Author Archives: cathyhird

About cathyhird

I am an author, former farmer, retired minister, and when I get a chance, a weaver. Storytelling that inspires is important to me. I have two novels set in ancient Greece, Moon of the Goddess and Before the New Moon Rises.

People of Unseen–Giovanni

Posted on March 9, 2023 by cathyhird

Giovanni year 2026 When the door slid open, a wave of uneasiness hit him from a skinny man with a pinched face. Glancing at the other four passengers, he saw a senior partner from the law firm he worked at … Continue reading →

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The People of Unseen–Brindle

Posted on February 11, 2023 by cathyhird

With my novel, Unseen, coming out this weekend, I am starting to share some backstories of the Gifted characters. We start with the group’s leader, Brindle. Brindle, year 2016 C.E. The band of pain across Brindle’s forehead tightened. Rolling over, … Continue reading →

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Establishing the Round Table

Posted on November 9, 2022 by cathyhird

I’ve been dreaming full story lines lately. Most of them are entertaining enough at the time, but not worth recording. But King Arthur’s ringing voice the other night convinced me to try to capture the idea. The leaders of his … Continue reading →

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The Grail

Posted on September 8, 2021 by cathyhird

Shattered: When Winds Blast, the third novel in my contemporary fantasy series, tells the story of the hiding of the grail and its finding side by side. Deciding to write a grail story took me by surprise. The grail legends … Continue reading →

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Drawing Merlin’s character

Posted on March 27, 2021 by cathyhird

The first time Merlin appeared in the Netflix series Cursed, I thought I had found a characterization of him that I could hate more than T. H. White’s. Drunk and arrogant and ready to betray others, I would have turned … Continue reading →

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Lancelot and Guinevere

Posted on September 7, 2019 by cathyhird

Lancelot’s role in the love triangle makes him a difficult character for some writers to handle. How can he be honoured when, for romantic love, he betrays the king who saved Britain, to whom he has pledged allegiance? It is … Continue reading →

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Guinevere

Posted on August 29, 2019 by cathyhird

Too many of the characterizations of Guinevere are shaped by the medieval versions of the King Arthur story. Stories shaped by the male dominated church of that era portrayed all women as Eve, the temptress who ruins paradise. Malory among … Continue reading →

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Drawing on Arthurian Legends

Posted on August 21, 2019 by cathyhird

In the afterward to the twentieth anniversary edition of his Fionavar trilogy, Guy Gavriel Kay wrote, “I also set myself the task, quixotic or otherwise, of trying to shape a narrative large enough that the figures of the Arthurian triangle could … Continue reading →

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The cost of revenge

Posted on June 28, 2019 by cathyhird

My novel, Riven: When Storms Collide, begins with the elf Tinachore returning to Ceridwen the cup that had been stolen from her. In the years it was lost, her anger festered. Now it will erupt. This is how the prologue … Continue reading →

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The ancient urban rural divide

Posted on September 19, 2018 by cathyhird

“The Goddess frowned at the way houses had sprouted like mushrooms around the base of the hill, taking up land that should be farmed. The king seemed to forget that his wealth came from the produce of the land.” In … Continue reading →

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