I've been doing some research on jack o' lanterns for my new tween horror novel, Pumpkins, and I came across the image below. It's a jack o' lantern carved from a turnip, and it was made in Ireland sometime in the early 20th century. I thought it was suitably creepy enough to serve as an inspirational computer desktop that I can reference periodically during the writing process.

It's called the Tombstone Series, a trilogy of horror novels for tween readers. The first novel in the series is called Pumpkins. I actually outlined it last fall while on a trip to Brisbane, but I haven't had time to start writing it until now. The second book is called The Judges, and it will actually be an adaptation of a film script of the same name that I wrote some time ago but was never satisfied with--until now! As for book three, that idea hasn't fully coalesced into a title yet, but it will soon.

Unlike the Milligan Creek Series, which follows a chronological order and features the same central cast in each novel, each title in the Tombstone Series will feature an entirely different cast, the connective tissue being a haunting of sorts. I'm hoping this doesn't delay the release of my fifth Milligan Creek novel, Snowbound, but I feel the need to explore another world right now creatively, so if it puts things off by a few months, I know that by the time I return to Milligan Creek, I will feel refreshed and ready for the next chapter in that story. 

Below is a photo of Kierston Vande Kraats, the talented woman who draws Meth the Immortal and who also illustrates my covers for the Milligan Creek series. You can see more of her work here. She also has a fantastic Etsy shop that's full of all sorts of cool Meth merch!

Oh, and she also has an apparel store. Here's a sample.

The title of this blog post is the title of a recent review of Meth the Immortal Volume 1 on Goodreads. Here's the rest of it:

If you haven't had a chance to read Meth yet, volume 1 is a great way to go. Available in Kindle format on this website with hard copies on their way. If you can't wait, you can always order it on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.