2024 Wrapped.
Hi friends,
It’s been a busy year. I wrote two books! I launched my adult debut! It’s been so good seeing fruit and flowers blossoming into life from seeds sown years and even decades ago. 🌸🍇
This is a pretty long newsletter, so feel free to skip to the sections that interest you most. Happy Holidays, all, and wishing you a fantastic new year!
2024 in projects
2024 in adventures (by month)
2024 in blurbs (books I blurbed this year)
2024 in media
Word of the Year
2024 in projects
The first of the two novels I wrote was BLOOD ON THE WIND, my vampire-rage meets sapphic-romance sequel to TEETH IN THE MIST, which continues the journey where Teeth left off. It’s basically Byzantium meets The VVitch. I have signed versions available on my website if you’d like, and they’re available at all the usual places: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
It’s also the first novel I’ve self-published. That was a whole new experience for me, and I acquired incredible technical skills along the way. Not to mention seeing something out there, in readers hands, that I put my heart and soul into, in every aspect. The interiors, the artwork, the design, the layout. I have the deepest respect for interior book designers because there are so many little technical details that are invisible to most. The cover of Blood on the Wind was commissioned from the incredibly talented Marcela Bolívar, who knocked it completely out of the park.
I also finished drafting “Project Mud” this year, my Scottish island, wellness thriller/horror coming in Fall 2025 from Graydon House/Harper Collins. My publishers and I have also decided on a title, and when that’s 100000% confirmed, I can announce. This is the vibe you can expect from Project Mud in ‘25 (think wellness, think isolated Scottish island, think eerie bog):
Of course, my adult debut, THE MADNESS, came out this year, with her absolutely gorgeous endpapers that I still can’t stop looking at. It’s a gothic novel set in my home, North Wales, as well as London, and follows a woman who returns to her small town to save her best friend from a mystery illness, when something more sinister (ans possibly supernatural) reveals itself. It was described as Broadchurch in Wales and I absolutely love that description.
I’ve enjoyed hearing from readers and librarians about their reading experiences and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Alloy Entertainment on this incredible project. I’m also beyond grateful to my amazing team at Graydon. They have shown incredible passion for this novel. I still use my yellow brimstone moth keychain and The Madness tote bag every single day.
UK readers: the book is now available on UK retail websites; thanks to Harper UK for distribution. She was also pre-empted in Italy in 2024, which was such lovely news to receive.
I finished edits and copyedits on THE THORNS, which is out in less than three months. The Thorns are three friends who survive their isolated and deeply neglectful boarding school life in the African bush by playing Truth or Dare, building invisible houses, and waking the boogie man-like creature they invented in a game called: Glassy Glassy. When two of the friends are reunited decades—and half a world—later, it may be time to reckon with their long-ago creation. If that sounds fun to you, I’d love it if you pre-ordered (please check trigger warnings for this one). I pitched this one as Heavenly Creatures meets My Dark Vanessa, and I’ll be posting comp titles in the coming weeks.
Why not have an aesthetic? THE THORNS is full of smudged lipstick, collages, dried flowers, paper and devil thorns, glass shards, ripped tights, scuffed school shoes, sugarcane, summers full of ghost stories and girlish horror.
2024 in Adventures
January
This month, I officially began writing “Project Bones”. I’m particularly exited about this one, because she’s been waiting patiently in line for months and months until I finally had the time on my roster to focus on her entirely. It’s always such a surreal feeling when you begin to create the thing that has lived inside your mind, only yours, for so long. When it starts to take on a physical shape and form. I’ll be getting edits back on Project Mud some time in the new year, so I’m hoping to crank out as much of Bones as I can before then. Project Bones is a gothic botanical folk horror that will easily and happily sit in the “weird girl” camp too, and I cannot wait for you to meet her in Spring 2026.2024 in adventures
This year was full of adventures, both at home (renovation and DIY) and out in The World (TM). I began stripping the paint off the staircase in our small stone house, revealing an absolutely gorgeous wooden banister beneath about twenty layers and five (or more) decades of paint. The process is surprisingly finicky, and is not yet complete. Perhaps it’ll be done by close of 2025?
I had a fancy afternoon tea with my good mate Kat Ellis in January to celebrate bookish news:
I designed and printed my first set of character cards, and sent them out into the world as pre-order gifts 🥰
February
THE THORNS sold in a 6-figure, two book deal.
March
March was all about Blood
April
In April I took a fun silversmithing ring-making workshop with Kat. Look how talented we are! 😊 Quite chuffed with the two rings I made, even if they do turn my fingers a corpse-like green (copper oxide from the silver alloy).
I was also adventuring with growing my own plants this year. I tried tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, carrots, and strawberries. Hint: We only got spuds and carrots. In less fun-time adventures, I also caught a nasty virus and ended up in hospital.
May
In May I had the best fun sending out all of the pre-order goodies for the BLOOD ON THE WIND release. It was amazing to see that many packages heading into the world with artwork I made and commissioned. Also, we love a wax seal, right?
May is also the month I bought my first car. And it’s all thanks to THE THORNS. Honestly, this book has brought me so many things. My first agent (who left agenting), in its previous incarnation. My first editor interest and feedback. My first experience being contacted by people who read it (agents and editors) years after the submission. So it seems only right it brought my first car to me too.
