Of Mermaids & The Nightside

I’ve been absent for a bit but I can explain why. You see it all started when I went away for the weekend to celebrate Beltane. I had a great time with the festivities, the vendors, and the food. This year it was mostly potluck and everyone brought tasty dishes. I had my hair braided with flowers and I even had my face painted. Not many adults did that but I had planned on doing it and since I completely embrace my inner child, I was very, very happy that weekend.

Anyway, while perusing all the tables laden with artwork, jewelry, the tarot readers and an awesome clay artist amidst the drum lessons and the belly dancing performance, I happened upon an author’s table. Her name is Carolyn Turgeon and she had copies of her latest book, Mermaid, which I gladly purchased and she signed for me.

Carolyn retells the classic tale by Han Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid. But in Carolyn’s version there’s another Princess in the picture. You have the Mermaid Princess, Lenia, and then you have another Princess named Margrethe, who is from a feuding kingdom. Both have fallen for the Prince and both have their reasons for wanting to be with him. Can you say love triangle? Well, I haven’t got to that part yet but I’m looking forward to it.

Since it was quite sunny, I found a lovely spot and promptly began to read her book. I’m currently on chapter twelve. Reading about Mermaids made me think about Mermaids and when I returned home I got on the laptop and looked them up. First I went to Carolyn Turgeon’s website http://carolynturgeon.com/, which led me to her blog and there I read interviews with other Mermaids (performance artists who do aquatic shows in full Mermaid regalia). However, during my internet search I came across a website (http://www.themertailor.com/site_flash/) where you can buy Mermaid tails. They’re absolutely fabulous! I wish I could swim. Looking through it I fell in love with these pictures.

But you see that isn’t the whole of it. What I didn’t tell you is that I was already reading the second book of The Nightside series by Simon R. Green which I had downloaded to my phone.


The Nightside series is about John Taylor, a private detective that specializes in finding lost things. The Nightside is the secret hidden dark side of London where it’s always night and it’s always 3:00 am. You can find all kinds of magic and futuristic technology, corrupt things living or dead, human or inhuman, and where just about anything is for sale.

So I’ve been reading two books at once. And you know how it is with e-readers, don’t you? Well, so far there are ten books in the series and I have all the books so it is very easy to end one book and continue with the next one. Which is exactly what happened and now I’m on book three. I highly recommend the series so check it out if it’s a genre you like to read.

And while I’ve been doing all this reading (which is good for my writing, right?); I haven’t really done any writing other than sending creative renaissance style e-mail correspondence with a friend of mine. I had lots of fun doing that. Besides that, I have a lot of laundry to do and I see the dust bunnies in my house tumbling about like they do in spaghetti westerns.

So, I hope I’m excused for being lax with the blog. I’m on chapter eight of Nightingale’s Lament and I really must get back to it. The laundry and the dust bunnies can wait.

Enjoy your reading and happy writing!