Posts Tagged ‘progress report’

You know, the last time I did one of these posts, I had barely anything to say other than I’d done a new draft of The Shape of Evil. I just wanted to let people know all the things I was juggling at that time.

Well, eight months have passed since then, and things are moving faster than a cheetah running from a shoggoth (or seem to be). So, since who knows what might happen from day to day, I am going to give you guys some updates on what I’ve been up to lately.

First, The Shape of Evil. As I said in my last post on the book, I rewrote the book to be a Young Adult novel and undid some of the changes I made in the fourth draft. Now, this crazy little novel about a 3D printer from Hell has been sent out to publishers and agents, and hopefully I’ll get a bite. I won’t say if there’s been any interest or not, in case that somehow jinxes me. But I will say that I have lots of reasons to hope. Who knows? Maybe by the end of this summer, I’ll be able to announce something regarding the book.

In the meantime, I have some short stories to work on. As some of you may remember, I finished a new story back in April about a guy who thinks his stepdad is Sweeney Todd. I got some feedback on the first section of that story from my critique group, so I’m going to go over their feedback and make some edits based on what they say. Then I’ll edit the rest of the story before getting some beta reader feedback. Hopefully after the beta reader has given me some feedback and I’ve done another draft, I can find a home for this story.

My writing life lately.

I also have a science fiction story that I literally just finished last night. It’s focused on alchemy and homunculi, and even though it’s the first draft, I feel like it’s really strong work. I’ll probably give that an edit and then find a beta reader for it as well fairly soon. Hopefully after going through taht process, I can find this story a home as well.

Of course, that might be difficult. Both stories are novelettes, and the Sweeney Todd one is close to short novella length. I just can’t help but want to write epics, it seems. Still, I want to try. I’ve found homes for stories that I never thought I would find homes for before. Maybe I can do it again.

And guess what? After leaving it on the back burner for so long, I am finally going to get back to working on Crawler! Now, if you’re unfamiliar, Crawler was a mummy novel I started in 2022 after moving into my condo. And then working on Hannah and Other Stories put it on the back burner. And then other stuff kept coming up, and The Shape of Evil became a novel when I thought it would be a novelette, and the next thing I knew, four years had gone by!

That has always been a thorn in my side. I have this novel that I think would make a great story, but it’s sitting there, halfway done, and still unfinished! Well, this summer, I aim to change that. I’m first going to edit the Sweeney Todd story, and then I’ll work on Crawler. Maybe if I need a break, I’ll work on the alchemy story and other short works, but Crawler will be the priority. And maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll have another novel written by the end of the year.

Or not. Something could come along that upsets this schedule and forces me to change gears or priorities. There’s always a possibility of that. You never know. Life is constant change, after all. But for now, this is the plan I’m sticking to.

Oh, I’m also applying for a grant next month. With any luck, that will help with some new projects in the near future. But that will have to wait until next month.

Like a cheetah from a shoggoth, I’m running towards my goals.

And in the meantime, as you are no doubt aware, the Columbus Book Festival is next month! If you’re in the Columbus, Ohio area on July 11th and 12th, stop by the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s downtown branch and the adjoining Topiary Park for a festival featuring authors, merchants, dancers, food trucks, and so much more! Me and my friends in HWA Ohio will have a tent there again this year, and we’re looking forward to meeting so many readers, both new and familiar. So, if you can, please stop by. We would love to see you.

And if you can’t stop by and would still like to support me, or you’re just looking for a scary book to read, you can check out any of my books! From strange gods and plant/human hybrids to carnivorous horses and Mafia-hunting serial killers, I have something for every horror fan, including some free stories. I’ll leave a link to my books page below. And if you like what you read, please leave a review online so I know what you thought.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to enjoy the rest of my evening so I have the energy to do some editing later this week. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

No, it’s not getting published. If it were, I would have announced that in the title of this post. But I am going to give you all updates on how that effort is coming along.

So, for those of you who don’t know, The Shape of Evil is a novel I wrote about a 3D printer from Hell. Think “Word Processor of the Gods” crossed with Gothic by Phillip Fracassi, but with lots of LGBT and disabled representation. I wrote it in 2024, and then prepared it for pitching at StokerCon last year. I even had sensitivty readers take a look at the second draft, just to make sure my portrayal of my protagonist, a non-binary trans individual, wasn’t offensive.

