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'The Museum of Shadows and Reflections' by Claire Dean: Review
Claire Dean’s fairy stories are for adults, not because anything in them is inappropriate for children, simply because most children would find them difficult to understand. Much is left hanging in the...
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The Magical SATOR Square
In Lady Wilde’s ‘Ancient Legends of Ireland’ there’s a story about a young man, a poet, who attempts to seduce a farmer’s daughter. He’s used to having his wicked way with girls, for we're told that...
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Song of the Winter King
Song of the Winter King 1Hair of crystal and hands of iceThe snow sieves down above him,He shakes in his palm two silver diceAnd whoever sees him loves him.Now one of the dice is...
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Willie Miller and the Sleeper in the Cave
In the widespread legend known as 'The King in the Mountain' (Aarne-Thompson 776), an unsuspecting shepherd or lost traveller stumbles upon a cavern in which he (so far as I know it's always a he)...
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FITH-FATH AND THE WIZARD’S DUEL: CHANGE YOUR FREQUENCY
Ceridwen by Christopher WilliamsA guest post by Laura Marjorie MillerHave you ever dreamt that you are being pursued, and to evade your pursuer, you leap into the air? Can you recall the form you are...
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The Naming of Dark Lords!
It's summer, the sun is actually shining (or it was): hopefully we've all got better things to do than sit indoors - and I've got a book I need to finish writing. So I'll be taking a break from this...
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The Silver Cup from Dagberg Daas
Here is a version of an old tale I used in my first book, Troll Fell’. I love the practical but horrific way this 'berg-woman' deals with her long, drooping breasts. A berg-man or berg-woman is a mound...
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"Tales from India" - by Bali Rai
Wicked magicians, wise priests, handsome princes, beautiful princesses - along with greedy tigers and sly jackals. What's not to love? I'm delighted to welcome Bali Rai to the blog to talk about his...
View ArticleA Conversation about Fairytales (1)
This is the first of two Youtube interviews at the Greystones Press, in which Mary Hoffman, my fellow-writer, publisher and friend, asks me some questions about fairy tales and my bookSeven Miles of...
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The Terror of Trees
Ellum he do grieve,Oak he do hate,Willow do walkIf you travels late.This old Somerset rhyme is quoted by KM Briggs in ‘The Fairies in Tradition and Literature’: she explains it thus: ‘The belief behind...
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Folklore Snippets: The Tailor and the Corpse
I love this story partly because it's such a good one to tell aloud - and also because the hero is one of those impudently brave tailors who turn up so often in fairy tales and folk tales. I think...
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Gramarye
I am delighted to be in the new issue of GRAMARYE, the journal of the Sussex Folklore Centre and as usual an unmissable read for folk lore and fairy tale enthusiasts.This issue contains three...
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"It's not just an [insert genre] book..."
I'm still engaged in writing the next book, so here's one from the archives - from three years ago. Still relevant though. I went into ‘The Last Bookshop’ in Oxford the other day, which sells what I...
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Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson
Good reviews are always lovely to receive, but sometimes you receive one which means more than most. This, from the almost legendary Jacqueline Simpson, sometime President of the Folklore Society,...
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Re-reading 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'
I beg the indulgence of re-posting this piece about a very Christmassy book indeed. (It first appeared on this blog in 2014.) I am still busy writing my new book, which I'm hoping to finish some time...
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Re-reading Narnia: 'Prince Caspian'
Continuing to re-post my series from 2014 on Narnia. Much as I adored the Narnia books as a child, Prince Caspian was never my favourite among the Seven Chronicles, and the reason is as clear to me now...
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Re-reading Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
I have two very different personal memories relating to this book. One, vividly happy, is from childhood. The other comes from a time when I was a young adult working in London. And it still makes me...
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Re-reading Narnia: The Silver Chair
It's good to be back! I'm sorry for leaving this blog of mine fallow for so long, but I was writing a book which I've now completed (yay!) and so (now I've recovered) I'll be posting on a more regular...
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Re-reading Narnia: The Magician's Nephew
This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child. It is a very important story because it shows how all the comings and goings between our world and the land of...
View ArticleSeven Miles of Steel Thistles and GDPR: a note
When you open this blog you should be greeted by a Google message which reads as follows:This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyse traffic. Your IP address and user...
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