| I hope you are having a happy fall! Here’s what I’ve been up to since my last post. I’m Having a Baby! I haven’t been keeping up with my posts lately, but I have a great excuse! In case you haven’t heard, I wanted to tell my readers that I’m having a baby in late February. My husband and I are over the moon and I’m excited to be soon able to write that I have two children in all my author bios. 🙂 |
| I met Grady Hendrix! I recently had the opportunity to meet horror author Grady Hendrix at a writing conference. Usually, I’m disappointed when I meet my heroes, but not so with Grady! He gave me some encouraging advice about getting published, and wrote more encouraging notes when he signed my book! It was an amazing experience that I won’t soon forget. |
| Querying has Started for the Haunted House Novel Please send pumpkin spice treats for morale boosts and tissues for crying…I’ve started querying! Querying is a brutal process where you send your novel to literary agents in the hopes that they will partner with you for your writing career and present your work to publishers. The odds are not in the writer’s favor and most of the process is constant rejection. I’ve gotten very, very close in the past with other books, and I think this current book is really special. I’m hoping to find an agent who feels the same way. Wish me luck! For your reference, if you want to know what a book’s worth of revisions look like, see my latest Instagram post. |
| Speaking Engagement: Writing for Podcasts! Last month I got to speak to my local Horror Writers Association chapter about writing for podcasts. As part of my presentation, I compiled this cool list that shows all the stories I have had featured on podcasts, with the various podcasts where those appeared. My imposter syndrome almost kept me from doing this talk in the first place, but once I started planning this all out, I realized why I had been asked to do it. Turns out, I do have a little experience in this area. Who knew? So, maybe next time you have an opportunity to do something and imposter syndrome suggests you aren’t good enough, you should still do the thing. We are all too hard on ourselves. Look at my cool story collection below! |
| Reading Corner The Lost Village My husband recently went to Barnes & Noble, and he brought me back treats like the great guy he is! He grabbed me a “missing woman” thriller, one of my weaknesses, along with a horror novel called The Lost Village by Camilla Sten. The plot involves a documentary team visiting the site of a small mining village where, many years ago, everyone disappeared without a trace. I don’t have a lot to say about this one so far, since I’ve barely started it, but I’m looking forward to the horrific aspects of the story hitting. I can share more once I’ve read more! |
| The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love This one has been on my list for quite some time now, and I’m glad I took the time to pick it up. I’m listening to the audiobook, and I really like the friendly, sometimes-snarky tone the author takes with this heartfelt nonfiction book. It isn’t just another book about loving yourself, it is a call to action to help make a better and more equitable world for ourselves and others. What I really love about this author’s perspective is how she reveals the social structures that have brought our world to a place of body shame and shows how self-love is tied innately to social justice. Another refreshing aspect is her compassionate approach and acknowledgment that everyone has and will mess up and will hurt others at some point, but that isn’t a hindrance to doing better. In other words, I highly recommend this to everyone! |
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Katie Bennett 