Nebulae

Painting with poster paints or water colours is still very theraputic for me.

I started drawing and painting again whilst undergoing cancer and chemo treatment in 2014/15. Nowadays I paint or draw once a week (except in the summer months when I am too busy!) and this helps me to ground myself and focus my mind on something creative.

I call this painting Nebulae because I was writing poetry for my Arturina cycle (as yet unpublished) when I created this picture. What do you think it looks like?

Elisa Choi Ang’s workshops at SkillShare are incredibly inspiring and helpful. Sign up and try them out for yourself!

© Freya Pickard 2018

Have you seen the videos I’ve made about my writing! Check them out at YouTube

To navigate around this blog, simply click on the dragonscales at the top of the page and scroll down to see the options on the right handside.

Advertisements

One day I went out to fight a dragon …

I got up this morning and put on my new leggings.

“They’re nice.” Claire said brightly. “Where did you get them from?”

“The market.” I replied, pulling a purple tie-dye T-shirt over my head. “They were the last pair there!”

“Nice colours!” Abigail rolled her ‘r’s as only the Cornish can do.

“They’re my dragonscale leggings.” I told them.

They looked at each other with an ‘Oh dear, she’s off again’ look.

“And I think I’ll go and fight a dragon today!”

“Why not?” They said. “We’ve got teaching practice. See you this evening!”

Why not? I thought to myself. If there was to be a story about how dragonscales were made into leggings, how would it start? One day I went out to fight a dragon… But you don’t find dragons just anywhere. There aren’t many around nowadays.

In the Other World there’s plenty still. Of course, most of them are getting old and decrepit, but they are dragons. The thing is, they don’t live in these parts of the woods. Look at it all. Blue sky, green leaves, sunlight slanting between the tree trunks. I can hear the lilting voices of nymphs and dryads calling to each other as they flit about the streams and around the boles of trees. Walking sedately in and out of the cool shadows I see the equine forms of centaurs. And here and there gleams the finely polished horn of a unicorn. All this is very pleasant but it’s not what I’m looking for. And how did I get here anyway?!

I walk along the shady path, searching for signs of a dragon. I cannot see any fire-blasted glades, so I ask a dryad if there are any dragons nearby.

“Any what?” She looks puzzled, her green hair falling across her face.

“Dragons! You know, whopping great winged lizards that breathe fire.”

“Oh, them!” She flicks her hair back. “We haven’t seen any for years. Try the north. There might be some there.”

“Which way’s north?”

“The way you’re going.”

“Thanks!” But she’s already disappeared under a leafy branch.

Just what is going on? I’m still dressed in my tie-dye T-shirt but instead of leggings, I’m wearing jogging bottoms. I thought I was meant to be attending a lecture today. Oh, well! This place seems far more interesting!

Want to read more? Dragonscale Leggings is now available as both an e-book and a paperback at Amazon UK & Amazon US! Find out more about this novel in my video at YouTube!

 © Freya Pickard 2018

EPod Interview – Linnea Tanner

Welcome back to my EPod Interview series! If you are new to my blog and haven’t come across an EPod yet, you can check out the back story at Escape Pod Emulations.

Here’s another space-grimed, asteroid-pocked escape pod and by the sounds of it, they can’t wait to get out. Hang on! Let’s get the door open and … Hello! It’s Linnea Tanner! What do you mean, where’s the nearest Tourist Information Office? We’ve just rescued you from deep space! What items did you take with you in your EPod?

iphone so I can look up information on the internet, take pictures, read e-books, and communicate with families and friends.

Purse so I can carry money, identification documents, travel documents, credit cards, and personal items.

Good walking shoes for traveling short distances on foot to various sites, for hiking nature trails and parks, and for visiting museums and archaeological sites.

Wheeled, traveler suitcase that is packed with practical clothes and is easily manoeuvred on planes, trains, and other types of transportation.

Sunglasses to protect my eyes from sun glare.

