I’m at a crossroads…

I’m at a crossroads…

I’ve been pretty open about suffering from some poor mental health recently which has hugely impacted my writing. Prior to burning out, I was researching a novel tentatively named ‘Trappers’ based around a coal mine, over multiple timelines. It is/was a HUGE undertaking. However, a key theme of the book is mental health and one of the characters (a miner in the 1980s) was set to face some pretty horrific mental health symptoms. I don’t feel that I’m in a place right now where I can do this book justice. The storyline is so emotive and personal that I’m not in the right headspace to write it right now. The whole book is essentially a huge flashing trigger warning for me at the moment, even though I would LOVE to write this story. I’m being sensible and taking my mental health seriously enough that I’m not even attempting to continue with this until I’m feeling better.

That being said, I MISS WRITING! I haven’t written a word since You Invited It In. With BLOODY HELL and all the work that went into editing and launching that (in the direct aftermath of publishing BLOODY HELL) the only ‘writing’ I’ve done is the research I started for Trappers. So, I have a few options that I’m exploring…

1. A sequel to You Invited It In – I have some ideas floating around, but nothing concrete that I love yet. One thing I do know is it WILL feature Lilith, Asher, Eli, and Specs – all the main characters are returning.

2. A ‘chick lit’ manuscript that I have around 50k words on that I would kind of love to tear apart and make into something witchy/cosy/spooky – think horror adjacent/light-hearted/cosy horror. I absolutely adore the main character from this manuscript, she’s totally badass.

3. A dark fantasy manuscript that I started writing in lockdown, and that has maybe 20k(ish) words, but needs a huge overhaul because the storyline wouldn’t behave and I didn’t like the direction it was taking. Magic, secrets, and a reluctant ‘chosen one’, with perhaps a little bit of romance.

If you made it this far – which of these three options would you most like to see from me?