Happy St Patrick’s Day! To celebrate, my collection of Irish horror novels, the Belfast Ghosts trilogy, is available for only £1.98. The Blue Man is free, while The Fairy Lights and Matthew’s Twin are 99p each. Grab yourself some freebies this week only… and please do leave a rating or review. They really boost books and help authors to reach readers.
Today’s blog post is really just an update about my writer’s block, which I wrote about last month. Since then, I’ve decided to prioritise one manuscript over the other – and it’s working. Any guesses which one I decided to go ahead with, between the ghost novel manuscript and the psychological fiction sequel?
Maybe you guessed that, as a horror fan, I’d prioritise the ghost novel I’ve been chipping away on? Or maybe, since I mentioned that I’m writing the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone because of reader requests, I’d go ahead with that?
Did you guess right?
Yep, my readers matter. They keep me motivated, after all. I’ve decided to keep going with the sequel to the psychological literary fiction story set in Japan that I published in 2021. Focusing on the final third of this story without the distraction of the other novel wip has allowed the ideas to flow. No more writer’s block, hurray.
Hopefully I’ll get the draft finished soon and have something more substantial to say about the manuscript than progress updates. In the meantime, it’s business as usual.
March seems to have a lot going on in terms of calendar events, doesn’t it? Let me do a quick summary, just to make sure I’m getting them all correct:
March 4th = Pancake Tuesday
March 6th = World Book Day
March 8th = International Women’s Day
March 17th = St. Patrick’s Day
March 20th = Spring equinox. Hurray!
Since only three of the above dates have passed, I can only share the ones I have already celebrated. My last post focused on keto pancake Tuesday, so here’s my celebration of World Book Day and International Women’s Day:
World Book Day – Thursday 6th March
My author bookstack is getting rather heavy these days. It’s now a test of my balancing ability to see if I can manage carrying it in one hand while trying to take photos, or record videos. Did I get arm cramps doing several takes? Yes, incidentally I did; though I think that’s a testament to my lack of fitness rather than the weight of my books. Want to see my efforts, for morbid curiosity? Here ya go:
International Women’s Day – Saturday 8 March
I spend so much time promoting my own books on social media, and aside from writing, I’m also an avid reader. To celebrate some of the many 5* reads by my favourite female authors, I made this promotional video to share their books on International Women’s Day.
What else?
Well, I’m a sucker for celebrations, especially if the recent warm weather keeps up (a balmy 13°c in Northern Ireland…when the sun is out, so are the shorts!) This weekend, I did some gardening with the little dude. We planted wildflowers and some perennial bulbs, and then I sat out on the grass to get some much-needed Vitamin D. Next weekend there will be festivities aplenty for St.Patrick’s Day, so that will give me an excuse not to do laundry or repaint the kitchen (he he). The joys of middle-age!
Back in December I wrote a blog post (Keto is great but my commitment not so) about how I was planning on taking a more relaxed approach to low carb, with the intention of not beating myself up when the scales didn’t drop the way I want them to. Um, yeah, in a perfect world I would be two stone lighter, but the saying about middle-aged spread is only too true. Since mid-February I have been back on a strict low carb diet, mainly to control my carb addiction…and to save myself some £££ through not having to buy a whole bigger wardrobe. I’ve been sticking to my goal of not worrying about the scales – by not weighing myself at all. Hurray.
On Saturday, we went out for a low carb lunch after attending a children’s event on the Belfast Barge, a floating museum and important piece of the city’s heritage. It’s hard for me to resist sushi, tempura and yakisoba noodles, but low carb agrees with me much better as a lifestyle plan. I have IBS and SIBO flare ups from time to time, and managing this through my diet is far better than needing antibiotics.
Yesterday, at the request of the little guy, who had crepes with chocolate spread at school for pancake Tuesday, I made more pancakes in the evening. This meant a separate batch for myself (as pictured) made of almond flour instead of regular flour.
