BELLE’S NEWS: MUSINGS IN OCTOBER 2024

Goodness mateys! I do apologise for the early and not-quite-perfected release of this newsletter! If you just clicked an earlier version in your inbox, you might have noticed that it – gasp! – still had last month’s cocktail recipe photo!

Well, it’s all been fixed now. Suffice it to say, the Cap’ns been forcibly put to bed in her cabin to sleep off the results of a little foray into the Quartermaster’s rum rations when he was off chasing an errant snurkleblatt he picked up off the coast of Libertalia. We’ll not mention this little mishap when she comes round, eh? Pressures of leadership and all… 😉

It’s the perfect time of year to curl up with a good book and an indulgent tipple! Pop the kettle on, settle down and let me help you with that…

Yep, still on my Cadfael binge...

As I type this, schoolchildren in China are on vacation for “Golden Week,” which officially celebrates the founding of The People’s Republic of China on October 1st 1949.*

Unofficially, for me and for a good number of ex-pats, it also marked a truly golden week of perfect weather: sunny days still stretched just long enough for evening walks, trees (Beijing has many more than you might imagine, including its signature weeping willows) in a flush of glorious colour, and the temperature cooling down from uncomfortable summer highs, but not yet entering the chilliness of winter.

For Chinese people, the Golden Week vacation is an excuse to visit family in other parts of the country, or simply to take a trip and enjoy their beautiful land.

* Consider this your culture and history lesson for the month. Trust me it’s all downhill from here…

Sunset over Beijing city walls. I took this one while on the “Midnight in Peking” tour – a must-do if you’re ever there. If you’re not, but have a soft spot for a good “true crime” read, check it out. It’s by Paul French, who’s a charming bloke into the bargain.

But I always had one complaint about Golden Week. It never lasted long enough.

Because in Beijing at least, that perfect point in the year really did only last about a week, or a fortnight if you were lucky. And that’s not even taking into account the annual increase in pollution as the temperature cooled (think air so thick you can chew it). At the other end of the year, it was the same story – one perfect week around the middle of April before the mosquitos and summer heat kicked in. It never seemed quite fair.

A gloriously golden Beijing

I’m very aware that as I write this, there are people suffering through appalling weather and its disastrous effects, whether floods or high winds, or simply unseasonally hot temperatures that have gone on for so long it’s exhausting.

I hope, if you’re reading this, that you can at least enjoy my good luck vicariously – dip your toes imaginatively in a few cool streams, and walk with me down woodland paths alternately dappled with magical emerald sunlight, or shimmering in the copper, bronze and gold shades of a dragon’s treasure.

As usual I’ll be sharing my stunning surroundings on X and Threads pretty much daily. If you need an escape, you know where to come!

It’s been beautiful here in Vancouver – barring brief interludes of monsoon – since about the beginning of September, and it looks set fair to take us through a good part of October. I still always feel a bit swizzed – surely each season is supposed to last 3 months? – But at least the Rain Coast, when it isn’t living up to its name, puts on a glorious show for more than a fortnight.

A hike through the woods of Beautiful BC, with evidence of the Rain Coast being rainy.

So there’s enough time to sit back and mellowly reflect upon this turning point of the year. As some of you know, it began as a brutal one for me, and I’m still only just putting myself back together. As with any great loss or life change, it’s very much a case of two steps forward and one step back.

Thank you, dear reader, for bearing with me through it all. It was a sweet comfort to know you were always there in the very darkest parts of it. I wonder how your year has been, as we move into the final quarter of it? Was there more joy than sorrow? I hope so.

This month, I think, is our time to take a moment to drink in the gentle beauty of the late year, before the harshness of winter sets in. Time to come to terms with all we didn’t manage to do, and to give ourselves credit for the parts we did. Time to get a few bits of unfinished business off our plates before the full harshness of winter, but gently, always gently. No need to spoil the perfection by rushing.

Some Autumn leaves to contemplate. Ahhhhh…

Yes, yes, I hear you huff impatiently, all very pleasant, and I appreciate the pretty pictures, but what, dear lady, is your flipping point?

Well you might ask. It is (clears throat, shuffles embarrassedly) to explain the next leaf I’m about to turn myself… one I hope you’ll indulge me in, and not judge me too harshly for.

