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PULLING TEETH AND OTHER STORIES

Old wounds.

New beginnings.

Jellyfish monsters.

Teenage Regina Slaughter finds out there are three sides to life: human, monster, and human-turned-monster.

Restarting her life with an emotionally barren Void hunter for a teacher and a caring werewolf for an adopted father gives her a bright, shiny future. But her world didn’t start out so bright and shiny.

When little Regina unwillingly became a werewolf at the tender age of nine, she lost her whole family soon after. Her new life in a cage at the whim of HADES monster hunters’ experimentations is even worse than her old life.

Now on the monster side of life, Regina learns that there are no limits to the kind of monster humans can be.

Regina is saved by the Alpha of a werewolf pack, who was also once human…and also once a werewolf hunter himself. Joyfully accepted into the Alpha’s new pack–joyful on her side, not on all of theirs–Regina enters the perilous world of monster hunting to protect the world from actually evil monsters.

Although sometimes she ends up keeping them as pets.

Buckle your seatbelts, put on a helmet, and hold on tight as you join Regina Slaughter in this grimdark paranormal fantasy collection that features five stories, two mad scientists, and one wolf girl.

Get your copy on Amazon today

Jessa Forest‘s The Slaughter Chronicles kicks off with Pulling Teeth and Other Stories, an anthology that reads like a novel. Follow Regina Slaughter through her young life as a werewolf who wants nothing more than to shift into wolf form and run under the moon—except she’s imprisoned by monster hunters who want to experiment on her. But this isn’t her first brush with danger. And it won’t be her last. At times visceral and at times light-hearted, Pulling Teeth and Other Stories is an exciting journey into a new paranormal world you’ll love!
Proof Positive

Very dark and beautiful. Visceral. Lovely mix of realism and paranormal elements.
Suzanne, Goodreads review

This book is a rather darker fantasy than I usually read. But it turned out to be a real page-turner. Beautifully written and a plot that keeps you moving quickly through the pages. Regina, the lead character, is no slouch. Fearless, not always a nice little girl and sometimes luckier than she deserves. The fantastical world the author creates could use a bit more filling out but I assume she will do that in future entries in the series. I will read those too.
Jerry G, Amazon review

Dark and beautiful. Jessa’s writing is very visceral and real, even if the plot is fantastical. Loved this collection.
Aaron D, Amazon review

END OF AUGUST UPDATES

WRITING UPDATES

Good news first:

The second installment of Speculative E-Shorts is ready to go live in two months and is available for pre-order on Amazon. On October 5, it will be free on Kindle Unlimited and 0.99 cents to buy.

Pre-Order it here 🙂

Now for the “bad” news:

Havoc’s Moon, The Slaughter Chronicles Book One, will not be coming out this year.

The manuscript is currently with my editor undergoing a serious critique. When it comes back to me in September, I will be re-writing about half of it. Because the conflict gluing the middle to the end was okay. Just okay. Not great. And that is not acceptable.

This isn’t the perfectionist in me talking, this is the reader in me talking. The reader who wanted some super cool shit to happen and got “just okay.”

This is nothing new to me or my writing process. This same thing happened in 2019 when I finished the first draft of the first version of Havoc’s Moon. I gave it to Mr. J to read, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Did you like it?

Mr J: <silence>

Me: Come on. What did you think?

Mr. J: <long pause> Someone somewhere will like it.

Me: But did YOU like it?

Mr. J: <another long pause> Like I said, someone will like it.

Me: So… you didn’t like it?

Mr. J: <silence>

Yeah. I was crushed. But I picked myself up and kept writing. In that first draft, there was no Squee, there was no Hyperion. I am happy to say that Mr. J does like the second version of the manuscript.

And now it needs to go through another evolution. Mushy middle is real, y’all.

How did I know the book needed a re-write? What if what I re-write is worse than what I had that was just okay?