Since I pitched it to publishers and agent last year, I’ve continued trying to find the novel a home. And I’ve had a few rejections, which I expected. I wasn’t even too bummed about them. No, seriously, I wasn’t. They felt less like dead ends, and more like stops on the road for finding a home for this novel. And I still have prospects I’m looking into or waiting to hear back from, so I’m not feeling any despair right now. If I’m being honest, all I feel is anticipation. Like something is coming down the road, and it’s what I’ve been waiting for since that pitch session last year.

And in the meantime, I’ve kept busy. Not only have I worked on some new stories, but I’ve even done two new drafts of The Shape of Evil. And guess what? On the second draft, I had a revelation: this was a YA novel I was working on. Yeah, you would think I would notice, with teen protagonists, only one really bloody scene, and a few other factors. But you know what they say: artists and authors are often their own worst judges. And given that it took me two years to realize this, I prove that maxim to be true.

So, I went back to the beginning of the draft, and started editing with the goal of editing a YA novel instead of an adult novel. I even switched the book from third person point of view to first person point of view, because that’s a staple of the genre. (Also, with my protagonist Astrid Marsh being non-binary and using they/them pronouns, it cut down on the number of “theys” and “thems” in the manuscript. Much less confusing for readers.) And as of last night, the new draft is finished. Hopefully this is the one that catches an agent or publisher’s eye and makes them want to publish it.

For now, though, I plan on not doing anything with the new draft until after StokerCon. Gotta make time to relax and have fun, after all.

Also, I have other stories I plan to work on. There’s a science fiction story I have been excited to work on since I had the idea back in late March. And after that, I will finally get back to working on my mummy novel Crawler. And this time, I hope to finish it!

But in the meantime, I’m going to celebrate the end of the new draft with a quiet movie night and a bottle of wine. Gotta celebrate the wins, right? And finishing a fifth draft where I rewrote the novel to first person POV and made sure it fit the YA genre is definitely a win.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll try to be in touch again as soon as possible, StokerCon and other things going on permitting. But until then, good night and pleasant nightmares, everybody!

Hello, my Followers of Fear. Are you enjoying your holiday season?

Right now, it’s December 23rd, 2025, which means a couple of things. One is that Christmas is in a few days. Another is that today is the parody holiday of Festivus. You know, for the rest of us? And third, and most importantly for the post, it’s the three-month anniversary of the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories!

Now, in case you somehow missed my constant mentions of this particular book (in which case, there is no escape! Except your fate, my dear Followers of Fear!), Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of seven stories I originally released with a publisher back in September 2023. The tales range across all types of horror, including extreme and cosmic, and include tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses (one of which is on the new cover). Sadly, the company who helped me publish Hannah in the first place decided not to renew our contract, and it went out of print late last year.

I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of its release, with a new cover and edit. I also took steps to put out a print edition, which didn’t happen the first time around (long story, don’t ask). Thus, we have this amazing book that came out (again) on September 23, 2025.

And since then, people have been slowly but surely picking up copies and reading it. I might have mentioned this in a previous post, but even a supervisor at work is reading Hannah, and so far, he’s really enjoying it! Plus, a few people here and there have left reviews, and the majority of them have been nothing but glowing. Which, after all this time working to get the book in paperback and then in people’s hands, is nice to see.

As to what happens next…hard to say. I would like to get Hannah, as well as Symphony for Walpurgis and The Wild Hunt, into audio format, but I would like to sell more copies of all of those before that happens. So, in the meantime, I think I’ll just keep posting about the books and trying to get more people to read them. Especially Hannah. Who knows? Perhaps at the six-month anniversary, I’ll have some good news to share.

In the meantime, if you would like to read Hannah and Other Stories, or if you’re still looking for a gift for the horror fan in your life this holiday season, I’ll include links below. And if you like what you read, please be sure to leave a rating or a review somewhere online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and happy holidays. May whatever come down your chimney be welcome, rather than traumatizing.

Hello humans! Wow, time is really moving along, isn’t it? We’re only 38 days away from the end of 2025! Which will require its own blog post at some point, but right now, we’re hear to talk about something else. And that, dear humans, is the second-month anniversary of the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories!

Now, if you don’t know, Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of original stories that was released back in September 2023. The collection contained seven stories, including tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things. (You can see those pesky horses on the cover.) Sadly, the publisher I worked with to release Hannah decided not to renew our contract, and the book went out of print. I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of its original release, complete with a new cover and a new edit.

And thus, on September 23, 2025, Hannah and Other Stories was re-released.

