Halloween Updates

10/29/2019 by Rowan Rook Leave a Comment

Hello bookworms! Apologies for the recent hush. In the last couple of months, my freelance business has taken off more than I could’ve imagined—I’ve been editing books for indie authors, writing short stories, drafting Night Plague’s sequel, reading submissions for All Worlds Wayfarer, and coding interactive fiction games. There are so many projects I can’t wait to share with you, but for now, let’s celebrate the horror genre for All Hallows’ Eve!

Download The “Woods at the End of the World” for Free!

If you haven’t checked out my latest full-length novel, now’s the perfect time—it’s free on Kindle through Halloween.

The Woods at the End of the World is a post-apocalyptic ghost story. The world ended before Sun was born, but her world ended when her sister, Moon, disappeared. To escape the same fate, she’ll venture into the unknown.

Check it Out!

Scare Street: Short Horror Stories

A recent development: I’m now a writer at Scare Street, a publisher specializing in horror stories and high-quality scares!

The books in the newly launched “Short Horror Stories” mini-anthology series each offer three distinct and haunting tales to sink your teeth into over your lunch break or right before bed. In particular, Let’s Play, one of my contributions, is a personal favorite from the short stories I’ve written…or at least, it’s the one that creeped me out the most while writing it (the lights in my office even started flickering). If you’re into audiobooks, Book 1 also has a chilling audio edition narrated by the skilled Thom Bowers.

If you’re looking for something a bit longer, try out the “Terror in the Shadows”

anthology series (if you’re an arachnophobe, you’ll like—or perhaps despise—one of my stories, Flies, in volume 7) or Ron Ripley’s “Moving In” novel series.

For some fun with fellow horror fans, and Scare Street’s other authors and myself, check out the Scare Squad Facebook group for creepy trivia, dark-humored memes, and discussions about horror books, shows, and movies.

Horror Interview

If you don’t think I’m weird enough yet, check out my Halloween Spotlight interview with the Word Whisperer, where I talk about what draws me to horror and dark speculative fiction, tips for writing the genre, and some perhaps uncomfortably personal things!

Happy All Hallows’ Eve

May your holiday be filled with fun kind of frights!

The Woods at the End of the World, Out Now!

07/06/2019 by Rowan Rook Leave a Comment

Hey all! Sorry that it’s been quiet here; June and July continue to be intense months as far as deadlines and target dates go. But I’m excited to announce that one of those goals has been met and The Woods at the End of the World is available now!

A Post-Apocalyptic Ghost Story

The world ended before Sun was born, but her world ended just under a year ago, when her sister, Moon, disappeared. According to Mama, the Woods shield Haven farm from the decay left behind by the End, but now she hates them for swallowing up her sister. Her curious, starry-eyed sister who dreamed too much for her own good, while Sun responsibly wrote her Archive, chronicling their lives as the last human beings on Earth.

Sun dismissed her sister’s bizarre behavior leading up to her disappearance as madness, but when she finds Moon’s diary and strange visitors come in the night, she begins to understand far more than she wishes she could. Where her sister found dreams, she sees nightmares. Questions that Mama can’t, or won’t, answer escape her errant tongue.

The truth she seeks waits for her within the Woods.

Find out More

Writing this novel was an interesting experience. It’s somewhat personal in the way it deals with certain emotions, but it’s also a blend of themes from many other projects I’ve worked on. It’s a bit out there, but I hope you enjoy this weird little book!

The Woods at the End of the World: Sneak Peek

05/07/2019 by Rowan Rook 2 Comments

The Woods at the End of the World will be my second full-length novel. It explores the importance of owning your identity, platonic bonds, and finding meaning. It’s also about recognizing, but pushing through, anxiety. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” —George Addair

It’s tentatively scheduled for a June 19th release date.

In the meantime, you can read the opening right now:

The Archive: Year 17, Day 141

To the girl who dreamed herself to death,

I know you aren’t coming back. I’ve known for a while, I think. I wonder if you miss me as much as I miss you. Maybe that’s just my own dream. Maybe there’s nothing left of you but a body decaying deep in the Woods. I don’t believe in other worlds—in this life or after—the way you did. Your mind, with all of those hopes and stories and songs is just gone. That mind that—I used to believe, at least—loved me. All of that is so incredibly sad. So sad that sometimes I think I might crumble into myself until I disappear, just like you. Other times I think it’s only my heart that will shatter—that one day I’ll wake up and never be able to feel anything again. I’d like that.

