Inspirations for THE MONSTERS AMONG US—The Abyssal Plane
Today I’m writing about some very specific inspirations for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
First, I want to briefly touch upon the neurodivergent focus of the book. The main character, Seth, is a twenty-six-year-old man with bipolar disorder. In a lot of ways, his struggles, his being a slave to what I’ve been referring to in marketing material as a demonic version of The Truman Show, was inspired by the first twenty-six years of my life. Keyword: inspired by. Obviously, the book is a work of fiction. I was never enslaved by demons or any sort of supernatural beings! But more seriously, it’s important to note what I mean by being inspired by my life, I mean inspired by the emotions I felt:
The pain, the lonesomeness, the chaotic swing of emotions, the amplification of the severity of what I felt vs what actually occurred. Basically, my goal for this book was a lofty and ambitious one. Those who have read Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, will know what I mean: my goal for The Monsters Among Us was to take command of the bipolar experience, and weave it into the very structure of book’s narrative. I took Seth’s chaotic, flailing emotions, and guided the narrative through the lens of his pain. When he’s depressed, the pace. slows. but. intensifies critically within him. When Seth is manic, anxious, angry, thepacemayswiften or growmorechoatic as he lashesout! And like the spotlight effect that those who experience anxiety and paranoia know all too well, when he’s being selfish, the narrative focuses in on him—but when he grows, the camera pans outward, becoming less about him and more about the loved ones by his side and the great, beautiful world they inhabit together.
This is a difficult quality to convey here, within a paragraph of a short blog post. But in the novel it works wonderfully. I spent six years writing it to make sure of that. To make sure that I could place the reader within the mind of someone with bipolar disorder, thus helping those like Seth, like me, feel less alone, and to make those who don’t understand neurodivergence, understand it. This is a rollercoaster I’m placing the reader on. Buckle up.
But as stated above, the neurodivergent aspect of the book is best experienced through reading it. What I’m more interested in talking about today is where the book’s theme of great human potential comes from.
When writing the book way back in 2018, I had the stakes, the characters, the magic system. What I didn’t have yet was what tied it all together. Why do the characters have magic? What does the magic mean in terms of literary value and metaphor? How do I tie the cast and contemporary setting into what occurs within scenes that take place thousands of years before it? Where does everything come from?
Well, let’s start there. At everything.
When I first began writing, of course I heard that classic piece of writing advice, show don’t tell. So, I figured, why not show everything? And do so in a way that ties everything together. We are all products of events and circumstances. We exist within the context of everything which has come before us. I wanted to explain everything. I wanted to explain the origins of the world: not in the way science has with the Big Bang, but in a way that was fruitful to the narrative I was writing, one rich in the supernatural, and in religion criticism. And so, I explained the world.
But how did I? You’ll have to read it to get the full picture, but as I stated above, when I first started, I was a bit lost as to how to tie it all together. There was something vital missing. And, one day in college, asleep in my dorm room, I had a nightmare.
It was standard fare, cliché horror movie stuff: I was in a cabin in the woods. Alone within its creaky walls, which shook furiously over and over. To the point where the very fabric of the world was distorted, shimmering like a stone clunking into the surface of a pond. And it intensified further until a wispy grey smoke cloud with a rageful face broke through the front door and smothered me to death—causing the same ripples distorting the walls of the cabin to run through my body. Over and over, this loop continued, until I awoke in a cold sweat, feeling those same tremors running through my chest in the real, waking world.
I was having heart palpitations which transcended the boundary of dream and reality. And furthermore, I was terrified, for this dream which has nothing to do with The Monsters Among Us, reminded me of one other time I had a looping dream where what was occurring within the dream extended into the real world as well; twenty years before, when I was just eight years old.
I texted a friend and asked him to meet me in my dorm as soon as he could, for I was frightened, and needed an interlocutor. I’m of the sort that likes to talk out my thoughts, for only then can I comprehend them fully. I suppose that’s why I write: I type out my thoughts and feelings, and I come out at the other end of a novel understanding myself all the better for having created something.
When my friend arrived, I explained the dream I just had, and more importantly, I explained the dream I had when I was eight (a brief trigger warning for a bleak dream and its dark analysis):
There was a vast, empty white space. A void that held nothing but me, and an iron maiden. How eight-year-old Kent knew what an iron maiden was is beyond me, but that’s what it was. A coffin standing upright, with spikes on the inside. Within this dream, I stared at the iron maiden, before walking steadily onward, entering it. The doors would close upon me, and I would feel pain. It would open again, and I’d walk out, as if in reverse, before walking back in again. The loop continued until I awoke, frantically reaching out to my legs, pain surging up and down them.
In retrospect, I understand this to have been growing pains. But for it to have existed within dream and reality was so surreal, it stuck with me for years to come. And when told about this, my college friend said, “Well, it’s clear that even then you just wanted to die.” And he was right. Looking back, that dream could be seen as a dark omen. Alone, adrift in an empty void, trapped in a loop of constant pain. The real-world emotions I mentioned above that inspired Seth’s struggle in The Monsters Among Us, this is where it began. The omen sent by that dream, warning me that I would spend my life alone, with no friends but the pain I was trapped with. It all came true…and would again. So, as I sat there, panicking at 28 years old, the memory of this dream having returned, revealing an existential truth that my life thus far had been entirely out of my control, that my brain, taking on the role of Judas, led me subconsciously along the trail dictated by this dream—but then my friend said:
“But I think it’s important to consider…you described the place as a white void. Usually voids are depicted as black; nothing inside. Perhaps this white void is the opposite? Perhaps it isn’t actually empty, but a place of infinite potential?”
