— Meister Eckhart

After a long winter in lockdown, spring has almost arrived in South East England, and the later sunsets and warmer temperatures are very welcome 🌸. It feels like a good time for my annual blog post about stories with amazing beginnings. You know the ones I mean—stories that are immediately intriguing, and you just have to keep reading to find out what happens. Here are ten more YA books I added to my TBR list because I loved the way their stories opened. I hope you enjoy my choices, and thank you very much for visiting my blog today! I wish you happy reading for the rest of 2021 💕.

Writing update: Lost in Magic is going well and remains on track for publication in the first half of 2021. I hope to have a confirmed release date soon.

“I am going to tell you a story you already know. But listen carefully, because within it is one you have never heard before.

The story you know is about a boy named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. You recognize his name. Even if you do not, you know him well, because you have heard his music all your life.

[...]

The story you have never heard is set in a dream of fog and stars, faery princelings and queens of the night. It is about the Kingdom of Back, and the girl who found it.

I am the sister, the other Mozart. And her story is mine.”

The Kingdom of Back, by Marie Lu

“A cacophony of ticktocking resounds through the otherwise hushed clockmaker’s shop. When I first came to live with Uncle Holden, the relentless ticking drove me mad. A decade later, the chant of time is now a comfort—his handcrafted timepieces echo the cadence of my wooden clockwork heart.”

Before the Broken Star, by Emily R. King

“My parlor smelled of linseed oil and spike lavender, and a dab of lead tin yellow glistened on my canvas. I had nearly perfected the color of Gadfly’s silk jacket.

The trick with Gadfly was persuading him to wear the same clothes for every session. Oil paint needs days to dry between layers, and he had trouble understanding I couldn’t just swap his entire outfit for another he liked better. He was astonishingly vain even by fair folk standards, which is like saying a pond is unusually wet, or a bear surprisingly hairy. All in all, it was a disarming quality for a creature who could murder me without rescheduling his tea.”

An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson

“I didn’t want to resurrect my sister because I loved her. I didn’t want one final goodbye, to whisper words left unsaid or clear my conscience of any slights between us. I didn’t want to hear her voice say my name, Tempe, one last time.

I wanted to soothe the anger that scorched through me.

[...]

I’d heard something that changed how I felt about her, transforming my grief to anger. So now I needed to hear her voice one last time. I needed the truth. And for that, I needed to resurrect her. Neither of us could rest until then.”

The Vanishing Deep, by Astrid Scholte

“It happened, however, that a king’s son came into the forest, and went to the dwarfs’ house to spend the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain, and the beautiful Snow-white within it, and read what was written upon it in golden letters. Then he said to the dwarfs, Let me have the coffin, I will give you whatever you want for it.

I should have known Edward was too good to be true.

No. Wait. Let me go back to the beginning. Before I had this curse. Before I went around slaying creatures that shouldn’t exist. Before I made friends with a rabbit.”

The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 1, by Isabella Fontaine and Ken Brosky

“I decided that Orion needed to die after the second time he saved my life. I hadn’t really cared much about him before then one way or another, but I had limits. It would’ve been all right if he’d saved my life some really extraordinary number of times, ten or thirteen or so—thirteen is a number with distinction. Orion Lake, my personal bodyguard; I could have lived with that. But we’d been in the Scholomance almost three years by then, and he hadn’t shown any previous inclination to single me out for special treatment.

Selfish of me, you’ll say, to be contemplating with murderous intent the hero responsible for the continued survival of a quarter of our class. Well, too bad for the losers who couldn’t stay afloat without his help. We’re not meant to all survive, anyway. The school has to be fed somehow.”

A Deadly Education, by Naomi Novik

“Never come to Hellfire House without wearing a mask.

It was one of the rare rules in a joint without any. The only rule the master of the club did not mind following. He blended in with the sea of suits and white masks that arrived every other night, switching appearances from crowd to crowd. A bartender one moment, a dealer at the card tables the next.

