Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 65

#FridayFlash – The Plague Doctor

Image from the Wellcome Trust

Doktor Pinaldi swept along the close, his waxed leather cloak swishing behind him. He peered through the eye holes of his moulded mask, the scent of flowers drifting up from its beak to his nose. Other medical men believed the smell warded off the plague, but Doktor Pinaldi knew that was ridiculous. He just preferred floral scents to the smell of damp stone and rubbish that characterised the closes of the Underground City. He remembered the days before the sewers were installed, and shuddered at the memory.

He turned into another close that led away from the river. He passed doorways glimmering with his trademark green ward, shimmering curtains of magic that kept the family inside the house, and callers in the street. Preventing the spread of plague could be impossible if no one made an effort to contain it.

Doktor Pinaldi stopped halfway up the alley. A white flag hung out of a window on the third floor – another family needed his help. He pushed open the street door into the narrow vestibule. Normally children played on the stairs of the tenement buildings, and housewives chattered outside their lodgings, but the stairwell was quiet, aside from the distant sound of coughing.

He climbed the stairs, where flickering light pooled shadows across the steps. He reached the third landing, where a white smear on the front door to his left marked the afflicted rooms. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of lavender, and knocked on the door.

“Go away, we got plague in ‘ere!” A strong voice rang out within, and Doktor Pinaldi smiled. At least one soul inside was still burning brightly.

“I’m a Plague Doctor, good madam,” he called.

The door flew open. A housewife held a toddler on her hip. Exertion coloured her cheeks, but Doktor Pinaldi could tell this woman was healthy. He glanced at the toddler, who stared up at him and giggled.

“Neither of you have the plague,” he said.

“I’d bleedin’ well hope so! I put me ‘usband in quarantine the minute he started coughing,” said the housewife.

Doktor Pinaldi smiled behind his mask. He bowed to her.

“Well done, my good madam. I could not have prescribed better myself. Do you know where he caught the infection?”

“I’d reckon he caught it from his friend, Euan Bogglesthwaite. He lives in the building next door,” said the housewife. She gestured to the right with a jerk of her head.

“Ah, I have seen him. He will live,” said Doktor Pinaldi. He remembered the man, a hearty dockworker. The plague always sneaked into the City via the river, carried in bundles of fabric or sometimes even shipments of food. It was the precise reason why Doktor Pinaldi restricted his medical practice to the district by the docks.

“Good. I’ve sent me eldest kids to me sister, but Jude ‘ere wouldn’t go,” said the housewife. She tickled the little girl under the chin.

“Excellent. You are a model woman – if more took your precautions I should certainly have less work to do!”

The housewife smiled. The toddler giggled and clapped. Doktor Pinaldi ruffled her hair.

“You’ll want to see me ‘usband then?”

“Yes. When did he present symptoms?”

“Yesterday afternoon,” replied the housewife. “He’s got swellin’ under ‘is arms, and I put a poultice on them. I wore ‘is work gloves and everything.”

The housewife gestured to a room at the back of the lodgings, and through the grime-caked window Doktor Pinaldi saw the white flag hanging outside. She came no further, and closed the door behind him.

A burly man lay in a bed, a sheet tangled around his legs. Pale green poultices barely covered the black swellings under his arms, and a miasma of sickness hung in the air above him. Doktor Pinaldi peered at the man. His life force shone a weak yellow, black flecks wriggling within the glow.

Doktor Pinaldi removed a glass jar from beneath his cloak and sat on the edge of the bed. The sick man didn’t register his presence. Doctors would cure the man by combating the germs, but medical wizards worked more quickly. He unscrewed the lid from the jar and plunged his hands into the life force, wiggling his fingers. The black flecks continued to wriggle, but they headed towards his hands. He whispered an incantation, and they clung to the fingers of his gloves.

“Yes, you’re leaving this man now,” said Doktor Pinaldi.

He continued wiggling his fingers and whispering until all of the flecks covered his gloves. They shifted like settling dust, and once they were all attached, he lifted his hands out of the glow. He flicked all of the black flecks into the jar, and screwed the lid back on. He spoke an incantation and the lid fused with the top of the jar.

Doktor Pinaldi patted the sick man on the head. He didn’t thrash as wildly, and now that the infection was removed, his body would have time to heal itself. The Doktor left the room, and found the housewife in the hallway.

“Your husband will be fine, my good madam. I will need to put up a ward to prevent anyone coming or going for a few days, but that’s just to give him the chance to get better before he sees anyone. You don’t want him catching something else while he’s weak,” he said.

“Oh, thank you sir, thank you! You’re a miracle. But…’ow much will it cost?” asked the housewife.

“Nothing. You owe me nothing.” The Doktor inclined his head in a farewell greeting, and left the lodgings. He placed one ward on the front door, and another on the door of the building.

Doktor Pinaldi walked away down the close, watching out for other white flags. He patted the jar secreted beneath his cloak, and thought of the housewife’s enquiry about the cost of his services. The black beauties he removed were all the payment he needed.

* * *

This story was set in the Underground City, the world of my novella, The Necromancer’s Apprentice. It’s available from Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble. There are plenty of reviews over on Goodreads!

