When I first saw the Kinnitty Pyramid in 2022, I knew that I had to write a story about this mad folly stuck in the Irish countryside.
Alexander Lane – 2 July 2025
The Back Flap
When widowed father Josh takes his daughter Holly and a group of old university friends to Ireland for his 50th birthday, he hopes for laughter, memories and a chance to heal.
But in the quiet village of Kinnitty, something ancient is stirring. Holly becomes obsessed with a mysterious pyramid and when blood is spilled on its door, a cursed spirit awakens.
One by one, the group is pulled into a nightmarish struggle against a malevolent banshee who wants revenge for her betrayal thousands of years ago and will destroy anyone who stands in her way.
Holly slips further under the spirit’s spell and Josh faces an impossible choice as he fights to save his daughter or lose her forever to an evil from a time of legends. His only hope is a local policewoman descended from witches who fought the banshee two centuries before.
Atmospheric, terrifying, and laced with Irish folklore, Blood Point is a haunting tale of grief, love and the monstrous cost of second chances.
About the book
What is the book about?
When widowed father Josh takes his daughter Holly and a group of old university friends to Ireland for his 50th birthday, he hopes for laughter, memories, and a chance to heal.
But in the quiet village of Kinnitty, something ancient is stirring. Holly becomes obsessed with a mysterious pyramid and when blood is spilled on its door, a cursed spirit awakens.
I guess the main story is about grief, friendship, love and sacrifice, but along the way it takes in a bit of Irish history and plays with folk tales about banshees and fairies. Irish fairies are nasty characters, not to be messed with.
When did you start writing the book?
When I first saw the Kinnitty Pyramid in 2022, I knew that I had to write a story about this mad folly stuck in the Irish countryside. I began the serious research and outlining at the start of 2023, and the plan was always to use the first three months of the year to prepare, then sprint the first draft through April and May.
How long did it take you to write it?
The first draft of about 60,000 words took just over a month in early 2023, then there was a short break to the second draft and a long gap while I found a development editor and got side-tracked by life. I came back in 2024 for a major rewrite that added the historical section and made more revisions, then it was off to the beta readers, which also took a lot longer than I’d hoped, and a final sprint of rewrites and editing for the final draft in early 2025.
Where did you get the idea from?
At first, I simply had a notion for a Nightmare Vacation where some Brits would come to Ireland, find the Kinnitty Pyramid and get tangled in something horrible and spooky.
The real story came out of the research. None of the explanations for why the Bernard family built Kinnitty Pyramid made any sense and much of their history was lost during the Irish struggle for independence and the civil war that followed. That’s when Castle Bernard — now Kinnitty Castle — was gutted by fire. So that was one strand — why did they build this tomb and why were there only a few members of the Bernard family in it?
I was also doing a deep dive into Irish folklore, with a lot of help from the wonderful folk at the National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin. It’s really a museum of folk storytelling, and some of those tales are very adult — I recommend their podcast if you want to find out more about Irish folk tales and their history.
Then I found out that Kinnitty is a corruption of the old Irish Chionn Eitigh, which means “the head of the princess”. I’m sure it’s completely innocent, but I decided that it was the last remaining clue to a very dark episode, lost to time, and the epic scale of the story started to fall into place.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
My development editor and my first readers agreed that the female characters needed more voice and agency. They were absolutely right.
That meant adding two Irish voices, and I didn’t want to be the stereotype of a British author painting these patronising Irish caricatures. I’d been there for a couple of years now and I was used to hearing Irish people speak, so I knew how I wanted those characters to sound. The problem was that I couldn’t get it right without sounding too hokey. It took a lot of work, but I hope I’ve got the right balance now.
What came easily?
I really enjoyed writing the historical parts, both the ancient story that Holly dreams and the 19th century sections about the witches and the Bernard family. It’s a cliché, but Black Thomas and the witches came to life on the page, and they were a lot of fun to write. All of my betas said that they really enjoyed these sections, too, so I guess that says something about trusting your instincts when it feels right.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
The Bernard family all existed, but everyone else is fictional, and we know so little about the Bernards that I pretty much had a blank canvas beyond the historical setting. Of course, there are bits of real people here and there; writers are like magpies when we spot a shiny tidbit of real personality to put into a character.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
I’m sure they have but I honestly couldn’t point at any one author as an influence. I’m reading constantly and I’ve developed a much more critical reader’s eye since I became a writer, so I hope that I’m influenced by the best and worst aspects of the books that I’ve read.
I’ll leave it to readers to tell me if my style reminds them of anyone, and hope that it’s flattering.
Do you have a target reader?
I know the target reader is essential to certain genres, but I don’t find it a very useful concept. People who like supernatural horror with a bit of gore and mystery, I suppose, but I always think that you should write for yourself and read like a stranger. The story has to make sense to someone who knows nothing about it, and they should want to find out what happens next.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
Find a time and place where I can think without interruption, for at least an hour or two. Re-read the notes for what I want to work on and re-read the preceding scene if there is one. That reloads the story into my mind and kick-starts the creative engine, and I can write for three or four hours non-stop once it’s going. As I write every day or don’t stop for longer than a weekend, I’ll stay in that creative zone. I know when I’m really there because I start waking up with thoughts about the story that I have to write down if I want to get any sleep.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I outline in Plottr or Scrivener, then write in Scrivener. A chapter or scene usually needs just a few lines in the plan, but those could draw on other notes in my research or character outlines. I try to outline how the scene starts, why it’s there, what will change and how I’d like it to end, as well as a who, what, when and where.
