creative writing Archives - Hesper Leveret

The fantasy con programme and my convention badge

Ten Cons On

By Hesper Leveret November 2, 2026Blog postsNo Comments

I recently returned home from this year’s Fantasy Convention in Glasgow. As always, I had a great time: catching up with old friends, making new ones, learning more about both the craft of writing speculative fiction and the current state of the publishing industry.

Getting Joy From Rejection

By Hesper Leveret May 15, 2026Blog posts

Yesterday I went on a little shopping spree. I bought an orchid, a nice pot to put it in, a couple of scented wax melts, some fancy hand cream, and…

Inspiration on Ice

By Hesper Leveret March 5, 2026Blog posts2 Comments

Now it's hard to think of two human endeavours that are more different from each other than writing and ice-skating, but I'm taking my inspiration from the rink nonetheless.

A hard copy of the Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis, featuring a stylised image of a blue-and-gold spaceship. There's also a propped-up Kindle showing the cover of The Terror by Dan Simmons, with a black-and-white picture of a sailing ship's masts. Placed around the two books are a leaflet with a picture of a wax melt burner and some autumn leaves, with the message 'the cosy season starts here', a half-drunk mug of coffee, and a potted fern in a basket

It Just Ain’t Cosy If Everything’s Rosy

By Hesper Leveret November 25, 2025Blog posts3 Comments

I feel like I’ve been bombarded with cosiness lately. Shop windows, promotional emails, messages from coffee shops trying to entice me to try their latest seasonal latte laced with diabetes-flavoured…

A pile of wrapped gifts and some folded pieces of yellow paper. The pieces of paper have stickers on with pictures of cute sea animals, and the gifts have matching stickers.

Writing with Passion not Pressure in Prep-tember

By Hesper Leveret September 9, 2025Blog posts

So, it’s September now, the weather has turned decisively from summery to autumnal, and my boys are back in school and pre-school. It’s time to turn my attention back from…

Plans, Pants, Plants: How to Make a Novel Happen

By Hesper Leveret June 26, 2025Blog posts4 Comments

So I’ve recently had a depressing realisation, followed by a revelation, followed by a dilemma, and it’s all to do with how I’m going to make a novel happen.I’ve been…

A tree covered in pink blossoms against a blue sky. Nearby is a magnolia tree with a few flowers left.

Spring Forwards

By Hesper Leveret April 11, 2025Blog posts

‘Spring is here, spring is here, life is skittles and life is beer. I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring, don’t you? ‘Course you do!’ -Tom…

Good Times, Bad Times

By Hesper Leveret January 30, 2025Blog posts

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to staying alive in ‘twenty five. Other than surviving until 31st December, my aim for this year is to finish the first draft of my…

NaNoWriNO

By Hesper Leveret November 12, 2024Blog posts

As you may have noticed, it’s now November, the time of year many writers have traditionally referred to as National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is an annual challenge in which…

The Shortest Way to Sweet: Part II

By Hesper Leveret April 30, 2024Blog posts

Or, How Writing Short Can Help You Write Good. In my first blog post about short stories, I explored how I overcame my own reservations and learned to love short…