The area around Bodmin Moor and the River Fowey where Kingdom of Stone is set has been in constant human occupation since the end of the last ice age, approximately 10,000 years ago.
The idea for Crow came to me when I was trying to identify witnesses to the arrival of those first settlers. I wanted to get a sense of what they might have found and how their arrival would have been perceived by the non-human population.
I knew that there would be crows, as there still are today nesting in the high oaks. No doubt spreading news of the newcomers in the same garrulous and gossipy fashion as they continue to do from their roosts in the church tower.
I've added a PDF of Crow, a short story below if you'd like to read it!
There's no greater joy than sitting in a sunny garden with an alcohol free Pina Colada, (pineapple juice, coconut milk, lime juice and lots of ice!) and a good book.
Recently I've had a run of exceptional reads which I can heartily recommend.
Inevitably they make me wonder how I have the temerity to think that I can produce anything near as good; nonetheless I'm still trying!
I've got through quite a few recently as follows:
The North Water
The Good People by Hannah Kent
The House of Names by Colm Toibin
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitbread
A Game of Ghosts by John Connolly
In The Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
and currently I'm reading The Wonder by Emma Donoghue.
In addition I am reading lots of early British history,
Britain AD by Francis Pryor
The Private Lives of the Saints by Janina Ramirez
Foundation by Peter Ackroyd
Rising Ground by Philip Marsden
The Life of Alfred the Great by Bishop Asser, all this to try to find some nuggets for my novel, Kingdom of Stone about the last King of Cornwall, Dynarth.
I'd love to hear from you if you'd like to recommend a book or comment on Crow you can leave a message or click the button to e-mail me
Crow
a short story
Below is a slide show of some of the locations which feature in Kingdom of Stone.
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