It’s been seven or so years since then, so I’m paraphrasing his words, but this was the core message of it. And I don’t think I ever told him, but that discussion blew my mind wide open; it unlocked parts of myself I had never considered, and provided that missing piece of The Monsters Among Us: the White Abyss.
Through that conversation, and after years of philosophical reading, the White Void became the White Abyss, for an Abyss implies a great deal of unknown things lurking within its depths, a vast, infinite potential. And it’s the White Abyss, a mysterious realm within The Monsters Among Us that explains everything; the origin of the world, the origin of magic and what it means, the origins of so much more that I cannot talk about. I’m already venturing on spoilers here, but it’s a spoiler meant to entice you. And I hope it will—I hope you’re enticed to learn more about the Earth and its white shadow, and how it fuels all things; the nightmarish horrors found within our world, as well as the great potential for art and intellect, for creativity and everything great and wonderful that we human beings can do.
For each and everyone of us can amount to great things, if only we can brave the abyssal plane. As Seth will when the book releases on September 9th. I hope you’ll join him on this dire struggle through the dark and terrifying, beautiful White Abyss.
In Remembrance of a Mentor
A Death in the Family
June 9th, 2025
There’s a stillness in the air. The room made dark from the grey sky beyond the walls of my home library, obscuring the early morning light. No life stirs from the overhead lamp. My desk lit only by the standing lamp to the right of my desk. My girlfriend sits to my left, at her desk, entrenched in her own work. Our cat, Yakutia, lay asleep in her window perch to my right. And our dog, Poe, asleep as well upon the living room couch, alone, on the other side of the house.
Where no life stirs, within the thick, oppressive silence of loss.
And as I sit here, pondering what to write and the best way to write it, I’m staring out at the trees beyond our home, standing still as statues. And just as lifeless. No creaking of swaying branches, none of Nature’s kinetic lifeforce to be seen. And it’s no wonder, with the news I recently received…when on May 28th, a college wide email arrived in my inbox alerting me of the tragic death of Rebecca Cole Heinowitz, a beloved professor and mentor to me.
I’ve become something of an expert in dealing with death. Much of my life, but thankfully no longer, I’ve stumbled my way toward the casket. Wishing for death, dreaming of suicide, anything to relinquish me from the pain of being bipolar. Of how excruciating it is to think and feel, when one’s life operates along dual poles. And then with the death of my best friend on June 7th, 2023, when I was destroyed, my soul annihilated, nothing left of me…the one silver lining was that little could ever hurt like that again. And I was right—though I’ve now learned that there are different kinds of pain, of grief.
I first met Professor Heinowitz on my first day at Bard College. So anxious I insisted on being fifteen minutes early, I made my way up the creaking steps of Aspinwall, where my British Romanticism was class was held. Entering a room full of empty seats, I was the first to arrive—aside from a woman at the far end of the table, books sprawled out in front of her.
She was diligently writing in a notebook, while glancing occasionally to an open laptop. Her short, black curly hair dangling just above her dark horn-rimmed glasses. There was something about her, a sharpness, radiating from her. I didn’t know why, at the time. At first, I didn’t realize she the professor, for in most of my classes throughout college, the professors were usually last to arrive. And besides, I was an older student, and I figured, she could be too. And as the room filled with other students, no one behaved in any way that would alert me to her being the professor either. But then, she spoke.
It was immediately clear what the tone of that class would be for the entire semester. Sitting here now, in this dark room, thinking upon my time in that class—its as if the lingering storm clouds have parted, with blinding sunlight breaking through. The passion she had! The way it radiated from her, rippling palpably through the air, affected everyone in the room. Her insight, her immense intellect, so magnetic, so thickly concentrated you could touch and taste it. Getting to sit there, listening to her speak about the Romantic literary movement, of the romantics being in awe of the sublime, of their pursuit of truth and knowledge in Nature as opposed to finding it within religion, within God—it was an honor listening to her, bathing in her illuminating intellect, so intoxicating that it converted me immediately. From then on and now and forever, I am a student of the Romantic school of thought, I am forever a student of Rebecca Cole Heinowitz.
In fact, and she didn’t know this, but about a third of the way through that semester, I panicked. As I left class, baffled and in awe of the conversation that day, as I was after every session of class, having my mind blown, my understanding of literature and the confines of critical thought radically expanded, I had a horrifying realization: In just a handful of weeks, this class will end and I might never get taught by Professor Heinowitz again!
This was unacceptable. For her class was life-changing; it set my career as an author down a path it would never veer from. I needed more of it, I needed more of Rebecca Cole Heinowitz. So, I left class that day and rushed straight to the campus center and into the school store. Clinging to the wall of books by Bard professors, eyes frantically reading the spine of each, I found a single copy of her book, Rewriting Conquest: Spanish America and British Romanticism, 1777-1826. It was $85 and I was a poor college student—I bought it without hesitation.
I’m sorry to say I haven’t read it yet, nor her poetry book Daily Chimera which I also bought a couple years later. Though that’s okay. Because for now, with her no longer here, they can serve their purpose; to allow me to hear Cole’s voice again, to bask in her illuminating intellect on a rainy day when I need to feel her inspiration once more.
But thankfully the conclusion of that class wasn’t the end of my interaction with Cole, but very much just the beginning.
This won’t mean anything to you, dear reader, but I’m writing this blog post with the same structure and style as the journal entries in my memoir, The Plague Journal. It won’t mean anything to you, because as of this post, that book has yet to be published. Though I bring this up because I wouldn’t have ever written that book if not for Cole Heinowitz.
