This book is for adults only, and contains heavy topics that may not be suitable for all readers.

re·frain /rɪˈfreɪn/

One-two-three-four…

Have you been enjoying your holiday?

The London-based Ichorous Innovations was founded, ostensibly, sometime in the 1900s by René Louvel, a man determined to not only research, but build, a better life for people like himself—vampires, that is. Surely the specific year is on their company logo or something, but Hector can never remember it. He’s preoccupied with other, more important things, like the next time he’s going to get laid, the shock waves up his arms when he cracks someone’s skull, or, most recently, hazy memories from a birthday party that ended in sharp glass being plucked from his forehead by cold, gentle hands.

The fact that it took two decades of animosity is impressive, he'll give himself that much. Not his fault ████ has an explosive fuse and a mean left hook.

The company was founded, for the record, in 1922, though it didn't get off the ground until several years later. The date is burned into Simon's retinas, courtesy of a keen memory and too many hours staring at the plaque on Lee's wall proclaiming as much. Same goes for the image of blood streaming down Hector's face, and the knowledge that Simon can't let something like that happen again. Managing the tension grows more difficult by the day, though, as being a turned vampire is just as taxing during its eighth year as it was on day one.

Simon's always thought it was the short end of the stick. Being proven right has never tasted so sour.

…five-six-seven-eight.

Relearning the world is a nightmare.

MELT: REFRAIN is the first book in a queer horror series about reinventing what it means to be alive—to live—and the pieces of yourself you lose along the way.

The very basic goal of this campaign is to fund an initial print run of MELT: Refrain, in 5.5" x 8.5" paperback format. If we knock that out, we'll be aiming for a campaign-exclusive spot UV treatment on the cover, and maybe a few hardback copies.

All pre-launch followers will get a free preview from the first section of the book!

If you're a long-time lurker, you likely know me as an editor first, and an author second. As such, I'll be offering a couple of discounted editing slots as special pledge tiers! If you've ever wanted to work together, keep an eye out—you're unlikely to see prices this low from me again.

The unreliable, unhinged, non-chronological, multi-POV narration and (courtesy of AMC) intersectional politics of The Vampire Chronicles.

The slow-burn dread, manipulation, toxic relationships, corruption arcs, and murderous backdrop of NBC's Hannibal.

The "Gothic romance where the romance (such as it is) is foundational but it's mostly about people being terrible to one another" of Wuthering Heights.