Each story in this collection is inspired by a dream.
Some of my dreams arrive conveniently story-shaped and need little alteration. Other dreams supply the seed of an idea, which with careful tending and shaping can grow into a magnificent tree.
Mostly, the stories start off in the world we all know. Then something untoward tends to happen, and they veer off sideways. Some are unsettling, one or two humorous, others are infused with sadness. They touch on universal things: loneliness, the fear of abandonment, or of not belonging. The power of hope, and love. The danger of getting what you long for.... They arise from the place where the inner world meets the outer and how impossible it can be to tell the two apart.
Each tale explores the thin edge between what is known and unknown, what is familiar and strange. Sometimes the narrator is a person; other times a tree...or the sea...or a garden....
For the child in us all.
Films/movies that have inspired me most
The Fall (directed by Tarsem, not to be confused with the TV series)
Song of the Sea (animated)
Mary and Max (claymation)
Kubo and the Two Strings (stopmotion)
All About Time
Another Earth
Loving Vincent
Pina (dance)
The Fall (directed by Tarsem, not to be confused with the TV series)
Song of the Sea (animated)
Mary and Max (claymation)
Kubo and the Two Strings (stopmotion)
All About Time
Another Earth
Loving Vincent
Pina (dance)
Music I regularly listen to while scribbling
Helen Jane Long (piano)
Ludovico Einaudi (piano)
Philip Aaberg (piano)
Debussy, Ravel and Satie (piano)
Amiina (instrumental & vocal)
Helen Jane Long (piano)
Ludovico Einaudi (piano)
Philip Aaberg (piano)
Debussy, Ravel and Satie (piano)
Amiina (instrumental & vocal)
Shannon Hawley (singer/songwriter)
Joanne Newsom (singer/songwriter/harpist)
Lisa Hannigan (Sea Sew)
Joanne Newsom (singer/songwriter/harpist)
Lisa Hannigan (Sea Sew)
Some favourite authors and poets, too many to name.....:
Mary Oliver (poet), Ali Shaw (The Girl with Glass Feet), Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove), Ray Bradbury, Tolkien (long before he became fashionable!), Laini Taylor, Susanna Clark (Jonathan Norrell and Dr Strange), Mitch Albom (The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto), Joanna Cannon (Three Things About Elsie), Joanna Glen, Rachel Naomi Remen, Rachel Hartman (Seraphina series), Naomi Novik (Spinning Silver), Lauren Wolk (Beyond the Bright Sea), etc etc....