#writing-update — Public Fediverse posts

Big update about my recent publications, new book out in the summer, and other various ramblings. Thank you for continuing to support my voice and work. Details in the post:

#amwriting #amwritingliteraryhorror #literaryhorror #horror #writing #poetry #blogging #writingupdate #reading #amreading

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/04/29/writing-update-4-29-26/

#lifeupdate #Writers #Readers #writingupdate #HappyCaterday

#WritingUpdate #Life #author #Writer

Literary Horror

What do I actually write?

I get this question a lot in my personal life, at conventions, and even when I ship out books at the post office. I have always struggled to answer it because I carried a certain amount of shame around it. That shame came from multiple places. Some of it came from people in my life degrading the things I write about, dismissing them in favor of other genres that better matched their own interests, like nonfiction.

Another source of that negativity is the stigma attached to writing horror. Occasionally, people assume you are dark, weird, disturbed, or antisocial because you write horror. Again, another subverted stereotype for people to be comfortable with their own insecurities. I am relatively simplistic as a man. I like football, working out, hunting, fishing, and gaming. I have a wife, kids, a dog, a minivan, and a favorite brand of paper towel. If you sat down to have a beer with me, you would have no clue about what I write, unless I mentioned it specifically.

I have found it difficult to start conversations saying that I write about faceless monsters reanimating corpses to metaphorically portray a generational abandonment wound.

With my monsters, I have attempted to abandon them countless times in my writing career. I have wanted to be someone else because of the reasons I listed above, and also because many people I respect and admire have nudged me toward giving them up. They have never directly said those words to me, but their actions and opinions often pointed in that direction. I understand they were trying to share what worked for them or how they defined success, but I cannot do it.

I write literary horror.

I did not know that was a genre until I researched it, and I was surprised to find such a clear distinction. However, it is exactly what I write. It is not pulpy, slasher, or even traditionally scary. It is horror, but my voice relies more on literary technique than specific plot mechanics or motifs. Much of my work lives in magical realism, slipstream, and poetic spaces. Monsters are the foundation of my stories.

I use them in multiple ways. They are mirrors for human behavior. Metaphors for sociological issues. Conduits for processing my own personal traumas. Some of the reasons I write this way are clear to me, and others I am still discovering. That is part of the beauty of taking this adventure as a writer. I am learning new things about myself and my style as I continue. I feel very lucky and privileged to be doing it. Literary horror is a specific genre, but using monsters not for shock or spectacle, but to communicate human emotions and lived experiences, is the only way I know how to write.

So the purpose of this random blog post about what I write is simple. I have never really said this out loud or clearly named it before. Maybe that means I am a little more confident in who I am and what I am doing. I have finally accepted this role for myself. Whatever the case, I just wanted to talk about it, so that is what I did on my blog.

Big ole' update about life and writing projects. Hit the link below to read all about it.

#WritingUpdate #AmWriting #CurrentlyWriting #WritersLife #WritingCommunity #AuthorLife #WritingJourney #WIP #WIPUpdate #writing #reading #horrorwriters

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/02/18/monthly-update-2-18-26/

Writing|Editing|Life Update
#writingupdate #lifeupdate #editing #writer #drama

#writers #writingupdate #update

Self-editing of book four is complete! 🥳

10,246 words cut, bringing the WC to just under 176k. Given this is the last book in a series (where the previous books were 156k-163k), I'm okay with this.

Now to see if my editor will accept it prior to our February 2 start date. She might, unless she has another project right. now.

Stay tuned for the title review early next week! 😍

#WritingCommunity #WritingUpdate #Writer #Writing #FantasyBooks

Update on all my projects, including some publication news, self-pub projects, my obsession with Expedition 33, and more.

#WritingUpdate #AmWriting #CurrentlyWriting #WritersLife #WritingCommunity #AuthorLife #WritingJourney #WIP #WIPUpdate #writing #reading #horrorwriters

