Current projects and common themes in my writing

Common themes in my writing

All of my work, whether it’s a psychological horror novel, or an experimental poetry collection, comprises writing that confronts the nature of self. This can mean my writing gets quite uncomfortable to read at times; my books aren’t for everyone.

No matter the genre of my fiction, my novels start with main characters who think they know themselves, go through a crisis of identity and create a new sense of self. Similarly, my verse explores issues of identity and the darker aspects of the psyche. All of my poetry books confront the nature of self.

You can read a more in depth look at this topic on my blog post here discussing different genres, common theme.

            

Current writing projects

As of November 2023, I’m working on three projects:

Novel WIP#7 is a ghost and psychological horror story set in Hammersmith and Fulham, London. This was inspired by a short story I wrote back in 2009, which I recently had an idea for how to expand into a novel length story. I’m currently up to 21k words (12 Nov 2023).

Novel WIP#8 is the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone, which I originally intended to be a standalone novel. However, enough readers contacted me, or mentioned in Amazon and Goodreads reviews that they wanted more of Kimberly’s story, which motivated me to revisit this idea. I’m currently up to 19k words (12 Nov 2023).

Fiction WIP#9 is a psychological short story collection of four disturbing tales, some of which were previously published. I’m currently up to 23k words (12 Nov 2023).

            

Belfast Ghosts – Book 3: Matthew’s Twin

I began writing Matthew’s Twin in January 2022. To date, this has been the most research-heavy book I’ve ever written, with Gods of Avalon Road being a distant second. I finished the final draft in March 2023 and had it prepped for my editor in May 2023. This was eventually published on 24th October 2023 as Book 3 in my Belfast Ghosts trilogy.

You can read my blog posts about Matthew’s Twin, formerly novel WIP#6 here.

            

Belfast Ghosts – Book 2: The Fairy Lights

I began writing The Fairy Lights as a short story in December 2021 and began expanding it into a novel; the first draft was finished in May 2022 and the final draft by August 2022. After incorporating feedback from my editor and checks by my proofreader, this was ready for publication on 10th November 2022.

You can read my blog posts about The Fairy Lights here and updates on the writing process back when it was novel WIP#5 here.

            

Belfast Ghosts – Book 1: The Blue Man

I began writing The Blue Man as a short story during lockdown in June 2020. It was published in Scarlet Leaf Review in March 2021. From November 2020 until November 2021 I began expanding and developing my ideas until this became an 81,000 word novel, published on 29th July 2022. The 6000 word short story version was published in Scarlet Leaf Review in March 2021.

You can read my blog posts about The Blue Man here and writing process updates back when it was novel WIP#4 here.

            

The Buddha’s Bone writing progress:

The Buddha’s Bone was a project I began outlining back in 2013, but didn’t finish. I revisited the partial first draft of 60,000 words in 2017 and scrapped much of what I had rewritten, changing the story from a contemporary fiction piece to a psychological literary fiction novel. The final manuscript of around 87,000 words was accepted for publication by a US publisher, but after several rounds of professional edits by their team, covid lockdown struck again in January 2021 and the publishing deal fell through. Frustrated, and with a polished MS with no home, I set up my own publishing imprint and this became my first Indie book published.

You can read my blog posts about The Buddha’s Bone here and writing process updates back when it was novel WIP#3 here.

            

Gods of Avalon Road writing progress:

I started historical research for this novel during July and August 2013 and wrote the first draft between Sept 2013 and March 2014. After a long hiatus I revisited this in 2016, finishing the book by November 2017 with a manuscript of 102,000 words. After doing the submission slushpile rounds, it was accepted for publication by Blossom Spring Publishing and released on 23 October 2019.

You can read my blog posts about Gods of Avalon Road here and writing process updates back when it was novel WIP#2 here.

            

Novel WIP#1 writing progress:

My completed novel manuscript of 89,000 words remains unpublished. Publisher feedback has been positive, but brutally honest, that this novel is too experimental for small press markets to take a financial risk. I plan to self-publish this further down the line – perhaps at a time when my readers will forgive me once they read it and think, ‘wtf is this, Leilanie?’ 😂

You can read my blog posts on this project here and here.