An ode to Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel
January 15th, 2025
Today is a sweet and sour day for me. Not only am I excited about the impending launch of Fresh Meat: Definitive Edition, but I am also saying goodbye to my original first edition, which will be permanently delisted tonight.
Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel culminated 10 years of working to get myself in a position to self-publish my first book. Of course, I did not spend 10 years writing just one story, but the idea came to me in 2013.
For you see, Fresh Meat, known initially as Secret Ingredient, was the last in a series of stories I wanted to write back when I had a dozen drafts. I kid you not; since childhood, I’d written multiple short stories and several incomplete drafts of many others’ stories. Starting with the Chronicles of Lynia (my future fantasy saga).
Yet, all my desires to create a whole book kept being sidelined by this thing called life.
When I tell you it took me 10 years, it did. It was a long ten years during which I was close to giving up multiple times. In fact, for a moment, I did. I took it all as a sign that this wasn’t meant to be. It’s just a dream, a hobby at most.
What changed?
A couple of things made me realize I should finish, and I knew that. But the motivation was almost gone. Until one day, a special person found a draft of fresh meat. She read it and quickly asked me about these characters, this world, and how it would end.
This person—my beautiful wife, Mari—gave me the final motivational push to say, “You know what? I will finish this damn thing.” A year later, I did.
Still, the editing process, the rewrites, the drafting, cohesion, and a million other things to know, like how to create and manage your website and network with others, make balancing a full-time career with this endeavor difficult (I’m pretty sure many of you can relate). My point is that writing a book isn’t that easy, especially if you are new.
Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for self-publishing and everything that comes with its vendors. What a process, one that will test your patience.
I finally finished my final draft of Fresh Meat in September 2023. Four months later, on April 3rd, 2024, I released Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel, available as an Amazon exclusive for 90 days (via Kindle or paperback). In July 2024, it was released digitally on Kobo, Nook, and Google Play.
A dream come true! At several points in my life, I thought this would never happen. Yet, here I was, a self-published author. Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel was an actual product.
Overall, the reception was good, and I sold a decent number of copies, which, to me as an unknown, meant that people believed in me. The question then became: Is this sustainable? Or is it merely a checkmark on my bucket list? Will this be a hobby I pursue occasionally? Or can I turn this into something more?
To sum things up…
Those thoughts resonated within me for the remainder of 2024. Naturally, I continued writing intermittently, just in case I chose to pursue this further more.
When sometime around the fall of 2024, I had my epiphany.
“I can do this, and I will. But to do this, I needed to relaunch myself in many ways to start over.”
Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel was the result of a lengthy decade. It showed me that I could achieve my goal: publishing a novel. While I feel grateful and proud of it, I remain unsatisfied with the final product overall. It required more refinement, in my opinion.
As an author, I also needed more polish, so I went back to the drawing board. While improving my craft, writing, and editing skills, I decided it was time to give good ol’ Fresh Meat a bit of love and make it what it could be.
Thus, Fresh Meat: Definitive Edition was born. This new version is everything I wanted Fresh Meat to be and more. It rekindled my passion to prove that I can publish a book and strive to compete with the rest.
I’ve decided to make being an author my second career.
So, an ode to Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel
- Thank you for the lessons that came with writing and publishing a book.
- Thank you for helping me prove I can do it.
- Thank you for helping me get my name out there.
- Thank you for the feelings you have created in us all.
- Thank you for all the feedback and writer growth I’ve developed because of you.
- Thank you, the readers, for believing in me.
I also wanted to thank:
- The characters I brought to life, of which many have resonated with the readers.
- Thank you, Bob, and your nasty fleshes for the gore, the laughs, and the horror.
- Thank you, Crowley, for reminding us that a person can still be righteous even in horrible circumstances.
- Thank you, Connor and Lloyd, for your commitment to your friends and displays of courage.
- Thank you, Mark, for the silly jokes and the support of your friends.
- Thank you, Valerie, for being annoying yet showing love and care no matter the circumstances.
- Thank you, Virginia, for showing us that stubbornness is a double-edged sword and for teaching us the importance of not giving up!
- Lastly, thank you, Scott, for taking all these characters on this detour into the world of Rowe.
These characters are near and dear to me, and they have been given new life and made more in line with my original vision.Â
Rest in peace, Fresh Meat: A Horror Novel (2023-2025).
But just as in life, there is a new beginning for every end.
Happy Birthday!! Fresh Meat: Definitive Edition
January 16th, 2025.
