The notion of fairies at the bottom of the garden is nothing new. It’s partly inspired by the now infamous Cottingley fairies, created by a pair of bored sisters using a camera and fairy illustrations. The notorious fake photos of the Cottingley fairies sold for £20,000 in October 2018. But the lure of fairies in […]
Who are the Rothley fairies and what happens if you cross them?
Lots of places in Britain and Ireland feature stories of fairies that contradict the stereotypical view of them as benevolent wish granters. In the cold and sometimes unforgiving north of England, they can be particularly vindictive. We’ve discussed Northumbrian fairies before, but this time we’re going to explore two tales of the Rothley fairies. The […]
How to choose the best platform for your author website
Setting up your own author website isn’t as difficult as it used to be. Back in the day, you either hired a web designer, or you threw together something in Geocities and hoped for the best. Even a few years ago, websites were something relatively inaccessible. But not anymore. You don’t actually need a specialist […]
What happened when a Northumberland midwife met the fairies?
Fairies appear in a lot of the folklore of the United Kingdom. But they crop up a lot in tales from Northumberland. It’s hardly surprising – this is a wild and often mysterious part of the country. It borders Scotland and its turbulent history marks it as a contested county. Where better for fairies to […]
8 Things You Need To Know About Hiring An Editor
Hiring an editor can sometimes seem to be a bit of a minefield, full of do’s and don’ts. It’s super important to have a proper editor look over your work, so I’ve thrown open my blog to the brilliant Sarah Fox to give you 8 crucial things to consider when you think about hiring an […]
Beetles Folklore: Scarabs, Stags, and the Deathwatch
With the dawning of spring in the northern hemisphere, we’ve been looking at the folklore of insects. Bees and butterflies are finally out and about, doing their pollinating thing. And last week, we looked at a beloved garden critter, the ladybird. Turns out ladybirds are actually beetles, so this week – we’re looking at beetles […]
