I Set Up a Summoning Circle, and Leigh Kenny Appeared!

Leigh Kenny was born and raised in the garden county of Wicklow, Ireland, and lives by the Irish Sea with the love of her life, two wonderful boys, a black Labrador, and a three-legged cat that hates people (I mean, honestly….same). Leigh released her debut novel, Cursed, last December, and is featured in several anthologies, including Broken Brain Books’ Screams from the Ocean Floor and Above the Rain Collective’s Final Passenger that is set to release in May.

I set up a summoning circle with a couple potatoes, a promise from Ben Young to collaborate (shhh…it’s totally legit), a tweed cap, a pint from the closest pub, and some books by Stephen King, Ronald Malfi, and Kealan Patrick Burke, and wouldn’t you know it? Leigh Kenny appeared and agreed to have a chat with me!

Q: Who has been your biggest supporter(s) throughout your writing career?

A: My partner, James, has by far been my biggest supporter. He has been patient when I’m in writing mode, he hasn’t complained when I’ve been too busy to prioritize him, he has shouldered more responsibility at home to allow me to focus on my work. He has been my biggest cheerleader since day one. Within the writing community itself, I’ve found some fantastic support and life-long friends, too. Ben Young, Sarah Jules, MJ Mars, M L Rayner, Phil Baker…there are too many to name. I’ve been very, very lucky in terms of the support I’ve received so far.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?

A: My own fears, mostly. If something scares me then I will try to write it and convey that feeling to my readers. My debut, Cursed, came about because I found a hair in a box. My current WIP was inspired by the terrifying stories that surround the mountains near my home. I can see them from my back door, and every time I look out, I wonder what secrets are buried there, and what horrors those desolate and lonely mountain roads could be hiding. I’ve always had an active imagination, and it’s definitely the most important tool in my arsenal as a writer.

Q: What does it mean to you to be an author?

A: It means everything. I’ve had a great relationship with the written word all my life. To make a career from writing seems like the appropriate thing. I am my own biggest critic in life, and one of my biggest fears is dying and leaving nothing behind. As an author, I am meeting that fear head on and creating a legacy of sorts. I have copies of my work that can be passed from my children to theirs. When I am gone, my words will remain, and that soothes my soul.

Q: What is your writing process like? Do you listen to certain music, snack, make loads of phone notes when inspiration randomly strikes, etc.?

A: Chaotic. As a parent to a teenager and a toddler, my life is crazy. I rarely get a minute to myself, so writing time is snatched in wisps and strands wherever I can find it. Usually, I will sit for an hour or two at night and try to get as many words down as possible. I prefer to write in silence though, because I am very easily distracted so background noise, especially music, will draw my mind away from the story.

Being on the go constantly means that many of the notes I make as inspiration strikes are made on my phone. I have so many story fragments scattered around. Every now and then, I’ll try to organize everything and put it on my laptop, but I usually end up getting distracted. Honestly, I’m the human equivalent of a magpie. Always chasing the next shiny thing!

Q: Is there a genre or subgenre that you want to explore that you haven’t yet? Conversely, are there any that you’ll never write?

A: There are so many subgenres in horror that I’d love to pursue! I’ve dabbled in many of them in short stories, but I’d love to eventually write a full-length creature feature, specifically alien horror that isn’t heavy on the sci-fi. I don’t think I’m ever likely to write anything too extreme because I’m a wimp when it comes to bodily functions! Outside of horror, there is one genre that I never, ever, thought I would write in, but I have actually decided to experiment in. It’s a combination of personal challenge and request from a family member.

Q: What has been the hardest part of your career as an author so far?

A: That would be a toss-up between the marketing and the self-doubt.

The marketing is without a doubt the most difficult part of writing, especially for independently published authors. It becomes so all-consuming, and it can be difficult to step away from. I feel like I spend more time marketing than I do writing, and at times, it has sucked the joy from the whole experience for me. It eats into what little free time I have, and it can be very difficult to find balance between marketing and real life. My relationships have suffered occasionally when I become too singularly focused on marketing, but I am hoping to eventually strike a better balance.

The self-doubt is an entirely different monster, but just as consuming. Imposter syndrome is the bane of my life, and I imagine many others can relate. It can be a rollercoaster at times!

Q: What do you consider to be your greatest strength and weakness as an author?

A: My greatest strength is my authenticity, I think. What you see is what you get with me. I don’t play games, and nobody ever needs to second guess what I tell them. If I offer you my support, you will get it wholeheartedly and at no cost. If you have supported me, you will own a piece of my heart forever. There is a lot of politics within the community, much more than I ever realized, and I have unfortunately been burnt by giving too much of myself to the wrong people. I am resilient though. I will always strive to better myself, and I will always strive to offer my help to those who reach out and ask for it. I firmly believe that if one of us within the horror community succeeds, we all do.

My authenticity is also my weakness because I can be quite naive sometimes. I expect people to give the same of themselves and when they don’t. it can be disappointing. I’m gonna go ahead and mention the self-doubt again here, too, as a weakness.

Q: At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard the negative comments: “You’re not good enough.” “You’ll never make it.” “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” “You don’t belong.” How do you move forward when faced with negativity?

A: I’m really quite lucky that I’ve rarely faced negativity like that in my life. I try to surround myself with positive people, and so far, so good. I’m pretty fiery though, so should I ever face that kind of rhetoric, I pity the one who chooses to say it. I refuse to take shit from anyone.

Q: What advice would you give to women who are wanting to write, especially if it’s something others might perceive as “outside of the norm”?

A: There is no such thing as outside of the norm. What is normal to the spider, is chaos to the fly. Your own perception and your own wants should trump everything else. If you want to write, put pen to paper and start. Somewhere. Anywhere. You CAN do it, and you SHOULD do it. Reach out to authors. You will find your support system. My inbox is always open to anyone who has questions, needs help or anything in between. If I can help you, I will. Self-doubt will get you regardless, so why not be a writer with self-doubt as opposed to someone with self-doubt who want to be a writer.

Under threat of telling everyone she was actually from the UK and only pretending to be Irish, Leigh revealed that she’s working on her next book that follows an American tourist who meets the family from hell while traveling in the Wicklow Mountains. I’ve been told it’s much darker than her debut and will hopefully be released this summer! I thought I heard whisperings of a sequel to Cursed coming in 2025, but it was hard to hear under all the gobshites and geebags being thrown around 😀

Before the potatoes that I used in my summoning circle fried to crisps, I did manage to get a couple book recommendations thrown at me for my troubles! Leigh recommends Echoes of Home by M L Rayner as a “beautifully written and moving story” about the Scottish and Irish famines of the 1800’s and Colours by C S Jones. Colours is Jones’ debut that drops March 26th; Leigh is anticipating great things from him in the future and says, “he has a wonderful voice for storytelling.”

If anyone would like to watch her kids for an hour or ten so Leigh can bang out that new release for the summer, you can find her on Instagram and Facebook! If you can’t watch the kiddos – in that case, I’ve been authorized to call you a craic vacuum (which sounds like it hurts) – then you can let Leigh know you support her by reading her debut, Cursed, which is $0.99 on Amazon all month long to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Women’s History Month, and the upcoming Books of Horror Indie Brawl contender voting on Facebook.