Monthly Archives: November 2015

Pantry Prose: A Visit From The Fortune Teller by Carol Forrester

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Fool

“I can explain everything,” Susan promised. “But first, I think we should get out of here.”

Pinned against the wall by her body, Jeremy nodded. In all honesty he was more concerned with the Ford Mondeo currently sitting in the middle of his living room than what was being said to him. Had it really just come crashing through his patio window? Had some random woman really just hurled herself at him to save his life?

“We really, really need to go,” Susan insisted, extricating herself from his lanky frame and grabbing hold of  his hands. She tugged him forward, stumbling as his torso came away from the wall but the rest of him didn’t.

“Oomph!”

She dropped his hands and grabbed his shoulders.

“Okay, okay,” she said, strain showing in her voice now. “Let’s stand up properly shall we?”

Jeremy nodded again, still staring at the car sitting where his coffee table should be.

“It was an antique,” he mumbled, managing to move his feet this time when Susan pulled him forward.

“I’m sure it was lovely,” she soothed, patting his shoulder distractedly while she scanned the ceiling above them. “Oops. Wrong way!”

Jeremy felt the air leave his lungs as he landed, Susan crunching down beside him on the glass a second later.

“What ar-” he was cut off as the ceiling gave a creak, and then a groan, before deciding to give up altogether and simply plummet onto the spot where they’d been standing the moment before.

“Oh,” he said. “You just saved my life.”

“Meh,” Susan shrugged. “Only twice. Trust me, today you’re going to require a lot more than twice.”

Jeremy’s features crumpled into a frown.

“What do you mean?” he asked, finding himself quickly being pulled to his feet and steered back towards his own front door.

“I quite like the philosophy of crossing that bridge when we get to it,” Susan said, gripping him by the elbow now and hurrying him forward. “Granted it does help when one has some for-warning of what those bridges might be.”

Jeremy’s eyebrows squirmed.

“What bridges?” he asked. “Where am I going? Who are you?”

“No one, no one,” said Susan, waving away the question with one hand. “Well not really a no one per say I suppose, I’m someone, but not someone you really need to know. Does that make any sense?”

“No,” said Jeremy. “None at all.”

“I didn’t think so,” Susan sighed. They’d reached the door and she was opening it, shooing Jeremy out of his own house.

“Hey! I think I deserve some answers here!”

Susan hummed at him and pulled the door shut behind them.

“I’ll explain everything. I did promise,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, so you can start with what you were doing in my house!”

“Saving you,” she said.

“But why?” Jeremy demanded.

Susan shrugged.

“I was bored I guess.”

“Bored?” repeated Jeremy.

“Yeah,” said Susan. “Bored.”

 

 

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Interview with Joseph Delaney by Kev Milsom

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spooks pic

Could we start by asking you how your passion for creative writing emerged? Have you been writing since childhood, or did it take until adulthood for the writing ‘bug’ to kick in?

I didn’t start writing until I was in my twenties. I read a lot and every time I read a book that I really enjoyed I’d think: ‘I wish that I’d written that!’ So I started writing in the mornings before work, and after ten years and over 97 rejections I finally got published.

You’re internationally known for the extremely popular 13-book series, known as the Wardstone Chronicles, which began in 2004 and has been sold in 25 countries. I wonder if you might share with our readers the foundations for the inspiration behind this wonderful series, Joseph. Also are there any more Wardstone Chronicles adventures planned for the future?

I had to come up with an idea at short notice and I checked back through my notebooks. This was the Year 2000 and I had to go back all the way to 1983 where I found I’d jotted down a story idea about a man who dealt with boggarts. This was because in that year I’d moved to a Lancashire village called Stalmine which has a boggart. I developed this into The Spook’s Apprentice, the first book in the series. From then on, I drew upon the folklore of Lancashire, which I tweaked and modified to create my fictional world.

Is there a reason why you set the Wardstone Chronicles around the year 1700, Joseph?  Does this period of history hold a particular fascination for you (along with the subject of history itself)? Or is the time-setting purely random?

The film people came up with the seventeenth century as they needed some context for the costumes and set design, but in my writing I have deliberately kept the books free from any specific time in history, rather it is set in a mythical Lancashire. I didn’t want to be trapped by dates and facts. I have always been interested in Lancashire and world mythology and have a particular love of the fantasy and horror genre, so all this informs my writing.

