iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I’m hoping we caught it before it goes to physical print but uggghhhhhhh and my publishing team didn’t catch it either! just me! 🫩

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so, for the record, I did not write the deadlight motel, the uncrowned, beneath winter lake, or whatever other generated slop is currently showing online. that’s not me.

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like if the book has never been promoted anywhere, is not mentioned on the author or publisher websites, and seems weird… maybe check. because the folks selling those books are counting on you not checking to make money. and it makes the actual author you’re trying to support look bad.

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 19/09/2026

folks writing about books: please confirm the actual publications of an author before referencing them! just had a trade review reference an AI slop book that’s been attached without permission to my name on some retail sites. so. that’s a great thing to wake up to.

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it was an extremely fun email to get, let me tell you! But our event should be unchanged at least and still have books 😮‍💨

Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 19/09/2026

I’m only panicking a little bit about now being after Halloween AND the midterms 🥲 it’ll be fine. probably.

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 19/09/2026

quick fun(?) note: MILKTEETH’s US release date in all formats is being pushed back a few weeks until November 10th! Events will still happen as planned (and will have books) but main warehouse shipping is going to be running behind.

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Lee Mandelo @leemandelo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

October events and appearances! Get hype for Halloween season, come see me and fellow writers like @stgibson.bsky.social and @caitlinstarling.com (and more!), buy some spooky books 👻

October Events:
10/10 @ 3pm w S T Gibson, Butcher Cabin Books 4th Anniversary, Louisville KY

10/13 6-8pm, Midwest horror and Gothic lit fest, Indianapolis IN @ Guggman Haus Brewing Co.

10/25 10-2:30 Hops & Horrors at Destihl Beer Hall in Normal IL

10/29 6:30pm in convo w Caitlin Starling at Bucket O Blood in Chicago IL

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Andrew Hungerford @luxtheatrum.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Vimeo is phasing out its a la carte video on demand service and migrating everyone to its OTT system. Downside: the individual v.o.d. links for my various shows will soon be broken. Upside: I've now consolidated the shows in one place. distanceovertime.vhx.tv

distanceovertime.vhx.tv

The Luminous Dead

When Gyre Price lied her way into this caving expedition, she thought she’d be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She also thought t...

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 12/09/2026

late to the party but: holy shit The Magnus Archives is so entirely my jam and I’m enjoying it more than any piece of media I’ve consumed in at least a year, possibly more

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 12/09/2026

Note of possible interest: I drafted it in late 2020 but didn’t sell it until 2024! And yet the ending didn’t change in edits…

Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 05/09/2026

me, every time we’re driving around the Pacific Northwest: “getting real Pacific Drive vibes here”

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Blue House Books @bluehousebooks.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Calling all horror readers! 🩸 Bestselling horror author Caitlin Starling is coming to Blue House Books on Wednesday, October 28 at 6 p.m. to celebrate the release of her newest novel, "Milkteeth"! withfriends.co/event/28953406

A graphic with a brown textured background and blood splatter. It also has the book, "Milkteeth" and the author photo of Caitlin Starling. It says- MILKTEETH CAITLIN STARLING IN KENOSHA! Wednesday, October 18th at 6 p.m. Blue House Books. RSVP Required.
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Calling all horror readers! 🩸

Bestselling horror author Caitlin Starling is coming to Blue House Books on Wednesday, October 28 at 6 p.m. to celebrate the release of her newest novel, "Milkteeth"!

From the author of "The Death of Jane Lawrence" comes a dark, gothic take on vampires filled with hunger, love, and transformation! 🦇 Join us for a conversation with Caitlin about the book and her writing process, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing!

A $5 deposit is required to save your seat, and you'll be able to use that $5 toward any in-store purchase the night of the event. Grab your horror-loving friends and spend a spooky October night with us! Save your seat here: https://withfriends.co/event/28953406

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rivers solomon @riverssolomon.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Sweet, strange uncitizens: ONCE I WAS MADE OF EARTH is here, an epic fantasy that's been ratling in my brain for years now and that I'm putting out into the world serially outside of the capitalist publishing apparatus. Share, and read, and comment. archiveofourown.org/works/91618061

The painting "The Moment" by James Warden, with the text "Once I Was Made of Earth" on it by Rivers Solomon. The painting is in the romantic style, quite dramatic and dark in tone if not colour, with a horse rearing with fear in its eyes as a snake launches to bite it, against a back drop of pink and blue mountains.

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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

There is still time to get tickets to this weekend's series of events! Talks, panels, author visits from @caitlinstarling.com @cmrosens.com and @mkhardywrites.com, writing workshops and more! Find out about tickets and timetables here. buytickets.at/romancingthe...

