This month has been a busy one for interviews: my second appearance is on website, Too Full to Write, hosted by author and entrepreneur, David Ellis. Rather than wearing my editor and publishing hat as I did earlier in the month, when Joseph Robert and I were jointly interviewed for Bindweed Magazine by Lagan Online, this one focuses on my own writing career and creative inspirations. I also add a few aspiring author tips for anyone thinking of getting into the business side of poetry or fiction. Enjoy!
This month my novelette, Til Death do us Boneapart, is published in Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine Summer 2017. I’m excited to see this story in print for a couple of reasons:
1. It’s my first novelette publication (my prose publications to date have been flash fiction and short stories in magazines worldwide and my satirical novella, Zombie Reflux from Meandi Books in 2014).
2. It’s a literary hybrid, mixing elements of horror, humour and romance into the tale (or tail if you like, since the protagonist is an ancient Egyptian mummified cat!), which is great for my writing CV, since I’ve just finished my urban fantasy novel that also combines a few of those elements.
My story appears on page 68 of the issue, which you can buy at the Amazon link above for the magazine. It’s told from the point of view of a mummified cat who is possessed by the spirit of the Ancient Egyptian cat deity, Bastet. She’s on a quest to be reunited with her long lost owner of two millennia, Nephthys.
Hope you enjoy it!
In May this year, I wrote a post announcing that my writer hubby, Joseph Robert, and I were jointly published in the ‘Inane Pure Slush Volume 14’ anthology published by Australia based, Pure Slush books. The anthology is now available as an Ebook on Google Books. Here are the links to read our individual stories:
Fear of the Mould by Leilanie Stewart – Page 120: Inane Pure Slush Volume 14
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This Really Happened by Joseph Robert – Page 51: Inane Pure Slush Volume 14
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Of course, if you want to buy a print copy, it’s available too from Pure Slush Books at Lulu.
This month, Joseph Robert and I were interviewed for Bindweed Magazine at Lagan Online. We answered 7 questions related to our editorial decisions and process focusing on our family-run magazine and sub-strand, Heavenly Flower Publishing.
Do check out the interview for more insight into our work as co-editors of Bindweed Magazine. You can also find other great literary resources including links to Literary Journals and Publications within Ireland via the Lagan Online website, so it’s well worth a good browse.
Enjoy!
A year and 3 months later and the labour-of-love publication, Bindweed Magazine, that I’m co-running with Joseph Robert, is going strong. We have published writers from all over the world and currently have a huge backlog of poetry and fiction to get through; or maybe a hedge-load of convolvulus is more apt!
The latest print anthology (Issue 5) came in the post this morning. It’s always a satisfying feeling to hold those glossy paperback copies in my hands; a product of not only all the authors’ work, but of the many hours that I spent in editing, formatting and designing the manuscript for the final print version of each issue.
The Ezine for Issue 6 is currently running for July, August and September: the print anthology for all work appearing over the summer should be available in the print anthology due in October 2017. Minor delays in the publication schedule might happen, since of course a baby Bindweed is joining the ever blooming family-run business in the near future! But, for any budding writers out there looking for a home for their finished poetry and fiction, check out the submission guidelines for Issue 7 and send along your work. There’s still room for work appearing in Bindweed Magazine in October, November and December 2017.
Of course, if you want to check out back issues, feel free to have a peruse:
Issue 1: Morning Glory
Issue 2: Bellbine
Issue 3: Creeping Jenny
Issue 4: Waywind
Issue 5: Wild Lily
Today marked the end of term at the secondary school where I work for the start of the summer holidays. It also means the start of my maternity leave. This week I’ve been busy wrapping up loose ends with my admin at work and getting stuck in to a few writing deadlines, before baby pursuits take up my time!
1. Author interview
I’ve been drafting an author interview, which will be forthcoming on a website hosted by author and business person, David Ellis. The interview will focus on my published poetry collections and novella. More on this soon.
2. Finishing my novel
Another brain challenge as I completed my final chapter, cleaned up plot difficulties from the previous (5th) draft and – hopefully – formatted the manuscript for the last time in preparation for submission. More on this shortly too!
3. Editing the Bindweed Magazine Issue 5 print anthology
Designing the front cover, writing the summer editorial, organising the typescript, uploading the manuscript to Lulu, writing the blurb, and setting the price for worldwide distribution – all before the end of June has been a tough, but worthwhile hurdle on the literary field. Whew!
4. Receiving my writer contract for Dark Gothic Resurrected magazine
My novelette, Til Death do us Boneapart, will be published in the summer issue of Dark Gothic Resurrected magazine. The editor sent along my writing contract to read through and sign, which was another goal ticked on my literary list.
