Notes from Inside the Haunted House

Newsletter for February 4, 2026

Good to see you all back inside my crumbling little haunted house. This week, I am going to be talking about what’s coming, my recent little downslide, and how I am beginning to pick myself up and get back to work.

My Recent Rough Patch

I have spoken in the past about my issues with anxiety and depression, and while meds have it mostly under control, there are days when I just feel shitty. I went through that over the weekend and into the early part of this week. Feeling that way made it tough for me to be social and continue writing. I forced myself to get some words out, but I am not entirely sure I delivered my best work. I think that in future, I just need to sit out those days and allow myself to wallow a little.

What I Am Working On

I am excited to introduce Macabre Mail into my shop, and while I have a lot of the supplies I need, one of the main bits will not arrive until late February. I might just put together some sample that I can share for you all to have a look at.

The rebranding efforts continue for all my books, with Crueller the next one to be updated and added to my Buy Me A Coffee store. My goal is to have this one done and up for sale by the end of this week.

I also need to get back to writing Nerve Damage and have decided that I am going to just start posting the chapters as I do them as opposed to once a week. I am itching to get this one done so that I can move on to the next big project.

What I’m Watching & Reading

I am very much in a book slump, but I am close to finishing one. I thought adding a book review section to my Substack page would give me a shake, but it has not. Perhaps getting one finished will push me to keep going.

I watched a movie called The Wrecking Crew with Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, which was a whole lot more entertaining than I expected. Sure, it’s a bit of a mindless action flick, but it was a ton of fun, too.

Here Be Monsters

As you guys probably know, Tuesday and Thursday are when I work on drabbles. I’ve decided that the majority of the 100-word stories in February are going to be devoted to creatures of all sorts, so please do let me know if there is something in particular you’d like to see get the drabble treatment.

Well, I think that’s it for this week. For those of you reading this who have not subscribed to my Stack, please be aware that if you do decide to sub, I will give you a 30-day upgrade as a thank you. Hope to see you all here again next week.

JW