Halloween Post: Welcome Home

I lay awake feeling the cold air swirl around my bed. The sweat, though my skin was ice cold, prickled my entire body. Something - or someone - was calling me; a soft, gentle child-like voice full of pleading and wretchedness. I sat up and looked around me. There was no one there. The moon illuminated my room, casting its light through the large balcony windows. It was just as it always was as my eyes swept cautiously around the walls. The wall paper still wore the same complicated patterns of flowers swirling around the walls and the dark mahogany furniture stood like sentinels in the dark. The heavy velvet curtains blew with the wind that forced its way in the cracks in the worn window frames. Nothing had changed, and yet – there was this ice coldness that filled my room and I was overcome with an intense feeling of fear. 
“Clara,” whispered the sweet gentle voice again and I groaned. “Clara, come, come to me.”
I put my head in my hands. No, this cannot be. My mind was racing and I felt myself shudder. The voice... it was familiar. 
“Clara...”
“Who is it?” I cried out. “Where are you? Are you in the wardrobe?”
With a sudden feeling of panic, I remembered how she used to hide in there sometimes. When I came to my bed at night, she would wait until I was asleep and would frighten me half to death by calling my name out in the night, making me think there was something ghostly in my room.
“Claraaaah,” the voice called again. 
“Stop it! Stop it!” I jumped out of my bed, ready to run if I had to. “You’re dead! You’re dead!”
Sarah, my older sister had been gone for months now, and I had been so traumatised by her death that I had had to be sent away to recover. They had found me by her body at the bottom of the long staircase. So I was told; the one that wound its way down from the first floor landing to the great reception hall at the bottom of the stairs. Her neck had been broken and her face was contorted as if she had seen something that had badly frightened her. I don’t remember any of it, just that I woke up one morning to be told that she was dead and I had been lying there in my bed, mutely, for days. Then I screamed and I couldn’t stop. No one knew why I was screaming, least of all me. And so it was that I was sent away to stay with my Aunt Florence in Hanley. Now I was back, my first day home since that terrible tragedy had happened in Fallowthrop Hall. I was home amongst the servants who treated me with kindness, my father whom I adored and my step mother who I tolerated for my father’s sake and all the things that made life bearable, such as my books, my paints and easel, my inkpens and writing paper. Or so I had thought. 
Sarah was gone, the sister that had made my life a misery. The days of torment were dead, just as she was. Life would be peaceful now, wouldn’t it? They said she had tripped on an old wooden toy that had been left at the top of the stairs. It had been mine and I was told not to blame myself.  I must have left it there accidentally. I wanted to hug that old wooden horse that I had left there on the stairs. I wouldn’t blame myself. It was an accident. But oh, how joyful I was that such an accident should have happened. Well you would understand if you had known what Sarah had done to me most of my life. Sarah had been the beloved one in the family. She was the daughter who was beautiful, kind and endearing. The daughter who made everyone feel alive. I was the plain one whom everyone overlooked for Sarah. I hated her for the things she did to me, but I loved her too. Yet, she was not gone, was she? I could hear her, smell her and feel her presence. No, she was not gone. 
As I breathed deeply, I took a step toward the wardrobe. I had to see if she was still there, tormenting me like she used to. They had said that I would probably never remember what had happened that day and although I tried hard to remember, I could recall nothing. 
My hand reached for the wardrobe handle. I could hear her laughing in her familiar, sweet girlish way. She  had touched everyone’s hearts. I could feel her vibrancy; even in death it haunted me. I should never have come back here, I thought. Because she would never let me live here in the peace that I had so longed for. Why Sarah? Why could you have not just let me be?”
My hand was shaking as I opened the door of the wardrobe. I looked into the darkness and walked in. I couldn’t see. It was very dark. Suddenly the door closed behind me and I heard her giggling. I struggled to open the door and when I couldn’t open it I cried out to her, begging her to stop tormenting me. 
Eventually the door opened and I almost fell right back into the wardrobe with the impact of it. Relieved I stepped out of it and there before me she stood, pale and wraithlike, her neck twisted horribly to one side. My breath was gone and I couldn't scream.
“Welcome home Clara,” she said.

