ONCE UPON A DREAM; Babe in the Woods

Resting in the magical realms of Sherwood Forest. 

I have been going through my publishing archive boxes today, trying to put all of my back catalogue into some sort of order and sequence.  With well over a decade of published words to my credit there is a lot to sort out and it is going to take me quite some time, not least because today I allowed myself to be distracted by a big box of Spirit&Destiny back issues.  These are the early issues, long before I was one of their columnists, when I was already an established author and S&D was still relatively new to the stands. 

I was looking through the pile of magazines for two issues in particular...I was searching for the fashion shoots that I found incredibly magical and inspiring at the time.  The Dream Weaver shoot from September 2003 issue had a fairy tale 'Sleeping Beauty in the Woods' theme, with an iron bed placed in the middle of the forest and a model sleeping peacefully.  The rest of the shoot was made up of images of the model wearing diaphanous night clothes and be-ribboned ballet slippers, dancing beneath the branches, gazing into a silver hand mirror and lighting her way with a candle.  It was such an enchanting fairytale shoot, and it was followed up with a piece called A Bedtime Story...another lovely shoot of how to make your bath and bedtime routine more magical.

A publicity photo taken in my garden...yes, that IS an orb.

The next issue I dug out was from January 2004.  This fashion shoot was called Into the Woods and it was themed around the notion of wood nymphs and elves.  The images in this shoot were of a model wearing cosy knits and autumnal dresses in shades of brown, plum, bronze and gold as she walked with a beautiful grey horse and strolled through the long grass.  This is the kind of thing I wear in the autumn and winter months so the shoot really resonated with me.  It was followed up with a 'where to buy' spread called Earthly Pleasures and I must confess that I went out and purchased most of the items shown - the faux fur bag, suede gloves and scarf I still have and I dig them out every autumn.  Again, this shoot was followed up by a piece on beauty products which used berries and leaves as their main ingredient so that readers could turn themselves into little wood nymphs if they were so inclined.  I liked that their fashion, shopping and beauty pages always ran with the same theme back then and that their themes were so magical and enchanting.

The evocative images from both these fashion shoots have stayed with me in my mind for a decade, inspiring me far beyond the shelf life of the magazine.  It makes me smile to think that I am now a part of Spirit&Destiny, inspiring readers in my turn.  What goes around, comes around.  If you have the S&D back issues mentioned here, dig them out and revisit those stunning shoots.  Or simply enjoy being a wood nymph in your own right by getting out into the forest, wearing autumn tones of brown, bronze, russet, gold, plum and dark berry red.  So what if you're not a model?  Neither am I, but I still like the photos I had taken in Sherwood Forest and among the trees in my garden.  As summer draws to a close and the shades of autumn dapple the trees, get out into the woods and snap some memorable wood nymph photos. 

BB Marie x

Sherwood Forest is stunning at any time of year, and I love spending time there.

Ahh well, soon be autumn...

POET'S CORNER; Highland Blood Rite

This is my kind of man!

Highland Blood Rite

The cut did not leave me with a scar

No silver white line marks his dirks passing

In a daily declaration of perfect love and perfect trust

When once he held my hand across the Eagle Stone...

I have nothing to remember him by

Save the promise held in the gift of a pressed flower

His mother's ring, I still sometimes wear upon my finger

The image of his soul-stirring, lightening sharp eyes

And the ghost of his kiss on my lips.

By Marie Bruce

I wrote this poem some time ago to commemorate a special moment of trust between myself and a Highlander I barely knew and whose name I wore pinned to my sleeve...Scots readers will understand that last part! We were conducting a special ritual by a Pictish standing stone in Strathpeffer, up in the Scottish Highlands. It was one of those impromptu moments of magic that just seem to happen to me when I am in Scotland.  I came across the poem again recently when  flicking through my work book of song/poetry snippets. It is an unpublished work from my private collection but I am happy to share it here on my blog.  It is a glimpse into my past, a moment of Highland magic and romance, captured forever in poetry.

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Knights Awakening

Knight of Stars
www.jackshalatain.co.uk

This morning I woke up very early, before the dawn.  I went downstairs, careful not to wake Pyewackett and brought a cup of coffee back up to bed.  As I sat pondering on the new day I watched daybreak slowly creep into my room.  As the dim light glimmered through the window, I witnessed my paintings come to life...each knight slowly awakening to the dawn.  

The colours of my knight pictures suit the twilight hours, with blue, grey, pink and purple merging into a twilight background.  I love the way the artist Jack Shalatain blends out the edges of his paintings so that it looks as if his ethereal subjects are walking out of a magical spirit mist. You can clearly see this in the Knight of Stars above - the caparisoned horse is just stepping out of a cloud. Is it a portal to the past where knights still ride; is it the gateway to Elphame and this is a faerie knight of the Seelie Court?  Maybe it is a spirit guide, offering protection, constant and true. He certainly makes me feel protected each time I look on him.

