March 14, 2024

Horror authors in Northern Ireland – what I learned from Google

This week, while searching for horror authors in Northern Ireland (I am a voracious reader as well as a writer, and I am always on the lookout for more local horror) I discovered something interesting. I came up first on the Google search. Hooray! Happy Dance. Scratch that…spooky dance is more apt.

The two articles that also appeared as the top two hits are also press about my second most popular novel, The Blue Man.

What does this mean for me? Well, I have already read my own books (lol) so my search for other horror books in Northern Ireland continues. I have read a few fabulous Northern Irish Indie authors, the paranormal and psychological thriller author, Amanda Sheridan being my favourite, and I am always eager to expand my list. Jaime Stewart is another local horror author I enjoy – despite the shared surname, we are not related.

If you know of any other Northern Irish or Irish horror books, or are indeed a local horror author, feel free to comment below. I like ghost and psychological novels best, but I’m a willing reader of other kinds of horror too. Surprise me. Scare me. I can take it!

Posted by on March 14, 2024 in Reading and tagged , , , .

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March 11, 2024

Is being an author a popular career choice for teenagers today?

Modelling my ‘writing is my sanity‘ t-shirt alongside my sunflowers

The idea for today’s post came to mind after listening to the GCSE English class presenting their speeches on the topic of career choices. Out of thirty pupils in the class, describing with enthusiasm the careers they feel most passionate about, do you want to guess how many chose ‘author’?

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Posted by on March 11, 2024 in Writing and tagged , , , , , , .

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March 7, 2024

Happy World Book Day 2024

At the Crescent Arts centre in Belfast

Take a book, leave a book. What a great idea for a free library! This is at the Crescent Arts centre in Belfast, if any locals fancy a coffee and a read. I have donated two of my own novels – The Blue Man and Gods of Avalon Road – in exchange for two novels that are now on my ever growing tbr. I don’t have copies of my other novels at hand, but will leave copies of those at some point too.

My books are tucked on the bottom shelf

Since it’s World Book Day, it would be a fitting time to bury yourself in a new read. If you do stop by, and read either of the books I have donated, please do leave a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Waterstones – or any other places where you can review books. Same goes for any other books you read. Reviews help books find readers. Also, if you take one of my books home, remember to leave a book in its place. Let’s keep the love of literature going. Whatever you choose to grab, hope you enjoy it!

I personally don’t need any excuse for a book shopping spree, but World Book Day is a good reason to add more to my tbr pile. If you have a child, you can expect to receive free book tokens from their school. We tend to pick up the freebie read, and grab a few other books for the basket too. It’s a good excuse for fancy dress too. The little literary one has gone to school this year as Harry Potter – one of many, I imagine.

As for book shopping itself, although I order more obscure titles from Amazon, I prefer to shop local to support bookstores in my hometown of Belfast. I also buy from charity shops too. Trees matter, and I like to do my part to keep old, or discontinued books out of landfill.

What about you? Reading anything good today? Whatever you’re up to, hope you have a Happy World Book Day!

Posted by on March 7, 2024 in Books, Novels and tagged , , , , , , , .

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March 4, 2024

March motivation – my readers keep me writing

Spring is around the corner, which is the perfect time for a physical – as well as mental – spring clean. I have been in poor health lately too, and that always gets me thinking about the bigger picture – through an introspective lens, of course.

No filters – I’ve been as ill as I look, but feeling grateful for much

Last week I received my Public Lending Right statement from the British Library. This included payment for all the library borrows I’ve had in Libraries NI between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. Only three of my titles: The Blue Man, Gods of Avalon Road and The Buddha’s Bone were available during this time, and between those three titles, I received 11 borrows. I am thankful that 11 readers discovered my books in libraries across Northern Ireland, and hope they enjoyed them.

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

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March 1, 2024

In sickness and in health – writing during illness

A book for my hospital bag – coincidentally the last story was a ghostly hospital tale

Last week, I had a health crisis and ended up in A&E. I was admitted to urgent care in this instance as a short stay patient. I will not go into the details of my illness – I feel it’s too personal to share with the world at large – but the scare as a result of this got me thinking about my own mortality. In the days that followed, after I was recuperating back home with some pretty powerful medicine, I had an existential crisis of sorts.

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Posted by on March 1, 2024 in Biography and tagged , , , .

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February 26, 2024

Where do my book sales come from?

I was curious about all the avenues that lead to sales of my books, or Kindle page reads, and decided to tally up the figures over the last three years since I set up my own author imprint. The results make for interesting reading. If you’re a fellow author, you might be curious about your own sales, so I thought I’d share what I found, in case it might help others:

1. Newspapers/press releases (26%):

Getting newspaper articles written about my books in the Belfast Telegraph, Belfast Live and the Sunday World has undoubtedly driven sales by giving exposure to my writing. 26% of my sales have followed press releases in these newspapers. The sales, however, were limited to the weeks following the press coverage; this isn’t an ongoing thing.

2. Ingramspark (24%):

My hardcovers sell quite well. I wouldn’t say they sell steadily compared to my eBooks and paperbacks, but they definitely sell more than what I was expecting. There tend to be bulk sales when a new book releases, tapering off in the months afterwards. I guess readers must like them as collectibles. Approximately 24% of my sales since 2021 are from hardcover sales through Ingramspark. If you’re an author, I recommend using Ingramspark for your hardcovers; they are well made with sturdy materials and therefore look good on a bookshelf.

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Posted by on February 26, 2024 in promotion, Publishing and tagged , , , , , , , .

