On Not Writing

Blog posts are hard to come by these days. Like a toothache, the idea of writing niggles away at me, occasionally rising to a mixed crescendo of pain and irritation before easing and then disappearing again. I want to sit down and write, I feel the urge, the desire but I suppress the words - …

Historical Novelist, Pam Lecky leaves No Stone Unturned with the First Book in her Lucy Lawrence Series

I love a good historical detective novel, and always find a Victorian setting adds a gothic darkness that makes the pleasure of reading more intense. Today I'm delighted to welcome author of romantic and historical fiction, Pam Lecky to Unusual Fiction. I loved her last novel, The Bowes Inheritance and greatly look forward to getting …

Something Wicked This Way Comes – An exciting new novel from author William Todd – Gothic Horror With a Sci-Fi twist!

I love a good horror, but especially enjoy those of the gothic horror sub-genre so it gives me great delight to introduce you to a book that promises the best of this genre and also adds a touch of sci-fi. Think Edgar Allan Poe meets H P Lovecraft. Something Wicked This Way Comes by William …

Surfboards and Baggy Swimsuits

Two day's holiday sounds like an oxymoron - how can you call it a holiday when it's only a couple of days? So, really it was a two day break that felt like a holiday. It felt like a holiday to me. The previous few weeks consisted of endless ferrying of the girls to their …

Midsummer Magic – Fire rituals and Faeries

Tonight is Midsummer's Night. The midpoint of the year, the longest day when summer reigns supreme and the countryside is lush and fecund. The hedgerows are full of singing birds, heavy with overhanging elderflower heads and honesuckle. Tiny nuts are growing on the hazel and the rowan has exchanged its pink confetti for little green …

Under a Cobalt Sky

The deck is covered in confetti - miniscule petals of pink and white are scattered across the boards and the corner seat where I sit sipping my first coffee of the morning. A pigeon coos from the large nest in the willow tree and birdsong reverberates all around me. Bank holiday weekend and all is …

Those Darling Buds of May

The first day of May was heralded with birdsong and bright, bright sunshine. After a month of heat and cold, scorching days and downpours, April had left the building. She slipped away with her dappled raincoat under her arm without a backwards glance. The swallows were waiting for her passage before once more taking up …

Parallel Universes and Dr Who

Time travel has always been a source of fascination to me. I grew up on Dr Who and of course, just by mentioning my Doctors; Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee, I realize I'm giving a nod to my advancing years. Saturday nights meant eating buttered crumpets in pyjamas, glued to the television screen watching rubber …