Only his face remained the same, half-masked and haunting. Like a prince who relished the bloody crown on his head, and the ghosts that came with it. A face almost hardened by beauty, though glints of youth ran deep beneath soft black eyes. It always shocked new guests, to see him. The master of the House was rumored to be a dragon of a man. A monster. A magician who had no mercy for fools.

Only those who dared slur the word boy in his face understood how true those rumors were.”

Where Dreams Descend, by Janella Angeles

“The room where they at last found him was so cold, they wondered at first if he had frozen to death. Face as white as snow, skin as cold as frost, lips as blue as ice. His expression seemed, to the police, perfectly peaceful. As if he had passed away in the middle of a very lovely dream. Except for the blood. Blood always tells its own story.”

The Kingdom, by Jess Rothenberg

“INTERVIEW, Sara Donoghue, May 9, 2017

Ashford: I’m starting the recording now. This is the first interview with Sara Donoghue concerning the disappearances in Briar Glen, Massachusetts. Today is May 9, 2017. Present are Sara Donoghue and myself, Dr. Andrew Ashford. Thank you for joining us today, Miss Donoghue.

Sara: You’re welcome. I guess. I don’t know what you expect me to tell you.

Ashford: The truth, Miss Donoghue. I think you’ll find we are some of the few people who are willing to hear it.

Sara: So you believe me, then?

Ashford: Is there a reason I shouldn’t?

Sara Donoghue begins to laugh, a low sound that crooks in the back of her throat.

Ashford: Miss Donoghue—

Sara’s laughter continues, her shoulders shaking. Her hands cover her face.

???: Pay attention. [1]

[1] Transcriptionist's note: Unable to identify the third voice. It is heavily distorted with static, and a droning sound appears on the recording simultaneously with the voice.”

Rules for Vanishing, by Kate Alice Marshall

“You may think you know the story. It goes something like this: once upon a time, there was a sixteen-year-old girl named Jane Grey, who was forced to marry a complete stranger (Lord Guildford or Gilford or Gifford-something-or-other), and shortly thereafter found herself ruler of a country. She was queen for nine days. Then she quite literally lost her head.

[...]

We have a different tale to tell. Pay attention. We’ve tweaked minor details. We’ve completely rearranged major details. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent (or not-so-innocent, or simply because we thought a name was terrible and we liked another name better). And we’ve added a touch of magic to keep things interesting. So really anything could happen. This is how we think Jane’s story should have gone.”

My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

“The memory has as many moods as the temper, and shifts its scenery like a diorama.”

― George Eliot

This quote sums up the protagonist of my latest book in more ways than one! It’s a challenge to write a character whose perception of the world and himself shifts back and forth, especially when the setting is entirely fictional.

An imaginary world has few limitations when you’re making up the story as you go along. In one sense, unlimited options are great because you never run out of things to write about. However, the story still needs to hang together in terms of its mood, tone, and visual imagery. That’s when it helps to have an aesthetic. And, let’s be honest, they are a lot of fun to make!

Here are four poems, including Robert Frost’s masterpiece, that capture the mystery and wonder a little snow can bring. The photos were all taken this morning, and as you can see, my cat was happy to come exploring too! Thank you very much for visiting my blog today, and I hope you enjoy the poetry 💕.

Writing update: Lost in Magic is going well. Kellan is getting himself into a whole lot of trouble though!

It powders all the wood,

It fills with alabaster wool

The wrinkles of the road.

It makes an even face

Of mountain and of plain, —

Unbroken forehead from the east

Unto the east again.

It reaches to the fence,

It wraps it, rail by rail,

Till it is lost in fleeces;

It flings a crystal veil

― Emily Dickinson

Lovely and chaste like smooth white sand.

A veil of wonder laced in light

Falling Gently on a winter’s night.

Graceful beauty raining down

Giving magic to the lifeless ground.

Each snowflake like a falling star

Smiling beauty that’s spun afar.

Till earth is dressed in a robe of white

Unspoken poem the hush of night

― Linda A. Copp

Turning tree stumps into snow men,

And houses into birthday cakes,

And spreading sugar over lakes.