In a lot of ways, the first part of the book belongs to her as well. The insight she brought to the project, her enthusiasm for it, how she, after reading a particular line, proclaimed, “This is poetry!” The passion she felt for this book and for me, distilled in me a confidence I had never known before. Again, that fierce, illuminating intellect of hers bled past the confines of her mind and body, and into me. Suddenly, I was a better writer. Through her guidance and support and love for what I was doing, I felt like I could do anything.
By then I had already begun going over to her cabin in Boiceville, NY—I had started dog sitting for her about halfway through that first semester. When asking the class if anyone would like to watch her dog, every hand in the room sprung up with the same passionate enthusiasm we felt radiating from Cole. It was likely do to my age and maturity, but I’m glad she chose me.
From there, I bonded more and more with her and her husband and their dog, and eventually, I was alerted to the need for an extra credit on my transcript and was advised to reach out to a professor to request an independent study course. My first and only thought was Cole.
She agreed, and in requesting to make it as easy as possible for both us, she suggested a simple premise; she asked about my hobbies outside of reading and writing, and I mentioned that I love hiking, that Nature soothes me. An interest I would find that she and I shared. With that settled, she provided me a copy of Thoreau’s essay, “Walking,” and told me to go on a hike, read the essay, and then write something, anything, based on the blended experience of hiking and reading.
What I produced was the beginning of a memoir, though neither of us knew it then. With each week I would hike a different trail and write another piece. As organic as Nature herself, a narrative was slowly building, a story which illuminated my inner struggle, my pains and emptiness born from my being bipolar, and being alone during the advent of COVID-19. This was significant not only for the sake of the book being written, but through the voyeuristic pages, Cole got to know me better and better, and in turn I got to know her better. And it was then I realized why I felt such an allure from her. I had an inkling that she dealt with something similar to my bipolar disorder (details were never exchanged, though from attending her funeral service virtually, I know that she indeed suffered from at least depression, as was mentioned by her mother). So, the writing of this book was as therapeutic as it was a deepening of my bond with Cole. I could it feel it, that inexplicable deepening of a connection between two people, an illumination of their understanding of one another.
And this connection meant the world to me, as this period of my life was one of the loneliest I’ve ever experienced. My family and I weren’t on great terms, and we spoke very little, if ever. I didn’t have any friends, or at least not ones that took the time to see me. And when COVID hit, the eviscerating weight of my isolation was on the brink of killing me.
But it didn’t, because of Cole, who through my bonding with her, her husband, her dog, I was given a new family—she told me as such, with a smile, sad but full of feeling, after I revealed to her the broken tether to my actual family. She included me in hers, and made me feel whole again.
A few months ago, I had asked her to blurb the memoir. A publisher had requested the manuscript and wanted advance praise for it as well. Cole wanted to blurb it, but there was a time restraint. I told her not to worry, and I would let her know once it was published, and that I thought she would love what I went on to do with it. She told me, “I have no doubt.”
I wish she was still here.
There is so much I must thank her for. Bonding with her helped me survive not only my loneliness, my mental illness, but she also simply helped me survive my time at Bard. Even the title of my memoir, The Plague Journal, was her doing. She had said, “What you are doing with this project, this Plague Journal, is truly special and I think people would enjoy this. You should get it published, perhaps through a small press.”
But that’s not all, as she was a part of my senior project board. I didn’t request her to be, as in the face of her immense intellect, I was scared. What if this brilliant woman, who I respect so highly, hated my book? The thought paralyzed me, but by chance she was assigned to me anyway (or perhaps she chose me? I’ll never know). But when meeting with my board, after they had reviewed what was the first half of my upcoming debut novel, The Monsters Among Us, I was overwhelmed by the sheer adoration and praise they gave it. Cole included, who said, and I’ll never forget these words, “In all my years of teaching, I’ve never read such an extraordinary piece of work.”
I was overjoyed, but dumbfounded. Cole Heinowitz was an actual genius. For her to speak so highly of my novel honors and baffles me even today. I hope she knew how much her words impacted me. For without them I might not have gotten to where I am now. Publishing is a cold, uncertain and precarious industry. Two years went by before the book was contracted. And the desolation, the possibility of failure weighed heavily upon me through it all. But I was able to persevere because of Cole’s words.
I could still write more, but this has gone on longer than I had anticipated. And rightfully so, for the loss of Professor Cole Heinowitz is a severe one, and I mourn her and for the future Bard students who will never get to take a Cole Heinowitz course. They will be profoundly missing out.
There are certainly different kinds of grief. While this doesn’t hurt in the same way as when I lost my best friend, losing a mentor leaves its own kind of void, a craterous absence within my chest. I wanted her to see me become a published author. And I dreamt of publishing my memoir as well and getting to converse with her about it over coffee, at her cabin, by the edge of the Esopus Creek. Our dogs playing, rummaging around in the dirt and grass as we evaluate the work. A fantasy that will no longer come true. Though I know she would be proud.
I have no doubt.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US—Character Spotlight: Zarathustra
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. The final spotlight, and another character of great mystery, who’s allegiances may be a bit muddied and unclear…
Zarathustra
A god from another world that lays at the center of all worlds. Born from the point of origin of all things, The Womb of the One Mind—a collective unconscious which births all life. Zarathustra is one of many Abyssian gods, created for the sole purpose of aiding sentient life across all dimensions in their time of need. But upon finding that the peoples of one dimension had evolved to the point of gods being superfluous to them, those gods breathed their last and dissipated into nothingness.
