#chimehour

[faireladypenumbra]

Five Years of Chimehour!

It's been five years since I published my novel, beloved book baby of mine. Happy birthday to Chimehour.

The older I get, the more I understand what the foundational work of writing and publishing this book was to me. What kind of person it made me, what kind of writer I am now, and what I'm capable of. A project can represent something huge and important: not because the project itself is huge, but because you just know you'll emerge from it so changed.

For the record, I still write a lot of fiction (despite the sheer amount of Tasks™ I have) and visit these characters often. Maybe someday soon, I'll bring those stories out to share. I've been thinking about how and where I want to share my work now as well.

As a reminder, you can now purchase Chimehour in hardcover (newly polished from my 2020 revision), with much love to Nicole Cerritelli for her expert work on both covers!

Updates to the Smashwords print are way overdue, but Amazon and Kindle are still the go-to: https://www.amazon.com/Chimehour-Faire-Curiosities-Caitlin-Jones/dp/B0BQ9C3N2C/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

And you can support my work on Goodreads, where I also share my weekly reading: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41300523-chimehour

Here's to another year of authorship. 🥳

[chimehourbooks]

CHIMEHOUR COVER REVEAL!

Done lovingly by the amazing Bored Barista (also responsible for the SaTG cover), she and I will be teaming up for the release of Chimehour in October 2018!! She's been hard at work with this and all sorts of other goodies! She's done a great job capturing the energy of the novel, which I will have much more news on this week!

__

Summary: "On May Day of 1901, Dublin falls. Dublin dies in the wake of a disease, dragging its victims back from the grave, mindless and very hungry. The people of Ireland flee in fear of plague, but Stanley knows better, and this is no plague; this is a curse.

Stanley Brigham only wants peace. Born a Chime Child, his second sight connecting him to England’s magical and supernatural, and long giving him grief as a secret world he shares with seldom few. The introverted British youth has only come to Ireland to introduce himself to his newly betrothed fiancée, but an outbreak of death and decay ruins the social call, unleashing a massacre on Dublin. Only Stanley hears the undead voices calling from the other side, and suspects something more magical is afoot.

His suspicions are confirmed by Maggie MacNamara, an eccentric-but-powerful spiritualist keen on saving her home. Though returned to England, a reluctant Stanley finds himself involved once more when Maggie approaches both himself and his inventive companion, Vincent Cammish. She proposes that he can use his ability against the curse. Someone is behind these undead, and she wants them found. Armed with little save for a folklore guide, Stanley ventures back to Dublin in search of the curse’s mastermind. He is soon drawn across The Veil, into another Ireland: one full with Druids, good folk, and all manner of magical kin. He finds an ally in a faerie named Willow, as charming as she is suspicious. An erratic practitioner comes on her heels, deeply involved in the curse and aiming to take the faerie away, but to what end? Stanley, Vincent, and Willow must work together to find out and unearth to cause of Dublin’s undead, soon unleashing a world of ancient magic and dark creatures the British Isles had long forgotten. And perhaps with good reason."

[faireladypenumbra]

This is a bit late, but behold! Your pre-order form!

Amazon still does not allow internal print pre-orders, but the good news is your pre-orders come special from me! Each book will be personally signed and comes with a special edition bookmark and a few other goodies curated by me! It is $25 per edition ($20 for the book plus shipping). You may also order a copy of the prequel novella, Spectre and The Governess or The Heretic's Dead Man, for an additional $5. Once you fill the order form out, I'll send you a Paypal invoice within 24-48 All orders must be paid and finalized by November 10th. For any questions and concerns you have, please contact me!

Chimehour Signed Hardcover

This is the order form for the signed pre-orders of Chimehour's hardcover! Each book will be personally signed and comes with a special edit

[faireladypenumbra]

I'm writing again- in the fun way, and not the school way!

20,000 words deep, I've turned a "thinking" draft into a full-blown spin-off project of Chimehour. I realized in 2020 that Cecilia wasn't just a part of Book II: she needed her own Book II, six months after the events of the first novel, so... here we are.

As I sort through my notes and make headway into this world again, I feel so much pride over the person I was when I first created this world- almost a decade ago. I can tread that groundwork, and bring so much experience back into its corners now.

Some cool images driving this book, still unnamed for now. It'll come to me!

[faireladypenumbra]

My birthday's passed, but another birthday is here: my novel's 3rd release anniversary! It's been a wonderful journey, sharing my gothic book baby with the world and watching so many discover it. So two announcements: first, I will be working on a hardcover edition of all three works. No hard date set, but I'd like to have everything set by summer 2022! Keep an eye out for updates!

Second: if you're new to Chimehour, I have the released book on sale today! Chimehour is $2.99, and its novellas are free! All linked below. If you grab a copy, feel free to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads!

Thanks for 3 years of amazing support! ☺

Links:

https://tinyurl.com/chimehourlink

https://tinyurl.com/hereticsdeadman

https://tinyurl.com/spectregoverness

[faireladypenumbra]

My (Very Belated) Writeblr Introduction!

I realize in all the time I have managed this (and my first) blog, I have never introduced myself into writeblr! Opps.

