FACE YOUR FEAR

The monthly newsletter from Austrian Spencer

Face your fear

I’m not a big believer in New-Years Resolutions - I think that to decide to do something as a spur-of-the-moment decision achieves nothing - there’s no preparation or commitment, it’s a whimsical decision that is ultimately doomed to failure. Given that I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs, or have any expensive hobbies (let’s ignore my book-buying habit, here), and that I train four times a week and save my money, there’s nothing really major to commit to on the spur of a whim.

For years now, instead of making a resolution, I let the first word that pops into my head be my general theme for the upcoming year. This might be a case of manifesting or molding my experiences to appropriately mirror that word, but I have to say that I’m generally pretty spot on. I’m no seer, I’m not going to pretend to have any knowledge of what the lottery numbers are next week, or know what disasters are going to occur and when, but the word I think of has been - seen over the course of a year - pretty accurate. Sometimes the word was positive (exceptional) - sometimes the word was bad (painful).

This year, I have to tell you - I’m pretty scared.

This year’s word, which popped into my head at the stroke of midnight, on the top of a mountain, with my wife standing next to me, surrounded by her family (12 of us), watching a spectacularly clear and beautiful fireworks display, happy, exhilarated, peaceful, content - was:

Survive

Where the hell did that come from?

I have no idea what it could mean. Are we all going to die from covid? Are aliens going to invade? Will both I and my wife lose our jobs and our house, become destitute, and have to fight the emerging zombie army?

Those that know me, know that I am irrepressibly optimistic. I can’t help but think the best of things, sometimes annoyingly so. I’m going to choose to interpret that word to reflect on the theme of my writing this year. With that in mind, here’s what you can expect to come from me this year, and how it all ties into the bizarre theme I have set for myself:

1. Face your fear

I’ve moved over to Substack from Revue, due to it closing down. I hope you all like the new format and stay with me over the coming months. I also hope to extend the newsletter to a bi-weekly format for paid subscribers, who will be given offers and free books as thanks for their support. Let’s start this off with content, so you can see how I’m doing, and progress from there. If the newsletter survives the first couple of months, and I survive the commitment to writing it all, we’ll have a great addition to my company, Austrian Horror.

2. The Masocheist

As I posted on Twitter, The Masocheist has entered the grand rounds of editing, the bones and flesh are there, and now it’s time to get nerdy and specific. There’s a whole bunch of new characters making their debut appearances in my world, not least of which the hands of Famine and the first rumbles of Nature awakening. My release date is still to be fixed but has been put back a little because of the cover art. More news on THAT in the next newsletter. What can you expect in it? Winston and John -let’s just say that they both have a very, very bad time. Williams discovers Tom, we found out why Tom is how Tom is, and a new Death is born. America discovers Mania, Famine rises in Africa, and Pestilence breeds. Rot is everywhere, and War and Peace collide.

And the darkness… Mortis… devours.

3. The Dawn Chorus

My Apocolypse creature feature has my complete attention presently. The MC Boon is a survivor with ADHD and has a very specific voice and afflictions, as well as a pivotal skill set that enable him to “see” the invisible predators that have ravaged the planet. He and Carly, a 15-year-old orphan - fight to survive in a world where everything, seen or unseen, is out to kill them.

If there are any of you out there wanting to be Beta readers, now’s the time to get in contact. Drop me a line on twitter, or here in the comments.

4. Short story collection.

I’ve changed and rechanged the name of this collection time and again, and am seriously considering asking everyone for suggestions! The collection is about 3/4 complete, and collects together my shorter fiction. I’m hoping for a September release.

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What else is new?

With my two kids having moved out of the house, I’ve more time to kill. This year, I’ve decided to reduce my reading and reviewing in order to concentrate on my writing and editing. I’m hoping to produce two books each year, and I’ll also be starting up my editing as an official service. Authors who I’ve read will know I’m a nerd, I can’t just read a book, I take copious notes - I edit as a hobby. I’ve constantly been told to expand on my hobby by the authors I’ve helped - so this year I’ll be starting up an editing service. If you want a free consultation example of my work, get in contact with a sample - three chapters and no obligations. I’ll get my endorsements organized, ready for next month’s newsletter. Meantime, if you want to send samples, click on the button below to visit my homepage, and use the contact form at the bottom of the homepage:

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