Writing by Tarot

I've had a slow start to Camp NaNoWriMo this April but the last few days have been crazy fun... and creative, and rewarding. I've let myself go a little (and there is a card to that affect). I've been using Tarot or 'Healing with the Fairies Oracle Cards' as writing prompts along with the short  story ideas section of John Marsden's 'Everything I Know About Writing' book.

It's been brilliant. I pick a card and work my way through the list of ideas one by one. Then I write a story of any length, genre, or style somehow connected to the two prompts.

At the moment I'm on my fifth short story based on the Teddy Bears' Picnic and the Magic of Nature. Two of the earlier stories I feel are worth working on and that's great because...

I'm determined that this year will be the year I am published. Or better yet the year I actually attempt to get published. I'll actually polish of my stories and send them to magazines and enter them into competitions . Even just that will be a triumph, especially if I persist from the rejection that's sure to come.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you and all your big plans for the year, writerly or otherwise.

What's in a Fairy

What indeed?
Not long ago I was looking fondly at an old children's book of mine, an illustrated copy of Enid Blyton's The Folk of the Faraway Tree. One picture in particular caught my eye as it looked very similar to one in book about faeries I had recently bought by Brian Froud and Alan Lee.

The Beautiful Fairy by Georgina Hargreaves from The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1984).

Leanan-Sidhe from Faeries Deluxe Collector's Edition
described and illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee (2010).

It should be noted that the original edition of Faeries was published in 1978 however the collector's edition featured new art and I really couldn't tell you if the picture of Leanan-Sidhe was new or not. According to The Enid Blyton Society the earliest edition of The Folk of the Faraway Tree featuring Hargreaves illustrations was published in 1983.
So which came first? I couldn't tell you. Does it matter? I'm not sure.

In any case I like both these pictures and find it pleasantly spooky that I should end up with both of them on my bookshelf.