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J. Federle

Gothic horror | Dark sci-fi | Monster romance

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J. Federle

Gothic horror | Dark sci-fi | Monster romance

close up view of fish scales

MERMAIDS: Scary Books and Other Strange Content

By EditorWriterJF on September 30, 2025September 25, 2025

Most human–beast hybrids are on the brutish side. Inherently masculine. Centaurs. Minotaurs. Werewolves.  But not mermaids. At least, not at first.  Mermaids are graceful, tempting. Long-haired and beautiful. Part woman, part animal. There’s something ethereal about that combination: here’s a truly untamed woman. She lives on her own terms, far closer to nature (and perhaps far hungrier) than you. Am I wiggly with…

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close up photo of red game boy console

Haunting Reads for Ghost Pokemon: Lavender Town and My Love of Writing

By EditorWriterJF on September 15, 2025September 9, 2025

I’ve played Pokemon since I was about 10 years old. I remember hiding under my blankets at night with a flashlight and a Game Boy Color, burning my batteries down. When I played, I didn’t just see pixels. I could smell that knee-high grass, and the caves had dank, sticky air like the storage unit…

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photography of person peeking

EYES: Horror & Sci-fi Books, Art, and Other Strange Content

By EditorWriterJF on August 31, 2025August 24, 2025

I see you . . . Okay, no I don’t. But who knows what might be watching? I like to think we’d sense something if there were watchers. Eyes have a way of touching without touching, raising goosebumps and tickling the back of your neck.  But then again, maybe we’d sense nothing at all. I…

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rewrite edit text on a typewriter

Finding an Editor Is Easy: Deciding What You Need (and Finding a Good Fit) Is the Hard Part

By EditorWriterJF on August 15, 2025August 14, 2025

I’ve been an editor since 2011. I kicked off my career with nonfiction, especially academic essays and reports, before transitioning into fiction editing. I’ve also been taking my creative writing seriously since about 2018, when I started submitting short stories and poetry. As an agented author out on submission with two books as of August…

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black cat walking on road

CATS: Oddball Books, Unsettling Art, and Strange Facts

By EditorWriterJF on July 31, 2025August 14, 2025

Nothing moves quite like cats. That liquid slink when they’re on the prowl. True, I’m a dog person. But I love how cats walk the windowsill between life and death, wild and domesticated. And I love how, whatever you feel about cats, you’re going to damn well respect them. Book Recs Catriona Ward’s book is a clear…

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pathway between green leafed trees

Poetry and Nature as Important Tools to Express Emotion

By EditorWriterJF on July 22, 2025August 14, 2025

Sometimes books find you when you need them most. This July, Jarod Anderson’s Something in the Woods Loves You was that book for me. The poetry in its language and message was exactly what I needed. The book is part memoir, part essay, part nature writing. The author, born and raised in Ohio, is struggling…

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photo of bubbles underwater

SUBMERGED: Underwater Horror Books and Other Strange Content

By EditorWriterJF on June 30, 2025September 28, 2025

Welcome to the depths. The mud is soft and dark. The blue-gray tones are cool and soothing. Don’t kick too hard. Just relax and pick your way through these fragments of underwater horror. If you like what you find here, subscribe to the Author-Oddity Newsletter! I always include a little extra for subscribers. And if you’ve got…

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pile of books on hand

Why Do People Hate AI Book Covers?

By EditorWriterJF on June 14, 2025August 14, 2025

Again and again, it’s the same slow-motion train wreck. An author, almost always self-publishing, shares a post featuring their new book. The book’s cover uses generative AI art. The comments start. Vicious sometimes, sharp swipes. “Ew, is this AI?” “I never touch books with AI book covers.” Within an hour, admin or moderators usually have…

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basket with apples in meadow

APPLES: Scary Books and Other Strange Content

By EditorWriterJF on May 31, 2025May 31, 2025

This May, we’re focused on APPLES. What a weird, tempting fruit. Shiny skin. Juicy flesh. Reliant on a period of icy dormancy. Did you know planting an apple seed won’t yield a tree with the same apples? The seeds of an apple are a combination of its parent tree’s genetics and a different apple tree’s…

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macbook pro on brown wooden table

How to Email Interested Literary Agents

By EditorWriterJF on May 16, 2025May 16, 2025

Email Templates to Help You Reply to Literary Agents’ Offers of Representation You’ve queried literary agents for months. Years, maybe. Finally, after enough rejection to drown a damn whale, the email arrives. The Zoom chat happens. A literary agent wants to represent your book. First off, CONGRATULATIONS. This is a huge milestone on anyone’s publishing…

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J. Federle is a wandering lover of ghost stories and folktales. She left Kentucky to study poetry in England. Now she lives in Peru with her husband and cow-colored dog, where she writes about her own ghosts and folks. Find her work in The Saturday Evening Post, The Threepenny Review, and the NoSleep Podcast, among other awesome publications.
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