Smooth and clean and frosty white,

The world looks good enough to bite.

That’s the season to be young

Catching snowflakes on your tongue.

― Ogden Nash

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

― Robert Frost

The door to 2021 is finally ajar, beckoning us toward a New Year and new opportunities. It’s difficult to look back on 2020 without comparing it to the year we were expecting (and most definitely did not get), and some things remain impossible to plan while there is so much uncertainty.

However, the good news is that reading and writing are two activities mostly unaffected by social distancing measures, so it seems like a good time to set myself some goals and look back on my favourite fictional journeys from this year. Today’s blog post will focus on books past, present, and future 📚.

“This was in the white of the year,

That was in the green,

Drifts were as difficult then to think

As daisies now to be seen.

Looking back is best that is left,

Or if it be before,

Retrospection is prospect's half,

Sometimes almost more.”

    —  Emily Dickinson

I have to hold my hands up and admit I spent a lot less time reading and writing this year. Not by choice, I hasten to add! There were just too many other challenges. But I have some very happy memories of taking my Kindle into the garden and reading next to the purple roses while my cat made the most of the summer sunshine. I discovered Temeraire the dragon and the Lunar Chronicles this year—I am quite a late reader for both series, but I really enjoyed them. And of course, Engraved in Magic was released at the end of July, continuing the Beyond Androva series from Art’s point of view.

“If you always try your best

Then you’ll never have to wonder

About what you could have done

If you’d summoned all your thunder.

And if your best

Was not as good

As you hoped it would be,

You still could say,

‘I gave today

All that I had in me.’”

    —  Barbara Vance

Today, I’m working on Lost in Magic, the next Beyond Androva story. Kellan, the narrator, has just had a fight with Galen, and I’m wondering how I can resolve it in such a way that they don’t become enemies. As you can see from the photo, my cat has settled on the sofa next to me so she can put a helpful paw on my keyboard when I’m supposed to make her dinner 😄. Later this evening, I’ll continue reading The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, my most recent book purchase. 

“Try, as best you can, not to let

The wire brush of doubt

Scrape from your heart

All sense of yourself

And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,

Time will come good;

And you will find your feet

Again on fresh pastures of promise,

Where the air will be kind

And blushed with beginning.”

    —  John O'Donoghue

If things go according to plan (and I hope they do!), Lost in Magic will be released in the first half of 2021, leaving me free to choose my next story. I don’t know yet if Beyond Androva will be a trilogy or a longer series because it depends how Kellan’s story ends. I want to make sure all is well on Xytovia before I move on to one of the other worlds. In terms of reading, one of my first pre-orders for 2021 is A Vow So Bold and Deadly (The Cursebreaker Series #3), by Brigid Kemmerer—released in the UK on January 26^th. I discovered the first book when I wrote an earlier blog post on fairy tale retellings: here

Which books are you looking forward to reading in 2021? Did you discover any new favourite stories in 2020? Thank you very much for visiting my blog today, and I hope the New Year brings you good health, good fortune, and lots of happiness!

Update January 21st: A reader mentioned their new book in a comment to this post, and because my TBR list is kind of long right now (understatement!) I thought I would update this post to include a link to the book. That way anyone who is interested can check it out for themselves. You can find it on Amazon here

The holiday season is fast approaching, and it’s going to be quite different from previous years (much like the rest of 2020). However, I usually get the chance to spend more time reading and writing during the holidays, and I’m looking forward to it this year more than ever. With that in mind, I’ve been searching for some YA books with a Christmas or winter theme to add to my TBR list, and today’s blog post describes my three choices. They’re a mix of fantasy and contemporary, fairy tales, snow and ice, parallel lives, and romance. I can’t wait to start reading! 

Thank you very much for visiting my blog today, and I wish you happy holidays and especially happy reading!

(Writing update:  I’m currently working on Lost in Magic, the third book in the Beyond Androva series. I don’t have a publication date yet, but Kellan’s story is going well.)

Tagline: Only one can be queen.

