Inspiration for stories can come to you as nearby as the local shopping centre, or on travels to the other side of the world.
Going to Summertime was inspired close to home. The hairdressing salon at the centre of it is, physically at least, inspired by the salon I’ve gone to for years, which is glassed on two sides and set in a busy outdoor mall. Every time I go I’m struck by how many people wander by. The snippets of conversation, the glimpse of a person; all in the reflection of a mirror.
The haunted cul-de-sac is (again, only physically!) inspired by streets nearby me. I love walking in the evening, when all the curtains are drawn and the nighttime lives are happening. The smell of food cooking, the glow of the television, the undertow of voices; all of it bringing to mind lives I know nothing about. On one particular evening, I was walking to collect some parsley, offered in my local Buy Nothing group. I needed some for dinner, so the timing was perfect. It was cold, mid-winter, and a mist dropped as I walked, dampening my hair and my face, and obscuring the street lights so everything had a mysterious, almost ghostly glow. I knew then I needed to set my next book in a haunted cul-de-sac.
Future stories will be inspired by my recent trip to Spain, which was fascinating and full of story prompts. I have one coming out inspired by a six hour bus ride through the heart of Spain, but I have many other ideas waiting to be written. I have photos galore on my phone; here are just a few! Watch out for these stories before too long.
There is the museum hallway at midnight, after a late outdoor movie viewing.
There is the street we discovered as we were wandering in Madrid, both of us caught breathless. It is called Belle Vista, so we are not alone! But it fascinates me as to why, of all the streets along this stretch, this is the one so beautiful? Magic? Ghosts? We shall see.
And this wall, bricked in. And the derelict castles, the Roman relics, the rocky plains. So much material!
GOING TO SUMMERTIME by Kaaron Warren
RELEASE DATE: October 27, 2026
GENRE: Horror | Supernatural
BOOK PAGE: https://meerkatpress.com/books/going-to-summertime/
Every suburban street holds secrets and ghosts, but Summerland Place holds more than most. The team from The Red Mullet Hair Salon head to Summerland Place to explore the abandoned houses there, on a prepaid, enter at own risk, explore every nook and cranny team building exercise. They are welcomed by the charismatic Milton, who runs the tours through the cul-de-sac he grew up in. They find houses filled with malevolent ghosts and tragic ones, with memories of family trauma and family meals. All come out changed by what they see, and what it triggers in them. Some will be lost in Summertime, a euphoric state of mind. Georgia, owner of the Salon, thinks she is stronger than any of it. She has no past trauma, no secrets; some would say no heart. She didn’t expect to fall in love. Every instinct tells her not to. And yet she is drawn into the disturbing world of Milton and his mother, as she feels the seductive draw of Summertime ever stronger.
BUY LINKS: Meerkat Press | Bookshop.org | Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She has published six multi-award winning novels: Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole, Tide of Stone and The Underhistory, and seven short story collections, her most recent being Calvaria Fell, with Cat Sparks, from Meerkat Press. Her stories have been shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award and the Stoker, and appeared in both Ellen Datlow’s and Paula Guran’sYear’s Best anthologies. Her writing podcast Let the Cat In showcases ideas, objects, and inspirations
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