The Knight of the Holy Grail

I watched the knights wake up as the water-colour dawn bathed them in dewy light.  The Knight of Stars woke first, his white charger quickly being picked out by the new day...I could almost hear the chink of armour and bit, making me want to ride through the misty woods with him.  I've had this print for a very long time, ever since I was a teenager. It is quite small though, so I am considering purchasing a larger version.   I love the crest of the charger's neck, the starry pennant flying, the shining gleam of the knight's silver armour, as if he is bathed in moonlight.  Because I ride myself I am not one to dream of riding pillion, much preferring to ride my own mount alone, but for The Knight of Stars I would make an exception - I would feel honoured to ride pillion behind him, safe in his hands.

The Knight of the Holy Grail took a little longer to rouse.  The moon behind him was the first hint of his presence this morning, followed by the shield, sword and helm.  Because the colours are much darker, his armour is more of a pewter tone than the bright silver of The Knight of Stars, so it was almost full daylight before he made his presence known.  When he did, he stepped gradually out of the purple grey shadows, looking serene, armed and ready to do battle. 

The Knight of the Holy Grail isn't quite as showy as The Knight of Stars. His colours are more muted,  like camouflage amid the shadows.  He creeps up on me stealthily, playfully  - he's been there all along, but he kept himself out of sight until the perfect moment when the sunlight brings him to life again.  Then all at once he is there, magnificent, majestic - a loyal hearted knight.  The very last thing to catch the sun beams is the silk rose I placed at the top left hand corner of his frame...a rose in bloom...a Rose knight... forever close by to inspire me as each day unfolds.

Both these prints are available to purchase from the artists website www.jackshalatain.co.uk  and I believe that the original painting of The Knight of Stars is also up for sale, priced so high as to put buyers off - I think it would break Jack's heart if someone actually bought him!  But the prints are very beautiful, non-shiny, so once they are framed they do look like paintings.  Check out Jack's work and see what magical paintings you could be waking up to each day.

To read my post on how I got The Knight of the Holy Grail click here

BB Marie

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Night School - I've Enrolled

One of the very pretty note books I bought for night classes

It has been a busy couple of days here in the house of Bruce.  If you were reading my blog back in March you will be aware that I was considering a return to college to take up some kind of academic class.  Well, on Wednesday I enrolled in night school at the local city college and I start in September.  

I've always been a pro-active kind of person.  Whereas lots of people might simply sigh and dream of doing something, I always take steps to make the dream a reality.  That is how I got published after all - by taking the necessary steps to make myself a published writer, rather than just making excuses as to why I didn't have time to write.  So rather than bemoaning the high cost of the college fees, I decided to use some of my savings to pay for a short taster course and see how I like it.

I wanted to do something that would be interesting and that would ultimately make me a better writer.  I toyed with courses on creative writing (it didn't teach anything I haven't already succeeded in), journalism (as a freelance I am already a journalist and I don't plan on being a staff writer, so this was no good to me) and editing ( I've been editing for years, so again, it wasn't what I needed).  It soon became obvious that I needed to think outside the box.

What I really needed was a way to enrich the connection with readers through my work, rather than a course that teaches the nuts and bolts of actually being a writer as this is akin to teaching one's grandmother to suck eggs.   I thought about my main genre of Mind, Body, Spirit; I thought about what the traditional role of a Wise Woman was and how I could incorporate that into my writing a bit more.  I decided to enroll on a therapy course that deals in emotional well-being, mental health and personal development.  I think that this will make my work more insightful and problem solving for my readers. I am quite an empathic writer anyway so I'm hoping that the course will build on what I already do naturally.

The course is just one evening a week and the rest is self-study at home, so as I work from home anyway this really suits my usual working pattern and I can fit the study time around the deadlines of being a working writer.  I am strangely looking forward to being back in the classroom again, and of course I cannot wait to get acquainted with the student library!  I am a little nervous - but I was nervous before my first ice-skating class and piano lesson, so I know the nerves will fade once I am learning something new again.  Mostly I am excited to be adding another new string to my bow. 

Yesterday I went shopping for new college supplies and I bought some lovely blush pink note books with Art Deco ladies on the covers as pictured above. They will make my studies much more fun and feminine. They are currently sat in a pile on my second desk in my study and I smile whenever I see them. I am so glad that I bit the bullet and enrolled.  It will be a new phase in my learning experiences and also in my writing too. Surely the worst thing has to be to stop learning;  to give up on one's ability to learn something new, master a new skill and to just stagnate into a mundane routine?   I'm too much of a Bruce for that - I feel the drive to press ahead, onwards, upwards, forwards into a new destiny. 

Meanwhile my copy of Philippa Gregory's The White Princess arrived today, so I plan to clear the decks and read all weekend.  It is such a pretty book and I can't wait to fall into it.

BB Marie

IVORY TOWER; Pretty Fairytale Trinkets

These are a few of my favorite things...

A stunning crystal glass slipper;

 Nina perfume by Nina Ricci, because the red apple bottle reminds me of Snow White;

A heart enflamed - I bought this pretty tea-light holder from Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands last September;

Cinderella's Coach perfume bottle that I've had since I was a young girl;

"A little bird told me..." - also bought from Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands last year

A silver tray of fairytale romance...

