They say to never read reviews, but I always do. I suspect I’m not the only one.
In the past six months, I’ve had three releases: one novel (The Fiend in the Fog), a 10,000 word novelette (Dust to Dust), and an anthology (Death by Cupcake), which I edited some time ago.
The Fiend in the Fog, a monster story, of sorts, was released in August.
The Fiend in the Fog has proven to be quite polarizing. It reminds me a bit of The Left Hand of Justice, not only in that readers seemed to feel either strongly positive or strongly negative about it, but also in that those feelings reflected my own feelings while writing both of those books.
Both of those stories came straight from the subconscious. They were difficult to pin down, utterly unruly, nearly impossible to wrangle into place. I loved the concepts behind them, and the characters, but struggled with the execution.
In the end I loved both of those books as much as any of the others, but bringing them forth was an ordeal, and I think that struggle, and my own duality of feelings about those books, are reflected in readers’ polarized reactions.
Dust to Dust came out, appropriately, on Halloween. Self publishing was a learning curve with some interesting lessons.
Dust to Dust, on the other hand, was an easy birth. Ira stories always are. He’s such an obliging storyteller, and loves to breeze in for a natter. He always has a fun anecdote to share, and writing down his stories is like taking dictation from Thalia herself.
Ira loves to tell his stories, and people love to read them. And, I suspect, folks are up for a laugh right now.
Whither Cupcake?
Death by Cupcake: a long time coming, but well worth the wait.
Death by Cupcake is my swan song as the mystery editor for Elm Books. Elm has closed their mystery division to focus on uplifting authors with disabilities. I’ll miss putting together those anthologies, but I wholeheartedly support the publisher’s new direction, and wish them all the very best.
Cupcake’s release was long overdue, but there are some excellent stories in there, and I stand by them all. If you’re looking for lighthearted mystery short stories, I encourage you to take a peek.
What are you reading right now? Have your reading habits changed over these past two years? I’m curious!
Jess Faraday 