Norse mythology came to the fore in a big way a couple of years ago when Neil Gaiman released his celebrated book of the same name, but as of yesterday, Francesca Simon’s book, The Monstrous Child, has it rearing it’s deliciously vile and decidedly grotesque head once again. When the YA novel came out in... Continue Reading →
Speculative Fiction Recommendations in 60 Words: What’s on the TBR Pile Now?
After thoroughly enjoying Melmoth by Sarah Perry, I've got more great reading in store, including a couple of ARCs sent my way from Kyanite Publishing. Here's what's next, and what I'm sure will make for some more 60 Word Recommendations: Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng Genre/s: Dark Fantasy / Gothic Fantasy / Fairy... Continue Reading →
Baba Yaga and the Ailing Child Published in the Kyanite Press Journal of Speculative Fiction: Fables and Fairy Tales Winter Digest
I was very pleased when my Slavic folklore inspired short story, Baba Yaga and the Ailing Child, was chosen, alongside my guest foreword, for inclusion in the Kyanite Press Journal of Speculative Fiction: Fables and Fairy Tales Winter Digest. It tells the tale of a community, living on the edge of the woodland inhabited by... Continue Reading →
On the Importance of Fairy Tales Published in the Kyanite Press Journal of Speculative Fiction Fairy Tales and Fables Winter Digest
Thrilled that my article, On the Importance of Fairy Tales, was used as the guest foreword in the Kyanite Press Journal of Speculative Fiction Fables and Fairy Tales Winter Digest. In this short foreword I look briefly at the roots of traditional story telling and their inherent shared authorship; at how they act as societal mirrors;... Continue Reading →
The Book of Lost Things
Genre: Fantasy; Fairy Tales Publisher: Washington Square Press When David’s mother dies and his father remarries, his wish to escape his new life is granted when he slips through a crack in the garden wall into another world. A dark and often brutal adventure follows: one which reimagines a host of fairy tales and associated... Continue Reading →
Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales
Genre: Traditional Tales/Fairy Tales Publisher: Virago Press Carter’s fairy-tale compilation spans the globe in a celebration of the world’s eclectic cultural and social heritage, kept alive for centuries through the power of the spoken word. The stories are inventively yet intuitively grouped and their allegorical spirit preserved through simple language and stark imagery. It’s humorous,... Continue Reading →