About Me
- Satima Flavell
- 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.
The Dagger of Dresnia
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. 
My Blog List
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Medieval Jobs That Disappeared - If you go back to the Middle Ages, you’ll find numerous professions—some requiring skill and learning, others chosen out of desperation—that have since van...3 hours ago
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Top 10 Fantasy books I’ve read in 2024… - Top 10 Fantasy books I’ve read in 2024. I realised, after posting the children’s, young adults, younger children’s, and historical fiction books, that I’d ...13 hours ago
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New Year, New Commitment to What’s Already Working… - OK, it’s not as snappy as ‘New Year, New You’, but we all know those grand commitments to massive ‘to do’ lists don’t work anyway, don’t we? So let’s try...16 hours ago
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Book Beat: Regency Dragons, a Sci-Fi Mystery, & More - Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-t...18 hours ago
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Thoughts On “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” - When I first saw a trailer for the newest Lord of the Rings movie, I was incredibly excited because it was an animated movie. I could hardly believe they w...1 day ago
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Meaningful economics - [image: Image of blue sky with white clouds and sun shining] Meaningful economics Human beings mean. We just do. Human beings contemplate the importance or...1 day ago
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The London Under London by Miranda Miller - This is a photo of the Great Hall of the Guildhall which has been the City of London’s civic and ceremonial centre since the 12th century. In the M...
2 days ago -
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 30: The Wee Free Men - After the success of The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents (2001) it was inevitable that Terry Pratchett would turn his hand to another Discworld no...4 days ago
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Katie Tallo - Katie Tallo has been an award-winning screenwriter and director for more than three decades. After winning an international contest for unpublished fiction...
5 days ago -
5 Weird Tricks To Help You With Your Grammar & Punctuation - Weird Tricks For The Win Grammar and punctuation can be dry AF, which is why I always tell my ‘Bang2writers’ to use these weird tricks. They are memorabl...6 days ago
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5 Edits to Strengthen Your Writing, Right Now - *By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy * *Making some simple word edits can turn a flat scene into one that sings.* Back when I was first learning how to write,...
1 week ago -
On Watching YouTube! - I do enjoy watching YouTube. There is such a variety of channels. I download Andre Rieu concerts for my mother. There are quite a few films and TV shows...1 week ago
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Time, what even is it anyway? Newsletter 9th December 2024. - Hello fiends I really am rubbish at this newsletter frequency thing, huh? If it’s any consolation, I’m even worse at keeping my YouTube channel up to dat...1 week ago
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Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light in six documents - Explore some of the historical records used to inform the second series of BBC's Wolf Hall. The post Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light in six document...2 weeks ago
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A preview of my end of year round up - This post is based on an email I sent to the CSFG group. It has been amended. We came back from the UK end of February 2024 and I hit the ground running. I...2 weeks ago
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A preview of my end of year round up - This post is based on an email I sent to the CSFG group. It has been amended. We came back from the UK end of February 2024 and I hit the ground running. I...2 weeks ago
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Are You Dysdexterous? - “That’s not a word!” Yeah, you’re right. The word doesn’t exist. … YET! But maybe it should exist. Maybe there is a massive blind-spot...3 weeks ago
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Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales… Release Day! - Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales about Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, is out! You can get both the e-book and paper book at Amazon, at other bookstores, or a...3 weeks ago
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About Holly - There is no way to soften the blow of this and Mom never liked euphemisms, so I’m just going to speak plainly. Mom died due to complications from cancer on...1 month ago
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WRAP UP OF HORRORFEST POST, OCTOBER. - Hi all! Thank you so much for posting to WEP's Horrorfest in October. I'm sure everyone enjoyed reading the entries. So good to see so many of the 'oldi...
