Sebastian Nothwell's Blog - Posts Tagged "ff-romance"
Update on Works-in-Progress
Thank-you to all my readers, and especially those who’ve given feedback! I’m particularly excited by reviewers who express desire for sequels or eager anticipation for new works. Reading these makes me even more excited to write than before.
With that in mind, here’s a preview of what I’m working on now, and what you can expect from me in the future. I divulge this because I don’t want to spring a nasty surprise on readers who may be more sensitive to certain themes, subjects, and material.
There are two short stories coming up, both involving characters established in Mr Warren's Profession. Minor spoilers for that novel below!
One, as of yet untitled, involves Rowena Althorp in a shocking tryst on a train with an entirely new character. It’s roughly half-plot, half-smut. (Speaking of which—if anyone has insight into the London underground circa 1892 and is willing to pre-read for maximum train accuracy, please drop me a line!)
The other is about John Halloway and Lord Cyril Graves. Its working title is A Willing Canvas, and it’s one-hundred-percent BDSM smut. For those of you who’d rather not read BDSM smut, this might not be the story for you.
Short stories aside, I’m also working on three novels.
The whaling romance (working title: Take Me Like a Sailor) is the story of a whaling harpooner who inherits a baronetcy and falls in love with his estate agent. In bringing this story to fruition, what started as a lighthearted concept turned out a little more serious than I’d originally intended. Themes include survival of childhood sexual abuse, sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, and learning that trusted loved ones may be unworthy of the faith placed in them. Reading it back, it sounds an awful lot like the themes present in Mr Warren’s Profession. The overall tone of Take Me Like a Sailor feels much bleaker, and these topics are delved into more deeply. However, as with all romances, I can promise that it ends Happily Ever After for the two heroes. It’ll just be a longer and more difficult journey than Aubrey and Lindsey had.
The Gothic lesbian romance (no working title) is, as the description implies, a Gothic romance. An American heiress is captivated by the eerily beautiful sister of a visiting English baronet, and makes an ill-advised marriage in an effort to bring herself closer to the woman who’s stolen her heart. Inspired by stories such as Rebecca and Crimson Peak, expect an ancient house set on lonely windswept moors, desperate pining, and grim portents. Maybe even a ghost or two. Again, I promise a Happily Ever After for the heroines, who will richly deserve it after all the story puts them through. You can also expect some mutilation not unlike what’s depicted in Mr Warren’s Profession—and perhaps a little more intense than that.
The murder-mystery romance (working title: The Dose Makes the Poison) is the tale of a surgeon and a journalist, each hiding behind a false identity in an effort to escape their sordid pasts, who meet through tragic circumstances and fall in love despite them. As you may have guessed, it contains murders and surgery. It also depicts still more mutilation (those with sensitivity to things happening to eyes may want to skip a chapter or two), mentions of child abuse and how it shapes its survivors, and mentions of a loved one’s suicide and how that affects those left behind. There is a Happily Ever After awaiting our heroes, but they’ll go through a lot to get it.
I hope some of you are as excited to read these stories as I am to write them. For those of you who feel some trepidation at the details laid out above, please feel free to message me here on Goodreads (or email me directly at nothwellsebastian@gmail.com) if you’d like more information on what exactly will happen in these stories, and whether or not it’s something you’d prefer to avoid entirely. Like I said above, I don’t want to spring any nasty surprises on anyone. It sucks to be in the middle of a great story, only to get pulled out of it by an unexpected upset.
If you’d like to see more updates on these stories, I encourage you to check out my blog. I’m posting snippets of the whaling romance (almost done with the second draft!), inspirational material and research for the Gothic lesbian romance and the murder-mystery romance, and giveaways. You can also connect with me on Facebook, and of course, here on Goodreads. Thanks for reading!
Camp NaNoWriMo
Sunday Snippet, 10.2.22
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Alexandra smiled, her Cupid’s-bow lips spreading into a fond expression. “I do hope you’ll forgive my shocking familiarity. But as you’ve no doubt heard my Christian name on my brother’s lips, I wondered if I might ask you yours?”
Kit’s mouth went suddenly dry. “Catherine.”
Alexandra smiled. “I’ve had a wonderful evening with you, Catherine.”
“My friends call me Kit,” Kit blurted. If she’d had a hand free, she’d have clapped it over her own mouth in horror. Until now, the only people to call her Kit were her childhood nursemaid, her cousin Phoebe, and Lucy. It was absurd to think an aristocrat such as Miss Cranbrook would ever want to use such a childish nickname. Though nothing Kit said could take her presumptive comment back, she couldn’t stop herself from adding, as if it would help matters, “Close friends do.”
Alexandra’s smile widened. “Then I hope I may someday earn the privilege.”
~
The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall is a Gothic romance rife with horror and heartache, wherein an American heiress makes an ill-advised marriage to bring herself closer the woman who’s stolen her heart.
~
Sunday Snippet, 10.9.22
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Alexandra shrugged again and glanced out over the cemetery’s wide expanse. “It’s a pity you haven’t found occasion to use your camera yet today. You should capture something before the light fades.”