Just Why I Love Edinburgh

As some of you know if you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, I went up to Edinburgh at the weekend for a research trip. A visit to its Mary King’s Close attraction back in 2012 gave me the inspiration for the Underground City of The Necromancer’s Apprentice, and I reasoned that a second visit would be handy while I work on the novella’s sequel, The Necromancer’s Rogue, begun during NaNoWriMo. So off I went, along with my travel companion Mummy. She was rather pleased to kick off our journey at Costa Coffee. She’s fond of a strong Americano. Unfortunately the train journey was a bit of a pain, with the train breaking down just outside Morpeth. East Coast demonstrated a stunning lack of customer service, with their train guard giving one reason for the delay, while the website gave another, and everyone ended up having to leave the train, and board another one, well over an hour after the time we should have arrived in Edinburgh! I finally made it to the fair city, some two and a half hours later than planned.

I’d booked into the Premier Inn in Lauriston Place because the company were having a £25 a room sale on at the time, and I’d highly recommend it if you’re ever in that neck of the woods. It’s at the Westport end of Grassmarket, and it’s only about a ten minute walk up to the Royal Mile. The room was comfortable, the staff were friendly, and the breakfast was well worth the money. Wahey! I’m pretty sure this room was bigger than my old flat. I didn’t get a lot of sleep due to the wind screaming outside but there’s not an awful lot anyone can do about the British weather.

First stop was Mary King’s Close again. I’ve blogged about it before, here, but as a quick recap, Mary King’s Close lies below the Royal Mile, and this particular close was named for Mary King, a prominent businesswoman who lived in the close in the 1630s. Originally open to the air, it ran between the Royal Mile and the Nor Loch, now the Princes Street Gardens. It would have been noisy, and filthy, with inhabitants emptying their slop buckets into the close twice a day, in the hope that the rain would wash their sewage down the close into the loch (which was also the city’s water supply). The close was built over during the seventeenth century, and some of its floors now form part of the foundations of the Royal Exchange. Many theories abound as to what must have happened in its murky depths, from plague victims being walled up alive, to rampant murder. Either way, it’s now a tourist attraction, and visitors can explore the weird atmosphere of the four connected closes (Mary King’s, Pearson’s, Stewart’s and Allen’s Closes). As it’s below government buildings, you aren’t allowed to take photos down there, except for a single souvenir photo that they take for you. It’s an infrared photo so it looks a bit weird, but hopefully it’ll give you an idea of how I picture the closes of the Underground City!

One of the things I love about Edinburgh’s Old Town is its closes, narrow crooked alleyways that cut through the buildings along the Royal Mile. Mary King’s Close may now lie beneath the Royal Exchange, but many more are still passable. I took a ridiculous number of photos of them, and these are the narrow passages that Jyx traverses in the Underground City.

Advocate’s Close.

Byres Close.

 Anchor Close.

Leading to Castlehill.

Last stop for Friday was the famous Greyfriars Kirkyard – I also visited on Saturday so I could take photos during daylight hours. It’s not as beautiful as Highgate, or as neglected as Abney Park, or as vast as Brompton, but it has a majesty all of its own. It’s also the site of a massive plague pit, and my tour guide told me that on exceptionally rainy days, bones occasionally make their way back up to the surface, and they have to store these elsewhere in the graveyard as it’s illegal to remove remains from consecrated grounds – which is ironic considering its importance to the graverobbing trade in the early nineteenth century. It’s the location for the story of Greyfriar’s Bobby, about a Skye terrier who allegedly sat on his owner’s grave for fourteen years, and it would be a lovely tale if it were true. Greyfriars is also notable for being right next to the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, and her view of the George Heriot’s School provided her with the inspiration for Hogwarts. You can see why!

It’s awe-inspiring even during the day.

I went along on the Friday evening to do the City of the Dead Tour so I could see inside the Covenanter’s Prison. It’s normally out of bounds, having been locked seventeen years ago, and doing the tour is the only way to see it. In 1679 it was a part of the graveyard used to house over 1000 supporters of the National Covenant. This document was signed by those who wanted to oppose the the interference of the Stuart kings in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In a nutshell, the king believed that the monarch was head of the Church, but the Scots believed that only God was head of the Church. Signing the document was considered an act of treason, and those defeated in the Battle of Bothwell Brig were kept here. It’s an important moment in British history and I wanted to pay my respects, but I had another, darker reason for wanting to visit.

The Covenanter’s Prison is also said to be the home of a particularly active poltergeist. I took the photo on the Saturday during the day, but it’s a very different place late at night, when the wind screams through the trees, and shadows flicker and dance across the unlit paths. There’s a tomb partway down on the left known as the Black Mausoleum, and has been the site of hundreds of reported attacks. Having a background in paranormal investigations, I just had to see it for myself. Yes, the graveyard is spooky, and yes, I wasn’t happy going into a pitch black mausoleum, but no, nothing happened. I’ll admit, I was rather disappointed, but who knows, maybe poltergeists don’t like gale force winds either. Anyway, here’s Mummy enjoying the tombstones.

