August 9, 2026

Irish music and culture at the Belfast Fleadh this week

This week from 2nd to 9th August was the first ever Fleadh in Belfast celebrating Irish culture and music. There was Trad music and dancing all over the city as well as pop up pubs, and the whole city centre was pedestrianised allowing singing, dancing, music and community. Here I am pictured with Guinness in one hand and my award winning Belfast Ghosts novels in the other. They’re inspired by Irish folklore and mythology and are all standalone Irish horror books, all set in Belfast, so are ideal to read with a pint of Irish stout.

Speaking of Guinness, pop up pubs have appeared all over Belfast this week turning empty shops into thriving businesses for the Fleadh. Back in June, I lamented on Instagram about how my favourite fabric store, Sew n Sew, closed for business after being there since 1985. Sew n sew, along with all the other small businesses on the same side of the street were forced to shut because the building was sold to be made into a posh hotel. Imho we don’t need another posh hotel, we need independent shops, community and social housing; like turning the empty space above the row of shops into flats. But a pop up Peter Keegan’s pub was a great use of space in the interim, especially supporting such a positive event that brought over 1 million estimated visitors to Belfast.

I have to say, it felt weird to be walking down the middle of Chichester Street in Belfast city centre with a pint of Guinness in hand. Weird-good, I must add. The Fleadh was an amazing festival, and it was lovely to see families playing trad and folk music together all over the city, and children as young as five doing Irish dancing. I would love it if Belfast was pedestrianised all the time to allow for more Irish music and culture; it really goes to show what can happen when money goes towards the arts. More of that, please!

Posted by on August 9, 2026 in Events and tagged , , .

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August 4, 2026

Festivals this week celebrating Lughnasadh

Happy Lughnasadh! In case you don’t know what that means, it’s Irish Gaelic meaning ‘commemoration of Lugh’, a Celtic celebration held on the 1st of August to mark the start of the harvest season and named after the Irish god, Lugh. If you live in the UK, you might be more familiar with Lammas, a word derived from Old English/ Anglo-Saxon, meaning ‘loaf-mass’. Lammas is also celebrated on the 1st of August to mark the harvest season. Lughnasadh and Lammas; don’t you love linguistics? I sure do. Writers are always interested in language; fun alliteration with all those Ls too. Lol.

Feile na Habaan: festival of the river

Like my fish themed dress for the river festival?

On the afternoon of Saturday 1st August, my hubby and our son went to the Feile na Habaan, the Irish festival of the river (phonetic pronunciation: fay-lah-nah-han). The festival was beside the River Lagan in Belfast and included activities for kids such as a portable touch tank from Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry, showcasing local sea creatures from the Irish Sea. There was also traditional Irish music along the river walk, as well as food and craft stalls. The River Lagan features in my Christmas ghost novel, The Fairy Lights, as well as Irish mythology including the legendary Ollipheist dragon-like sea monster.

The Wickerman festival at Navan Centre and Fort

Later on Saturday 1st August, I went to The Wickerman festival 2026 at Navan Centre and Fort in Armagh with some fellow author friends, and we all dressed up in Celtic/pagan attire for the occasion. Like my oak and hornbeam headdress? I made it myself by gluing acorns and hornbeam flowers onto a hairband.

This festival celebrates the start of the harvest season, known as Lughnasadh or Lughnasa, honouring the ancient Irish god Lugh. There were recreations of an ancient Irish procession and battle reenactment, along with traditional music and fire dancing before the 30ft tall Wickerman statue was burned. Ancient history and folklore inspires my books; as a former archaeologist-turned-novelist, how could I not be fascinated by ancient customs and tradition?

Posted by on August 4, 2026 in Random stuff and tagged , , , .

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July 31, 2026

Managing insulin resistance long term with keto, fasting and exercise

July 2026: Managing my insulin resistance with keto diet and weight-bearing exercise

It has been six years since I first started blogging about keto dieting and intermittent fasting. If you’ve been following my keto posts (I’ve linked them all below for reference) you’ll know I’ve had ups and downs each year since initially losing 42lbs/18kgs back in 2020, with my weight fluctuating between 14-17lbs through winter-gains and summer-dieting losses. If you’ve been following my writing posts and are wondering, what has keto dieting got to do with literary life, then I can tell you, pretty much everything. Staying strictly in ketosis keeps me from getting brain fog, which helps my concentration as a writer, rather than when I eat carbs and have energy swings and crashes.

