I’m often asked about my influences when it comes to writing and obviously, I have many literary ones. But really, it all comes back to the legenday Jim Steinman. If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side…

Did you know that Halloween isn’t an American invention? It actually began in Britain and Ireland as Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival that heralded the beginning of winter and the ‘darker half’ of the year.

Most of my favourite Black writers are predominantly poets and their voices are as diverse, compelling, and fascinating as you’ll find in any canon of poetry. So, here are five Black poets whose work really speaks to me.

The Master and Margarita had been on my radar for a long time as someone who loves stories about witches and the Devil.

This is not exactly an advice post, but more the ‘character rules’ I (mostly) subconsciously abide by, which can give an insight into my process and characters – and if you’re looking for tips, something here might help you too.

In Irish storytelling traditions, the supernatural is entwined with the natural world (including the various traumas inflicted on the land, from invasion to famine). Here are three of my favourite stories.

Marathon Man perfectly captures the 1970s Jewish experience as my father described it: a generation away from the Holocaust, but Nazis were still being brought to justice. In other words, the trauma was generational and very much had not been forgotten.

When we read the best stories, we don’t notice this delicate dance between dialogue and description. We’re consumed in the characters, the plot, the setting. But we’ve all read a book where we start flicking pages because the balance isn’t right.

Now, I’m a pragmatist and I love anything that makes my life a wee bit easier, but as someone who spends most of my time either teaching, translating, or writing, I can’t help but be confronted by the detrimental effects of AI on both us and the world around us.

There had not been this many words sounded in our house for a long time, and it was going to take a while to clean them out.

The Ashkenazim have a long and dark history combined with living in Central and Eastern Europe. This has led to a rich folklore full of forests, doppelgangers, and questions over the complexity of a human soul.

Discovering the modernist and postmodernist scene was a game-changer for me: all those evocative images captured in as few words as possible. And often, these poets were just a little bit Queer.

There’s no reason why fanfiction can’t be seen as an amazing training ground for writers – and there’s also absolutely no shame in ‘only’ ever writing (or reading) fanfiction, whatever anyone tries to tell you.

Is witchcraft inherently feminist? Is the relationship even a good thing? And what does it mean nowadays to be a witch? Let’s look at the past, the present, and the personal, with reference to one of my favourite books.

From Charles Dickens to Daphne du Maurier, I love a quick spinechiller. Yes, I know, it’s nearly summer, but here are my six spooky short story suggestions, ideal for a skin-shivering quick read under a parasol…

Brighton Rock is intense to say the least. It may be a classic race against time thriller, but it’s also a strange, heady mix of poverty-sticken provincialism and the potential damnation of one’s eternal soul.

‘Write what you know’ is said for a reason, even if people often take it too literally. In Coldharbour, I have written what I know, even though I don’t regularly raise the Dead or have brought a house down around me with a click of my fingers.

What does the current law in the UK actually say, if anything, about witchcraft? In a country where now only a tenth of people believe in the Devil, is witchcraft still illegal? Is it even recognised in today’s legislation?