I’m very proud of my title, “Queen of Creepy” (gifted me by the wonderful Gary Alan Henson, whose marvellously off-kilter tales you can get hold of on Amazon – go on, you won’t be sorry!) I’d be willing to mud wrestle to the death anyone foolish enough to try and take it from me. But I’m a bit worried that my latest offerings are too big a departure from what you know me for!

I’m not quitting horror! Perish the thought! But the longer I write, the more I find my mind brimming with stories that don’t quite fit the horror mould. It probably doesn’t surprise you all that much – you know I’m generally a cheery sort! I do love a good shiver, but I’m also hungry to try writing some stories that don’t end with a mangled corpse!

Proof positive there is more horror in the works – for one thing I need to write a story to go with this pic because it’s just BEGGING to be a cover!

So this spooky month, I’m planning to finally publish those Young Adult romances I told you about a whole year ago! I think I’ve mostly fixed the parts of them that were bothering me, and I’m ready to switch it up with some cheerier – if still monster-based – tales! I’m not promising all Happy Ever Afters, but there are a lot more Happy For Nows, and it’s about time I did something for those lovely peeps who keep telling me they want to read my stuff but can’t stomach proper horror.

This is the plan then (and bear in mind I’m about as reliable as an infant’s bottom* on this whole following-through-with-a-publishing-schedule thing.) Three short teen stories, with the kinds of ghoulish creepiness you’ve come to expect from me, but maybe dialled down a little so it’s appropriate for young adults, projected to come out every ten days or so through October. Then, if I can keep up the momentum, three more, with a more Christmassy theme, as we move into the holiday season proper.

I know, I know! It’s very much a gear change, but if you’ve been with me throughout this year, you’ll know there was a sad desolate part of it where I couldn’t write at all, and then a manic phase where my mind went off in a million different directions at once, and I’m still working on a lot of those stories! (If you’re interested, there’s a cosy witchy murder mystery in the works, as well as a novella length creeper I’ve been wrestling with for – ooh – longer than I’d like to admit!)

*To quote James Joyce’s father. He was talking about the weather, but it applies even better to me, I think.

Sneaky peak of work-in-progress cover for the finish line – an anthology of all the Halloween and Christmas teen shorts. C’mon, cheer me on! I can do this! Right?

The first of these teen-horror-romances (is that even a thing?) is due to hit the ‘Zon around the end of the first week of spooky month, assuming I can grapple with the technical gremlins in time. After that, check out my author page every week or so for the next one (think “Golden Week” time frames!) If all goes to plan, they’ll be available on Kindle Unlimited, so you can read them for free if you have that, and save your pennies for Christmas expenses.

And if you absolutely hate them, don’t worry! I’m also working on another horror short, that I hope to finish before the year ends (cross your fingers and wish on a sunbeam!)

The first of the teen creeps is called “Second Chances,” and I’m quite fond of the cover and blurb already:

“Kelsey’s been in love with Ben since elementary school, and there was a time when she thought maybe he felt the same way.

But Ben has a pushy new girlfriend, and with a restless ghost and a murderous demon in the mix, Kelsey’s chances of winning his heart look as bleak as her odds of making it through the evening alive.

Can a little Hallowe’en magic help Kelsey survive it all, and give her a second chance at love?”

Hopefully that gives you an idea! And if you’re allergic to teen love and can feel your stomach churning just thinking about it, I promise* I’ll have something creepier and more grown up for you before Hogmanay!

* With the usual caveats about me being a bit rubbish with the whole deadlines thing. What can I say – I’ll try! “Gob at a gull for luck,” to quote the clearly-not-always-so-poetic Dylan Thomas.

You saw it here first! Wish me luck as I launch myself into terrifying new waters – appealing to teen readers! Shrieeeeeeeeeek!!!

Anyhow, here’s to pausing, taking stock, and trying new things!

I know the Captain’s been working on a whole new course for the Good Ship Resilience too – she thinks we don’t hear her cackling away in her cabin, or notice the strange scribblings in her log, but we all know it’s more than a sneaky extra ration of rum that’s put the colour back in her cheeks! 

Check your inbox for exclusive information on that the second it comes out*, and no, I’m not at liberty to say any more! Now treat yourself to a pumpkin spice hot chocolate while I regale you with the usual silliness.

* One of the perks of being a newsletter regular – thank you! Xx

//Belle