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

I use a lot of traditional hearth magic in my stories. It's often recognised as witchcraft, but to an outsider who doesn't understand or who has differing beliefs, witchcraft is more an accusation hurled to belittle, alienate, and hurt. Looking around at various belief systems it seems that contemporary religious types often refer to pagan or indigenous practices as witchcraft: placing them on the primitive, or worse, ignorant superstition shelf. Primitive and tradition do no

I was asked by my publisher to provide some book club questions for all three of my novels. Interesting task. Especially for The Ouroboros Key, which I haven’t read since the day I signed off on the galleys, and which I haven’t written or talked about in a couple of years. Then there’s the realisation that my only experience with book clubs is watching the Jane Austen Book Club (a couple of times, in fact. What can I say. I’m a romantic at heart). Time to do some research. Di

I really wish I was a time traveller. There are so many things I want to know. Who were the Picts? What did their carvings mean? What about the Tuatha de Danann? And the Firbolgs and Formorians. Were they the precursors to the Milesians; the Celts? Tribes that superseded each other, their individual cultural practices and beliefs melding together into one big melting pot that in turn overflowed into neighbouring islands? Like the Annunaki, did they become the deities of myth

This article was originally posted at Anne Marie Andrus's site: Monsters and Angels What is the draw of magic in stories? Why does it attract us? What does it say about the human condition that no matter who or where we are in this world, we so love a story with magicians and witches, elves, sorcerers, and various monsters causing mayhem? Magic is the potential of dreams and desires. We wish for our heart’s desire as we blow out candles and after a successful hunt for a four-