Growing fearful of this undeniable fate, the remaining gods descended upon those evolved people and devoured them, consuming the wills of sentient life in the name of self-preservation. Zarathustra, appalled by the actions of his fellow Abyssians, cursed the word “god” as he fled and created a new world to hide within… and it was there he bled out the Abyss from within himself, an extension of The Womb of the One Mind, and also created new life—the twin siblings, Satan and The Seductress.
Zarathustra is a god originating from eons upon eons before the Earth was ever a thought, but to learn more about this deeply mysterious figure and how he connects to the events of THE MONSTERS AMONG US, make sure to read the book when it releases on September 9th, later this year!
Click here to preorder!
Also, check out the book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US—Character Spotlight: The Abysslings, Adam and Eve
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. Or spotlights, plural, as this one covers not one but two characters. Both deeply mysterious, nonhuman figures.
The Abysslings, Adam & Eve
Born from the eyes of a god, The Abysslings, Adam and Eve sprouted from the vast, empty whiteness of the Abyss. Sent by their Father as intermediaries between the realms, they attempt to guide both Seth and Melphis on their journey for Hell’s Throne, while withholding knowledge of a conflict growing ever larger beyond Melphis’s paltry ambitions.
They have pasty, stark white skin and blindingly bright teal hair, made within the image of their father—and housing his eyes. And it was a few years before the events of THE MONSTERS AMONG US where Seth first catches a glimpse of Adam, the stranger passing by, dropping a peculiar locket before vanishing into thin air. Leading Seth confused and giving the towns folk more reason to attack his mental illness; belittling what Seth saw as a hallucination.
But that was only the first of many times Seth will meet this mysterious Abyssling, and eventually he also meets his sister, Eve. But this mysterious duo only causes more tension between Seth and Melphis, as their language, riddled with vagaries, only gives them more questions than answers. But little does Melphis know, these Abysslings are a link between the Earth and a world much vaster than he knows—raising the stakes far higher than Hell’s Throne.
Click here to preorder!
Also, check out the book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US—Character Spotlight: The Seductress
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. One you didn’t see coming, for she is too deeply mysterious.
The Seductress
Sister of Satan, a character enveloped in great mystery, in deep secrecy to the point of existing to no one and yet the world spins on at her command. All demonkind, even the Sins and Satan himself, shiver in her presence. For there is no one more fearsome, more awe-inspiring.
Raised together at the beginning of all things, The Seductress and Satan were fond of each other as children, bonding together as siblings. Even formulating a plot to control the world to their own selfish purposes. But as the weight of many eons pressed upon Satan’s shoulders, tension and mistrust grew between the siblings. Leaving Satan no choice but to create a plot of his own against The Seductress in order to survive…
There is much to be learned about The Seductress, but as she is the most secretive character in THE MONSTERS AMONG US, you’ll simply have to read the book to find out more!
Click here to preorder!
Also, check out the book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US— CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: SATAN
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. One of the story’s major villains, but also one you don’t know as well as you might think. For he is a beast mired in eons-long secrets.
Satan
The King of Hell. The Dark Lord. Master of lies and deceit. He is all these things, but also so much more. Discard your preconceptions of the Satan many have come to known from The Bible. This is not a goat-headed fiend, nor a loquacious little red man with a pitchfork. Much like Melphis who knows nothing of Hell, you know nothing of Satan.
Even his biblical history is a lie. But you’ll have to read the book to learn the truth.
A hulking beast forced onto all fours by his sheer weight. Long horns curve backward toward wings of bone sprouting from his back, with a few black feathers stuck to charred pieces of flesh dangling off the bones. Many rows of teeth as long as railroad spikes, chattering loudly as he speaks. This grotesque god with the power to break Seth’s bones as he’s pinned to the floor, with the mere motion of his eyes. Hell is Satan’s domain, and all souls are his to command. And thus, Seth is forced into a new life as a demon and sent to kill the Melphis.
And like the Seven Sins he commands, Satan has his own secrets—ones which precede the Earth and humanity. The circumstances of his being in Hell, these are things he does not want. Hell’s Throne is of no interest to him. All he wants is to return to his lost paradise.
Click here to preorder!
Also, check out the book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US— CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. Or rather, spotlights, plural. For this time we cover a collective, a group of horrid monstrosities.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Pride, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Sloth, Greed, and Wrath. Elite demons and the seven pillars of control placed on Earth by Satan. Melphis seeks to slay the Seven Sins, as their function stands in the way of his ultimate goal, Hell’s Throne.
For as long as there have been humans, there have been the Sins. Corrupting human souls, ripening them to Satan’s particular tastes, then funneling the souls to Hell for the Dark Lord’s consumption. This is what Melphis tells Seth as he recruits the newborn demon to his cause. For slaying the Sins would slow the process of human souls being transported to Hell, thus theoretically weakening Satan, allowing Melphis and Seth to slay the king of Hell.
And powerful as Melphis is, he could not possibly defeat the Sins on his own. They are no mere demons but instead creatures of immense power. But even with Seth’s help, this is no easy feat to accomplish. Because despite Melphis’s great knowledge and preparedness, the Sins hold secrets even he is not aware of. He will come to know that the words spoken to him by Greed 4000 years prior, upon the cliffs overlooking Hell’s Sea of Flames, are very true. That he knows nothing of Hell.
Click here to preorder!
Also, check out the book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US— CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: SASHA
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. Another companion to Seth, and one who was my favorite character to write. For she is deep and complex, fun and upbeat but also fierce and strong. For she overcame a horrible pain, and as such is not only a bright guiding light for Seth, but she is also the pinnacle of what all humanity should strive for.
Let’s get to it.