In the last stages of my drafting process, I had three big story gaps that I was struggling to fill. I knew the plot, the themes I wanted to evoke with my characters’ actions. I had all the fight blocking sorted out. But when I sat down to write those gaps, I. Just. Couldn’t. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. And because I had deadlines, one from my editor and a personal deadline involving school, I did something I shouldn’t have done: I tried to force it.

Never force the writing. Ever.

As my August deadline drew closer, I looked back at my revisions with one recurring thought: I wish I wrote <redacted for spoilers> instead of this. But I convinced myself I was too committed to this plot thread and too close to the deadline to just start over.

I should have started over. Because the stress got real.

Here’s a cautionary tale for you: two days before my manuscript was due, I cut 15,000 words. Cut them. Because the conflict did nothing to move the story forward. The beginning and the end sandwiched something that I didn’t really care about (that also contributed to my stalled writing).

So, in an Earl Grey fueled panic, I cobbled together the beginnings of how I wanted to improve the conflict, drafted skeletons of the new scenes, and sent that to my editor with a long list of notes and a huge apology. And a request for a developmental edit next year.

And now, even though I’m writing the book while I’m in Lab Science college, which is something I really didn’t want to do because school is hard (awesome but hard), I am confident that readers will appreciate reading a better book.

PERSONAL UPDATES

Lab Science college is probably the best thing that ever happened to me, but holy shit, my entire life has become STUDYING. I warned friends and family that I wouldn’t be around as much. I should have said I wouldn’t be around at all.

Lucky the betta fish is fine, subscribe to my newsletter for exclusive betta pictures (shameless plug, I know).

The cats are a different story. Leela caught a “kitty cold” but is doing better. Titain and Tiny Rick have fungal infections in their claws. That was a fun discovery.

And I’ve started taking allergy shots. I’ve always been the kind of person who “toughs it out” when it comes to allergies, but my new PCP offered me the option to talk to an allergist and I thought, why not? So now every other day I stick myself (sometimes badly) and fill myself with <insert long scientific explanation here> that my immune system can get used to.

I also got bangs… cut my hair into bangs? Not sure how to form that sentence properly. Anyway, I’m not mad at them.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Supernatural Suspense author Claire Fishback just released the second book in her Origin Codex series. I’m absolutely in love with the title, The Gorging of Souls. And there’s an eyeball on the cover! With a little optic nerve dangling from it.

Dark Historical Suspense author Christie Stratos launches into Kindle Vella with Grimoire Society of Dark Acts. I find the main character, a Victorian era pharmacist, absolutely fascinating and the magic system definitely lives up to the serial’s intriguing name.

Dancing Lemur Press released Damien Larkin’s Blood Red Sand, an epic sequel/prequel (there’s time-y-wime-y bits) to Big Red. Nazis on Mars. WWII in space. Explosions. Blood Red Sands has it all.

WHAT I’M READING NOW

Hematology and Immunology, y’all. I can tell you how blood works.

In my limited spare time, I’m re-reading Frank Herbert’s Dune series. But I’m starting with Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. I’ve only read the six original books so it’s nice to dive into the new material.

I’m also looking forward to finding the time to read A Terrible Fall of Angels, the newest Laurell K. Hamilton book. LKH is one of my top 5 writing idols.

BLOOD RED SAND

Blood Red Sand by Damien Larkin

A fantastic read!

Blood Red Sand is a beautifully crafted companion novel to Big Red. Part sequel, part prequel, new and familiar characters from Big Red converge for an EPIC battle on Mars. The story follows the events of a Nazi colony falling to Allied forces. Blood Red Sand has the same fast-paced, gripping action of Big Red but on a much larger scale. Larkin does not disappoint as he weaves a harrowing, heart pounding battle-scape. We see the fall of New Berlin from many different angles, and a rare glimpse into the trials and tribulations on both sides.

Larkin’s strength as a storyteller lies in the scattered bits of foreshadowing he leaves for us to pick up like breadcrumbs. If you’ve already read Big Red, your jaw will hit the floor more than once as the backstory plays out. The story ends with a brief pause in the conflict that I can only guess at as the calm before a much larger storm.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I eagerly await the next. Onward to victory and kill them all!