RTG Annual Conference - More Terrors than her reason could justify: celebrating 200 years of ann Radcliffe's posthumous publications
Panels, writing workshops, author roundtable

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 20/08/2026

One is written but not edited, one is fully outlined but not written, and one is conceptual!

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 20/08/2026

have just essentially locked in my publishing schedule through 2030 so… I guess that means that unless something catastrophic happens, I’ll have a decade+ career! Wild

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C.M. Rosens @cmrosens.com · 18/08/2026

Join me, @caitlinstarling.com and writing duo @mkhardywrites.com at the author roundtable! Get your tickets now! The conference is all online, and mostly recorded [live], so you will get the recordings afterwards if you miss panels or workshops.

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 15/08/2026

(it is not Pompey/neesy, he’s fine and at a family member’s house while we’re displaced. this is one of two 8yo litter mates, with a known heart murmur but he was fine and wrestling yesterday morning.)

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 15/08/2026

this was last night. we had to handle getting him to the house and buried while also needing to get kiddo into bed, and explaining in a 4-yo-friendly way what had happened, and getting him a chance to say goodbye. managed with help from a very good friend.

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 15/08/2026

very tired of this year. we’re a week out from finally getting back into our house after the flood repairs and we came back to the hotel after a few hours at the pool to find one of our cats died (most likely a heart attack or similar).

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C.M. Rosens @cmrosens.com · 09/08/2026

This online conference is coming up, and there are still tickets available. 100% online, sessions are recorded so you get the recordings of them in your post-conference pack once it's finished, and it goes all day (UK time) so people in multiple time zones can attend something live. #Gothic

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 07/08/2026

more “blood becomes milky” in this case

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And if this is an entirely alien part of existence, I hope you’ll give Milkteeth a shot anyway: it’s for you, too.

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I hope if you’ve also nursed an infant, that you feel seen when you read Milkteeth. If you’ve fed any way you could, I hope you feel welcome, too - our efforts may have different details, but it’s still hard, emotionally complex work.

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My goal was to try to capture a very ephemeral stage in my life: the frequent night wakings, the hormonal shifts, the weird overwhelming touched-out feeling you get while still craving closeness with your charge.

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And how do you take a worldbuilding concept… and actually make it into a story? (Add conflict. What scares a vampire?)

How much did I want to talk about human wetnursing, and its history of economic and physical exploitation? (Some.)

Would it still be gendered? How could I tie it into existing vampiric lore? Was Dracula a broodmother in this world? (Yes.)

That led to other questions: what would make a vampire well-suited? What would their limits be? What support would they need, and where would that place them in a social hierarchy?

Vampires are not… particularly selfless creatures, sort of definitionally. I decided early on that not all vampires would be “naturals” at feeding their young.

I had a comparatively easy time with breastfeeding. I was lucky. Even being lucky (strong supply, the time and support to nurse round the clock for the first 6-9 months and often after that, no dysphoria, no mastitis…), it was still exhausting, challenging, and all-consuming.

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From the beginning, the whole book was built around that question, which for me meant, what if vampires had to feed their newly turned “children” (not literally infants!!) with their own bodies? For years? What if their nightly rhythms had to center entirely around serving that hunger?

I came up with Milkteeth while nursing my child, who I breastfed for over two and a half years. I wrote the first draft while actively weaning.

Milkteeth 9781250340788 - Macmillan

incoming thread about inspirations behind MILKTEETH, since it’s world breastfeeding week and the book is literally “okay but what if breastfeeding vampires” you can preorder! read.macmillan.com/lp/milkteeth...

read.macmillan.com

From the bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence comes a new, genre-bending supernatural horror about a vampire broodmother fighting against her o...

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 29/07/2026

Have you had it paired with quince paste?

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Laya 🌿🍄 ➡ nelson zinefest! @layahimalaya.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Thinking about The Starving Saints again. #TheStarvingSaints #art

digital illustration of a sword behind an open book with rotting pomegranates and flowers on it, and organic beehives below it. There's some bees on it, and blood and honey dripping down. The background has a page texture and vaguely medieval border.

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TBRCon @tbrcon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

One worldbuilding panel wasn't enough for #TBRCon2026. So we decided to do WORLDBUILDING IN HORROR! Join @angelaslatter.bsky.social @alexgrecian.bsky.social @caitlinstarling.com.bsky.social @hironnennes.bsky.social @jajminton.bsky.social @rhiannonagrist.bsky.social as they talk about worldbuilding!

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 20/07/2026

The book or the opening line? Opening line was the first thing I wrote and it never changed. :) back in 2020!

Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 19/07/2026

this is the way (makes post-kid-bedtime luxurious)

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Caitlin Starling @caitlinstarling.com · 17/07/2026

Zero idea! The cover seems to be eye-catching for sure, and my marketer (at my publisher) is fantastic, that might be enough? And it’s really exploded since the paperback, maybe because of the yellow.