I’m having a hard time believing this year is almost over. It flew, then it crawled, then it flew again. There have been ups and downs as there are in every year, but as I sit back to reflect, I am genuinely surprised that we made it to this point in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Wait, let me get the tunes right. Do you know Sabrina Claudio? If not, allow me to put you on. Very mellow vibe.
This year has been anything BUT mellow for so many.
In this newsletter I’ll do a round-up of 2025 and it’s not because I want to brag… it’s because I believe we have to celebrate the wins with each other, we have to celebrate the wins FOR each other because if we don’t show that kind of support, we risk losing an integral part of our humanity. Please tell someone something amazing that happened to you this year – respond to this post with it. Let us celebrate you. We have to come out for each other – it’s important.
This year I did a lot of things that made my jaw drop. I am so honored that my work resonates with people. Some of the highlights:
- Won the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in Short Nonfiction (Became the 7th African American person to win a Bram Stoker Award since its inception)
- Won the International Impact Book Award for nonfiction (The Horror Aesthetic)
- Won the Michael Knost Wings Award
- Won the Imadjinn Award for Best Poetry Collection (Imitation of Life)
- Became the First African American female President of the Horror Writers Association
- Was honored by having my work translated into Japanese and read onstage in Tokyo (to live music!)
- Had my work appear in over 10 publications this year – two of which were dream markets Weird Tales and Apex Magazine
- Published a short story collection (The Lost Stories), the omnibus of the fun ride that is The Open Book Universe, and a novel in stories (Unworthy)
- Saw my very first play come to life onstage (hopefully more to come in this arena)
And next year will see even more words of mine out in the world.
My 5-book slipstream series, The Red Thread Saga, IS COMING!
What is slipstream? Think genre-bending – you’re close if you do that, but not quite there. Slipstream is non-conforming. It allows the story to “slip” into different genres, encompassing elements as needed to craft a surreal and uncanny tale. This series will include elements of horror (I mean, of course there will be horror!), science fiction, romance, thriller, suspense, urban fantasy, action, and more.
Yes… it is a heady experience.
Romance/Horror/Fantasy author Lucy Blue (Bound in Darkness Series) said this of the first book in the saga (The Tryst):
“The Tryst might be the weirdest book I ever read, and that’s absolutely a compliment. This heartfelt and intelligent three-way romance engages exactly the conversations we’re all having about technology and humanity in 2025.”
USA Today Bestselling romance author Dahlia Rose said this:
“The Tryst has such a powerful undertone of not only romance, but it blended so well with the horror elements of the story that you were drawn in completely. L. Marie Wood weaves a tale of three people who drawn together to form something so powerful that the love and loss was palpable.”
!!!!!!
Here’s the back cover copy for Book One, The Tryst:
A moment in time… insignificant and fleeting for most, but for Nicole, Mark, and Eric, it is life-altering. Three strangers meet in a town they don’t know in a place they hadn’t expected to end up only to find that they are exactly where they were supposed to be… again.
Love always finds a way.
Through space and time, past and future, through lifetimes and storylines they were destined to find each other, love each other, lose each other – coordinates and weapons, scenarios and demographics be damned. A malfunction, to be sure. But when Ryan tries to tinker with his project, a weapon the likes of which has never been seen in all of the Galactic Collaborative, he finds out just how inexorable their link is… and how insidious.
The first book of a slipstream series that will challenge the way you think about love, life, connection, and purpose, The Tryst will catch you in its whirlwind and never let you go. Each book in The Red Thread Saga will combine of mixture of urban fantasy, mystery, thriller, psychological horror, action, suspense, science fiction elements in differing measures, always with romance as an undercurrent.
Love always finds a way.
But sometimes that way is paved with bones.
And y’all… the cover… (OMG!)
Mocha Memoirs Press is releasing ALL FIVE BOOKS in 2026, one every couple of months starting on February 14, 2026! This is fitting – the romance between the three main characters hits the ground running in Book One, as does the sci-fi, the steamy, the suspense, ooh, and the thrills, a little bit of the horror (though Book Two will ramp up on the horror in the most amazing way)…
The Red Thread Saga… as in the red thread of fate… (dreamy sigh)…
🙂
Wanna go on a wild ride?
Pre-orders for the ebook are available NOW!
The Tryst will be available in paperback and audiobook as well!
And that’s it -that’s all I’ve got, though I think that might be more than enough for right now! I hope you enjoy the final days of 2025 and mosey into 2026 with renewed purpose.
Until next time…
L. Marie
L. Marie Wood 