BELLE’S NEWS: MUSINGS IN APRIL 2023

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This time last year I was about to click “publish” for the first ever time! It would be inaccurate to say I had butterflies in my stomach – they were nasty, writhing, squirmy moths! My first ever published story, Calyptra Mortiferum, was a body horror about a research facility that discovers a new species of moth, and gets more than they banked on when it turns out to be vampiric and parasitic.

Clicking the button to release them into the world, I was afraid of a lot more than a few creepy crawlies though. Would anyone read my story? Would anyone like it? Was it any good? Was I kidding myself that I could write, after all? Was I letting myself in for a huge disappointment, or worse, humiliation?

Well, I was lucky. People did read it, and they did like it. As I write this, Calyptra is being turned into an audio drama by a hugely talented team who begin casting this month, and I couldn’t be more excited! I will keep you updated on what it’s like to watch the magical transformation of my story to a living, breathing audio play! I’m nervous again, about the reaction of a whole new audience, but my experience so far has taught me to be more excited than fearful.

It turns out that horror readers, for all their love of creepiness and ick, are also kind and supportive souls. Some of you reading this newsletter right now were among the first to support me and help take away those gnawing fears. Thank you! If you’ve joined me more recently, thank you for keeping the self-doubt at bay.

No, really. Thank you. Hmm. How can I prove I mean it? Let’s see. What about if I were to offer a prize? To celebrate my first year as an author? Let’s say a unique, only-one-in-the-world e-copy of my first story, Calyptra Mortiferum, with a personalized dedication to the winner in the front?

Who wrote the classic horror short story “The Pit and the Pendulum”?

That was the question you had to know the answer to in this week’s Ship’s Log. Only subscribers can take part in these giveaways, so you may want to sign up now to make sure you don’t miss the next one.

(Pssst! The second edition will be published on Sunday the 16th of April. If you sign up before midnight the 15th, you still have a chance to get in on this one.)

F.K. Marlowe is a Shropshire lass who lived in London and Beijing before settling down with her husband, three daughters and rescue pup in Vancouver. She writes horror stories with a tendency to the paranormal, and Young Adult fiction with fangs and sass.

Marlowe doesn’t worry overly much about the placement of semi-colons and the like, having spent far too long pootling about in academia to take them seriously. (She has an Oxford first in English Lit, plus a Master’s and PhD from Leeds). She has, however, discovered that life is the best education for a writer, and plans to continue her studies there as long as possible.