ARE WE THERE YET?! ARE WE THERE YET?! 😊 Only 3 sleeps to go before ELSETIME is published!!! Like Glory Bobbin in the story, I am feeling a *little* impatient, so here are a few fun facts about Elsetime while we wait! 😊
A Serendipitous Find:
ELSETIME was inspired by a real event: The Great Flood of London 1928. Writing draft 1, imagine my shock (& ☹) when I found this clipping – for one of the characters, I had already chosen the same name as one of the 14 lost souls: Mrs Quick. This was a story I HAD to tell!
Crow Gifts:
ELSETIME’s crow is called Magpie. She was inspired by gift-bearing birds visiting our garden feeders! In exchange for nuts and seeds, two hooded crows would leave behind shards of metal or glass and, on the rare occasion, something special – even a tiny spiderman head!
Hagstones:
ELSETIME features one of my favourite things: a hagstone (super-rare stone with a hole!). Rich in folklore, they have been used for centuries to ward off bad luck & provide protection. Apparently, if you look through one, you will see another world. Have you ever found one?
Needle’s Colour Wheel:
ELSETIME’s Needle has a condition where he can hear sounds in colour (it’s a form of synaesthesia). Each word itself has a colour, like ‘thimble’ is a fingernail-pink word, but say it like you hate it and his mind will fill with red! What colour is ‘Elsetime’, I wonder?!
A Common Thread:
ELSETIME’s story unfolds in a town called ‘Inthington’ – taken from an old saying of my mom’s when she ever bought something new: ‘Oh, sure isn’t that the ‘in thing’!’ Writing #ELSETIME was fun! Nearly all character and street names are based on a theme! Can you guess it?
Twins’ Treasures:
ELSETIME was inspired by my treasure hunting twins – like Needle in Elsetime, they would hold each piece in their hands, imagining its wild story of times past! Here is a painting I made of their favourite finds. They tell me each piece is worth millions – lucky things!
Eve x
Eve McDonnell 