Cat's Whiskers

Cat's Whiskers
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
All Fools Day?

Hmm. Why did I pick the 1st of the Month...? Well, because I won't forget that date, for starters. And my memory isn't improving with age...

A few notes about myself and writing. I've been writing from the time I could first hold a pen. Telling stories to friends, to my sister, so I guess you could say I got the bug early. I started writing seriously when I first met Chris, who is my writing partner. Together, we wrote The Strings of his Harp, which metamorphosed into Nettleflower. This was published by Cerridwen, and was followed by Tribute Trail, and War Trail, the first and second in the Trails Foretold series. We're working on the third in the series right now!

A bit about Nettleflower -- I'm a great history fan. Not for the dates, but for the people. And so we set Nettleflower in a period that isn't much written about -- the years before the Norman Invasion, in Anglo-Saxon England, on the borders with Wales. Although Cerridwen list it as a romance, it's primarily a historical novel, with romance included.

It's a fascinating period of history, although many people seem to think that English history begins in 1066. Wrong! Anglo-Saxon England had an unrivalled culture and society. The Invasion turned the clock back a hundred years... William the Bastard (and that's how he was known, honestly!) was an armoured thug with a brain. Very dangerous.

I do have plans for a sort-of sequel, which will cover the years from 1063 to 1069. Have you heard of Hereward the Wake, the guerilla fighter of Easy Anglia? Bet you didn't know that there was an equivalent guerilla in the West. He was known as 'le sauvage'. and rumour has him marrying a fairy-woman... Maybe I'll eventually get around to actually writing the thing...

On a personal note -- I live in scenic North Wales, with my husband and three cats. And any cats I am currently fostering, as I am a volunteer for the UK cat charity, Cats Protection. My own furry darlings are Meri, a Silver Somali, Rufus, a Usual (or in US, Ruddy) Somali, and Cleo, a tortie/tabby/white Maine Coon. (I call her my 'tapestry cat') I am passionate about cats. Be warned -- I'll be posting a lot about them! One of them, Meri, recently qualified as a Pet Therapy cat, which means that he and I will be visiting residential homes and the like. It's going to be interesting...

Terri