Hi, cherished friends! Welcome to the first official Too Sweet to Write This Stuff newsletter! I’d like to say I know exactly what I’m doing, but since I absolutely, 100% do not, please bear with me as I work through the ins and outs of newsletter production.

I’m real glad you’re here, but I don’t want to take up more of your day then necessary, so let’s get started!

First with the biz stuff…

Back in early April, when Red Inside made the Final 32 in the Books of Horror Indie Brawl, I was surprised. Not because I think it’s a bad book (it’s Jeff Strand’s favorite of my work, thus far), but because it never seemed to catch on like a few of my other books.

Readers requested longer fiction from me for a long time, yet the response upon Red Inside’s publication wasn’t as enthusiastic as I’d hoped. Jeff, always pragmatic, reminded me it takes some books longer to find their audience.

Over time, I discovered the problem. The cover. Many horror readers, it seems, are arachnophobic. The cover freaked them out, and a tarantula story wasn’t of interest.

Totally fair.

I wasn’t really known as a ‘creature feature’ kinda author, and a body horror spider story from me wasn’t their jam…completely understood. I moved on, writing the novelization of the cult classic film, Deadgirl, and putting together my next collection, Embracing the Profane (both books are out now), but still felt a little sad about Red Inside, which I’ve been told is a truly fun, B-movie kinda read.

Then…things changed. At the end of January, Red Inside was a featured BookBub deal. It did really well. At one point, my little book-that-could was ranked in the 400s throughout the entirety of the Amazon Kindle store. The Kindle Unlimited page reads skyrocketed, and sales remained consistently strong for the next few months, both on Amazon and my on-line store. Reviews rapidly jumped from double digits to triple.

When it eeked its way into the Indie Brawl, I knew it needed to be on IngramSpark, so Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores, could easily order copies. Unfortunately, because the interior has full-color page borders, it wasn’t affordable on Ingram. No store would carry it at that price. (The cost on Ingram was more than twice as much as Amazon charges.)

Jeff and I talked it over and decided to reformat the entire interior, removing all the colorful borders. (Just for the Ingram edition…it still has the bloddy borders on the Amazon editions.) We also updated the cover with the brawl logo.

Then, because I was doing so much work on this year-old novel anyway, I decided to polish up the story. The result? An additional twenty-five pages of ghoulish Red Inside content. I fixed a couple things I didn’t like about the previous formatting, corrected some editing errors I’d found after it was published, and further fleshed out the story.

The beauty of reading a story you wrote a year ago? You see it with complete clarity for the first time. When I write, I’m so wrapped up in creating a particular world, I sometimes don’t feel as though I can actually see the story. I know that sounds weird, but I’m not sure how else to explain.

How about this? It’s as if I’m so wrapped up inside the many layers I’m creating, I’m not seeing as clearly as I’d like how it’s all coming together. Sure, I edit and go through it multiple times, but my headspace during that process is still very much inside.

Tackling it a year later, however, I’ve moved on, written other things, and I’m better able to evaluate what improvements are needed.

And so, today, I’m unveiling Red Inside: The Author’s Preferred Edition! It’s available now on Amazon and can be preordered at my store.

Red Inside on Amazon

Red Inside on Bridgett Nelson Horror

I just ordered author copies today, and both the hardcover and paperback editions are expected by the end of the month. Orders from my store come with a bookmark and a variety of purty stickers.

My current work-in-progress will be, I think, a happy surprise for all of you. I’m over 20K words in, and I’m estimating it will end up between 50-60K words when it’s complete. Soon enough, my subscribers will be the first to see the cover, learn the title, and read the synopsis! I’m excited!

Okay, okay. Enough with the work stuff. Moving on…

Life stuff…

I’m not sure how many of you have heard about the Mexican TikTok influencer/model/entrepreneur, Valeria Marquez, who was shot and killed during a livestream on May 13th. It happened in the beauty lounge she owned in Jalisco, called Blossom.

There are so many conspiracy theories surrounding her death, from a drug cartel hit to her envious friends plotting her demise (oddly, that theory has fairly solid evidence backing it up, as far as I can tell), to femicide—women killed strictly because of their gender—a crime happening more and more frequently in Mexico.

This case, for whatever reason, has stuck with me like no other. I don’t know if it’s because Valeria was my son’s age, because she looks vaguely like my own daughter, Autumn, or because she was innocently holding a piggy plush on her lap when she was heartlessly shot once in the chest and twice in the head. (The video of her death is one of the saddest, most horrific things I’ve seen.)

So far, there haven’t been any arrests, and that’s bothering me too. Based on the facts reported (and granted, we all know how that goes these days), it seems a fairly cut and dried case. I hope they’re able to get it together and give Vale the justice she deserves.

In other news, Jeff and I went to Paranormal Cirque last night in Duluth. Every year, a giant tent is set up in front of the Miller Hill mall, and every year, for four days, a horror-themed show, which is a cross between a circus, a theater production, and a cabaret, scares and awes its viewers. We had an amazing time. Well worth the ticket costs.

Speaking of Jeff, the two of us spent Memorial Day weekend at the family’s lakeside cabin. Both of us managed to get a lot of writing done while we were there. We’ll be heading back soon!

We booked Autumn’s flight to Minnesota this summer! She’ll be coming in August, so we can all attend the Minnesota State Fair, where she and Jeff will slingshot into the air, spinning uncontrollably. I can only hope they both return to me intact. I’m already nervous.

Currently watching: Friday the 13th marathon (Prime) and Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie (Max)

Jeff and I decided to rewatch all the Friday the 13th movies (we’re watching the final four movies next Friday the 13th). So far we’ve watched the first seven. My ranking thus far is:

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives
Friday the 13th, Part II
Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood
Friday the 13th, Part III
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th: The New Beginning

Jeff’s rankings are the same, only his top two are reversed.

As for the Sherri Papini documentary, it’s meh. She’s just yuck.

If you’re into true crime, and haven’t watched the original story regarding her case, Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini (Hulu), you should.

Movie recommendations include: Novocaine, Companion, Heart Eyes, Final Destination: Bloodlines. Next up for us are Dangerous Animals and Life of Chuck.

Currently Reading: Full Moon by Matt Shaw, You Like It Darker by Stephen King, and A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre

I’ve read eighteen books this year, and my top recommendations so far are Hush, My Darling by Leigh Kenny and Motel Styx by Michelle von Eschen and Jonathan Butcher.

Currently Listening: I’ve been on a blink-182 kick lately. Love them! My taste in music is so eclectic, you just never know what you might find me listening to.


Okay, guys! That wraps up my first newsletter! I promise, I’ll try to get better at this as we go. Be patient with me.

P.S. My ball python daughter, Indie Hellspawn McFangy Serenity Strand says, “Hi, hoomansss! Ssstay ssscaly!”

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