Did I have dessert? Of course. Being low carb doesn’t mean that chocolate is off the menu; keto chocolate, that is. Making my own keto chocolates is quick and easy. I use:
100g of cacao butter
Half a teaspoon of 100% cocoa powder
One teaspoon of agave nectar
One teaspoon of almond nut butter
Half a teaspoon of vanilla essence (unsweetened)
After melting the cacao butter in a milk pan, I add the other ingredients then pour them into moulds to go in the fridge for 20 mins. Like my Halloween and Valentine’s Day moulds? I’ll have to order some Easter ones since it’s nearly spring. The ceramic heart is just for presentation. It was a Valentine’s Day present for me, made by my little guy at school. Aww!
It’s great to be able to enjoy chocolate again guilt-free as these really satisfy my sweet tooth without feeding my sugar addiction. I really recommend them if, like me, you’re trying to kick your own sugar/carb addiction but don’t want to deprive yourself of treats altogether.
I saw this article about Lucy Rose’s folk horror book, The Lamb, on my Google feed while scrolling and as a fellow horror author, was pleased to see that a horror debut is getting some major attention. According to the article, she’s a Sunday Times bestseller.
It’s lovely to see a horror book succeeding. I wouldn’t say horror is a niche market; I can testify that my own horror books sell far better than my psychological books, or my poetry, which barely makes any sales at all. In terms of books that usually hit Sunday Times bestseller lists, we’re usually talking literary fiction titles. So, to say it was great to see a horror book on the Sunday Times bestseller list is an understatement. I haven’t read The Lamb yet, but will have to add it to my ever growing tbr list.
On a related note, according to this article on The Guardian from last year, horror books are popular at the moment, particularly vengeful spirits. On a personal note, that brings a smile to my face, especially the themes that are popular within the genre of ghost horror: motherhood being an example. Might explain why the first book in my Belfast Ghosts trilogy remains my most popular, in terms of the sheer number of overall sales.
Anyway, good news for horror books, and in particular, female writers and topics centred around women. I think traditionally, horror has typically had more male writers in the genre, so it’s good to see a young woman on the Sunday Times bestseller list for her folk horror book, and certainly perks me up to hear that readers want more scary books to do with consent, pregnancy and motherhood. Right up my street?
Hurray!
After a stretch of no sun in Northern Ireland for six days in a row, according to this article in the Newsletter, we finally had a lovely springlike day on Saturday. I started off the day with a bit of me-time in the morning. These are my birthday books from last month that I finally got started on. My hubby bought me Butter バター and one of my besties bought me Polar Horrors. The gorgeous fleecy throw, Just one more chapter, was from another bestie, which is now my favourite wrap-around reading blanket for reading-time comfort.
Sunshine really makes a difference to the spirit. Getting even a few minutes on my face (I only wear sunscreen in Northern Ireland during the hottest few weeks in June, and only if I can’t get shade) really helps my energy levels, and vitamin D must be something to do with that. At home, I like to read in a sunny corner by the window wrapped up in my fleecy throw on the rocking chair. In spring and summer, my favourite seasons, I read in the garden or round at the park on a picnic blanket.
Speaking of picnics, recently I was thinking that a picnic basket might be a good idea for keeping my current paperback reads in. I have an expandable bookstand on my coffee table, and I have so many books in my tbr that they are now piling on top. This is something I hate doing as it bends the other books, but I don’t want to start a stack on the floor as it would not only look messy, but risk getting coffee spilled on it. The solution, I think, might be a picnic basket. I could carry my picnic basket around the house and grab a few extra minutes reading while cooking instead of being on my phone, for example.
Hmm. Picnic basket for current reads, yay or nay? Would love to hear thoughts from any other bibliophiles out there – or another solution, if you have one!
It seems like a million years ago, but in reality less than two years ago, when I started writing two different novel WIPs at once. Since May 2023, I have been writing the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone as well as working on a new ghost story set in London (novel WIPs #7 and #8).
Along the way, I also decided to start working on Fiction WIP#9 which was published in June 2024 as Pseudologia Fantastica, and Fiction WIP#10 which was recently published this month on 1st February as Love you to Death. I think adding those WIPs into the mix is the reason that progress slowed on my novel drafts.