AN EXCITING NEW YEAR AHEAD

I trust that you all have had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and you have started on your new years resolutions! I have neglected this blog for some time, mainly due to some of life's difficulties, work and more excitingly my fantastic project The Review. So I thought I'd fill all of you in on what's been going on and what future lies ahead. I'll start from last year and explain that after forming an experimental Facebook group named The Review, with the purpose of sharing and promoting books through the medium of reviewing, I gathered a force of like-minded fellows and we created a BLOG spawned from the Facebook group with much bigger ideas. The Facebook group was mostly an interactive group where readers and authors could come together, share their favourite reviews on the group and promote themselves as a reviewer, reader or author. We encouraged people to share other peoples links and we tried to create a supportive milieu where everyone felt like they counted.  We do our best to discourage those who selfishly promote themselves by dropping by every now and then to leave a link and then pop out again only to be seen once more when they wanted to sell their book again. This is not what we had in mind and buy links are only allowed as they long as they accompany a review of their book done by someone else of course.

When we were piecing together ideas about how we wanted the blog to look and what we wanted to feature in it, we realised that we didn't want just reviews or author interviews, we wanted to make this a unique magazine style blog, covering a range of genres, although currently, we seem to be getting more requests for historical fiction than anything else! But we as a group are doing our best to change that. We have been featuring both Indie and mainstream authors and some of our more well known authors have been Patricia Bracewell and Bernard Cornwell. One of our more popular features are reviews with giveaways. We almost always giveaway a book with a book reviewed.

This coming year on The Review, I am hoping to develop the project further. We have joined partnership with Independent Book Reviews and Gingernut Books and hope to be expanding what our site can offer readers, reviewers and authors in the coming year. We have some excellent ideas tossing around between us, so look out for The Review this year, it's going to be spectacular!

So that's one pie I have my finger in, the next project I want to talk about is my current WIP The Wolf Banner which is the follow up to Sons of the Wolf. The Wolf Banner is the sequel to Sons and it is 18 months in the waiting. Basically, I wanted a new editor for The Wolf Banner and so I was recommended D Michelle Gent Services by a friend and after chatting to Michelle and sampling her work, I knew my sequel was going to be in safe hands. you can find Michelle's Editing Services here. I am hoping that The Wolf Banner will be ready for publication in April this year.

And finally, I want to remind people about my Threads to the Past blog which I shall be revamping in the near future. I have spent a lot of time working on The Review that this and my Sons of the Wolf blog have been very neglected. I hope now to amalgamate the Sons of the Wolf blog
with Threads to the Past in one new look blog which will not only talk about the Tapestry itself but also other aspects of 11thc life. This will also link in with my research for the period in which the Sons of the Wolf series is set. So I am hoping that you will join me, coming down the passages of time as we untangle all the threads that keep the past alive.

 

 

PAULA READS: ENDURANCE by Tom Blake

Today I am posting a review for The Review Blog's Halloween Creepfest. Endurance is Tom Blake's first novel which he has published independently. Tom, 20,  asked me to review it to coincide with his giveaway for The Face Book event.

Author T J Blake

Endurance follows the traumatic experiences of Thomas Williams as he fights to survive an alien attack on London. For Tom, the day the attack started was a special day. He was going to propose to his girlfriend, Anna, but suddenly, as he kneels before her, she is tragically snatched from him in a devastating accident as the attack from above begins to reign down bullets and bombs on the people of London. Hardly able to believe what has happened, Tom sifts through the rubble and the ruins of the city he once lived in, trying his best to survive the alien attacks as well as an infected population on the ground who's ravaged bodies and minds are crazed with a rage they cannot contain. But as the story develops - all is not as it seems. Just who is behind the destruction of London and the world? Who are these aliens that seem to be targeting him? And is he going insane? Has he been plunged into a living nightmare or is it really just a dream - a horrible, freakish dream that he cannot discern what or who is real and what or who isn't. These are all questions that will plague the reader throughout; keeping them turning the page, eager to find out what is going to happen next. This book is aimed at a YA audience, however I am certainly far from being a young adult and I very much enjoyed it.

This book is not for the faint-hearted. The author spares no detail of the gore and devastation of maimed and polluted bodies. Here is one of the milder examples of the book.

"Continuing to jog, with a slight limp, he got closer and closer to the screams. The screams turned from an echo to a solid sound. Soon, Tom saw the screaming woman. She was crawling with one arm and no legs; her face was covered in blood and looked as if it’d been scraped along the concrete-strewn ground. Her screams rang through Tom’s ears. The sight made him queasy. He ran toward her."

