The countdown to Halloween is on, now that it’s October. It’s my favourite themed season; what horror author wouldn’t love all things Samhain?

Coffee and writing time with a ghost for inspiration

Writing-wise, I’m still making progress with all three of my WIPs. I’m two thirds done with the first draft of each. Lots of coffee helps. I’m planning to have the ghostly short story collection ready for publication in 2025, and hoping to have both novel drafts finished by the middle of next year too.

Writing research

I found an interesting spooky booky for the season that has been helping with writing research, especially since two out of my three WIPs are ghost stories. This gem, pictured above, covers murders solved by psychics, or cases where ghosts present evidence themselves. Fascinating stuff if you’re into the paranormal – as I am.

Spooky Skinnybones hanging on the Halloween tree

What else provides writing inspiration while I’m chipping away at my various projects? The Halloween decorations are up, and help to keep me focused on all-things-horror. This skeleton decoration was something I got from a fellow poet at the Free Verse Fair in London. The little dude has since dubbed it ‘Spooky Skinnybones’ and it takes pride of place hanging by its neck from the Halloween tree, lol.

Ready to watch Beetlejuice 2

My hubby, son and I also went to see Beetlejuice 2 recently. Watching horror helps to keep general spooky themes floating through my head as disembodied phantoms, so I tend to watch scary films regularly. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve watched all of the horror movies available on Netflix, lol. Pictured above is The Avenue cinema in Belfast, with all the home comforts of sofa, ottoman and a full menu to order. Can’t beat a burger and large glass of red while watching a film.

Anyway, that’s all for now. As we near the end of 2024, I can say that my writing plan for this year is on track, as expected. Phew!

Posted by on October 4, 2024 in Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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About Leilanie Stewart

Leilanie Stewart is an award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She writes ghost and psychological horror, as well as experimental poetry. Her writing confronts the nature of self; her novels feature main characters on a dark psychological journey who have a crisis and create a new sense of identity. She began writing for publication while working as an English teacher in Japan, a career pathway that has influenced themes in her writing. Her former career as an Archaeologist has also inspired her writing and she has incorporated elements of archaeology and mythology into both her fiction and poetry. In addition to promoting her own work, Leilanie runs Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication with her writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, Leilanie enjoys spending time with her husband and their lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

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