Patricia Leslie

I’ve been doing some reading into magic, myth, conceptual theming, and core character / personality realisation, encompassing the historical aspects of setting and external forces. Historical fantasy commands underlying currents and deep pools to supply the forces that not only propel the story forward, but also take the reader along with it. So this month, my round up is in someway indicative of future storytelling – the ongoing Crossing the Line series and beyond. First up

American author, John Steinbeck, used journal writing as a tool for creativity. A notebook and pen, or an electronic device if that’s your preference, is not a novel way of teasing out ideas. Yet scratching out thoughts in a manual way (whether they're destined for general fiction, fantasy fiction, or article writing) embeds concepts in a fluid way into the psyche. The creative flow of a writer may be aided by reading, conversation, experience, but getting it out on paper or

Poetry can hook the soul like nothing else. I love to read it and occasionally write it. I upload my favourite lines (and other quotes) to my Instagram account as part of a collection called Stillpoints. As always, I also enjoy reading about poets. Emily Dickinson is an old favourite. Her scarcity of words to evoke realisation and understanding of seemingly simple concepts draws me back again and again. Recently, I’ve also been reading and listening to Mary Oliver, Wisława