Since you’ll never actually read this, I’ll be honest: I hate you. I hate you for leaving me and Mama. When you rambled on about wanting to see the world beyond the Woods, I thought you were only making up stories. When you made up stories, I thought you were only trying to escape from Haven in your own safe way. When you stared past the fence, I thought you were only daydreaming. Even when you screamed…I told you it was only nightmares.

I’m sorry. I should have stopped you. The world that mattered was the world we shared together, not one that had long since ended. You were so much of my world once.

You ended that world, too.

I hate you, I really do. I can’t believe how much we lived through only so you could throw it all away on a fantasy. I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive you. I do hope you’ll forgive me for not saving you. Or rather, I wish there was still a you to forgive me. I wish you’d let me know how much you’d needed saving. Most of all, I wish you’d saved yourself.

I’d like to think there is a chance that you made it through the Woods. That a better world really did wait for you. That you’re alive and happy. That you made your dreams come true.

But then I’m the one dreaming. And if there’s one thing you taught me, dear sister, it’s the danger in dreaming.

Goodbye, Moon.

With love and hatred too,

Sun

Note to the Archive’s eventual readers: forgive me for this display of emotion. I couldn’t tell my sister what I wanted to say, so I had to tell someone. I will return the Archive to its regular format with the next entry.

Prologue: Sisters

I’ve never heard my sister scream like this. I wasn’t even sure it was her at first—some poor animal, perhaps, torn apart by a predator in the Woods. But I’ve heard Moon’s voice every day of my life. I know the way her voice cracks on the high notes, the way her low notes ring like bells. I recognize the quiver in that cry—amplified by thunderous magnitudes in the stillness of Haven house tonight.

I fly through the hallway, past Mama’s locked door and the attic’s ladder and the empty closets. It all seems so different in the late night dark—too long, as if I’ll never reach her. My heart hammers as fast and loud as my footfalls. I wish she and I still shared a room—that she hadn’t moved to the old study on the far end of the second story, filled with books and dust and big windows that overlook the Woods at the end of the world. I swear I can hear the branches creaking outside even through the moans of the house and the pounding in my skull, as if Moon’s cries disturb them as much as they frighten me. Why did she—not want to stay with me?—have to pick the room the farthest away from mine?

“Moon!” I let out a cry of my own as I throw open her door.

[Read more…]

Introducing All Worlds Wayfarer Literary Magazine

04/15/2019 by Rowan Rook Leave a Comment

Submit your story for a chance at publication!

Launching today, All Worlds Wayfarer is a new literary magazine for speculative fiction focused on strong characters and themes. We pay writers and promote each published story. This magazine is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and I’m excited that my co-editor and I have finally made it happen! I hope you all will enjoy taking tours through the fantastic once our first issue launches this summer.

In the meantime, if you write fantasy, sci-fi, horror, or otherwise speculative short stories of any sort, I would love to read your work and consider it for inclusion.

Submission Guidelines

If you’re interested in reading our upcoming issues when they’re ready to share with the world, or if you’d rather submit to a later submissions call (we publish quarterly on every equinox and solstice), then sign up for the All Worlds Wayfarer newsletter and I’ll keep you updated.

Find Out More

Happy travels through whatever fictional destinations you choose to create or explore. 📚 ✨

Monthly Updates: March 2019 – Serial Stories

04/08/2019 by Rowan Rook Leave a Comment

New Patreon Page and Serial Story

TAC_PatreonCover(Small).jpg I’m excited to announce that I’ve launched a Patreon profile! At Patreon, you can support independent creators by donating a small amount per month in exchange for supporter rewards. I would be super grateful to anyone who contributes. Even a dollar makes a difference.

In terms of rewards, I’m serializing a novel by posting its chapters as they go through final edits. The Atlantean Crown is an LGBTQIA+ science-fantasy featuring merfolk, mad science, and the tension between responsibility and freedom. If you’re curious about the story, the first chapter is available for free reading.

Certain tiers include free short critiques/copyedits, along with paperbacks of future releases.

Thank you to anyone who checks out the page.

New Serial on Channillo

ChannilloCoverV1 Additionally, I’ve launched a second serial on Channillo! This one will be long-running, spanning an eventual three book trilogy. It’s based on an entirely rewritten version of my first ever novel-length work, finished back when I was a teen. It’s interesting to return to such an old story and polish it up using everything I’ve learned since then.

Apocryphal is an eerie YA urban fantasy featuring shapeshifters and supernatural civil wars, which one commenter likened to “Lovecraft meets X-Men.” It’s also got an all LGBTQIA+ main cast, and explores the importance of claiming your place in a world that doesn’t always understand you – that sometimes even fears you.