View all my reviews

MY FIVE DRAFT PROCESS

This is how I edit all my short stories and how I am slowly transitioning my long fiction writing process (which right now is just get the words on the page and worry about everything else later).

FIRST DRAFT

Brain dump / discovery writing / getting the scene out of my head and onto the page
No forced descriptions
- If they come, great. But if they don’t, don’t stop writing.
Don’t get caught up in the minutia
Don’t embellish the dialogue
- Only write “said” or “asked”
- Add better tags / descriptors during the developmental and polishing phases
Get to the end before you start re-writing
Don’t go back and edit for continuity, keep writing until you get to the end

In this draft there are no chapters, only scenes. Chapters come later.

I’ve had to train myself to not stop writing until I get to the end. I still do this–to my detriment–in my long fiction but for my short fiction I wait and make a list of all the changes I need to make or new plot elements I need to add earlier in the draft and then go back and add those in the second draft.

SECOND DRAFT

This is the re-write draft where I go back to the beginning and make all the plot changes I discovered during the first draft.

Identify and fill plot holes
Try writing content for place holder ideas
- Place holder ideas are key words that I’ve written into the manuscript that I know don’t work but I had to put something there to keep writing. Now that the story has a complete beginning, middle, and end, I can afford to take the time to really brainstorm for the right details.
Shift scenes around as needed
Identify where there are jumps in point of view and either remove / rewrite loose POV threads or make a note for a future chapter break
Look for places to deepen the details, add placeholder ideas if they don’t come just yet
- Add sensory descriptions
- Add emotions and thoughts
- Add worldbuilding elements to make the setting and environment of the situation richer

In this draft I still don’t have chapters but my scenes are developing more muscle and gooey stuff.

This and the third drafts are my favorite part of the process because I can go back behind myself and fix things. Dive deeper into my world and really explore what the story is supposed to be.

THIRD DRAFT

Print out a copy of the second draft
- Make handwritten notes
- Read it aloud
Address all remaining placeholder ideas and in-text notes
Research and double-check everything I’m uncertain about
Tighten up dialogue and fix dialogue tags
Tighten up blocking and physical movements of the characters
Check the pacing
- Move narrative paragraphs out of the action
- Smooth out and evenly distribute info-dumps
Separate scenes into chapters

Since I write science fiction and fantasy, I can make up my own rules about most things. But I don’t want to spit out a random concrete fact (like the temperature of the sun, for example) and get it wrong. Always do your research.

When a story is long enough to need chapters, I organize them by character POV. I normally write in 3rd person limited and while some POV jumping is okay, I try to avoid it because I don’t want to confuse you.

Up until this point I’ve done all my writing in the Notes app on my iPad and Macbook. But for organizing the chapters, I use dabblewriter.com.

FOURTH DRAFT

This is the self-developmental editing phase.

Check continuity
- Character appearance
- Setting elements
- Magic system details
- All plot holes filled
Polish the sentences / vocabulary
Use this opportunity to enhance any existing tension and make sure the stakes are as high as they can be
Make sure the characters are being as authentic and honest as possible

FIFTH DRAFT

This is the polishing phase! The final draft!

Run the manuscript through ProWritingAid (I know lots of people use Grammarly but I always found it clunky and never really liked the interface)
Edit grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation as needed
Print out the manuscript and read it aloud THREE times
- Make handwritten notes
Add / make changes from handwritten notes
Slurp everything through ProWritingAid again
Format for editor

I cannot stress enough how important it is to read your writing out loud. One of the biggest indicators I have for if something is “finished” or not is: can I read it without barfing. If not, I need to go back and work on it some more.

I developed this process over a three year period of trial and error. Some of the writers and resources that helped me figure out the best drafting and editing systems for my writing style are:

*Steff Green’s course is the only non-academic writing course I’ve ever tried, because I am skeptical and distrustful. While Green’s course was not the Holy Grail of writing for me personally, I did get a lot out of her explaining her own process.