 She does love a good cemetery.

The other attraction of Edinburgh, for me, is its vaults, located inside the South Street Bridge. I’d been in the vaults on the Blair Street side with Mercat Tours back in 2012, but this time I wanted to see the vaults on the Niddry Street side with Auld Reekie Tours. I picked one of their daytime tours because I wasn’t interested in having people jump out at me, or over-enthusiastic tour guides waving anachronistic torture equipment about, and it proved to be as fascinating as I’d hoped. The vaults lie in the arches of the bridge, which opened in 1788 – only one of the arches is actually open to the air, at Cowgate, but the others are all hidden behind tenements. They were intended to house taverns, cobblers and other tradesmen, as well as storage space for the shops on the bridge itself, but the structure isn’t watertight so the vaults became damp, the air quality deteriorated, and the businesses left. The destitute moved in, and the vaults became a less salubrious place. No one knows for sure when they were officially closed, though it was some time in the nineteenth century. They lay undiscovered until the 1980s. There are around 120 vaults under the bridge, but each tour group only visits a handful – the Auld Reekie one visits five on one level. I’d also like to point out that the people at Auld Reekie were lovely enough to let me transfer from a tour on the Friday (that I’d already booked) to one on the Saturday due to my troubles with the train!

There was one particular vault I wanted to visit, having been told about it by others who’d done the tour. One of the vaults is used by the Wiccan group, the Source Coven of the Blue Dragon, but it’s not the original vault they used when they moved in. Their first vault lies further up the passage, its stone circle now abandoned after the coven’s founder believed they conjured something less than pleasant. People report paranormal activity in the room, and on my tour, I felt nauseous in the room while another girl got dizzy. While circles are traditionally used to protect those inside them, and to keep things out, this particular circle is believed to hold something in, to protect those outside it, and no one in my group was brave/stupid enough to step inside it! Another vault smelled strongly (to me) of wood smoke, while another, named the Haunted Vault, is apparently the site of many sightings of a young woman in a dirty white dress, believed to be a banshee since one man who saw her suffered a death in the family shortly afterwards. She’s not as well received as the ghostly child, most often seen by women.

When the tour was finished, I went off to the office of another tour group, who have a rather macabre relic on their front desk. After William Burke, he of the notorious bodysnatchers Burke and Hare, was hanged, his body was donated to medical science, but his skin was used to cover a book which is only occasionally on public display. The skin from his left hand was used to make a calling card holder, and it’s this holder that now sits in the office of Cadies & Witchery Tours. It’s a bit macabre, I suppose, but it just looks like regular leather. I couldn’t take a photo, so I took a photo of the White Hart Inn in Grassmarket where the pair are said to have hunted for their victims.

It was with a heavy heart that I returned home, but I’m brimming with ideas and inspiration, not only for The Necromancer’s Rogue, but also a plethora of other stories!

If you’d like to catch up on The Necromancer’s Apprentice while I continue to work on The Necromancer’s Rogue, then you can grab it from Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble. There are plenty of reviews over on Goodreads!

If you like the sound of anything I’ve mentioned here, then the links are below – or just leave me a comment!

City of the Dead Tours – Haunted Graveyard Tour

The Real Mary King’s Close

Auld Reekie Tours – The Original Underground Tour

#FridayFlash – The Donor

The Weighing of the Heart, from the British Museum

Awareness has been slow in coming to the corpse, but it explodes into life as it opens its eyes. Bandages cover its face, and it cannot see, but its fury gathers in its dormant muscles. Life sparks throughout its dead fibres, and it tears its right arm free from its wrappings. Cold fingers form hooks and rip the fabric away from its face. Its eyelids flicker, and its vision swings from blurry to pin sharp and back again. What on earth is going on?

The corpse realises it is not merely a corpse, it is a mummy. Just as it requested. Its heirs fulfilled its wishes. It would smile if it could remember how.

Realisation dawns, and the urge to smile splits in two. The process has gone awry. They have followed the procedure – up to a point. It concentrates, and performs an inventory of its body. Lungs and liver, both gone. Presumably resting in their designated canopic jars. But the stomach and intestines are still there – as is the brain. What? The brain should be gone, and there should be jars for the guts.

A chilling howl erupts from the throat of the corpse. The heart is missing. The only organ that should remain present after mummification is gone. Without the heart, it cannot pass into the Halls of Ma’at for the final judgment. Without the heart… I am doomed.

* * *

Max lies in the hospital bed. A drama plays out on the television, and women with spray tans gesticulate in silence since the sound is off. He barely pays attention, preferring instead to gaze out of the window at the blue sky, and the waving branches he can see wafting above the sill. Who needs soap operas when the world is so wonderful?

He doesn’t tire of the view, although he does tire of the hospital. He can’t wait until he can leave, but transplants are debilitating, and they want to make sure he’s well enough to be discharged. Edie visits daily, but he can’t wait until they can start their life again properly, at home.

The nurse enters as the last wisps of blue leave the sky, chased away by deep indigo and twinkling stars. She closes his blinds, insisting he needs to rest, and he chastises her for spoiling his view. She leaves the blinds closed, and stalks out. I don’t like her. She’s got a bedside manner like a bulldog.