June
June was all about garden adventures. Planting and tending to our vegetable crops and generally spending time outside. I did have the most lovely two afternoons with an old friend, Claire, who came to visit from New Zealand. Definitely a highlight of June for me. Plus, she brought me the most delicious home made damson plum jam I’ve ever tasted.
July
In July I tried my hand at blacksmithing, and had a complete blast doing it. I made myself an iron cloak brooch, a piece any true medieval witch needs. It was exhausting, hot, and exhilarating. If you ever get the chance to give it a go, I highly recommend—though if you’re chronically ill, I would book a day off on either side, because you will hurt afterwards and need to build up energy reserves beforehand.
My publisher also sent me the most adorable tote bag and moth keychain in celebration of THE MADNESS in July. Both have been my constant companions on adventures since.
August
In August I went on a small adventure to Little Moreton Hall, the wonkiest, moated half-timbered manor house in England. It was a delight to wander inside this unique building and see the grounds.
There were some small home improvements in 2024, but not nearly as many as I’d hoped for. One little addition that made me happy was a finger plate on my writing room door. I believe in taking each and every chance for joy.
September
September was fairly quiet, adventure-wise. I saw a medieval festival from afar and took some photos, read some books for blurb, and continued with my deadline. It was a “head down” kind of month.
October
October, as usual, was a mad month full of wonderful Halloween events. I (as Fiona from Shrek) had a delightful chat with Kat Ellis and Kathryn Foxfield over on the Tales Point Horror Instagram, which you can re-watch here. I had a brilliant live chat with Margot Harrison over on her Instagram about her newest novel, The Midnight Club, and The Madness, and on October 29th I had a live chat with Paulette Kennedy, author of The Devil and Mrs Davenport. We chatted all things vampires, Welsh folklore, feminism in fiction, and scary movies.
On October 28th I joined Fictional Hangover and Kat Ellis to discuss Kat’s fantastic short story Phantom Image. I also had a wonderful live chat with Sadie Hartman and Kiersten White over on the Nightworms Youtube Channel, which I absolutely loved. It truly was a fantastic Halloween season.
I also replaced my keycaps for the first time in October, and I went with… bread! It has been even more of a delight to type since then. The silky keys, the gentle click they make—like bubble wrap—it all amounts to a sensory delight. Highly recommend—again, joy in all the small things.
And who could forget the aurora borealis? Seeing it was a wonder, and a bucket list item for me (and for most of us, I think!).
We also welcomed a new member to the family in October when I got my mum her new little boy, L. He’s a boisterous, energetic and completely lovely Burmese kitten who has taken to mum like a bird to the sky—he’s absolutely in love with her. 🥰 He’s also growing so fast I can’t keep up.
November
My birthday month was a lot of fun. I had a 16th century themed birthday dinner, I went to the most beautiful art gallery featuring local Welsh artists (and very seriously considered purchasing one painting that I still can’t stop thinking about), took my mum to a fancy-pants tea in a stately home, took Kat on a pottery painting date to celebrate her birthday, and I took myself on the first of two very-much-needed solo writing retreats this year.
December
December has been wonderful. Between storms and power cuts, I finished and handed in a book, celebrated the festive season with a Christmas meal out and had a spa day with Kat, and have generally been basking in the splendour of the season (while plotting out my next horrifying creation—because, naturally.) Since drafting this newsletter, I have also had the most wonderful Christmas day with my family, and I hope you have too.
2024 in Blurbs
I’ve been appalling at keeping track of my blurb reading this year (although I did better than last year, so it’s an upward trend..?) With two novels out, and three more coming, I lost the plot on much of my reading. Deadline brain is real. I prefer to read everything I’m sent, even though it’s not always possible. This year I blurbed some absolutely brilliant novels. I have a new system in place for next year so hopefully no blurb reading will go by the wayside. I’ll talk more about my planning system in a following newsletter, I’m sure.
Without further ado, please enjoy!
I very much hope I haven’t forgotten any—though it is entirely possible. I claim deadline brain yet again. 😆
2024 in Media
I think I can safely say that my overarching 2024 obsession was Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire by AMC+. I have loved both seasons of the show, which I only came to this year, and I am frothing at the mouth for season 3, when we get to see our brat prince make his rockstar debut. I apologise in advance to the people in my life, because when season 3 drops, I’m about to get sooooo insufferable. I also began my re-read of the books between blurb-and-draft deadlines.
The music of the show is equally gorgeous, so it came as absolutely zero surprise to me that my music wrapped of the year revealed my top song to be a track on the Interview with the Vampire soundtrack, as well as “Stronger Than Ever” by Raleigh Ritchie, the stage name of Jacob Anderson, who plays Louis in the show.
Word of the Year
I’m curious if any of you set intentions for the new year, or whether you set yourself up with a particular word? I’ve decided on a single word for 2025, and because I am a secretive little Scorpio, I’m not going to reveal it, but I do think there’s wonderful value in having a focal point for the broad, overarching feeling and vibe you want the coming twelve months to have.
Just a moment here, to thank my publishers, my editors, and my brilliant agent Victoria. I am blessed to work with the most excellent people.
Happy New Year, guys. I can’t wait to see you all in 2025, and I hope all your dreams come true. <3
Love,
Dawn
xoxo