Dreams and story-making walk side by side – no wonder the Aborigines speak of the Dreamtime in their creation tales. I’ve never forgotten Lucy Coats leading a shamanistic dream journey at the SCBWI retreat in Dunford House – a powerful way to go inside your creative self. Continue reading
The Queen smiles as she greets Archbishop of York, John Sentamu as she arrives for Maundy Thursday Service at York Minster Chris Jackson/Getty Images via Daily Telegraph.
This Lent I tried to give up two of my psychological props with rather mixed success. This Maundy Thursday, I’m reflecting on how it’s gone so far. Continue reading
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!
St. Patrick’s day blessings to all my Irish friends – whatever fraction of green blood they may have in their veins. I would love to share in your celebrations – if you’ll have me… Continue reading
There’s a great deal of cruelty in the news right now. It’s one of the reasons behind my Lenten retreat from social media. Still I can’t escape it altogether. A dear friend has been deeply affected by a child murder close to where she lives. Reality insists on being seen – so why on earth do I chose to write fantasy, to make impossible things up? Continue reading
Mention metamorphosis and two contrasting ideas flit into my mind. On the Humanities side there’s Kafka’s story of Gregor Samsa waking up to find himself a beetle, and Ovid with his tales of Greek legends. In contrast, amongst the Science stacks of the L-space in my brain, I recall Lepidoptera and Amphibians. All are to do with transformation. What influence has metamorphosis had on stories?
Can I tempt you?
Lent is traditionally a time for giving up things – say, chocolate, wine or meat. This year, I felt the need for something else to abstain from. Something to which I have a rather ambiguous relationship. Continue reading
I am having a Lenten break from social media at the moment – but just as I closed my apps on Shrove Tuesday, I noted a thread on audiences at school being segregated by gender. I goggled at the concept of saying only girls could attend a female writer – or vice versa. Those of you who know me or my blog posts can imagine my reaction to that… Continue reading
Tonight I attend ‘More of Me’ Book Launch II for my dear friend Kathryn Evans – a special for the inhabitants of Chichester and its hinterland. If I have time after I return from the dentists in the afternoon, I shall wear an outrageous green dress. I have heard that green dresses are unlucky – green being the colour of the fair folk – but I have no wish to bring ill-fortune to my colleague. Rather a dusting of lucky fairy dust…
Cover design by Hannah Cobley at Usborne
Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper
Apparently, an interregnum is the period between two reigns. In English History, it can refer to the time between Charles I ‘s execution and the arrival of Charles II, whilst we had a Republic (30 January 1649 – 29 May 1660)
Metaphorically, it can mean any suspension of government from the end of one regime to the beginning of another. I rather feel I am in one… Continue reading
What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her?Hamlet, Act II sc ii Shakespeare
Why does the death of someone I did not know reduce me to tears? Continue reading