This

Image credit: Kerin Cunningham

Well, fuck

Heaven Park, the work previously known as the Disaster in Progress that was my endeavor for over four years, is not happening. 

Although the book was signed on with a publisher back in September 2020, long delays on their side had already put a huge strain on my relationship with the editor. Earlier this year the book was finally slotted for publication in September 2023--three years after acquisition, which is both unprecedented and untenable. The editor's insistence on making sizeable cuts nearly two years in was the last straw. So I'm walking out.

I do not make this decision lightly. Canceling this contract means delaying my next book even more, whichever it is, and it puts me in a terrible position financially. While teenage me is proud I stood up for the integrity of my work, adult me is about to jump out of a fucking window. 

But Heaven Park is personal. Its real counterpart, the place the novel is based on, has become my perfect vacation spot much faster than Los Angeles is becoming a nice place to live in. Heaven is square one, but it's a very comfortable square one. Crawling back to die in it is not that bad a deal. 

What I regret most is not being able to share it with you guys yet. But I will. It belongs to Heavenparkers already.

More images at @heaven_park_snaps

5K

Here's a stat I've been watching for a while now: Meddling Kids just reached five thousand five-star ratings on Goodreads.

That's...amazing. I get sales reports too, but those numbers only say, "What you do works." These say, "What you do, 5,000 people love." 

For context: my debut novel sold less than 1,000 copies. My second, less than 500. Put together, I doubt 5,000 people ever read them, let alone liked them. Of course I'm not comparing markets or perfomances; that would be unfair to both my country and my former self. But still: *knowing* that at least 5,000 people loved one book of mine? My heart bursts. :D