Bonus Free Book for March

Exactly as the post title says, I have a free bonus book for this weekend. It is my favorite novel (alas not my most popular) Beware the Ills, which is FREE today and tomorrow on the Kindle. I have been sharing this novel in chunks the last year, which you can read right here, but if you’re dying to finish it, just get the book. Dark fantasy, steampunk, weird POV, giant sword fights, cannibal monster guy, pet sasquatch, etc.

For the last 30 years he has been the sole protector of the legendary Diamond Town. Every hour it snows, howls, and storms. Every week, wave after wave of invaders crawl through the woods scouring for a bit of fame and glory on this lost island — and he cuts them all down with indiscriminate slashes of his sword. No one has survived being the Guardian as long as him, and the shadows are seething with vengeance in the forests and mountains. A vengeful cannibal from a lost invasion, ancient beasts stalking about the mountains waiting to attack, and a fresh new batch of invaders with a beautiful berserker and emotionless captain are just a few of the festering plagues on this cursed island. There will be no respite. There will be no end to the war and strife. The winters are growing longer, the cold harsher, and the enemies bolder. Take a walk in the footsteps of the Diamond Town’s Guardian and his world, through his own blood-weary eyes. Count your footsteps and mind the silence, it’s time to hunt, and to fill the graveyard again.

Hit it here to get Beware the Ills for FREE on the Kindle Today and Tomorrow

I Understand

I felt like this could go a bunch of different directions.

There are compliments I’ve received from friends, readers, editors, lovers, my children, and family through the years. For all of those I am grateful, and certainly not always deserving of them. Some compliments of course mean a ton to me, and I have thought about them often, especially in dark moments that have weighed me down. I’ve even screenshot or wrote them down for me to revisit when the fog of negativity has surrounded my mind, eating away at all corners of my mind.

Man, depression is a beast with a thousand faces and arms.

Those soul-saving compliments mean a lot of me, and my choice for this writing prompt isn’t me throwing shade on them, or diminishing their roles in my life. I just wanted to find something simple, but sort of universal for life when it comes to compliments. Something you could both give a stranger or loved one. A sort of fix all compliment with typically low impressions but with high stakes.

I settled on: I understand.

It’s not flashy. It’s not sexy. It isn’t something you’d write at the bottom of a Valentine’s Day card.

So many of us struggle to get seen in life, much less accepted for who we are. My god, I write about monsters to be seen. Having someone, in whatever capacity say “I understand,” is an allusion to that feeling of being seen. A wavelength of being human is seen. Have you noticed when you’re having conflict and someone pulls out the “I understand,” and how much that deescalates the situation? It is almost a magic bullet.

However, don’t say it unless you mean it. I guess a comp to that would be don’t say “I love you,” unless you really mean it. Don’t say you understand someone, but not actually do. There is weight to the compliment, especially with the more complex, personal situations. Understanding has a sense of memory. You can build a relationship with a person when you say it, even if they’re a stranger or your estranged father. When you say I understand you’re trying to match up with their humanity. Aligning things just right for a simple second of connection.

It makes you feel like you’re not alone, whether it is in life, or in your perspective. Also, even though I do believe some POV’s are not understandable, especially in a casual setting, but learning to understand people tends to stimulate self-growth. You learn more from understanding than not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been telling my wife vulnerable things and she has said this to me in one form or another.

Again, I believe that many of us are struggling to be seen and understood. Life is complicated. It can be an amazing compliment when someone simply tries to understand you.

March Free Book Giveaway

It is a purely Greenland Diaries theme book giveaway for this March. Today and tomorrow (March 14th and 15th), the first three books in my apocalyptic horror series are free on the Kindle. These books are part of a relaunch of the series with new edits, revisions, and polishings. It is the perfect time to get invested in this collection. Plus, I will have a new Greenland Diaries book coming out this summer entitled the Unnamed. It is a giant collection of short stories separate from the main narrative, but sharing the same universe. More details forthcoming. Until then, enjoy the free books below.

“It began with a drum. Then the monsters came. I’ve been hiding ever since.” The following collections of journals were recovered from a caravan outside of Duluth, Minnesota. The exact date of recovery is not known nor is the origin of the speaker. The Bureau for the Restoration of History (BFRH) would like help in identifying the man who kept these records. This unedited record of events is still considered the most accurate history of the apocalypse that occurred on April 15th, 2011.

Click HERE to get the Greenland Diaries: Days 1 – 100 for FREE on the Kindle

The following collections of journals were recovered from a caravan outside of Duluth, Minnesota. The exact date of recovery is not known nor is the origin of the speaker. The Bureau for the Restoration of History (BFRH) would like help in identifying the man who kept these records. This unedited record of events is still considered the most accurate history of the apocalypse that occurred on April 15th, 2011.All errors have been left intact in the effort to preserve historical authenticity. If you have any information about these diaries, please contact your closest bureau to speak to a representative.

