While Jim Steinman might be the more overt musical influence on Coldharbour, Stevie Nicks really can’t be discounted, as her lightly Gothic combination of rawness and femininity with that dash of mysticism appears in Coldharbour.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, writer’s block is ‘the condition of being unable to create a piece of written work because something in your mind prevents you from doing it’. But what’s behind it, really? And how can we overcome it?

When I originally planned this blog, I was simply thinking of women writers who have influenced me and whom I haven’t already written about. However, once I really looked at my list, I realised that all five are best-known for their Gothic work.

‍Coldharbour I is the only book I’ve written so far in the series that doesn’t have a prologue of sorts, so here’s the official prologue to Coldharbour: A Gothic Tale of Love and Death, from an exclusive POV: the elusive Elizabeth Black.

World building is most commonly connected to speculative fiction, in which the writer has to create more of the environment their characters are in, as opposed to researching a real time and place.

I had to write something that at least partially reflected my own lived experience, seeing as Coldharbour is such a personal (if completely fictional) story. Here’s a relatively spoiler-free outline of some of the representation in Coldharbour.

I have a confession to make (as usual): I was incredibly snobbish about publishing at the beginning. I had this idea in my head that I had to get a literary agent and be traditionally published in order for it ‘to count’.

Full disclosure: I’ve studied much more poetry (reading and writing) than prose. But I always knew that the story of the Wildes was a story in prose, so I’d just have to spend years learning how to write a good book. In the most poetic way I could.

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

Why is Rebecca one of my favourite books? Well, the big twist holds up every time I read it, the protagonist’s anxieties become mine, and the atmosphere at Manderley is a heady mix of claustrophobia and lushness.

A writer will never get what they perceive as perfection first time. There’s a reason why a painting takes ages to paint, why actors rehearse repeatedly, why sculptors have to chip away and away until they realise their vision.