About Me

My photo
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

Follow me on Twitter

Share a link on Twitter

My Blog List

Blog Archive

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

Inner Peace Blog

Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!

Fabulous Blog Award

Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!

Search This Blog

Monday 12 March 2007

Yorkshire cousins

After three very pleasant days with my cousin Sally and her husband John in Selby, I've moved down to Scholes, where one of my many Yorkshire "e-cousins", John W. lives. John and his wife Betty have made me most kindly welcome and I'm looking forward to visiting another cemetary tomorrow, this time at nearby Kimberworth. The burial grounds around Selby proved disappointing as the one where I think my 3xggf Timothy Rayner Mason was interred has had the stones laid flat and most of them are severely overgrown with moss. I shall try phoning the churchwarden tomorrow to see if there's any chance of a look at the burial register for the 1870s.

Yesterday Sally dropped me at Pontefract Castle for an hour's stone walking. Pontefract has, of course, been an important centre since Roman times and for centuries its castle was impregnable both as fortress and prison. I caught a glimpse of it on a my last visit in 1995 and it gave me the shudders. It is nothing but a crumbling ruin now but it still has what I, in my hippie-chick lingo, would call a Bad Vibe. When Sally told me what the place was I understood my reaction because I knew of the castle's infamy. I was subsequently to learn that several of my ancestors met their ends there, mainly during the Wars of the Roses.

This time, though, it didn't have that eerie effect on me. Rather, the place seemed forlorn, almost as if it were grieving for its past glories. I wish it could be properly excavated, as under the grass and rubble there must lie a huge amount of archealogical material. Time Team, where are you?

Today we visited another site famous for its part in the Yorkist / Lancastrian conflict - the pretty village of Towton. I paid my respects at the ancient memorial to the fallen on both sides that stands on the battle site itself. Sally and I had ancestors both red and white who died on that terrible day.

I am, of course, not doing any writing. There is a wealth of material seeping through to the unconscious, however, and I know much of it will re-surface to help me write the new version of my trilogy. History is in the air here. You can feel it if you can overlook telegraph poles and power lines that crowd the scenery even across the fields and meadows that separate the villages. The landscape, even in rural areas, reminds me of the outskirts of an Australian city. I hope to see some wilder country when I visit the more northerly parts of Yorkshire next weekend.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great to hear you are enjoying yourself. I think from an Australian perspective, the UK doesn't get really 'wild' until you're in the Lake District or further north. A long time ago, we drove through this country, across Scotland with its one-lane roads and 'passing places'. I bet they don't have these roads anymore, but I bet Gairloch will still feel as remote as it did then. The place I've felt was most similar was Port Campbell on the far (that is western) end of the Great Ocean Road. Just a tiny town, very few trees, clear ocean, a beautiful bay with cattle grazing right up to it and... palms??? In northern Scotland? Weird place. I loved northern Scotland

Carol Ryles said...

I loved the feel of England -- the way everything is so very, very old. I think you absorb stories from just being there. When I went there, I hadn't start writing fiction yet; but I kept getting weird ideas that made me think that maybe I should try.

Satima Flavell said...

Yes & yes to both your comments:-) Much of England is so built up it's like the outskirts of an Aussie city. There are still wild places, though - Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon, for example, and much of the Yorkshire vales where I'll be next week. But even the built up places can be inspiring, as Carol says, because of the historical aspect. That's the one big thing about the UK that I miss in Oz.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...