5 May 2025

Dear readers,

It's been a few years since Gods and Monsters: The Lock was published. Although the final product was messed with before it was printed (and I have been redoing this book entirely so that in the future it will be what it originally was, but with more content), however, its sequel, Gods and Monsters: The Space in Between, was meant to be published in 2024 and again in this year, 2025.  As a student and tutor at the University of the Free State, all my attention has been given to my students and my assignments. I'm hoping that this is my final year as a student, which will allow me to fully focus on my novels again. I may be asked to continue studying, but it will only happen if I can get another bursary.

Writing has been my biggest joy as it not only allows me to write the stories I would love to read, but it has also allowed me to escape the darker parts of my life from the past. But, as a student, I have been overwhelmed from the start of 2025 with at least 10+ assignments a week. 

My fiancé, Riaan, who is writing The Space In Between with me, has also had his setbacks in doing his part. The Space In Between HAS been done for a long time. Last year, I came to an ending I was happy with, and Riaan was on a roll with adding his bit, but things have been too much for both of us (as a couple, we're happier than ever). At the end of a full day of university classes (where I will end my day at 8 PM) and a normal 8 AM - 5 PM job, we're both exhausted. 

I want to make it clear that NO ONE is forcing us to get this novel published. You have all been very sweet and understanding, which is why I feel I need to explain why we're taking so long. Too much has been happening, including my family and I moving to four different homes because of greedy landlords in just three years. We've been in our current home since September 2024, and I still haven't had the strength to unpack my studio and our stored boxes. We do a little every month, but as you can imagine, it's been difficult. Progress is happening, but nowhere near where I wanted it to be by now.

Our wedding was supposed to be next month (June 2025), but nothing has gone as planned. We've had people let us down with venues, and we recently lost our savings for a simple home wedding. We pushed the wedding up for September 2025 (For a little exciting spring wedding), which also means I can now properly focus on our wedding clothing, properly focus on our current home, and also work on losing weight to get my ideal body again. I unfortunately have a severe body dysmorphia, and with all the moving over the years, I have picked up weight I could not control.  We had a great daily gym session in January, and I lost 5 kg, until February hit, when I was overdoing the exercises and became ill. But, after that, there was more personal drama like petrol issues, Riaan falling ill, my assignments getting worse, etc. I picked up that weight again, and it has been stressing me out. Ideally, your wedding photos are meant to be "perfect," and for once in my life, I want to look and feel it too (Again, this is the body dysmorphia). 

Basically, in my bad way of explaining, we need this time to postpone The Space In Between again so that I can spend this time studying, working on my wedding, and THEN only going full-force into The Space in Between. Riaan and I talk about the manuscript every week - what we can add to make things a little more messed up, how we can make it flow better, and of course, being able to focus on an appropriate time to publish. With all that being said, we apologise, but it will be pushed to be released mid-late 2026. 

Again, no one is forcing me to write this update or to force an unfinished publication. I feel, as an author, that my readers have the right to know what's going on. So many of you picked up The Lock, and I couldn't be happier with how well it did, but I wanted all of you to know what is happening.

The good news to come out of all of this is that I have MANY different stories in the works besides the Gods and Monsters universe. I have been getting a little too inspired over the past few years and have started four different titles. They will only be properly worked on after The Space In Between is in its final stage. I won't put any of these titles before The Space In Between, that I promise. 

Again, both Riaan and I are sorry for not publishing on the dates we estimated to have it out by, but life has been too hectic.  Once our wedding is done, university calms down and we have our lives back in order, we will be diving into polishing up The Space In Between. We are excited about this horror novel we have created. When I was still in my teens, it was inspired by things like The Walking Dead, Half-Life, and Cell by Stephen King. With Riaan on board, he introduced me to The Last of Us, Final Fantasy, and so many other video games that made me want to properly fledge out Gods and Monsters alone - and as my readers, you deserve a good sequel with some answers. I want to give you something that will give you the chills and give you a sense of wanting to know more. And we will do that. It is why we need to take the rest of this year to, quite literally, get our shit together. Gods and Monsters has been a big part of my life, and although I am really eager to just get the last few books out there, I want it to be something I am proud of - something that won't be tampered with when published, and something that deserves to be a proper sequel. 

Again, the story is written out. I have spent nearly 10 years on this novel alone and have never been happy with its outcome until now. It just needs more addons, some smoother transitions, a proper clean-up, and a little bit of Asile.

2026 will be The Space in Between's year ❤️

Kind regards,

Caylynne King