That’s not to say I don’t have any struggles though. My problem with keeping to a healthy weight comes down to two things: my battle with insulin resistance and difficulty in managing my carb addiction. I’m an emotional eater, particularly during times of stress and/or illness. Pasta, bread, rice and potatoes are my go to comfort foods, and on the junkier side of those foods, crisps and pot noodles are the kind of high-carb things I crave.

2016: benefits of a high metabolism

Slim without trying a decade ago (but just before kids!)

In my twenties and early thirties, I was effortlessly slim; like a lot of people, I had a high metabolism. If I put on a bit of weight, all I did was eat tuna salads for a few days to get myself back to my target weight. I took my slender build for granted, and I didn’t seriously worry about ever getting overweight; nevermind having insulin resistance.

2018: weight gain and munchies

Poetry open mic night during maternity leave: a break from baby, but not from biscuits and crisps

When I was pregnant, I indulged my sweet tooth with the excuse that I was ‘eating for two’. I put on 18kg/ 42lbs/ 3 stone and kept telling myself the weight would fall off easily after the baby arrived. But only 6kg/ 13lbs came off postpartum, meaning I was still 13kg/ 28lbs heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight.

What had happened? Well, my metabolism had changed. This was either because of postpartum hormones, or simply that I had a slower metabolism in my mid-thirties, or both. I also didn’t help myself by spending 9 months of maternity leave eating biscuits, cake and crisps while using the excuse that I needed extra energy for breastfeeding. The weight kept piling on and I ended up a UK size 18 at my heaviest, with a BMI of 30 (over 30 is clinically obese).

2020: keto diet and intermittent fasting

In 2020 I decided that enough was enough and I began to despair about my weight gain and failing health. I couldn’t run after my then-toddler son because of back and joint pain and my heart raced even just going upstairs. With impending COVID lockdown, I was afraid of gaining even more weight through being sedentary. After researching the quickest way to lose weight, I started a strict keto diet with 16:8 intermittent fasting plan, counting macros on a fat loss app. I lost 1-2 pounds a week, and over the course of 5 months between April 2020 and September 2020, I lost all of the 18kg/ 42lbs/ 3 stone weight gain.

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Posted by on July 31, 2026 in Health and tagged , , , , .

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July 25, 2026

Happy Christmas in July! Santa’s spooky beach reads

It’s July 25th, which means…. Happy Christmas in July!

Despite Halloween being my favourite themed season, summer is my favourite overall time of year. I love sunbathing and sea swimming, which is why Christmas in July suits me much better than December 25th.

So, if you’re looking for a couple of spooky books, suitable for Summerween, check out my Christmas ghost novel, The Fairy Lights. Or, if you prefer short stories rather than novels, why not try White Witch’s Hat & other Yuletide ghost stories. Santa recommends both of these to chill you on those long, hot, summer horrordays…

Posted by on July 25, 2026 in Books and tagged , , , , .

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July 21, 2026

How it feels to start and finish your novel

Inflatable fun is for big kids too

This summer I’m simultaneously writing a new novel – currently up to 28k words – while finishing final edits on my latest novel MS, both of which inspired my latest video. The inflatable silliness of riding a rodeo bull, as well as partaking in an inflatable horse race, sums up the beginning and end of the writing journey quite well, I think.

How it feels to start a new novel

Starting a new novel is much like riding a rodeo bull. You take the bull by the horns, feeling confident to get stuck in with a chapter plan, only to get bucked off when the writer’s block hits.

How it feels to finish a novel

At the opposite end of the manuscript, you once more feel confident upon seeing the finishing line in sight: in my case, straight ahead in an inflatable horse race (um, lol), before spotting a consistency error to break your editing flow and maybe the odd typo here and there. Having an editor and proofreader is always a must for any serious writer.

Anyway, silly fun aside, I do have serious writing goals this summer, which I’m hoping to make progress with. I’ll no doubt be posting more on this soon. But for now, enjoy this tomfoolery:

Posted by on July 21, 2026 in Writing and tagged , , , .

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July 17, 2026

Support authors before asking for free writing favours

Gripe alert! Grab a cup of tea and lend me your ear so that I can have a grumble. Lately, not one but two acquaintances have asked me for free writing advice on behalf of their friends. Now, I’m a generous person with my time and I’m happy to help others with their writing, but not if I’m not supported in turn. Let me explain. You see, both of my acquaintances had never even asked how my writing was going, let alone bought any of my books, yet were happy to email me to ask for free writing advice on behalf of their friends when it suited them.