Click HERE to get the Greenland Diaries: Days 101 – 140 for FREE on the Kindle

“They come for me at night. I will not outrun them. We can’t fight them every drum. They need to stop. They need to get away from me. I can’t keep fighting what I don’t see. When will it stop? There are faceless monsters in the night. There are faceless monsters in the day. People sewn together from dead parts like old clothes. I don’t understand it. Someone please help me.”

Click HERE to get the Greenland Diaries: Days 141 – 200 for FREE on the Kindle

I talk about karma, monsters, and using superstitions as plot devices in my response to this daily writing prompt. Hit the link below for the whole post:

#writing #blogging #wordpress #dailywritingprompt #horror #fiction #literaryhorror #books #patrickwmarsh #karma #superstitious #blogginglife

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/03/11/between-karma-and-monsters/

Between Karma and Monsters

This is a great question, and it was the most intriguing for me out of all the Daily Writing Prompts for the week. For someone like me, who writes literary horror and often uses monsters as objects of karma or divine justice in certain situations, I think about superstition often. I write in superstition a lot as well, in my settings and plot devices. I rely a lot on fear of the unknown as an object in my writing. Monsters are a great metaphor for this fear.

We are all trying to avoid hardship, and if we can find a somewhat unexplainable pattern or ritual that our certain and specific patterns of behavior might help and suspend pain or trauma, we’re going to seize them. Ironically, in these areas of avoidance, well sometimes that is where monsters themselves fester. Sometimes creating patterns to be safe cause the unresolved pain to outgrow the avoidance. That is another blog post and monster.

Monsters can also be personifications of superstition. Some were born directly from them from various cultures and their mythologies. I have always found this lore intriguing. That being said, I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily superstitious, but I do believe in some perhaps related forces. The chief one being karma.

I for certain believe in karma. Whether it is something I have observed, or been judged upon, the universe has a way of remembering things and spinning them back at you. In my own life, for all the stupid and selfish mistakes I have made (and there have been plenty), if I ever refuse to take ownership over them, well, life, the universe, existence, and karma has done a more than adequate job of pointing out my misdeeds. Sometimes I feel like the mole in Whack-A-Mole, and karma has been the mallet whacking me whenever I emerge.

I’m hardly alone in that metaphor. I don’t challenge karma or the threads of justice that layer through the unseen world. Everything catches up with you. I suppose that is my biggest superstition. Granted, I don’t like breaking mirrors. It feels so unnatural.

One thing about karma that I think is interesting, is that time itself functions as karma. It makes negative or toxic behavior fester which causes bad outcomes to multiply. At least that’s my belief. Also, I think one thing I like to explore as a writer of monsters is that superstitions are given life, identity, and meaning, without any consent. This is easy to replicate with monsters in storytelling. Also, I don’t like walking under ladders.

Maybe I am superstitious.

Spaces and Gaps (Plus Expedition 33)

I really wanted to have something cool and edgy to share about this writing prompt, but unfortunately mine is pretty mundane. I have self-published quite a few books. Over a dozen of them now. This was a process I learned myself back in 2013. What a different world back then. Amazon didn’t have KDP but CreateSpace. I feel like I could stare at a lake and feed ducks with this observation about time passing.

I have always formatted them in Microsoft word, and because of how the file exports to Amazon’s platform, you need to keep an eye on your spaces and gaps or the whole document will be thrown-off. Recently, I remembered that I could use a setting in Microsoft Word to symbolize all the spaces and gaps throughout the document (ctrl+shift+8) and yeah, that made my writing life significantly easier.

I think it is really easy, especially now that I’m older, to get stuck in habits and structures without challenging yourself. I didn’t necessarily need this setting or formatting tool. Not having it wouldn’t have prevented me from writing. Only oblivion would stop me from writing and releasing books. Learning this has helped editing immensely. Pursuing help or learning, whether it is through knowledge or community, seems to be a fickle spot for me. I know I’m hardly alone in that perspective. In this era of consumerism and vigorous individuality, I almost feel guilty for learning new things, as if I should have known them before I needed to.

The pressure I feel to always eat protein, save money, workout, get steps, read books, and not be on social media (but somehow be on social media to hear these things) rattles my brain. Learning something new isn’t necessarily an adventure with this pressure, but a requirement. Sort of takes the magic out of the whole experience.

