Kit spent a wonderful morning in the studio with Judi Spiers in Exeter on her morning radio programme being interviewed live on air. Judi is a great Stonewylde fan - she's been well and truly Stonewylded - and this really came through in the programme. Judi admitted to being slightly moongazy herself. She'd finished the third book the night before the interview and of course asked the usual question - "When's Book 4 coming out?" Judi had some interesting ideas about what would happen next, but Kit gave nothing away! Kit and Judi discussed the books on air and Judi was excited by the idea of a film company being interested in the books. She began casting Magus there and then! Kit really enjoyed the interview and Judi put her at ease with her enthusiasm and friendliness. Listen to the interviews with Judi Spiers and then listen to her reading from the first few chapters of Magus of Stonewylde.Click here to listen to the full interview
Click here to listen to Magus of Stonewylde (Part 1)
Click here to listen to Magus of Stonewylde (Part 2)
Click here to listen to Magus of Stonewylde (Part 3)

Saturday May 17th - Monkton Wyld. Kit returned to the amazing holistic centre Monkton Wyld, near Lyme Regis in Dorset for a course on Sacred Trees. Kit was last there five years ago and was given a very warm welcome by the new management team. Sadly Glennie Kindred who was supposed to lead the course was ill, but Nik and Jo of Woodwize stepped in and were really brilliant. And it turns out, Jo is a great Stonewylde fan herself! Kit spent a wonderful couple of days learning more about the Ogham (the Celtic alphabet based on trees), walking around the beautiful grounds discovering all the different trees and experiencing their special energy, and working with wood to create wands and wooden pebbles. It was a truly magical weekend and Kit made many new friends amongst fellow participants.

If you're interested in finding out more about the different courses Monkton Wyld has to offer, click here for information. For a real blast of pure Dorset, delicious food and an atmospheric stay in a lovely Victorian Gothic mansion, Kit thoroughly recommends the place. And get well soon Glennie!

Kit visited the London Book Fair at Earl's Court for the third year in succession. What a long way Stonewylde has come since that first year, when she was busy looking for a distributor. Moongazy Publishing Ltd now has three distributors and all are supplying book shops throughout the country.

This year Kit had coffee with a member of Waterstone's Head Office, who was extremely helpful with advice. Recently sales of Stonewylde have increased in Waterstone's stores following their recategorisation of the series into General Adult Fiction. Kit also had a meeting with her buyer from Gardners, the biggest distributor, and discussed future promotions for the books.

Kit attended a very interesting seminar run by members of the national media - the Guardian (Susanna Rustin), the Sunday Times (Richard Brookes) and Radio 4 Today Programme (Rebecca Jones) . She learnt about how publishers and authors can make their books newsworthy enough to achieve coverage in the media - watch this space!

Kit did her first WI talk (several more are booked for later this year) in a little village in Wiltshire, the evening after she returned from Amsterdam. The ladies were very welcoming and listened responsively whilst Kit talked for forty-five minutes about her life, her writing and her hopes for Stonewylde. Many people bought copies of the books and greetings cards afterwards during coffee and cake time, and all seemed to enjoy themselves, including Kit.

Kit brings Stonewylde to Amsterdam! : On a birthday trip to Amsterdam with her new husband Mr B, Kit popped into the large Waterstones there and was delighted to find Magus of Stonewylde on sale, albeit in the Teenage section. She showed copies of the other books to the staff, who were keen to stock the whole series and give them proper shelf space. Kit and Mr B then visited the amazing American Book Centre, recommended by a forum member from the Netherlands. There's a large English and American community here, and of course like many Europeans, the Dutch often speak fluent English themselves, so this American shop is very popular. They are famous for their huge fantasy section, and the buyer for this department was very enthusiastic about adding Stonewylde to the great curving shelves that make this bookshop so unique (along with a massive tree trunk that rises up through the floors!). Stonewylde will soon be available here too, as well as in Waterstones. All in all a very successful birthday trip to Amsterdam - and a great excuse to visit this wonderful city again!

Kit was invited to be a speaker at this annual one day event, held at the London Road Campus. Along with the other speakers, she read extracts from Magus of Stonewylde, including the powerful description of Quarrycleave. Then she ran her 90 minute workshop for a group of women, all of whom had read at least the first book in the series. Kit's planned talk was based on the works of Joseph Campbell and his study of archetypes which occur in all human story-telling, from ancient mythology to modern fiction. Kit had discovered this book long afte she wrote Stonewylde, and was amazed to find how her characters seemed to fit into the archetypal roles described by Campbell. However, after a group activity that demonstrated the importance of local place and setting, one of the women asked if they could forget all the intellectual stuff and just talk about Stonewylde! So for the last half of the morning, Kit spent a lovely time discussing the books and her future plans for Stonewylde, and the group were able to ask lots of questions and discuss characters and plot. It was a really enjoyable session, and Kit was honoured to be invited by Penny Hunter, organiser of the event. The photos shown are courtesy of Liz, one of the members of the group.