Basically, I ground to a halt with both WIPs simultaneously. I’m up to about 61k on both, and with the final third of each looming, I hit a complete wall with where I wanted to take two very different stories.
Over the half-term break, I printed both drafts at home and stitched them into book format with an old piece of scrap cloth (remember the COVID mask days?) serving as a cover. I find hard copies easier to read than digital, and I knew the best way to get both stories back in my head would be to read them as books.
It worked. I have a few ideas for how to end the sequel of The Buddha’s Bone, so I’m focusing on that for now. With the ghost novel, I had to give my hubby a massive spoiler alert and summarise the plot so he could give me a fresh perspective. Although he isn’t a ghost horror writer, he had a few questions as a reader for how a few of the relationships, past and present, would be resolved – which helped massively.
Onwards I go. I’ve decided to focus on one at a time for the final third, so the ghost story will be taking a back seat for now. That’s alright though. Didn’t I just publish a ghost horror collection? Any readers won’t be short of spooky shenanigans from me for this year, which gives me time to work on that later in 2025. Updates as they happen…
Has it really been a week since I last blogged? Oh dear. Well, I have an excuse. I’ve been on half term break. In other words, promoting my latest book, and having family adventures.
A random thing occurred to me, while I was thinking about my recent press coverage: it hasn’t been the first time I’ve done a Valentine’s Day newspaper article. In fact, two of my Valentine’s Day newspaper promos have appeared 23 years apart, both of which have either inspired or promoted two of my books.
On 11 February 2002 I appeared in the Belfast Telegraph for a Valentine’s Day modelling promotion after being approached (scouted?) while shopping in Belfast city centre while I was an undergrad archaeology student at Queen’s University Belfast. This launched a part-time modelling career which helped fund my university tuition – and inspired a lyrical poetry collection, A Model Archaeologist, based on the juxtaposition of two jobs: glamour model and field archaeologist.
On 9 February 2025 I appeared in the Sunday World to discuss my latest book, Love you to Death: Ghost stories for Valentine’s Day.
Here are my two newspaper promos 23 years apart, and my two hardcover books of A Model Archaeologist and Love you to Death.
Many thanks to Roisin Gorman at the Sunday World for such a fabulous news article about my Valentine’s Day ghost collection, Love you to Death. It was lovely to go for a dander to the local shop and pick up a copy this morning.
For readers in Northern Ireland, check out page 22 to read about Love you to Death, which has been in horror anthologies bestsellers in the UK for the past 9 days since it was published, and spent two days in bestsellers in the US and Canada too. I guess there are many kindred spirits (pun intended) out there who love ghost stories for Valentine’s Day just as much as I do. After all, I wrote this collection because I couldn’t find any Valentine’s Day horror out there other than slasher stuff, which isn’t my thing. If, like me, you prefer ghosts for Valentine’s Day, then consider this book just for you!
Whew, what a publication launch week for my new book, Love you to Death. On publication day my book reached #44 in bestsellers in the UK, #52 in bestsellers in Canada and #59 in hot new releases in the US, all for the same category of ‘horror anthologies’. It stayed in bestsellers in the UK for five days in a row, reaching #25 in horror anthologies at its highest ranking, and #77 in the US for two days in a row.
But why does sales ranking matter for authors?
How sales ranking gives insight into promotion
For the benefit of readers who aren’t writers, sales ranking is a book’s overall position in terms of sales. The lower the ranking, the better. The ranking might not mean much in terms of overall sales as it changes throughout the day, and I don’t think it affects the algorithm much, but it’s useful to track for authors because it can let you know if a promotion campaign was successful or not. For example, I noticed a spike in sales on 3rd February after I posted a sample reading video on Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube, so the sales ranking gave me a good insight into how effective my video was (here’s the video).
In terms of discoverability, I’m thinking that making more promotional videos seems to be a good use of my time and it is far cheaper than paying for advertising (which I will do at some point). Expect a lot more sample readings to be flooding my social media!
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