MAY 2025

Anything good happen this May? Enjoy any new movies, TV shows, bands, or…I dunno…books?
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Oh yeah, Burden came out on 6th May!
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I hope you enjoyed it if you picked it up. If you follow me on social media, you’ll know full well that Burden was on the horizon thanks to the marketing I did to try and promote it (which I touched on in last month’s issue). Still, with that being said, there’s so much more to do now that it’s out there in the wild!
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Unsurprisingly, this month’s Recap is going to revolve heavily around Burden, its release, post-release, and what that looks like going forward. Alongside the revelry and celebration is some unexpected, exciting news regarding Steen, a major BJJ update, and the fact that this month saw my son turn five!
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So buckle up, buckaroo. Let’s get going!

A Burden Shared…​
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As prefaced above, Burden came out in early May.
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Given how long it took to finally get ready for publication (as shared in previous issues of The Recap), there perhaps could have been a longer pre-order period before its eventual release but, honestly, it felt as though this book just needed to finally be put out there. It had been waiting in the wings long enough.
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In truth, the eBook pre-order period for Burden was, sadly, a little underwhelming, so, in the end, having the shorter pre-order period probably wasn’t a major issue. You see, for some reason, Amazon still only allows digital pre-orders, so even though I had plenty of people asking if paperbacks could be pre-ordered, the answer remained “unfortunately not”. I don’t know why Amazon does it this way, but I hope they allow it at some point.
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With that being said, the actual release on 6th May went really well, all things considered.
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Long story short, there’s been a lot of discourse online within the indie author and writing spheres about how difficult the past few months have been, with May being the most difficult to date with slumping sales and lack of engagement (and that’s before the writer review drama that captivated so many…but more on that later).
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So it's awesome my latest book came out during this time of low engagement, people boycotting Amazon, and a lack of book sales across the board for both indie and trad, eh?
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Anyway, there was a decent initial sales spike, which is always good to see after so long prepping, stressing, plotting, and planning. This is partly due to the digital pre-orders that were in place finally going through, with the eBook getting sent out automatically, but there was still a decent number of sales throughout the day.
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Honestly, it was a bit of a surreal release as my partner was at work in London during the day and my son was at school…so that just left me, alone, to celebrate the release of the book during the day.
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Kidding aside, it wasn’t a problem as, well, it is what it is. But…it still felt a little underwhelming.
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At least at first.
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After a day chilling out and playing Don’t Nod’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage as my ‘reward game’ (I loved the Life is Strange games, especially the first one), Thea surprised me and Austin by coming back a little bit earlier in the evening, much to the delight of my son who was getting out of the bath at the time.
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Once Austin was put to bed, we were able to really settle into the true celebration portion of the day with Champagne (not just sparkling wine, I’ll have you know!) and, most notably, a surprise cake Thea ordered with the Burden cover on it! Check it out below—and yes, it tasted just as good as it looked!
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It was a small celebration where we enjoyed cake, reflected on the long journey Burden has had, and watched a horror movie, Heart Eyes. It was lovely.
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And then, before I knew it, it was over. The 6th of May came and went, Burden was officially out, and people could finally get their hands on it.
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Thank you so much to everyone who pre-ordered or already picked up a copy. I really appreciate it, and I mean it when I say that it’s thanks to you that I continue to feel motivated to write and share my stories.
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​WARNING! DRAMA ALERT!​
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Author Drama seems all too prevalent on social media, but this month’s major dilemma that I wanted to touch on revolved around a female author complaining about a 3* review for her latest book—despite the apparent criticism being quite thoughtfully constructive and the end result being a three-star review!
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I refuse to get drawn into online dramas, especially for more incendiary subjects like this. I mean, a quick glance on Twitter as I write this suggests the latest round of drama revolves around writing in third person? That’s a problem now, I guess? And…people are getting heated.
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When all you want to do is grow your own community, connect with readers, and hopefully even sell a few books, stumbling across Author Drama that’s grabbed the whole scene in a chokehold very much feels like this…
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But I feel compelled to share some thoughts on the review debacle here because, well, Burden was the recipient of a few reviews recently—one very positive (5*) and the other…not so…(2*).
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The two-star review didn’t leave any thoughts or opinions on the story, its characters, its pacing, or anything. It was just…two stars. And it hurt. Hurts. You put so much of yourself into your stories, into your writing, spend so much time and money with editors and cover designers, and dedicate so much emotional energy to writing and rewriting, that you naturally hope everyone will love it.
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But that’s not how it works.
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It’s all so subjective and wildly out of a creative’s control once the ‘thing’ is out in the world, be it a novel, movie, music, podcast, painting, whatever.
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The woman I mentioned earlier…turns out she’s been leaving fake reviews for her own books on Goodreads and Amazon. She forgot to sign out of her author account and into her alt one before leaving herself a glowing five-star review, which created an obvious paper trail. It also became clear she was super willing to dive into sympathy farming to get more followers and engagement which would, ultimately, lead to more sales and notoriety—which in this case equates to a more prominent online presence.
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For half a second it was tempting to share my own disappointment on social media as she’d done. But…having witnessed this woman’s reaction and subsequent attempts to justify and double down, coupled with a quick convo with Thea, it only strengthened my pre-existing resolve on the matter: don’t react to the negative reviews.
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Quite simply, nothing good can come from it.
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So, yeah, Burden got a low review. I don’t share this in a weak attempt to hypocritically foster sympathy. Instead, if anything, juxtaposing our two situations and differing approaches only underlines my thoughts that it’s better to come to terms and try to move on—to not engage with negative reviews or reviewers. Readers are entitled to their opinions, after all. I don’t have to like it, but it is what it is. All things are true at one time. And, honestly, it probably won’t be the last low-star review my stories get. That’s simply the nature of the beast if you want to create something and have people engage with it.
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It bums me out, sure, especially as it’s so early in its release cycle. The current star average as I write this is 3.5 because of it, which may turn prospective readers away. I hope not, but that’s the truth of the situation. But all I can do is continue to promote the book, wholeheartedly believe in the story, and hope more people eventually find and connect with it.
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​Steen Skyrockets
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​In other news, your favourite Canadian demon hunter and mine recently rocketed to the top of Amazon, securing #1 in Occult Suspense, #2 in Occult Horror, and #3 in Horror Suspense!
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To celebrate Burden’s release, Steen became free for a five-day window, and, man, people came out to grab it in droves!
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I couldn’t be prouder of Steen doing so well in the glow of Burden’s release. There was enough interest generated solely from social media that it helped the book secure those #1, #2, and #3 slots in its respective genres, meaning I’ve now had two stories at the very top of their genres: Steen and I Must Scream on Deaf Ears. Add to that the fact that Temporary has previously ranked at #4, and that means the majority of my stories have all cracked Amazon’s Top 10!
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So thank you if you grabbed a copy of Steen. You directly helped it shoot up the ranks and it’s because of your support the book became number one! And if you’ve only recently subscribed to The Recap because of Steen…Hello! Thanks for being here. It’s great to have you!
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…Is a Burden Halved​
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To round out this month’s Write Steve Write, I wanted to share my recent Burden interview with Fanbase Press—a site that prides itself on “Celebrating fandoms…and creating new ones”!
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Here's a few snippets discussing my creative process in writing Burden:
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I also spoke about how I plot and plan my stories, and how I use those plot points when writing:
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Fanbase Press have supported me and my work ever since Temporary was first published, and they’ve always asked in-depth, thought-provoking questions that dig deep into the work and my process.
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I genuinely love doing interviews and panels, and hope to one day scale up the amount I do, as well as start guesting on podcasts. That all feels a little bit like wishful thinking right now, but, hey, I’d love to connect with people who are interested in my stories and potentially find new readers in their audience.
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But that’s then and this is now, so if you’ve read Burden and are interested in knowing more about my creative process writing a dystopian novel, the connective threads I weave across different genres, and what's next for me and my stories, you’ll want to check it out.