And I’m happy to say, people have been reading the book. It helped that the re-release happened right as spooky season was swinging into high gear, and I was attending so many events. Plus, unlike the first time around, there’s a print version of the book (it’s a long story, don’t ask), which definitely helped. No matter how digital we get, more people prefer print books to ebooks.

But like I said, people are reading the book. And that makes me very happy. I wanted to share these stories with as many people as possible and give them a bit of a thrill and fright with the products of my twisted imagination. And even better, a few people have left their thoughts on the books with reviews. Which makes me even happier, because that’s a great way to let both authors and other readers know how much you enjoyed a book!

Did I mention every review so far has been five stars? I would post them below, but even excerpts would be super spoiler-y.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something spooky to read; or if you know someone who might enjoy a copy as a gift this holiday season; or you just want to support me, I’ll include links below. You can check out the reviews and maybe see if the book is right for you. And if you do end up reading it, I hope you’ll share your thoughts. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and your fellow readers in the long run.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m sure the Americans among us all have a busy week ahead of us, what with Thanksgiving up ahead. But I’ll try to get out another post or two before the month is out. And until then, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Surprised it’s not a Hannah post? Call it a belated trick and treat!

So, if you weren’t aware, Hannah and Other Stories wasn’t the only collection I released this year. Symphony for Walpurgis is a collection of nine novelettes I released on May 1st, 2025, also known as Walpurgis Night, when witches are said to be their most powerful (you can read more about that here). I put a collection full of novelettes together because there aren’t a lot of venues for novelettes, which are stories between 7,500 and 17,500 words. Unfortunately, not many venues publish novelettes, and those that do prefer shorter novelettes, between 7,500 and 10,000 words.

Thus, Symphony for Walpurgis, which includes four previously published stories and five original stories. And the stories range from tales featuring cryptids, to stories of revenge and giant bats, and even to a story of a Jewish exorcism! Yeah, bet you didn’t know my people had exorcisms.

Anyway, six months have elapsed since the book came out, and what a six months they’ve been! Symphony for Walpurgis has quickly become one of my most popular books at events, and often sells out or gets close to selling out. I guess that cover and my description of the unusual stories inside appeal to horror fans.

In fact, I know it does, because I’ve read the reviews! Here are what people are saying:

Dipping my toes once again into the world of indie horror. And this, a rare read of single author short story collections.

All these stories are so very different, but they’re linked (in my mind anyway) by one common theme… that is, all these stories start out a certain way, but a turn of events during the narrative delivers a quite different story.

None of these stories are especially weak, but I have some stand out favourites: The House of Lafayette Square, Mother of Spiders, The Little Goddess of Horror, and Natural Predators. Even those I weren’t so keen on were solid, just a matter of personal taste.

Not my first outing reading this author, and it certainly won’t be my last.

MG Mason, Goodreads

Bravo! This might just be Rami Ungar’s best work yet. Offering tales of unearthly retribution, dark mysteries, vampires re-imagined and blood curdling entities, Symphony is a gloriously ghoulish anthology with something for almost every kind of horror fan.

I absolutely adored the introduction; it creates a spooky atmosphere straight away and is so much fun, putting you in exactly the right mood for the horrors ahead. Each story is creative and the characters are so vivid and well crafted– Rami has done an incredible job of filling every page with witty prose, clever descriptions and emotions which pulled me right into the characters’ minds. Mother of Spiders was my favourite tale, and definitely one of the most nightmarish.

Only two stories had plots which I wasn’t so keen on, but even then the writing was still engaging enough to make them enjoyable reads. 100% recommend!

Louise Conway, Goodreads

The best thing about this collection of stories is that I couldn’t predict what would happen next. For that, I give the book 5 stars. I enjoyed all of the stories, but it’s the “I didn’t think this was going to happen” fact that pushed them over the top.

Ruth Ann Nordin, Amazon

From the fiendish imagination of Rami Ungar, Symphony for Walpurgis presents nine stories, each with its own wildly imaginative tale to tell. The author’s acknowledged favorite, The Parasite Man, will make your skin crawl. In contrast, the warmth and psychological insight of The House on Lafayette Square made it this reviewer’s favorite above all. An underlying theme, returned to across several stories but never repetitively, is the revenge of the mistreated, wreaking havoc on a world they never made.

Ann O’Mara, Goodreads

I would include more reviews, but that would involve spoilers of some of the stories. But yeah, it shows how much people are enjoying the collection.