NICK HOLLERAN: DEAD MAN WALKING

Dead Man Walking by David Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dead Man Walking is one of the best paranormal private investigator stories I’ve read in a long time. Nick Holleran is both delightfully sarcastic and sympathetic. You really feel for him and you can tell he really feels for other people, even when he has to shoot them in the face. He also has excellent taste in music. Green is a master storyteller and Nick’s voice and personality are beautifully crafted.

This book puts a unique twist on paranormal investigation, and given the vastness of the genre, that is really hard to do. The world building is wonderful and I’ve never seen a Hell on Earth concept like this before. Green definitely does not disappoint with this one. If you’re a fan of Edward Lee’s City Infernal, this is for you.

View all my reviews

ECHO: SPECULATIVE E-SHORTS

Don’t drop your Resonator. Don’t let your client die. In that order.

Echo’s job is simple: travel instantaneously across universes, attend to the customer whose health is in jeopardy (or not), and go home. That’s what the Company wants, and if Echo’s faithful prayers to the Corporate Gods have anything to do with it, that’s what they’ll get.

After all, that’s what customers pay for when they buy a RealEverywhere vacation package—the chance to travel to any universe and do whatever they want, including killing their alternate selves. That’s always fun, right?

It’s a good thing Echo just renewed her life insurance policy, because by the time she reaches her customer’s universe, he’s missing. Something very strange has happened, and after all Echo has seen in her lifetime as an Emergency Medical Technician, that’s something to fear.

“Echo” is a fast-paced corporate sci-fi adventure that combines notes of dark humor with all too possible futuristic concepts.

Author’s Note:

Echo is about customer service and being forced to cater to stupid people.

Echo is about parallel universes. With unlimited possibilities and unlimited universes, are you really living your best life?

Echo is about self-examination. And making the most out of a tough situation. Like when you go into work and everything just falls to shit.

This Corporate Science Fiction Short Story takes a lot of inspiration from my fifteen plus years of customer service experience. Of course, I never had a Resonator 9000, but the sentiment is the same. I hope Echo can be one of those stories where you see yourself and thing, “Oh, yeah, that’s totally happened to me before.” But also, “Oh wow, I really hope that doesn’t happen to me.”

Sort of a there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-go-I situation.

I gave my character Echo a lot of my sass and disgruntled feelings about working in situations where customers/clients are not happy for whatever reason. I also gave Echo something I’ve never experienced: she’s happy with her job. I’ve never worked in a job that I’ve 100% loved and I wanted to explore what that might be like in my fiction. I will warn you, there are things in this story that Echo doesn’t love. But in a society where unemployment is the same thing as a death sentence, she puts on her big-girl scrubs and deals (sometimes even like an actual professional lol).

There are hard sci-fi elements to this story, but because it is so short, I’ve kept things at a happy medium-hard. My favorite thing to invent for Echo was a corporate society’s religion. I had a lot of fun thinking about, “What if Wall Street was actually a church?”

This story might be for you if:

you enjoy fast-paced, character driven stories with tough (but far from perfect) and snarky female protagonists
you like reading characters get out of tough situations
you like your sci-fi with dark themes and ominous endings

A Special Note About the Speculative E-Shorts Series:

Speculative E-Shorts is a series of standalone short stories that I want to write for people who need to suspend reality and get away for a little bit. I used to have an hour and forty-five minute commute to work both ways and I struggled to find things to keep me occupied.

My father passed away in 2004 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. One thing that my mother said that broke my heart was how painful the waiting room experience was for her. She had nothing to occupy her time except her fears and worries during scheduled and emergency doctor visits.

Now, my mother is a very analytical person, and she doesn’t read a lot of fiction BUT if you’re stuck in the ER waiting room and need an hour to kill, maybe my stories can help.

Maybe you’re on your lunch break, and you had a shitty start to your shift. Or maybe you want to read something you can finish in one sitting. Speculative E-Shorts can help with that too.

