Love, Loss and Welsh Myth

I came to the Vyrnwy Valley in 2001. I hadnt intended to but I fell in love on a storytelling course and my fate was set. Coming to a strange place and a new partner I could never have anticipated that all this would lead to the discovery of a magical grove, a terrible loss and the writing of a childrens book.

The Seven was released by Pont Books two weeks ago early and caught us all out. I very much see Celias hand in this. Sadly I lost Celia to cancer in 2006 but it is part of my late wifes mischievous nature to keep us all on our toes like this..

I came to Welsh Myth, and therefore I suppose to Wales in 1992 when I discovered The Mabinogi. It was Pwyll Prince of Dyfedd whose name I still cant pronounce. I always wondered what happened to him later on. I didnt believe Arawn was a nice guy. He didnt seem like it to me.

Later on I rediscovered King Arthur and all those magical tales of childhood and then in 1995 on a druid retreat on Iona the figure of Taliesin came into my life and has never quite let go.

Then in 1998 I started a story which would fifteen years later re-emerge as The Seven . It was so complicated that I couldnt even tell you the plot or main character. I took so many walks up and down the road where we lived in Somerset and was no closer to knowing. Two years later I met Celia and came to Wales and one winter after a storm we discovered the grove of seven and I named all of them after characters in my complicated story; Child, Dark Lord, Warrior, Queen, Bard, Seeker and Mage. A little green mound of four oaks, two beeches and a single little ash at the top of a steep rise like an upturned half orange with seven cocktail sticks stuck in it. The trees seemed to suit the names and we came there often.After Celia died of cancer in 2006 I threw away everything I had written. As my muse she seemed to be guiding me to do this. As it turns out she was right.

I thought Id given her a suitable memorial with our CD version of The Song of Taliesin, (the piece by John Matthews that Id performed for years) in 2009 but she wasnt finished yet. The unwieldy project came back to me as a childrens book and in keeping with my feelings it deals with loss and change and a young boys coming to terms with his mothers death. But it has King Arthur in it and Merlin and Taliesin which she would have loved. And it does tricksy things with the story of Branwen. Its full of Celias kind of mischief but Id like to think that one day soon parents and children can sit and read it together and then talk about loss. She would have loved that.

To buy 'The Seven' click here

Seven trees? Seven guardians? Seven helpers? Seven pictures? What's so special about the number Seven? Tony's so full of questions, he thinks his head will burst. But that's nothing new. Since Mum died he's had more questions than answers. Those scary paintings of hers for one thing. And that new girl, Eleri. She's seriously weird. As if she's waiting for something ...or someone ...