I know as I get older and get even more established roots in art, family, and life, it is important to pay attention to what is invented and released. This actually happened with a game recently. I do try and stay up on my media and whatnot, because as a storyteller, you want to see what is being done and released. Plus, I love a good story.

Anyways, Expedition 33 came out, and it was suggested to my wife. She got it for our PS5, and wow, what a game. It has thoroughly changed my life in a way only art could. I absolutely loved it. I’m still playing through it. My wife already beat it once. I’m so happy I tried something new. Expedition 33 is a turn based RPG, and I hadn’t played on of those in at least 15 years. So it is like I’m learning something new, but trying something old?

Literary Horror

What do I actually write?

I get this question a lot in my personal life, at conventions, and even when I ship out books at the post office. I have always struggled to answer it because I carried a certain amount of shame around it. That shame came from multiple places. Some of it came from people in my life degrading the things I write about, dismissing them in favor of other genres that better matched their own interests, like nonfiction.

Another source of that negativity is the stigma attached to writing horror. Occasionally, people assume you are dark, weird, disturbed, or antisocial because you write horror. Again, another subverted stereotype for people to be comfortable with their own insecurities. I am relatively simplistic as a man. I like football, working out, hunting, fishing, and gaming. I have a wife, kids, a dog, a minivan, and a favorite brand of paper towel. If you sat down to have a beer with me, you would have no clue about what I write, unless I mentioned it specifically.

I have found it difficult to start conversations saying that I write about faceless monsters reanimating corpses to metaphorically portray a generational abandonment wound.

With my monsters, I have attempted to abandon them countless times in my writing career. I have wanted to be someone else because of the reasons I listed above, and also because many people I respect and admire have nudged me toward giving them up. They have never directly said those words to me, but their actions and opinions often pointed in that direction. I understand they were trying to share what worked for them or how they defined success, but I cannot do it.

I write literary horror.

I did not know that was a genre until I researched it, and I was surprised to find such a clear distinction. However, it is exactly what I write. It is not pulpy, slasher, or even traditionally scary. It is horror, but my voice relies more on literary technique than specific plot mechanics or motifs. Much of my work lives in magical realism, slipstream, and poetic spaces. Monsters are the foundation of my stories.

I use them in multiple ways. They are mirrors for human behavior. Metaphors for sociological issues. Conduits for processing my own personal traumas. Some of the reasons I write this way are clear to me, and others I am still discovering. That is part of the beauty of taking this adventure as a writer. I am learning new things about myself and my style as I continue. I feel very lucky and privileged to be doing it. Literary horror is a specific genre, but using monsters not for shock or spectacle, but to communicate human emotions and lived experiences, is the only way I know how to write.

So the purpose of this random blog post about what I write is simple. I have never really said this out loud or clearly named it before. Maybe that means I am a little more confident in who I am and what I am doing. I have finally accepted this role for myself. Whatever the case, I just wanted to talk about it, so that is what I did on my blog.

February Book Giveaway

For this month’s book giveaway I’m leaning away from my post apocalyptic book series, and focusing more on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Below are two short story collections, plus my dark fantasy steampunk novel. All three of these books are FREE on the Kindle today through Monday. Descriptions and links below:

An ancient werewolf laments his annual, blood-soaked pilgrimage. A doll comes to life only when your fear gives it motivation. Empty spaces are a feeding ground for an ancient monster. A mother dragon will fight through anything for her stolen future. After a random tragedy at the hands of a flying nightmare, a sky pirate visits a haunted grave. A demon followed across a continent, pauses for a very human vanity. Robots in an apocalyptic hellscape need a purpose, even if there is no one to witness it. Mysterious gravestones and highways twist the ordinary into hells for a pair of friends and family. A young woman laments her true, mystical identity in the waves of a stormy sea.

Click here to get Monsters, Monsters, Everywhere for free

For the last 30 years he has been the sole protector of the legendary Diamond Town. Every hour it snows, howls, and storms. Every week, wave after wave of invaders crawl through the woods scouring for a bit of fame and glory on this lost island — and he cuts them all down with indiscriminate slashes of his sword. No one has survived being the Guardian as long as him, and the shadows are seething with vengeance in the forests and mountains. A vengeful cannibal from a lost invasion, ancient beasts stalking about the mountains waiting to attack, and a fresh new batch of invaders with a beautiful berserker and emotionless captain are just a few of the festering plagues on this cursed island. There will be no respite. There will be no end to the war and strife. The winters are growing longer, the cold harsher, and the enemies bolder. Take a walk in the footsteps of the Diamond Town’s Guardian and his world, through his own blood-weary eyes. Count your footsteps and mind the silence, it’s time to hunt, and to fill the graveyard again.

Click here to get Beware the Ills for free

A collection of short stories from a variety of worlds.

