December 17, 2024

Happy Saturnalia! Paranormal suspense books for your stocking

We’re getting closer to Yule, and that means things are starting to feel more festive. As a fan of all things paranormal, here’s my recommendation for books to fill your stocking with. Amanda Sheridan’s fantastic Rapid Eye Movement quadrilogy is a paranormal suspense series with a good dose of romance that will keep you turning the pages over the holiday season. Here are links to buy the series:

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Books for your stocking: Rapid Eye Movement quadrilogy by Amanda Sheridan

Today is the date of the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, a celebration in honour of the god of agriculture, Saturn. It was traditionally celebrated on 17th December, though in medieval times was apparently celebrated around 23rd to coincide with the solstice.

Anyway, Saturnalia and the Solstice both celebrate light returning to the world at the darkest time of year. What better way to enjoy the long, dark nights than with a page-turning book series with a dash of steamy romance just for some sizzle…

Io Saturnalia, folks!

Posted by on December 17, 2024 in book reviews and tagged , , , , , , .

Leave a comment

December 15, 2024

Why are ghost stories more popular at Christmas than Halloween?

Why are ghost stories more popular at Christmas than Halloween?

Why are ghost stories more popular at Christmas than Halloween?

It’s a serious question. I’m legitimately asking. This isn’t a ploy to get more engagement (though, that would be nice, lol).

As a ghost horror author, my sales tend to double towards the end of November, rather than at Halloween, which makes me curious.

I’ve Googled it and the results are mixed. What do you guys think? Anyone got any theories?

Since we’re on the topic, apart from my Christmas ghost novel, The Fairy Lights, which is entirely set at Yuletide, another of my books features a grim chapter set at Christmas. Here’s a sample reading from Matthew’s Twin:

What happens to starving soldiers trapped in a castle at Christmas time?

Who is the mysterious man claiming to be Matthew’s long lost Twin? What about the ghostly soldiers, sinister witch and visions of a past life in medieval Ireland, 700 years ago?

Matthew’s Twin is standalone Book 3 of my Belfast Ghosts trilogy.

Paperback available for £8.99:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Waterstones

If you’re cash strapped this Christmas, you can borrow/read for free from the following libraries:

Happy reading!

Posted by on December 15, 2024 in Books and tagged , , , , , , , .

Leave a comment

December 11, 2024

Keto is great but my commitment? Not so

It has been a long time since I’ve posted a health update. I’ve been so focused on my literary career this year, both writing-wise (Pseudologia Fantastica published in June and another story collection just finished) and day-job-wise (I started teaching creative writing again at the start of October after an 8 year hiatus and this month I started a new part-time library position) that I haven’t posted any dietary updates. Consider this one long overdue.

December 2019: Before I did the keto diet

How’s the keto diet going for me? Long story short, it isn’t. If you follow my posts, you’ll recall this one back in January 2024 setting out my diet goals for this year. Losing 2 stone? Nope. I haven’t managed to stick to either low-carb or keto this year and I have actually gained 4lbs since January, rather than losing 28lbs. Shall I laugh at my New Year 2024 goal, which has gone up in smoke? Why bother?

I haven’t completely neglected my health; with the exception of 2 weeks of illness, I have attended all of my early evening yoga classes.

So, what went wrong? Simply this.

Continue reading →

Posted by on December 11, 2024 in Health and tagged , , , , .

3 Comments

December 6, 2024

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a ghost story

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a ghost story…

The countdown to the holiday season is on, starting with Saturnalia on the 17th, Yule on the 21st and of course Christmas on the 25th. What would Christmas be without a ghost story? I heard recently that sales of ghost books are actually higher at Christmas than at Halloween, something which was admittedly a revelation. Who would’ve thought?

Well, I suppose that explains why The Fairy Lights has been the most popular book out of my Belfast Ghosts trilogy for the past two years in a row, with sales peaking towards the end of November and in December each year.

The Fairy Lights: The ghost of Christmas that never was is standalone Book 2 of the series, an ideal seasonal read that Yule not be disappointed with (cheesy pun intended 😅).

Has it been my most popular book overall? Nope. I’ll be doing a book summary for 2024 towards the end of this month to wrap up the surprises and expectations of my publishing journey this year, and to share any marketing tidbits I’ve learned, so you can check in for that later, if you’re interested.

For now, have yourself a spooky little Christmas!

Posted by on December 6, 2024 in Books and tagged , , , .

Leave a comment

December 1, 2024

Happy December! A trip to the Krampus Fayre

Is it really December? Where did this year go? Anyway, more of that later. I’ll blog about all my New Year’s resolutions that I didn’t achieve (lol) towards the end of 2024.

Shopping in a Krampus wonderland

Today I kicked off the start of the holiday season minus the sentimentality with a trip to the Devil’s Fayre: the Krampus market at Voodoo Belfast. There were stalls selling occult jewellery, alternative festive gifts, seasonal baked goods and more and it was great to browse for some horror-themed prezzies.

Continue reading →

Posted by on December 1, 2024 in Events and tagged , , , , , , .

2 Comments

November 27, 2024

A trip down memory lane – teaching English in Japan

At the weekend I posted a reel on all of my social media channels for #sentimentalsaturday sharing a trip down memory lane to when I was living in Japan.

Between 2003 and 2007, I taught English in Tottori, Northwestern Japan, and during that time I had 3 travel articles published in Nova City Magazine (2004-2006).

I rediscovered these nostalgic gems while tidying and they’re now enjoying pride of place on the bookshelf.

