The Militiverse

  Hello my lovelies. How are you all this evening? Oh what a busy weekend it has been I have been working on the outline of a new book and then my printer decided that it was time it went into retirement. Though I can hardly complain, it has served me well. I began to do some organising of the sitting room and I found a box, a shoe box I had decorated with some lovely wrapping paper. Inside were some DVDs, old black and whites from movies of the 1940s. When I was a girl, I used to watch old B&W movies with my mother and as I grew up my love for film noir stayed with me. One actress in particular who walked onto the screen, and you forgot that she was acting. Her voice was husky and she exuded panache, beauty, and fear. She was the true gothic heroine without ever trying. Her name, Miss Barbara Stanwyck. When I lived in Sweden during the summer months, I would drive from Ireland across Europe, various stops in different places had me visit different vintage shops and recor...

 Good evening lovely friends, do come in and sit by the fire. Can I offer you a cup of tea? You arrived just as we averted an incident between Mouse and Lady Cora, over who sleeps on the chaise longue. The Tempus Militibus were almost called. Thankfully all tranquillity is restored, and Lady Cora has her bed back.  Let me ask you my friends, do you like the sound of bells? Organs? I adore the sound of bells, and particularly on a foggy night when the rain has ceased for five minutes and the sound carries further than usual. Tonight, I want to talk about lore and an entry at the end of a record. Sit back relax and let’s chat.  The bells were heard before they were seen A stranger was walking the roads on a damp and misty night. His overcoat was frayed at the elbows, and the top button was missing. He walked briskly to keep the damp from entering his chest, if it did, it would play up his bronchitis.  Earlier he had asked directions from a skittish group of youths to t...

  Hello, my lovelies, hasn’t it been a wonderful weekend? I have been enjoying the last days of sunshine while Lady Cora and Mouse  run around the agora. It’s been a busy few weeks for me. The edits are complete for my new book, dropping in November. I’ve seen the cover and I am loving it, but more about that later. One thing that I have been doing quite a lot of is thinking about the allure of vampires. Not just because I write about them, I have always found vampires fascinating in both literature and movies. They are portrayed differently from other monsters. Sit back and get comfy, perhaps I can tempt you with a glass of something cold and French or perhaps something from the vein? Tonight my friends let’s discuss a vampire’s greatest weapon.   The Monster we expect We have all seen the movies with Bela Lugosi , or Christopher Plummer as the monster who lives in a cold draughty castle, the cobwebs have been gathering for centuries, and the cleaner is away...

  Good evening my lovely friends. It’s September already, where has this year gone? I’ve been enjoying the end of summer on the agora, sipping tea and reading. I was in Galway recently in a fabulous old bookshop and picked up a delightful copy of a forgotten horror writer, Oliver Onions. That is to say, very few of my friends have ever heard of him. Which is a shame. That brings me to tonight’s blog, I have thought about this quite a lot since my visit to Galway. What happened that we forgot some of these great writers that have shaped literature? These writers seemed to have just vanished, and it is a pity that we have allowed it to happen. So, pull up a chair, let’s get comfortable and let’s discuss some of these remarkable authors.   Three writers who helped shape the darker side of Literature Literature, writings in prose or verse, the definition given by Merriam-Webster , but it’s more than that. To me, literature is an escape, a means of travelling beyond your im...

 Good evening, everyone. It’s mid August already, and do you feel a chill creeping in? Mouse and Lady Cora are chilling on the window ledge observing the flight path of the swallows outside, no doubt forming a plan between them but they’re indoor cats so I do believe the swallows fly past just to annoy them.  I have finally had some time to relax and go for a stroll around some old bookshops, which brings me to some fab old tomes I bought to add to my shelves. I am very excited about one in particular, Lord Byron . I just love his poetry.  The thing that I love most about late August, and autumn are the scented candles. Some shops are beginning to stock some lovely ones at the moment.   This evening let’s discuss the scent of autumn and the last days of August.  When the Evenings Begin to Draw In   I remember as a child in Offaly, usually the second last week of August, my mother would bring me to the local market town. Now, first things first, we woul...

  Good evening, friends. How are you all this evening? Can you believe that it is August already? Aren’t the months flying by? I’ve been hiding away in the Scriptorium adding the final edits to book 9 . Mouse and Lady Cora Cat are investigating rumour of a large fish covered in catnip, so we won’t disturb them. Have you ever wondered why we are drawn to beautifully dangerous characters? This evening let’s sit back and relax as we discuss dangerous characters and we are drawn to them. Beauty with Teeth It’s no secret that I adore gothic literature. Particularly, stories with a bite, a combination of beauty with teeth. The characters that I write are intense, complicated, very handsome and they have teeth. Very sharp teeth. The vampyre , by John Polidori , is considered the first story where the character was seductively handsome and irresistible to mortals. That set the bar for future writings where the gothic character was incredibly beautiful and dangerous. Gothic ...