OCTOBER 2025

This issue of The Recap will probably be shorter than usual, mostly due to illness and somewhat limited updates. You see, between a two-week half-term holiday and a family holiday to France, there wasn’t as much time to write as I would’ve liked this month. Throw in a bout of bookended sickness at the beginning and the end of October thanks to waaaay too many ‘adults’ coughing like cats hacking up furballs, and, well, yeah…
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But that isn’t to say there were no updates or progress, especially when it comes to everyone’s favourite surly Canuck. Plus, I may or may not have finally put some money where my mouth is—but you’ll have to read on to find out!

Hell's Bells

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Project Jingle Hells has been coming along nicely. I’ve already put the story through its paces, planning longhand way before I sat down to begin typing, and was confident in where to start and how to helm the story because of it. That said, that doesn’t mean the story or its characters are simply going to do what I want them to at all times.
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If I expect it to zig and the narrative decides to zag, well, if it’s truly what’s right for that moment in the story…I guess we’re zagging!
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As I’ve stressed before: Everything to service the story. Always.
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The zero draft is complete, and I’ve since gone through it again to make sure I’m satisfied with the overall pacing and structure. Some things got tightened or removed, others were expanded on and further developed—a line here, an explanation there, so on and so forth.
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I’ll be putting the story through another round of edits soon, when I’m feeling better, to reduce echoes and repetitions, hopefully making the writing smoother and easier to read. Past that, the next step will be sharing it with my beta readers, getting their thoughts and feedback, and then incorporating those insights into the story wherever they fit best.
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As it stands right now, however, we are on track for a Christmas release of Project Jingle Hells (I should really start thinking of a more permanent name).
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​Ads, Ad, Ads
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​October saw me finally put my money where my mouth is and invest some money into advertising and marketing—a staple part of any industry, including the creative kind, that I’ve waxed lyrical on in the past without following through with.
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Until now, that is.
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It’s honestly so intimidating and nerve-wracking to do any form of marketing. Firstly, and most obviously, because of the cash investment, and secondly, because of the fear of the reaction…or lack thereof.
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And, in their different ways, both sting, man.
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Nobody wants to invest their money into something that doesn’t yield results, after all. No one wants to fritter or throw money away on something that turns out to ultimately be a fruitless endeavour.
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But with it being spooky season, I knew it was the right time to put some money into advertising Steen in the run-up to Halloween (also known to me as the most magical time of the year).
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Readers would be actively looking for supernatural horror stories to get into the Halloween spirit, and I happen to have just the demonic thriller for them to sink their teeth into—an Amazon #1 book, no less!
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I’m currently using Meta to advertise on Facebook and Instagram, which I’ve done in the past, but am curious about using Amazon Ads in the future. I have no idea if it will be better, worse, or the same (current results haven’t exactly been the gangbuster numbers I would have liked as it is)…but I know I’m eager to find out. As Master Yoda teaches us: Do or do not. There is no try.
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I may attempt some marketing for Burden in the bleak post-Christmas winter months and see how that goes, but as of right now, Steen has managed to connect with quite a few new readers thanks to my Meta campaign. I’ve even managed to get some sales thanks to a few well-timed tweets—though whether the free tweets have been more successful than the paid advertising is difficult to determine.
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​Reflecting on Past Quests
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​With time inexorably marching ever onwards, no matter how we feel about it, somehow a whole year has passed since Steen was featured inside Your Paper Quest’s October box!
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It was honestly such a thrill to be part of it all. I’m still grateful to YPQ for featuring my work and to the readers who discovered Steen and kindly reviewed the book because of its inclusion. The moment remains a personal milestone for me, and continues to be one of the most validating experiences I’ve had yet as an author.
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I immediately aligned with what they were doing when I first discovered them, and wholeheartedly believe in their mission just as much today—especially in a creative landscape that is becoming proliferated with AI trash and bad actors utilising it to generate bullshit work and soulless art.
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YPQ’s clarion call to actively support indie authors, providing them a platform that allows readers to discover a new favourite writer or book away from the mainstream options and the endless TikTok-ification of reading and writing, is one I truly believe in. I wish nothing but continued success for them both and for YPQ as a whole.
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So, yeah, I just wanted to extend a personal thanks once again to both Ryan and Steve for including Steen last year and for allowing me to be a part of their journey and YPQ’s history. Some truly awesome moments and memories—including a few drinks too many in Rochester—can all be attributed to one of the most important tweets I ever sent. I’m grateful the universe aligned that day for Steve to see it, want more, and for him to actually check Steen out before sharing it with Ryan who gave the green light on the book’s inclusion.
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Below is the interview YPQ conducted with me as a little throwback. In it, I discuss my writing and research process, what Steen means to me, and where I see the demon hunter going in the future, flaws and all.
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And if you're based in the US and haven't yet done so, be sure to check them out!
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Ooh La La
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​As I mentioned above, this month has unfortunately been top-and-tailed with sickness. In between, however, were bouts of writing and an extended October half-term that my family took full advantage of. You see, whereas most schools only have one week of half term in October, Austin’s has two, so we tried to make use of that fact and book some time away when prices were (in theory) cheaper.
