Wulf 4

Blog October 2021

I am busy at the moment. Whilst waiting to begin the editing process for Wulf Three, I have to begin Wulf Four (the publisher expects the first draft to be delivered by April 2022). I have already written the first seven thousand words or so and I am now also involved in visiting possible locations that will be used in the book.

Driven by Tony Higginson from ‘Beyond Books Media’, we visited the Castlerigg Stone Circle, which is about 1.5 miles southwest of Keswick in the Lake District. It was a grey day with low clouds and drizzle but visibility was good enough to view that ancient structure (estimated to be older than Stonehenge) and see how it might feature in my plot for the book.

Before the visit, I had imagined Wulf stepping into the stone circle to discover that it was an underworld, the lair of a powerful enemy. Immediately, he sees a distorted structure, a magical house of stone set back against the inner circle of the stones. I knew nothing of Castlerigg before my visit and imagine my astonishment to see a rectangle of stones in exactly the position I had imagined that could well serve as the ruins of the foundation of that imaginary house! I believe that few stone circles have such a feature. So Castlerigg is definitely going into Wulf 4!

Next week we intend to visit another possible location: we are driving to the Skipton area to view the cave lair of Mother Shipton, the witch who made prophecies. In the book we will not meet her (Beware Spoiler) because someone else will have taken her shape! Cannot say anymore but I could change my mind anyway – often do as I write. So, I am enjoying both the writing and the research trips. This is the best job in the world!