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Cover Reveal: Specter
This has been a long time coming. A loooong time coming. Sometimes when you set a goal, you don’t exactly realize how winding the road to accomplishing that goal is going to be… and that’s what happened with my cover saga.
But, at long last, I have a cover for Specter, and I FREAKING LOVE IT!!!!! I love it so much!!!!! As the book’s main character, Lanie, would say, I’m not normally a multiple exclamation points kind of girl, but this cover, courtesy of the incredible Liana M at 99designs, totally deserves it.
Are you ready?
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I cannot get over this cover. It matches the book perfectly. Why is Lanie holding a baseball bat, you might ask? You’ll just have to read the book and see. 🙂
Go add it to your Goodreads shelf now, or place it on preorder! Here are the details:
- The ebook is available for preorder at Amazon and Kobo, and will be available at all other major retailers in the next day or so.
- The paperback will be available for purchase 7/7 on Amazon. It will also be available sometime soon (have to keep this part vague) at all other major retailers. So you’ll be able to buy it at Barnes & Noble or request your local indie bookstore order it for you! 😀
- It will be available to rent FOR FREE at your local library, through Overdrive and other library ebook services! And you can also request your local library order it for you!
I personally really recommend the paperback version, so you can see those goddamn glorious text messages. (Shivers from PTSD.)
And some other important stuff:
- Genre: YA paranormal thriller
- Release date: 7/7/2019
- Publishing imprint: Hidden Bower Press
- 369 pages
Blurb
Horror aficionado Lanie Adams should be thrilled when two eighties-era ghosts materialize in her bedroom. Yet after a fainting incident unbecoming of a horror nerd, she would rather her haunting just go away—the ghosts’ distorted, waterlogged voices and ice-cold auras are more terrifying than any movie. Enlisting the help of Ryan, an entirely-too-cute stoner, she makes it her mission to put the spirits stalking her to rest.
Some sleuthing reveals that their sleepy Connecticut town is host to a shadowy, decades-old conspiracy. If Lanie wants to say a final goodbye to her ghosts, she’ll need to keep digging. But it’s important to tread carefully. The culprit is still in town—and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.
If any of that up top sounds interesting, please consider adding the book on Goodreads!
Specter is going to seriously appeal to fans of Stranger Things. I’m going to be posting in the coming weeks all sorts of fun stuff—the conception of the book, the music that inspired it, etc. Specter was a crazy fun book to write, and I cannot wait for others to read it, since it’s basically everything that I love (horror, the weird, conspiracy theories) woven together into a rip-roaring thriller. So thanks so much for being along with me on this journey, consider giving it a read, and have a happy Thursday! ❤
Chapter Ten of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The tenth chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! This makes us a quarter of the way through the book, so there is plenty more to come. 😀 I’m a huge fan of Chapter Ten; it’s a turning point in the narrative, and introduces a crucial new character. As always, if you need to catch up on past chapters, no problem, since you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST, and each chapter is also accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration. Take a look at this week’s illustration; I’m getting some definite Edward Gorey vibes. If you’re not familiar with Edward Gorey, I’ve put a couple pictures down below for fun. You might also recognize his work from the iconic intro to PBS’s Mystery!
Anyway, enough waffling. At last, I can reveal that these illustrations are courtesy of the mega-talented Ally Grosvenor! I’ll have an interview up with her soon enough, all about how she got started with illustration, her approach to illustrating a work of fiction, her inspiration, etc.
And here’s just a sampling of some of Ally’s art unrelated to The Gold in the Dark.
In other exciting news, we are one week away from a cover reveal!!!!!!!!! And it is gorgeous. If you are wanting to stay up-to-date, just check back here, sign up for my newsletter, or follow me on Instagram @katiejanegallagher or Goodreads. In the meantime, have a fabulous Sunday and enjoy Chapter Ten. ❤
Chapter Nine of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The ninth chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! If you need to catch up on past chapters, no problem, since you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST. (And sometimes a little earlier, like this week!) Each chapter is also accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration.
This week I’ve been drafting my new WIP! It’s fun to be drafting again in a painful sort of way, like I’m stretching old muscles. I’m also a bit out of my element with some of the details I need to research; a quick look through my browser history will reveal such searches such as “do landowners in Montana need elk tags to hunt on private land” and “Polish people gold rush.” As for why I’m looking these things up, that will have to remain strictly confidential for now.
