2023 WRITING WRAP

It’s been a little while since I last did one of these, but then again, in terms of writing, those few years between now and whenever I last did one, I haven’t been as entirely prolific with writing as I was previously.

This year, despite all the other factors and events that have made the year something of a shitshow, I was still able to release some books, and attain a couple of personal goals I set for myself.

To begin with, for the first time since kicking off the whole Extremes phenomenon, I actually managed to get two books of the series out in the same year. That would be the couple that conclude the second trio of Extremes books, No Safety in Numbers and Lone Wolves, which as most would know belong in the same bracket with the book that remains my biggest mover of everything I’ve thus far put out-Extremes: Couples.

Extremes: No Safety in Numbers came out in March, and Extremes: Lone Wolves followed several months later, out in August. I won’t gibber on about the notions of these books, and what sort of stories comprise each of them because I’d imagine most folk who actually bother paying any attention to this shit will already be well aware.

The whole purpose of this post is merely a writing wrap, highlighting what I managed to get around to writing and releasing amidst all the menagerie of things that is life. there are abundant other posts that delve deeper into what this whole series of Extremes was about, so if one is inclined, they can search around this site here and find out what that’s all about if they’re unclear.

In any case, now I’ve managed to get two of them out in the same year with only a handful of months between their releases, the next goal I’ve set for myself in that regard is to try and release a whole set in one year. If you’ve been keeping an eye out or managed to see posts floating around various social media platforms you will have already seen where I’m planning to go with that lot. Will it actually pan out that way? Who knows? I might even throw a curve ball and get hit by new ideas for what i can do in the Extremes universe and put the plans I’ve already got on the backburner.

Whichever way it unfolds, rest assured the Extremes juggernaut will continue in 2024, though there will be other things coming as well. Shorter stories seem to have been where I largely dwelled in 2023, but I aim to focus on other formats next year as well. Novellas will definitely be a thing. In the interests of remaining visible, I will be publishing standalone works that will most likely be in the novella range, though having said that, I’ll probably end up with a handful of six-hundred-page behemoths or some such shit.

Sequels are also a goal. To which book you might ask, well, we’ll see. there are myriad works that I feel possibly deserve a sequel, and some I’ve already been tinkering around with, but again, nothing set in stone.

Finally, the other achievement I unlocked was getting out an All Hallow’s Eve themed horror book just prior to the date of said event. Granted it wasn’t exactly the one I’d aimed for-which would be Extremes: All Hallow’s Eve-but the one I did release certainly contains plenty of fare that would be right at home amongst the gory splatter, ultra-violence, wanton brutality and virulent excesses of the Extremes world.

What’s more, that would tend to mess up how I like to roll with the Extremes thing, dropping them out in ghastly little trios. Maybe a holiday threesome is what will be called for, and All Hallow’s Eve can form part of that. Thinking out loud.

With that said, the Halloween book I managed to throw out into the wilds a mere day or so before All Hallow’s descended is one I’ve had the seeds of ideas loitering around for, for a little while now. The cover was created quite some time ago, though the one the book ended up with has been tweaked somewhat compared to the original concept.

Again, as I stated earlier, short stories were the go for me, all the rage, so consequently, the book I speak of, Hallowretched is not a novel or novella or standalone piece, it is comprised of several works of short fiction. And of course, as you know, short fiction for me rarely sits around that 1k-5k mark, but regularly spans well past it. As most of these-though not all did. There are posts dedicated solely to this particular book and its recommended playlist and the usual shit I churn out to match each book release, so once more I won’t rant on a whole bunch.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it. 2023 writing wrap. It was not such a good year in regard to a lot of things that went on in the general world, and closer to home and so forth, but this wouldn’t really be the time or place for me to wax lyrical about any of that. This is where I spout off about my books and what i managed to achieve in terms of extreme inkslinging, and therefore that’s what I’ve done.

Three books out this year, all collections, but all of them new stories (give or take one or two), and several tie in to other works. If you’ve kept up with everything i write you should be able to figure out just which works some of these tales relate to. If not, then you probably haven’t yet read enough of my stuff. So, rectify that now. Go and read them all. May as well start with these three here.

Extremes: No Safety in Numbers, Extremes: Lone Wolves, and Hallowretched.

Be warned, it gets dark in there.

Hide in a group all you want. Surround yourself with plenty of people. It really doesn’t matter.

There is No Safety in Numbers.

Creeping out of deep pockets of gloom and lunacy is the latest blood-soaked slab from the Extremes universe, stalking with relentless intent on the heels of those that lurked prior.

October 31. A favourite time of year for many. The season of the macabre.

This isn’t just Halloween.

This is Hallowretched.