Bright blessings to everyone for the Spring Equinox! Wasn’t the full moon stunning?  We watched it rise in Reading on a perfectly clear night, and it was pumpkin orange and enormous - absolutely beautiful. All is now becoming very frantic as I continue to redraft the fourth book Shadows at Stonewylde with my editor Gillian Redfearn at Gollancz.  My deadline is looming and I’m working all hours of the day to get it completed in time, ready for the launch in August! I’ve now completely revised Magus, Moondance and Solstice and although the story remains broadly the same, there are many new bits.  If you can, I’d advise that you read the three new editions before the fourth book comes out.  You can see the stunning new covers here, designed by the famous jacket designer Larry Rostant.  The first three books will be available in limited edition hardback and also in paperback and e-book.  If you’d like a hardback, please do  pre-order it now as there are only 750 being printed as First Editions (and there are a lot more hardcore Stonewylde fans than that!).  If you click on the picture of each book, it’ll take you to the page on Amazon for the hardback - but there are of course paperbacks available too which will be cheaper and won’t be limited edition.  The books are also available to pre-order through Waterstones and any other good bookshops.  I really hope you all enjoy the new versions - I’ve worked hard on them and am so lucky to have the chance to do this. We’re still planning on producing some new Stonewylde things - badges, car-stickers, book plates (which I can dedicate and sign for you), and hopefully a new T-shirt too.  Do keep checking the website for details or join the new Twitter feed that Mr B has set up - called Stonewylde.  This will be tweeting all the news as it happens. Talking of websites, good old Mr B is working very very hard on creating a brand new website for Stonewylde,  which should be live sometime early in April, technical glitches permitting.  It will have a very different feel to it, and more functionality too.  A reminder of publication dates for the four books: Magus of Stonewylde - May 5th Moondance of Stonewylde - June 2nd Solstice at Stonewylde - July 7th Shadows at Stonewylde - August 4th In April Stonewylde will be featured on the Fierce Fiction page on Facebook - there’ll be competitions with free books etc so do check this one out. Stonewylde will be mentioned in the Beltane edition of the magazine  Pagan Dawn, and they’ll be running a full feature on Shadows at Stonewylde in the Lammas edition. I was interviewed for Writers’ News Magazine as someone who’s made the transition from self-published to a large well known publisher -  I should be in the edtion out on April 7th.    I need your help please! Please can you help me promote the new editions of the Stonewylde Series?  Gollancz will be doing their bit, but we all know it’s word of mouth and personal recommendation that really sells books, and that’s where you all come in.  We’re producing some promotional fliers (coloured postcards) which we’d like you to hand out, leave around, pin onto notice-boards etc.  Many of you have done this for me in the past with wonderful results - now I’m asking you again to help me please in the lead up to the launch of Magus of Stonewylde on May 5th.   * As a thank you I’ll send you a free car-sticker and three different button badges * It would be great if readers all over the UK could do this for me - perhaps some of you may even feel brave enough to stand outside your local bookshop and give people a card?  Or ask your bookshop to keep some cards on the counter?  Whatever you decide to do would be wonderful, and if you can wear your Stonewylde T-shirt, all the better!  If anyone has any contacts with their local media and can arrange an interview for me, book review or anything like that, please let me know. I’ll be sending the promotional packs of cards (approx 30 cards) and your free window sticker and badges at the beginning of May when Magus is published.  It would be lovely if you send me any photos or video taken of you helping me to promote the books - then I could feature you in the next newsletter and on my website! If you’d like a promotional pack, please e-mail me your name and a postal address (will be confidential of course) at:  promotions@stonewylde.com Readers outside the UK  - you can help in a different way! Gollancz bought worldwide rights to the Stonewylde Series, and the Orion Foreign Rights team will be trying to sell rights to different countries at the London Book Fair in the second week of April.  We’re really hoping the team manage to sell to some countries.  How you could help this happen is to e-mail suitable publishers in your country and recommend Stonewylde to them - and tell them to book appointments at the London Book Fair with the Orion/Gollancz team to discuss!  How cool would that be if you could persuade a publisher in your country to publish Stonewylde!  I’d be sooooo grateful. This is a long-shot but you never know .... Visit the Shop  Keep up-to-date with all the latest Stonewylde News Join us for a chat in our amazing Stonewylde Community. Get the latest news as it happens by following me and Stonewylde on Twitter and Facebook.   This is our new banner that you can use on your own webpage - click here to find out how to get it. Stonewylde Newsletter 34 March 21st 2011 Bright blessings at    to all Stonewylders What’s been going on ...    The Spring Equinox falls on March 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of the four fire or solar festivals. It’s the time of year when days and nights are of equal length, when light and darkness are in balance. Some call this festival Ostara or Eostre, after an ancient fertility goddess of spring. This is the source of the word “Easter”, the Christian festival that takes place every year on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon after the spring equinox. A strange way to fix the date of such an important religious event, but often the roots of one religion can be found in another. The egg is a major symbol of this spring festival, as a potent emblem of new and growing life. For centuries, and in many cultures, eggs have been dyed or painted, and often hidden for others to find.  The origins of the egg as a spring symbol are very old indeed. Small cakes or buns are also associated with this festival, marked into four quarters to represent the four fire festivals or the four elements.  Another modern icon, particularly popular in the USA, is the Easter Bunny. In fact the hare is the totem animal of this spring festival, linked with fertility and also the act of reproduction itself. Watching a group of hares in a field at this time of year can be an enlightening experience! And boxing hares, thought by many to be two males fighting over a female, are in fact the female interacting with the male. The hare has also long been associated with witchcraft, and in folklore it was said that witches could transform themselves into hares. Hares are magical creatures, known to be moongazy (struck by the full moon) and are renowned as animals of transformation. A close encounter with a hare is said to be an indication that some kind of personal transformation will take place soon.   There are also traditional tales of the hare laying Visit the Stonewylde Website eggs in a nest at this time of year. This may derive from the fact that the skylark lays eggs in a nest on the ground in the same kind of habitat where the hare builds her own nest (a form) for raising her leverets. At Stonewylde, the standing stones in the Stone Circle are decorated with “a carousel of hares”, and also a beautiful pattern of spring flowers: violets, primroses and celandine. The great stone behind the Altar Stone is decorated with a painting of Eostre, depicted as a beautiful young woman with flowers in her hair, stars around her head, a hare by her side and an egg in each upturned hand. As in all the fire festivals, a great bonfire is lit during the ceremonies, and there is celebration in the Great Barn. The children make masks (hares, chicks, lambs) and perform a dance and drama which symbolises the potency of new life growing as the weather becomes warmer and the days longer. Eggs are blown and decorated, hidden in the grass and hedgerows around the Village Green and riverbank. The children go on an Egg Hunt and proudly bring their finds back to the Barn where the lovely eggs are put on display and the children rewarded with cinnamon buns. The Spring Equinox heralds the real start of the growing season at Stonewylde, and the hardworking Villagers know that this is when the work really begins. ©Steve Perry Stonewylde t-shirts, eco-bags and greetings cards make great gifts! More Stonewylde gifts coming soon! ©Carp