Introducing S.B. Medina

If the never-ending misery of quarantine/lockdown/shutdown has been good for anything, it's that it got me seriously thinking about my writing again. 

After years of procrastinating on my novel, I took a chance on pitching it as part of last October's Twitter pitch party for dark literature . . . and actually garnered some interest. I had several variations on the pitch, with different Tweets catching different eyes, but the winning one was this:

A dark power-exchange romance that crosses boundaries, and a ghost story that denies them. Two outcast lovers must overcome the secrets of their past while confronting a terrifying afterlife in which the dead are pursuing a vendetta against the living. #PitDark #A #PNH

— Sally/Bob (Beauty in Ruins) (@SheLeadTheyRead) October 29, 2020

With an agent and two publishers who wanted to read the book, I had no choice but to buckle down and actually finish editing it so I could get it submitted. Facing hard limits on word count from both publishers, I had to cut about 20k words - well, actually, I cut 25k . . . and added 5k more - over the course of about two weeks, but it made the book so much better.

I'm still working through the process, already thinking of the next agent or publisher to pitch but, with that confidence boost, I went ahead and revisited a short story and a novella I'd done a very poor job of self-publishing years ago. I polished the first and largely rewrote the second, designed new covers for each, and crafted a pair of proper blurbs to replace the lazy excerpts I'd used originally.

And, lo and behold, my dark alter-ego S.B. Medina was unleashed upon the world!

I began with the short story, Dread, Desire, and Damaged Dreams, a darkly erotic story. I've always loved its visuals, and thought it was a strong story, but expanding a certain character's role and weaving in a theme of redemption really transformed it. I'm especially proud of the writing in that one, both the narrative and the dialogue. 

It published a few days before Christmas . . . and in just 3 weeks it has sold as many copies as the original version did in 2 full years. 

I followed that up with the novella, Bitch in the Box, which is where I seem to have hit my dark stride. Revisiting it was tough. As much as I wanted it to be an extreme bit of splatterpunk, I kept worrying certain scenes went too far or crossed a line. Whenever that guilt began to creep in, I had to walk away for a few days, and then come back to it fresh. It's definitely a niche work of horror, an acquired taste for sure, but it's finally the story I always wanted it to be.

In just over a week, that morbid work of extreme splatterpunk horror has sold 50% more copies than the original did in 2 years, with an additional 26% more Kindle Unlimited pages read, and it's already garnered some great reviews.

Next up, while I wait for news on the novel, is a complete rewrite of another novella, one that actually had a solid Halloween debut in 2019 as work of supernatural erotica, but I never felt the story fully reflected what I had envisioned for it. With reader feedback in mind, I'm busy adding some much-needed backstory, giving the overall horror some context, and better personifying the evil. I'm having a ton of fun revisiting it, especially since the setting is based on one of my favorite places. Look for it next month!

Thanks to all who've picked up a copy, and if you're interested in giving either a review, let me know!