Max drifts in and out of sleep until an hour before dawn. The hospital never truly shuts down, with the shouts of the stricken fighting with the moans of the dying. Still, in that quiet hour before the day begins again, the building finally approaches the nearest state to silence. Max lies back to enjoy this short bubble of peace.

Something moves in the corridor outside. Max looks to the door. Fabric is being dragged along the linoleum floor. A rhythmic thump between swooshes. Are they footsteps?

Max assumes an orderly is struggling with a patient, and resolves to ignore it. Moments later, the door handle rattles. Max reaches to his bedside table for the alarm button, but he cannot find it. Did I leave it there? The door handle suddenly slams down, and the door swings inward.

A figure stands silhouetted in the doorway, the rough approximation of a man, with fabric dangling from his limbs. It reminds him of the mummies in the old horror films that Edie loves to watch on late night TV. Is this some kind of a joke?

“Who are you?” calls Max.

The figure does not respond, and shuffles into the room, thudding its feet on the floor, dragging its wrappings behind it. Max tries to wriggle up onto his elbows, glancing about the room for the alarm button, but there’s no sign of it. He’s too weak to roll over to see if it’s fallen onto the floor.

Before he can reach under his pillow, the figure looms over him. It glares down at him, vivid green eyes peering out from between torn bandages. The skin around the eyes is waxy, and pale. Who the hell mummifies people in this day and age?

“What are you supposed to be, some kind of a joke?”

“No….joke….” The figure’s voice comes in rasps as it fights to draw breath into its body. It sounds like his father did, just before his 40-a-day habit finally killed him.

“Then what do you want?” Max knows he should feel afraid, but there is something too absurd about this to really worry him. Robert at the office probably hired an actor to liven up Max’s days.

“What…is….rightfully…mine….”

Before Max can react, the figure dives forward. Its fingers are more like talons than human digits, and it rams its hand into his chest. Fragile bone splinters, and blood wells up between the torn stitches. Max howls in pain. He tries to raise his arms to fend off another attack, but the figure is too quick. Its second punch breaks through, and Max feels his new heart torn free before he loses consciousness.

* * *

The mummy clutches its heart to its chest, the dead man in the bed forgotten. The bedroom disappears in a golden glow, and it is dimly aware of figures standing around it. Long fingers pry the heart from its grasp, and voices murmur around it. It longs to smile, or sing – its time has come. Its heart will be weighed and measured.

The glow fades, and a growl erupts in the shadows. Its blood would run cold if it had any.

I shouldn’t have killed that man…

Its heart is tossed into the shadows, where it disappears into the jaws of Ammut. The mummy falls to the floor, a crumpled heap of limbs and bandages. No afterlife awaits its soul, only an eternity of nothing.

#Pattern – Simple Crochet Case

I spent a bit of time over Christmas coming up with a basic pattern for a crochet pen case, and I figured I’d share it since it turned out to be so easy!

All you need for this super simple pattern is two different shades of DK yarn (or you could use a plain one, or even a self striping one) and a 3.75mm hook. I can’t remember which brand my yarn is but it’s 100% acrylic!

I wanted my case to hold my Pro-Markers, so I measured how long they were, and used that as a guideline. Also, remember I’m in the UK so I’m using UK crochet terms, but as the only stitches I used were slip stitch and double crochet, just remember to substitute ‘dc’ for ‘sc’ (or single crochet) if you’re outside of the UK.

First, I created a chain of 31 stitches using the brown yarn. Then I skipped the first stitch from the hook and slip stitched into each of the remaining 30 stitches. At the end of this row, chain 1 and turn.

Now, skip the first stitch from the hook and double crochet into each of the 30 stitches. At the end of this row, chain 1 and turn. You need to get the hang of this process as it’s what keeps the edges of your work straight.

Repeat this line. Before you chain 1 to turn the work, change your colour yarn if you’re using different colours. Draw the new colour up to make your chain 1, and turn. 30 dc, ch 1 and turn. 30dc.

Repeat this process to give you your stripes, with each one made up of two lines per colour. I carried the different colours up the side of the work, but you can trim and sew in the ends if you prefer.

The number of stripes will depend on how deep you want your case to be, but I ended up crocheting 13 stripes for the front, one stripe for the bottom of the case, and then another 13 stripes for the back. I also crocheted another set of stripes for the top flap, so I had 32 stripes in total, each one 30 stitches wide. I began to decrease for the edges of the flap on the next stripe, which in my case was brown.

To decrease, 1dc, 1dc2tog, 24dc, 1dc2tog, 1dc. Ch 1 and turn. 28 dc.

Change colours. Ch 1 and turn. 1 dc, 1 dc2tog, 22dc, 1dc2tog , 1 dc. Ch 1 and turn. 26dc.

Change colours. Ch 1 and turn. 1 dc, 1 dc2tog, 20dc, 1dc2tog , 1 dc. Ch 1 and turn. 24dc.

Now you’re going to do your buttonholes.