There are some fun posts coming up on the blog soon, though, that I can tease with a bit more information! I’ll be doing a post soon about how music factors into my writing process, as well as about a very particular and bookish Connecticut diner. In the meantime, have a fabulous Sunday and enjoy Chapter Nine. ❤
Chapter Eight of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The eighth chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! If you need to catch up on past chapters, no problem, since you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST. (And sometimes a little earlier, like this week!) Each chapter is also accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration.
The writing theme for the past two weeks has continued to be laying all the social media groundwork for the launch of Specter. Prepping Instagram posts until my eyes start to bleed, etc etc. All the behind-the-scenes stuff that will be unearthed sooner rather than later.
And I’m not even going to talk about the cover at this point… just know that it’s coming. As always. Lol.
But what I do want to talk about is that I’M DRAFTING AGAIN, AND IT FEELS AMAZING!!!! I switched away from the hell school book to the Beauty and the Beast and Aliens book, just because it felt right. This book is older… more new adult… more stream of consciousness than I’m used to. But it just feels right to be writing this one; even though I love the hell school idea to pieces, it was just slow going, so I think I need to table it for the meantime. That’s okay, since I can always revisit it later. I just want to harness this energy to draft, since that can be so rare for me.
Reading back over this post, I think maybe it’s also got that stream of consciousness feel. Ah well, that’s just where I’m at right now. Best to leave things here, perhaps. Have a good rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Eight. ❤
Chapter Seven of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The seventh chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! If you need to catch up on past chapters, no problem, since you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST, each one accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration.
These past two weeks have all been social media work in preparation for Specter. I have a brand spanking new Instagram (@katiejanegallagher), where I post bookish stuff and dog stuff. (Did you guys know that I have a boxer dog? And that she is the naughtiest, cutest dog ever?) I’ve been pretty anti-social media in the past, but Instagram feels different to me somehow—less drama-filled, a lot happier. Plus I really like how it’s such an easy, fun way to connect with other artists, writers, and small business owners. So I’m having fun with Instagram, even though I’m a bit of a noob. 😉
Also, we are so close to a cover reveal that I can taste it. (Eeeeeee!!!!!!) If anyone is interested in an ARC, drop me a line.
Finally, I want to give a big, huge thank you to Joanna Penn, whom I don’t know personally but has been a big help to me in the last few weeks as I get closer and closer to Specter‘s release. For any authors out there, especially indie authors, she has a podcast called The Creative Penn that is just filled to bursting with writing and publishing advice. Every time I listen to her show I’m inspired by her energy and enthusiasm for all things independent publishing. Highly, highly recommend—and as an added bonus, her voice is incredible.
And that’s all from me! Have a good rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Seven! ❤
Chapter Six of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The sixth chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! I’m especially excited that this chapter is posting, since it’s the first POV switch of the book. Don’t worry if you need to catch up with past chapters, since you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST, and each one is accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration. Just look at this week’s illustration; isn’t it gorgeous? The care and thought my illustrator puts into these chapter illustrations steals my breath every time. It’s one thing to envision these scenes in your head, and another to see them pictured on a page. ❤ Really surreal.
In writing update news, this week brought a major victory for me: the formatting of Specter is finally finished. I thought I was done with it a week ago, then received my physical proof and realized I needed to make font size adjustments, as well as bring in the inner margin. And it’s not so simple as changing those things and then submitting the final manuscript, wham bam thank you ma’am, since any formatting change can have a huge cascading effect in terms of page length, paragraph widows and orphans, etc. Cue rushing to get these changes made in a span of three days so I could rush order another proof, so I could finally confirm my page count, so I could hire a cover artist. And let me tell you, the proof arrived yesterday and… the formatting is perfect, at last.
Which means that there will be a cover reveal soon. I don’t really know any other way to put this: I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!!! Everything is coming together, it’s going to look fantastic, and soon Specter will be a real thing, out in the world for others to read.
I can’t wait. I hope you guys can’t wait, too.
Anyway, hope everyone’s having a great weekend, and enjoy reading Chapter Six. ❤
Chapter Five of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The fifth chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! If you need to catch up with the last few chapters, you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST, and each one is accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration drawn by a mysterious illustrator. I promise you’ll get to meet her soon enough—exciting stuff is in the works!
