Chasing the Shaman – Reviewed by Sue Vincent
By Sue Vincent It feels rather odd, being in a book. Not as one half of that semi-fictional pair, ‘Don and Wen’, but as yourself… especially when it is written by someone else. But it does show how much our human stories intertwine, and how, when paths cross, magic can happen. Not just in a symbolic sense, but in a very real way. When Stuart and I started writing out our adventures in The Initiate, we had two things in mind… to record the journey for ourselves and to share it with others, hoping they too would find a way to connect with the land in which they live. One of the first people to read The Initiate was my long-time friend, Gary Vasey. He was excited by our story and emailed me saying
Read More »Being Creative in a Time of Negativity – Reblogged from Peter C. Whitaker
My wife reminded me lately that I once said that if I could have a couple of months of work then I could write another book! Prophetic words. I have not exactly had a couple of months to dedicate to writing another book, I am a key worker, but I have recently had a couple of weeks at home due to changing priorities at work and during that time I have written absolutely nothing! I am not suffering from writer’s block. I have plenty of ideas. In fact, I even started writing a new novel despite telling myself that I would not commit to such a project so as to give myself more time for marketing endeavours. Although I have tried to sit down and continue this work I found
Read More »Coronavirus and Me by Peter C. Whitaker
Reblogged from Peter C. Whitaker’s blog. On February 14 I posted that I would not be posting for awhile due to going travelling again. I had only intended to be absent for 2 weeks, but life got in the way as it usually does; I was exposed to the Coronavirus. A 14-day self-isolation followed. During this time, I did not feel creative in any sense at all. I was aware of the growing hysteria in the world, mostly stoked by irresponsible sections of the media. I had daily contact with NHS England by telephone, SMS messaging, and email. It was very clear to begin with that no one really knew what to do. The advice changed daily, but that is not a criticism. I much prefer for people to learn
Read More »Guest Post – A SILVER CORD by Sue Vincent
Reblogged from The Silent eye As soon as I was considered old enough to wander alone… a ridiculously young age by today’s standards… I would knock on the doors of the various elderly relatives that lived within a stone’s throw of home or school. Their doors opened onto another era that to my young eyes qualified as the ‘olden days’. There would inevitably be a cup of tea; none of your new-fangled tea bags or ‘gnats water’, but the rich mahogany brew that seethed in perpetuity beside the flames of the range. If I was lucky and timed it right, there would be a slab of fruit cake topped with a slice of tangy cheese or perhaps a curd tart, or we might toast a teacake in front of the
Read More »Sowing Warmth – By Sue Vincent
This post by my very good friend, Sue Vincent, really had me thinking this morning and seems very apt for a Sunday post… If you enjoy it please pop over to her blog and catch a few more insightful thoughts from Sue and her friends… There was a road closure on the way to work, so, to avoid the build-up of traffic, I took to the back streets, wending my way through a residential area and passing the house in which we had first lived when we moved south. To let oncoming cars pass, I pulled to one side, almost outside our old home, and was able to see what had become of my garden. It had been a blank canvas when we had moved in, with nothing but
Read More »The Magic of Magick by Peter C. Whitaker
In my last blog post I suggested that I would consider the subject of magick in my up and coming fantasy book ‘The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom’. For those who might not be aware of it Magick is ‘the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will’. Magic, on the other hand, is the kind of thing that entertainers do. Is there really a difference? Well, it depends on your view of authenticity I suppose. I believe that the best examples of speculative fiction, that is anything that goes beyond the norm of everyday life, is actually rooted in that same everyday life. Fantastical things may occur, fabulous creatures may exist, but there is also a logic to the fantasy world that they occupy that
Read More »Rock music ~ the sound of prehistory – Reblogged from SC Vincent
During the summer, I spent a magical weekend with friends Sue Vincent and Stuart France… Here is Sue’s account of a small part of that weekend and a lot of fun trying to make music from a rock…. Way back when the world was warm and the sun remembered to shine, our friend, Gary Vasey, came over from the Czech Republic for a weekend. It was to be our second meeting in the going-on-fifteen-years that we have been close friends, and it was a memorable one for a good many reasons. We wanted to share some of the places that had played such important roles in The Initiate, the first of the books Stuart and I wrote together, which Gary had called “a work of brilliance“, sharing our excitement in the journey. So
Read More »Us and Them by Alienora Taylor
Here is a guest post from fellow blogger Alienora Taylor….. first posted at http://alienorajt.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/us-and-them.html If I am right, then you are wrong. If I am right, then you need to believe what I believe, think the way I think. Or you are wrong. If I am US – and you disagree with me – then you become THEM. If you don’t agree with my mindset, then I am not going to be your friend anymore. Maggie Thatcher’s mindset? Or could it be wider than that? Come on, guys, isn’t about time we questioned this assumption that an admantine mind equals strength of character? That the absolute conviction of rightness – which so easily spills into righteousness – is a good thing? This has come out only too clearly in the
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