Vernal Equinox…

Day and night are in balance, neither dominant, neither defeated. For now, the scales settle evenly. Spring is testing the ground. Hesitating. Listening.  Winter was a time for letting things lie undisturbed beneath frost and silence. But spring won’t allow everything to remain buried. The equinox isn’t just a celebration of light’s soon-to-be victory. It’s … Continue reading Vernal Equinox…

Fragments from Harrow House…

This is how the story introduced itself to me… Chin up, kidda, says the gaunt-faced, hollow-eyed woman reflected on the surface of the bus shelter’s rain-mottled Perspex panel. She looks like me but also doesn’t. As a fragment from the first draft, it may change. Some things should. But also, it may not. I just wanted … Continue reading Fragments from Harrow House…

Buried Truths…

In Gothic fiction truth isn’t delivered cleanly or conveniently. It’s concealed in walls, sealed in letters, drowned in wells, locked in cupboards and buried in gardens – and it waits in all those places because it must. Buried truths aren’t narrative tricks, they’re the engine of Gothic fiction. From crumbling houses to unreliable narrators, the … Continue reading Buried Truths…

The Worm Moon…

March’s Worm Moon tonight marks the slow thaw of the earth. As soil softens and frost loosens its grip, worms rise again, turning and aerating the ground that’s been locked tight for months.  In truth, it’s an unglamorous name, right? Earthy and faintly unsettling. But entirely appropriate, nonetheless. As the ground warms, it releases what … Continue reading The Worm Moon…

The Season of Secrets…

March! Here we are caught between worlds. The ground’s still cold, but something restless stirs beneath it.  Buried roots, perhaps? Buried memories? Buried truths? Spring doesn’t arrive all at once with grandeur. It creeps in on stealthy cat’s paws so as not to rouse all things still sleeping. And within this space where winter and … Continue reading The Season of Secrets…