Change colours. Ch 1 and turn. 1 dc, 1dc2tog, ch 3, skip 3 stitches, 12dc, ch 3, skip 3 stitches, 1dc2tog, 1 dc. Ch 1 and turn. 22dc, performing 3dc across each buttonhole.

Change colours. Ch 1 and turn. 1dc, 1dc2tog, 16dc, 1dc2tog, 1dc. Ch 1 and turn. 20dc. Ch 1 and turn. Slip stitch into each stitch across.

Don’t fasten off yet! Slip stitch down the side of the flap on the ‘right’ side to create a nice edge. Now fold the case so that the right sides are facing, ideally with the stripes matching up (in my case I had a ‘spare’ beige stripe that forms the bottom of the case) and slip stitch the side seams together. Fasten off. Starting at the bottom on the other side, slip stitch the side seams together. At the top of the seam, continue slip stitching up the side of the flap on the right side of the work to give a more decorative edge. If you carried your yarn up the side of the work, this also helps to hide it.

Turn the case the right side out, sew on your buttons, and ta da!

Incidentally, my buttons are cast from resin that I coloured using old powder eyeshadow by Max Factor! I wrote an earlier post here about using casting resin, and it’s fairly easy if you have resin, a mould, and a drill!

Let me know how you get on!

Incidentally, if you do make an item using this pattern, please note products are only for personal or gift use, not for sale. Also, please don’t share the pattern without linking back here!

Is the Urban Decay Vice 3 palette worth it?

I was lucky enough to get the Urban Decay Vice 3 palette for Christmas. Having been a fan of Urban Decay for a while (I use their Naked 2, Pulp Fiction and Smoked palettes regularly), I was dying to get stuck in to the new array of fab colours. The set has a huge mirror in the lid and comes with a double ended brush, and it’s in a matching pouch – the box reckons you can keep your brushes in it but I’m just keeping the palette in it for now since all of my brushes came in their own pouches, wallets or bags.

Trying makeup with high expectations can be daunting (Illamasqua’s Complement palette was a massive let down) but thankfully, I was not disappointed! The colours are as highly pigmented as you’d expect from Urban Decay, and they blend well, although I tend not to use the brush that comes with the set, preferring instead to use my own. There is no ‘black’ equivalent, meaning you need to use other shades if you want to contour or line the eye, but I always use separate eyeliner anyway. They also last really well, especially when you use them with Urban Decay’s Eye Primer Potion, which keeps eye makeup in place all day.

What I like about the set is that the twenty colours are arranged in five columns, essentially giving you five ‘quads’ of complementary shades. You can obviously mix and match between colours, but keeping within the columns gives a well-balanced look. Here are four of the looks I’ve attempted thus far;

This look was achieved by putting Alien on the half of the eyelid nearest the corner, and blending it with Sonic from the centre of the eyelid to the outer corner. Then I put Bondage in the crease, and blending it upwards into Alchemy. I used Bondage and Sonic below the lower lashes.

This was a nice day time look, that featured Angel all over the eyelid, with Revolver in the crease, blended upwards into Defy. I then blending Defy into Last Sin beneath the brow. I smudged Revolver under my lower lashes. I think I might have liked these colours if they were less shimmery, but they work nonetheless.

This one was a little more experimental – I put Lucky in the corners of my eye, and swept it across the eyelid, blending it into Reign at the halfway point. I also put Reign above the eyelid, blending Vanity into it at the crease. Vanity looked a lot more purple in person than it does in the photo! I finished it off with Bobby Dazzle as a highlight beneath the brow.

This look was achieved by sweeping Freeze all over the eyelid and above the crease, blending it out towards the brow with Truth, and then layering Heroine into the crease. I also ran Heroine along the lower lash line, and I put a little Bobby Dazzle under the brow as a highlight.

I obviously haven’t tried all of the colours yet, but I think the Alien – Sonic quad is my favourite so far. I’d definitely recommend this palette to anyone who likes experimenting with colour, but if you’re looking for something more ‘natural’ then definitely check out Urban Decay’s Naked palettes as they’re far more suited to daily wear than some of the shades in Vice 3!

#FridayFlash – New Year, New You

Fed up with your current look or style? Tired of seeing that same old face in the mirror? Sick of trying to upgrade yourself at the gym and beauty parlour? Are you looking for a way to start 2015 with a bang? Why not take advantage of our New Year, New You offer, valid until Twelfth Night, and start making all of your dreams come true?

We know that you’re a special, unique individual, but here at B-Better Inc., we want to help you express that in the best way. You could trade in your existing chassis and choose from over fifteen exciting new models, including The Explorer, The Athlete, The Artist, The Dancer, and The Intellectual. They’ve all passed our exclusive Society Approval Test, and as each of them comes with a lifetime* guarantee, they’re bound to bring you all of the good cheer that you deserve.

So why wait? Stop in at one of our showrooms, and our friendly staff will help you choose a body that will help you achieve that ‘new you’ goal.

Why be yourself, when you can be better?

*Lifetime refers to the shelf life or continued popularity of the chassis, not the life span of the consumer.

