Happy Sunday, folks! It’s a horrible, rainy day over here in Northern Ireland and that means a perfect day for reading. This weekend I started reading my Christmas present that my lovely literary hubby got me. In Ghostly Japan, by Lefcadio Hearn set the tone with a good dash of existential horror in the first story about a man and a Buddhist monk climbing a mountain of skulls.
As for my own books, November and December are always the busiest for sales, with things quietening down after Christmas. With only a handful of sponsored sales so far in January that means it’s time to gear up for more promo. Since Valentine’s Day is only a month away, I’ve decided to start with excerpts from Love you to Death. Here’s my latest video reading, with a snippet from the first story, White Day Whispers. White Day, for those not in the know, is a date celebrated in Japan on March 14th; basically on Valentine’s Day, ladies will give a man chocolates if they like him, and will receive a response one month later on White Day. If he accepts her proposal, he gives her white chocolates and if he rejects her, she gets cookies. Either way, it’s confectionery heaven for the ladies!
Leilanie Stewart 
Apologies to some readers and followers of my blog
Today’s post is a message of apology to some readers and followers of my blog. I only just realised yesterday of a mishap, where a number of comments had been left unanswered and pending approval on my website, and I hadn’t been aware of this. Some of the comments had been posted as far back as half a year ago.
The fault is my own; I had set notifications for my website on my phone, and was perhaps relying on this feature too much without actually checking for comments via my email notifications instead. It turned out I had missed many comments by folks who weren’t regular followers; a couple of these included invites to author events and I’m especially regretful about not only those missed opportunities, but the unprofessional impression that some people might have of me after receiving no response to their comments.
As an author, I’m also a business person, and I aim to respond to all legitimate comments on my website and social media accounts as a general rule. Rest assured I am working hard to get back to everyone who commented; I value your messages and I appreciate that you took the time to leave comments for me.
This blog post isn’t an excuse, it’s simply an explanation; what can I say other than offer my humble apology. Sorry.
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Posted by Leilanie Stewart on January 14, 2026 in Random stuff and tagged author followers, blog followers, blog update, reaching new readers, reader comments.
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