Woken early by dreams, I watched the sun rise, wrote these words: Sunrise at Stonehenge I sit on this van-home stepas the sun rises overthe prehistoric Stonehenge monument last night I dreamedI became the stones(I walked right into them / my heart was called) I search for words(in the voice of three crows)and they are prophetic: How well do I know my heart?How can this knowing serve the whole? The polarisationof light & shadow is a rough knotof wood I…
In The Madness of Sara Mansfield, these words are attributed to Medha, a character who is activist, mother and grandmother. Medha is a fierce, determined woman living in defiance of the expected order of things. This has been an overarching theme of her life, and that of her ancestors, and yet she struggles to pass this onto her daughter, Saraswati, without squashing her at times. All of the characters in this novel speak from the first person perspective so that…
I’ve been talking a lot about what makes a successful life these past few years. I think this is because I came to realise we have very narrow parameters around what we consider success that often focusses on our earning or networking capacity. I had a very chaotic childhood. I’m not saying this to invite pity, but to offer a brief context. So success to me has been learning about stability, about how relationships work and how to form authentic…
Thank you so much again to everyone who continues to support the book! I’m so delighted. I had also set myself the challenge of reading the book in its entirety throughout May on my InstaTV, but realised quite quickly this isn’t something I have the creative capacity for at this time. A close family member’s health declined rapidly yesterday and I don’t feel I have the focus for so many things just now.I want to concentrate on spreading the word…
Hello Friends! To be honest I’m all worded out right now. These past few months working with a copy-editor and proofreader have been wonderful and exhausting. Then these last few weeks were all about getting the book ready for e-readers, as well as sorting out the shop. Much to do when you’re doing it all by yourself. This is a bit of an anti-launch really – early Saturday morning on a bank holiday weekend, but I wanted a slow, quiet…
When we were at Worm’s Head, South Wales, recently we witnessed a huge sand dredger hauling its cumbersome body forwards and backwards through the water, dragging up sand for all the new buildings. This level of extraction causes endless untold stresses on the local ecosystem, and yet we just see this as a natural element of human progress. Why is this? By sending my book out into the world as copyleft/ under the Creative Commons I wanted to put myself…
Sending new words out into the world can feel like jumping off a cliff. You don’t know how it’s going to land, or if people will connect. There’s that lurch in the stomach as your feet recognise thin air, the last-second terror that maybe you should just forget all about it and go hide in bed. And yet we do it don’t we? We scramble up, stride forward; step off. Over and over: crafting the narrative, reshaping the vision, reconfiguring…
One of my favourite characters to write in The Madness of Sara Mansfield is Sara’s life-partner, Nneka Adesina. I am in love with Nneka’s brilliance – she has worked her way to the pinnacle of success as a biotech scientist in the sovereign state of Mont Blanc – the world is at her feet, and she knows it. And yet, beneath the surface of her immensely successful and meticulously shaped Amortal life, difficult questions begin to surface about the true…
I’ve avoided using the word ‘dystopia’ when talking about the new book because I don’t believe it’s a dystopian novel. It is darkly realist at times and I don’t shy away from shining a bright light of truth on characters and events so that the shadows are revealed.But in addition to this, there’s many beautiful moments of connection, with the land, with other people, and with technology. You just have to be prepared to look. It’s also the first book…
Eeep! Tiny bit more book spam. ONE WEEK TO GO! The Madness of Sara Mansfield is out on 1st May 2021. I chose this date because it speaks of the wonderfully fecund, creativity of nature. It’s the day the May Queen & King meet to give birth to all of summer. This MayDay of anarchy, magic and tree worship is also special in my heart as it’s the day Andy and I met.My online shop will be open super early…