A Life in Words

Why Black Hare Valley Goes Back and Forth In Time

~ ChanAtkins ~ 1 Comment

There are centuries of mystery in this series!

https://books2read.com/u/4EO5DE

When I first starting writing Black Hare Valley, I had no idea it would become a series. However, by the time I reached the end of the first book, set in 1996, I knew I also had to set one in 1966 to help explain some of the events.

My heroic group of misfit teenagers in the first book are dealing with a missing friend in 1996, but along the way they discover that children have gone missing from Black Hare Valley before, and their own parents were once involved in trying to solve one such case.

In fact, the strange events and missing children occur every thirty years…

Writing the 1966 book was a lot of fun, as I got to go back in time and revisit adult characters from book one when they were teens in the sixties. I think it gives readers an interesting insight into why certain adults in book one behave and live the way they do. It also answers a few of the mysteries along the way.

By the time I got to the end of that book I was thinking about 2026 because thirty years on, my teen characters from 1996 would now be middle-aged and would potentially have children themselves. I wondered what the town would look like by then. Would it be any different? Would children still be going missing on May Day?

So, the series starts in 1996, jumps back to 1966, then jumps forward to 2026. But it doesn’t end there.

My next idea was a diary form book from Jesse Archer’s POV. I don’t want to go into too much detail as it will give you spoilers, but there is a thirty year period where Jesse is essentially cursed and totally alone. I was curious about how he spent those three decades and decided a sporadic diary written by him would provide the answers. It would also answer even more of the mysteries surrounding this strange town.

This therefore means that after the 2026 book, we go back to 1996 to fill in those thirty years…

I honestly thought it was all over with four books but while in the middle of editing and reworking bits of them, another idea hit me. I had one of those really satisfying ‘click’ moments when I realised a fantastic way to end the series and have almost everything explained. (I am also writing a selection of short stories that will fill in even more blanks.)

Book Five, therefore, is also set in 2026, but it makes sense to read it after the diary book. It starts with my heroes thinking they have ‘won’ but in truth, they have no idea what they have unleashed…

Black Hare Valley Book One: 1996 is out this Thursday 25th June (my birthday!) and you can preorder the ebook and/or the paperback on this link: https://books2read.com/u/4EO5DE

The Folklore of Black Hare Valley

~ ChanAtkins ~ Leave a comment

I’ve created a universe rich in folklore!

Image by Artur Pawlak from Pixabay

When I first had the idea for Black Hare Valley (take a look at last week’s post to get the gist of the inspiration behind it…) I had no idea it would grow into a series, or a universe. I also had no idea how much folklore would come to shape it. My initial idea was an ‘IT’ style horror story about missing kids, ancient evil and a pretty little town that looks perfect but is anything but.

As I wrote the first book, and soon realised I had enough storylines for a second, and so on… I began to realise I was writing folk horror, a genre I’ve been obsessed with for a while. For anyone not sure about the term ‘folk horror’ it applies to a genre of literature film and TV with an emphasis on folklore and the culture of the outsider.

Folk horror is sub-genre of horror that explores mythology, urban legends, paranormal and supernatural beings usually in an urban or rural setting. It draws aspects from cultural traditions, rural life, small town life, connections to ancient evil and explorations of morality. I would argue that folk horror is a really important sub-genre as it explores tales of old and reframes them for modern readers and viewers, often tackling the big questions such as life, death, after-life, mortality, what it is to be human, community and sacrifice etc. It is also a more subtle and unsettling style of horror where threats are less obvious than in ghost or vampire stories, for example.

Common elements include: Paranoia, morality, superstition, tradition, religion dark aspects of nature, isolation. a foreboding atmosphere, outsiders, generational secrets, trauma, curses, nature, isolated communities, rural towns, old-fashioned ways, and dark forces.

The Black Hare Valley series ticks every box there is for folk horror!

As I wrote the books I found myself becoming increasingly immersed in British folklore and several aspects of it really came to dominate the series. I’m going to talk about them now.