Sasha
Found during a demon hunt in colonial Massachusetts, Sasha is Virdeus’s adopted daughter and heir to The Demonslayer Guild. In modern times, she’s over 300 years old. But just as is the case with all other members of The Guild, magic keeps her young, as she resembles a healthy twenty-six-year-old woman—but one who is far wiser.
Though wisdom, as is often the case, is derived from suffering. Prior to being found by Virdeus, Sasha was a victim of daily abuses from her biological father. A trauma which would take centuries to fully heal from and become the strong woman Seth meets along his journey.
Playful and upbeat, but also a hardened warrior with a focused mind for science, Sasha acts as a guide to Seth alongside Virdeus, after taking an interest in the demon with a trait never before seen in his kind—emotion. This interest blossoms into romantic attachment, one that Seth also falls into. Though without awareness as his continued pursuit of his beloved blinds him to what could be if only he moved on.
While Seth is ridiculed by Melphis, and lectured by Virdeus, Sasha opts to see the best in him. For you see, he’s just like her. After 300 years of life, she has had ample time to discipline her inner turmoil. But there was once a time where her emotions were as volatile as Seth’s, and along her path of growth, she’s also made plenty of mistakes.
A fact that prepares her to forgive as a catastrophe strikes The Guild.
Click here to preorder!
Also, check out the book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US— CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: VIRDEUS
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another spotlight! A character whose unnatural presence in the world will make you wonder, “just how many layers does this onion have?” as THE MONSTERS AMONG US continues to shock and surprise.
Virdeus
Over 9,000 years old, Virdeus is a man from another era. One who, after the deaths of his wife and child, meets Melphis. And, as Virdeus despairs, the demon gives him the gift of magic. Through which he receives a prolonged lease on life.
Taking on a messianic role, he saves thousands of suffering souls with the same gift he received from Melphis, thus creating a new family in the form of the Demonslayer Guild; a group of magical humans seeking to protect humankind.
While grooming his adopted daughter for his replacement as head of The Guild, a rift in morals and values grows within the ranks of the Demonslayers, imploring Virdeus to seek out Melphis, after not meeting since that very first time. Once more he needs the demon’s help.
With his daughter by his side, Virdeus is a well of guidance and wisdom when they finally meet Seth. Though all he can do is hope that his words reach the newborn demon’s ever more problematic ears. After all, Virdeus knows a thing or two about what problems magic can bring, because fun fact, Virdeus’s name came from squishing two Latin words together: Vir meaning Man, and Deus meaning God. The first of his kind, with a long past laden with many mistakes.
Click here to preorder!
A book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US also recently dropped! Check it out.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US— CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: MELPHIS
Hey everyone!
It’s time for another character spotlight. The first of Seth’s found family, and one he finds difficult to trust, but ends up having more in common with then he first thought.
Melphis:
A gifted sorcerer and demon who defected from Satan’s ranks, when after a hundred thousand years of servitude, he noticed for the first time the eternal suffering of a human soul, thus triggering great pain and unease in him.
At the sight of a dimension of unknown origin, words are whispered into his ears, prompting him to covet Hell’s throne. He then seeks the aid of Seth to ensure his victory over Satan.
But something isn’t quite right with him, as memories from a past life are revealed to have been depressed and hidden from him by forces beyond his understanding, beyond the Hell he seeks.
Click here to preorder!
A book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US also recently dropped! Check it out.
THE MONSTERS AMONG US— CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: SETH
Hey, everyone!
Get excited, because this is the first of many character spotlights: the tempestuous main character of THE MONSTERS AMONG US:
Seth
Seth is a neurodivergent, bipolar twenty-six-year-old whose entire life, unbeknownst to him, is orchestrated by demons. After his beloved dies, Seth undergoes a demonic metamorphosis which causes the world's fictitious walls to crumble.
From there he’s thrusted into a primordial quarrel of gods. Yet another life he never asked for, but one he must live through while learning to control his pain lest it destroys him and his new found family.
Fun fact: The name Seth is Hebrew, meaning “Anointed One,” as well as being an alternate spelling of Set, the Egyptian god of chaos, turmoil, and storms. So, it goes without saying that his inner journey of self-improvement is going to be tempestuous at the very least… but will he learn the error of his ways and be reborn as a new, better person? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
Click here to preorder!
A book trailer for THE MONSTERS AMONG US also recently dropped! Check it out.
COVER REVEAL!
The cover for THE MONSTERS AMONG US is here!
Thank you to everyone who has engaged with the reveal. Your likes, comments, and sharing helps a ton. And now, the countdown begins. Still a year away, but the release date is September 9th, 2025!
That’s all for now; going to keep this blog post short and sweet, to keep the focus on the reveal. But make sure to preorder a copy! Ebooks preorders are up, with paperbacks and hardcovers available soon:
https://books2read.com/u/m27rzr
Seth’s life until now has been a product of a diabolical, evil Truman Show, his entire upbringing a façade orchestrated for malevolent purposes. After his beloved dies, he undergoes a demonic metamorphosis, which causes the world’s fictitious walls to crumble.
As he tries to piece a semblance of his life back together and move on, he meets friends who inspire, but even more harsh truths are revealed, perhaps too difficult to cope with.
The very existence of life and reality is exposed as a machination of grotesque gods. And to defeat them, Seth will have to fill his emptiness, for which there’s only two options… Bring the world to ruin, or learn to transmute his pain into strength.
Cover reveal is imminent!
This month’s post is going to be brief, as there’s only one topic of importance to talk about! And boy, have I been eager for this to come. It was exciting to sign the contract, but to have nothing else to share for so long, well, oof. It’s been agonizing.
