When I decided where to set Discovering Destiny, as with all the books in the Naturae Series, I wanted to place the story at a moment when European, and especially British, history was undergoing momentous change. The sixteenth century provides no shortage of dramatic possibilities: Tudor England; the Reformation and religious conflict; rival queens. AddContinue reading ““Repugnant to Nature”: Three Tudor Queens and their battle to remain in power”
Tag Archives: historical fantasy
Scottish Gaelic Influence in Historical Fantasy – What is a Banrigh?
The Scottish Gaelic Origins Behind the Queen of the Witches “The only cure for Vinexplicity was the blood of a Banrigh—the Queen of the Witches.”– Discovering Destiny Fantasy readers often ask whether titles like Banrigh are simply invented because they sound magical. In the case of the Naturae Series, and specifically the latest release ‘DiscoveringContinue reading “Scottish Gaelic Influence in Historical Fantasy – What is a Banrigh?”
As Above, So Below
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”
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”
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 Stain of Magical Places
If you close your eyes and open your imagination, it is easy to picture them in such places. Walking the paths you now tread. Staring at the vista before you. The noises and smells are often a reach further, but still possible.
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 