During the Greenland Diaries, in the shadow of an apocalypse, a survivor awakens with no identity or hope. He only knows that the monsters worship him, and want to keep him safe. Off the coast of Key Largo, a group of survivors stumbles through survival in the wake of the drum. The scared live and the ambitious die. So is the reality of the drum.

On the Cursed Island, a new assassin appears on the blood-soaked shore. Their goal, to infiltrate the Diamond Town and battle the freshly appointed Guardian, who despite the weight of the sword, can still remember her name. For now.

In the dark cloud of Hidden Oaks Park; a woman’s dead husband stirs to life, a grocery store devours a young man, and a playground appears and disappears overnight. It all flows according to the monster living in its otherworldly center.

Two brothers hide in an abandoned robotics factory after radiation and monsters have ravaged their world. They find an unlikely ally, and search for a bit of hope beneath the nuclear snow and forgotten sun.

Click here to get Leave the Name for free

Monthly Update 2/18/26

• Back with another monthly update. These are much easier to consistently write than weekly ones, because even though I write about faceless monsters and reanimated flesh, marketing and creating consistent content is a challenge for me. I took one marketing class in college, and I’m wishing I would have taken more. Word of advice, if you’re going to do the whole self-publish writing thing, take some business classes. I took a few, but not enough. I mean knowledge attainment isn’t what it used to be in this age of the internet. You don’t need to go to college to learn things. However, if you need to fill up your schedule, and you’re looking to write and release your material, some business courses couldn’t hurt.
• Again, for all you loyal readers, but maybe not you newcomers, I publish my apocalyptic horror novel the Greenland Diaries: Days 1 – 100 on here every Monday, and my dark fantasy novel Beware the Ills every Friday. I will fully publish these books in weekly segments. When Beware the Ills is done, I’ll add the Greenland Diaries on Friday as well. I’ve enjoyed releasing these books. You catch-up and read the Greenland Diaries right here. And, Beware the Ills right here. They’re both great stories. Beware the Ills is my favorite (but not my most popular, sob).
• I released a poem on here called “The Warehouse Window” for you to enjoy. With this poem, I talked about my life working in a warehouse and what that is like for me, especially when I think about my sons and how their days might be going. It would be great not to work a 9 – 5 job, and live off my writing, but that isn’t a viable option right now, but maybe in the future. Anyways, you can read that poem right here.
• Not much in terms of traditional publication news. Had a good January for this, but I sort of held-off on submissions until after I got back from Florida. I tend to share the successes a bit more, since they’re few and far between. If I shared the rejections on my blog, well, I would never have to worry about creating posts. So much red…
• Really, truly, I swear on the altar of a dark entity, I’m going to start posting more on Instagram and other social media. I just don’t have a ton of interest in any of it, but I know my readers would like to know what is going on in my life a bit more. I fit the standard self-deprecating mode of an emotionally alienated child. I feel only comfortable sharing my life when making fun of it. I know I’m not alone with this tendency. I’m a remnant of the children should be seen and not heard generation. That created a level of invalidation that has made some therapists a lot of money. Anyways, when it comes to social media, I’ve noticed this anxiety of mine crops up. Oh well. It is what it is.
• I recently published the flash fiction piece “The Leaning Gun” from the world of the Greenland Diaries. This was a fun piece to write. It has an unlikely protagonist, and an interesting interaction between them and the Unnamed. These flash fiction pieces are a great way to test sample this series. Read it here.
• Also, I keep my politics aside when it comes to my writing, though if you read and understand my themes, there shouldn’t be any secret about what some of my beliefs are. That being said, ICE needs to get the hell out of Minneapolis and Minnesota. They’re torturing people and punishing those who are protesting well within their rights. I’m from Minneapolis. Currently, I live in Saint Paul. It is far worse than you can imagine. This fascist behavior is punishing the population. Friends of mine, who are citizens but happen to have different backgrounds, are afraid to leave their homes because of ICE’s predatory and outrageously overt racism. I don’t care what side you are on, human beings deserve to live a life of dignity, and not be tortured. Looking different is not a crime.
• Another piece of flash fiction I released on here was called “A Streetlight Requiem.” This story follows the Puppeteer, which is the catalysts for the illusions and various other nightmares from the Greenland Diaries. You’re given a unique perspective of a rare monster from this series. Read it here.
• Well, perhaps the biggest update I can give this last month is I got married. Happier than ever to be settling into a new life with Cait. She’s incredible, and I’m beyond blessed to be with her. I love her so very much. I don’t know how I got this lucky, but I’ll take it. Thank you all for your continued support reading my work, clicking my posts, reviewing and buying my books, and so forth. Be safe. Be healthy.