Plotting a New Gothic Horror Book

Funny how I said I would be focusing on my ghostwriting work-in-progress (WIP) motorcycle club (MC) dark romance novel. That's not exactly what happened in the week that I've been away. I finished writing my sapphic gothic horror on 2/12/2024 with the full intent to focus on the MC novel and editing my untitled witch series. Then I was texted by my co-author Susan Stradiotto (it's always Susan) who looped me into a boxset(ish) book series to come out in September 2025.

The collection of full-length individual novels will be called Once Upon a Midnight Dreary based on Edgar Allan Poe short stories. I'm all for gothic horror--one of my favorite genres to read--and had just finished writing sapphic gothic horror. Unfortunately, I've read one Edgar Allean Poe story and decided it wasn't for me a while ago. Now I have to have parallel theme and story like the short story.

While the raven story was available, I actually went for "The Tell-Tale Heart" because something about a heartbeat under the floorboards just felt so me. The only blurb I was given was "A story of obsession and guilt where a lover's heart beats from beneath the floorboards, driving the protagonist to madness in a twisted tale of love and murder."

The story collection is meant to be male-female (M/F) couples. Straight romance isn't something I do well (or like), but I told Susan that the best I could do was a bisexual main character. She agreed, and I will be making the female main character (FMC) very bi.

Besides the M/F couples and following along the lines of an Edgar Allan Poe short story, each story can vary in level of darkness, gore, and horror; sexual content; and length, etc. I've decided to go very dark and sexual content. The story should be gothic horror but cannot have full-on paranormal elements. Occult it is.

As of Thursday (2/15/2024), I started plotting my untitled gothic horror novel for the collection. I probably won't be able to start writing it now. I'm working on the MC romance novel now and will have a quick turnaround for a prequel novella of the Macleod Trilogy with Susan. (Thank Susan for that one too.) But it's time get back into the horror. (Insert evil laugh.)