The new book I’m working on is on hold again, shelved in favor of putting the final touches on Specter. I know, I know, it feels like I say that same thing every week, and it’s getting frustrating to me. Do all the little formatting details really make a difference? I definitely feel guilty about not drafting for so long, but I try to keep reminding myself that I am working on writing, just the more editing/business side of things. Fortunately, I happen to really enjoy the entrepreneurial side of self-publishing, so it’s not like this is a slog. Well, maybe it is a slog, but a strangely enjoyable one. 
I’m actually putting together a blog post all about the formatting and typesetting choices I made for Specter—it’s already loooong and getting longer. Maybe no one wants a post like that except for me, but at least it will be a reminder of all the steps I took for Specter so that when I have to do all this again for the next book it won’t be quite so labor-intensive.
There will be some fun reviews coming up in these next few weeks, as well as the introduction of #TSOOSI. I’m having fun with Short Tuesday, too, so expect more of those. (Though here’s hoping the next short story is a little bit more satisfying than the Edgar Allan Poe one!)
Anyway, let’s keep it short and sweet for this week. Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Five! ❤
Chapter Four of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The fourth chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! If you need to catch up with the last few chapters, you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST, and each one is accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration drawn by a mysterious illustrator. I especially love Chapter Four’s illustration this week, so I just had to put it down below—isn’t it just gorgeous?
You know, it’s really funny reading back through these old chapters—gives me a sort of a “high school reunion” feeling, if I’m being honest. I absolutely love The Gold in the Dark, don’t get me wrong, but some of the phrasing and sentence-craft is just a bit different than my current voice. I’m drafting a blog post right now about how to write close POV, and I’m finding that as I do final edits on The Gold in the Dark chapters that I’m stopping every so often to make use of some of the techniques in that post.
This week I’ve gotten back into drafting, at long last! The book I’ve been working on has a lot of sad details requiring research in the opening few chapters, and it’s been hard to find the motivation to do the research to make sure all the details are accurately and sensitively portrayed. But I’m pushing through, and even though there’s been a long gap from when I started drafting the book, I really do like what I wrote originally. The voice is pretty different for me… but in a good way, I think.
As for Specter, I’m still mired in formatting hell. As I comb the web for the absolute perfect fonts, sometimes I wonder if I’m too particular about the little things, but I do think these tiny details add up to a world of difference in terms of making the final book look professional. Like I said a few weeks ago, Specter is tentatively slated for release in late May or early June, so if anyone wants to be part of my ARC team, drop me a line.
I also wanted to mention a couple cool things that are happening on the blog right now. You may have noticed that I’ve started a new blog series called Short Tuesday, where I review short fiction and link to the piece if at all possible. The first couple posts have been some really eerie short stories by Kelly Link, so if you’re a magical realism or weird fiction fan, check them out!
There’s also a Saint Patrick’s Day themed post coming up, as well as bookcase spring cleaning and the introduction of #TSOOSI. What’s that mean? you may ask. You’ll just have to wait and see. 😉
So those are all my updates; exciting stuff is in the works! Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Four! ❤
Chapter Three of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!
The third chapter of The Gold in the Dark drops today! If you need to catch up with the first two chapters, you can do that right here. New chapters post every other Sunday at 11 AM EST, and each one is accompanied by a beautiful, custom illustration drawn by a mysterious illustrator. (She’ll unveil herself eventually.)
I don’t have much in terms of a writing update this week, unfortunately. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that there are some personal circumstances that are eating up a lot of my time and energy right now. I’ll make it through, probably sooner rather than later, but it’s been hard recently to conjure up the right head space for writing.
So instead I’m focusing a lot on reading, especially ARCs. When I made an account on NetGalley around a month ago, I requested a bunch of books with the expectation that I’d be turned down for most of them. How wrong I was! So far I’ve been approved for all but two of them, so I now have quite the stack to read and review.
I’ve also started working on getting Specter off the ground again. It’s a lot of document formatting and admin work—you know, super thrilling stuff. Hopefully that will all be done soon so that I can move onto the actual fun tasks, like securing a final cover. Specter is tentatively slated for release in late May or early June, so if anyone wants to be part of my ARC team, drop me a line.
All right, that’s all for now, folks. Enjoy Chapter Three, and have an awesome rest of your weekend. ❤
Katie Jane Gallagher 