My Swordhand is Singing

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I started to write as a teenager a bit, but properly when I was in my mid-twenties. It took a few years to think it might actually happen! I cannot say this is the creepiest book I've read in my life, but I admit it gave me many chills up my spine. The atmosphere and the writing were factors that contributed to it: Both were dark and gothic. Whenever I read a vampire book, I am suspicious. Modern vampire books tend to romanticize them - to portray vampires as gentle creatures. I hate those versions of vampires. I love them bloodthirsty, evil and soulless. My Swordhand is Singing is a book with that kind of vampires. Yet when Peter discovers the truth about his father’s forbidden box, the dead rise from their graves – looking for a sword.

Drawing on extensive research of the vampire legend which permeates traditions throughout the world and set in the forbidding and remote landscapes of the 17th century, this is the story of a father and his son, of loss, redemption, salvation, and the acceptance of death. Many of your novels are inspired by history and by myth and legend - have these areas always been a fascination of yours since childhood and if so how did this passion come about? As the book progresses Peter learns more about the undead and about the real reason he and his father have moved around a lot. We’ve found one,” Sofia said. “Are you-?” “I’m all right,” Sofia said. “Hurry. We have to try.” She got to her feet. “Come on!” It was so hard. What they were doing was so hard, and the ferocity of the snowstorm only made it harder.This was an unexpected outcome for this novel, but I’m glad to finally be able to say that I’ve read it, and I can sell the duo to someone who may enjoy them more. During a fierce winter, young Peter and his father Tomas, itinerant woodcutters, settle in the forest outside the tiny village of Chust. Strange doings have disturbed the sleepy town: mutilated cattle, bloodied sheep, and unexplained deaths. The villagers react in superstitious ways Peter doesn’t fully understand: They paint their doors with tar, smear their windowsills with garlic, sing a nonsensical folksong at funerals, and perform weddings between young maidens and the recently dead. As the murders multiply, Peter begins to realize that his own father—tormented by a past he will not share with his son—is one of the few who fully understand what is happening. Furthermore, Tomas may hold the key to stopping the horrors, if only he can find the courage to fight. Dupa un timp in sat se zvoneste ca vaduva lui Radu e vizitata noapte de noapte de catre sotul ei mort si ca este din ce in ce mai bolnava si slabita, fiind foarte palida la fata. Aceste zvonuri sunt intarite de convingerea ca Regina Umbrei trebuie sa soseasca si ca va pune stapanire pe sat. Petru insa, desi naiv si speriat, are totusi o arma cu care sa se apere: sabia magica a tatalui sau. The historical context of most of your novels must mean a huge amount of research prior to writing each book. What does this involve and how long does it take?

Tomas scoffs at this and tells Peter that Agnes’ mother has been saying the same. Peter is angry with his father for not telling him sooner as Peter feels he and Agnes have feelings for each other despite neither of them having expressed those feelings yet. When we first meet Tomas and his brother Peter they are heading from their hut on the outskirts of the village to attend the funeral of Radu.

Great question, impossible to answer. So many amazing things to go and see – the building of the pyramids, a Viking boat putting out to sea, Man Utd winning the European Championship in 1968…

stars. This book already deserves all the stars for presenting vampires as the terrifying, dangerous, non-seductive monsters that they are. Marcus began to write seriously in 1994. His first book, Floodland, was published by Orion in 2000, and won the Branford-Boase award for best debut children's novel. Witch Hill followed in 2001, and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments What age did you first start writing and when did you think that one day you'd write a novel that would actually be published? I love music, both listening to it and playing it (I'm a drummer). A day without music is not a proper day... I also love travel and try to travel as much as I can manage.

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Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Peter doesn’t understand why his father has done this, nor why his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its mysterious contents. But when a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter’s hard existence is turned upside down.