April 15, 2023

Keto diet, insulin resistance and artificial sweeteners: my experience

Click on the photo to see my keto diet archive posts

I haven’t written a health post in a long time, but that doesn’t mean that keto and my low-carb lifestyle are no longer a part of my life. If you are new to my health-related blog posts, I first discovered the joys of the keto diet back in lockdown in 2020. At that time my BMI of 31 categorised me as ‘obese’. I was having back ache and joint pain from carrying excess weight and struggling to do basic household tasks without having heart palpitations. I knew that a sedentary, house-bound lifestyle during lockdown would have set me on a slippery slope to serious health issues, so I embarked on a strict keto diet of less than 20g of daily carbs, combined with intermittent fasting and moderate exercise (daily walks in the park, and running after my then-toddler – who also sufficed as a living weight plate on my back to do squats and lunges). I lost 18kg/42lbs/3 stone in 5 months from a clean diet of whole foods, no condiments and no cheat days.

Since 2020, my weight has yo-yoed; every time I have weaned myself off keto and onto a regular diet, the weight has crept back on. As with anything in life, if there’s a problem, it’s good to analyse what you know and look for patterns. Here’s how I summarise what went wrong for me:

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Posted by on April 15, 2023 in Health and tagged , , , , .

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April 13, 2023

Unreliable narrators in fiction – love them or hate them?

As a reader, and as a writer, I love books where there is room for interpretation. I’m also a fan of an unreliable narrator; I love having to question what is actually happening in a story I’m reading. I like to be challenged instead of having everything right there on the page for me.

Out of my own novels, The Fairy Lights is the only book I’ve written so far that uses an unreliable narrator. If you have read the book (no big spoilers if you haven’t), the novel starts as a ‘haunted house’ story but in the latter half, veers into a strange and surreal journey as main character Aisling ventures into the spirit world – or worlds, as there are many ‘realms’ in this book.

But what is actually real and what is actually a product of Aisling’s internal fantasy world? At what point does real life in the story veer over into a fantasy narrative constructed by my main character to suit the story that she has built up as her ‘safety net’ to avoid dealing with her past?

Is The Fairy Lights a fantasy book? No. How about a YA book? Nope. It is neither a fantasy story nor a YA book; though I imagine the premise may be confusing to some readers, together with the fact that it’s a short novel, which could possibly mislead some readers into thinking it’s aimed at a younger audience. The Fairy Lights is psychological literary fiction, as well as a ghost story. It requires you to question the reality of the tale. As a big fan of movies such as Brazil and Total Recall, I love how the twists at the end can be explained as much by psychology as they can by science fiction. Such stories, that can be interpreted in multiple ways, are an inspiration for my writing.

Posted by on April 13, 2023 in Books, Novels and tagged , , , .

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April 9, 2023

A writer needs an editorial team: meet my freelancers

If it takes a village to raise a child, then what does it take to produce a well-crafted book? A lot of eager hands and eagle eyes. If a writer is serious about their craft, they will seek out professionals to put some serious polish on their books.

I work with a few different individuals at various stages of my book-in-the-making.

Editor

First up is my editor. Once I’m sure my manuscript is at the final draft stage, I typeset a copy in novel format and print it on Lulu then hand it over for some story edits. I’m fortunate that my hubby, writer and poet Joseph Robert, is also my brilliant editor. He isn’t afraid to give my books the red pen treatment and catches any plot-point problems or character arc issues that need fixed along the way.

Proofreader

Once the story edits are finalised, I make the amendments to the typeset copy then print another version for my proofreader, Heather. Nothing slips past her. She catches everything from punctuation errors to typos as well as formatting hiccups. Heather reads through my books three times and highlights all mistakes, catching pretty much everything. I’ve worked with her since The Buddha’s Bone. Gone are the days when I cringed when spotting a typo in a published book and had to hastily issue an updated version.

Beta readers

My beta readers are invaluable for giving early stage feedback on my books. After I’ve finished making all of Heather’s suggested changes, I then print two more proof copies for Amy and Ellen, my beta readers. I usually stick a post-it note of questions in the back, including things such as:

1. Are there any trigger warnings I should include/make readers aware of?

2. What would you say the primary genre is between ghost horror/psychological fiction, etc? (This helps me to decide categories when publishing on KDP/Ingramspark).