Echo is now available on Kindle Unlimited to read for free and 0.99 cents to buy.

Grab your copy here!

Echo is an ebook only. However, Speculative E-Shorts is a quarterly publication, and as soon as I write enough stories to fill a paperback, there will be paperback Speculative E-Shorts omnibuses available for purchase.

SURVIVING YOUR AUTHOR INTERVIEW

If you’re an indie author like me, you love listening to other authors talk about their books and writing process… but when it’s your turn to share your thoughts about the fictional universe that you know EVERYTHING about; you get nervous.

Nevertheless, your dream is to one go on blog tours, book signings, and have interviewers ask you those deep and hard-hitting questions you’ve watched your writing idols answer.

How do you do that if you’re extremely shy and introverted (like me)?

I’ve outlined seven tips that will help you get through your author interview without too much anxiety.

1) Write yourself a script/outline (even when you don’t know the questions)

You can always count on the host to ask you to introduce yourself and having a few points of reference will make you more comfortable and ease you into fluid, natural sounding conversation.

I hate talking about myself, and I get uncomfortable listing my accomplishments. It sounds too much like bragging. So I like to plan out what I’m going to say ahead of time.

Some suggestions:

Come up with a tag line to describe your writing
Write a more conversational version of your professional bio
Narrow down in two or three sentences what you want your writing to accomplish (really pinpoint what you’re giving to your readers)
One or two fun facts your audience might like to know about you

Remember to keep it short and sweet. This is just your introduction.

2) Have a motivational picture in the background

When I found this piece of advice, I was skeptical. I’m not one for affirmations or gratitude lists. But this really works. I printed out a graphic of “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” (Suzy Kassem) and every time I felt myself panicking I looked at it.

Having a sentence or two that grounds you in your purpose, or a confidence booster, in big letters that you can tape to the wall behind your camera goes a long way.

3) Emotional support cat

Pets can be unpredictable but I look at that as part of the genuine, unscripted experience.

As long as my cat isn’t showing his butt hole to the camera or trying to push something off of my desk, having him next to me while I’m talking about my book definitely helps keep my blood pressure low.

4) Get there early

As I write this, all the interviews and events I’ve been to were virtual, but this applies to in-person events as well. If your interviewer says they’re going to be on Zoom or Stream Yard fifteen minutes early, get there fifteen minutes early. Don’t wait until the last minute to show up. Getting to your interview early gives you time to ease into talking to your interviewer, which is really great for meeting someone for the first time. You don’t want to start an interview cold.

Also, getting there early gives you time to prepare, ask questions, and tell your interviewer about any announcements you have ahead of time.

5) Wear headphones

This applies more to virtual events.

Headphones cut the background noise down and feedback. Having headphones with a built-in microphone helps, and they don’t have to be expensive. Just have them.

6) Have all your technical issues and background set up ahead of time.

Another one that applies to virtual events.

Test out your lighting and internet connection before the interview is recorded or goes live. If you’re using bluetooth devices, make sure the connection is working before you start the interview. This might seem like common sense but I’ve been in situations before where I’ve *meant* to check something and forgot.

Sometimes technical issues can’t be helped, like if there’s atmospheric interference. So, don’t worry about what’s beyond your control.

7) Do your research

If you’re doing an event or interview that is part of a series or a regularly broadcasted video chat or podcast, listen/watch previous episodes. (Do this before querying to be a guest too.) You get a feel for how the interviewer runs things and you’re not coming into a stiff conversation.

I like to check out my interviewer’s website beforehand or read one of their books just so I have a good idea of what their writing is about. I know all of our TBR piles are enormous but doing a little background research can help with making a professional connection.

BONUS:

And use the mistakes you think you made to make your next interview better. One of my goals is to research how to set up better lighting so I don’t look like I’m broadcasting from a cave.

Have tips of your own? Please share them in the comments.

PULLING TEETH AND OTHER STORIES