Lesley Bungay Author

Thank you 🙏

#vss365 #ghost

Her mother’s words haunt her as she chides her daughter. The same nagging tone. She sees her father’s familiar stubborn stance appear, catches a trace of her grandmother’s raised eyebrow. ‘The dead are everywhere,’ her grandfather once told her. Now she believes in ghosts.

Intersaga Literary Agency Ltd. on Instagram: "🩷REVIEW🩷 A Year Without a Summer @lesleyjayneb Thank you, @judith_heneghan 👏🏻🥰📚⭐ Published by @barnardpublishing on 7 May 😍📖🎊" intersaga on February 3, 2026: "🩷REVIEW🩷 A Year Without a Summer @lesleyjayneb Thank you, @judith_heneghan 👏🏻🥰📚⭐ Published by @barnardpublishing on 7 May 😍📖🎊".

www.instagram.com/p/DUTwawLiNJ...

What if the door is closed? She’s tired of bartering for dreams woven from the teeth of “never enough.” Pain is nothing more than blood traded for rust. The girl, the insufficient girl, crafting broken stars from her forsaken garden of forget-mes. She is wilting dust in the periphery of some eye, somewhere. Her shadow-thin soul quivers Slam. What if it was never open at all.

#vss365
#pain

#vss365 #pain

She soaks up the tears, cushions the grazes, absorbs each bruise.

Wraps safe arms around every heartache, soothing the sorrow.

She swallows their pain, willingly, knowing how much it consumes her.

For a time will come when she can no longer carry the weight of their grief.

#vss365 #soul

He peeled away the layers of hurt, slowly, with kindness, careful not to scare her. Years of fear had taught her to run. Not this time. As she unravelled to her core, she knew. This one she could trust with her soul.

Dandelion seed head glowing against a warm sunrise or sunset sky.

My #soul speaks in riots
quiet though they may be.

Can you hear it?

Or is it but a whisper
a cacophony below a summer’s green,
a storm folded in brooding sea.

Or am I but a firefly
stealing kisses from the sun?

#vss365

With the scarcity of #souls these days, is it wise to buy from a merchant in a darkened alley? What are they really selling? Maybe gravedirt laced with gibbering madness. I've lived without for years, and rarely feel its absence. Only in the deepest night, when I feel the moon tugging at me.
#vss365

She's there
Always
A #shadow
Tucked away
In a corner of my head
Used to be, she was my first and last thought every day
For a long time
Now it's not every day
Although it's still many
But
She's there
Always
And I still don't know
If I want it
Or not
#vss365

#vss365 #shadow

They will not follow beyond the gates — too afraid of the horrors concealed in the abandoned asylum. But phantom figures are no obstacle when the living are to be feared. She seeks the safety of the shadows. Until dawn. Only her imagination screams in the dark.

#vss365 #soothe

To soothe sibling rivalry, ma had a rule - whoever divided portions of food was allotted the smallest piece. Worked a treat every time. We can all still cut up a cake to within a millimetre.

#vss365 #thrum

Thousands throng to hear him speak, immune now to the monotone thrum. They care not how monstrous his words have become, how divisive, how inflammatory. He speaks their language.

#vss365 #obfuscate

She hid her truth well, a practised fragility that confused most opponents. But he saw through her attempts to obfuscate- the quick eye behind the flaky appearance. She was a shrewd player.

Thank you 🙏

Beautiful 🥰

#vss365 #quiver

She watches him unsheathe the arrow, sees his hand tremble. They need this if they’re to survive another cruel winter, yet still he hates the kill. The day the quiver ceases will be the day she needs to worry. She places her arm on his. Reassures him they’re in this together.

#vss365 #poetry

Words begin to fade and #wane
Inner noise explodes

Maybe it’s me becoming a little insane
When words spread doubt in truckloads

The Moons poetry understands this pain
Its layers of shadows sigh to me in codes

It’s nice to be back amongst the #vss365 crowd. If anyone from the old place wants to drop me a like, I’ll be sure to follow. Catching up with you all slowly ☺️

#vss365 #wane

There are shadows in her eyes; she’s seen it all before - the prejudices peddled by those clinging to power. She watches the colour wane from the world once more.

My winding road to publication – Part 8 More editing, proofs and cover design

My latest post is live on Substack. Find out where I am on my winding road to publication here:
#debutauthor2026
lesleyjayneb.substack.com/p/my-winding...

Throughout a career in publishing, the commonest problem I’ve found in authors trying to break into the business is their fear of taking themselves seriously. If that’s you, try this. (Little thread follows.)
1. Remove “aspiring” or “would-be writer” from your bio. Replace it with “writer.”

Watch this space for latest publication news.

Why Literary Snobbery Is Killing the Joy of Reading A person walked into the bookshop recently. Coat still wet from rain. They movedwith the half-hesitant energy of someone who is not entirely convinced they belong.They drifted toward the crime shelves...

An interesting read
goldsborobooks.com/blogs/news/w...

Whether you step gently, cautiously or with a leap and a bound into 2026, I wish you all well for the year to come. May it bring everything you need and hope for ☺️

Wishing everyone a restful Christmas. I’ll be taking some time to recharge, ready for January and the final proof read of my novel before everything is finalised ready for publication in May. It’s going to be an awesome 2026 ☺️📚🤓🥂

On books and reading an end of year review for 2025

My latest post on Substack is another book review with a difference. Opening up the Christmas drinks cabinet to see what’s on offer 📚🥰🤓🥂. lesleyjayneb.substack.com/p/on-books-a.... #amreadi̇ng #books #favouritereadsof2025

Lesley's Words & Musings | Lesley Bungay | Substack I love to play with words and ideas, putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and seeing where my imagination takes me. Click to read Lesley's Words & Musings, by Lesley Bungay, a Substack public...

open.substack.com/pub/lesleyja...

Trees of Hope Sycamore Gap - two years on

open.substack.com/pub/lesleyja...

Getting Creative Where do you get your ideas from?

I spent a wonderful couple of hours at one of my local libraries, running an Ageing Creatively session using my Little Boxes activity. They came up with boxes I hadn’t thought of to add to my list and some wonderful story ideas. ☺️ open.substack.com/pub/lesleyja...

Looks like I need a new start word 😄
Wordle 1,603 1/6

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