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/january-update-1-14-2026/

January Update 1/14/2026

• First update of 2026! Wow, hard to believe we’re already in this year. I can’t believe it. The last year went by so quickly with everything. Happy to be approaching some big events coming up. More details forthcoming.
• Had a good last week with two literary magazines accepting some of my work. Both acceptances in a 24 hour period. Really made me feel good. It feels weird to talk about these successes. I wasn’t really raised in an environment where you celebrated these things without some sort of guilt or takedown being on the backside of it. Hard to market success when you have this emotional baggage. I’m working on it.
• For every acceptance it seems like there are about 10 or 15 rejections. If you could see my submission tracker the amount of red is like an 80’s slasher flick. I constantly get rejections in my email. I suffer about them all the time, so celebrating the positivity feels like sort of a must.
• For years I have mainly used WordPress for my sharing of information and content, despite other places being more keen and prevalent. This is partially my innate shyness, but also what I write. Literary horror isn’t something you just talk about in a post or picture, but something you pull people into. Curiosity is your marketing, and the flash and giggle of social media doesn’t necessarily match up with it always. I sort of lure you in with less, so marketing has been a struggle for me. As I shift into traditional publishing more, I know I’ll have to continue to enhance my content and message. I’ll be sharing things more across all platforms.
• Beware the Ills and the Greenland Diaries continue to get shared on here in pieces every Monday and Friday. They have posts built for the next eight months so plenty of time to invest in the story and read it leisurely.
• I’m not sure what I’ll be doing for events this year. 13 Gears doesn’t sound like it is going to happen, and some of these other events are simply too expensive to justify. Twin Cities Con is a yes. The rest is sort of up in the air. Don’t know the details quite yet. Might be just smaller events like breweries, and potentially a new con.
• I’m thoroughly addicted to Cliar Obscur: Expedition 33. We’ve been playing it like crazy. What an incredible game. Reminds me so much of Legend of Dragoon. I’ve loved everything about it. I highly recommend it.
• Almost done with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Our anime list is out of control. The backlog is huge. I’m not sure when we’ll get through it, but Mob Psycho is next.
• Self-published projects coming up include a Greenland Diaries Omnibus of short fiction, with new material. For sure that one will be produced at some point this year, probably in Fall 2026 for Halloween.
• Alrighty, well, that is my sort of January Update. I have a lot going on this month. I’ll share those links to my new publications when they’re out and live. Thank you everyone for the continued support. Stay healthy! Stay safe!

#author #authorUpdate #behindTheScenes #blogging #books #creativeProcess #fantasy #fiction #horror #monsters #patrickWMarsh #reading #theGreenlandDiaries #workInProgress #writerSLife #writing #writingGoals #writingJourney #writingLife #writingProgress #writingUpdate

Christmas Eve Writing Update 12/24/25

• Hey everyone, just wanted to get on here and share a little update about what I’ve been doing with my writing. I hope everyone has had a good holiday season. Thank you all for your continued support. These are all the things I’m working on in some capacity or another. Ugh. This is an exhausting journey.
• My next self-publish project will be something new and different for me. It will be a collection of nonfiction poetry called: The Owl Wraith. It will include 25 poems detailing my battles with depression, historical trauma, and how that translates to my relationship with my sons. The Owl Wraith will walk that line between nonfiction and literary horror. I’m excited to see what people’s reactions will be to it. This book will include many difficult pieces of subject manner, but we’ll take the journey together. I’ll be releasing the book March 20th, 2026.
• I did an interview on a podcast called Total Conundrum. It was really fun and they have an awesome program. You can find it right here.
• I wrote a nonfiction poem called “You Are the King, and I am Your Star” on here. It is a poem about an inscription I found in the basement of the house my father grew up in. He had to sell it when I went through a bad batch of depression with an ex. I carried some guilt with me about it. You can read the poem here. I will eventually take it down since it will be part of the Owl Wraith. This poem is an example of what you can expect in the poetry collection.
• In terms of literary horror releases, I will be pivoting to release more flash fiction from the world of the Greenland Diaries on here at least a few times a month. I’ve written a whole collection of stories that takes place after the Drum is destroyed. Eventually, I’ll publish this as a collection as well. I will always be writing this series and building it up. Much more is planned outside the original narrative. You’re investment in my series will pay off for years.
• Gears are still fully turning on submitting to literary magazines and looking for traditional publishes for other projects. Stay tuned. I might share some breadcrumbs from each of those endeavors. Really cool stories are lurking in the background.
• I wrote another nonfiction poem called “I Can’t Change the Sunlight” that you can read. It will be part of my Owl Wraith collection. It is about me accepting my traumatic past, and my depression, and acknowledging the existence of triggers. You can read it here.
• I will say writing about these nonfiction subjects takes a lot out of me. I try to pretend that it isn’t difficult, but I can only do so much of it. This collection I’m release is a bit of a last hurrah with it. We’ll see what happens.
• Some of the media I’ve been digesting recently is pretty varied. Been watching a ton of anime. Dr. Stone, Tokyo Ghoul, Dandadan, the Summer Hikaru Died to name a few. All were really good. Tokyo Ghoul gave me some problems with pacing because its characters outpaced the narrative, but it was still decent. Dr. Stone is probably my favorite of all of them. The Summer Hikaru Died resonates most with my style as a storyteller. Truly creepy and wonderful.
• Okay everyone, I just want to say stay safe this holiday season. I hope for the best for you and your loved ones. I appreciate you all. Take care of yourselves!