Woohoo! If you’re anything like me as a writer, you can relate to the feeling of accomplishment I’ve had this week at meeting my writing goals, especially in the face off growing fatigue. Ah… It feels good to finally get one’s feet up for a well-deserved break, at last.
The Libertarian’s Prison
Joseph Robert © 2017
Brietbart Bots Barf Consensus: Change the Conversation:
Shocker: Silent Majority Revealed as an Oppressed Minority:
RE: The Trotskyist Trots: No, Not Here!: Not On My Watch:
Righteous Victimhood Beckons:
Click Here: The Sick Here: The Sick Hear:
Dirty Immigrant Takes Doctor’s Dime:
Robert Mercer’s Mercenary Machines: Lock Her Up!:
Putting Putin in Pride of Place: Get Behind our President:
Vladimir Hoovers up FBI Attention: Crimea No Big Deal:
Smokescreen: Now Syria’s The Place: Pity the Right, Folks:
Cambridge Analytica are Good Guys: Libya Was an Evil Error:
Blackwater Was Cool Though, Says XE: Academi Agrees:
Obama Was Yesterday’s News: He Plots in the Bushes:
A Bird in Hand, But Not The Oval Office:
Breakthrough in Chakra Massage: Place Palm on Face:
Discount Palm Oil Now Available Direct: Belly Fat:
Six Simple Tricks: Myth Exposed: Do You Need to Know?: Continue reading
How does pregnancy affect writing? Over the past few months, I have done a lot of research online, but have not found many articles on this topic. I’ve included links at the bottom of this post for the few that I found helpful, but thought I’d post my own as a bit of information on what to expect for mama-to-be authors out there needing advice.
First Trimester:
With the cocktail of HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin), progesterone and estrogen doing a number on your body in early pregnancy, it can be hard to stick to a writing schedule. Continue reading
Here is the second chapter of my novella, Zombie Reflux (Meandi Books, 2014), a satirical poke at contemporary UK society, with elements of horror. If you like it, you can buy the paperback for £3.99 from Amazon UK or read it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
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Chapter 2
Eric ran home barefoot. His dried soles slapped on the pavement, making a sound like fists hitting a buffalo-hide punchbag. He felt aware that as he ran, he didn’t need to gasp for breath. Those days were behind him. The days of being restricted to earthly turmoil.
This was a new turmoil, he decided. An existential crisis. What was he? Not living, but technically not dead. He had no death certificate and in fact didn’t even know if he had passed away or not. Maybe he was suffering from a tropical disease? Porphyria?
No, that didn’t make sense. He needed to stop all the hypochondria, forget reading the Medical Dictionary at home. It wasn’t in his head this time; this was real life. He couldn’t have a tropical disease because he hadn’t been abroad. Yes, rational explanations first. He couldn’t afford a holiday with the move to a new town; Bury St. Morts, out in the countryside of Norfolk. It was supposed to be a fresh start, away from his gold-digging distant relatives in Cheshire, who were after his inheritance money. But all the stress had started a nasty stomach illness. And this doctor; who was he to jump to conclusions like that? Maybe he’d got his Medical certificate out of an Easter Egg. What sort of small town hospital doctor made jokes about being dead? That was it, it had to be. He had an illness, a new kind of immunity, like the doctor said. Something living, something alive, that was eating at him. Yes, had to be alive. The thought of anything else killed him. No, no, no! Not killed him. Another word, think, quick. The thought of anything else… befuddled him. Yes! That would suffice. No talk of death, killed, dying, anymore… evermore.
The thing the doctor had pulled from him had been a tapeworm, not his intestines. Tapeworms grew to over ten metres in length, wound themselves the whole length of a person’s gut. That explained it; that was why he didn’t feel any more pain. Stomach problems in the past had been excruciating, but in the doctor’s room at the hospital, he had been numb. Now he had an explanation. The tapeworm had caused him pain, and now he was free of it. He was free of his parasite, not his guts.
Eric jogged up his garden path and fumbled in his pocket. He found his key and stuck it in the lock. His fingers jiggled, twisting it. Then there was a crisp snapping sound. A twig breaking? Eric looked down. His index finger lay on the doorstep.
“Oh God – oh Jesus, help!”
Joseph Robert and I are jointly published in Inane Pure Slush Volume 14 today. This is our third joint publication since our reversible poetry chapbook, Realms of Man/ Metamorphosis of Woman was published in 2012 by Meandi Books and more of our poetry appeared in Mudjob Magazine in 2013 (Joseph Robert here and Leilanie Stewart here). This time, however, our joint publication is fiction not poetry.
Joseph Robert’s story, ‘This Really Happened’ tells the sorry tale of an unfortunate dog, Poochie and his self-centred owner. My story, ‘Fear of the Mould’ is a second person narrative on trying to escape destructive thoughts. E-versions of the anthology should be following soon – more when this happens.