Description: Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone. In fact, it has never beat at all, for her father cut it out and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image. Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina, but when her father makes her queen of the southern territories, Mina starts to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—in order to win back the only mother she's ever known… or else defeat her once and for all.

Tagline: A retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper.

Description: Clara Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: marry the handsome pianist, Johann Kahler, and settle down to a life full of music.  But all that changes when Clara receives a mysterious and magical nutcracker.

Whisked away to his world—an enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a prince—Clara must face a magician who uses music as magic… and the future she thought she wanted.

Tagline: Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love.

Description: The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins, who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice… That's why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about?

Just when it seems like Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in—in the form of a slippery grocery store floor—and Paige's life splits into two very different parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city… and the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz… until her anxiety threatens to ruin everything. However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny, she'll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety—and learn that you don't have to be perfect to deserve true love.

I have always loved stories that contain magic, and it was probably inevitable that fantasy would be my genre of choice as a writer. It’s been a while since I did an A to Z, so today’s post is a lighthearted list inspired by magic in fiction. I’ve tried to include a variety of sources—books (of course!), film, television, and even some folklore. Is there anything on the list that you hadn’t heard of? Would your choices be the same as mine? I hope you enjoy it, and thank you very much for visiting my blog today 💕.

Amulets are typically small objects worn or carried for protection, and their long and varied history dates back to prehistoric times. The “magic” in the amulet comes from what it’s made of, or its shape, or what’s written on it, or the particular way it was constructed. A couple of great fictional examples include the glass snowdrop in Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and the Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.

The picture shows a Wedjat Eye from Ancient Egypt, a symbol associated with both Horus the sky god and Ra the sun god. Amulets with the eye—in this case a sandal buckle—were believed to bring protection, healing, and regeneration. (Horus lost his eye in a fight with his uncle, but it was magically restored.)

The Bifrost is from Norse mythology. It’s a rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, the world of the gods, with Midgard, the world of humanity. Heimdall guards the bridge and controls who enters and leaves Asgard. The Bifrost also appears as a visually spectacular special effect in the Marvel films, functioning as an obstacle and an enabler for various characters.

Healing crystals and stones have been around for thousands of years. The Ancient Sumerians (4,000 years BC) used crystals in their magic formulas, and “crystal” comes from Ancient Greece and the word for ice. Clear quartz crystal was thought to be water that had frozen so completely it would never thaw.

The picture is lapis lazuli, a crystal prized by the Sumerians for its ability to heal a wide variety of ailments. In terms of crystals in fiction, some of my favourite examples include the Elfstone created by J. R. R. Tolkien (it became Arwen’s Evenstar necklace in the Lord of the Rings films), lightsabers in the Star Wars universe, Marvel’s infinity stones, and the Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix.

“If I own that dagger, I control the Dark One. If I kill the Dark One with the dagger, I take his powers.”

—Rumplestiltskin to his son, Baelfire

Appearing in the television series Once Upon A Time, the dagger contains a curse that grants immense magical knowledge and power. The name of the Dark One is inscribed on the blade. Anyone in possession of the dagger has the ability to control the Dark One, and if the Dark One is killed with the dagger, the curse passes to the murderer, and the name on the blade changes. It makes for an interesting plot device that the dagger is the source of the Dark One’s strength but also makes them vulnerable.

King Arthur, a legendary English monarch from the late fifth century, has been linked to two swords. The first was a sword embedded in stone that could only be drawn by the rightful king (Arthur). The second was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake after the first sword was broken. Both swords have been associated with the name Excalibur in subsequent stories, and the sword is usually considered to be of magical origin and/or to possess magical powers. (The Dark One Dagger was found to be part of Excalibur’s blade in a later series of Once Upon A Time.)

Myths about sentient weapons may have started because the process of sword making seemed magical to ancient civilisations. A lump of earth being transformed into a shiny but deadly object like a sword would have seemed a lot like magic!