#author #authorUpdate #behindTheScenes #blogging #books #creativeProcess #fantasy #fiction #horror #monsters #patrickWMarsh #reading #theGreenlandDiaries #workInProgress #writerSLife #writing #writingGoals #writingJourney #writingLife #writingProgress #writingUpdate

The subject matter of this month's writing update should come as a surprise. And it is a shorter update this time because, well, publishing GOATS has been my main focus, and my Year In Review blog post is coming up in just a couple of weeks.

https://stephanieanneauthor.ca/my-december-2025-writing-update/

#blogpost #writingupdate #horrorauthor #horrorstory #ComingSoon2026

Keeping this month's writing update short and sweet because I've spent all morning finishing up draft 1 of a very special project and I might need a break from my computer now 😙

https://stephanieanneauthor.ca/2025/11/27/hes-back-my-november-writing-update/

#blogpost #writingupdate #horrorauthor #skulldaddy #horrorstory

Second year wrote 100k words on this blog

It seems that I really can’t write short

I started this blog 2023 October. And that year end with 21200 words in 42 post. Last year 157437 words in 339 post. This year before this post 101496 words in 301 post. So another full year I have break 100k words written for this blog. So far 280133 words in little over 2 years time. It looks like that before this year ends I will break 300k word count for this blog.

I’m not at all surprised that I have written that much again. Because I love writing this blog. And writing generally. So I did it again. lol I have struggled years to write short. In any other form but poetry. It’s only short form writing I can do. Other than that it is always long. Like it is with this blog. I really love the freedom of write anything I want on this blog. Let the words flow and try new topics to write about. This blog is my happy place.

Apparently it doesn’t matter what I’m writing lol

So it is not only when I’m writing my fictional stories that I can’t write short. Because even with those I can easily write over 100k. And yes I’m little bit worried what will happen with my two rock star book series. That gets just bigger and bigger each month that passes by. Still working on that secret new part.

And trying to keep it short is a struggle I’m facing right now. Because it would be so easy to make it full length or more. But I don’t want that. Not for that part of the story world. So I’m trying to learn writing something shorter for once. And actually end up with something shorter. Not like few times before and I have ended up with a book series instead something short. This time it will be different. I know the famous last words.

I’m really challenging myself to keep the writing in shorter side this time. And it is a hard challenge. Because I have failed at it every time I have tried. So this time I really want keep it shorter from and not fail. I always try to challenge myself and better myself from past versions. Learning new skills. And this is now one of those times. Learning to write shorter form stories. I can’t wait to tell the wold what I’m working with.

With love C.F. Grönroos

Creator of the Mysteries by Rose

#Blog #Blogging #CFGrönroos #MysteriesByRose #WritersLife #writing #WritingUpdate