After six long months of waiting, we are finally approaching the cover reveal for THE MONSTERS AMONG US.
That’s right! In three weeks from tomorrow, the cover for the novel will be unveiled. That’s August 23rd, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled and follow me on all my socials because I will surely be making a big deal out of it over there. And I cannot wait.
Again, keep the date in mind:
August 23rd – cover reveal for THE MONSTERS AMONG US
Or, do you want to be the first to see it early? Then you may want to subscribe to my newsletter!
Get excited!
On waiting…
I was hesitant to write this blog post, as it wasn’t too long ago that I was a struggling writer with no publishing credentials. So, I know how it feels to see published or soon-to-be published authors complain about the publishing process. Because at least they are getting published. But it’s due to the reality of what I’m feeling that I have literally nothing else to talk about right now.
The waiting doesn’t get better. Before signing the contract, I was simply waiting for someone to see my book’s worth. Now after signing, I’m waiting for the large span of time before its publication to pass. And its crazy to me that I’ll be experiencing two birthdays before the book releases. Again, I am immensely grateful to be in the position to publish my book at all. But I’m also so eager for my career to fully start.
I suppose I don’t have much else to say about this. Just that the waiting is hard. And I’m eager to be offered more publication deals to be excited about in the meantime. This slow crawl to publication is making me anxious for so much more.
But much of my life has been one long, slow crawl. Sitting here in my study, I’m thinking about all the good things I have in my life. Glancing up the wall in front of me, my Written Arts degree hangs proudly. The silence of my home today contrasts greatly with the vibrancy of laughter and contentedness experienced up until bringing my girlfriend to the airport yesterday. The walls of books surrounding me, a collection of acquired knowledge throughout my years of writing, leading to signing a publication deal. These are all amazing gifts that I first had to work incredibly hard over an excruciating amount of time before I could attain them.
Some cliches are just true. All the best things in life take time. That’s truer still, in this precarious and painfully slow industry.
I’m grateful though, to have had to wait for so many other great things. Bard College is a rigorous and intensely difficult school. Graduating from there is no small feat. And it was as humbling as it was illuminating, and I left my college experience not only with a degree and a written book (THE MONSTERS AMONG US, out 2025!) that won an honors grade, but also a family. Two professors provided me with a sense of community I never had before and helped me survive one of the most tempestuous periods of my life. I will always be thankful for them, and so trust me when I say, my continued admiration for my alma mater is not to be mistaken for the same admiration that Andy Benard from The Office has with Cornell. He was an idiot whose parents paid his way through college, and never amounted to anything more than his college years. But I am an author who has been enriched and deepened and saved by my college. Many years were spent there, waiting for that degree; for a chance to prove myself. And eventually, it came.
The same can be said about my love life. One failure after another, ill-fitted souls destined for nothing but catastrophe. I always felt unique to a point where I could never be understood. And if one can never be understood, then one can never be loved. Not truly. So, I always figured I’d be alone forever. Chipping away at novel after novel, a secluded, neurodiverse hermit. But in the love I’ve found in my aforementioned girlfriend, for the first time in my life I’m finding that it’s possible to feel loved after all. Over a decade of dating, and so much pain, while waiting. But I’ve found it at last and it’s all the sweeter for having waited.
Again, some cliches are just true. And it will be all the sweeter after waiting all this time for THE MONSTERS AMONG US to be published. And there are some exciting things to share on the horizon: next month, on August 23rd, the cover for THE MONSTERS AMONG US will be revealed. And I am so, so excited to share it with you all.
The wait until then… amplifies my satisfaction.
What’s new, even?
I have no clear goal for this month’s blog post, as not much as been going on. At least as it pertains to publishing. Things in my personal life have actually been quite eventful, which is even more of a reason why I haven’t put proper thought into what June’s blog post should even be. Things have quieted since the initial excitement of signing contracts for THE MONSTERS AMONG US and A STATE OF EMERGENCY. Which is to be expected. Can’t be offered publishing contracts every month, despite how much I’d love that!
So today I’m going to meander a bit. Speak generally and briefly about what I’ve been up to:
My head of marketing, Poe, a beautiful English Labrador, is days away from being ten months old. Growing up so fast… though he’s still beautiful, and very large. Sometimes too large, as he’s prone to jumping atop me, trampling, and playfully biting me. I do love him to death though. Even if the death in question is mine caused by his insanity. Upon the occasion of my sudden disappearance, check beneath the floorboards.
Personally speaking, things are also going well. I’ve recently fallen in love and realized why I’m prone to giving many of my characters romantic subplots. Love really does make life worth living.
This is all to say, or to shout into the abyss, that life is good! Which despite my relaxed and somewhat flippant tone here, is the first time in my life I’ve said those words without irony or sarcasm. And I would very much like it to continue to be good, so I shout, attempting to manifest even more good (more published stories, please and thank you).
At the time of writing, I have three short stories out for consideration for an award. The same is true for my creative non-fiction memoir that I mentioned in last month’s blog post. I’m tempering my expectations, but boy, would it be nice to win. Especially the memoir. I’m especially proud of how it turned out and would very much like people to read it.
Other than that, I’m currently coasting until August, when the cover reveal for THE MONSTERS AMONG US is scheduled. And while I wait, I have officially begun work on my fifth novel, the first of three sequels to THE MONSTERS AMONG US. Slow going, but that’s okay. I’m relishing it. And I must say, it feels good to be back in familiar territory. Living amongst these characters I spent six years writing, in the world they live in, so deep with philosophical power.
