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Last year I came across the Witchy, paranormal mystery and romance genre of fiction. How delighted was I when I read books that contained characters that were just like me! I was so taken with this kind of fiction, that an idea sprang up in my mind for an entire series of books, all set within the New Forest, England. 

I decided to pull on my own research and experience of Hedge Witchcraft and Druidry, and so the first three books are all about coming into one's own power as a Hedge Witch, with a Druid as the love interest. And yes, some of it is spicy!

I can honestly say that I've never had so much writing as when I wrote the first two books in this series. The first book, Hedge Witch, is now available on Amazon, and the second, The Veil Between the Worlds, is on track for a December release. I am just so excited about this series, and writing books from the perspective of many different characters that appear in the books. 

The first three books are from Hunter's perspective. She is a university professor who, alongside her sister, inherited their aunt's property on the edge of the village of Burley (a noteable hotspot for Witchy tourism in real life!). She learns about her heritage and comes into her own, with the aid of the magickal community. Her cautious nature and guarded heart is opened by the love of a Druid. Will she be able to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance? There are some in the community, both in this world and the Otherworld, who are opposed to her...

Join me as I weave the tales of the Witches of the New Forest!

I'm delighted to share that my latest novel, Leap! A Love Story, is now available in both paperback and ebook format.

This is my second Minoan-themed historical novel, the first one being The Last Priestess of Malia. Last Priestess is set at the end of the Minoan era, during the Mycenaean occupation. It provides a deep look into Minoan religion and culture, but it's a pretty heavy book.

White daturas open gradually as the long summer evening deepens. Their scent blends with the scents of the perfume ritual. Gigantic sphinx moths hover like hummingbirds as they pollinate the humongous flowers. The perfumes take you on a journey, a journey to the Old West, as it exists in the dream plane where iconic figures like the Gunfighter come forth to guide you on a quest that is just as queer as it needs to be. 

A smell-o-story is a really original idea. Science fiction novels and movies have portrayed characters experiencing smell-o-vision movies, but they have not delivered the experience to the reader or viewer. Smoke and Silver by author / perfumer Derin Deschain of Cherry-Ka’s Trunk actually delivers that experience. 

If you follow my Youtube channel, you'll know that one of my projects is a series of storytime videos - reading aloud from my own books and some of my longtime favorites by other authors. This time, I'm reading from my most recent novel, The Last Priestess of Malia, a work of historical fiction set in Minoan Crete.

The story centers around a young woman who dedicates herself to the temple and the gods in a time of great chaos and upheaval at the end of Minoan civilization. Though the later parts of the book get into some really heavy stuff that's also unfortunately relevant to our current world (sexism, racism, greed, conquest, xenophobia, colonialism), the earlier parts are largely about the main character's struggle to be "a real priestess" - whatever that means. If you've ever wondered when you're going to feel like you know what you're doing, you'll be able to relate. ;-)

While I usually spend my time in more distant history, I have found myself lately digging into early twentieth century pagan writings like Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willows (which I wrote about here: Nettles & Mugwort) and just recently Mary Webb's classic Precious Bane. While often connected to Thomas Hardy due to both the time period and geography they share, Webb has a much more inspiring view of nature and a generous view toward her fellow humans.

Telling the story of Prue Sarn, Webb explores many of the traditions the writer knew well from her childhood, practices that included everything from sin eating to mummers at Christmas. And she offers one of the most beautiful pieces of transcendent writing about the power of nature in Prue's moment of enlightenment. She has hid herself in the attic of their old farm house, not long after the death of her father, because her brother made her realise that her 'bane' was a terrible thing. She was born with a cleft palate, known then as a 'harelip' because it was believed, a hare spooked by the devil had crossed her pregnant mother's path, cursing her.

Gerhart Hauptmann's novel The Island of the Great Mother or the Miracle of the Île des Dames: A Story from the Utopian Archipelago was first published (in German) in 1928, but 90 years on, it still reads appositely, especially for the pagan community.

Here's the story.

A passenger liner filled with women (they're going to a women's convention) is shipwrecked somewhere in the Pacific. Several hundred women, with only one male among them—the prepubescent son of one of the castaways—are washed ashore on an uninhabited island.

There they create a glittering women's civilization, with its own gynocentric culture and religion.

Then something amazing happens. One by one, the women begin to become pregnant and give birth.

It's one of the novel's great strengths that these mysterious pregnancies are never explained. Hauptmann makes it quite clear that they are not, in fact, due to the only surviving male on the island, now grown to adolescence. They arise, apparently, as an inherent quality of the island itself.

Well, but there's trouble in utopia. Half the children born are female, half male. What to do with the males?