The feather of Ma’at (an Egyptian goddess who personified truth and justice) was used to judge the dead. Hearts were weighed against a single ostrich feather in the Hall of Two Truths. If the heart was lighter that the feather, the deceased was granted eternal life in the realm of the dead. If the heart was heavier, the outcome was rather less positive. The feather was the reason hearts were left in Egyptian mummies while the other organs were removed. Before being judged, the dead had to make their “negative confessions” and list all the bad deeds they didn’t commit. I guess the more you had to confess, the better your chances…

Greek Fire is an incendiary weapon that water can’t extinguish. I’ve included it as a magical item (in spite of the fact that it did once exist) because of its fictional use in ghost fighting in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. Also, the formula for creating Greek Fire as used by the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century has been lost to time, and no one today has been able to successfully recreate it.

Specifically, Rapunzel's magic hair from the 2010 Disney film. Taking its power from the golden flower that healed Rapunzel’s mother, the queen, it’s very long, super strong, and has the ability to heal anything and everything. Including old age, if old age can be seen as something that needs healing! (Mother Gothel certainly thinks so…)

Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak is an incredibly useful magical object that plays a role throughout the whole series. It enables Harry (and therefore the reader) to discover important plot points that other characters would never reveal in front of him. It’s not infallible either, as we see when Draco Malfoy realises Harry is spying on him beneath the cloak. And in the final book, the cloak is revealed to be one of the Deathly Hallows. The special effects in the films make the cloak appear very convincing!

I thought Tom Riddle’s Diary was the most interesting out of the seven horcruxes (Harry excepted!) not just because it was the first that Voldemort created, but also because it allowed the reader to “meet” Voldemort while he was still Tom Riddle. When I first read the book, and the letters in Tom Marvolo Riddle rearranged themselves to spell I am Lord Voldemort, I was on the edge of my seat!

How does a witch or wizard get around if they don’t want to apparate or use the Floo Network? They hail the Knight Bus, as Harry did in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The bus was apparently commissioned in 1865, taking inspiration from the Muggle bus service of the time. It’s invisible to Muggles, and it causes other objects to dodge out of its way. That’s a trick that would make the traffic on my journey to work a lot easier to navigate…

Aladdin’s story is closely associated with the Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights) even though it wasn’t actually part of the original Arabic text. It was added later in an eighteenth-century French translation. In most film adaptations, the genie of the lamp is a much bigger star of the story than the lamp itself. Have you ever wondered what you’d wish for if the lamp (hypothetically) came into your possession? Would you use one of your wishes to grant the genie their freedom?

Mirrors are the perfect example of an everyday item that can become a credible magical object. They can be windows. They can reveal or hide. They can be used to communicate. Some of my favourite fictional examples include the mirror used by Snow White’s stepmother (who’s the fairest of them all?), the mirror in Dracula by Bram Stoker (“this time there could be no error, for the man was close to me… But there was no reflection of him in the mirror!”), and the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter (haven’t we all wondered what we’d see if we looked into it?).

The necklace I’ve chosen is from Arthurian legend, and it was given to Sir Pelleas by the Lady of the Lake. Sir Pelleas was a Knight of the Round Table said to have been rescued from an unrequited love by Nimue (the Lady of the Lake in many versions of the legend). She came across Sir Pelleas after his heart had been broken. Using magic, Nimue made the other lady love Sir Pelleas while he would be cured, feeling only hate for her in return. Sir Pelleas later fell in love with Nimue, and they married. The necklace contained an enchantment to make its wearer “unfathomably loved.”

I had to include this one! Arguably the most powerful artefact in Tolkien’s fictional realm of Middle-earth, it was infused with Sauron’s evil intentions and almost impossible to destroy. You only have to look at how Déagol became Gollum to understand the ring’s ability to distort and corrupt its bearer.

Given the role of portals in my own books, there was only one possible choice for this letter 🙂. Portals, or magical doorways, are exciting and unpredictable. Anything and anyone could be on the other side. As a reader, the first portals I discovered were in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is probably the most famous one, but the characters were able to go to Narnia through other doorways too. I think the wardrobe is the most memorable because when I was eight years old, it seemed almost possible it could happen to me.

