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Writers love to pretend October is a calm, aesthetic month—

all flickering candles, pumpkin spice, and productive creativity under amber light.

But let’s be honest.

October isn’t calm.

It’s beautiful chaos wrapped in a flannel scarf.

The Season of Pumpkin-Spiced Panic

There’s something about that first crisp breeze that makes every writer say,

“This is the month I finally finish my draft.”

Cut to two weeks later, and we’re surrounded by fall-scented candles, half-empty caramel coffee mugs, and...

Before plastic pumpkins and fun-sized candy bars, Halloween was less about sugar rushes and more about surviving the night when the veil thinned. The old Celts didn’t throw costume parties for fun—they dressed to confuse spirits that roamed the countryside. Every modern decoration, ritual, and sugar-coated indulgence has roots sunk deep into the dark soil of folklore. Let’s lift the mask and peer at where these traditions really come from.

Jack-o’-Lanterns: The Face of Fear

Long before pumpkins...

Today, Halloween means candy corn, dollar-store cobwebs, and costumes ranging from terrifying to “why is that vampire wearing Crocs?” But before plastic skeletons hit the shelves of every big-box store, there was Samhain—the ancient Celtic festival that marked the end of harvest and the beginning of the dark half of the year.

And trust me, the Celts didn’t play around with their spooky season.

Samhain was more than bonfires and disguises; it was a sacred threshold. A time when the veil between...

Some people pack holy water, silver bullets, or sage bundles when heading into a haunted house. Maggie Hawkins, heroine of The Haunting of Crumbleton Manor, packs something far more dangerous: sarcasm. While most ghost hunters would be fumbling with salt circles, Maggie is rolling her eyes and muttering snark under her breath—and somehow, it works.

At first glance, this looks like pure comedy. After all, who fights a centuries-old wraith with a wisecrack about modern technology? But humor has...

Not all houses come with good insulation. Some come with ghosts.

Forget granite countertops and energy-efficient windows—if you really want a property with character, you’ll need rattling chains, whispering corridors, and a portrait whose eyes definitely moved when you weren’t looking. Haunted houses have been captivating (and terrifying) people for centuries. They appear in folklore, fiction, and, if you’re Maggie Hawkins in The Haunting of Crumbleton Manor, they also come with sarcastic...

Ghosts are the worst at social etiquette. They never RSVP, show up late, and if they do bring snacks, it’s usually something cursed from 1692. In my latest short story, The Haunting of Crumbleton Manor, Maggie Hawkins discovers this first-hand when Lady Eleanor and Barnabas (resident freeloaders of the spectral variety) decide to crash her Halloween special. Between Barnabas’s sarcasm and Lady Eleanor’s flair for monologues, Maggie quickly learns that forgotten spirits rarely knock before...

Fantasy. The word alone conjures images of dragons, glowing swords, and possibly a very tired girl with a Chosen One complex. But fantasy isn’t just one big bubbling cauldron of magic and medieval cosplay—it’s a sprawling kingdom with many, many districts, each more enchantingly chaotic than the last.

Some are all ancient prophecy and dramatic cloaks. Others involve cursed coffee shops, murder horses, or enchanted goats who judge your life choices. Fantasy is a genre with range.

And yet, when...

If you had to strike a magical bargain with one water-dwelling creature, who’s your best bet? A fish-tailed flirt with a song for every emotion? A shape-shifting seal who leaves emotional wreckage like seaweed on the tide? Or a sleek horse with murder in its eyes and a loyalty problem?

Today, we're diving deep (possibly too deep) into the folklore swirl of mermaids, selkies, and kelpies—three aquatic beings who’ve haunted coastal legends, shipwrecked stories, and probably a few regrettable...

Everyone knows Scotland is famous for whisky, bagpipes, and an aggressively high number of haunted castles. But here’s the secret no one warns you about: the Scots also turned counting into something downright mystical. Forget numerology apps and “life path numbers.” In Highland and Lowland lore, numbers weren’t just arithmetic—they were magic in their own right. Three, seven, and nine weren’t casual choices. They were the numbers you reached for if you wanted to keep the fairies out of your...

From the world of The Bet in Nocturne Alley (now available)

Foggy Nocturne Alley doesn’t keep secrets well—too many alleyways, too many whispering windows, too many spells drifting through the smoke. But there’s one place where even ghosts learn to hold their tongues. A bar where the candles remember, and the woman who tends them remembers more.

Her name is Amara Nocturne.

