Haunted Halls and Hidden Libraries

 My Gothic Inspirations

Good Evening Dear friends,

September already and believe it or not, last night I had the fire on, toasting my feet in front of it, Lady Cora cat curled up on my knee lapping up the atmosphere.

I mentioned before that I adore Autumn. It is my favourite season. The beginning of open log fires, hot chocolate, smooth jazz drifting from the record player, candles and dimmed lights. Mmmm yes please.

Autumn is also the time when I really get down to writing. My characters feel the season in their arcs and their bones. It’s also the time when I sneak in a cheeky trip, either a city break or a little holiday by the sea.

City breaks always lead me to secret almost undiscovered book shops, cafes that leave you wondering if you stepped back in time, or through a portal and into another dimension.

 

Whispering Walls: The Places That Speak to Me

Last year, I holidayed in Dubrovnik, Croatia. A city so beautiful, and steeped in history. The old town with its walls protecting it since the 16^th century, the narrow streets hiding ghosts and the pathways that lead to the Adriatic. How could one not be inspired? Trailing along a street, a glimpse of a leather coat as it disappeared around the corner, did you really hear the steel on steel of swords clashing?

It was on one such street I happened upon a bookshop, windows filled with modern tomes, I almost didn’t go inside but there was a whisper on the breeze… 

The next place that seduced me and left me breathless. A labyrinth of narrow streets dating back to the Roman times, the Moorish influence still evident, even though it had been rebuilt. The heat radiating from the stone, leaves one fevered in the historical madness of the ancient world.

I am talking of course, about Melite, as the Romans called it, or Rabat, Malta as we know it today.

Oh how those walls speak,  not just of history,  but of whispers, long forgotten secrets pressed between stones, just waiting, hoping that someone is daring enough to listen….

Shadows in the Stacks: Libraries of the Imagination

Of course, just recently, I went on an unplanned trip to Kinnitty Castle. A place that is steeped in history, not just the castle, but the area itself. There is the very haunted, and legendary Leap Castle close by. This is the county of my birth, Offaly. It is full of lore, Gothic, and Celtic.

Kinnitty Castle, is now a hotel, and whenever I go to Offaly I like to have a cup of coffee there. The reason behind such an ordinary thing is the restaurant has a beautiful library. Tomes large and small, hardbacks dating back centuries and some modern books too. I always allow my imagination to wander among the ghosts that inhabit the dining room.

When I sit at one of the tables I glance at the books and wonder about who owned them, not just the owners of the castle through history, but those who touched the books, sat before the fire on an autumnal night, reading by candlelight, shadows dancing across the walls.

The Aesthetic of Atmosphere: Turning Inspiration Into Story

Being from ‘The Faithful County’, I was fortunate to have grown up in a deeply atmospheric part of Ireland. Rolling countryside, with castles and land that held secrets, and mysteries so ghostly they curled in the marrow, lingering in the damp autumn air.. An old inn near a town where one stormy November night, a stranger knocked on the door seeking shelter. Fear gripped the residents so much: one man’s hair turned white, another became mute, and the innkeeper? What innkeeper?

Places like Offaly are a goldmine for a gothic writer, each hill and ruin whisper stories .

Explore Your Own Shadows

So, my lovely friends, open your mind to the hidden world around you. Call upon your inspiration, and listen to the breeze.

Thank you for spending the evening with me, I shall look forward to seeing you back here, in the scriptorium, hidden away in the Militiverse where stories wait in the dark to be discovered.

Luv yas

Anna..xoxo