Down to the final week before Freakhouse (1st edition) comes off of the shelves. By Monday, you should see the cost of print book orders reduced by half. Strangely enough, even with the kindle version only being $2.99, I've only ever sold one. My readers clearly like to hold physical copies in their hands - shipping costs be hanged! Can't blame them, though. I still fill my shelves with hard copies. 

For those of you wondering about what will happen to Dotan, Jos and Blue after January: They are going to be alright. I've done a sweep through already, and I promise you, the story has not changed. Our tragically lovable characters will capture your hearts in the 2nd edition just as they did in the 1st. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, my removing the 1st edition is not due to a lack of love. Freakhouse has a certain magic about it, it has drawn in unsuspecting readers and forced them through the emotional roller-coaster that is Dotan's life. I've had readers tell me how much they love this story, and I've also had readers tell me how much they hate me because of knife that I've plunged into their hearts. I take both as compliments.

Freakhouse was a sort of creative experiment within itself. It was a challenge to see if I could put a story idea into a new lens. I went against my genre, my typical narrative voice, and my storytelling script. 

I don't know what the 2nd edition will look like yet, but I know that I won't be happy until Freakhouse radiates all of the pride that I feel for Dotan's story, even before the first page is turned. 

Maybe I should have been this ambitious from the beginning, but to be honest, I was so certain that it wasn't going to be well received at all. Knowing now what it can do, I'm ready to see it take on the world. 

The sequel is in the hands of Betas, so hopefully when I am ready to announce what's become of my new-and-improved Freakhouse, I'll have a word or two to share about Parish. Be warned, though, that word or two might include "re-write" so no promises on that front yet.

Things might grow quiet around here while work is in progress, but I am determined to make 2015 my unstoppable year. Freakhouse is only the beginning!

New games are always welcome in my house, and so we broke open a few!

Miskatonic School for Girls - Holiday Break
The first expansion pack for the beloved tongue-in-cheek Lovecraft game was a Kickstarter investment that finally made it's way home. I am very pleased that the new cards don't change the base game very much so adding them in is quite easy. The big difference is that we get house cards that give us different abilities. I picked Hufflepuff yellow of course, giving me the house Ulthar, while hubby took his beloved Ravenclaw blue of Yuggoth House. 

It was a close game, both of us were within a point or two of complete insanity. I got an Aggressive teacher in my class while standing on my last leg and that was the end of that. There's no real happy ending in this game; you just come out slightly less crazy than everyone else.

Letters from Whitechapel
This is a game that I have been really looking forward to and it did not disappoint. I struck up my role as Jack the Ripper and got caught one space from my hideout on the fifth day, having successfully murdered all of my victims. *this is where I get flagged by internet police, isn't it?* Immediately we played again, having ironed out the rules from the first round. I was caught eight moves into the first night. My husband's way too clever. We switched roles for our third game. I should not be in charge of an entire investigation, I can't keep track of squat, and the Ripper got off scott free. 

You'd think that I'd have more pictures of the game we played 3 times, but no, I was way to into the game. Beautiful game. A new favourite of mine now, provided that I get to be the Ripper ;)

So maybe it's not all for 2015; I've already been putting some wheels in motion in 2014. I'm feeling excited, restless, and so ready! 

What am I babbling about? Well, in short, me and my work. I've been playing it safe for a long time, and as I've been growing in my skill and confidence, I feel like I've been outgrowing a lot of the training wheels I've been wearing. I'm ready to make some serious movement, but I'm going to need a bigger team to get where I want to go. So, Loyal Fans and Followers, I'm announcing the end of my two first editions, Galen and Freakhouse.

Don't worry, they won't be gone forever, but I need to do more justice to them than what I've been capable of giving thus far. At least for Freakhouse. I submitted Freakhouse for some serious review and the feedback I received was better than expected. I don't do much marketing, and as such, I don't often hear reviews from completely out of the blue, so when someone who critiques novels for a living tells me that I'm heading in the right direction with my craft, the least I can do is make sure that what I present to the public reflects that. 

Galen... well, I'm still too nervous to go back and give that one a re-read because I already know how far I've come since I released that one. It wasn't my first novel, but it was the first one that I really thought could be taken seriously. I know that I've read worse books out there that come with far more acclaim, but it's not about being good, it's about me being at my best, and I don't think that Galen represents that for me at this point. Freakhouse, though, I still feel it every time I read it, and when other readers tell me how painful they find the story, well, I know I've done something right. 

Just to be clear, I'm not taking these titles down because I'm ashamed of them. I'm taking them down because I'm proud of them. I was proud of them when they were polished up after numerous edits, but now, I want you all to feel proud of them, too. Don't think of it as me preparing them for the world so much as preparing the world for them. Consider this part of my New Year's Resolution. A new me, a new start, a new face for my paperback babies!

If you really want these first editions, place your order before the end of January 2015. I'll be discontinuing them come February 2015. No idea when they'll resurface, but you can bet that I'll be announcing it to the world when they do! Stay tuned!