While it might have seemed like I did, I have not abandoned you. I have been busy working on setting up the UK Chapter of the Horror Writers Association with Newton Webb and Terri Brown and with finishing my degree.

Now that I can finally brag about having a degree in literature (my thesis was on “othering” in a Gothic novel I am planning on writing about soon - can I refer to myself as a Goth Grad now?), my muses (whom I’ll certainly write about soon too!) have inspired me to continue writing creatively.

My first short story will be released this weekend - stay tuned, ‘cause something (or someone?) othered this way creeps!

It’s prose fiction, but, as a small teaser, I shall reveal to you the second stanza of the sonnet I am forcing to be a part of the world of the aforementioned short story.

In crimson lakes thou must confess your sin
As creatures howl I seal your scarlet lips.
Your past unfolds as claws tear at your skin.
Hear Grendel choke on flakes of airborne strips
- From "As Yet Untitled" by Bronte Rowan

Cat pics to follow soon too.

Remember, my dear fleurs-de-nuit (pardon my French), that those who see you as the other are the ones who fear your power, and that those who shy away from us who bloom while others are caught up in their nightmares of the othered will never experience the beauty of the unknown.