“I could capture you.”
Alexandra whirled to face her. Kit clapped a hand over her own mouth. She hadn’t meant anything by what she’d said, merely echoing Alexandra’s phrasing, but the moment it left her lips and touched her ears she realized how horrible it sounded.
But a gleam came into Alexandra’s steel-grey eyes, and her bow-shaped lips widened into a delighted grin. “Could you, indeed? I should like that very much.”
~
The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall is a Gothic romance rife with horror and heartache, wherein an American heiress makes an ill-advised marriage to bring herself closer the woman who’s stolen her heart.
Sunday Snippet, 10.16.22
~
Kit ran her fingers over her keys again as a physical reminder of her defense against the metaphysical. She might not have a key to the attic, but she at least had a key to her own bedroom.
Then she remembered Alexandra had the very same ring of keys.
Her breath caught in her throat as a vision flashed before her mind—a vision of herself, asleep, alone in her marriage bed, a full moon hanging in the sky outside the high-arched window, throwing off just enough illumination to reveal the turning of the doorknob, the slow inward creak of the door, and a shadow sliding across the floor with supernatural ease, rising up beside the bed in the form of the raven-haired Alexandra, looming over Kit, helpless and utterly ignorant of the danger—until Alexandra swooped down upon her, and—
Kit snapped out of the waking nightmare, her heart pounding with new fear—or perhaps some other, more unspeakable emotion.
~
The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall is a Gothic romance rife with horror and heartache, wherein an American heiress makes an ill-advised marriage to bring herself closer the woman who’s stolen her heart.
~
Sunday Snippet, 10.23.22
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Love had made Alexandra stupid. Love had frayed her steely nerves to the point of snapping, had forced her to question her own behavior, had made her look within herself and realize she had grown as much a monster as any malevolent spirit lurking within the crumbling edifice of Heatherhurst Hall. Her own selfishness had made her unworthy of Kit.
And it only made her love Kit all the more.
~
The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall is a Gothic romance rife with horror and heartache, wherein an American heiress makes an ill-advised marriage to bring herself closer the woman who’s stolen her heart.
~
Sunday Snippet, 10.30.22
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Trouble was, Kit mused as she wandered the winding corridors of Heatherhurst Hall, the circumstances most conducive to ghosts were least conducive to photography. Ghosts required midnight storms with howling winds and guttering candles. Photographs required brightest daylight, or, lacking cooperation from the weather, ignited magnesium. But even with chemical assistance, unless she had enough luck to time the snap of the shutter precisely with the flash of the lightning, any photograph she attempted to take in a storm would turn out as black as thunderclouds.
Still, perhaps a ghost or two might be brave enough to come out into the sunshine.
~
The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall is a Gothic romance rife with horror and heartache, wherein an American heiress makes an ill-advised marriage to bring herself closer the woman who’s stolen her heart.
The Train Job – Rowena Althorp x Rebekah on Patreon!
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Before Rebekah could ask her name, or kiss her again—both impulses nearly overpowering her better sense—the lady stood, smoothed her skirts over the ruin of her pocket, and departed the train car as silent and sedate as a nun strolling the halls of her abbey.
~
Joining me on Patre♡n will give you access to “drawer fic” – aka the 500k+ words worth of manuscripts that have been shelved until I figure out how to fix or finish them. You'll also be invited to join an exclusive Discord server just for patrons!
A new scene will go up every week. Missing (unwritten) scenes will be indicated by brackets describing what would probably happen if the scene were written. Example: [in this scene Aubrey and Lindsey ride a carousel]
Currently posting…
♡ The Train Job - Rowena Althorp x Rebekah (ff)
Completed works...
♡ the Aubrey & Lindsey solar fantasy project (mm)
♡ A Willing Canvas - John Halloway x Lord Cyril Graves (mm)
See you on Patre♡n!
Gothic Lesbian Romance – The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall on Right Here Write Queer
Carolina Cruz (they/them) interviews Sebastian Nothwell (he/him) about his gothic sapphic romance The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall, including lesbian flirtation through sapphic literature, drawing inspiration from Carmilla and The Goblin Market, the perils of writing about writers, 19th century spirit photography, and a surprise guest appearance by Man Door Hand Hook Car Door.
Carolina Cruz (they/them) is the author of the horror romance novella Blood in the Water as well as the fantasy series The Creed of Gethin beginning with The Unwanted Prophet. You can follow them on twitter and instagram @ninawolverina
Sapphic Shenanigans at the Ren Faire with Jess Galaxie on Right Here Write Queer
There’s a new episode of Right Here Write Queer waiting for you wherever you listen to your fave podcasts!
Jess Galaxie (they/them) chats with me about fantastical inspiration and the joy of collaborating with human artists.
Jess is the author of the cozy fantasy duology The Graveyard Trees (beginning with Feathers of Dawn) and the forthcoming sapphic ren faire romance How to Juggle Ballads and Blades. You can connect with them on instagram @galaxiebot
