The Selkie A faery tale within the faery tale... From The Swan Maiden: An Australian Faery Tale Once upon a time, there were seven beautiful seal sisters. They loved each other dearly, and lived a happy, peaceful life. They loved swimming in the crystal clear ocean together, playing in the swell with passing dolphins, heading
Countdown to The Swan Maiden Launch... Selina Fenech is an amazing artist – her stunning paintings grace the covers of the Into the Mists and Into the Storm Trilogies – and also an incredible writer. She’s the author of the beautiful fantasy series Memory’s Wake, and the intriguing Empath Chronicles, and is currently working on
I’m about to launch a new book! The Swan Maiden is an original Australian faery tale, inspired by the beautiful black swans in my local park, who I’ve so loved watching as they raise their adorable cygnets each year. It’s my first post-Mists fiction, and after six epically-long books in that series, it’s a little scary to
Mabon : Autumn Equinox : Harvest The autumn equinox falls around March 20 or 21 in the southern hemisphere – in 2020 it falls on March 20 in Australia and New Zealand – and September 22 or 23 in the northern hemisphere – in 2020 it will fall on September 22. It’s characterised by the
Ostara : Spring Equinox : Blossoming The spring equinox is celebrated around March 20 in the northern hemisphere – in 2020 it falls on March 19 for most of the US and Canada, and March 20 for Europe – and around September 22 in the southern hemisphere (in 2020 it will fall on September 22
Book-A-Week – February books read My first book I read this month was Angela Slatter’s A Feast Of Sorrows (7 of 52), because our Australian Fairy Tale Society story was The Jacaranda Wife, one of the short stories within. This book is a slightly creepy collection of dark faery tales, peopled by women and girls
Book-A-Week – January books read 💕📚🌟 Last year I challenged myself to read a book a week, and I did! 52 books in 52 weeks. And it was awesome. It’s so easy to not make time for reading, with work and deadlines and everything, but I’m so glad I did. And this year I’m doing
Lughnasadh blessings to my friends in the southern hemisphere... This cross-quarter day falls on February 4 this year, but you can check out the time for your region here... As the Wheel turns from summer to autumn (although it’s taking its sweet time – summer in Australia is getting longer, hotter, and far more dangerous),
And to my friends in the north, a magical Imbolc to you, as the Wheel turns from the cold and dark and snow of winter to the first signs of spring. This year Imbolc falls on February 4 – unless you are in Alaska ot Hawaii, where it falls the night of February 4. You
2019 was the year I stopped my feast or famine reading style, where I would either ban myself completely from reading in order to get some writing done, or give in and binge read all night, and day, and night again, and get no writing done at all. So I joined the #52booksin52weeks challenge, hoping it would
THE CHINESE CALENDAR “In the perception of the smallest is the secret of clear vision; in the guarding of the weakest is the secret of all strength.” Lao Tzu New Moon Blessings, and Happy Chinese New Year! In 2020 the Chinese New Year begins on the new moon on January 25, and ushers in the
I can’t believe I reached my goal and read 52 books this year. I was always feast or famine in my reading – banning myself on deadline, then bingeing and getting no work done – so I hoped the #bookaweek challenge would help, and it kinda did! My first December book was House of Wishes by Jenn
I’m rushing to get ready for the Mind Body Spirit Festival, and haven’t had a chance to update the Blessed Bee Books store, but if you’d like to buy The Swan Maiden now, you can send a payment to me at www.paypal.me/sconneeley and I’ll post it out to you... The Swan Maiden paperback within Australia
Litha : Summer Solstice : Fruition The summer solstice falls around December 21 or 22 in the southern hemisphere – you can check the timings for where you live here – and June 20 or 21 in the northern hemisphere. It’s the longest day and the shortest night of the year, with the sun rising
Yule : Winter Solstice : Rebirth The winter solstice falls around December 21 or 22 in the northern hemisphere – you can check the timing for you here – and around June 21 or 22 in the southern hemisphere. It’s the longest night and the shortest day of the year, and marks the transition between
A few people have asked about ordering autographed copies of my books for Christmas gifts, so I thought I should offer a few specials. Order any of the below from my Blessed Bee Books shop and I'll post them out asap. Order Into the Fire, Into the Storm and Into the Air and get a
Face Your Fear Most people say I’m brave – I’ve travelled solo through Brazil, crawled into ancient burial tombs in the dark, broken a publishing contract and returned my advance to go indie, interviewed Guns ’N Roses, Foo Fighters and Metallica, and worked out with Jillian Michaels... But there’s one fear that still cripples me
November is NaNoWriMo month, where I write feverishly to try to hit 50,000 words in 30 days. I made it, but it did unfortunately limit my reading. I did skim-read Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts by Joanna Penn(45/52), in preparation for my first public speaking event (I was terrified!), and it was
Welcome! I had a wonderful time chatting with my sweet friend Lucy Cavendish today on her magical podcast The Witchcast. Thank you for your interest in my books – I hope you enjoy Into the Mists and The Swan Maiden. * * * To download your free copy of Into the Mists, click here. It
In October I attended three mini workshops (and some great panels) as part of the HNSA (Historical Novel Society Australasia) Conference – by Kate Forsyth, Meg Keneally and Alison Goodman, so I read the latter’s Lady Helen novella in preparation (41/52). And I really enjoyed it, so I bought the first book in the series, The Dark
