Elizabeth Hopkinson's Hidden Grove

For the next couple of weeks, I'm running a giveaway for a lucky winner to receive one of these handmade flash fiction bookmark/wristbands from my Etsy shop .  They would make a lovely gift for a friend (dare I say an early stocking filler?!) or just for yourself, to cheer up a gloomy day. The bookmark is printed with a magical and haunting fairy story, that hasn't been published anywhere else.  It is decorated with its own fairy toadstool, and comes with a detachable French-knitted wristband.   All you have to do to enter the prize draw is to leave a comment, either on this blog or on my Facebook page before 4th November.  And you could have your very own autumn fairy wristband to treasure!

                      Nicola Griffith and her novel Hild  at Ilkley Literature Festival  Autumn is drawing on fast (in my part of the world, at least).  The nights are closing in, and it's time to curl up in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.  So it's not surprising that, in many places just now, literature festivals are taking place. My nearest big festival is Ilkley Literature Festival, which was born in the same year as me - 1973.  Long-term fans will know I have a long-standing relationship with the festival.  It was here, after a one-to-one, that I first made the decision to pursue professional fiction writing as an adult.  I have performed in the Open Mic twice.  And I have twice appeared in the festival Fringe, with themed short story readings -  Bradford: City of Fantasy and Tales of Royalty and Imagination.   This year, I have jo...