Saint Death's Herald Goes to Copyedits!

And Other October Updates

Much to cover here, so I’ll itemize them like Olivia in Twelfth Night; “it shall be inventoried, and every particle and utensil labeled to my will…”

Also, FYI, I am thinking of doing more frequent newsletters here than just once a month. I know that’s not what I said at the beginning, and it may not be what you signed up for—so, heads up if you want to change anything on your end!

1. Saint Death’s Herald

So. Yes. I turned in my draft of Saint Death’s Herald in April. I got my edit letter in July. My due date was end of September, with a goal of cutting 20K-40K. I laughed. I despaired. I did the work.

My cut file ended up being over 90K, but then, you know, I was constantly building back in. Cut three chapters, take all their major beats and make them into 1 chapter. It amazed me how much I felt, after months of constant work, and feeling like I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO DO IT, that the book was… EXACTLY THE SAME. Only slimmer. And better.

The PROCESS, mi enjambre. It is ASTONISHING.

I turned it in only a leeetle late—but still the FIRST WEEK OF OCTOBER, which is PRACTICALLY the end of September—and my editor read it, said very nice things like was IMPRESSED, and said it was ready to go to COPY EDITS.

Just like THAT, we’ll have the book coming out just as predicted: April 22, 2025 (or 24th if you’re in the UK).

Now, I goatfaint.

2. Super Spooky Reading on Twitch with AMAZING HORROR/DARK FANTASY authors!

Dear friends! I am SO EXCITED about this!

Carlos Hernandez, Gregory A. Wilson, and I will be hosting this reading virtually on Greg’s Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron) on:

Tuesday, October 29th at 8:45-10:30 PM EDT

(But! For Australians it’s on Wednesday, October 30th, about a half day later, give or take! And I’m telling you that because we have readers from OZ with us!)

Here are our guests! I’ve linked to all our guest’s boss websites so you’ll know what ABSOLUTE UNITS these geniuses are:

Tonia Ransom
Mike Allen
Kenesha Williams
Dr. Kathleen Jennings
Cassandra Khaw
Juliette Wade
Dr. Lisa L. Hannett
Jessica P. Wick
Rob Cameron/Cameron Roberson
Christa Carmen
Zig Zag Claybourne/Clarence Young

The night will also feature a virtual “GREAT GOTHIC NOVEL GRAB-BAG” surprise, using art, prompts, and game mechanics by World Fantasy Award-winning Dr. Kathleen Jennings! Everyone goes home with a Great Gothic Novel prompt—both visual and verbal!

I will write up something much more involved in the coming weeks! For now, mark your calendars! Stay tuned!

New Hearthglow Episodes Available!

Greg has informed us that more episodes of our Hearthglow podcast have dropped! Information about the cast and all the episodes are available here: https://www.arvaneleron.com/hearthglow/

Greg’s eldest, who assists with the podcast, created absolute badass character art during our last recording session. Here’s Zac’s character Elder Honu, and my character Mog Rizz for your view pleasure.

Check her out on Instagram at sunnysennyart and on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/sunnysennyart.

Carlos’s latest Marvel Comic is Out!

It is always a great delight to celebrate Carlos’s triumphs—and this one happened last week!

His latest Marvel comic—this one for the Marvel Voices Special: Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider issue—came out last week! He was wearing his skelly shirt that day because we went to our friend Liz’s house for Liz’s GOTHIC BIRTHDAY FEAST!

Crowdfunding for a friend with glioblastoma: fantasy writer Howard Andrew Jones

Lastly, heartsore, we are crowdfunding for a friend who is dying. I won’t say much here, because we say it all on his GoFundMe page.

So many people have been so generous. Right now, with the world caught between war and hurricanes, when so many need so much from us, none of us takes even the smallest gift lightly. Thank you.