Since I missed StokerCon due to illness—think a cold that wouldn’t go away—I’ve been busy, busy, busy. Here’s a brief rundown of the news in Casa del Broadbent:

When we met, my husband had a raging allergy to cats—think eye blisters like something out of Exodus. But it’s waned. We were thinking about cats anyway, so when I had to miss Stoker, we took the leap and adopted two black kittens, AKA Spotsylvania Dumpster Gremlins. They’re brothers, and while their names were Fester and Gomez when we adopted them, they’ve changed to Navidson (Navy) and Babou (named for the ocelot in Archer).

No one in my immediate family has ever owned cats; my husband was surprised to realize they didn’t say “purr” rather than actually purring. We definitely didn’t expect a house of die-hard dog people to change into cat people overnight. Navy and Babou like to sit in my lap while I write; Navy demands that my fourteen-year-old wrap him in a blanket and tote him around like a baby. They’re absolutely delightful, whether they’re in demon mode or sleeping mode (generally, their two state of existence).

I’ll spare you rhapsodies over my cats’ general awesomeness. Instead, here’s Babou.

Kate Maruyama’s The Collective is out! Order it and get installments in your inbox. Here’s my blurb:

“A horror of Hollywood gone rotten, a siren-seductive tale of fame and hope, desire and dreams, wrapped in a lushly-realized SoCal setting. You’ll smell the sea breeze and the smog as you move through backlot deals and secret studios. A beautiful nightmare of a tale from an LA insider. More, please!”

Jennifer Barnes, editor at Raw Dog Screaming Press, sent me a copy of EV Knight’s Children of Demeter, a cult horror novel I devoured in two days. Wonderful characterization, super creepy, with a twist I didn’t see coming. Loved this one!

I also finished L.S. Johnson’s The House at Harkworth Hall, the first of her Chase & Daniels series. I absolutely loved this historical horror novella! Set in Georgian England, it has shades of Austen … until it goes sapphic. I need this series straight in the vein.

I’m in the process of finishing Blackwater, by Michael McDowell. I bought the omnibus edition from Valancourt Books (local to RVA!), and it’s just as amazing as I thought it would be. McDowell is a genius of the Southern Gothic, and it shows. I love the slow creep of the speculative in these novellas; the Caskey family is vividly realized and relatable … until the monster shows up. Amazing tale!

I also finished up This Side of Paradise again, by one of my all-time favorites, F. Scott Fitzgerald, then rounded my literary fix off with Faulkner’s The Unvanquished, which may be one of my two favorite Faulkner works. Currently tearing through W. J. Cash’s The Mind of the South at the same time as I read Blackwater. You can’t really get a better combo …

I have several ARCs to get through in the next few weeks that I’m super excited about. They include Rebecca Cuthbert’s Self-Made Monsters, Aimee Hardy’s A Pocketful of Teeth, and Nicole Willson’s Keeper of the Key. If I have time, I’m hoping to pick up Eugen Bacon’s new collection, A Place Between Waking and Forgetting—if you’re not familiar with her afro-futurism, you should be—and EV Knight’s The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel, both from Raw Dog Screaming Press.

I signed a four-book deal with Undertaker Books for Ninety-Eight Sabers (November 2024), The Swamp Child (October 2025), Bluefeather (February 2026), and a rewrite of my novelette, Naked & Famous (ELJ Editions, 2023) into a novella. That’s a lot of books! Editor Rebecca digs into Sabers this weekend, and I already have one blurb. More on the way! Undertaker published Ink Vine this April, and they’ve been amazing in every way, so I’m really excited stay with them.

I also signed a deal with Sley House Publishing for Breaking Neverland, a science fiction novel set in the same world as my three-story arc in Hyphenpunk (you can read the stories here, here, and here). I’m thrilled to be working with Jeremy Billingsley and the rest of the Sley House crew.

Penumbric Speculative Fiction Mag also accepted Until I Return to the Earth That Made Me as part of its “Best of Penumbric April 2023-April 2024” volume. I’m over the moon to find myself among names like Christina Sng!

I also have an upcoming story that ties into Sabers in the works with another press. It’s yet untitled (working with the editor on that!), and I was reading Absalom, Absalom! (again) when I wrote it, so I hope y’all enjoy some Faulknerian prose.

Speaking of tie-ins, my short story “Swamp Girl,” a prequel to Ink Vine, is currently available on Bookfunnel. And we might have a surprise for you over at Undertaker when it comes to the one-year anniversary edition of Ink Vine. Stay tuned to see what brilliant editor T.J. Price and I cook up!

We also have an audiobook of Ink Vine on the way. Southern accented narrators are hard to find, so I tapped an experienced friend from college to do the narration. I’ve known Nikki since I was eighteen, and I’m beyond thrilled that she agreed to voice Emerald. That Midlands South Carolina accent of hers is perfect for Emerald, and despite requests for me to do it myself, Nikki does a much better job. We’re in the final stages of approving audio, and it should be available soon.

Until next time, keep reading!

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