A folktale from Pagham-on-Sea, recorded by Rev. J. D. Allardyce (1904). There's a tale told of Barrow Field though no folk believe on it now, of the time Old Joss Hunderby went widdershins around the largest of the barrows there after a lamb, and before he knew what was what a door opened in the… Continue reading Folklore of Pagham-on-Sea: Jennet, Jenny and Pinnie-Pen
There is now a dedicated Twitter account, @OverheardPoS, for all those random things you might overhear around town, plus scraps of related prose. I'm using the prompts from #vss365 (vss is the abbreviation for very short story); #ConverStory (no dialogue tags, dialogue only, so perfect for 'overheard' snippets); #BraveWrite, #HorrorPrompt and occasionally some others like… Continue reading Overheard in Pagham-on-Sea
Hair-Raising Twists Ah, another classic tale that's had a lot of interesting adaptations over the years... Hopefully my musings are also helpful for sparking inspiration, and it's a lot of fun coming up with prompts based on the various elements of the tales. Some of my favourite versions of this story include The Stone Cage by… Continue reading Rapunzel Stories
Modern Perspectives on a Tale As Old As TimeThere's been a lot of discussion around the live action Beauty and the Beast [BB] film re: Stockholm Syndrome and whether Belle is a role model figure or not. I'm not going to go into that here - I think there's lots of ways retellings can go… Continue reading Beauty and the Beast Stories
My Sleeping Beauty ThemeMy forthcoming paranormal novel, The Crows, is a kind of gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty story, where the [female] protagonist wakes a sentient house from its dormant state, only for it to fall in love with her. It's Sleeping Beauty meets Stephen King's Rose Red, set in a creepy town on the south coast… Continue reading Sleeping Beauty Stories