Channillo publishes a variety of entertaining serials (if you try out Channillo, make sure to also check out the Heir of Rot and Ruin serial by Rebecca Fisher and the Fragments of Fear serial by Michael Kelso). I’ve had a ton of fun reading and commenting on other authors’ stories there. It is a paid subscription site, but it has a month-long free trial if you’re curious about its hidden gems.

New Novel Coming Soon – The Woods at the End of the World

If all goes well, I’m hoping to publish my next full-length novel on April 30th. The Woods at the End of the World is a paranormal, post-apocalyptic horror novel. I’ll post updates if the release date changes.

The world ended before Sun was born, but her world ended just under a year ago, when her sister, Moon, disappeared. According to Mama, the Woods shield Haven farm from the decay left behind by the End, but now she hates them for swallowing up her sister. Her curious, starry-eyed sister who dreamed too much for her own good, while Sun responsibly wrote her Archive, chronically their lives as the last human beings on Earth.

The truth she seeks waits for her within the Woods.

I hope you’re all having a great April so far!

New Interview

09/30/2018 by Rowan Rook 2 Comments

(Monthly Updates: At the end of every month, I’ll share project or personal updates.)

The Writer’s Workout picks my brain in an Indie Author Sunday interview! How would you have answered the questions?

Summer Writing Goals

05/26/2018 by Rowan Rook 1 Comment

(Friday Updates: I’ll post updates from my projects (about) every other Friday).

With my vacation from school well under way, and summer officially beginning next month, it’s time to get my writing goals organized (I’ve got a few game design projects going on too, but that’s a whole other post). Here’s what I’ll be writing over the season:

Writer’s Games 2018

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Each year, The Writer’s Workout hosts a contest in which participants write 1 short story a week for 7 weeks. Each week has its own theme, announced on Friday, with a story based on that theme due 72 hours later. It also offers feedback for each story and publication in the contest’s anthology for the top 5 stories of each theme. The contest is currently in its third week. I’ve dabbled with short fiction, but this is the first time I’ve really focused on it. I have to say, it’s definitely growing on me, and I feel like I’ve already learned a lot. It’s paying off, too – I found out just yesterday that my story for the second theme (silence) took 1st place! New, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about a robot and a mermaid-like creature, will be published in the upcoming anthology.

The current round of the contest is closed to new entrants, but another will be starting in August. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to practice their short fiction. It’s been a great experience so far.

Re-Publishing Night Plague

Night Plague, my first novel, was originally published in 2014 by Severed Press. Its contract expired a couple of months ago and it’s quickly gone out of print, so I’ll self-publish and re-release it on June 10th to get it back out into the world. I’m currently taking the opportunity to review and edit it to bring it up to par with my current works (I feel like I’ve grown a lot in the four years since its publication). The changes are minor, but I’ve found that the little details definitely do make a difference. Reading it over again is actually pretty fun, since I keep on running into moments I’d forgotten about.

If you’re interested in reading Night Plague, subscribers to my email list will get a free digital copy upon release.

Querying or Self-Publishing Paragon

Paragon, a dark/high fantasy thriller about a wayward scientist who wants to rewrite his world, is my ~~favorite child~~ longest running novel project. Although I’m doing one more read-through to make sure it’s as polished as it can be, it’s essentially ready to go. I haven’t decided whether I want to query agents for it, or if self-publishing would be the better choice. I’m really torn. It’s also not particularly commercial in style, so I’m not sure whether the latter is an option or not. Either way, though, I’m excited to share it soon. If I do commit to shopping it around then I can’t say for sure how long the process will take, but if I go the self-publishing route, it’ll release sometime before 2019. I’ll post updates as they happen.

Finishing the Final Draft of The Atlantean Crown

I’ve got a few plot tweaks to make to the The Atlantean Crown, a YA sci-fi novel about a power-hungry princess and an impending apocalypse, and it’ll also need one more read-through for polish, but this one’s also within in range of querying or self-publishing this summer. At the very least, I’m aiming to finish the final draft. In terms of how it’ll actually release, it’s in a similar situation to Paragon.

Finishing a few First Drafts

There are a couple of other novels I’m not quite ready to talk about yet, but both are near ‘the end’. While not as high of a priority, I’d love to knock out their messy first drafts.

Participating in Activities and Challenges: From Ninja Writers 30 Day Writing Challenge to Camp NaNoWriMo to Ela Thier’s 6-Day Freewriting Challenge, I’m pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone and participating in as many activities as I can. It’s always interesting to meet other writers and try out new approaches to the craft. After all, with school on break, this is the best chance I have to experiment, grow, and of course, write like mad.

Whew! I don’t know if I’m going to manage all that, but I’m damn well going to try.

What goals are you writing towards over the summer?