May Day: May Day in Black Hare Valley is extremely important, some might say it is sacred. Schools and businesses close for the day. The May Queen, (usually a young girl decked out in white) sits upon a carriage pulled by a mule along the streets of the town. The townsfolk gather at the sides of the road to watch and wave and cheer. Just before she comes along, the hares are released. This is an old time tradition, with the hares racing away symbolising fertility and new life. Everyone follows the May Queen to the park where she is crowned upon her thrones with a garland of wildflowers. A community celebration follows, with children dancing around the Maypole, and plenty of food and drink to enjoy. Traditionally, people used to leave ‘May baskets’ on neighbours doorsteps, sometimes containing food or small gifts, often just posies of wildflowers. In Black Hare Valley May Day represents the shift into Spring and celebrates new life, resurrection and fertility.

Hares: Hares are integral to May Day in Black Hare Valley but they are also a hugely significant symbol of the town and what it represents. Through the ages and across cultures, hares have been associated with witchcraft and magic, as well as with madness, the moon, and bad luck. Equally, they have been associated with good luck, new life and fertility. It was once believed that witches could shape shift into hares to escape persecution. There are old folks tales about what it means to see a hare running through town (a house will catch fire) and people used to believe it was good luck to see hares jumping from the flames of a cornfield.

Fairy rings: Fairy rings are perfect circles of mushrooms/fungi that appear naturally by themselves. There are perfectly good scientific and biological reasons this happens, but go back far enough in time and people used to believe the rings were portals to the fairy realm. It was seen as a great crime to break or damage a fairy ring and doing so would invoke the wrath of the fae folk. They may put a curse on you or they may steal you into their own world. I’ve used fairy rings in the series, and they mostly pop up in book two: 1966.

The Green Man: The Green Man is a universal symbol of nature, fertility, and new life. There are countless folk tales and versions of him across the world and within different cultures. His gnarled old face is often carved into trees or posts, and can often be seen on churches and other old buildings. He symbolises nature, rebirth and the human connection to the natural world. He also symbolises the past…

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little journey through some of the folklore that shaped my next book!

Here is the preorder link if you are tempted to give Book One: 1996 a try!

https://books2read.com/u/4EO5DE

Black Hare Valley Book One: 1996 has a release date!

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It’s released on my birthday, 25th June!

image is mine

Yes, finally, I can share the good news that Black Hare Valley Book One: 1996, a book I wrote the first draft of back in 2023, is finally ready for release! Originally I had wanted to release it in May, as May Day folklore is a big part of the series, but it took longer than I anticipated to get the front cover sorted, so the publication date is now 25th June, which just happens to be my birthday!

As for the cover, I love it, and it was well worth the wait! I think it looks suitably eerie and ticks all the boxes for what you’d expect in the unsettling folk horror genre. There will be five books in the series and the cover will change just slightly each time. If you know your folklore well, you might be able to pick up clues as to who, or what, is really in control of this quaint little town…

You can preorder the ebook for just 99p via this link: https://books2read.com/u/4EO5DE

I am just waiting for the paperback proof copy to arrive and once that’s been checked, I will also have a paperback preorder link to share with you.

In the next few weeks I will be sharing various aspects of the series with you here on this blog, diving into topics such as what inspired the books, how and why it became a series, why it jumps back and forth in time, what research I did into folklore, and an introduction to each of the characters.

I am really excited about this series. I do tend to jump around genres, but most of my books would come under YA, or gritty crime/thrillers that are very character led. The Day The Earth Turned series was a horror/post-apocalyptic series, and the Fortune’s Well trilogy I wrote with Sim Sansford, was superhero/superpowers based. This is first foray into folk horror, a genre I am very fond of reading and watching. As a writer, I think it is excitingf and refreshing to write in multiple genres and Black Hare Valley really got my imagination going.

It was supposed to be just one book but soon evolved into an entire universe…

I’ve also made a conscious effort to bring back things I love and miss in books these days. Such as:

  • chapter titles
  • illustrations
  • a map of the town

That meant that writing this series has been an incredibly creative process for me, not just writing but drawing too. I also got to indulge my obsessive love of hares!

That’s all for now, but do look out for the next few posts which will arrive on Fridays (apologies this one is late – I meant to post it last Friday and forgot!) where I will drag you, if you let me, deeper into this horrifying world…

Growing Our Own Food Feels More Important Than Ever

~ ChanAtkins ~ Leave a comment

Plus learning to forage and preserve…

recent additions, Egg and Shumpert enjoying the garden – image is mine

I’ve always been into growing my own food, but mostly it has been for fun. When I was a kid we grew runner beans, pumpkins, tomatoes and lettuces and my grandfather grew peas, marrows, potatoes and more. Their generation, and to a lesser extent, my mother’s generation, were used to growing their own. They didn’t grow everything they needed, but they grew what they could with what they had. With the rise of the supermarket that trend has diminished greatly and children growing up now are unlikely to even know where food comes from, let alone know how to grow it themselves.

I never wanted that for my kids and I have always grown something. Bags of potatoes are so easy, for example, as are lettuces and beans. Over the years my vegetable plot has grown bigger and bigger and I soon added chickens and ducks, fruit trees and fruit bushes to the mix. I’ve had my successes and my failures, but failing has never mattered that much before. It’s been frustrating, yes. There are always weeds, pests and the weather to battle with when trying to grow produce, but failing hasn’t bothered me too much and I have always learnt something in the process.

That’s changed now and I wonder how many other hobby growers are feeling the same? I wonder how many people who grew food for fun are now buckling down and upping their game? Planting more than ever and worrying more than ever that some of it will fail…

Recent world events have seen oil prices soar and before long that will impact food prices. People were already struggling with the rising cost of living, so it’s scary to think how much of an impact this is going to have. In recent years, I’ve hugely resented the cost I pay at the checkout and I’ve made an effort to use the supermarkets less and less. I get a weekly organic vegetable box from the wonderful Riverford and I have armed myself with knowledge in the form of books. Yes, I Google things from time to time, but there is something very grounding and safe about actually owning the books…

My be-prepared-for-anything books so far are as follow:

The Self-Sufficient(ish) Bible – by Andy and Dave Hamilton

The Forager’s Calendar – by John Wright

Living on One Acre or Less – by Sally Morgan

A Modern Herbal – by Alys Fowler

The Good Housekeeping Complete Book of Preserving

That should do it! I also really want a drill and the skills to knock up animal shelters and fences, but all in good time!

My aim is to keep adding to my skills and my knowledge, even if I don’t need to use the things I’m learning. At the moment, for example, I’m discovering that many of the weeds and herbs that grow in my garden have huge health benefits. I’ve been making refreshing tonics from cleavers, or goosegrass as it’s also known, and warming teas from rosemary and nettle infusions. I aim to try dandelion next – apparently you can consume every part of this amazing plant, even the roots!

I’ve stopped buying stock and instead make my own by saving vegetable scraps and peelings. I also freeze apple cores and peelings and when I have enough I make my own apple cider vinegar. I’ve learnt how to make a natural cleaner from vinegar and pines cut from the Christmas tree. I bake my own bread, cakes, wraps and pizzas at the weekend. It’s all little bits, and I still shop at the supermarket more than I want to, but it’s a process and I am enjoying it. It feels like reclaiming something we have all lost.

And as for the garden, it’s slowly awakening from its winter slumber. The fruit trees have all blossomed and the plum tree already has tiny green plums growing! I took tons of cuttings from my redcurrant and blackcurrant bushes last year and they’re all now in the ground and doing well. I’ve got potatoes, onions, leeks, parsnips and beetroot in the ground and peas, beans, lettuces, tomatoes and peppers all starting off inside.

It sounds a lot but it does not feel like enough! Not by a long shot. I’ve got some wheat I plan to plant in one bed as I’d love to try and mill my own flour. I have a small packet of oat seeds to try as well.

I am sure there will be many, many failures along the way but it really does feel imperative that I grow more than usual, that it succeeds as much as possible – just in case!

I now have two weeks off work for Easter and plan to be outside as much as possible, planting more seeds, transplanting seedlings, making more raised beds and filling with compost. I’ll be exhausted but perhaps I will sleep better at night.