I don’t know why, but magic and quills seem to be a frequent combination in storytelling. Perhaps it’s because the traditional image of a magician in a fantasy setting might seem a bit strange if there were a plastic biro on the table (you know, next to the parchment 😉).

There are two particularly memorable quills in the Harry Potter books. The Blood Quill is used by Professor Umbridge to deliver a nasty form of detention. Painful magical cuts appear on the back of the user’s hand to mirror the lines they are writing. “I must not tell lies” in Harry’s case. The Quick Quotes Quill is used by journalist Rita Skeeter to take notes during her interviews, sensationalising the words of her interviewees to the point that they bear little resemblance to the truth. “My eyes aren’t ‘glistening with the ghosts of my past!’”

Riptide is another magical sword, this time belonging to Percy Jackson in the world created by Rick Riordan. The sword is made from Celestial Bronze, a material that is only deadly to gods and demigods (and a few other non-human characters). If you’re an ordinary mortal, Riptide will pass straight through you as if the sword were an illusion. Percy is able to keep it in his pocket as a pen, turning it back into a sword by taking off the cap.

Steles are tools used by Shadowhunters in the books by Cassandra Clare. Made from the heavenly metal adamas, a stele looks a bit like a kind of wand, and it glows when being used to draw runes onto the skin. These runes grant the supernatural abilities that Shadowhunters depend on in their fight against demons.

I guess this one is more of a story enabler than a magical item (unless you include the Time Turner used by Hermione Granger). As a reader, I’m a big fan of time travel, though I do prefer it when the characters go back instead of forward. I love the chance to learn about the past through the eyes of a modern-day character. My favourites as a child were Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce and Can I Get There by Candlelight? by Jean Doty. More recently, I’ve really enjoyed the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon.

This one comes from Scottish folklore and refers to a special kind of water that has magical healing properties. The water itself is not magical, but the method used to collect it makes it so. It must be taken “from under a bridge, over which the living pass and the dead are carried, brought in the dawn or twilight to the house of a sick person, without the bearer’s speaking, either in going or returning.”

I suppose on reflection, the Vanishing Cabinet as described in Harry Potter is like a portal, although it only works if you have two of them. A person who steps into one of the cabinets will instantly emerge from the other. Draco Malfoy repaired a Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts that was linked with another at Borgin and Burkes, allowing a group of Death Eaters into the school. The resulting confrontation with Dumbledore forced Severus Snape to make good on both his promise to Dumbledore and the Unbreakable Vow he made with Narcissa Malfoy, Draco’s mother.

No magical list would be complete without a reference to wands! The mention of wands in fiction dates as far back as the eighth century BC, when Homer described the use of magic “rods” by Hermes, Athena, and Circe in The Iliad and The Odyssey. There are so many fictional characters that are associated with wands, heroes and villains both, from Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother to the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I will hold my hand up and admit that I do own a Harry Potter wand from when I visited the Studio Tour a couple of years ago (Severus Snape’s).

In Chinese mythology, Xirang (Breathing Earth, Living Earth) is a magical substance with the ability to continuously grow, something that can be extremely helpful in stopping flood water, for example, or creating land for farming.

Yggdrasil is an enormous ash tree from Norse mythology that is supposed to connect the Nine Realms. It was pretty much considered to be the centre of the known universe. The idea of “warden trees” continued right up to the nineteenth century. They were believed to bring good luck to the land on which they grew.

The thunderbolt was a weapon made for Zeus by the Cyclops in the war against the Titans, a dynastic conflict that ended when Zeus killed his father, the Titan Cronus. Before you feel too sorry for Cronus, legend has it that Cronus had previously seized control from his own father and had become so paranoid that his own children would one day do the same to him that he ate them all! Zeus, the youngest child, was hidden by his mother until he was old enough to return, rescue his siblings (who were growing inside Cronus) and wage war. The never-ending bucketful of thunderbolts proved to be a deciding factor in Zeus’s victory.

Thank you for reading!