Answer? Me.
As it happens, I meant to start promoting Sea Spinners (my new book), in January when the seasonal madness is over - and for people who hate Amazon, the paperback also becomes available from the publisher (Beaten Track), or via indie bookshops.
However, since it's already available on Amazon, and people are busy searching for last minute presents, I decided to take the plunge. More to the point, I wanted a copy for my dad. At 97 (he insists he's 100), terminally ill and needing 24/7 care, he's not even sure who I am anymore, and of course he won't read it. But there's a chance he'll like the beautiful cover, created by talented illustrator Rhi Wynter - and there's nothing else he seems to want on his end of life journey (except possibly a little ginger beer) - so I'm hopeful he'll like it.
About the book
I'm always drawn to write myth or folklore based stories (usually with elements of magical realism), and I wrote Sea Spinners as a herstory prequel to Jason and the Argonauts. At heart, it's about the young woman who weaves the golden fleece. I got the idea for this book a few years ago, when Ben, my former agent, sent me a link to an online article he thought I'd find interesting. He was right. I did. The piece was about an extraordinary woman, Chiara Vigo, who is the last woman on earth who knows how to make byssus, or sea gold.
All myth holds some element of truth, and the story of the golden fleece is no exception. There are various theories about what the fleece might have been and how the legend began. One possibility put forward is that it was a cloth made from byssus. This rare and almost magical thread was once highly prized by wealthy people across the Mediterranean, including the emperors of Rome and pharaohs of Egypt. The more I read about it, the more obsessed I became with the idea that the golden fleece could easily have been made from sea gold.
I researched everything I could find out about Chiara Vigo, and how she makes the golden thread - a process that shows how truth can be stranger than fiction. Today, Chiara lives on a remote island off the coast of Sicily. Now in her sixties, she still regularly dives down to the seabed to collect a mucus like substance made by a rare species of shell fish. Through a complex, shamanic process, handed down through matriarchal lineages over thousands of years, she is able to transform the sticky black substance she collects from the shells into a very lightweight, beautiful, gold thread.
Chiara describes byssus as the soul of the sea, and refuses to sell it. She only uses the thread to embroider gifts for people, believing that to do otherwise would be breaking her special bond with the sea.
The way I've described making sea gold in Sea Spinners may differ from Chiara's process, but hopefully does it justice. And as for Chiara, I read that she is now teaching her young granddaughter how it's done, so with luck, this extraordinary, genuinely magical process won't come to an end.
If you're interested, you can find out more about Chiara Vigo here - and there are various other articles about her online.
And if you'd like one, you can order a copy of Sea Spinners (just in time for Christmas!) here
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