The first post of a new blog is kinda like being shoved onto a stage after being randomly picked from the crowd when I’ve still got a mouthful of screwdriver that I can’t swallow.

Hi, I’m Zoe E. Whitten, an amateur dark fiction writer. Over the last two years, I’ve self-published a number of novels, novellas, and short stories through my web site, through Lulu, and now through my own imprint, Aphotic Thought Press. I’ve thus far only managed to sell one short last year, a werewolf story called Alpha Male that appeared in Issue #4 of Necrotic Tissue. (Still available as a free download by signing up at the NT site.) I have work submitted with publishers, and will have more work to offer them this year. But so far, I remain in the lower brackets of the writing sandbox, waiting for my skills to improve to the point that I can woo a publisher.

My latest WIP for submission with the fantasy publishers is called Changeling, and it’s a musical crime fiction about a modern-day bard and shapeshifter who gets caught up in a cloning scam after being seduced and having their soul stolen by a shapeshifter con artist.

This project is in its third draft, and I’ll soon be making announcements for a beta reading phase. If you’d like more information on bards and shapeshifters in my world, I wrote a blog post on bards, and a three part series on shapeshifters. (part one, part two, and part three. Posts all open in new windows.)

I try to avoid making spammy blogs, where every post is just an excuse to try and sell you my shit. I hate blogs that contain nothing but spam, so I sure wouldn’t stick around to read that shit. I read blogs to be entertained, and reading one commercial after another is dull as dirt to me. I like to believe I’m not in the minority on this opinion, which is why I will always try to mix things up. Sometimes, I might post jokes, and other times, I might toss up a short story. Or I might put out a link to non-fiction articles from my Associated Content feed. I’ll keep things random in an effort to make reading this blog fun. So when I do eventually get around to making that one post mentioning my new book coming out, you won’t mind so much.

And no, aside from posting the very rare review of my books, I don’t keep whining “please, somebody buy my stuff.” If you will, you will. But if you won’t, then whining at you will only make you avoid my blog. The way I see it, even if I can’t get you to buy a book, I still want you to read my blog. So with that in mind, I promise that there will be only 25% book spam, and less than 5% whiny bullshit. Hey, even I can have a bad day, so I hope you’ll be tolerant when it happens.

Okay, I guess that’s a good enough introduction. Now I’m going to stage dive and hope the crowds don’t part like the Red Sea.

Later…

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... I write dark fiction in a variety of genres. My blog contains my rants and rambles, and some short fiction that can only be found here. I can be pretty fucking offensive, so viewer discretion is advised.

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Tags: random mental floss

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