The full series is as follows:
1. THE MONSTERS AMONG US (out next year!)
2. In the Wake of Gods
3. The Hollow King
4. This Long, Bright Dark
I’m also considering writing a collection of short stories centered around a particular group of particularly interesting humans found in THE MONSTERS AMONG US, but writing a four-book series with worlds as philosophically and conceptually enormous as these is already daunting, so who knows.
But that’s really it, for now. As mentioned above, the cover reveal for THE MONSTERS AMONG US is scheduled for August, so look forward to it! I sure am, as things will begin to grow more exciting again.
PUBLISHING ANNOUNCEMENT and praise for Rowan Prose
This month’s blog post is very much a follow up to last month’s entry, where I spoke about how things have been since signing the publication deal for my novel, The Monsters Among Us. It’s funny… what I’m going to talk about here could have been in that post, as the news broke a couple days after I wrote it, and before it went live on the blog. But I didn’t want to disrupt the focus of that entry, so I abstained from including the news.
You should all know what I’m referring to, so I’ll come right out with it:
My short story, A State of Emergency, will be published next year in a horror/thriller anthology from Rowan Prose Publishing.
That’s right. That makes two of my stories that will be available in 2025. My debut novel, The Monsters Among Us, and A State of Emergency. The two are very different and yet similar as well. That’s because the short story was the first of two side projects I wrote while working on The Monsters Among Us. While the two are different in tone, they pair greatly together so I could not be more thrilled that both will be releasing in the same year. Also, it’s all the sweeter that, out of all my stories, the two getting published are my favorite novel and my favorite short story. Both through Rowan Prose, to whom I am eternally grateful.
Now, if I could find a publisher for my other side project from the era I wrote The Monsters Among Us, then I would just be giddy. But since that other side project is a memoir and I’m not yet a notable personality, that’s a bit tricky. But regardless, my year has already been made.
Sure, just simply receiving publishing deals for these two stories is exciting on its own. But I bring up this other side project for a specific reason, and that’s shown in this excerpt from this currently unpublished memoir:
“I said it in the beginning of this series of reflections. This will be a journey similar, but different from the events of The Plague Journal. I felt that to be true well before reading this entry, and what do you know, I’m dealing with many of the same struggles as I was before. I have a knack for that. I’m not psychic, and I don’t believe in that drivel. But when I have a strong gut feeling about how something is about to turn out, I’m often right. 2016 was a great year, when I finally got fed up with my small, insignificant existence, then got angry enough to do something about it, and went back to college. After a couple terrible years that snuffed my inner flame, eventually, at my darkest point, I felt a shift. In 2018 I got on the dean’s list twice, finished the draft of my novel, and got accepted into Bard College. In 2021, after another interval of misery, I finished my novel, graduated with honors because of it, and that special book of mine received praise so high, I still can’t believe it.
Do you see where I’m going here? Deep misery followed by grand achievements. The eternal recurrence. The heaviest of burdens. I don’t feel it yet, that strong gut instinct that tells me achievement is near. But what I do feel strongly is that it’s time to return to New York. Once I do, who knows? Making myself known in New York again, reoccurring there, might trigger the next step in my publishing journey.
I’ve been working at it for long enough now. Shouldering this heaviest of burdens. Think about the years when I achieved accomplishments. 2016 → 2018 → 2021. I can’t know for sure, but 2023 or 2024 seems ripe for something great to come my way. It’s about time for another great shift. A repurposing of life. Nature’s rebirth in spring.
Something big must be coming.”
This blog post isn’t about this memoir, so I’ll make this short, but you may be wondering how this was a side project to The Monsters Among Us, considering the specified dates. This book is a strange one, and when I say it was a side project, I mean that its Part One was a side project. What is written above is out of Part Two, something I originally had no intention of writing. But I did, and it was written in early 2023.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself prophetic, but here I am a year later with two publishing deals! The shift occurred and things have finally started to work out for me. And I have Rowan Prose and my editor Kelly Moran to thank for this. They looked at two stories that are heavily intertwined in dark themes of mental health, and they gave them a chance. Now, neither of these stories are lighthearted gags about a quirky neurodivergent person. They’re grimly honest portrayals of what living with things such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder is actually like. All the nightmarish neuroses, as well as the grand, illuminating gifts found within the mental turmoil. In other words, both The Monsters Among Us and A State of Emergency are stories that others in publishing would have wanted nothing to do with.
But not Rowan Prose. They saw the stories for all the artfulness they hold, for all the value they contain. And as I stated above, these are two of my favorites I’ve ever written. So I hope Rowan Prose understands just how much this means to me. Not only giving me my break but breathing life into these stories that have grown so desperate for someone to give them the chance they deserve. So, thank you, Rowan Prose. Your goal of being a publisher for authors by authors is shining through as deeply genuine. Which is just what these stories need. They and I are in good hands, I feel very confident about that.
And I also feel confident that Rowan Prose’s interest in these stories will be quite fruitful for them. To refer again to the excerpt above, the novel mentioned as having “received praise so high, I still can’t believe it,” is none other than The Monsters Among Us.
The specifics of that praise is something I’ll talk about as the book’s release nears, but I’ll end with this: you have great cause to get very excited about it!
Seven Weeks After Signing…
So, it’s been about seven weeks since signing the publishing deal for my novel, The Monsters Among Us. And this may sound dramatic, as its still early and the release date is a bit far off… but everything feels different. Throughout the first few weeks, it felt unreal. Like the world was dangling something precious in front of me, only to rip it away from me. Of course, that was irrational to think, but after what I’ve gone through to publish this novel, I just couldn’t believe that I indeed signed the contract.
