hi, I’m Lj,
I’m a book witch.
I write dark, magical stories.
I help writers to create artworks as singular, rich, and indelible as fairy tales through my programmes Atmospheres and Infinity Mirror.
This image is Kening Zhu’s illustration for Zone Rites.
Atmospheres
Atmospheres makes writing feel like a ceremony, a celebration, and a feast. As luxurious as drinking cocktails of molten gold.
Every ten days, I share a new potion, based on the zodiacal decans, and work with writers in a live ritual to produce new work or rewild existing projects.
For a taste, you can read my writing about the potions here.
This image is Kening Zhu’s illustration for Poison Cure.
Infinity Mirror
Infinity Mirror is an individual creative mentorship programme for writers.
Together, we work with intention and curiosity to allow your project to emerge in its most authentic and radical form.
We will create a magical infinity mirror for your ideas to sustain a lifetime of projects.
Read more about the programme here.
This image is Kening Zhu’s illustration for Diamond Rain.
This image is Kening Zhu’s illustration for The Feast.
Ceremony Studio
I invite you to feast with me. To savour every bite and to share your abundance.
To devour my intensive mentoring programme, Infinity Mirror.
To drink psychedelic potions in my community, Atmospheres.
To sharpen your appetite on my newsletter or writing.
Or to read more about my clients’ books here, and hear interviews with many of them on the Ceremony podcast.
books
“A frightening fairytale, surreal, not the story you think you know. A book that reads like a spell, meant to be read slowly. It unfolds like a strange dream, and a nightmare. A book I still think about years after reading it.” Kirin Khan
On Christmas night, a small girl is crowned at a pageant, before stumbling into the snowy darkness, alone, to meet her greatest fan. Set in Rosewood’s forest, the “creeping liquefaction” of the dead produces a fungal harvest that casts a spell on the town. In the endless dark of winter, feral creatures thrive, and psychedelic spores infect the air. The Museum of Atheism, deep below ground, is full of hallucinatory terrors.
“A fierce and deadly little fantasia that bites its way deep into your brain.” Brian Evenson
THE LUMINOL REELS takes its imagery from pornography, Catholicism, and crime scene investigation to interrogate the violence done to women. It considers the ongoing brutality of the femicides in Ciudad Juarez and the institutional misogyny of the Catholic Church. Violence is intrinsically linked to location, and the shrines, quinceañera parties, holy communions, and seances of this book are all stained luminescent blue.
“This book will forever change how you read about violence.” Nicola Maye Goldberg
When human blood reacts with luminol, it lights up a ghostly blue. This reaction, most commonly used to detect whether violence has taken place at suspected crime scenes, combines the human and the chemical, it invokes violence but also transformation.
interviews and discussions
Playlist at Largehearted Boy
Research Notes at Necessary Fiction
‘Scorpio Rising: Gothic Hybridity and the Occult: a Discussion with James Pate’ at 3AM Magazine
‘Rituals for Creative Writing + Unearthing Our Deepest Stories’ at Living Open Podcast
‘Talking about Tarot, Creativity, and Writing’ at The Life of Tarot Podcast.