Review of 2014

It’s New Year’s Eve, and no December 31st would be complete without a review of the outgoing year. I could talk about things in my personal life, but really, I’d rather not because who is actually interested? Instead, I’d like to look at three main areas in 2014 – my writing, my handcrafts, and my travels!

Writing

Writing took the form of both fiction, and academia, with work continuing on my PhD thesis throughout the year. I also had some publishing success, which I think is worth highlighting.

The Necromancer’s Apprentice was published in March 2014 by Dark Continents, before being republished by Crossroads Press in August. Reviews described it as “a chilling read”, “a gripping read”, “a well written tale that will keep you turning one page after next”, “one part Neverwhere, one part Hammer Horror” and “a must read for anyone who likes horror or fantasy tales”, while I was described as “the secret love-child of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett”! It’s all pretty flattering stuff. You can read other reviews over on Goodreads. I was so pleased to see it finally available, and you can get it from Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and the Kobo store – I’m still hoping for a second paperback release. For those who have read it, rest assured that work is underway on its sequel, The Necromancer’s Rogue, and there is a third book planned, tentatively named The Necromancer’s Mage! I don’t think it’ll be any longer than a trilogy but there is plenty for Jyx to do in the mean time!

I also had a story in the Suspended in Dusk anthology, which was edited by Simon Dewar and came out in September through Books of the Dead Press. My story, ‘A Woman of Disrepute’, was inspired by Crossbones Cemetery, Victorian London and all things gothic after a chat with fellow writer Michael Shean, and I’ve written a blog post about the inception of the story here. The anthology also features tales by Ramsey Campbell, Benjamin Knox and Alan Baxter, among others – most of the reviews will highlight about six or seven of the stories, but there are a whopping nineteen to get your teeth into! It’s tremendous value for money – at the time of writing, it’s just 77p on Amazon, which makes each story just 4p. Where else can you get entertainment at 4p a time? One review described ‘A Woman of Disrepute’ as “a gothic style story with a Jack the Ripper feel. I thought this one ROCKED!” You can get Suspended in Dusk from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords.

In December, the European Monsters collection by Fox Spirit Press came out, featuring my story, ‘The Cursed One’. The story is a monster story set in eighteenth century Venice, during the Carnevale, about a mysterious Order, and their quest to hunt down ageless beings who hide in the deep, dark places of the world. I wrote a blog post about it here. The anthology is a combination of illustration, stories and beautiful art, and while you can get European Monsters from Amazon, it’s only available in traditional dead tree format due to its stunning content, which I think makes a bit of a change in this digital age. I can’t wait to see the reviews of this one.

Handcrafts

Rose quartz pendant necklace, £7.99

I originally launched my Icy Handmade line in September 2013 but 2014 was the year in which I finally started to see more sales, possibly as my pieces got better and I got more exposure through Twitter chats such as #CraftHour. My initial concept was to make original, one-off jewellery pieces that were both quirky and affordable, with nothing being more expensive than £15, but as the year progressed, I expanded into handknits, and even merchandise for The Necromancer’s Apprentice. My handknits are original designs and are again one-off pieces, but in 2015 I’m going to focus on only using premium yarns, while my jewellery is going to centre around semi precious stones, glass, wire and resin. Being a handcrafter also helped when it came to making Christmas presents, as my Secret Santa post will attest!

Travels

The Oslo Opera House

2014 was the Year of the Jaunt, with a few trips to London for various exhibitions, a weekend in Yorkshire poking around abbeys and priories, a trip to Oslo in June for the annual conference of the New Zealand Studies Association, and a week in Paris. Oslo was particularly good, as I got to see the opera house, explore the Kon-Tiki and Maritime museums as they were our conference venue, and hang out at the botanical gardens with my writer friend Margrét Helgadóttir!

Paris was a lot of fun, as I got to see Notre Dame, the Catacombs, the Palace of Versailles, Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, and the Opera House. I can’t quite believe I queued for three and a half house to get into the Catacombs but they were definitely worth it – especially since they’ve made an appearance in The Necromancer’s Rogue. I think the Opera House was my favourite thing to see, but that might just be due to my Phantom of the Opera fixation. I even got to see Box 5!

Inside the Catacombs. I’d never seen so many bones in my life. It certainly brought a new perspective to As Above, So Below, which I saw earlier this year!

Mummy, who ended up in a lot of the photos, with Georges Melies, founder of sci-fi cinema, in Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. I wrote a post about Mummy’s selfies here.

The truly stunning opera house.

It’s difficult to sum up a year in a few words, but I hope I’ve managed to highlight the best parts in photographic form! So I’ll raise a mug (coffee, naturally) to the outgoing year, and leave out a slice of cake for the incoming 2015. I hope it treats everyone well!

Icy

x

#Craftblogclub Secret Santa 2014

As I did last year, I took part in the Secret Santa for the #craftblogclub community. Last year I knitted a rice stitch neckwarmer, and received a beautiful beaded Christmas tree ornament. This year, I was tasked with making something for the very lovely Amanda, AKA @giftfrippery, who does marvellous gift wrapping, and I made her this pair of handwarmers from Sirdar Escape DK.