The short articles are of my impressions on living in Japan (picture 2) and my favourite Japanese writing kanji character (picture 4).

When I first moved to Japan, I didn’t speak any Japanese other than a few emergency phrases. While living there, I got myself a tutor and studied for the Level 3 Japanese proficiency test, and took this exam at Kobe University in December 2006. My Japanese conversational skills were quite good for a time, after living there for 4 years, but sadly I forget a lot of what I learned as I no longer have an opportunity to practise, apart from watching anime on occasion.

On a happy note, I met my lovely fellow author hubby in Japan – he was also teaching English – and at some point, we hope to visit our old haunts and bring our little adventurer with us. It’s really just a case of getting our savings together for such a trip!

Posted by on November 27, 2024 in Biography and tagged , , , , , .

Leave a comment

November 23, 2024

November reading update

This month, my Kindle app notified me that I just passed a silver reading achievement. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know there was any such Kindle challenge, but it was fun to find out that I’m close to gold, nonetheless. Although I prefer reading paperbacks, eBooks are undoubtedly more convenient. For me, I tend to mostly read my Kindle books in bed, or out and about whenever I have a moment to spare. So far this year, I have read 44 Kindle books, but I’ll do a proper update towards the end of 2024.

My new part-time library position has definitely helped keep my reading goals on track. It’s good to model reading in front of library users. Books are important, and I’m a firm believer in making time for reading, rather than leaving it to a free moment. My TBR pile of paperbacks on the coffee table at home (with expandable bookends, lol) is not whittling down in size as I keep buying more books. What can I say? I’m as much of a bookworm as I am a writer.

So, what am I reading this month? Halloween is over, but you wouldn’t know it from my current selection. Ghost horror, supernatural and psychological are top of my list at the moment. I’ve started reading ‘Home before Dark’ and ‘Whispers in the Sand’, but the others are next on my TBR so I’ve included them here. Apart from Riley Sager, which is a library borrow, I bought the others.

I must not buy more books… (X 10)

Yeah, right! As if that will ever happen.

Posted by on November 23, 2024 in Reading and tagged , , , , , , , .

Leave a comment

November 19, 2024

Halloween is over but autumn is still here

Here’s a video celebrating autumn, and all the beauty of Mabon. Halloween is over, but the autumn colours are still here.

The temperature has really dropped here in Northern Ireland, though we have managed to avoid snow, unlike some photos that friends in England have shared on social media. I’m sure that will change over the next few days though as snow is certainly forecast.

My fiction books and autumn colours

Last Saturday we went to the Santa parade in Belfast, which was at the little guy’s request. Apart from that we haven’t been personally getting into the whole festive spirit just yet. I know that a lot of people, and a lot of businesses, get their Christmas trees and decorations up from mid-November onwards, but for my family personally, once Halloween is over, we leave the generic autumnal decorations and door wreath in place until the 1st of December when we get ready for Yule. It’s still Mabon for a while longer!

Santa and Mrs Claus coming to town in Belfast city centre

Posted by on November 19, 2024 in Opinion and tagged , , , .

Leave a comment

November 14, 2024

Another book finished! Publication forthcoming in 2025

Literary life for me lately has been busy, busy, busy. I realise I haven’t posted an update in 6 days. I normally try to blog every 4 days or so, but the delay has been for a good reason.

I’ve finished another book! Hurray, happy dance!

This one is a collection of ghost stories and is just under 50,000 words – so, about the length of a short novel. I finished the last story on Sunday and spent Monday reading through the whole collection to check for typos and consistency. On Tuesday I began typesetting the paperback and formatting the cover. Yesterday I finished uploading the proof and ordered a copy for my editor. The copy should come in the post next week ready for the red pen treatment.

In the meantime, it’s business as usual. I’m still chipping away at novel WIP#7, which is at 56,858 words, and novel WIP#8, which is at 51,734 words. Those two manuscripts have taken a back seat lately while I prioritised the story collection. It’s about time I gave them some attention.

Next year, I’ll be back to being a one-book woman. All this juggling is too much to keep track of!

Posted by on November 14, 2024 in Books, Writing and tagged , , , , , , .

Leave a comment

November 8, 2024

My books on a library tour of Northern Ireland

It’s always lovely to check into Libraries NI and find out where my novels are currently being borrowed. It makes me so happy to know that readers are discovering my books among the shelves, and that they’re finding their way out of Belfast and across the country. Here’s where they’re currently all on loan:

The Blue Man is in the Belfast Heritage Writer’s collection, on the shelves at Hollywood Arches and Newtonbreda libraries and is on loan at Portrush library.

The Fairy Lights is in the Belfast Heritage Writer’s collection, on the shelf at Newtonbreda library and on loan at Ballycastle library.

Matthew’s Twin is in the Belfast Heritage Writer’s collection at Belfast central library and one copy is out on loan.

The Buddha’s Bone is on the shelves at Belfast central and Newtonbreda.

Gods of Avalon Road is on the shelves at Ormeau Road library and Belfast central, where it was currently in the Halloween display.

Authors, did you know…?

If your books are eligible through the Public Lending Right service, you get paid for every time a reader borrows your books from a library? The payment is similar to getting paid for readers who download your books on Kindle Unlimited.

I must say, knowing that readers are borrowing my books is a welcome dose of motivation to keep writing. Even though the payment from the Public Lending Right fund is less than readers buying my eBooks, paperbacks or hardcovers outright, it makes me feel good knowing that readers who may not be able to afford to buy my books can still access them. Books are for everyone!

Posted by on November 8, 2024 in Reading and tagged , , , , , .

2 Comments