Fully Loaded
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This technically happened on the last day of April, but given that my newsletter had already been sent out, I couldn’t include it the way I would’ve wanted to, so I’ll announce the news here: on 30th April, I received the fourth stripe on my BJJ brown belt!
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What this means is that the next eventual promotion is to black belt—assuming I can stay healthy enough to get there.
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Now, I know it’s easy to overlook or trivialise the accomplishment and turn my attention to what’s to come, especially with a fully loaded bar on my belt, but…I’m not. I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for almost 10 years (minus one pandemic), and if it’s taught me one thing, it’s that perseverance matters.
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I am not the most technical BJJ practitioner. I’m not the strongest or the fastest. I don’t have the best mount or guard. But I can be pretty sneaky and am hella good at finding opportunities. More than anything else, I’ve been consistent. And it’s those additive days, the hours and hours accumulated on the mats, winning, losing, and learning that have led me here.
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But given my recent health issues with pinched nerves, herniated discs, rib issues, and, most recently, my long-standing heel problems flaring and tailor’s bunion then triggering (it’s a thing, unfortunately), it only underlines how important it is to stay healthy. If I do, I can keep training and gradually improving. When I'm healthy and my body isn't hurt or triggered I don't 'have' to work out…I 'get' to work out. And I'm grateful that I can do so!
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I wrote a bit more about getting my fourth stripe on Instagram recently, which you can check out here.
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​Five Times Around the Sun
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The only other major event that took place this month was my son’s fifth birthday, and, man, let me tell you…it’s been something.
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Between Pokémon-themed parties and celebrating with family on different days, it’s been a week and change of British tapas (delicious…but deadly to the waistline!), cake, catching up with friends and family, cake, and pushing myself to talk to new people whilst eating cake.
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Yep…the infamous, stereotypical ‘parent at a kid’s party’ scene took place…only I was the parent and the kid was mine! So, I took it upon myself to make the effort and ensure the other parents felt welcome and comfortable.
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Wait, no. It was because of a gentle suggestion from Thea. Yeah. That.
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A suggestion, delivered with kindness and good nature that looked something like this:
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I am, of course, joking. I didn't talk to anyone. No…no, I did. It was all fine and the people I spoke to were genuinely all really nice and interesting.
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Most importantly though, Austin had a great time—from celebrating with his class at school to his birthday actual with myself and Thea to the plethora of parties and get-togethers we’ve had since, the little dude has been well and truly spoiled.
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He’s loving LEGO right now and between us and all his friends gifting him sets, I’m pretty sure we could open up a LEGO shop.
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I can’t wait to step on all those forgotten pieces.
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From a more contemplative perspective, it’s wild to think my son is now five. Just as it was crazy to think he was four last year, and three before that. Insane that he’ll be six next year. It’s all nuts, mostly because having a kid is such a stark indicator of time passing…and how it never slows or stops.
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It’s the most vivid reminder of how quickly life moves—how each day quietly adds up until everything has changed. I’ve honestly never had such a clear indicator of how much time has passed than by reflecting on how much my son has grown, let alone when factoring in seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while. The difference to them is always staggering as he continues to shoot up and his bright, bubbly personality shines through.
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Now if he'll only clean up that LEGO…

