Jan Miklaszewicz's Blog: Hartmouth Horrors

Welcome to my Monday morning blog, which is basically me smashing out a few half-baked paragraphs about whatever’s on my mind. I’m no article writer, so please don’t expect anything polished or SEO-compliant, but here goes anyway...

About a year ago on Twitter, in response to the common gripe that writing book blurbs is a nightmare, someone claimed to habitually write theirs before even getting started on the story. I was so impressed with this idea, which does sound kind of barmy, true, that I tried it myself.

And two novellas later, I have to say I’m a convert. Blurbing first allows me to get the essence of the story down in writing, and that blurb then acts as kind of a pole star to guide me as I pants the first draft. I may need to tweak it as I go along, but so far that’s been easy enough.

Pushback to this idea (when I float it, which isn’t very often) generally comes as the claim that “I don’t even know what the story is yet, so how the hell can I write the blurb?”

Which for me raises several questions. Is that what a blurb is, a summary of the story? If so, is that why people struggle to write blurbs? Because they’re trying to shoehorn all their ideas into a couple of paragraphs?

I don’t know, but I have a feeling it is.

Woke up today to a great little review of Eyes Wide Open courtesy of Arron Hook (please check out his channel, which you’ll find via the linked video). Turns out the setting of the story, not just the shabby 2000s student house that many of us remember so fondly but also the town of Hartmouth itself, really made an impression. Big thanks to you for taking the time to read and review. We indie writers really appreciate this kind of support.

Delighted to announce the wonderful, if belated, press release for the launch of Hartmouth Horrors novella number two. Big thanks to The Dark Veil Society for writing and posting this.

https://darkveilsociety.com/releases/2025/11/20/book-release-the-devil-in-mia-by-jan-miklaszewicz

Thrilled to announce the publication of The Devil in Mia, freeing me up to start on novella number three. Watch this space, because I have some very fun and nasty ideas for that one.

Gazing out across the Channel from England’s southwest coast, Hartmouth is a lovely town with more than its fair share of horrible happenings. You’re welcome to pay a visit, just remember to wipe your feet on the way out.

A collection of standalone novellas set in the early 2000s, with a new title published every six months, this original series seeks to make you squirm.