Three-Lobed Burning Eye

The latest issue of speculative fiction magazine Three-Lobed Burning Eye (Issue 20) has appeared today, and will soon also be available as a PDF and an e-book. I am delighted that it contains my story The Birdstories of Jaywalker. Also, I just love the artwork.

This has to be one of my favourite stories I have written. It was inspired by a writing prompt over at WriteWords for a story involving a member of the crow family. I hit the books/internet and discovered that jays, one of my favourite birds, are a type of crow. In myth Jays take stories and news down to the underworld and they are slightly feared because of this.

Thinking of stories, the scene jumped straight into my mind: my husband and I had been to the Welsh Storytelling Festival with my father-in-law, John Roberts, who was performing one of his beautiful puppet shows there. What a good place for collecting stories. His famous storytelling rug makes a cameo in this.

I moved the action to Scotland and shamelessly pinched the word 'dreich' I had heard from Highlands writing friend Caroline because it is such a wonderful and evocative word. Use it three times and it is yours.

There is some hint that the Three-Lobed Burning Eye Anthology will be out at the end of the year. I am very much looking forward to that.