Leilanie Stewart

I’m an author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. My writing tends towards the metaphysical; paranormal and psychological fiction, as well as surreal and experimental poetry.

I have currently published 5 novels, 1 short story collection and 3 poetry collections. Here are links to my bookstores:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Waterstones

            

All my currently published titles:

Two of my novels, The Fairy Lights and The Blue Man, are award winners. You can read more on my award wins and press information page.

            

Stay up to date with my writing:

If you’ve been following my writing and want to get in touch about one of my books, drop a comment below. I love a chat!

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At a glance:

News article about Belfast Ghosts trilogy in Belfast Live

News article about The Blue Man in Belfast Telegraph

News article about The Blue Man in Belfast Live

Author Shout Reader Ready Awards win – Recommended Read 2024

Chill with a Book Awards Win – Book of the Month

Chill with a Book Awards Win – Premier Readers’ Award

My books available for borrowing at Libraries NI

My author profile on Bookbub

My author interview on Awesome Gang

My author picnic on Jaffa Reads Too

            

Author Q&A: When did I begin writing?

I started writing a ‘special events’ diary when I was 7 and began writing short stories at 9. One of my stories won a class competition, which gave me motivation to write more.

When I was 12, I began writing a children’s fantasy novel. I finished this when I was 20, while I was a student at Queen’s University in Belfast, and tried to get it published. After 1 full manuscript request, and 5 rejections, I archived this story and stopped writing for a while.

            

Author Q&A: What made me start writing again?

After a 3 year hiatus, I began writing again while living and working in Japan. I found that teaching English to Japanese students, while learning Japanese myself, got me thinking about language and literature, and this inspired me to start writing non-fiction travel writing pieces, followed by poetry and short stories.

            

Author Q&A: When did I start getting published?

I lived in Japan for 4 years between 2003 to 2007. When I returned to the UK, I lived in Cambridge and began getting my poetry and short stories published in literary magazines in the UK, US and elsewhere worldwide from 2009 onwards. You can see my Magazine and Anthology publication page for links to some of these works. Meanwhile I began planning and writing novels and preparing themed poems into collections, ready for submission.

            

Author Q&A: When was my first poetry book published?

My husband and I moved to London for work, and I began getting involved in spoken word events at the Poetry Society. Around this time, I entered my poetry manuscript for ‘A Model Archaeologist’ into a competition for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize 2014. You can read more about that on my Awards and Press information page. Although it didn’t win, it was long-listed and on the basis of this, I received a contract with Eyewear Publishing to publish the chapbook in 2015. After 5 years, the rights reverted back to me, and I have since released the full collection of A Model Archaeologist under my own publishing imprint.

            

Author Q&A: When was my first novel published?

After 14 years abroad, my husband and I relocated back to my hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland and I began looking for a publisher for my debut novel. Gods of Avalon Road was published in 2019 with Blossom Spring Publishing. This was after 2 years of submitting to numerous small press publishers. I chose small press publishers as, without an agent, I felt I stood a better chance of publication success, and this idea paid off.

            

Author Q&A: When did I set up my own publishing imprint?

In 2021 I set up my own imprint and bought my own ISBNs from Nielsen, which are registered with the British Library and other legal deposit libraries in the UK and Ireland. My first published book under my own publishing imprint was The Buddha’s Bone.

            

Author Q&A: Why did I self-publish after starting with traditional publishing?

Essentially to have more control over the process. I wanted to learn everything from typesetting and book cover design to publishing and marketing a title. I also wanted to be able to experiment with pricing and keywords to see what strategies worked or not, as well as to reap higher royalties for doing the bulk of the advertising. I found that my small press publishers didn’t actively promote my books after the initial launch, yet we’re reaping the benefits of all my promotion by taking a big cut of the royalties.

            

Other publishing pursuits: Bindweed Anthologies

Bindweed is listed on Duotrope

In addition to writing and promoting my own work, I’m the Editor in Chief of Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication, with my writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, I enjoy spending time with my husband and our lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

            

Aside from literary pursuits…

Some of my blog posts focus on health-related topics. Back in 2020, I lost 3 stone/42 lbs/18 kgs by doing the keto diet. I also discuss my sugar addiction and disordered eating in other posts, that may be interesting or informative to some readers who don’t necessarily follow my writing.