Mastering the Game: Characters, Plot and Setting
Plot Meets Place Creating a story often begins with a spark of inspiration—an image, a moment, or a theme. For my first novel, Graëlfire, that spark came from two primary sources: a theme for a plot and its setting. The theme was a quest for the Holy Grail. The setting was the landscape around my…Read More
Portal Fiction
If you see a fairy ring In a field of grass, Very lightly step around, Tiptoe as you pass; ― William Shakespeare Portals in fiction are gateways to other realms, times or realities. Whether magical, man-made, or natural, they overcome boundaries to travel. There’s something mysterious about them—even dangerous—and that’s what makes them so fascinating….Read More
Writing Bedtime Stories
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” — Albert Einstein When winter set in, I decided to compile all the bedtime stories I’d created for my granddaughter over the years. It started when she was three, inspired…Read More
Yule: A Liminal Conjunction
“Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shewn me, by an altered life.” – Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol Embracing the In-Between There’s something otherworldly about the days between Christmas and New Year. Known as Yule to our ancestors, it was a season of retreat. The harvest was done, provisions stored…Read More
Empathy and Fiction
“Fiction gives us empathy, it puts us inside the minds of other people, gives us the gifts of seeing the world through their eyes.” – Neil Gaiman In a world that often feels divided, empathy is a trait that bridges gaps between people. It opens us up to seeing and understanding differences; it helps us…Read More
The Mystery of Consciousness
“Science’s biggest mystery is the nature of consciousness. It is not that we possess bad or imperfect theories of human awareness; we simply have no such theories at all.” – Dr. Nick Herbert. Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and the world around us. It covers everything we experience—sight, taste, touch, sound, and smell, as…Read More
Authenticity in Historical Fiction
“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” – Rudyard Kipling Historical fiction combines made-up characters and plots with real people, places, or events from the past. The genre encompasses a diverse range of stories, including action, romance, horror, and mystery. This provides readers the opportunity to experience different…Read More
Dystopia: Liberty vs Power
“Power is not a means; it is an end…The object of power is power.” –Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell. My novel Graëlstorm delves into the timeless tug-of-war between liberty and power. In this fictional cosmos, three immortal beings called Arkheïa reign over the mortal realm using a genetically engineered race of Graëlheem to impose their will….Read More
Landscape as a Muse
“… a huge peak, black and huge, As if with voluntary power instinct, Upreared its head. I struck and struck again, And growing still in stature the grim shape Towered up between me and the stars, and still, For so it seemed, with purpose of its own And measured motion like a living thing, Strode…Read More
Introducing New Webpage
Reshaping Myths for The Cathar Grail Quest Saga I am delighted to announce the latest addition to my author’s website: a dedicated page entitled Story World: The Cathar Grail Quest Saga. This new page delves into the creative process behind my novels Graëlfire and Graëlstorm. Fascination with history and mythology has been the driving…Read More
