L.C.Winter

Thank you 😊 I hope so!

A really cool thing happened!

AJ West (all round lovely person and awesome writer) said I'm 'a thrilling new voice in gothic fiction.'

😱😍

A solitary figure stands shrouded in mist within a tangle of tall, brittle reeds. The person wears a long, hooded cloak in deep red, their head bowed as if in mourning or reflection. The fog curls thickly around them, softening the edges of the scene into a spectral blur. To the right, a fierce orange light—like a dying sunset or an unseen blaze—bleeds through a wall of bare trees, turning the haze into a gradient of smoke and ember. The left side fades into cold grays and blues, creating a stark contrast between warmth and chill, life and void. The overall mood is one of quiet dread and melancholic beauty, as if time itself has stalled in this desolate place. Keywords: fog, silhouette, red cloak, twilight, reeds, mist, loneliness, surreal, eerie, dusk, contrast, ethereal Created with MidJourney using my Echoform™ prompt structure. Resolution and other adjustments made using Lightroom. Clearly identified as AI-generated; use is permitted for non-commercial creative projects.

#WRB25 Oct 4: Whisper
The Hollow Hour
When the fog remembers your name, it’s already too late to turn back.
#dreamlike #surrealphotography #darkart #moodyatmosphere #hauntingbeauty

GOTHTOBER I encountered the perfect gothic scene on my way to teach Romantic Origins and Gothic Afterlives. Walking through the churchyard on the way to the station it was completely shrouded in mist! #31DaysofHalloween

This year I've been in a reading slump, on and off. September's been really bad - I have only finished one audio book and no paper books. Some months I read six books, other months, eh, some pages, I guess.

Do any of you find your reading mojo fluctuates? What do you do when the mojo is low?

Don’t be a **** Why? Because nobody likes a ****

Yesterday I published an author newsletter with the headline 'Don't be a ****', featuring suggestiongs on how to be nicer: dvbishop.substack.com/p/dont-be-a Three people have unsubscribed since that dropped. Make of this what you will...

In the pew-lined interior of a dim medieval church lit by rows of candles on tall staffs and pale sunlight coming through a window, a tall humanoid crow figure with flowing black robes and a glowing yellow eye stands beneath an ornately carved semicircular arch in Norman Romanesque style. On the wall surrounding the arch are many colourful murals depicting more humanoid crow figures with halos, carrying various items including swords, spears, harps, and chalices.

The rapture isn't coming. At least, not like this. The crows know.

It's tempting to track word count but it really isn't a reliable indicator of progress (though if no words at all are getting written... 😬). Today I only added about 900w to my draft but two scenes are 100x times better and are finished (by which I mean i have a first draft). Progress!

Everything is bad, but books are good. Get a book. Read the book. Cherish the book. Finish the book. Tell your friends about the book, and leave a review of the book. Hold the book close. Listen to what it tells you. Do as it commands. Place it on the dread altar and let it guide your every choice.

Today I was discussing this topic with MrK.

Me: I'm basically a musty goblin with anxiety.

Him: Aww I wouldn't say you were musty.

Charcoal drawing of a burning globe, flames licking into darkness.

A Globe Ablaze

#charcoal #darkart #traditionalart

An empty wine cellar. Dimly lit, it is a brick lined tunnel.

And the very bottom of the hall.

A very intricate sandstone turret with lead roofing in the foreground.

Did the hidden histories tour at Wollaton today so I got to see the very top...

Proposal: puce and chartreuse should swap names.

This thought brought to you by describing the sickly greenish-yellow colour of uranium glass.

Added benefit - large amounts of basically harmless confusion which would be a nice change from all the harmful confusion.

Now if you want a shrubbery, I'm your girl.

If you expect me to know how to organise anything other than a brand new shrubbery, we're in trouble.

In the non-gardening world, assume I am about as competent and socially adept as a carrot with anxiety, and you probably won't be disappointed.

I am significantly more au fait with a hedge trimmer than a database. I have sent an average of three professional emails per year and made a similar number of professional phone calls - most of which will have been 'please don't send an articulated lorry there isn't space, no really'.

Dear world. I know I sound and look like someone who can administrate, organise and etiquette all day long but appearances can be deceptive. I have spent my whole professional life in one shrub or another and that is not a euphemism.

It's oddly charming that a dude's complaint about shitty copper has become an internet meme 4000 years later.

People who otherwise wouldn't give the smallest damn about cuneiform are making jokes about it. Love it.

I have just written an absolutely horrible scene.

~cackle~

Slightly diminish a book: Baron of the Rings

I like that one. That could be an interesting book.

Very important info for eg women in violent relationships who maintain a secret phone. Please pass along.

#DarkArt

My latest novel, Dangerous, is currently just 99p! If you like darkly gothic mysteries, and a vampiric theme, this may be the book for you. www.amazon.co.uk/Dangerous-Es...

Me, trying to stuff some books in a book shelf: we haven't got enough space for books.

MrK whispering: I'm saying nothing.

Burbling about blurbs In the weeks since the proof of Spider, Spider has gone out to writers seeking blurb quotes I’ve had trouble sitting still.

I have been lucky enough to receive some really kind and positive comments from other writers about my book. I've written about it here.

lcwinterauthor.substack.com/p/burbling-a...

Cyanotypes are a delight to create 😄
#cyanotypes #blue #imprint #photo

Maps used to be so much better in the old days, because they would show you where the monsters are.
Now, we have to stumble upon them ourselves.

Fey creature with a border of plants and flowers.

It scans true! Was worried a bit because multimedia.
Saves so much time in art app too and looks much more like I picture the finished work. Only thing left is to see how to colour it digitally.