I am not averse to gore - but there is a lot, so if you're not into blood, guts and more, this book may not be good for you, however that would be a shame because it has a most original plot and runs at a fast pace so there are no boring or dull bits. There are times in the book when you think, I've got a handle on the plot now and then in the next few pages, you're thwarted. The author's ability to keep you guessing is what drives this novel forward and there is no time to waste thinking about it; no resting on one's laurels, for before you know it you're running with the main character - running for your life. This young author has something that a lot of other writers don't; an ability to draw the reader in so that you are there, midst the scenery and the extras. Like a movie filmed in 3D  it hits you right in the eye, engulfs you in it's ectoplasm and transports you to another world.

Although this book is exciting, scary and horrific, it would really benefit from a professional edit and I know that Tom Blake has taken this on board. It's no mean feat to write a book at 20, edit it and publish it yourself and Tom has written a very readable book. A professional edit would be the icing on the cake for me and I hope by the time he has written the sequel, which is coming, I hope that it will be a very special cake indeed.

Generously, Tom is going to make his book free to download on the 31st of October. So pop that in your diary or mark it on your calendar. Go on what have you got to lose?

You will be able to download Endurance form this link for free on the 31st of October but if you can't wait till then, why not buy it now!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Endurance-ebook/dp/B00E8Q9QCU/ref=la_B00C2TFFJ8_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382880341&sr=1-1

The Promise by Kevin Ashman

For the start of our Halloween Creepfest, here is a short story of revenge from beyond the grave by Kevin Ashman.  



I opened my eyes, or at least I thought I did, but if I had thought harder I would have realised they were already open, it was just that I couldn’t see anything. Not that I cared, it was the last thing on my mind. All I could remember were the beautiful memories of the wedding ceremony with Lisa, the most beautiful girl in the world.
It had been a magical few days, the best of my life. Azure Jamaican sunsets and sweet scents of sunshine fruits were flavoured with sounds of steel drums and reggae rhythms.  The time when all my hopes and dreams had come true and I had finally married the woman of my dreams, no, not just of my dreams but of my very being, my soul, my life.
All my life I had been around her, drawn in by her aura. Throughout infant school I had followed her around the playground like a needy puppy, joining enthusiastically in her childish games. Primary school was a world of wonder that we discovered together, the closest of friends, with adventures shared and futures still too distant to be contemplated. Our teen years tried hard to alter our relationship and though teenage culture demanded we sought the fellowship of our peers, we still glanced at each other across crowded dance floors, often walking home together yet saying goodbye at her garden gate before talking into the small hours on the phone.
She had a boyfriend once, encouraged almost rabidly by her friends and I hated him with a vengeance, yet even when they finished a few days later, I still shied away from asking her out, terrified of rejection, not realising that these were sentiments she also shared.
But eventually, the inevitable happened and something special developed. I still remember that starlit night, when I paused at her gate a moment too long. That awkward few seconds, that void of silence, crying out to be filled. Waiting for me to scream out as loud as I could,
Don’t you know how much I Love you? Don’t you know how much I want to take you in my arms and hold you until the stars above burn themselves out?  How I want to spend the rest of eternity alongside you, looking at you, knowing you, loving you?'
But I didn’t shout out, and neither did she, but what she did do was something else, something completely different, something infinitely better. She tiptoed up and kissed me gently on the lips.
That was the beginning of my life, the day I was really born, the point at which my existence took on meaning. Since then, I smile at the oft asked question, What is love? The answer is easy, It is lisa. She is the very essence of love and nothing in the universe exists apart from my love for her. I will live for her, die for her for she is now the sole reason I exist in this suffocating yet intoxicating entrancement.
The wedding had been everything we had dreamed of, and, having decided to wait until our wedding night to consummate the marriage, was a sensory overload of love and tenderness. We found each other at last, physically, mentally and emotionally while the world stood still, waiting for us to see it again. The moonlit walks, the starlit passion. Days filled with laughter and nights filled with wonder. This was it, the very reason I had been put on this earth by whatever entity existed up there.
That had been an age ago. Why had it stopped, what had I done so wrong to deserve this. Why did the cruel hand of fate deal such a devastating blow?
Everything had been perfect that night, the last night of our honeymoon and we had returned early to our chalet on the beach, keen to spend our last night alone before leaving this paradise.
They shouldn’t have been there, they had no right. My mind had span as it struggled to take in the situation, the shouts of the attackers and the screams of my beloved. The struggle, the noise, the flash of light…….the pain.
But it was as nothing compared to the pain that followed, the pain of seeing her dragged off by the two men to a lustful fate. The pain of trying to move, to help her, to rescue her from harm, unable to move yet conscious to what they intended What sort of husband was I who could not even protect my wife in the first weeks of our union. The world became dark and the last thing I heard was her voice calling my name, begging me to help.
How long had I lain there, summoning my will to overcome my bodies limitations. It had taken time but love conquers all, a triumph of mind over matter, love over hate. I knew that at last I would be able to do it. To rise again and seek her out and take her once more in my arms, and this time, no gun on this earth would stop me joining my love.
Gradually, as my consciousness returned, so did my strength, though how such malnourished muscles could even summon any power whatsoever was beyond me. First the movement of a finger, forcing its way past its neighbour, encouraging its fellows to join it in its task. Then my hand became free and clawed at the surrounding dankness, forcing its way upwards through the cloying blanket of hopelessness. Finally, with a flourish that mirrored the birth of a baby, my hand pushed forth to pierce the cool Caribbean night, breaking free of the shallow grave where I had lain for the last two months.
‘Don’t worry, Lisa,’ I thought as the soil fell from my empty eye sockets, ‘I’m coming to get you.’