Each of the 13 books in your Wardstone Chronicles begins with the message, ‘For Marie’.  Could you enlighten us as to the identity of Marie and the importance of this dedication? 

Marie was my wife who died in 2007. She was very supportive and believed in me despite all the rejections, so I continue to dedicate the books to her.

As a former teacher of English, what were the most common pieces of advice that you gave to your students? Now, as a hugely successful author, what additional advice would you impart to your students today?

There are three main pieces of advice that I have to offer. Record all your ideas and don’t censor them. At the time you may not be able to judge their worth. I sat on the idea for The Spook’s Apprentice for over eighteen years. Second, make time to write. Too many people dream about becoming writers but don’t actually do anything about it. It is hard when you work and have a family, but it must be done. I got up early and wrote before I went off to my teaching job. Third, read widely; the process of reading fiction teaches you to write fiction.

Is there a particular set routine that you employ whilst writing, Joseph? A favourite location to write? A certain type of background music…or complete silence? How important is this routine to you and has it altered much over the years?

As I said previously, when I was a teacher I used to get up before work and write from about 6.15 to 7.30 every morning. That way I could write a book in a year – which promptly got rejected! Now I write to meet deadlines, but my working day is erratic. Sometimes I do what’s required in a couple of hours; on other occasions I pace about most of the day. I am anything but a 9-to-5 writer. Most of my writing is done when I’m neither holding a pen nor tapping the keys of my computer. I can be watching a movie or sitting on a railway station but I’ll be writing in my head.

Thank you for sparing your time to share these insights with us, Joseph. Finally, how important do you believe it is to develop a strong sense of creative imagination within the minds of young children? Is this something that you positively encouraged within your own children – and now with your grandchildren?

Yes! I think that reading is the key. Reading fiction transports you to other worlds and that experience (for me) is better than any film. Creative imagination results from reading. The best thing you can give any child is a love of that.

 

Picture courtesy of fanpop.com

The Element Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Lucy Cooper reviewed by Inez de Miranda

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Fairy pic
I want to write that this is my first review of a work of non-fiction, but I’m not sure if that’s the case. True, The Element Encyclopaedia of Fairies is not a  novel or a collection of short stories, but it’s still fiction. Or is it?

The Element Encyclopaedias series boasts books on topics like witchcraft, fantastical creatures, secret societies, and many other fascinating subjects. The Element Encyclopaedia of Fairies is a reference book on, you guessed it, fairies.

Lucy Cooper, fairy expert and author/editor of this encyclopaedia, has dipped into the history of fairies and the folklore of civilisations all over the world, and she has collected stories and descriptions of mythical beings. In the encyclopaedia, Cooper has included fairies from the British Isles, but also those from other cultures in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. The stories are not only fascinating in their own right, but they also offer an insight into workings of the cultures that created them. This book has taught me that there are more fairies than I had ever imagined.

I recognised some of the entries, like those about the kelpies, the Green Man, and the Bucca, but others, like the Kirnis, the Bongas, and the lovely African Jengu, were entirely new to me. I suppose that nowadays anyone who is at all familiar with folklore and/or fantasy fiction knows that not all fairies are cute tiny females with wings, but The Element Encyclopaedia of Fairies proves this beyond any doubt. In fact, the vast majority of fairies are unlike anything I ever imagined. They’re not all friendly either. Some, like the Gashadokuro from Japan, are downright terrifying. I was particularly pleased to find that the encyclopaedia included the Bakru, a large-headed spirit of flesh and blood from my native country of Suriname.

The encyclopaedia contains more than mere descriptions of fairy folk. Some of the descriptions include background information about the entity in question, or even the traditional stories about them. There are also entries that deal with human authors, like Marie-Catherine D’Aulnoy, a French countess who penned traditional folk tales in the late 17th century. There is the chapter on fairyland, one on how to connect to fairies, and another on Elementals and flower fairies. And there are pictures!

The encyclopaedia is easy to read and entertaining, much like a collection of stories, but unlike a story collection. This work provides the reader with an insight into the fables and myths of a variety of cultures as well as with a myriad of fascinating creatures.

Obviously, The Element Encyclopaedia of Fairies is a wonderful resource for writers of speculative fiction, but it’s equally wonderful for anyone who has an interest in fairies, folklore or just in the workings of the human mind.

 

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia