Yesterday Silent Woods turned one!

Of all the stories I’ve written, or of all the stories I’ve finished might be better to say, this is the one I struggled the most with. It’s only 19k words long (56 pages) and yet there was so much frustration.

I wrote and re-wrote, deleted and added, put it away for a little while and picked it up again, forced my husband to read it and yelled at him when he came with suggestions, sent it my beta readers and was unhappy with them when they liked it—because I didn’t. Then I sent it to a publishing house and got the nicest rejection letter imaginable. The man, can’t remember his name now, wrote a personal mail where he told me how much he’d enjoyed it and that he would love me to resubmit it if I could make it into more of a romance story but that they couldn’t publish it as it was.

I loved that rejection letter because not only did someone who wasn’t a friend tell me they’d liked the story but it also made me realise I didn’t want it to be a romance, it already was what I wanted it to be. It might not be a masterpiece but it is my story. By then I had one story published by Beaten Track Publishing so I sent it to Debbie McGowan and she didn’t ask me to turn it into a romance :).

Every mythology has its tales, and the Scandinavian folklore, just like every other, has a few aquatic creatures. One is perhaps a bit more known to our people than others; his name is The Neck. The Neck is a male water nymph, which is quite unusual. Water nymphs are most often female. He is most often seen at dusk, sitting on a stone in the middle of a stream or close to a lake playing his violin. He plays because he’s lonely. His music is melancholic and arresting, but if you hear him play you’ll either be lured into the water, or you’ll start to dance. If he plays a certain tune you’ll dance until you die without being able to stop. But most often he’ll simply drown you so be careful the next time you go for a swim.

books2read.com/SilentWoods *

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Do you believe in myths and ancient creatures?

Daniel has never felt the need to leave the city behind, so when his husband suggests a camping trip for their holiday he agrees with reluctance. Even before they step out of the car, Daniel has the feeling of something being wrong. Something about the forest is turning his stomach into knots.

He wants nothing more than returning to the safety of their home, and when their five-year-old son goes missing his fears turn into full-blown panic. What awaits them in the depths of the forest is far more sinister than anything Daniel ever could have imagined. Will they be able to find their son before it’s too late?

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