Why I think British History should be taught in our primary schools

The anniversary of the Battle of Hasting looms and 1066 is one of those dates that almost everyone knows of but not necessarily what happened or why it happened. Ask an English person when the Battle of Hastings took place, most will know that it took place in 1066 but who fought who and why is less known. Many children these days are not taught about this pivotal event in English history although I know from my own experience as a mum that my children, who have all gone through school now, were taught about the Anglo-Saxons in primary school only. But what did those primary school children actually learn about the Anglo Saxons? Do they retain any of that knowledge as they grow up as to who those funny Germanic people actually were – do they actually realise that they were the original ‘English’, the ancestors of today’s English. I see that the Key stage 1 curriculum has been disapplied which means that now teachers are free to design their own curriculum to suit their pupils needs. What a shame that the history of this land might be subject to the whims of teachers who may think that British history is not relevant to today's school children and many schools with large ethnic minorities. Not that I think that this is what will happen, but it is no longer a given that pupils will learn the chronological history of the land in which they live. This might sound un PC to you, but how better to create a sense of cohesiveness and a sense of belonging than by everyone, no matter what their ethnic background, learning and participating in history lessons, taking part in trips to wonderful castles and other living history exhibits that facilitate learning in an exciting, interactive and interesting way? The children of these migrant families, whatever their generation, may one day have descendants who will intermarry. The likelihood of this is quite high. Of course our history is relevant to them and to those who might also not intermarry.  As a re-enactor I want to share the  history I portray with those who live with side by side with me in this land as much as I like to learn about the culture of others I meet in my everyday life.

History is important and relevant because it helps us to learn from the past – so that we do not have to bear witness to the same scenes of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man time and time again; atrocities that have plagued humankind since man fought his way out of the primordial ooze. I know that time has shown that we don't learn completely, but small changes can make big differences and maybe now, in this century, it is time that we made a start. Children hopefully will never again be forced down coal mines or chimneys. What we have learned from the first and second world wars, stopped Nazism from holding dominion over society again. It still exists, but it doesn’t flourish like it did in the earlier half of the last century. Ethnic cleansing reared its ugly head back in the 90’s with Bosnia and Kosovo, but although slow to react, the world has shown their disapproval of such acts. Then there are still the dreadful inter-tribal wars going on in some parts of Africa, the problems in Syria, Palestine and Iraq - just a few that make me want to weep with frustration at the hopelessness of it all. But we are a work in progress and what are we if we don’t know our past? How then can we protect our future?

So if you believe that British history is important to all the children of this land then please share this post. Let’s share our different cultures together and make our future a lot brighter. 

RIP Richard III - Long Live King Henry VII!- THE SUMMER OF OUR DISCONTENT AND BAD BEHAVIOUR

Well, it's that time of the year again, when all sense of respect, manners and decent human qualities appear to be thrown as caution to the wind. Well, it doesn't always have to be August the 22nd for there to be insults flying between the Tudorites and the Ricardians, but the anniversary of Bosworth seems to bring out the worse in everyone and if you're a little obsessed with either of these two men, or unhinged in some way,like the woman who recently showed herself up on someone's timeline, then all hell breaks out on that fabulous medium that we know and love - Facebook. It never ceases to amaze me how people in these FB groups go way over what I consider to be healthy in their quest to defend or promulgate their love for their idols to the extent that they will jump in on threads in groups that they don't normally post to make insulting, provocative and disrespectful remarks, even on people's own timelines which is very rude in my view. What is this about Henry and Richard that inspire such childish and awful behaviour in supposedly adult, intelligent people? Ok so we all have our own views of each man, but for goodness sake, they've been dead for more than 500 years! We only know them in the sense of what has been written about them and there has been a lot of differing opinions about them over the years.