As I mentioned in last month’s blog post, this novel has been with me for nine years. The creation of it took six years, then I spent the last three years querying it. And until Rowan Prose Publishing accepted it, I was drowning. Not a single agent asked for even a partial request. And that had me gutted. More so than any other story of mine, it was eviscerating when this novel was rejected. Because again, I spent six years writing it. Six years I stood side by side with these characters that, because of the time spent and because I went to painstaking lengths to ensure the novel is deeply immersive, those characters I created feel very much alive and real to me. And I hated seeing them rejected. To have to grieve their unlived potential.
That’s what it felt like for so long. Like I was a parent holding within my hands a stillbirth. I know how great the book is and even have my old college professors to back me up on that, so to watch it flail about in the querying trenches was devastating and confusing.
But then, after three years and over three hundred rejections, the book’s worth was finally recognized. And it’s funny that it was picked up only a couple weeks into me giving up on querying agents and deciding to submit to independent presses instead. Makes me think that independent presses are the ones truly seeking art, and agents not so much. I’m not trying to talk badly about agents. I understand their position. But unfortunately for burgeoning authors, the talented but unknowns like me, agents are not likely to pay us any attention. Pay being a very purposeful word because what an agent is after is money. They want sure things so they can make the most of their 10%. They also may be champions of art but profit always trumps that for an agent. Hence why on their querytracker submission forms, they ask questions like, “Have you published a book before and if so, how many copies did it sell?” When it comes to agents, an author could have a future Pulitzer winner and they would still ignore it if the author were an unknown, and therefore not profitable.
I’m still seeking an agent, now that I’m querying my other books. And it makes me all the more desirable that in my credentials section of my query I can now mention that The Monsters Among Us will be published in 2025 and because of that publishing deal, I am now a full member of the Author’s Guild. So hopefully an agent will bite now. But if not, then hopefully after The Monsters Among Us releases and sells (which it will, I have the utmost faith in this novel).
But ultimately what I’m getting at here is, if you’re in the position I was in just seven weeks ago, struggling to get an agent’s attention and feeling like giving up… please don’t. As I said above, The Monsters Among Us had over three hundred rejections, but here it is now preparing for its new life as a published book. Querying is discouraging, but don’t give up. And consider submitting to an independent publisher instead of waiting for an agent. It doesn’t matter if your book is published through Penguin Random House or a smaller press. The word “independent” is superfluous. It’s still a traditional publishing contract either way, and therefore it’s something to make you all the more impressive. It’s a credit, and a mighty big one at that. So, if agents are standing in the way to getting your book seen, well… go around them. Get seen through a different angle, market the hell out of your book and sell lots of copies. Then go to the agents again and say, “See? I’m profitable after all.”
I used to think that the path was, get an agent, sell book to publisher, market, release, do it all again with a second book. But that trail is unkind and treacherous to unknown authors. And it’s much more fruitful to find your own way around.
PUBLISHING ANNOUNCEMENT and the return of the blog!
It’s been a while since I’ve used this space. Those of you who have read my blog posts before will know that I used to post short stories, poetry, and other such things here, but that’s not what my blog will be used for going forward. It will be, well… a normal blog. You will also notice that I’ve taken down all the stories and poetry, and that the blog is empty aside from this post, for now. That’s because I’ve decided not to waste my work by giving it away for free on a blog only a few might look at. But don’t worry, all those stories will turn up in various forms of publishing with time. Patience and tenacity are essential in this business, believe me.
I’ll be posting once a month, on the first. Maybe sometimes there will be a clear narrative focus, musings or anecdotes, or anything else rich in content. Though other times, like today’s post, will strictly be updates about publishing and anything I’ve been up to within that realm of things.
Which brings me to the reason I’m reviving the blog: my novel, The Monsters Among Us, will be published through Rowan Prose Publishing next year!
I want to gush all about that, so badly. But since it’s still some time away from publication, I must withhold details for now. But I’ll say this:
This book has been with me for nine years. It was the first novel I conceived, as well as my first story, period. I began writing it in 2015, and between writing and editing and researching and writing it a second time, and then much more editing, it was finally completed. And throughout all that time, I was studying hard in college as well as in my own time, all for the sake of making this novel the best it could possibly be. I can, and in time will, provide anecdotes from college about all the great things my professors said about The Monsters Among Us, but I’ll reserve those for later blog posts. They’re too good to talk about now, still over a year from publication. But these stories will come.
So yeah, I’m using the blog again. One of many new venues I’m working toward using to market The Monsters Among Us, with another being a YouTube account where I’ll be doing readings of others’ works, such an Edgar Allan Poe’s A Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Raven, as well as Plath’s Lady Lazarus and Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom. And when publication of The Monsters Among Us nears, I’ll do a reading of the first chapter. There are no videos there yet, but will be soon, so I suggest subscribing to the channel. And if you find that my voice makes for good readings and would like me to read something of your choosing on the channel, I’m all ears! Send me an email through the contact form to make your suggestions!
Alongside this publication, I’ve been hard at work on new books. Last year alone I wrote three novels, two fiction and one creative nonfiction, and I’m currently readying them to be sent out to agents and publishers. So, the publication of The Monsters Among Us is only the beginning of what will be a large body of work for you all to enjoy.
And I couldn’t be more thrilled to share them all with you.
So make sure to stay up to date by following me on social media (@kentpriore), and signing up for my newsletter would also work in your favor. Its the best way to stay in the loop, as well as receiving exclusive details about The Monsters Among Us, such as character summaries, plot, setting, and more! So be sure to subscribe!