I just finished editing my first novel, The Christmas Tree Massacre. It’s currently 70,343 words. I made it my goal this summer to finish this project during Autocrit’s Novel90 Challenge. I enjoy their challenges, but in the past, I would enter and never quite get my projects done in time. Life would always seem to get in the way, but this year, I decided I was going to make it about finishing projects. I got the idea for this book because my parents used to take us to get a Christmas tree every year growing up, and when we got older there was a year where my father found a Christmas tree farm on Craigslist, and I thought “Oh, great, we’re going to get murdered,” and that was the beginning of the idea for this book. I will be querying this project so can’t share too much, but here is the current blurb, at least:

Welcome to Eatonville, where Christmas cheer hides something more diabolical. The Holiday family has run their picturesque tree farm for generations, but the firs aren’t the only things they harvest. Behind the twinkling lights and carols lies a darker tradition of ritual killings, butchered flesh, and offerings to something older than the forest itself.

When Natalie, a sharp-tongued goth, stumbles into their world with her family, she discovers the Holidays’ empire of ham and horror: a farm where victims vanish and ghosts aren’t the only thing that walks the night. The only way she can save herself is by becoming part of the family. But how will she manage to save her own before time runs out?

Part grotesque fairy tale, part holiday nightmare, The Christmas Tree Massacre delivers 25 chapters, an advent calendar of horror, that asks: how much darkness can a town swallow to keep the lights twinkling?

Upon completing the novel, I had a glass of Jagermeister, which is my antagonist, Doc Holiday’s drink of choice. I’m not much of a drinker, but it’s customary to have a drink of some kind when you finish a book.

I have some more projects coming this fall, so stay tuned.

Also, Autocrit is doing another Novel90 Challenge this fall and you can still join that one if you would like to participate for free: https://www.autocrit.com/writing-challenges/#challengelist

They also do several shorter challenges throughout the year that are equally as fun. If you sign up for a free account with them, you can receive e-mails to find out about their other upcoming challenges, workshops, and events. Plenty of chances to finish a project and win great prizes.

Their pro plan is great too if you want access to even more tools, a great community of writers, as well as a variety of highly informative pro workshops. I also recommend their Nightmare Fuel course for horror when it comes back around! It’s where I got my start. 🙂