As scheduled as ever, a week or two after finishing the final draft of my third novel in August 2023, I began my next project. My baby daughter! The last few months have been a whirlwind of giggles, milk, sibling politics, and baby poop. But I also spent December yearning for the next story; drawing up ideas, sketching out scenes, plotting up timelines.

It seems that I just can’t help myself.

Sleep is a LITTLE hard to come by right now, and since it’s been a bit of a while since I’ve started something new, I’ve been struggling to decide which novel idea to take forward. I’m rusty, I suppose. My gears are clunking.

So I’m starting 2024 with a passion project. One that follows on from another book that’s fate is currently up in the air. It’s dark, weird, and utterly delicious to write. The format means I can be totally creative without having to worry about the parts that comprise a novel. I get to ruminate over myths and legends, and dwell on beautiful lyrics like this one I shared on Instagram recently. It’s one of my all time favourite refrains.

And I’m gathering lots of art and myths about these creatures, which is coming in very handy indeed…

I’ve collected stories and poems about the fae for as long as I can remember, but it’s been a good while since I’ve delved into their pages. And even longer since I’ve actually written about them. In fact, I don’t think I ever have.

Of all the lore I’ve collected, I’m finding that created by Brian and Wendy Froud particularly inspiring at the moment. Something about how deliciously dark they are. How every creature is born from the twist of a tree or the opening of a flower. I have a Lady Cottington’s Pressed Faeries book that I used for watercolour references in my early teens, and I only discovered recently that those are by Brian Froud too!

I reckon I’ll be working on this through to February, and then I’ll start the next novel. Hopefully by then my brain will be soft and juicy once more. 🙂