And if you’re interested in reading the book, or you’re looking for something to give your horror-loving family member or friend this holiday season, or you just want to support me, I’ll include links below. You can also read all the reviews that way.

Speaking of which, if you like what you read, please leave a review online so I know. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and your fellow readers out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to the Columbus Witches Ball. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Once again, another post about Hannah and Other Stories being out. Once again, I hope you’re not sick of hearing about it.

But if you’re unaware, today marks three weeks since my collection, Hannah and Other Stories, was re-released. It was originally published in September 2023 through BSC Publishing Group, but it went out of print after the company and I split ways. I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of the original release, complete with a new cover and a new edit. And, because BSC Publishing Group did not have a paperback edition the first time around (they had this whole publishing strategy regarding paperbacks and ebooks I’m not going to get into), it’s now available in a paperback edition.

Thus, I re-released Hannah and Other Stories on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025.

And I’m happy to say, in the three weeks since it’s come out, it’s been doing nicely. That might have something to do with it being October and the number of people looking for something spooky to read for the season. Or it might be me just giving a good pitch. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a collection of short stories full of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses for the month of October? Even one of the supervisors at work was interested enough to download a copy to his Kindle!

And we’ve even gotten our first review of the new edition. Longtime Follower of Fear Priscilla Bettis left a five-star review of Hannah on Amazon a couple of days after it released, titling her review “Scary and Creative.” Which, obviously, I appreciate. Hopefully, that review encourages a lot more people to read the new edition and maybe leave reviews of their own. I know I would like that.

And if you are at all curious to check out Hannah and Other Stories, I’ll leave links below. As I said, it’s currently available in both paperback and ebook this go-around, and I hope to add an audio version if things go well. In the meantime, if you end up reading the book, please leave a review letting me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and your fellow readers in the long run.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I will give you a slightly longer break between Hannah posts, as the one-month post will be coming out not next Tuesday, but on the actual one-month anniversary, October 23rd. But don’t sigh in relief just yet; if you don’t get a copy of Hannah or leave a review, I will find other ways to torture you. I’m evil that way, after all.

Anyway, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 17 days till Halloween. If you’re not sending Halloween-themed cards to your loved ones, you’re doing something wrong. Believe me on that one!

Time flies when you’re visiting horror museums and editing stories, doesn’t it?

So, we’re one week away from the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories. If you’re unaware, this is a collection of short stories that was originally published in 2023. The stories include tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and even carnivorous horses. The book went out of print at the end of 2024 when my contract with the publisher expired, but I’m re-releasing it a week from today, on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Two years from the day it was originally released.

And in paperback, no less! Last time, it was only available in ebook (don’t ask). I’m excited to see it in paperback.

Not to mention, with a new cover and a fresh new edit on the story. It looks absolutely beautiful, both inside and out, and I can’t wait for people to read it. Perhaps, if enough people check out the new edition, both physical and digital, there can even be an audio version. You never know.

And if you’re looking for a good collection to read this spooky season, or you’re interested in supporting me, or both, guess what? Hannah and Other Stories will be out in one week, but it’s available for preorder. (Paperback is only available for preorder at Barnes & Noble, because Amazon is weird that way and Kobo and Apple Books is digital only.) So, if you’d like to preorder a copy, I’ll include links to the retailers below.

And if you end up reading it and liking it, I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I leave reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers in the long run.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll see you next week, when the book comes out. May be having a sweet drink, too. But until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 45 days till Halloween. Is that one of the Thousand Young in my front yard? And yours too?

Believe me, that’s going to make more sense when you read the book.

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the tail end of August, but here we are. And with that, we’re at the one month mark till the release of my collection, Hannah and Other Stories.

Wait, did I say “release?” I meant “re-release.” And yes, I plan to get a lot more annoying with it as we get closer and closer.

So, if you’re unfamiliar, Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of mine that was originally released through BSC Publishing Group in September 2023. It contains seven original tales from yours truly, including tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses. Unfortunately, the book went out of print once my contract with BSC ended and we decided to go our separate ways. Unfortunate, but sometimes these things happen.

In any case, I’m now in the process of re-releasing the book. Not only that, but I’ve done another round of edits to improve the stories and ensure it’s as close to my vision as possible. And I added that awesome new cover you see at the top of the blog post!

I’m really excited to release this book again (and on the two-year anniversary of its original release)! I always liked this book, and when it was out the first time around, people who got copies really seemed to enjoy it. And with a paperback edition this time (don’t ask), I’m sure more people will read it and enjoy it this time around.