I’m quite pleased with how they turned out, as they’re from one of my favourite patterns, and I’ve heard from Amanda that she’s pleased with them too! The yarn was also a pleasure to work with, and it’s nice to see the gentle colour gradations, although I had to start the second handwarmer from a second ball to make sure both wrist cuffs were purple! The yarn is 51% wool, 49% acrylic, and may be machine washed up to 40°. You can find the pattern here. The only difference is I do 1×1 twisted rib instead of 2×2 normal rib on the cuffs.

In return, I received this little beauty from Carrie of LoveTwoCraft! A lovely crochet mugwarmer with coasters (and mug) as well as sweets. It’s a wonderful gift and at least now my coffee might stay warmer for longer – thank you!

But I didn’t just make presents for the secret Santa, I also made them for a few people I know! I crocheted this hat for my good friend Scott in the US. It’s made from Stylecraft Weekender yarn, which I’ve grown to love working with as it’s so smooth, despite the fact that it’s 100% acrylic. Here’s the lovely boy modelling his hat.

So pleased he liked it! (And yes, I forgot to take a photo of it before I sent it. I also made this pair of handwarmers for the wonderful illustrator Helen Turner, the illustrator behind Rosie & Radish. They’re made from Rowan Silk Twist, which is lovely and warm, and easy to work with.

Next up is this adjustable headwarmer for Emma, made from Women’s Institute Soft & Chunky yarn, which was a delight to work with. I discovered this yarn quite by chance but I’ll definitely try to use it again. I didn’t have a pattern so I just made one up. There’s actually a longer tab and another button inside.

I also made Emma a ring to match the bracelet I made for her birthday, using silver plated copper wire and chips of magnesite.

I was really pleased with how the ring turned out, but they’re incredibly fiddly to make! I continued with the jewellery theme for my boss, and I made her a bracelet from purple freshwater pearls.

Lastly was this pair of crochet handwarmers for the man of our office, made from Sirdar Supersoft Aran.

I think the theme for many of the presents was ‘make it up as you go along’, as I invented a few patterns along the way. I even redid the headwrap pattern again for myself, using Stylecraft Weekender, albeit in a pale blue/grey. I’ve been really happy with how all of the presents turned out, and I just hope everyone liked them! I struggled to feel festive this year, but putting time and effort into making presents instead of just buying them has certainly helped make each present feel more personal, and more worth the giving.

#FridayFlash – Redemption

I haven’t had time to write a new flash so I’ve decided to repost this one! I originally wrote this story as a response to a particular ‘classic’ Christmas movie, and it also appears on my website. See if you can guess which film inspired it…and merry Christmas!

* * *

Detective Carmichael stands with his back to me, staring out of the window.

“And you say that’s where he jumped? Right there?”

The detective points towards the bridge, and the churning black river below. For a second, I’m standing behind the rail again, a stiff breeze driving icy spray into my face. The water smells of winter and regret.

“Yep. Right over that rail. Tried to talk him outta it, but he just wouldn’t listen.”

“Yeah right. You’re hardly the charitable type, are you?”

Detective Carmichael leans against the wall beside the small stove. He flicks a wooden toothpick between his lips. It clicks against his yellow teeth. Of all the people who could have fished me out of the river, why did it have to be him?

“Believe it or not, I’m a nice guy!” I spread my hands wide and try a sheepish smile. Usually works on most people, but not him. His flinty eyes glitter in the shadows. I shiver under my blanket, only this time it’s not because I just took a midnight swim in the river.

“Clarence, I know they call you the Angel, but I think we both know that you’re no nice guy. Now George Bailey? He was a nice guy. My mother wouldn’t have her house if it weren’t for him.” He pauses to lift the whistling kettle from the stove. “Now why don’t you make this easier on yourself and just tell me why you pushed him?”

“I didn’t, I’m tellin’ ya! I was going home and I saw him climb over the railing. Ain’t no way I’m gonna let some guy kill himself at Christmas. That just ain’t right. I tried to talk him down but he wouldn’t listen. Then he jumped.”

I sneeze. Detective Carmichael pours hot water into a waiting mug, and offers it to me. I wrap my hands around it, glad of the warmth. The detective puts the kettle down and fishes his leather-bound notebook out of his top pocket. He licks the tip of a stubby yellow pencil and scribbles down what I just said.

“Did he say why he was doing it? I mean, you’re saying that you tried to talk him down. He must have had some kind of reason. A guy doesn’t just throw himself into the river for nothing.”

“He kept sayin’ somethin’ about money. He’d lost it, and couldn’t find it nowhere, and he was in a lotta trouble. He said somethin’ about not wantin’ the business in the first damn place, he wanted to get out, get away from here. Kept sayin’ ol’ man Potter finally had his way.”

I shivered as I remembered the look on the poor guy’s face. Total despair mixed with innocence, like an angel who has a job to do but can’t fight human nature.

“I see. What did you actually say to him?”

