START HERE - What's in a name, and hello.

Introductions.

Hi, I’m Susan. I write weird stories and love nature. I’m 44, and live on the edges of the Peak District with my family and cat.

I’m using this space to keep in touch with readers and make new connections. You’ll hear from me once a week, on Wednesdays

Please introduce yourself in the comments below. Share what you are reading at the moment if you’re not sure what to say.

Read on for a bit more about me and why I’m here.

I’ve been writing online since 2010. Topics that seem now from a previous life, like vintage lifestyle, things to do in Manchester, home renovations, and interiors. I’ve been both nominee and winner at different blog awards.

Now, my fiction revolves around the uncanny, the strange. Things that are adjacent to real life but are just a bit off, weird or horrific. My favourite writers are Shirly Jackson, Jeff Vandermeer, Angela Carter, and Robert Aikman.

Substack feels like a place where many of us OG bloggers are hanging out. We started our blogs for writing and connection, and we all got distracted by the pretty, shiny things on social media. Things have gone full circle.

Like many, I’ve been led a merry dance by social media. I carved out a place for myself and gathered an audience/tribe only to have it become like some obstacle course to get my content seen.

Don’t get me wrong, I met some of my greatest friends via my social channels. People I wouldn’t have met in real life. Moving forward, I plan on having my social media channels as my shop windows. Perhaps updated seasonally but not so much time invested in them.

And the title of my Substack? What’s that all about?

The Wild and the Quiet is a line from Tove Jansson’s Moominland Midwinter. I saw it recently out of context and it stayed with me. I think it fits where I am right now, striving for the balance between the wild and the quiet. As so many of us are.

As an author, much of my time is spent reading, thinking and writing; The Quiet.

As a mother, ADHDer, and creative, my brain is often busy and tangential; The Wild.

Here on Substack, I'll share research benders, mycelium mentionings, uncanny underneaths, and esoteric explorations.

I enjoy making connections with things that may perhaps at first glance, seem unconnected. I love getting to the bottom of things, full-on investigations. In another life, I’d be a librarian who did archaeology on the side. A feminist version of Indiana Jones.

Thanks for being here!