Hi Everyone!
I'm back again, and as you can see from the date, this newsletter is now monthly instead of bi-monthly. I hope that won't cause a huge rush of unsubscribes. I didn't receive any negative replies to last month's newsletter asking if monthly would be okay.
With my new novel Possessed on the horizon, that's going to be the main focus for a bit. I do have other writing planned for 2026 though, once we get that book out the door, so I should have plenty to talk about!
Possessed - Cover Reveal!
I am thrilled to show you guys the finished cover for Possessed - you're the first people other than family and close friends to see it! Alyssa really went all out and has fabulously captured the Miami vibe. I think Amber and Jayuul really jump off the page and you get immediately that there's a connection between the two of them. If you buy the print edition, you'll get the full wraparound. I think it's the best-looking of my book covers so far, and I couldn't be happier with it!
Amber, Dylan, Kim … and Jayuul
The full cover with descriptionPossessed - Status and Official Release Date
Beyond getting the cover wrapped up, which kicks ass, I'm also moving forward on getting the book in your hands. I am now confident in saying that the book will be released in both print and eBook formats on Thursday, June 18th! I'll have pre-order info next month, and I hope you guys are excited. This is a really good story!
We'll keep this section short and sweet, but here are the details:
- eBook - In final stages!
- Print - In final stages!
- Audio Book - Thiiiinking about it? Not sure on this one.
- Cover - Done!
- Copyright Application - Submitted and Paid!
- ISBNs - Registered!
- Promotional Artwork - In Progress (see below)!
- Giveaway - In Progress! More next month!
- Signed Copy Request Form - Available Soon!
I'm very excited about all of this. It's been a long time since I put out a book, and at least from a structural standpoint, this is the best one I've ever done. Both editions are gorgeous, and I think people are really going to like Amber's story.
Possessed - Meet the Characters: Amber and Jayuul
Starting this month, we're doing a bit of a deep dive on the characters of Possessed. We'll do two more in May, and two more in June (along with the release announcement). These sections will be spoiler free, but they will feature a couple of quotes from the book, so if you want to go in absolutely dark, now's your chance to bail. I won't be offended!
The character portraits are the work of the incredibly talented Alexandria Neonakis, who's worked on all kinds of amazing stuff, including the Naughty Dog games Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us 2. What a gift it is to be in a position to commission such talented artists!
Amber's a little over this whole thing …Amber Perez is a 23 year-old woman who until very recently held no goals loftier than "get high and eat some nachos." Amber was an ordinary enough girl until her older brother Dennis was killed in a car crash when she was thirteen years old. After that, with anger threatening to consume her, she turned to the bottle and struggled her way through high school, drunk most of the time. It was only when she met her friend Shannon, who invited her to join a group of friends as they bounced around southern Florida, spray-painting anarchy signs, smoking weed, catching death metal shows, and generally avoiding responsibility, that Amber finally started to heal - or at least lock away her anger. Her devout Christian parents were horrified that she'd joined a group calling itself Satan's Children and gave her a choice: renounce the group or get out. Amber said, "Fine," and got out. Now she lives on Shannon's couch.
The group's not what it once was; Matthias came along at some point and brought with him texts on demonology and the occult. Amber stuck around out of inertia, though she never had much interest in the "Satan" part of Satan's Children to begin with. She didn't even buy into any of that shit.
Now things are different. She stepped somewhere she shouldn't have stepped, and there's a voice in her head that doesn't belong to her. The demon meant for Matthias has taken up residence, and getting rid of him is going to be a lot more complicated than anything she's done in a long time. Ugh. Effort.
Suddenly, she's got more important things to worry about than those nachos.
Jayuul is what the ancient Sumerians called an Udug - an ageless spirit that possesses people and grants them uncanny powers, including the ability to break locks, some level of superhuman strength, night vision, short periods of levitation, and vomiting on command. While they are generally thought of as malevolent, the truth is that's only because they're most often summoned by malevolent people. They can also grant their hosts the power to heal, and some hosts also experience precognitive visions. He is able to briefly take control of his host's body (even against their will) and can also speak through them, although the voice comes out guttural and disgusting, like sewage burbling over stones.
Jayuul is not visible to anyone in the outside world, and most commonly manifests as a voice in Amber's head. However, he can appear to her when she looks in mirrors, as a nebulous dark shape with glowing red eyes superimposed over her own body. He is sarcastic and initially unimpressed with Amber. The two of them can't wait to be rid of each other. At least at first.
Quotes
Amber pulled into the parking lot at the trailer park and sat with her hands on the wheel. “Oh, sorry! I’m so sorry that I’m boring you because I’m not out … what? Stabbing people? Hanging puppies? What am I supposed to be doing?”
“Definitely not location scouting for an episode of Florida’s Brokest Shitholes.”
Amber was impressed again by the box’s weight. Maybe it really was drugs. “What does a kilo of heroin weigh?”
“A kilogram of heroin typically weighs one kilogram …”
“Yeah, but, like, in American.”
The demon rolled her eyes for her. “One kilogram is two-point-two pounds.”
“I told you not to do that.” The box felt like ten or fifteen pounds. “Do you think five kilograms of heroin would fit in a shoebox?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask louder, so everyone upstairs can hear you musing about the weight of heroin just before delivering a mysterious package to a bar in which you’ve never previously set foot and clearly don’t belong?”
“It’s not a—” Amber cut herself off. “Look, I’m not going to jail. We’ll get in, get someone healed, and get out. Have you ever had a peanut butter cup milkshake before?”
“I don’t think so,” Jayuul said.
“Oh, shit! Maybe we’ll smoke up first. Get ready for the best night of your life. It’s like sex except it lasts longer and everyone’s guaranteed to get off.”
“That may be the most profoundly depressing thing you’ve ever said.”
Wrap-Up
That's it for this month but ... well, that's a PRETTY GOOD MONTH if you ask me! I hope you agree.
See you in May!
-Chris
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