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Lucy Hounsom: Author

Also writing as Lucy Holland

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Author, SFF podcaster, book merchant Read More…

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silvanhistorian

What a sight to see on my first day back at work:

What a sight to see on my first day back at work: another beautiful display of Sistersong! I am a lucky author bookseller. We sold 5!

The sun was shining and everyone who walked through the door seemed so happy to be there.

💙

#Sistersong #waterstones #waterstonesexeter #bookselling #bookshop #reopening #bookstagram #igreads #booklove #alwaysreading #booksbooksbooks #fantasy #bookdisplay #beautifulbooks #readersofinstagram

Making more of an effort to share books I recently

Making more of an effort to share books I recently enjoyed on my feed! So here is @gabrielahouston1's debut novel, The Second Bell. I liked it for:

🛎 mother/daughter central relationship
🛎 excellent cross examination of community
🛎 when the magic system is actually a metaphor (I took away a Jungian shadow self discussion from it)
🛎 evocative slavic folklore

I found it a delicately handled, compelling meditation on what it means to be part of a family. Very refreshing in the fantasy genre 😊

#thesecondbell #gabrielahouston #angryrobot #fantasy #bookstagram #igreads #booklove #instareads #alwaysreading #magic #booksbooksbooks #slavic #folklore #epicreads #bookcommunity

This is going to be a highlight of my week! They'r

This is going to be a highlight of my week! They're letting @drvictoriajames loose on the @waterstones IG account so we can kick back and chat all things Sistersong. But Vic writes fabulous books too so give them a 👀

Don't be strangers, come say hello on Wednesday 14th, 7.30pm BST 🥰

#Sistersong #bookstagram #instagramlive #livechat #waterstones #bookevent #instareads #booklove #bookcommunity #fantasy #historicalfantasy #2021books #alwaysreading #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram

Thrilled that work made me this gorgeous Sisterson

Thrilled that work made me this gorgeous Sistersong window complete with ribbon and golden butterflies 💛 Big thanks to @kate.j.miller who will probably kill me for posting this before she added more butterflies to it. I am back in the shop next week and cannot wait to see!

🦋

#Sistersong #waterstones #waterstonesexeter #bookselling #windowdisplay #bookstagram #igreads #booklove #instareads #alwaysreading #fantasy #historicalfantasy #historicalfiction #2021reads #booksbooksbooks #devon #exeter #panmacmillan

Get off the road! Some very A Shortcut to Mushroo

Get off the road!

Some very A Shortcut to Mushrooms paths scattered throughout Harpford Woods. I *love* that scene in the Fellowship film where the road itself seems to scream at the hobbits to run.

It was a little difficult to feel too creeped out with all the sun we had on Easter Sunday though.

☀️

#harpfordwoods #woodland #woodlandpath #blackrider #thefellowshipofthering #lotr #Tolkien #eastersunday #woodlandwalk #springsunshine #sunnyday

I hope everyone had a happy Easter Sunday. It was

I hope everyone had a happy Easter Sunday. It was my birthday yesterday so I definitely did! Easter is another of those Christian festivals based on an already established Pagan festival – Eostre.

If she existed at all (some argue that Bede invented her) Ostara, from which 'Eostre' is derived, was a Germanic goddess of the spring. I've been a bit underhanded sneaking her into my British pagan pratice, but assumed it likely they would have had an equivalent spring festival. It made sense to link it to a name readers would recognise.

Sistersong is actually structured around some major pagan festivals: Imbolc (Feb), Eostre, Beltane (May), Lammas (Aug), Samhain (Oct) & Yule (Dec). I was lucky enough to go to a real life Beltane festival a few years ago as research for the book and I'd love to do it again once large events are allowed to go ahead.

Have you been to any modern pagan festivals?

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#Sistersong #eostre #easter #ostara #goddess #pagangoddess #pagan #anglosaxon #ancientbritain #celtic #beltane #bede #bookstagram #igreads #instareads #inspiration #fantasy #historicalfantasy #historicalfiction #2021reads
#booklove #bookcommunity

This is WILD and an incredible early birthday pres

This is WILD and an incredible early birthday present! Thank you to everyone who preordered and bought Sistersong in its first week - it made the Waterstones bestseller chart at number 5 😭

I think I might open the prosecco early...

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#thetimes #waterstones #bestseller #bookstagram #Sistersong #publication #instareads #igbooks #historicalfiction #fantasy #fantasybooks #inthenewspaper #panmacmillan #hardbackfiction #proseccotime

My book is out tomorrow 😱 No art is created in

My book is out tomorrow 😱

No art is created in isolation, even during a pandemic. Unless you live in a cave, every day we're touched by other people, other stories.

And by the time your own story becomes a book you can hold in your hands...so many people have touched it, helped shape it and helped shape you. To all those people: thank you. I couldn't have done it without you.

