Author Archives: H.M. Goodchild
A year in books or, What I read in 2020
Overview This year, for the first time, I kept note of the books I read for pleasure or curiosity. As ever, it was mostly fiction. It’s been an odd year and, given external events, I tended towards books I thought … Continue reading
Banish misfortune (traditional music in fantasy)
Yesterday was the solstice, midwinter’s day here in the northern hemisphere. Dull it was too, a few cold spots of rain, and too overcast to see the Great Conjunction*, but this year is coming to its end and the dark … Continue reading
Book Review: ‘Of Kings and Griffins’ by Judith Starkston
A long time ago now I reviewed books for a now-mothballed website called Heroines of Fantasy. It put me in the way of books, I’d not otherwise have encountered. When the site shut down, I got on with other things, … Continue reading
Dawn Rising by A.F.E Smith
This isn’t so much a book review as a whoop of delight. A.F.E. Smith, author of the Darkhaven novels, has a new book out. It’s called Dawn Rising and is an absolutely fabulous read. I’ve been hoping it would appear … Continue reading
The false friend
Another silkie (well, one glimpsed a couple of weeks ago) and another villanelle. Silkies don’t usually fare well upon the land and this one is, I’m afraid, no exception. The false friend I took his skin and put it on, … Continue reading
Lovers’ vows
It’s a couple of days too late for this to be a Valentine. Beneath the tree (Lovers’ vows) An apple tree beside the sea, It grows for you and grows for me, And, in the shade, beneath the tree, A … Continue reading
Twitter – and other – poems
It’s been a long time, for which I offer neither explanation nor apology. Here are a few recent poems. The shorter ones have featured on twitter. I’m there more often than I’m here, but still not often. I took his … Continue reading
After FantasyCon
I’m back from FantasyCon, and have had enough time now to catch up on sleep. It was a wonderful weekend – I’d had my doubts ahead of time as last year’s had felt a bit cliquey – but this year it … Continue reading
Fantasycon 2017
It’s been ages, I know, since I last posted here. I’ve ticking away in the background – revising a novel, reading up on Pliny the Younger as background for another, completing a teaching qualification – but all these are things easiest done … Continue reading
Detecting folk songs
One of my favourite authors is Dorothy L. Sayers. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve reread or simply revisited her detective novels, even though I’ve known whodunit in each of them for years. Her best known books … Continue reading
Folksong and Fantasy 