Writing Update 10/29/25

• Happy Halloween season! Great time of year where the boundary between the ordinary and supernatural feels a bit skewed. Also pumpkin spice season, changing leaves, and Over the Garden Wall just puts it over the top. October never makes me feel out of place as a horror writer. It is a great month.
• Free book weekends are back and moving. Every Saturday and Sunday I’ll have a Kindle book up for free both of these days. I know most of you already have them and whatnot, and that is completely fine. I have the giveaways as part of being an author who utilizes KDP Select, so I use them. Why let them go to waste?
• I have lowered ALL my prices on my books on both Amazon (for paperback and Kindle) and in my bookstore. Everything is cheaper. Thanks to my new formatting choices, the books themselves are smaller to print. I’m not that much of an evil capitalist. There are combos. Books be cheap. Free shipping from my store as well. All work has been revised, edited, then revised again. Yup. It is endless. Visit my bookstore now.
• Recently published a poem I wrote about being a horror writer called “The Dark” on here. I published it last year, but it still very much applies. I like to share it every Halloween season. Truthfully being a monster writer isn’t the product of happy things that have happened to me. I make the most of it, but yes, it is a double-edge sword. Read it here.
• I’m thoroughly addicted to Jujutsu Kaisen. My god, what a great anime. Can’t wait for the new season to be fully released and dubbed. I’m going to watch the movie. I have a Gojo air freshener in my car. I’ve bought in hard.
• Had to buy Returnal again. I love that freaking game. So good. I like to turn off the lights and blast the sound bar. If Metroid were on repeat. I’m excited for the developers new game in March. I also just preordered Metroid Prime 4.
• Another poem I published recently on here called “Kindness” is available to read. This one is a bit obvious, but it is about trusting kind people after so much pain. Granted, I’ve also produced pain in other people’s lives as well. For that, I’m sorry. The poem covers that as well. Read it here.
• The Greenland Diaries and Beware the Ills continue to be shared on here one segment at a time. You can just keep reading it there at your own pace, or you can wait till a book drops on a free book weekend. Both those titles are in the rotation. Spoiler alert.
• Next event I’ll be at is Twin Cities Con. That’ll have its own post of course, but it is coming up soon. You can find out more about this awesome event right here.
• Okay, well, that is it for me. I’m sure there is more to say, but I’ve never been too comfortable talking about myself. Thank you everyone for the continued support. If you want to support me please review my work on Goodreads and Amazon, or visit my bookstore. Take care and be safe!

#author #authorUpdate #behindTheScenes #blogging #books #creativeProcess #fantasy #fiction #horror #monsters #patrickWMarsh #reading #workInProgress #writerSLife #writing #writingGoals #writingJourney #writingLife #writingProgress #writingUpdate

Found a magazine open for submission and sent this one there on the last day of the window. So the tally for the month is: Sent out - 12, Rejections received - 6 (some from stories sent in prev months), Waiting on response - 14 (Sept & Oct) #WritingUpdate #WritingCommunity #BookSky

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36h6ttx2g23zqr4accilbvo7/post/3m3w2trohms2w

Did spooky season solve all of my problems? Maybe!

https://stephanieanneauthor.ca/2025/10/23/the-magic-of-spooky-season-my-october-writing-update/

#blogpost #writingupdate #spookyseason #horrorauthor #selfpublishedauthor #indieauthor #blog

#DailyDigest for 2025-03-26

Another day comes to an end! So, what happened today?

• I finished two scenes for the #murderMystery project. Unfortunately, I still haven't got to the murder! (+2404 words) #amWriting #writingUpdate
• Made a list of possible clients I'll approach in the coming days. #business

Writing update: completed a first draft of my 2010-set murder mystery / dark second chance romance, Best Friends Bury Bodies. #AmWriting #WritingUpdate #IndieAuthor

https://cmrosens.com/2025/03/11/best-friends-bury-bodies-complete-draft/

It's been a busy week, with the paperback & hardcover release of "8" and a brand-new episode of http://postmortemreport.com
😅

Time to relax for a bit before diving back into writing mode to finish my next novel.
✍️🙂👍

Haven't ordered your copy of "8" yet? https://amazon.com/author/michaelshotter

#author #writer #writing #publishing #authorsofmastodon #readersofmastodon #authorupdate #writingupdate #bookstodon #booktodon

🚀 Writing update: Space Trash is now at 52.5K words! A gain of 7K, despite some rewriting detours. There's now an abundance of shark action in space 🦈✨ and even a dinosaur cameo 🦖.

How did I get sharks into space? Fancy thinking. 😂 This story is wild, and I can’t wait to share it when it’s done!

#WritingUpdate #AmWriting #SciFiHumor #SharksInSpace #IndieAuthor #WIPWednesday

🚀 45.6K words down in Space Trash (Squad 51, Book 2)! The latest scene has Hook Raeder dancing for his life in front of two aliens in their space mansion full of… trash! 🕺👽
Just another day in the weird and wonderful universe of Squad 51. 😂💫

#WritingUpdate #AmWriting #SciFi #SpaceTrash #IndieAuthor #SciFiHumor #Squad51 #writingcommunity #amWriting

Writing the witching novel can give me panic attacks, but I hope it's worth it!

#writingcommunity #amwriting #blogger #bloggingcommunity #witch #magic #history #historicalfiction #novelwriting #writingupdate

https://mistresswitchwrites.wordpress.com/2023/05/01/facing-the-witching-novel-a-writing-update/