You’ve stumbled across my Field Notes, which means you either follow me on TikTok, or I’ve been blessed by SEO.

I’m Mitch Steed and I’m currently writing my first novel. My Field Notes section is my daily/weekly musings over the process. There’ll be snippets of scenes, little tidbits on how my daily life has influenced the story, and updates on when the story will be completed and ready to publish.

If you like chaotic energy, queer longing, and examining the shadows in your peripherals, then keep visiting.

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Last night I finished reading a chapter in We Are The Ants which discusses the sensation of aliens abducting the main character. Shadows slowly creep in to grab him with their smoky tendrils. After that I was walking by my glass doors and saw a figure move. I froze in place and refused to look at it.

In that moment I was transported into Mikey’s world (my main character in my novel). I was Mikey. My stomach was in knots, I was lifting myself off damp, grainy sand. Waves were crashing, and hovering in front of me was a shadowy figure with silver eyes. It was unsettling, and the “freeze” part of my brain had kicked in.

This spurred on a full chapter which added the creepy seeding of a supernatural element into the story.

It’s moments like these that help you write. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is… sometimes inspiration strikes at the strangest of times.

And for the record, the dark figure by my window? A deer. The cooler months bring them out. I live in the bush.