Events

I was recently at the Straw Yard in Berwick-Upon-Tweed speaking to a lovely audience at the Between the Lines podcast event hosted by Berwick Writers Forum. It was wonderful to talk writing, my inspiration, and the stories behind my books. I will update when it airs.

To listen to the reading I did from The Swan Maiden click the arrow below. The novel is based on the famous Irish myth Deirdre of the Sorrows. At Deirdre’s birth, a druid foretold she’d be the most beautiful woman in the world, but would also cause the destruction of Ireland (sound familiar?)

The ageing King Conor desires this treasure for himself. He hides Deirdre away from male eyes, and she grows up in the woods with a female druid, Levarcham, and her foster parents.

In this scene, the king hasn’t seen Deirdre since she’s come of age. To please him, Levarcham decides Deirdre will dance a story for him about a maiden turned into a swan. Here Conor sees her true beauty and sensuality for the first time. Levarcham has never seen Deirdre embody this savage, sexual spirit, either, and in this terrible moment realises her mistake. For the king, overcome by lust and the desire to possess, demands Deirdre wed him immediately, her childhood over.