She is not what you expect, and never what she was. Once a feared and formidable witch, Amara now walks the line between...

From the Enchanted Heritage series by Lisa A. Moore

(Whispers of the Selkie – out now | Song of the Drowned – coming late 2025)

When people ask about Morwenna Brightwood, they usually mention the ocean. The curse. The magic. The bloodlines.

But before she was all of those things, she was someone’s little sister.

That someone is Ava Brightwood—a tall, sharp-eyed boutique owner with a tactical mind and the unwavering posture of a woman who does not wait to be rescued. If Morwenna is the storm, Ava...

(As told by someone who’s ankle-deep in both folklore and grain offerings)

You know it’s Lughnasadh when the bread gets suspiciously symbolic, the fields hum with stories, and something in the wind starts whispering, “Everything comes with a price.”

Welcome to Lughnasadh (also known as Lammas), the Celtic festival of first harvest, sacred labor, and complicated feelings about baked goods. It’s a time when the sun still rules the sky, but you can feel the shadows starting to grow longer at the...

The other day, I caught myself staring at my to-do list like it had personally wronged me. My inbox was a swamp, my writing goals were gathering dust, and my tea had gone cold—again. Somewhere between “respond to emails” and “rework the sea monster subplot,” a weird question bubbled up:

How would someone like Athena handle this kind of chaos?

In my defense, that might’ve had something to do with the fact that I’d been playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with my husband during writing breaks. When...

Filed under: Character Interviews | Fantasy Antagonists | Whispers of the Selkie

Location: Unknown. The scent of rain lingers. Somewhere between now and never, I was summoned.

I have interviewed heroes, haunted souls, and even the occasional ghost. But never before have I interviewed someone who felt like the room belonged to him the moment he entered it.

Lucien de Noir Chevalier did not walk into the room—he appeared, already in place, seated in the high-backed chair like he’d been waiting...

Filed under: Character Interviews | Fantasy Lore | The Enchanted Heritage Series

Conducted by a wandering chronicler of forgotten magic, recorded on a wind-licked cliff above the North Atlantic.

The first thing you notice about Morwenna Brightwood isn’t her eyes—though they’re remarkable, sea-green and far too knowing for someone her age. It isn’t the faint shimmer of selkie markings beneath her sleeves, either, or the streak of silver in her otherwise dark hair.

It’s how still she is. Like the...

Last week, I sat down to write 5,000 words of my fantasy novel, Song of the Drowned. I had every intention of being productive. I had my coffee, my outline, and the smug optimism of a writer who hadn’t yet opened YouTube.

Cut to three hours later: I’m sailing the Aegean Sea, kicking Spartans off cliffs, and looting temples while dressed like a very angry sea witch. I wasn’t writing—I was playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

But here’s the twist: it was the best creative decision I’ve made in...

When Good Manners Are a Matter of Survival

Forget everything you think you know about royal etiquette. Human courts might embarrass you with a poorly timed curtsy, but selkie court protocol? One wrong move and you might not surface again.

In the upcoming novel, Song of the Drowned, selkie court manners aren't just about politeness—they're a complex language of power, respect, and survival that's been refined over millennia beneath the waves.

The Mathematics of Respect

In the selkie court, your...

Introduction: The Tapestry of Celtic Traditions

As fantasy authors, we often draw from the rich well of Celtic traditions, but understanding the distinct differences between Scottish folklore and Irish mythology can elevate our world-building from generic "Celtic fantasy" to authentic, culturally-grounded storytelling. Having woven selkie lore through Whispers of the Selkie and currently researching for a new series that delves deeper into Celtic traditions, I've discovered that these...

(As explained by someone who’s actually living the magic--Morwenna Willowheart Brightwood, protagonist of Whispers of the Selkie)

Let’s set the scene: the longest day of the year, sunlight stretching across the sky like it forgot how to set, tides behaving like they’ve had one too many enchanted meads, and spells refusing to behave unless you bribe them with elderflower syrup.

Yes, it's the summer solstice, also known in Celtic tradition as Litha—the fiery pinnacle of solar strength, when magic...

Disclaimer:

This post contains zero political, racial, or otherwise controversial content. It is intended purely as a humorous commentary on idiomatic expressions involving fruit. No bananas were harmed in the making of this post.

In the grand, fruity kingdom of language—where idioms and expressions reign supreme—there lies a dark, juicy secret that's been dividing us for too long. It’s the kind of thing that’s been splitting society right down the middle, and it’s high time we faced it.

Yes,...