The Cuckoo’s Nest

There are many reasons why I write, but one of the biggest reasons is the little high I get from living in my own little worlds for a time. No matter how many books I write, I get that feeling of “Oh this is so fucking good!” and I just get so high on my own supply.

Don’t worry, querying agents snuffs out that enthusiasm to some extent, but I am currently basking in that little kick of endorphins and it’s a beautiful thing!

But here’s the lowdown on my project. It’s an Adult Gothic Horror sitting at 70,000 words. I’ve sent out a few queries, but it’s December and most agents are closed. But, here’s the deets…

Big Themes in The Cuckoo’s Nest

• Children existing at the whims of their parents
• Women’s beauty and power struggles
• Complicated Mother/Daughter relationships

Familiar Tropes in The Cuckoo’s Nest

• Large, failing manor house that has it’s own personality
• Plucky Heroine
• Witchcraft
• Twisted Family Drama
• Insanity
• repression
• coming of age

Elevator Pitch

Most people ignore 11 yr old Molly when she talks to the oak tree and pretends she’s invisible, but when her imaginary friend develops a taste for children… People start to notice.

Social Media Pitch

Eleven-year-old Molly’s friends include the oak tree and her governess. She enjoys spying on people and studying etiquette.

That all changes when an accident sends her mother to the hospital. In order to survive under her vindictive aunt’s thumb, Molly asks for help from something inhuman.

Query

THE CUCKOO’S NEST is an Adult Horror at 70,000 words. This book has a supernatural companion like My Darling Dreadful things by Johanna Von Veen, but from a child’s perspective similar to The Lamb by Lucy Rose.

Eleven-Year-Old Molly’s quiet life on her family estate gets turned upside down when Aunt Veronica and her two cousins move in. She can no longer write letters to the oak tree without scrutiny, and every dead animal under the covers is somehow her fault.

When Molly’s mother has an accident that sends her to the hospital, Aunt Veronica uses the opportunity to exert control over not just the estate, but Molly as well. Her aunt sends away her governess and delights in tormenting her. Just when she can’t take anymore, an unlikely friend emerges from the shadows. Her name is Blair, and while she murdered all the chickens and probably wants to eat her cousins, Molly has found her very first friend.

Blair is a witch who’s come to teach Molly how to be one too. Aunt Veronica says she’s mad, and there’s no such person in the house, but Molly knows the truth. Her papa’s return from a business trip should’ve been the end of Aunt Veronica’s reign, but instead, he sends her mother to an asylum and there’s talk of boarding school.

Betrayed by her father, the only way to get her life back to normal is by eliminating her aunt by any means possible. Even the unnatural means.

I’m a horror novelist with half a dozen books available. Won WriteHive short horror contest judged by Rin Chupeco in 2020, Crypticon’s short horror in 24, and a semifinalist two years in a row with Alien Buddah. I was a WriteMentor in 2021. I’ve been featured in multiple anthologies, my favorite being WriteHive’s Reclaiming Joy Anthology 2023.

Film Comps

The VVitch by Robert Eggers and Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro

Book Comps

The Lamb by Lucy Rose and My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen

Writing this book was very much an accident.

I didn’t plan on writing it, nor did I have any clear concept of what was going on in my brain, but the story came tumbling out all the same.

Coming of Age has long been a horror staple.

From Stephen King to Joe Hill, nearly all horror authors have a Coming of Age story under their belt and I guess I’m no exception. There’s many reasons for it from the high concept to the very basic instincts.

For me, it was both.

At the height of my concept, I’m writing about a little girl who finds power in herself through witchcraft as many women have before her. Molly finds wonder and self-expression as well as the ability to recognize her own pain for what it is.

But also, the most basic Coming to Age notion is that children are able to accept the incredible while also being utterly powerless in their situation. Molly can’t just walk away from her abusive Aunt. She can’t make her parents be better people, and yet she can see the creature that no one else sees.

Molly can’t make the adults in her life choose her, but she can fly on a broom!

There are also elements of budding womanhood and the acceptance/rejection of what that means. For Molly, “becoming a woman” should mean boarding school, high society, marriage… All the things she rejects and fears the most yet she doesn’t.

Instead of taking society’s expectation of her maturity, Molly remolds it into something else entirely. She decides that puberty will make her more powerful as a witch. And in a world where Molly has little autonomy, there’s no controlling her either.

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