Scrivener is good for outlining short stories in its notecards view, but Plottr suits me better as a visual outlining tool for novels. You can do some world-building in there too, make notes on characters, locations and timelines, visualise plot arcs and themes to see how they fit together. When the Plottr outline is ready, I’ll export to Scrivener for writing, and during the early drafts I’ll go back and forth until I’m happy with the structure. Eventually it’s so embedded in my mind that I don’t need the visual tool any more.
Both Plottr and Scrivener give me a freedom to move scenes or chapters around and to zoom quickly from the micro level of a scene to the macro structural level. Ultimately, the Scrivener document becomes a bible for the whole project, with character profiles, locations, research and even marketing plans in one place.
But a plan is a bit like a wishlist, and writing is where you create a reality for your characters. When the two don’t match up, it’s usually because the plan was missing something that I can only understand as the story emerges. This might be slight changes to scenes or a digression in the plot, or it could be a fundamental structural change in the next draft.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I usually start a session by re-reading and making a few edits from the past session, but that’s often typos and spotting where I’ve rushed through something that needs more detail. I find that scenes often need a second or third pass because it’s easy to focus on setting, dialogue, or action when you’re writing the first draft.
Complete re-reads are as much about seeing the big picture as spotting small errors. I get more out of it when I take the book off my regular screen and read it in a new setting, like a tablet or even a print out.
Did you hire a professional editor?
I hired a development editor for Blood Point, someone who knows Irish history and folklore. I had a solid second draft and it was time to see how someone else understood the story. They came up with a few surprises, but I was mostly relieved that their suggestions tracked with my instincts about what needed to change.
I rely on multiple re-reads, spellchecks and grammar-checking tools. Most of all, my background in journalism means that I tend to write clean copy and correct a lot of minor errors as I go. That said, my eagle-eyed beta readers spotted a few howlers in the final furlong.
I’ve got nothing against editors, mind you. A new perspective can be creatively refreshing and help you to see problems that you’re unwilling to accept after a long time working on a project. I’d love to work with a professional copy editor, but right now, I’d rather spend that money on the development editor and cover art.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
Music is a great way to build a writing space free from distractions, but the truth is that once I’m writing I don’t hear it unless something really good or really bad crops up. Soundtracks, instrumentals, post-rock and trancey dance music are all good aural wallpaper for creativity.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Blood Point was always going to be a self-published novel. Once I started down that road, I knew that I had to write at least three books in the Nightmare Vacations series for readers to take an interest. I’ve got nothing against trad pub, but the more I hear about agents’ wish lists and their ever-growing stacks of submissions, the less I feel like it’s a game that I want to play.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
I pitched Blood River, my first novel, to about thirty agents over two years while I was doing my MA in creative writing. I got a few polite refusals, but mostly I was screaming into the void. A few writer friends also read it and gave their feedback, by which time I’d decided that the long timescales of trad publishing weren’t for me. At 50-plus, life is too short to hope that my odd little stories will catch the zeitgeist!
Instead, I used Blood River to learn the ropes of self-publishing while I worked on the next book. It’s had decent reviews and when I push it, I get sales. This time around I feel like I understand the industry a lot better and I’m a better writer than I was five years ago.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
Getting a pro cover was always the plan for Blood Point. I’m a member of ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors, so I was able to choose from reputable cover artists offering discounts. I asked Design For Writers to create covers for Blood Point and Blood River, giving me a title style that I can use with other Nightmare Vacations stories and branding.
They asked me to create a cover briefing document, which made me think about my stories in a completely different way. I’m tempted do it as an exercise at a very early stage in my next project, once the outline is drafted.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I have a plan this time, from the cover reveal in April to the ebook launch in June, but I’m still trying a lot of new things. Just like making a cover, marketing makes you consider your work from a different perspective, breaking it down into bite-sized chunks that you hope will catch the eye of a potential reader. Coming up with ideas is a creative challenge of its own, and I’ve found that it’s fun and inspirational to change gear from writing to marketing.
My email newsletter is a huge part of my long-term marketing strategy, and it’s taken a while to find a format that reflects who I am as a writer. I do two newsletters a month: the first includes a short piece of brand new fiction, the second is a short book review plus some recommendations of interesting books I’ve stumbled across.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Give yourself plenty of time to learn the craft and the industry, because there’s a lot to learn in self-publishing. Good writing takes time. Editing takes time. Planning takes time. Marketing takes time. Your first book is just the beginning, so don’t worry if it isn’t an overnight bestseller. Your goal is to build a catalogue that readers can take seriously when they find you, and with every book you’ll get better and you’ll understand more.
Listen to advice from places like r/selfpublish on Reddit, take short courses and videos from reputable places like Reedsy, and beware of scams, because there are a lot of people out there who will offer an easy route to success if you’re willing to pay.
About You
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Wolverhampton, a small post-industrial city in the English West Midlands. It’s OK, but I couldn’t wait to get out and see the rest of the world.
Where do you live now?
After three years in rural Ireland, I’m back in the West Midlands, this time in Birmingham, which is like Wolverhampton’s big brother. I lived in London for 20-odd years before we went to Ireland, and I’ve definitely missed the buzz of city life, even if the traffic is a nightmare.
What would you like readers to know about you?
My bio says that I’ve almost died on six continents, which I guess means that I’m always looking for somewhere to set the next Nightmare Vacations story. If I could make that seven continents plus outer space, I’d be very happy, but I’m not so keen that I’d like my bio to become my obituary.
What are you working on now?
I’m polishing up a Nightmare Vacations short story that will be exclusive to my newsletter subscribers. After that, there’s an unfinished space opera trilogy about rebellious robots that deserves my attention. I also need to develop a third Nightmare Vacations novel, which will be set in either Colombia or North Africa.
End of Interview:
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