Tag Archives: The Treachery of Beautiful Things

Cover Competition

The cover of The Treachery of Beautiful Things by the very talented Danielle Delaney, is a contender in the Cover Contest 2012 at Cover Cafe. It’s in the Alternate Reality section and up against some stiff competition, so I’d really appreciate your votes!

“Designer Danielle Delaney used a compilation of stock images, including the central photograph of the girl by Mayer George, to create this cover of THE TREACHERY OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS by Ruth Frances Long.”


Isn’t it lovely. Still takes my breath away. 😀

And don’t forget that you can still enter to win a copy of THE TREACHERY OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS here on my website until the 8th.

Happy May Day – Giveaway

 

May 1st is the feast of Bealtaine, or May Day, an ancient seasonal festival signally the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere, a time of fires and fertility rites. It is the day of the May Queen, the mythical figure who presages the arrival of summer and an important element in my novel The Treachery of Beautiful Things.

Folklore suggests that after the most beautiful girl in the village had been picked to be Queen of the May, she was dressed in white, a garland of white flowers placed her head, she was paraded through the village, taken to the forest and sacrificed to the trees.

Jenny, in the Treachery of Beautiful Things is forced to take on the mantel of May Queen, but makes herself stronger than a tradition, so matter how old it might be.

I’m now the type of person who can’t look at pictures of a May Pole without a little shudder, even if it is made by Sylvanian Families (true story – I was toy shopping and had to leave before I made a little scene with hysterical giggles.)

Research into the folklore which underpins our traditions is a great way of adding richness to stories, to developing a depth of meaning. That meaning might not be apparent to many, it might upset some, but the sense of the old lurking behind new words, in between the leaves and blossoms of the May Tree, makes stories resonate for the reader.

~~~May Day Competition Time~~~

For a chance to win a copy of The Treachery of Beautiful Things in hardback, please leave a comment below telling me about your favorite bit of folklore or fairytale. The competition will run for a week, until the 8th of May when I’ll pick the winner.

The paperback edition of The Treachery of Beautiful Things is now available for pre-order and will be out on the 1st August (Lughnasadh, another Celtic fire festival, this time for Harvest. Let’s hope that’s a sign.) Check your local bookshop or  IndieboundPowells, Book Depository, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com

Playing with pictures

I made a thing.

The base image came free from Dreamstime.com and I thought it fitted with the quote from The Treachery of Beautiful Things. I’m using Paint.net, which isn’t too difficult to pick up. Takes a little bit of trial and error but it’s intuitive enough (or at least I could make it work so that’s a good advert for it). I haven’t played with images for a while but I’ll have to try and do a few more soon. They’re fun.

Off with the Mummers

So… on Sunday, the last day of our Christmas Holidays, which was also Nollaig na mBan, as a treat primarily for me I think, we went to Collin’s Barracks, part of the National Museum of Ireland to see The Armagh Rhymers perform a Mummer’s Play.
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Mumming is a traditional part of the winter holidays which, it is believed, dates back thousands of years in Ireland. There’s music and story telling, and people in masks. Amazing basketwork masks in this case.

Photobucket Continue reading Off with the Mummers

In the editing cave

I’ve been very quiet of late which is usually ominous. But in this case it’s been a mixture of being not terribly well, and having some edits on the Space Opera.* Which might not actually be a Space Opera anymore (Planetary romance? Science Fantasy? Scientific Romance?).

So here is the podcast of an interview I did with the awesome Leeds Book Club (@AvidReader)

in which we talk about a lot of things. A LOT OF THINGS! LOTS!

Enjoy. 45 minutes or so of it. Just to warn you in advance. Also we had some sound problems. And my voice sounds weird!!!

I also read a wonderful review of The Treachery of Beautiful Things from Writer of Wrongs.

“Exquisite, enchanting, magical… this folktale world is truly worth submerging in.”

Enter to win it and others on the site, but do it quickly. 😀

Back into the writer cave/sick bed I go.

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*Oh, and I might be overdosing on box sets of The West Wing. Not that overdosing on it is possible, of course.

Glitterature Review for The Treachery of Beautiful Things

Check out the super Glitterature review from Elle Fowler

“If you are a fan of magical books; of Narnia, or Alice in Wonderland, then you will love this book! I finished this book in one sitting, and was so entranced by it that I didn’t want it to end – ever. I highly recommend this book to any age reader. But be prepared to be sucked in… I got so lost in this world that I forgot about my own until it was over!”