1 month ago -
Introducing Maneyacts Media - At Maneyacts Media, we specialize in professional video recording for events, seminars, and competitions. With a diverse selection of standard and PTZ (pan...2 months ago
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Little, Big - Web Goblin here. Two years and five blog posts ago, we were introduced to the 25th Anniversary edition of *Little, Big or, The Fairies' Parliament*, by J...3 months ago
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PhD Milestone 3 at Curtin University - Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing my Milestone 3 presentation for my PhD at Curtin, which is in its final stages before it goes off to be examined. App...3 months ago
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A personal thought on the passing of publishing legend Tom McCormack - The passing of publishing giant Tom McCormack makes me recall the interaction he had with my father, Leonard Shatzkin, from the very beginning of Tom’s p...6 months ago
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My Spring Tour 2024 – Part 2: From Turku back to Kiel - Helsinki also offered the chance for a day trip. Turku, the oldest town in Finland, is only about two hours bus ride away, and a nice ride through an inter...
6 months ago -
How to Approach Influencers in Your Niche: Twelve Crucial Tips - The post How to Approach Influencers in Your Niche: Twelve Crucial Tips appeared first on ProBlogger. Do you want to connect with influencers in your nic...6 months ago
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Henry of Lancaster and His Children - The close bonds which Edward II's cousin Henry of Lancaster, earl of Lancaster and Leicester, forged with his children have fascinated me for a long time...8 months ago
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Questions from year 9 students - Recently – actually, not very recently but I somehow forgot to write this sooner – I did what has become an annual online Q&A with the Year 9 girls at Bedf...1 year ago
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Flogometer 1180 for Christian—will you be moved to turn the page? - Submissions sought. Get fresh eyes on your opening page. Submission directions below. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me ...1 year ago
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Storny Weather - I've just been out fixing up the damage from last night's storm. This is pretty much the first time I've been able to spend much time outside and do any...1 year ago
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another review for the Christmas Maze - *The Christmas Maze by Danny Fahey – a Review by David Collis* Why do we seek to be good, to make the world a better place? Why do we seek to be ethi...2 years ago
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Publishing Contracts 101: Beware Internal Contradications - It should probably go without saying that you don't want your publishing contract to include clauses that contradict one another. Beyond any potential l...
2 years ago -
Tara Sharp is back and in audio book - SHARP IS BACK! Marianne Delacourt and Twelfth Planet Press are delighted to announce the fifth Tara Sharp story, a novella entitled RAZOR SHARP, will be ...2 years ago
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Non-Binary Authors To Read: July 2021 - Non-Binary Authors To Read is a regular column from A.C. Wise highlighting non-binary authors of speculative fiction and recommending a starting place fo...3 years ago
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ATTENTION: YOU CAN’T LOG IN HERE - Hey YOU! This isn’t the forum. You’re trying to login to the Web site. THE FORUMS ARE HERE: CLICK THIS The post ATTENTION: YOU CAN’T LOG IN HERE a...3 years ago
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Grants for Writers Masterclass Online - Grants For Writers Masterclass Online Winner of 6 grants, author Karen Tyrrell shares her secrets to Grant Writing for Australian writers and authors. ...4 years ago
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UPDATE ON WORK IN PROGRESS... - *THE FUGITIVE QUEEN * *(title may change!)* The initial draft of this novel has been finished at slightly under 150,000 words, so not quite as long as the...4 years ago
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Productivity - If you're looking for a post on how to be more productive in your writing, this is not it. However, if you're looking for a discussion of how we conceptual...
4 years ago -
Books Read and Stories Published in 2019 - *BOOKS READ 2019* *Song of Solomon *Toni Morrison *Some Kind of Fairy Tale *Graham Joyce ...
4 years ago -
HOW TO UPGRADE YOUR LIFE - Stories end. New stories begin. It's fascinating -- the great and small adventures of every day. Honor the place where you're rooted. What stories are f...
4 years ago -
Geoffrey Chaucer - [image: Geoffrey Chaucer] Geoffrey Chaucer *Geoffrey Chaucer* turned into born in 1343, the son of John and Agnes (de Copton) Chaucer. Chaucer was descen...