For a long time, the Richard III Society and other organisations have done their best to reform his character, perhaps to the point of over compensating for Richard's previously maligning by Shakespeare and Moore et al. They have found rationales for his execution without trial of Will Hastings, his declaration his wife's mother being dead when she wasn't, and reasons why he couldn't have possibly killed his nephews, pointing the finger at either Buckingham or Margaret Beaufort. The Henrians on the other hand state that this airy fairytale Richard who could actually do no wrong was not quite the darling all the Ricardians were making him out to be and they too then came up with rationales. Little Margaret Beaufort couldn't have possibly have done it, after all she neither had the motive nor the means, did she. And of course, as far as they're concerned, Richard had all the motives and not only that, he wasn't a very nice chap for not giving Hastings a trial and where was the loyalty he was supposed to have shown his brother all his life when he stole the crown from his twelve year old nephew? And of course over the years there has been argument for and against these two chaps, counter-arguments follow and follow and we see the two factions going round in circles with their arguments with neither side capitulating to the other. None-the-less, I do believe there were a few little victories as some staunch Ricardians began to see the arguments that the Henrians were putting forth as actually holding some weight, including me. Having said that I've never considered myself a Ricardian in the sense that I'm a fully paid up Richard III Society member but from my twenties when I read the wonderful  The Sunne in Spleandour by the lovely Sharon Kay Penman and then went on to read other  non-fiction books about him to read the 'facts', I was fiercely pro-Richard. Nowadays, I'm not totally convinced that he didn't murder his nephews, either indirectly or directly. However nor can I be sure that it wasn't Margaret Beaufort. Anyway, I'm no longer under the impression that he was the Mills and Boon Richard who rescued his lady love from a Cinderella style scenario and had perfectly good reasons for all the bad things he did after his brother's death, though I am sure that he probably did in his eyes.


Now Henry, he was not a total good bean either, was he? He predated his reign from the day before

Bosworth so he could confiscate the lands of all those  who fought against him, thus disinheritng their children. Not really fair that, was it. He also had young Edward of Warwick executed, but at least he had a trial to which he pleaded guilty to plotting with Perkin Warbeck. It was also thought that he may have been a little simple and naive because he had been kept imprisoned for so long. His was a sad story.  Apparently he executed poor John of Gloucester, Richard's bastard son after giving him an annuity of £20 pounds a year. But as for his execution, the only source that sites it is a 17thc one, and even then the author doesn't directly name him, referring to him as a base-born son of Richard III. So we cannot be sure that Henry did indeed execute him. There are no records of John's death. But on the whole, Henry was an astute statesman, creating stability in the country and created prosperity and secured his crown through his enactments against livery and maintenance so that the barons would be unable to keep large numbers of retainers effectively forming private armies. Despite these qualities, he was said to have been rapacious in his financial dealings which enabled him to amass great wealth at the expense of others.

So here we have two very different men, one a warrior and one a statesman. Both were kings. The why's and the wherefores as to who deserved the crown more are as irrelevant today as a betamax recorder. It has happened; they happened. It's over. Why do people have to get at one another in such a ridiculously childish, irreverent manner. Ok so, you like Henry? I like Richard. Who cares? It's great to commemorate our idols lives but why does one party or the other feel the necessity to insult and goad and bitch at the other?

I was talking to a WOR re-enactor (he wanted to remain nameless) today and I asked him if there existed the same animosity in the society between the various factions and this is what he said: "There is *absolutely none*, that I've ever seen. You can't afford to hold grudges against people who are going to be swinging steel weaponry at you. Generally, you tend to be 'mates' within your own household/retinue but get on civilly (with the occasional bit of joshing or reminders of past embarrassments) with other groups."

As I am also a re-enactor and he asked me if the Saxons hated the Vikings and I said there is never any animosity between any of us, we share a love of history, despite which side we like to fight on, its never personal. Its history we portray, not long forgotten personal vendettas and enmities.

