Behind the Ink

Where stories begin before they find their words.

Welcome, dear reader.

 If you've found your way to this quiet corner of my world, consider this your personal invitation to step behind the curtain — into the place where ideas begin as whispers, shadows, and half-remembered ghosts.

This is not a blog.
It is not an update feed.
It is not a newsletter.

This is something different.
Something more intimate.

This is the space where I speak to you not as an author selling books,
but as a man navigating memory, myth, fear, ink, healing, and the strange magic of storytelling.

Where Stories Come From

Every story I write begins long before the first sentence.
Sometimes in a moment of stillness.
Sometimes in darkness.
Sometimes in the echo of a real experience I survived — or am still learning to survive.

Elm Brook Manor, Hemlock Manor, my darker works on trauma and bullies, even the stories meant for children — they all share one root:
a desire to understand humans, their secrets, their ghosts, and the soft places where we break.

Here, I’ll share the things that shape my writing:

• the images that spark a chapter
• the whispered lines that come at 3am
• the moments from my own life that become fiction
• the metaphors that follow me
• the wounds that taught me how to create worlds
• the truths I am not always brave enough to speak out loud

This is where I place them.

Fragments From My Desk

Sometimes what appears here will be polished.
Other times, it will be raw — the first breath of a thought, the first heartbeat of a story.

Expect to find:

✨ early concept sketches of characters and places

 ✨ symbolism behind my ghosts, manors, and myths

 ✨ personal reflections on fear, healing, trauma, and strength

 ✨ inspirations from history, folklore, and the human mind

 ✨ glimpses into what I’m writing next

 ✨ small secrets that never made it into the final books

You are free to wander.
Free to linger.
Free to return whenever you need a quiet moment.

A Note to You

The fact that you’re reading this means more than you know.
In a world overflowing with noise, you chose to step into mine — and that is a gift I do not take lightly.

My stories exist because people like you carry them forward.
Share them.
Feel them.
Breathe with them.

Here, behind the ink, I offer you my truth in return.

Welcome to the heart of it all.

What I’m Writing Next

Many of you who read Elm Brook Manor reached out to tell me how deeply you connected with the MacTavish family — Coby with his stubborn courage, Gracie with her gentleness and quiet strength, young Ewan with his wide eyes and fierce little heart. More than a few readers told me these characters felt real, like neighbours you might greet on your morning walk.

And so, I’ve brought them back.

I’m currently deep in the final stages of writing an exciting prequel to Elm Brook Manor, one that follows the MacTavish family before the events you already know.
This story explores where they came from, what shaped them, and the secrets that haunted them long before the manor whispered their names.

It has been a joy — and a challenge — to return to their world.

If you’ve followed my journey as a writer, you’ll know I was once a Feature Journalist. With that came a tendency to pepper my sentences with sensory detail (guilty as charged, me captain). Readers kindly pointed it out, and I listened.
I’ve spent the last year refining my style, learning restraint, choosing moments instead of flooding them.

I hope this story reflects that growth.
he ending is now in sight, and if all goes well,

the prequel will launch in early 2026.

Until then, I’ll keep writing, polishing, and wandering through the halls of memory where the MacTavishes still walk.

— Iwan