4 years ago -
Year end holiday greetings - Hi Dhamma friends, It is that year end holiday season again and along with all the negative vibrations going on in the world, we need to recharge our med...5 years ago
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#332 - Question: I wrote LOST IN LA as a retelling of Pretty Woman with “modern” social issues, but I don’t know whether to focus on the characters, the fake rel...5 years ago
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Travelin' Man: a new Song & Music-Video from me - There's also a bit of my tongue-in-cheek, philosophy for living in the lyrics - *life should be about the journey, never about arriving. * It's also on Y...5 years ago
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Subtext in scene/dialogue - I'm looking for examples of subtext within a scene, especially in dialogue. Any ideas? Here's one- Let's say that Tommy is keeping a secret from his co-wo...5 years ago
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Day 1: Harlequin Presentation - Sue Brockton – Publishing director Jo Mackay – head of local fiction, HQ, Mira, Escape Kita Kemp – Publisher Mills and Boon (ANZ) Nicola Caws – Editor...5 years ago
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#Mayflower400: They that in Ships unto the Sea down go - *Music for the Mayflower* *A guest post by Tamsin Lewis * I direct the early music group Passamezzo [www.passamezzo.co.uk], an established ensemble kno...
5 years ago -
Book review: The Heat, by Sean O’Leary - Jake works nights as a security guard / receptionist at a budget Darwin motel. The job suits him: he has an aptitude for smelling out potential trouble, an...5 years ago
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Portrait of a first generation freed African American family - Sanford Huggins (c.1844–1889) and Mary Ellen Pryor (c.1851–1889), his wife, passed the early years of their lives in Woodford County, Kentucky, and later...5 years ago
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Review of Bell's Much Ado about Nothing - Bell Shakespeare's *Much Ado About Nothing* 2019-07-07 reviewed by Frances, our president. A group from the Shakespeare Club went last week to see the B...5 years ago
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Brian Wainwright "How I Wish I Had Written That" Award for 2019 - The coveted and prestigious *Brian Wainwright "How I Wish I Had Written That" Award for 2019* goes to the late, great and much lamented *Edith Pargeter...5 years ago
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The Girl from the Sea launches: 31 July 2019 - Some of you will already know that my new novella, The Girl from the Sea, is launching on July 31. This book is the prequel to Children of the Shaman an...
5 years ago -
Six Things Writers Need To Stop Worrying About - Some things don't change. When I got my start in this biz, way back in 2002, writers had to get a lit agent to get a publisher, then they did what their pu...5 years ago
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Story Goal, Story Question, and the Protagonist’s Inner Need (Story Structure Part 1) - This is the first article in a series exploring the elements of story structure. Part 1 looks beyond the topics of three-act and mythic structure to a revi...5 years ago
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An Obscure Lady of the Garter - Recently, for the purposes of writing fiction, I had cause to check who was admitted to the Garter in 1387. (This is the sort of weird stuff I do all th...5 years ago
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Assassin’s Apprentice Read Along - This month, in preparation for the October release of the Illustrated 25th Anniversary edition of Assassin’s Apprentice, with interior art by Magali Villan...5 years ago
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Want Booksellers to Stock Your Books? - Booksellers in your community will help you sell your books if you approach them with good sense and a professional approach.5 years ago
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The Scarred King by Rose Foreman - "From the moment he could walk, Bowmark has trained for a fight to the death. The Disc awaits him: a giant bronze platform suspended over a river of l...
5 years ago -
Gratitude, therefore God? - I recently saw a video where a prominent TV personality was interviewing another TV personality who is a self-proclaimed atheist. The interviewer explained...5 years ago
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It's the End of the (Fringe) World As We Know It... - I didn't get to the Fringe World Awards because I was volunteering at another venue at the time, which is also the reason I saw almost none of the shows th...5 years ago
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Happy Public Domain Day 2019! - Today is Public Domain Day 2019, which means (finally!) the end of copyright for works first published in the U.S. in 1923. You are now free to use, reprin...5 years ago
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A Movie That No Writer Should See Alone - Really. REALLY. Trust me on this. particularly since this film, ‘Can you ever forgive me?’, is based on a ‘True story’ – and too many writers will see too...6 years ago
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Catching up on books I've read - Recently I've been looking at some of the books I've enjoyed over the past year or so – and in the process, it's made me realise just how many I've read! M...