➳

There's still time to get your orders for signed copies in - links in my bio! Big love to everyone who has bought the book already and shared photos of it with me, you're all marvellous. I hope lots of you will join me tomorrow evening at the online launch, details in the bio. In the meantime...bring on publication day!

#Sistersong #bookstagram #igreads #booklove #bookcommunity #instareads #acknowledgements #thankyou #readersofinstagram #writersofinstagram #fantasy #historicalfantasy #2021books #signedcopy #publicationday

I've picked up a few more followers recently – h

I've picked up a few more followers recently – hello! — and thought it might be fun to do a post that isn't just me going on about my book. Ok so I'm posing with it but that's only because it comes out on Thursday!

What do I do apart from writing books? Well, I live by the sea in East Devon about 14 miles from Exeter (where I have worked as a Waterstones bookseller for 11 years) and am slave to two cats.

When I'm not serving my fluffy masters, I play the piano and also video games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, Hades, Assassin's Creed etc. And a weird Dungeons & Dragons campaign every Wednesday night.

I have been learning Italian for three years and started Japanese as a lockdown project last year because languages are cool and I wish I could speak more of them. I am a huge anime nerd and also have a major obsession with Chinese historical fantasy dramas like The Untamed, which extends to giant rambling fan translated novels...

Something I'm very proud to be involved with is Breaking the Glass Slipper, an intersectional feminist sff podcast I co-host with friends Megan and Charlotte. It won a British Fantasy Award in 2019 and if you like geeky, serious but fun discussions, please do check it out!

What other quirky things can I tell you? I went to theatre school for 6 years, did a bunch of dance exams and was an extra in some big films (not as glamorous as it sounds 😅) My sister @lauramadeleineauthor is an author too but luckily leaves fantasy alone or I'd have to have her removed. I love yoga but have been very bad at keeping it up regularly during lockdown 😬

Alright my silken masters are calling and I must attend them, but let me know in the comments if you like the stuff I like so I can fangirl with you. Also books are great and telling stories is pretty good too and I'm very happy and lucky to be here. Happy Sunday!

✿

Been reading Keats and feeling very philosophical

Been reading Keats and feeling very philosophical about life today so here's a restful forest.

Incidentally if anybody ever wondered about my username, sylvan historian is from one of his Odes. X

✿

#nature #woodland #trees #naturephotography #woods #sylvan #sunthroughtrees #forest #fern #springsunshine #odeonagrecianurn #keats #romanticpoets

SISTERSONG is coming to the US! I am over the moo

SISTERSONG is coming to the US!

I am over the moon that it'll be published in October by Redhook - Orbit's sister imprint and just in time for Samhain too. Anyone who's read the book will know the significance of that ;)

I have another beautiful cover, which captures the story's motifs: the sisters, the harp, the magic and the Celtic setting, and brings them all together. I feel so lucky that I get to share this book with more readers because it's been such a joy and a journey to write.

There's a new pre order button in my bio for this gorgeous edition if you're feeling generous and would like to show @orbitbooks_us some love 🙏

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#sistersong #coverreveal #coverlove #orbit #redhook #usedition #2021reads #upcoming #bookstagram #igreads #booklove #instareads #bookquote #celtic #ancienthistory #pagan #samhain #historicalfantasy #fantasy #magical #folklore #retelling #folkballad

Today I was years old when I learned Ursula K Le G

Today I was years old when I learned Ursula K Le Guin was a student of the Tao and published a version of the Tao Te Ching. Obviously I had to acquire it. Two great thinkers, one modern, one ancient, together in a single volume.

In her introduction Ursula says, 'Scholarly translations of the Tao Te Ching as a manual for rulers use a vocabulary that emphasizes the uniqueness of the Taoist "sage", his masculinity, his authority.

I wanted a Book of the Way accessible to a present-day unwise, unpowerful and perhaps unmale reader, not seeking esoteric secrets but listening for a voice that speaks to the soul.'

✿

#taoteching #laotzu #ursulakleguin #taoist #philosophy #writers #thinkers #bookstagram #newbook #igreads #bookoftheway #theway

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕃𝕒𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙 One goo

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕃𝕒𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙

One good thing about releasing a book in lockdown: you can all come to my launch! Wherever you are in the world, I'd love it if you dropped by to help send Sistersong out into the world. Tickets are £5 sans the book but if you'd like a copy with a signed book plate supplied by indie, Transreal, you can grab one at the same time ☺️

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#Sistersong #booklaunch #bookevent #bookstagram #igreads #instareads #booklove #bookcommunity #fantasy #historicalfantasy #2021books #indiebookshop #historicalfiction #panmacmillan #cymera

B e f o r e & A f t e r Ok really the before sho

B e f o r e & A f t e r

Ok really the before shot should just be my brain sparking in fantastic metaphorical space – because where else does the kernel of a story form? Ragged MS Word docs floating around on my laptop + bits of genuine research interspersed with 💡 moments: that's what Sistersong looked like to start with. What *all* my books look like to start with!