It seems that perhaps when people are on Facebook, sitting at the computer and looking at a screen, they lose all sense of propriety. I'll admit, I'm no saint, I'm not above the odd debate and I'm not above letting someone know if I think they've been downright malicious and nasty but a lot of these people I've noticed hide behind pictures of flowers or cartoons, it makes me wonder what they've got to hide. I've even seen people go onto Fan pages on FB and expect to have a serious historical debate! It's a fan page for goodness sake! This is so disrespectful to the author and the people who run it. It's the height of rudeness if you ask me. People should leave the historical debates to the serious historical debating groups and if you're brave enough to go into one of those then expect to be pounced on if your view is different from theirs. But some people thrive on this kind of debate and that's fine, I guess I'm a bit feint hearted when it comes to serious historical debate.

So,  what do I think of these two men? I have a lot to learn about Henry and have on my tbr list The Winter King which I am told is very good. I'm yet to find him vaguely interesting, inspiring or mildly amusing even. He appears to be very bland really but  one thing that I did hear about him was that he loved Elizabeth his wife and was desperately sad when she died. That touched me and maybe that's a good place to start.

 I still admire Richard and consider myself pro-him, but mostly I admire his skills and generalship as a soldier. It is this quality that interests me most and he was as I like to call him, a Bad Ass. In truth though, there were a lot of worse things done by other kings. Look at the brutal way Edward I behaved toward the Scottish and the Welsh, not to mention his own people. Anyway that's another blog, he he!

So just so you know, all this is my own work and if I have made any errors, they are mine and no one else's.

PAULA's PEOPLE GUEST SPOT: GAYLE COPPER, TATTOO ARTIST AND BOOK ILLUSTRATOR

Fabulous body artist and book illustrator Gayle worked with me on my first novel Sons of the Wolf and has been working really hard on the illustration for the cover of the sequel, The Wolf Banner. Thanks Gayle for allowing me to interview you on my blog. Gayle is a good friend of mine and we met through our mutual love of historical re-enactment. apart from being an amazingly talented artist, she's pretty deadly with a 9ft spear and has killed me many a time on the battle field.

So Gayle, how long have you been involved in re-enactment? On and off for around twenty years re-enacting different time periods. I much prefer the Dark Ages though.
Do you find that re-enacting helps you in your work as an artist? Everything helps being an artist.I really enjoy this time period so working with you on your cover has been great fun.
Apart from your career and re-enactment, you have lots of hobbies. Can you tell us about some of them? I enjoy so many things there is never enough time (or paper) for them. I spend time boxing and target rifle shooting, off roading and camping.There are also so many hobbies within re-enactment.

You're mum to a gorgeous little boy. With your busy schedule, how do you fit everything in? I'm not really sure, I think great support from my family and friends.He joins in with most of my hobbies, and enjoys them as much as i do.
Can you tell us about Steel Point and what makes it different from other Tattoo Parlours? At Steel Point we pride ourselves on
being friendly and professional and can cater for every style, we enjoy designing custom pieces. We excel in good work and customer care, it's a great environment for us and the customers and the atmosphere makes it a pleasure to come in every day.

Before and after cover-up

What is the funniest/interesting piece of artwork you've ever had to do? I once did a roast chicken on a girl's bum, full colour with steam and all.  
What's your favourite style? Can we see some images? All styles are fun to do, colour, black and grey. I love a challenge, I especially love cover-ups and repair work. also as a qualified paramedical tattoo artist I do a lot of cosmetic work as well. The picture right is of a cover up I've recently done.
You have a great team working for you at Steel Point, can you tell us about them? They are really the best, Mark, Nadz and York are amazing artists, Mark is our traditional and flash artist and also our piercer. Nadz is great for fantasy work and York totally owns script work and all writing styles. Anna and Trevor keep it all together, they are our awesome trainees and assistant piercers. They really couldn't be a better team!

What inspires you when you are working on the illustrations for my novel? Luckily I have all the benefit of the photos from all the Regia events and a love of the period. I think even you are in one of the pictures in kit, though you wouldn't know it unless I pointed it out to you?A lot of the drawings are inspired by actual people and places. I have even asked friends to model for inspiration. It's a lot of fun and I look forward to doing more.

It's been great having you work on them, I couldn't ask for a more talented illustrator! One more thing, what sort of books do you like to read? Sci-fi and fantasy, I really enjoyed your book.

The Steel Point team

Steelpoint are based in Croydon, South London. To learn more about Gayle and her teams’ work at Steel Point, visit http://www.steelpointtattoos.co.uk  and check out the fabulous website there.