 

Award-winning author, Linnea Tanner, of Historical Fantasy weaves Celtic fantastical elements into the historical politics of Ancient Rome and Pre-Authurian Britannia based on her extensive research and travels to the British Isles, Ireland, and France. Award-winning Apollo’s Raven sweeps you into an epic Celtic tale of forbidden love, mythological adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Pre-Arthurian Britannia.

You can follow Linnea at

Linnea Tanner

WordPress

Twitter

Facebook

Linked In

© Freya Pickard 2018

Dragonscale Leggings – paperback!

Dragonscale Leggings is a dangerous book to read.

Why? Because if you don’t have a sense of humour, hate strong female leads and don’t like fantasy worlds, you’ll be wasting your time reading it.

But, if you love all of the above, you may well find this novel a very enjoyable read! I don’t like writing about stereotypes and in this book I write about “characters that are of the classic fantasy-typical stereotype, (that) are never stereotypical” (E Leaper). I also write a “parody of the fantasy genre … lampooning its conventions and tropes” (Troy).

This is chick-lit in a fantasy world. Think Alice in Wonderland meets Bridget Jones’ Diary. Come and adventure with Dracomagan and her trusty stallion, Tygar, as they travel through the Otherworld, trying to find her memory, evade Merlin and keep on the right side of the law.

This novel is now available once more as a paperback! This is the second edition in paperback and has been tweaked and improved. And of course it now has the updated cover to match the e-book version!

It’s available at Amazon UK & Amazon US and the video about my quirky heroine can be found at YouTube!

© Freya Pickard 2018

Iris

Colour therapy is really important when you’re going through chemotherapy.

The treatment makes you feel so tired and grey. I began to identify with how zombies must feel! So I tried drawing and painting in order to concentrate on colour. This helped to focus my mind on something other than how I was feeling. Vibrant colours really helped me to feel a little bit alive …

When I was recovering, I found Elisa Choi Ang’s workshops over at SkillShare really inspiring and helpful. Sign up and try them out for yourself!

© Freya Pickard 2018

Have you seen the videos I’ve made about my writing! Check them out at YouTube

To navigate around this blog, simply click on the dragonscales at the top of the page and scroll down to see the options on the right handside.

Violet Landscape

this gleaming vista of frozen earth

diamond-crusted ground, lilac hints

silver shades of blue and pink

gently cast by twin moons

violet landscape

purple flora;

these night-time

shadows

fall

Nonet © Freya Pickard 2018

To navigate around this blog, simply click on the dragonscales at the top of the page and scroll down to see the options on the right handside.

A drop of blood …

Parsley stood before the throne, staring down at her beloved and the green globe and realised she had no idea what to do.

Behind her, she could hear steel on stone. Parsley glanced over her shoulder to see the statues hurl themselves at Dracomagan and Peagreen. Nimue’s golden head turned from the fighting and the green eyes widened as she saw where Parsley was standing.

Sorrel unsheathed her sword. “Get on with it!” She ordered and stepped towards the sorceress.

Then Parsley remembered. A drop of blood had opened the way in the enchanted forest. Another drop of blood had woken Tym from his enchanted sleep …

“Thank you very much for your latest newsletter. What a work you do, it is amazing. It gives me inspiration and imagination for everyday life. Thank you.” U Gohla

The September issue of my Newsletter is available now! And in a few weeks time, the December issue will be sent out to everyone who subscribes.

Want to know how the story ends?

When you subscribe to my Newsletter you get a free story every year in four enchanting episodes. You also get to read some of my poetry which has not yet been published. And, you also get a glimpse into my real life …

How do you get to read my Newsletter?

Simply send an email to dragonscaleclippings@gmail.com with “Request Clippings” in the subject line. Your email will never be passed on or sold to anyone else and I will only ever use it to send you my quarterly Newsletter. Find out more at Freya’s Newsletter.

© Freya Pickard 2018