This article is an overview of my book, my inspiration, and my process.

Let me take you back to London Town, in the old days. A sister and brother live in an upstairs tenement.They are poor and not yet worldly-wise. My book, “The Snow Queen” takes you to this London you may already know or have read about. But although the metropolis is very real, it is seen through a magic lens in the mind’s eye.

The city shivers with chiming voices on fragile winds that sigh. The presence of an ethereal beauty rides the wintry landscape. Children are in a playground on the swings. Back and for, back and for, they ride. Time stands still in an innocent world of cars and trains, traffic lights, steaming chips and ketchup, Christmas trees and oily rainbows on cracked concrete… and Mum at home awaiting them…

Yet as they grow, and the years pass slowly, someone else — a wizard — is watching. He has a plan. To conjure a spell to ensnare a boy, a teenager of good character, a hard-working boy, Adam. He will be The First Slave.

And so, through this dark conjuring, this malevolent wizardry, the world of reality and the world of magic collide. The dark force of the wizard’s magic will be known and felt. And the children of the world will be held captives forever…

Far, far away, over the ocean, all the enchantment and wonder of a glittering winter; a winter in The Snowlands, a place of mystical animals that tread the land and soar on the wind awaits. This is a mythological land of dreams.

A shoemaker is making a boot fit for a king. A princess awaits in her Danish castle with her horses who follow the star of Pegasus. A seamstress in Rovaniemi is sewing a gown of sparkling threads and jewel-drops, fit for a queen.

The Snow Queen resides in the frozen glass Ice Palace in Norway. She is waiting for her wizard. Together, they will be an evil power couple, and rule till the end of days.

A Snow Goose rides through the storm, carrying Sean to his one true love.

A brave dwarf has a plan…

Adam slumbers, a prisoner, alone in the fairy tower on the west wing of The Ice Palace. Beside his bed, a game of chess, the black king toppled over.

Aragog lies in wait in her glistening web …and always, there’s dark magic…
The wind whistles through the skeleton tree. In her crystal ball, the old gypsy caught a glimpse of what would befall her daughter. The three sisters cast their spells, harnessing good and the forces of nature.

There is yet a ray of hope. Truth be told in the prophecy of The Book of The Ancients.

In a fair world of good and evil, there’s a battle ahead. Justice is all in this moral universe. Darkness consumes itself. The Light shines forever. Shimmering rainbows dance through shadows in the snow. Celestial light glows from the heavens.

The world of “The Snow Queen” is a romantic world; a fairytale, of castles and queens, rivalry, jealousy, revenge, destiny and inheritance. It is a world of sacrifice and redemption.

My book is an epic love story. Bryony, a young warrior with dark gypsy eyes, is the heroine. Over the sea, as if in a dream, she rides, and back again, on an ocean of forgiveness, to a land, long forgotten, back in time…

The Idea for The Snow Queen

My book is a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s original story.The seed of an idea to have a gypsy protagonist in my story came from my late dad’s cousin who was a television producer for Children’s BBC Wales. At a churchyard gate, in Llanberis, she informed me that on my late dad’s side of the family, we are descended from Roma people.

My Writing Process

I have written at length about my writing process on Goodreads. Basically, I combine plotter and pantser tactics. I have an outline of the story and a sense of an ending before I begin writing. However, I think you can overplan, so I revise and adjust my ending at intervals in line with the resolution of the story. The characters “tell me” which way to go. It’s a process of forward and back, and thorough editing before it all comes together. I think spontaneity is what makes writing full of life and exciting. From the seed of an idea, to outlining, writing and several edits, it takes me about 18 months to write a book this length. Part of this is because I enjoy tackling a variety of projects so I am never working on one project full time until I reach the editing stage.

A Meeting of Hearts, Hands and Minds

After writing my book, I wondered how best I might share it with people across the globe. It was just like a fairytale, a dream come true , when I discovered, quite by chance, the enchanting multi faceted world of air and paper created by the world-acclaimed paper cut artist, Bit Vejle, who is the founder of The Museum for Paper Art in Blokhus, Denmark. My fairytale journey did not end there. I revisited Musuem Odense, and found the courage to approach them with a view to featuring some of Hans Christian Andersen’s paper cuts in the paperback and hardback editions of my work. I was so fortunate that Niels Friis agreed, much to my delight! Now our book is a dream come true — something I have dreamed about all my life!

Book Blurb

The Robber Girl is back! Bryony has a special destiny, foretold in The Book of The Ancients.With her dark eyes on a handsome Roma boy, Sean, and a gypsy crown, she has a battle to win, cheating death. She must rescue Adam from the Snow Queen’s web of evil, defeating the wizard and his dark sorcery. If she fails, the evil couple will cast a maleficent shadow of doom across the world, enslaving all children until the end of time. In this tale of romance, magic, rivalry, inheritance and destiny, a heartwarming epic journey awaits.