ARC readers and book bloggers

I have a small pool of regular readers who are willing to read my books in exchange for a free copy. Kendra and Jeanne are my regular ARC readers and Laura (The Bookish Hermit), Hannah (Hannah May Book Reviews) and Stacey (Whispering Stories) have reviewed several of my books as Book Bloggers giving an honest opinion in exchange for a free copy.

Posted by on April 9, 2023 in Writing and tagged , , , , , , .

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April 5, 2023

Diabolical Dreamscapes publication day!

It’s publication day!

Today is release day for my short story collection, Diabolical Dreamscapes. This isn’t my first book: I already have four novels and two poetry collections currently in print. This isn’t the first time these short stories have appeared in print, as most were first published by literary magazines and anthologies in the UK, US and elsewhere worldwide. But this is a celebration nonetheless, as this is the first time I have published twenty-one of them all in one themed collection!

Want to listen to a long-ish (13 minutes) reading of the first page of a selection from the book? Go on then, why not grab a cuppa, and a biccy, and put your feet up while you listen:

Want to grab a copy? It’s available for free on Kindle Unlimited and in paperback and hardcover:

Kindle UK
Kindle US
Paperback UK
Paperback US
Hardcover UK
Hardcover US

Posted by on April 5, 2023 in Books, Short Stories and tagged , , , , , , , .

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April 2, 2023

Awesome authors who have reviewed my books – part 1

As a big supporter of books by Indie writers and small press publishers, I thought I would share with you some awesome authors to check out. All of these authors have written great reviews of my books, so as a thank you, I’m promoting them in turn.

Since this will be an ongoing project to shine the spotlight on fellow authors, this is my first post of many – I’ll update links to other posts below as they appear.

A to Z by surname:

Kim Aaron is author of Apocalypse Cow, pictured above, and other books. Kim has reviewed The Blue Man and The Buddha’s Bone.

Rosalind Barden is author of award-winning Sparky of Bunker Hill and the Cold Case, pictured above, and other books. Rosalind has reviewed The Blue Man, The Fairy Lights and The Buddha’s Bone.

S P Dawes is author of The Vine Cross, pictured above, and other books. S P has reviewed The Fairy Lights.

Megan A. Dell is author of forthcoming psychological thriller, The Neighbours, pictured above, and other books. Megan has reviewed The Blue Man and The Buddha’s Bone.

Ricardo Sanchez Medina is author of the Dragon Sword series, pictured above. Ricardo has reviewed The Fairy Lights, The Redundancy of Tautology and A Model Archaeologist.

Aron Silver is author of Child of the Moon, pictured above. Aron has reviewed The Blue Man.

Posted by on April 2, 2023 in Books, Reading and tagged , , .

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March 29, 2023

Planning a sequel isn’t easy

Alright, so with the first draft of novel WIP#6 finished, and while I am in full head-rinsing time from my Belfast Ghosts trilogy, I have been re-reading The Buddha’s Bone as I gear up to outline a synopsis and chapter plan for the sequel. Easier said than done. The Buddha’s Bone was published in October 2021, so it has been two years since I last visited my characters.

When I wrote The Buddha’s Bone, I had intended it as a standalone novel. An idea for a sequel hadn’t crossed my mind, admittedly. Since then I’ve had a handful of requests for more of Kimberly’s story; some directly from readers who have DMed me, and a few in the reviews posted on Goodreads and Amazon. If even one person wanted more of a particular story, then that is enough motivation for me to start planning a sequel, but not quite enough to write one. As the author, I have to be excited enough about a story to invest a year, as a minimum, of my time to devote to writing a novel about it. I’m not prolific like a NaNoWriMo writer to crank out 50k words in a month. Reaching above 40k words, the minimum word count of a novel, takes at least 6 months for me, if not more.

Lucky for those readers hankering after more of Kimberly’s escapades in Japan, I have an idea for a sequel that excites me enough to put other novel ideas aside for the time being. Like The Buddha’s Bone, this one will also be a psychological literary fiction book, though I will also be drawing inspiration from Japanese folktales for some of my inspiration, particularly from stories such as those by Koizumi Yakumo (Lefcadio Hearn). Is that enough of a teaser, without bleeding into spoiler territory? Hopefully. Wish me luck with my chapter plan!

Posted by on March 29, 2023 in Writing.

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March 25, 2023

Draft 1 of Belfast Ghosts Book 3 is finished!

Exciting news… After one year and two months, draft 1 of novel WIP#6 is finished. This will be book 3 of my Belfast Ghosts trilogy.

