Category Archives: YA contemporary fantasy

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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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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