“Just tried to get him to feel better, y’know? He said he wished he hadn’t been born. Now I know the guy, I know all the good stuff he’s done for this town. I tried remindin’ him of that. Told him about his brother, and how he wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him. Harry couldn’t have shot down all those Germans if George hadn’t been born.” I pause to think. Talking down a suicidal man is a stressful business. “I tried to get him to think of his wife ‘n kids. He was one lucky guy, havin’ a nice family like that. Mary woulda done anythin’ for him and those kids.”

“OK, Clarence, you got a point. So maybe you didn’t push him,” says Detective Carmichael. He puts the notebook back in his pocket. We’ve gone ‘off the record’. “But I’m still surprised that you tried to help. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“Well, the Man Upstairs wanted me to do somethin’ about it. He heard rumours things weren’t good, and he asked me to check on him. The minute he told me it was George in trouble, I decided to help. Couldn’t let a nice guy like that throw himself in the river.”

“What has the Man Upstairs got to do with this? Why would a hood care about George Bailey?”

“He heard Potter might be involved, and you know the history between those two. But I just really, genuinely wanted to help.”

“Why?”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone else?”

Detective Carmichael moves his head. The light falls on his face. I try to ignore his twisted, shiny scars as he looks me up and down. Man, if those scars could talk, they’d have some hellish stories to tell. But, anyway. He nods.

“I was trying to earn my wings,” I mumble.

“Your what?” One eyebrow creeps halfway up his forehead. A puckered white line cuts through the hair.

“My wings. Look, way I see it, I’ve done some pretty bad shit in my time, and it’s obvious where I’ll be goin’ come Judgment Day. Never used to bother me, but now I got a wife and kid, I want a better life. I thought tryin’ to help might go some way to balancin’ stuff out.” I wriggle deeper into the blanket and look away. Doesn’t seem right telling someone like him something like that.

Detective Carmichael says nothing. He looks me up and down again, his face unreadable. That look in his eyes could just as easily be disgust as it could pity. Pulling up the collar of his coat, he walks over to the door.

“You know, Clarence, there’s a chance we can fish him out downstream. Maybe he’ll still be alive,” he says.

He opens the door and walks out into the damp night. The door swings closed behind him, and I watch him through the window until he disappears into the mist. I look back to the river. When I was up there, talking him down, I felt the same pull George Bailey must have felt. It’d be so easy. Just throw yourself in; the water will hold you, embrace you, make it all okay. It’s always cold all the year round, you won’t even feel anything. I’d be beyond the Man Upstairs, and all the associates. My wife might even get some insurance money, and my daughter could grow up without scum like me holding her back.

The wind throws a wave right up the bank. The water crashes into the window, breaking my train of thought. The cold water runs down the window in drops, like the world is crying. I think of Marsha and Stephanie, and how they’d cry without me. I break free of the river’s hold. I can’t do it. I’ve got other poor suckers to help. I might earn my wings yet.

* * *

The original image was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by user Heidas, but has been edited slightly by me.

Trip to Alnwick

I had a lovely jaunt up to Alnwick on Friday, primarily to visit Barter Books, my favourite bookshop in the country. I’ve blogged about it before, way back in 2011, but the last time I was there was last December. I had some books I wanted to drop off, and in return I picked up The Cinema of John Carpenter, an academic book about, you guessed it, the films of John Carpenter, and The Victorian Pharmacy, the book that accompanied the BBC series about medicine, health and the burgeoning pharmaceutical industry during the Victorian period. I’ve started reading the latter, due to my interest in medical history, and it’s turned out to be really useful and who knows, perhaps its Victorian remedies might turn up in my Underground City books?

When I’d finished at Barter Books I had a walk along to the Alnwick Garden – I knew it would be quite melancholy, since most of the plants are now dormant for the winter, but there’s a certain cold desolation to gardens in the depths of winter that is beautiful in its own way. The Walled Garden was certainly windswept, but enough evergreen shrubs were around to stop it looking completely depressing, and a few hardy specimens were clinging on to life, including this beautiful helleborus lividus.

The famous fountain was also still on, and I hurried to take photos of its programmed display when it started. I was a bit slow so I missed the beginning, when the upper cascade is in full force, but I got these photos all the same. You’ll have to excuse the faded appearance – I used my Pentax ME Super and it appears to be suffering from light leaks.

Normally my favourite part of the Alnwick Garden is the Poison Garden, with its collection of toxic plants, but it’s closed for the winter. The water sculptures were still available, those the Rose Garden was naturally disappointing since the roses had all been pruned. I did venture into the maze, but it felt somewhat eerie since I was the only one in there, and the fact the Garden itself was practically deserted meant that I couldn’t hear anything beyond the maze while I was inside. I actually got too freaked out and ended up dashing back to the entrance!

I later stopped for my lunch at the café, where they’ve got some lovely Christmas trees, including one comprised of all of the glass baubles made by visitors.

It was a lovely, if lonely, day, and I think the melancholy nature of the garden as it sleeps until spring perfectly suits my mindset and temperament in these darkest months of the year. The weather started off beautifully, and I was blessed with sunshine and blue skies, until the clouds rolled in and the wind got up. Even then, it felt like the most gothic of days and really, who can ask for more?