Welcome to Elizabethan Hardingstone – a small village in Northamptonshire, where magical mishaps and unlikely heroines are about to explode. Below is Chapter 1 of of my cosy historical fantasy, As Above, So Below, for you to enjoy. 30th July 1566 Though the linens should be white, the nightgown Becca swirled with her paddle hadContinue reading “As Above, So Below”
Category Archives: Short Stories
Lammas in Elizabethan England: Harvest, Magic, and Memory
Every August, as summer began to tip toward autumn, Elizabethans marked a feast that was older than Christianity itself: Lammas, or in Old English “hlāf-mæsse” meaning “Loaf-Mass.” By the 1560s, England was a Protestant nation under Elizabeth I, yet villagers still carried echoes of pagan and Celtic ritual into their daily lives. Lammas was oneContinue reading “Lammas in Elizabethan England: Harvest, Magic, and Memory”
The Secret War Beneath Paris: WWII and the Shadowed Legacy of the Catacombs
Discover the hidden role of the Paris Catacombs during World War II—Nazi bunkers, French Resistance hideouts, and the enduring mystery. Includes fiction references and modern research challenges.
Boy, Resisting
Chapter 1 – The Voice My name is Frederick and I have a secret. Want to know what it is? Of course you do IF YOU’RE SNOOPING AND READING THIS! My Mama gave me this book for my birthday. “So you can keep a record,” she said. “It’s important to remember who you are, andContinue reading “Boy, Resisting”
Sewing Resistance
Chapter 1 March 23rd 1937. Austria. My foot pauses on the pedal when I hear the rumble of trucks pulling into the convent’s courtyard below. I glance down at the beige shirt held by the needle of my trusty Kohler sewing machine, then through the small window next to me. Adjusting the shirt to fitContinue reading “Sewing Resistance”
A Bridge of Words
Recently I was invited to appear on a podcast, with a twist. Writing to a prompt of ‘polite’ the two hosts of ‘The Tiny Bookcase’ and I would write a short story and read it out for the first time, on air. It was a fantastic exercise because, not only could I write something completelyContinue reading “A Bridge of Words”
Destiny Arising
Five Queens will die… bringing chaos to the Naturae realm.
READ THE FIRST CHAPTER IN THIS HISTORICAL FANTASY THRILLER
The world according to Henry Fitzroy
I didn’t realise how liberating it would be to give up my soul, and so I would say my greatest strength is that I have no compunction about doing what is necessary to achieve my given purpose.
The uncomfortable similarities between Henry V and Putin
I didn’t set out to write a story about war with Destiny Awaiting, it just happened. It was supposed to be a simple enemies-to-lovers romance, set in a time of danger and adversity where strangers could observe the history and fulfil their destiny. It is, on one level. I wanted to highlight how conflict drivesContinue reading “The uncomfortable similarities between Henry V and Putin”
Destiny Awaiting – Sneak Peak!
. Centuries ago, the Vikings – invaders, and destroyers from even further North – proclaimed their dominion over these islands with castles and brochs. Aioffe’s mouth dried. Perhaps some were still used by those who ruled here. Stone constructs were so different to the treetop dwellings of her kind.
“Perhaps don’t stray too close to them, then,” she muttered to herself. Entanglement with humans would likely get her into even more trouble.
Escape Into A Tale with Jan Foster - Author 