I like to put little collections of trinkets together on a tray for decoration and dot them around my home.  Usually the trays are themed, like the fairytale one pictured and they change periodically, depending on new items I might have bought, holidays I've been on that I want to remember and the changing seasons.

I see these trays as miniature altars to beauty and prettiness -  it is something I have done since I was a small child, making collections and displays from my best loved possessions.  It is such a simple way to bring personality to one's home and a touch of magic and enchantment too.

ONCE UPON A DREAM; For Love of a White Rose

Lost in a world of Roses at war...

This coming Thursday is the first of August, which is celebrated in my home county as Yorkshire Day.  On this day our local stately homes and gardens, country villages, towns etc honour the spirit of the White Rose, the emblem of our county, with special events, pageants and fairs.  It seems more exciting to me this year as I, like many other TV viewers in the UK, have been thoroughly gripped by the TV series The White Queen and I cannot wait to buy the DVD box set next month as soon as it is available. 

I have also been re-reading the novels by Philippa Gregory, which the series is based on; The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker's Daughter.  Of them all, The Kingmaker's Daughter is my favorite and I think it is because it shows Richard III in a completely new light, as a man of honour and chivalry.  The bones of Richard III have recently been discovered, excavated and brought back to York, so the spirit of the White Rose is very current here in Yorkshire. As so little is known about the heroine Anne Neville, Gregory has been able to weave out the story in her own rich, inimitable style, without being hampered by too many historical facts, which can sometimes weigh a novel down.   I already have the next book in the series, The White Princess, on pre-order with Amazon and I am now stuck in the limbo space between finishing the other novels and waiting impatiently for the next one.

I can remember my father trying to teach me about the Wars of the Roses when I was a little girl, as we both shared a love of history.  He spoon fed me stories of Scottish history, Robert the Bruce and such like, from a very young age and I loved it.  But I couldn't seem to be interested in the House of York v House of Lancaster, even though it was much closer to home.  I realize now that it was simply too complex for me to comprehend at such a young age,  with people switching sides right and left, turning their coats so fast they must have suffered whip-lash!  Now with the books, the excavation news and the BBC series of programs, I feel I have a better understanding of the  Cousin's Wars - if he were still alive, my father would be pleased with me for finally grasping it :-)  There is still a saying in Yorkshire that stems from the era of the Rose Wars and it goes;

A Rose is a Rose, unless it's Red;

And then it's a traitor and better off dead!

I'm sure the Lancastrian's must have something equally flattering towards the White Rose of Yorkshire lol.  These days the rivalry between our neighbouring counties is much more good natured. I wonder if they have a Lancaster Day when they celebrate the spirit of the Red Rose?  I like to think that they might.  I plan to light red and white candles on Yorkshire Day to honour the fallen, and the legacy. 

So as I eagerly await the publication and delivery of  The White Princess, which is fittingly released on Yorkshire Day, I am lost in musings of that time, wishing I could wear a tall, conical headdress and veil with a beautiful gown to match.  I might try to persuade my mum that a day trip to York to view Richard III's bones is worth the petrol, but I don't hold out much hope - she isn't a fan of history and thinks it's dry as old sticks! My love of history is something I get from my dad.   Whatever you are doing on Yorkshire Day, spare a thought for all those lost Roses...both White and Red. 

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Fairy Tale Bath Times

Loving this magical new range of bath products, inspired by fairy tales.... Right up my street

Ordinarily I am a woman who enjoys shopping; except for the mundane task of grocery shopping that is.  I don't like supermarkets as they are always too busy, but such chores have to be endured.  I make it more fun by trying to see if I can pick up something magical from the supermarket lanes - it might be some herbs or candles for a spell, or a book or DVD that has a magical theme...sometimes it is something so delightfully twee and 'so me!' that I just have to share it...

This morning as I pushed the trolley around I discovered the new limited edition range of bath products from Imperial Leather.  The range is inspired by the realm of fairy tales and you all know by now how much I adore a good fairy tale.  The products have magical names such as Bewitching and Enchanting, the bottles are pretty and the scents are divine.  I chose the Spellbinding and Alluring bath cremes as I can think of nothing more fabulous than frolicking in the bath like a mermaid during this dreadful heatwave. 

I like that the range is split into two categories, the Light which is all that is good and pure, like a fairy princess; and the Dark which is all that is mysterious and seductive, like a beautiful enchantress.  I got one from each - Spellbinding is Dark and Alluring is Light.  They look so pretty on my bathroom windowsill and they will bring a touch of fairy tale magic to bath times.

I also got more Yankee tarts in Vanilla Frosting, Cherry Vanilla and Sweet Pea; a spooky DVD called The Wicked that is about a scary witch; plus a new book called Her Highland Protector by Ann Lethbridge because the title appealed to me, there's a hot guy in tartan on the cover and I am a sucker for a handsome Scotsman - even if he is only fiction!  

So that pretty much sums up what my weekend is going to look like...indulging in fairy tale bubble baths, reading a Highlander romance and scaring myself late a night with a spooky film.

Whatever you are planning for the weekend, stay safe in the heat.

BB Marie