21 September 2025

From ancient star charts and children’s treasure maps, to sprawling fantasy epics, we love using maps to make sense of the unknown. In books, they offer readers the thrill of order and adventure – a structured invitation into mystery. Illustrated maps don’t only show us where we’re going; they remind us that the journey itself…

23 August 2025

The world is alive with signs and symbolism. Every object, sound, colour, or movement can carry meaning. Even in our daily routines, symbolism nudges us, connecting the visible world with the invisible threads of spirit, emotion, and intuition. The sudden or unusual appearance of a specific bird, or the repeated presence of a certain colour…

22 July 2025

One of the joys of writing fantasy is the bizarre search history you accumulate along the way. Worlds need to work – they need logic, texture, movement, sensations and the occasional detour into absurd topics. These rabbit holes not only enrich the writing process, they also help worlds feel genuinely occupied. These are 10 things…

23 June 2025

Some days it’s tricky – even for dedicated bookworms – to find a few minutes to read. I’m not talking about those glorious, all-consuming books that seize you by the collar and drag you through chapters until you reach the end. Those books somehow create their own time and momentum. You sneak them in between…

18 May 2025

“Once upon a time there was a little chimney sweep, and his name was Tom. That is a short name, and you have heard it before, so you will not have much trouble in remembering it.” – The Water-Babies, Charles Kingsley Lately, I’ve found myself turning over character names like shells from the ocean –…

22 April 2025

In fiction, change doesn’t always enter a story with fanfare. It can arrive as a mild or unpleasant disruption: a knock at the door, an email, even unwelcome invitations or news. Yet when the call to adventure is obvious, like a dragon at the village gate, or a map discovered in a mysterious location, characters…

21 March 2025

A child sits in the playground, knees drawn up, face half-hidden behind a book. Perhaps it’s a little girl with a comic hidden inside her Maths book while the other kids shout and swing. To the outside world, she is hiding, but inside something else is happening entirely. The way I see it is that…

2 February 2025

In February, often our thoughts turn towards love mainly because of all the commercial hype about it. It’s the red and pink heart month, after all. During the month, however, I’m so grateful for all the kinds of love that shimmer at the edges of everyday life — connection, tenderness, self-compassion, and the soul-deep longing…