6 years ago -
The November Tour Press Release - *Peter Grant is coming to a bookshop near you. * Meet Ben Aaronovitch on his epic tour of Great Britain to celebrate the publication of his upcoming, new ...6 years ago
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Review: Red Harvest - [image: Red Harvest] Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett My rating: 5 of 5 stars An absolute classic featuring the most literate and technically clever of the...6 years ago
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New story at Giganotosaurus - “The Wanderers” – the furry fantasy I wrote for my kids about a couple of fox people who go off in search of the end of the earth (and then have to find th...7 years ago
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First comes painting, Then comes sketching - While enjoying my new acrylics hobby, I started a painting and decided I wanted to include a dragon statue in one of them. There was, though, a hurdle I ha...
7 years ago -
More Cabinet of Oddities News - Back in 2015, I was lucky enough to be part of an amazing collaborative event put together by the talented Dr. Laura E. Goodin. The Cabinet of Oddities, a ...7 years ago
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The One and the Many – every Sunday - My first serious girlfriend came from good Roman Catholic stock. Having tried (and failed) to be raised as a Christian child and finding nothing but lifele...7 years ago
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A Shameless Plug Ian Likes: Bibliorati.com - A little-known fact is that I once had a gig reviewing books for five years. It was for a now-defunct website known as The Specusphere. It was awesome fun:...7 years ago
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10 New Youtube Videos for Medieval Lovers - Volume 2 - We found 10 more new videos on Youtube about the Middle Ages. *Rediscovered: Medieval Books at Birkbeck * This video introduces University of London - Birk...
7 years ago -
2016 Wildflower Calendar – Long List - This is the ‘long list’ for a potential 2017 Wildflower Calendar. They are pictures from suburban Perth, in conservation areas, parks and verge gardens. ...8 years ago
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And Father Dragon said "let there be a planet...." - *Lo and behold, Dragon made a planet!!* Oh, I'm so very proud of myself so forgive me if I brag a little bit - way too much. I'm in the process of learn...
8 years ago -
The Stars Askew - release imminent - Pre-order at Booktopia Just a short post to let you know that I am still alive and writing poetry over at the poetry blog. I also wanted to mention that...
8 years ago -
The Tame Animals of Saturn - It's done. It's in the world! Often, the journey to publication is itself worthy of a book - though it'd be a tiresome book indeed. Still, I'm happy. I co...
8 years ago -
Children learning English as a second language with dyslexia. Lese-rechtschreibeschwache Schüler/innen und Englisch in der Schule. - *"Legasthenie/LRS und Englisch als Fremdsprache* Lese-rechtschreibschwache Schülerinnen und Schüler bekommen in der Regel auch Schwierigkeiten in Englis...8 years ago
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Prompts, Anyone? - I'm a great fan of writing to triggers or prompts so when I was delighted came across something useful on poet Katy Evans-Bush's blog, *Baroque in Hackney....10 years ago
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Cherries In The Snow - This recipe is delicious and can also be made as a diet dessert by using fat and/or sugar free ingredients. It’s delicious and guests will think it took ...12 years ago
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Al Milgrom’s connection to “Iron Man” - Via the Ann Arbor online newspaper - I felt it was worth repeating as a great example of Marvel doing the right thing by a former employee and without the ...
14 years ago
Places I've lived: Manchester, UK
Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia
Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia
Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW
Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school
Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ
Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake
Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA
Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park
Places I've lived: High View, WV
Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK
Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland
Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA
Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park
Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!
Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!
Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Book review: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
Thursday, July 17, 2014 | 
Posted by
Satima Flavell
Bitter Greens by Kate ForsythMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
An utterly lovely story, beautifully told. In fact, it is two stories in one: a re-imagined story of the convent days of French author Charlotte-Rose de la Force, and the fictional story of a nun who told her the tale of Rapunzel. How de la Force, a French noblewoman, learnt the Italian tale has long been subject to speculation, and this as convincing an explanation as we are ever likely to have.
In Bitter Greens, Forsyth has woven a tapestry as rich as any owned by the Sun King himself. It is, without a doubt, one of the best retellings of a fairy tale in a long time.
View all my Goodreads reviews
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