Normally I crank out my first drafts pretty quickly; in around 6 months or so. For a first draft to take me 14 months means it was a lot of work – and this one sure was. I’d say this was the most research-heavy book I’ve ever written, in fact. I am thankful to a few fantastic libraries for providing the relevant books: Queen’s University Belfast and the McGrath library. Nevertheless, primary sources tended to gloss over the specifics. In a nutshell, medieval writers weren’t big on the battle specifics. I’ve groaned about this in a previous post, but I’ll say it again; as much as historical gaps are good for a writer, giving free reign to the imagination, I want there to be much more authenticity in my work, even though it is a ghost story, not historical fiction. How to accomplish this when the evidence is scant, is another matter.

Medieval research for my ghost novel – a day trip to Carrickfergus Castle

Gripes aside, I am happy to be finished. The draft is rough – very rough – and so I have jotted down notes on continuity issues to check for. But the skeleton of the story is finished, at last, and I can flesh out the parts I need to when I get back to the next draft. In the meantime I shall be taking a week off to clear my head, during which time I’ll be reading an ARC I’ve been sent, reading another book for review and reading Bindweed submissions, in addition to gearing up to outline the sequel for The Buddha’s Bone. It’s all in a day’s work.

Hmm…not exactly Gallowglass material here, though I’m doing my best

My plan is, after a week or so of head-rinsing time, I will get stuck back into re-reading the entire draft before fleshing out any relevant bits, cutting the bits that need trimmed, and checking for any continuity errors. From there, it will be onto my editor, proofreader and hopefully ready for ARCs by late summer. A vague plan, but can I stick to it? Let’s see.

Posted by on March 25, 2023 in Books, Novels, Writing and tagged , , , .

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March 21, 2023

World Poetry Day 2023

Happy World Poetry Day, fellow poetry lovers! Don’t you just love a day dedicated to verse? I sure do.

If you aren’t familiar with my poetry books, I have two full collections of poems available at the moment: A Model Archaeologist (2022) and The Redundancy of Tautology (2021). I will be releasing another poetry collection later this year, but will post updates on that nearer the time.

I also have four published chapbooks: A Model Archaeologist (Eyewear Publishing 2015, now discontinued), Chemotherapy for the Soul (Fowlpox Press, 2017), Toebirds and Woodlice (2012) and Metamorphosis of Woman (2012).

How come I have a poetry chapbook and a full collection with the same title (A Model Archaeologist)? For the simple reason that I got the rights back from Eyewear Publishing for my 20 poem collection after 5 years, so I decided to release the full 80 poem collection in 2022.

As for my forthcoming collection coming later in 2023? Yep, it’s another full collection of a previously published chapbook. Toebirds and Woodlice is getting the 80 poem treatment later this summer. More on that later!

In the meantime, hope you enjoy this World Book Day reading of a couple of poems from each collection.

Posted by on March 21, 2023 in Books, Poetry and tagged , , , , , .

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March 16, 2023

Can anyone write a novel?

Everyone has a novel in them. You’ve heard that I’m sure. But there’s a world of difference between having an idea for a story in your head and having a finished manuscript on your computer. If the majority of people have an idea for a novel, then does that mean anyone can write a book?

It’s not quite that simple. Writing a novel involves so many steps. Let’s break these down to see how easy – or difficult – writing a novel is.

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Posted by on March 16, 2023 in Books, Fiction, Novels, Writing and tagged , , .

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March 12, 2023

Goodreads challenge – my 2023 goals

This year I have set myself a Goodreads challenge of 20 books for 2023; so far I have read 4. My Leilanie Stewart Author Goodreads page is mainly to review books by big publishers that I either use for writing inspiration within my genres, writing research, or are simply books on my tbr pile either from my bookshelves at home, library borrows, or gifts from friends.

In addition, I have set a Goodreads challenge of 50 books on my Indie reader account, which I keep anonymous as it is separate from my author Goodreads page. This is to allow me to support self-published and small-press authors, while also remaining honest with my reviews. I also post these reviews on Amazon. Some of the reviews I write on this account are from authors who have contacted my anonymous page with ARC requests.

With 4 of 20 books on my Leilanie Stewart Author page and 12 of 50 on my Indie reader page, a total of 16 by March is not too shabby, especially since I’m also reading submissions for Midsummer Madness 2013: Bindweed Anthology and working on my own writing projects.

Come to think of it, how do I have enough hours in the day for all this? Well, maybe coffee and insomnia have a big part to play, if I’m honest!

Posted by on March 12, 2023 in Reading and tagged , , , , , .

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