Some points: I’m Caitlin (professionally known as Caitlin E. Jones). I’m an author (in progress), (almost) a Literary Studies graduate, and very bi. I have written off and on for the past 15 years, either through fanfics (I know a couple of mutuals on here that are from that long ago) and then through original fiction. I have one novel published, which can be found in the snazzy picture below, and very purchasable on Amazon and other retailers! I also have two novellas published, which you can find on the same links! I started this blog as a writing space in 2013, but that was before writblr was a thing. So, I’m looking for new writblrs to follow!

What I Post: This started as a writing blog, but I have generally let it fall into a personal blog with occasional posts about my stories and process. I share a lot of other writing content too, and occasional fandoms, travel stuff, some liberal-leaning politics, and historical content as it strikes me. I do keep a second blog for my book series that is JUST content for my writing- feel free to follow that too. WIPs (of various progress):

The Faire Curiosities: My main series. Gothic, gaslamp fantasy set in Ireland, at the end of the Victorian Era. Faeries, undead things, and facets of Irish mythology and folklore, all to a tune of tea parties and balls. Chimehour is the first: I am currently reworking the second and third book for later publication.

Chiaroscuro: Stand-alone retelling of Frankenstein. Gender-swapped Victor, gothic, feminist, gaslamp fantasy, romance. Set in 19th century France. 

Fairy Tale Retelling Collection: Ongoing short story project for retelling fairy tales. I have already done Hansel and Gretel and The Snow Queen, but I have others planned. Generally high fantasy and feminist. 

I share a lot about my characters and process through the hashtag “chimehour,” but you can always ask if you can’t find a certain question. I also share a lot on my book blog and my Pinterest.

My interests: Obviously I love SFF of most kinds (high fantasy, paranormal, hard sci-fi, alt. history included), but I’m always looking for new buddies that like gothic, gaslamp, steampunk, and anything around those genres. So few of us out there. I’m also a big supporter of fanfic, though I don’t read much anymore, and I love writing advice blogs.  Feel free to reblog and pass this around with your author info: looking to refill my dash with fellow writers!

[faireladypenumbra]

4 Years Published, and One Year of Pandemic

The 4th anniversary for my first-ever publication, Spectre and The Governess, and the lockdown anniversary, share the same date. Which is an odd coincidence, since I did not think about Spectre during 2020, and could not have predicted my 2020 at any point during the publication of Spectre.

I did notice a quiet spike in readership for Spectre during the pandemic, which I found a bit odd. It's a very short, slightly grim ghost story. I also thought about a detail in that novella, where Beth (the house's ghost) is revealed to have died of an illness around 25. The characters that knew her, the ones who know her at all, find her death to be an upsetting topic. In 2016/2017, I write the lines of dialogue between my child main character, Stanley, and his butler, Benson:

"Well, death is a trying subject."

"Why?"

"Because it is."

"But why?" I remember this dialogue clear as day, I can still feel the things I felt when I wrote it. Then: I was writing from the perspective of my early 20s, having lost my uncle and two grandparents in the same year. Death was a trying subject. In some ways, I am my child main character, seeking answers beyond myself on why death is so hard to surmise. In other ways, I'm the adult in the conversation, too pained to crack open a difficult conservation. Benson ends the scene by explaining why Beth's death is so hard to talk about. I put a pin on this dialogue at the beginning of 2020, trapped by what I was trying to say. The novel I wrote about the same characters- Chimehour, is about a lot of death. Mass scale death. It's about a magical epidemic, and even early on into the sequel, I recognized that I was not sure how to write a post-epidemic world for my characters. The stakes were mysterious and impossible, and hard to humanize. Then 2020 happened, and I lived the things my characters feared. Not monsters, or magic- but the widespread loss of normalcy, the threat of an unknown, and a crippling shadow of death. I didn't... write a lot of my post-epidemic novel in 2020, you understand, because it began to feel like I was too close to the subject matter to even evaluate it. Because, you know... death is a trying subject. Death is the subject we ignore and avoid, until it consumes us wholly. I didn't lose anyone to COVID-19, thankfully, but its impact punched fucking holes into my community. I recognize those missing punches in my own writing, and I see what the sequel drafts didn't have. I'm not entirely sure I can write a post-epidemic novel in a world that hasn't quite emerged from a pandemic, but I can already tell that perspective will adjust the lens on whatever book I write next. Happy anniversary, book baby. I'll celebrate with a COVID shot.

[faireladypenumbra]

flat, face, foot, fair? for the find this word in your wip thing!

face: “Mr. Culpepper… I scrunched my brow and lowered the covers, searching my memory. I’d had a great deal of trouble remembering the new staff- as they were still not Father’s staff, but I did remember the coach driver, and his name was most certainly Mr. Culpepper. With a sneer, I rose from bed. What fresh-faced fool had Adam Foley hired into this new house now?”

_ foot: ““Papa?” I started, gravel crunching underfoot. The air smelled thick of gasoline and chill when I at last make my way outside. It is much colder than I expected. Papa looks over his shoulder, his eyes widening through a blink. He is pale and almost troubled: it gives me pause. What exactly have they talked about? “Cecilia,” he replied, hands still behind his back as he turned. “It’s hardly sun out. You should be resting for the ceremony.”” _ fair: “Yesterday, another group of men had been sent into Rathgar. I wonder how they faired? We weren’t supposed to return to Ireland, but staying in London was too shameful to do anything else. After the engagement failed, there was nothing else for us left in England. So we recrossed the Irish Sea and returned home. The new estate- Mr. Foley’s estate, is situated in Malahide. A simple train ride would bring us back home. I never go there though.”