Extremely Fragile Human Being, Good Hangs

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Extremely Fragile Human Bein... Shoot Our Way Out • Good Han... PREVIEW   ​

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Sometimes you discover a band that stops you in your tracks. Your ears prick up and you immediately tune into their sound because of that intangible ‘it’ factor that resonates out of the blue.
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That was Good Hangs for me.
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I’ve posted before about my lifelong love for pop punk and punk rock, but in recent years I’ve been falling for current wave Midwest Emo, which tends to lean into pop punk-infused catchy hooks, memorable melodies, and raw, relatable lyrics (See: Hot Mulligan, Tiny Moving Parts, Real Friends, etc).
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Enter Good Hangs, who I discovered off the back of a Spotify Radio playlist after listening to Hot Mulligan for the millionth time.
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My ears immediately tuned in to their style of Midwest Emo, but just as noticeable were their lyrics: raw, relatable, but also…older. Wiser. These songs come from a band comprised of guys who believed they’d hit the big time twenty years ago but were never able to make it work. Life had different plans.
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They write songs about being frustrated in listless middle management jobs, skating by in life, and feeling as though they’ve lived a life of early potential that never coalesced, ultimately believing they became a disappointment—to themselves, to their family, to everyone.
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All these heavy topics are delivered through the lyrical lens of elder emos who now have deeper life experiences under their belts, adding gravitas and weight to their words, reflections, and confessions. The singer also sounds like he’s from StoryBots. I know that may be a really niche, parent-based observation, but it’s true nonetheless.
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So, are Good Hangs representative of a new wave of pop punk and Midwest Emo? Bands comprised of elder emos and millennials who could never quite make it work in their younger years? That consists of people who ended up getting normal jobs or accepting the necessity of pursuing a career for stability or family, and so instead have a wealth of different, but still relatable—arguably more so—life experience?
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Quite frankly, I hope so.
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And I’m here for it.
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Stand Out Tracks
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Goly Shot (Nothing To Show For It)
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If I ate mold, do you think I’d notice? (Disa Disa Disa)
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Shoot Our Way Out
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Be Someone

In case you haven't picked up your copy of Burden just yet, you can do so right now as an eBook or paperback! Or, if you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can check it out via KU!
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UNTIL NEXT TIME
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​Be sure to recommend my books and The Recap, follow me on the socials, and remember you can also support me with a cup of coffee on Ko-Fi!
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Take care and all the best.

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