How I Create the Atmosphere Around My Stories

Creating the Atmosphere Behind My Stories

If you’ve been following my writing journey, you’ll already know that I adore atmosphere almost as much as I adore a cup of tea, a dramatic Lego tableau, or a zombie politely minding their own business in a Somerset fog. My books are visual worlds in my head long before they ever become chapters on a page, so I’ve always tried to bring some of that feeling into my website and social spaces.

Lately, a few lovely readers have asked:

“How do you create your images?”

So here’s a gentle peek behind the curtain—nothing technical, nothing divisive, just the truth of how I explore ideas while building my worlds.

I use a mix of tools — and a lot of trial and error

Sometimes I sketch ideas.
Sometimes I edit in Canva or Photoshop.
Sometimes I start with an AI-generated draft to help me visualise tone, colour, or mood.

What matters to me is the crafting, not the shortcut. Whatever the starting point looks like, the final image is something I shape, refine, repaint, recolour, and rebuild until it fits the emotional heart of my stories.

And honestly? I spend more time muttering things like

“Why is there an extra arm?”
“No, don’t change the hair again.”
and
“Please behave yourself just this once.”

than I ever expected. It’s chaotic. It’s creative. It’s part of the fun.

A tool is never the artist—you are

I care deeply about artists and designers, and nothing I do replaces their talent or expertise. If I had the resources to hire illustrators for every visual on my site, I absolutely would. Their work is extraordinary.

But as an indie author building my world step by step, I use the tools I have access to. I explore. I learn. I adapt. And every final image still goes through my hands, my eye, and my decisions. It’s personal from start to finish.

Using creative tool, whether a pencil, a camera, a piece of software, or anything else, doesn’t make you less of an artist. It simply gives you different ways to express your imagination.

What I don’t use AI for is my writing

My stories come from my own heart and history:

• my memories
• my humour
• my chaos
• my late-night voice notes
• my heritage
• my children
• my lived experiences

Every sentence in Queen’s Road, The Quiet Season, and Rum, Salt & Shadow is mine. Written by me. Sweated over by me. Shaped with love and a questionable amount of tea.

AI doesn’t write my books.
AI doesn’t come near my voice.
AI doesn’t guide the emotional spine of my stories.

The heart of my work will always be human.

Why I’m sharing this

Not to debate anything.
Not to take a stance.
Not to convince anyone.

Simply because honesty is important to me.
Because readers deserve to know how something came to life.
And because creativity today is a blend of old skills, new tools, and the same human imagination that has always powered storytelling.

AI might light a spark, but I’m the one who builds the fire, one image, one scene, one stubborn zombie silhouette at a time.

Thank you for being here with me, for caring about my worlds, and for holding space for creativity in all its strange, modern forms.

With warmth, humour, and probably a dog digging up something in the garden,

Emma