I'm lucky that other people have helped to package it into something as neat and convenient as a book for you to take away 😘

10 DAYS TO GO

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#Sistersong #bookstagram #igreads #instareads #2021reads #upcoming #writing #fantasy #historicalfantasy #booklove #panmacmillan #bookish #beautifulbooks #beforeandafter #storytelling #research #booksbooksbooks #themagicalhistoryofbritain

It seems I have a thing for titles formed of compo

It seems I have a thing for titles formed of compound words. But can I keep it going 🤷‍♀️

Since it sometimes feels as though every book published is called A blank of blank and blank, what do you prefer? Long or short? Pithy or poetic?

This question has in no way been brought to you by my pondering what to call the Wild Hunt book...

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#booktitle #titlesarehard #writing #Sistersong #wip

Come with me, ladies and gentlemen who are in any

Come with me, ladies and gentlemen who are in any wise weary of London: come with me: and those that tire at all of the world we know: for we have new worlds here.

– Lord Dunsany

✿

#devon #woodland #dunsany #thebookofwonder #woods #trees #sunlit #peaceful #forest

Obviously have to share this beauty on my own squa

Obviously have to share this beauty on my own squares. Exclusive to GSFF subscribers!

Posted @withregram • @panmacmillan 𝗔 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀.

Look at this beautiful @goldsborobooks sprayed edge edition of Sistersong 😍

For fans of Madeline Miller's Circe, Sistersong retells the folk ballad ‘The Two Sisters.'
⠀
Riva, Keyne and Sinne become entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, and must fight to forge their own paths. It’s a story that will shape the destiny of Britain.

#bookaddict #bookstagram #bookshop #booksbooksbooks #bookshelf #bibliophile #bookworm #bookish #lovebooks #igbooks #bookstagrammer #igreads #booklover #booknerd #reading #booksofinstagram #bookstagramfeature #bookphotography #bookaholic #lucyholland #sistersong #folktales

𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔯

𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔫, 𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱𝔰 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔰, 𝔥𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔶, 𝔣𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠.

Thanks to @harpervoyager_uk for sending me this lovely proof of Threadneedle. Can't wait to dive in. Anyone else have this on their TBR?

✿

Anna’s Aunt has always warned her of the dangers of magic. Its twists. Its knots. Its deadly consequences.

Now Anna counts down the days to the ceremony that will bind her magic forever. Until she meets Effie and Attis.They open her eyes to a London she never knew existed. A shop that sells memories. A secret library where the librarian feeds off words. A club where revellers lose themselves in a haze of spells.

But as she is swept deeper into this world, Anna begins to wonder if her Aunt was right all along. Is her magic a gift... or a curse?

✿

#threadneedle #fantasy #carithomas #london #magic #bookish #upcoming #2021reads #bookstagram #newbook #bookpost #instareads #igreads #booksbooksbooks

Thanks to @saltwaterdays I found a new walk! Brood

Thanks to @saltwaterdays I found a new walk! Brooding dark trees, shafts of sunlight, old railway track, views across the fields...

The colours in this photo certainly are a throwback to autumn. Only Spring from now on please

🌸

#devon #woodland #nature #naturephotography #harpfordwoods #woodlandwalk #trees #fallenleaves #outinnature

In a magical ancient Britain, bards sing a story o

In a magical ancient Britain, bards sing a story of treachery, love and death.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

Just three weeks until Sistersong is published. Pre-order your signed copy – links in my bio!

❝𝗦𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰, 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁.❞ — JOHN GWYNNE

❝𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿.❞ — MOLLY FLATT

❝𝗔 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗱.❞ – THE BOOKBAG

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#Sistersong #bookstagram #instareads #igreads #upcoming #2021reads #fantasy #historicalfantasy #historicalfiction #celtic #pagan #ancientbritain #saxon #wessex #devon #earlymedieval #newbook #panmacmillan #preorder #signedcopy #booksbooksbooks

Wonderful book mail from @titanbooks! Been eyeing

Wonderful book mail from @titanbooks! Been eyeing this one up for ages. Just in time too – I get to chat to the author tomorrow for @breaking_the_glass_slipper

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Angrboda’s story begins where most witches’ tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.

Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.

✿

#bookmail #bookpost #titanbooks #thewitchsheart #genevievegornichec #norsemyth #fantasy #retelling #bookstagram #newbook #igreads #instareads #booklove

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Author, SFF podcaster, book merchant Read More…

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In a magical ancient Britain, bards sing a story of treachery, love and death. This is that story.

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