusion ) foretold of this, and Krystal Greene tried to stop it. Despite her best efforts and the help of her fan-favorite friend, Jen Crowley, The Darkness has arrived: theonion.com/breaking-the-da….

The plot thickens. Following @whimsillusion 's research, I've discovered this ancient photograph, taken in the late 1800s or early 1900s, of a witch bearing the same arcane mark on her forehead. Whoever's threatening us, their cult has been around a long time.