Students from St. Edwards school in Lisson Grove London took part in a drawing competition for The Feral Child. The task? Draw a picture of scary dark ‘fairy’ Fachtna using the following description:
The faerie standing in front of her was no delicate little sprite. She loomed over Maddy, long and lean with ropes of muscle throughout her every limb.
Maddy had to tip her head back to look at her; she was a good seven feet tall. Her skin was bone white and tattooed with pale grey Celtic patterns. Every inch of her was covered with the swirling marks, from the tips of her fingers to the edge of her hairline.
Silver scars marked her, from fights she had probably won. Her long white hair was stiffened and combed high above her head and away from her face, dropping down her back.
Everything about her, from her fingers to her face, was unnaturally long.
Her nose was hooked and her mouth was thin and cruel. Her gossamer wings were covered in frost patterns, their beauty marred by a torn and trailing piece of skin and tissue in the lower half of the left wing. Her feet and legs were bandaged in soft white leather, and gold arm-rings bound straining muscles.
Fine linen was wrapped around her breasts and between her legs, the skirt torn to the thigh and trailing behind her in ragged strips.
A whip was coiled at her waist. Her eyes were blood red, with no whites and as cold and indifferent as a bird of prey’s. She was terrifying and magnificent at the same time.
The competition was judged by the author Che Golden and the winners were (drumroll please) Mia Currid and Charbel Eid. Here are their two wonderful pictures:
Mia
Charbel
Here’s a word from the lovely
Che:
Congratulations to Mia and Charbel who entered a competition to win a signed copy of The Feral Child and a goody bag.
Their task was to bring Fachtna, the villian of the book, to life in all her grim glory and I think they did an amazing job.
I was very impressed with how Mia captured Fachtna’s tattoos, the detail in her drawing was really outstanding.
Thanks to everyone who entered and I hope you enjoy the books guys.
Congratulations!
Daniel Fraser: Please could you tell us a little about Room Full of Bones.
Elly Griffiths: Well, it starts with a coffin being brought into a museum. When Ruth arrives to supervise the opening of the coffin, the curator is lying dead beside it.
Nelson discovers that the museum holds a collection of Aboriginal skulls and has received threatening letters demanding their return.
Matters are complicated by the arrival of a new neighbour for Ruth and by the on-going tension between Ruth and Nelson.
Daniel Fraser: The juxtaposition of new age mysticism with science & archaeology in the books is really interesting. Could you tell me a little more about how these themes came to be involved in your work and why you enjoy using them?
Elly Griffiths: My husband Andy is an archeologist and lots of his colleagues are quite new-agey.
Archaeologists are highly educated people who are paid very little so they are unlikely to be motivated by money. They are more likely to be interested in history, mythology and folklore . On the other hand, they are very disciplined and scientific.
It also struck me how similar archaeologists are to detectives and how much they are both concerned with death.
Daniel Fraser: Ruth Galloway has really developed as a character since the beginning of the series. Have you found that Ruth has taken on a life of her own/did any of her developments as a character come as a surprise to you?
Elly Griffiths: Before I wrote a book I used to hate it when authors said ‘the characters just took over’. But, really, Ruth has done just that.
I’ve never had a plan for Ruth but I comfort myself that this is just like life. I don’t know what will happen with Ruth and Nelson, or Ruth and Max for that matter.
And, as for Cathbad, I’ve no idea what he’s playing at…
Daniel Fraser: Was there anything in particular which drew you to the issue of Aboriginal remains which feature in the book?
Elly Griffiths: Andy was working in a museum that held some Aborigine skulls and was refusing to return them.
This started me thinking about the fact that museums are full of dead bodies. Is it right to keep human remains in glass cases, even if it does add to the sum of human knowledge?
Daniel Fraser: The folklore of the Norfolk area has a strong presence within your work. I wonder if you could tell us about a couple of your favourite folk tales/superstitions.
Elly Griffiths: There ‘s a terrific legend about a ghostly black dog that haunts the East Anglian coast. It’s called the Black Shuck and, if you see it, you are doomed to die.
I haven’t used the Black Shuck in a book yet but I think that, one day, one of my characters will hear its spectral howl…
There’s also a burial mound near Marshland Smeeth known as the Giant’s Grave.
The cross from the grave has disappeared and I think there may well be a story in how it is recovered.
Daniel Fraser: Can you reveal anything about what you working on at the moment? What’s next for Ruth? Is there a TV adaptation in the works?
Elly Griffiths: I’ve just finished the fifth Ruth book. It’s called ‘A Dying Fall’ and, in this book, Ruth ventures up north – into Nelson territory.
In Lancashire she encounters the Pendle witches, a Neo-Pagan cult who worship King Arthur and, scariest of all, Nelson’s mother. There is also a terrifying roller-coaster experience.
I hope to write several more Ruth books as there are lots of archaeological themes I haven’t tackled yet. Also, I’ve got to sort out Ruth’s love life.
There has been some interest from the BBC but things seem to be taking a very long time, rather like an archaeological dig in fact.
This looks great!
Death in Prague: Philip Kerr on Prague Fatale
Chaired by Prof Anthony McElligott
Philip Kerr is the creator of an engrossing series of thrillers centred around Bernie Gunther, a private detective and wry observer of Central Europe from the rise of Nazism to the aftermath of World War Two. The latest addition to the series, ‘Prague Fatale’, is set in 1942 and touches on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, which will be the subject of the Wiener Library’s next temporary exhibition opening on 26 March. Kerr conducted much of the research for his books in the Wiener Library Reading Room, and we are pleased to announce that he will be speaking about his latest book at the Library in an event chaired by Prof Anthony McElligott of the University of Limerick.
For details of the programme of events accompanying the current exhibition, Operation Anthropoid: Britain, Heydrich and the Holocaust, please click here.
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: The Wiener Library, 29 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DP
Attendance is free, but please email the Library or call us on 020 7636 7247 to reserve a space
Read more over on the Wiener Library website.
Hey everyone,
To celebrate the release of the superb A Room Full of Bones in paperback we’re having a whole week of Elly related stuff on the blog.
There’ll be some fab interviews and videos as well as an amazing competition or two to test your own detection skills and knowledge of this amazing series of book.
So stay tuned! But, to kick things off, here is a free extract from the book to give you a taste of what to expect:
You can also learn more about Elly and the other books in the series by heading over to the author’s official website or our own dedicated author page.
