events, Writing

Fairytale Storytelling Concert!

I’m very excited to help the Australian Fairy Tale Society celebrate 10 year anniversary with a free zoom storytelling concert on theme of “Lught and Love”. Australian Fairy Tale Society celebrating 10years! Come join me and other storytellers live readings of work inspired by Love & Light: “Please join us to hear stories of welcome… Continue reading Fairytale Storytelling Concert!

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The Briar Book of the Dead

** I received an ARC for an honest review ** Publisher’s Description Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations. The Briar family of witches run the town of Silverton, caring for its inhabitants with their skills and magic. In the usual scheme of things, they would be burnt… Continue reading The Briar Book of the Dead

research, Writing

Norwegian Legend: the Oskoreia

In Norwegian legend and folklore in the days before Yuletide, the Oskoreia ride through the skies. This ghostly horde of the restless dead and witches spreads terror through the wintry night sky. The Oskoreia is not dissimilar to the continental European legend of the “The Wild Hunt”. There is a common root throughout all these… Continue reading Norwegian Legend: the Oskoreia

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Slavic Folklore: Samodivi

A samodiva (plural: samodivi) is a wood nymph from the Balkans, specifically in Bulgaria. Samodiva translates ‘samo’ (alone) and ‘diva’ (wild/divine). The first part of the name signifies avoidance of humans and the second part indicates the wild or divine nature. These nymphs are forest spirits who appear as beautiful young women. But the Samodivi… Continue reading Slavic Folklore: Samodivi

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Shanghai Immortal

Publisher’s Description Half vampire. Half fox-spirit. All trouble.Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive… Continue reading Shanghai Immortal

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Slavic Folklore: The Likho

Art - Marek Hapon The likho is part of Eastern Slavic fairy tales. Although not as frequently mentioned as the witch Baba Yaga, the likho assumes many guises from an old woman clad in black or a male goblin-like being. The common feature in both is the likho has only one eye. In the pre-Christian… Continue reading Slavic Folklore: The Likho

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Norse Myth: Nidhogg

Nidhogg (Old Norse Níðhöggr, “He Who Strikes with Malice”) is one of several serpents or dragons in the Nine Worlds. The most famous serpent is Jormungand or the Midgard-serpent but Nidhogg is a dragon trapped beneath the Yggdrasil and constantly gnawing at its roots and corpses. Nidhogg is a force for chaos by destroying Yggdrasil,… Continue reading Norse Myth: Nidhogg

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Greek Myth: Sirens

Funerary statue of a siren with a shell lyre, c. 370 BCE In Ancient Greek mythology, the sirens are vaguely described by various sources but are usually interpreted as being large birds with the heads of women. In the classic Ancient Greek legend The Odyssey attributed to Homer, the hero Odysseus’s ship is attacked by sirens… Continue reading Greek Myth: Sirens

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Viking Women

Publisher’s Description Let’s travel in time together, a thousand or so years back, and meet Viking women in their hearth-lit world. How did these medieval viragoes live, love and die? How can we encounter them as flesh-and-blood beings with fears and feelings – not just as names in sagas or runes carved into stone? In… Continue reading Viking Women