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And so off to France we did go, for a short six-day trip that included driving on the other side of the road, navigating our way whilst suffering signal issues, Disneyland Paris, a sightseeing day trip to Paris, and a few chill days at the Eurocamp we stayed at.
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This was our first experience travelling together on the Channel ferry as a family, and also marked Thea’s first time driving on the other side of the road. I’ve done it before in the States years ago, but was also on the left side of the car and didn’t have to accommodate that relative displacement.
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Despite an immediate trial-by-fire exit from the ferry that saw us pretty much spat out directly onto a French motorway, Thea soon found her flow and we were cruising through France. For what it’s worth, I had offered to share driving duties with her, but once she got comfortable, she simply gripped the wheel and chose to push through, so there was no real opportunity to switch. And so I became, as she so lovingly put it without a note of bitterness or sarcasm in her voice, the Passenger Prince—a very serious role that I graciously accepted that comes with a heavy (metaphorical) crown I wore with difficulty and pride.
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The trip to the Eurocamp was relatively straightforward, bar an unexpected issue with O2’s signal on Thea’s Pixel 9. Turns out there was none, and it wouldn’t connect for love nor money despite initially finding a connection when we departed the ferry.
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Thankfully, with me being a somewhat technologically capable Passenger Prince, I was able to look up a workaround on my phone and get it working after temporarily using mine for Google Maps. Once we hit a bit of straight highway, I fixed her phone, and we were sorted.
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The Eurocamp we visited was a large site with plenty to do (just not Saturdays, for some reason), but, man, do they try to fleece you at every opportunity for extra cash. The fact that you have to clean, sweep, and mop your cabin from top to bottom when you leave (before their cleaning crews come in?) is also mind-blowing to me. Still, the cabin we stayed in was great.
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Disneyland Paris was a pretty short drive from where we were staying, and, needless to say, we all had an amazing time, especially my five-year-old son, Austin.
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Granted, I was a bit ‘done’ after about 8 hours at the park, with the line to Big Thunder Mountain being my personal breaking point. I was totally over obnoxious, self-important, self-entitled, people and the endless lines at that point.
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Well, where better than France to be reminded of Jean-Paul Sartre's famous line:
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Still, minor gripes aside, and despite sensing the first initial grips of becoming unwell again—most likely something caught from one of the many grown-ass adults coughing like toddlers (have we learned nothing?!)—my family and I had a fantastic time. It was incredible to watch Austin light up, see him break into infectious smiles, and hear him laugh with such pure delight at so much as we explored the park.
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From the Haunted Mansion (Phantom Manor) to Pirates of the Caribbean and so much more, there were so many rides we were able to go on. I’m truly hoping we made some core memories with him. He loved Star Tours so much that we went on it twice, and he even chose the Starspeeder 1000 as his special souvenir toy to take home, marking the first time he’s ever really shown an interest in Star Wars!
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The only other thing to mention is our Paris day trip. A short ride to the train station (where parking was free! FREE! I still can’t believe it), a 55-minute ride into Paris, heightened tension over what kind of Metro card we needed, and we were finally on our way.
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A beautiful city I haven’t visited since 2012, I’d planned out a sightseeing tour for my family, hitting up the obvious tourist destinations. This, however, didn’t factor in wait times to do things like getting up the Eiffel Tower, getting into the Louvre, touring the Arc de Triomphe, etc, though, to be blunt, doing any of that would have probably been a pointless endeavour.
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You see, with my son exhausted from so much fun in the run-up to our day trip, he didn’t have much left in him. He had energy, of course, but his attention and behaviour were starting to creep towards empty, and so to have forced him to wait for a few hours to look at stuff he doesn’t comprehend or care about yet would have just been a waste of time, money, and emotional energy. So we toured the city, took in the sights, ate at a wonderful little bakery near the Eiffel Tower, and left with enough time to comfortably catch our train back to the car.
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We can always return to Paris in the future when he’s older and, when we do, I imagine we might stay in the city itself for a few days so we can really enjoy each historic place we visit without the pressure of endless queues and cramming everything into a single day.
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Overall, a fantastic trip to France that, although a bit of a whirlwind and exhausting, left me feeling grateful for my family and the time we spent together.

Halloween & Halloween II​
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This is going to be a short and sweet recommendation because, well, it’s Halloween today when you get this issue of The Recap, so what better way to spend it than checking out this month’s recommendation of Halloween and its sequel, Halloween II?

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What can I say about 1978’s Halloween that hasn’t been said before? Nothing, probably. It remains a firm personal favourite, with Michael Myers still one of my all-time horror icons, and the story continues to inspire new generations of horror fans to this day. It’s a classic of the genre for a reason, helping to really launch and elevate the slasher genre into the mainstream in a major way, with franchises like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street following it into the '80s and beyond.
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So, if you’ve somehow never checked it out, what better time than on Halloween night itself? And, if you do, make it a double-feature with its sequel!
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Apparently, there are those out there who don’t really rate 1981’s Halloween II…but I’m not one of them! I’m a huge fan of the follow-up and how it picks up right where the first flick ends. The two flow together so well it’s almost hard for me to talk about one without thinking about the other, and if you’ve never really delved into the series past the original, well, no better time than now to treat yourself to a horror-filled movie night and discover what happened to Laurie after the events of Halloween and the obsessive, terrifying lengths Michael will go to finish what he started.

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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