Personally, I would never have the gall to call in a free favour from an acquaintance with a particular skill set if I had never supported their business prior to such a request. Imagine the audacity of that! I would, at the very least, offer to pay for their knowledge and time; and so this is exactly what I did to my acquaintances who took it upon themselves to ask me for free writing advice on their terms. In the latter case, I explained that I was happy to offer advice to their friend, provided they were happy to buy one of my books as a gesture of goodwill. Which they did.

We’re a generous bunch in the writing community, and as an author who also teaches creative writing part-time, as well as publishes fellow authors and poets in Bindweed Anthologies, I’m accustomed to helping others with their writing. But, I expect people to give a little bit back to me in turn.

Fair is fair.

Posted by on July 17, 2026 in Writing and tagged , , .

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July 14, 2026

History and archaeology on a family hiking adventure in Drogheda, Ireland

This week I’ve been away on a family adventure to Drogheda, Ireland for sightseeing and a hiking trip around the Boyne Valley for a good dose of history and archaeology. This meant no writing or reading time at all, though I always find inspiration in historical and prehistoric sites, so I’ll probably get round to using some of what I learned in a story at a later point.

Lady Julia Coddington as our Victorian tour guide of Oldbridge House

We were lucky to get ourselves booked on a Victorian tour of Oldbridge House, a Georgian manor house that sits on the site of the battle of the Boyne. The tour, presented by a guide in full Victorian dress and period acting, only happens twice a year so we were very lucky to arrive on one of those two days without prior knowledge; what are the odds. She hosted the tour as Lady Julia Coddington, who was wife of the owner in the 1890s, and spoke about the house, stables and gardens in present tense, telling us that our horses would be cared for by their stable boys while we attended a garden party for her orphaned niece’s birthday. The experience was so immersive that the children in the group fully believed we would be catching otters in the River Boyne and playing croquet.

Off to a Victorian garden party at Oldbridge House

After our tour we hiked for miles along the path beside the River Boyne towards the bend at Oldbridge, where the Williamites, led by Protestant King William of Orange faced the Jacobites, led by Catholic King James the 2nd. At such a tranquil place, with dragonflies slimming low over the river, it was poignant to imagine 17th century soldiers carrying their equipment over their heads while crossing the river, able to identify friend or foe by either the green sprig (Williamites) or white paper (Jacobites) on their hats. After all, Oldbridge didn’t exist back then – the men had to cross up to their necks in the River Boyne.

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Posted by on July 14, 2026 in Random stuff and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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July 9, 2026

Spooky books for your summer horrordays

Don’t forget your Halloweeny bikini if you’re a horror lover on holiday this summer, and why not pack some ghost stories for your trip too. Here are a few of my spooky books to keep you cool for July and August…

Posted by on July 9, 2026 in Books and tagged , , , , .

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July 4, 2026

Horror books aren’t just for winter

School’s out for summer, hurray. If, like me, you work in secondary education then you might well be off too. Here in the North of Ireland, we get all of July off, and most of August. Seven or so weeks of holiday is more than enough time for me to squeeze in some literary time in addition to a planned family holiday.

Speaking of which, are you going away somewhere for your summer horrordays or having a spooky staycation? Remember, horror books aren’t just for winter. You can pack some nightmare fuel in your bag to give you a chill on those hot summer evenings.

Here are a few of mine that readers have been snapping up over the past month. Since 80% of my book sales last month were my ghost horror books and 20% my psychological fiction, that means I’m in good company with lots of fellow horror lovers out there.

Amazon
Waterstones

Enjoy the scare…

Posted by on July 4, 2026 in Books, Reading and tagged , , , .

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June 30, 2026

How to get fit when you work in a library

How do you get fit when you work in a library? Bookworm bicep curls with a bag of books, of course! Now that school is out for the summer, it’s time for this bibliophile to get in shape, and not make any more pen-pushing excuses…

Lol. My video might be a tad glib, but I’m actually serious about the fitness part. This summer, I’m focusing on strength building. For the past few weeks, I’ve been sticking to a new exercise routine of boxing and weight training for 5 out of 7 days. We already have a punch bag and other boxing equipment at home, as well as 100kg of dumbbell weight plates. Today I just ordered a weight-training bench, which should be delivered this week. Pretty serious, huh?

When I was in my twenties, I did yoga, weights, Thai boxing and JKD (Bruce Lee’s martial art) and I cycled everywhere. Fast forward to middle-age and until recently, walking was about all the exercise I was getting. Well, there’s no time like the present to get into a new fitness routine, eh? Plus, unlike the punch bag, which is outside and therefore only in use at the whims of the Northern Irish weather, the weight-training equipment is all indoors.

In other words, no excuses, ha ha.

Posted by on June 30, 2026 in Health and tagged , , , , .

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