Who knows? We may even be able to justify producing an audio version in the future.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in preordering a copy of Hannah, I’ll leave links below. (If you want to preorder the paperback copy, it’s only available through Barnes & Noble). As I said, it comes out on September 23rd, so the book will be here before we know it. And if you end up reading it, I hope you’ll leave me a review letting me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I look forward to joining you when the book comes out next month. In the meantime, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 69 days till Halloween.

Nice.

I wasn’t planning on writing a blog post just a few hours after the last one came out. But like the title says, I had some unexpected good news (as well as permission to share the good news), so I might as well write a post.

As some of you may remember, last year I wrote an article about writing romantic subplots in my stories while being aromantic. If you’re unaware, that means I can’t feel romantic desire or attraction. It’s a real thing, is experienced by possibly one-percent of the world’s population (the research into this is still in its early days), and is coded into our DNA. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to share my experiences writing romance when I have no experience nor desire to be romantic, so I wrote an article about it.

That article was published last year by Interstellar Flight Press in their online magazine, and continues to get reads to this day (trust me, I get stat updates regularly). And I just found out from the editor of Interstellar Flight Press, Holly Walrath, that my article will appear in Interstellar Flights Best of the Year anthology, Volume 6.

I cannot say how honored and excited I am about this. Not only does Interstellar Flight Press publish some really great fiction and non-fiction, they publish a lot of it. So, the fact that they were impressed by my essay enough to include it in their annual Best of anthology means a lot to me.

At the moment, there’s no word on a release date. However, given that the anthology covers material published in 2024, and we’ve got about four months and two weeks left of 2025, I would assume they would be releasing it in the near future. Whenever if comes out, I’ll be sure to let you all know.

In the meantime, if you would like to read the essay yourself, I’ll include a link below, as well as a link to Interstellar Flight magazine. I hope you’ll give them both a look, and let me know what you think about the article.

And until next time, Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Usually, when I do these update posts, they have a sort of format, with specific sections devoted to specific items or topics. But this time, I’m doing things a little differently. Why? Well, it just feels right to do so.

Plus, it’s not like I’m overflowing with news. I just want to update you guys on a couple of items.

So, as you may already know, I’ve been doing a ton of editing lately. A Great Editing, so to speak. I’ve already edited two novellas, and I just finished editing another draft of The Shape of Evil, AKA the 3D Printer from Hell story. Yeah, I hear you. “What? You did another edit of that novel? Why didn’t you tell us sooner? That’s kind of your thing!”

Well, it was on the suggestion of one of the agents I pitched the book to at StokerCon. They got back to me last month and encouraged me to make some changes, including aging up the characters a bit, before they read the rest of the book. After some discussion and consideration, I agreed, and I’ve spent the past month doing those edits. The result is a fourth draft of The Shape of Evil, which I think is even stronger than the last one. And I’m looking forward to sending this draft to that particular agent very, very soon.

By the way, that new draft? I finished it yesterday. I took a day off from work for a mental health day and spent most of it just working on the draft. Finished the final 100 pages or so in a couple of hours.

Now, what’s next? Well, I think I’ll take a break from editing and work on some new short stories. I’ve already started doing research for one of them, and I already have all the research materials I need for the other one. After that, I have a short story, an essay on ballet and horror, and two more novellas that need to be edited. After that, I think I’ll focus on newer work while also trying to find homes for the already edited stuff.

Or I’ll edit the stories I plan to write and try to find them homes, too. Man, it’s so hard trying to strike a balance between writing new stuff and editing the completed stuff! Especially when you’re working a full time job and keeping up with all of life’s demands, like I am.

But hey, I’ll make it work somehow. I usually do.

So yeah, if this was too long to read: lots going on, lots of editing, and some new work on the way as well. But what else is new?


That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have research to get to if I want to get these stories out. Man, just actively researching them and figuring out the names of the characters has me so excited! I’m looking forward to seeing how these stories turn out once I write them.

And speaking of excited, Followers of Fear, we’re 85 days away from Halloween. Have you decided what you’re going to be reading this spooky season? If you’re still looking for the write book, or you want to support me (or both), I have plenty of stories available, including some free ones. Not to mention a wide variety, too! So, if you’re at all interested, click on the link below and check out my bibliography. You might find your new favorite Halloween read among the catalog.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear. Good night and pleasant nightmares.