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February 22, 2024

Kindle countdown deals or free eBook promotions – which is better?

With my Valentine’s Day/ Lupercalia Kindle countdown sale finished, I thought I’d take an opportunity to do a wrap-up. Marketing for an Indie author is an ongoing learning experience and I always tweak discounts, or marketplaces, or even the times of year I run promotions, depending on the outcome of sales. For any authors out there getting started on Kindle countdown deals, or free book promotions, it can be overwhelming to know what is the best marketing plan for your books. I thought I’d discuss the pros and cons as I see them, and my thoughts on what is best, depending on your genre.

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Posted by on February 22, 2024 in Marketing and tagged , , , , .

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February 18, 2024

February writing update – sequel to The Buddha’s Bone

Good morning (from the Northern hemisphere). Early start on the writing today with a big pot of coffee. I’m nearly at 30k words on the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone, which is roughly a third of the way. An update for those not in the know – I’m writing this one upon request from readers (thank you ❤️)

The Buddha’s Bone was originally going to be a standalone novel and I had no plans for a follow up until enough readers either contacted me directly or wrote in the Amazon/Goodreads reviews that they wanted more of Kimberly’s story, especially since it ended on a happier note with her and Naoki (sorry – spoilers…). There’s no better motivation for an author than to hear from readers that they want more – so really, thank you. Haven’t read The Buddha’s Bone? No worries, here you go:

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon CA

Like my mug? My hubby ordered this for me as a publication day celebration, but also because The Buddha’s Bone was the launch of my own imprint, Leilanie Stewart. Prior to this, my debut novel (Gods of Avalon Road) and 3 poetry books (Chemotherapy for the Soul, A Model Archaeologist and The Redundancy of Tautology) were all with publishers. Everything since The Buddha’s Bone is under my own publishing imprint with ISBNs bought from Nielsen and registered with the British Library, hurray!

(My publishing imprint!)

Anyway, ramble over. Readers, I hope you’ll like it when it’s done. You know me – I only do psychological trauma and dysfunctional romance, so expect bumps in the road for Kimberly as she works things out in book 2. I really feel sorry for my main characters. I give them a hard time, lol.

Posted by on February 18, 2024 in Writing and tagged , , , .

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February 14, 2024

Happy Valentine’s Day! Lupercalia sale is on

Happy Lupercalia! To celebrate the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia I’m having an ebook sale (salia, lol) from 13th to 16th February. All my fiction Kindle books are now 99p/99c on Amazon UK and US.

Kindle UK
Kindle US

Lupercalia was from 13th to 15th of February, so with Valentine’s Day right in the middle of that, why not grab yourself some paranormal or psychological reads, with a good dash of dysfunctional romance. Yep, you heard that right – dysfunctional romance is more my thing than true love. Nope, I don’t really do true love in my stories at all – unless it’s between a mummified cat and her ancient goddess owner, or a woman who becomes more enamoured with her ex once he becomes a zombie, ha ha! Both of those stories are in Diabolical Dreamscapes. Want to hear about more dysfunctional romance in my books? Alright then, grab your cuppa:

In Matthew’s Twin, his girlfriend cheats on him with a mysterious stranger who comes out of a dark medieval past to destroy their lives…

In The Fairy Lights, Aisling falls in love with the ghost haunting her student accommodation. She knows he’s young, and gorgeous, and a spirit, but is he really who she thinks he is?

In The Blue Man, a grisly spectre is intent on making a festering romance happen between Megan and the man she was infatuated with since high school. Why did the sinister spectre’s fate rely on their dysfunctional union?

In The Buddha’s Bone, Kimberly escaped her abusive ex to teach English in Japan, only to be pursued by her colleague Vince, with more sinister intentions than her ex.

So there you go! Happy Valentine’s Day! May you celebrate with the living, or the dead… whatever floats your boat, lol!

Valentine’s Day and Lupercalia

What exactly is Lupercalia then? You can read about this ancient Roman fertility festival here if you’re interested. Lupercalia was typically celebrated from 13th to 15th February and derived from the Roman fertility god, Lupercus.

Valentine’s Day and Halloween chocolate moulds

Whether you’re celebrating today or not, hope you at least get to enjoy some chocolates. As for me, and my sugar-free lifestyle, I’m having fun making keto chocolates with organic coconut butter, 100% cocoa, vanilla extract, almond nut butter and raspberry vinaigrette. Yum!

Posted by on February 14, 2024 in promotion and tagged , , , , , , .

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February 10, 2024

Happy Chinese New Year 2024

Today marks the start of the Lunar New Year in China, and this one is the year of the Dragon. Here’s an article on Awareness Days that you can check out for ways to celebrate.

While my husband (then boyfriend) and I were living in Japan and working as English language teachers, we travelled to many nearby countries. Since it’s Chinese New year, I thought I’d take an opportunity for a trip down memory lane – and bring you along with me!

Hong Kong

With my hero, Bruce Lee

I’m a huge Bruce Lee fan. Bet you didn’t know that about me. I studied Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do while I was a Queen’s University student in my hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, under Sifu Martin O’Neill who was a huge inspiration. Here I am in Hong Kong with the Bruce Lee statue. This photo was taken by my then-boyfriend-now-hubby back in 2006.

Taiwan

Kung Fu salute

I didn’t know much about this beautiful island before I visited, and learned much while I was there, including about the native traditions and more recent history during WW2. We also visited Taipei 101, then the tallest building in the world (it’s now 10th tallest, if I am correct).

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Posted by on February 10, 2024 in Biography and tagged , , , , , , .

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