Change is Upon Us

Hello, and welcome to what is now my first blog (elaboration to come). 

Change is nigh. Graduation is coming up soon—I did it! Almost. I still have to do two final projects, but I’m not concerned. In now deleted blogs, I’ve mentioned doing a PR internship after graduation…I’m not sure if this is still happening. I need to touch base with them. However, many wonderful customers have talked to me about their experience working with marketing, and the handful who’ve taken a liking to me have given me their contact information so they can help me get established in the field. I’m also in the process of switching jobs after 3 years of being a shift runner/barista at my tourist-town cafe. My new gig will be working at a super punk-rock art gallery…its kind of my dream. I’m not entirely sure what I did to deserve such an opportunity, but I’m immensely grateful and excited to see how it pans out. I’ll miss my current job and all the unique people I get to speak to. 

Now, changes related to H. Salt. As mentioned earlier, this is technically my first blog. Probably. As of now, I’ve been maintaining this website and posting blogs for the past year and a half, but have been wanting to redo everything for a while. Things will be under construction for the time being, and a lot will be purged. For future reference, here’s a rundown of my current projects: 

Hemlock Fields: Poetry and Prose

This was my first publication and done entirely independently. It was published 4/6/25 and pulled from shelves approximately one year later. During this year, I spent time figuring out my identity as a writer/artist, and concluded that the book did not adequately represent me. I’m currently remaking it as a zine and will have it available once more (with some slight alterations). 

Descent

Descent was a collection of horror short stories I’d been working on passively as I meandered about my life. All the stories are outlined, but only one is fully complete (Glass Houses). I’d also completed A Door Appeared in the Back of My Sister’s Closet, but recently undertook a rewrite. Where No Waters Flow was another which was nearly completed, but I loathed the ending and had no idea how to fix it, so it was put on the backburner indefinitely. How Maeve Spent her COVID-19 Lockdown was going swimmingly, but I got overwhelming writer's block on the second to last page and have yet to finish. I have a handful of pages written for all the other stories, but the overall project has been shelved in favor of This Bites. 

This Bites

Oliver is an unremarkable young man finishing college when his childhood best friend (Noah) turns into a vampire and eats his neighbor, testing the limits of their relationship. 

This Bites is my situationship of a project. I came up with the idea when I was 15 and have written probably eight versions, each one fizzling out eventually. In December 2025, I was suddenly overwhelmed with passion and realized the key detail that made the story work, and I wrote my first novel! I then rewrote the whole book (revision 1), and am currently halfway through my second rewrite (revision two). This Bites is a queer-vampire-splattery-romance-psychological-horror…thing. Uh…I’m not entirely sure what I’m writing, but it has vampires, guts, and gay shit—all things that I love! On a more serious note, the book is deeply concerned with change, trauma, and where love intersects with morality. 

Everything Sucks

Everything Sucks is the sequel to This Bites, taking place 2.5 years later and focused on the implications of the conclusion. I’ve written a handful of chapters and have only a vague idea of the plot, so I can’t give too many concrete details. In Everything Sucks, cycles will be complete; I was hoping to stitch together and explore: disconnect, grief, codependency, and the effects of long-term exposure to violence. 

Tension / Sulfuric (working titles)

This is the project I tentatively plan to begin after This Bites/Everything Sucks. I can’t give out too much information because this story will be plot twist heavy. All I can say: Rebecca is a confident, spirited girl working as a tattoo artist by day, and is engaged to a talented guitarist. By night, she is the caretaker for her best friend Annie, who was traumatically assaulted and disfigured one year prior to the story. 

Art

I’m not sure if I want to try profiting off of my art…it may just be a passion I share here, but I may begin doing commissions or selling prints. I’m doing inktober right now, I have a few pieces in progress, and I have some collections planned out. Expect slow progress, since this is a lower priority than my writing. 

Other projects

I have several other writing projects on my brain, but they’re too far off for me to dive into them. Some are novels, some are zines…none are poetry. I began my writing career obsessively writing poetry, which is something I no longer feel a connection to. I hope to write more informational blogs in the future. I’ve dabbled in screenplays, but have yet to decide if I want to commit to this venture. 

I like to keep people updated regarding my reading. Between being busy and a slow reader, I usually only finish a handful of books each year, and they err on the short side. This year's: 

• Victorian Psycho (Feito) - I loved this book once I understood what they were going for, although I felt the ending was anticlimactic. The illustrations were a very nice touch and I wish they leaned into this more.

• Nails and Eyes (Fujino) - no strong feelings. It was fair. 

• Crash (Ballard) - I adored Crash, and my love increases the more I think about it! The repetition killed me at first, but now I think it furthers the insanity. I connected to the story deeply, and it changed my writing and thought process. 

• Exquisite Corpse (Brite) - I loved EQ at first, but came to hate it as I reflected. I think the story was shallow, lacked thematic justice, and was exploitative of Dahmer’s victims. It could’ve been done much more tastefully while still being a fucked up splatter-fest. 

• The Boyhood of Cain (Amherst) - I found this to be a touching book. Haven’t we all struggled during childhood in some way or another? I found the teacher’s ridicule to be excessive at times, occasionally breaking my immersion, but it was overall okay. I think this story is the younger, more innocent counterpart to The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar. 

Currently, I’m reading Carmilla (Le Fanu), Phantoms of Lamplighter Cove (Kroll), and Paradais (Melchor). 

I think that’s all, in terms of updates. I’m meeting with a writer soon to discuss agents and publishing, so hopefully I’ll gain insight and clarity regarding all that crap.

H. Salt