Authors On Their Own Writing: Robin Herne

I've interviewed Druid, storyteller and author Robin Herne about which of his own books he most liked and why, continuing my mini interview series with authors. 

Q: Of the books you’ve written, which is your favourite? 

A: Whilst I really enjoyed writing A Dangerous Place and creating a succession of fictional worlds in which the worst of human nature bubbled to the surface, my current favourite is indeed the current book. I have been a lupophile for many decades, so it was a sheer joy to research the world of wolves and how different cultures have understood them. 

Q: What’s it about?

A: The Magic of Wolves takes the reader through a number of mythologies and their understanding of the wolf in mythology, magic and mysticism. It does not cover every single culture, given the vast array of wolf myths out there it would need a book six times the size! Examples of what it does cover includes the fascinating realm of Irish wolf lore (it was once referred to by Shakespeare as the Wolf Land), Norse sagas, tales of the now-extinct Japanese wolf, and Eastern European myths. These last were ones I especially wanted to know more about, but my limited linguistic skills and the scarcity of English translations curtailed me.  

Q: Why is it your favourite? 

A: I knew a fair amount of wolf lore beforehand, being both a storyteller and a wolf-nut, but the research took me down avenues I had never heard of. I found way more myths and lore than could fit in a book of this size and I may well have to write an extended version at some point in the future picking up on myths from North America and the many parts of Europe which I could not squeeze in. Obviously I am fascinated by these creatures, which I find breathtakingly beautiful, but it intrigues me to understand how much fear and resentment they have inspired over the centuries. In many ways I can relate to this, being a member of spiritual and other groups that have become focal points for the fear, hatred, and violence of mainstream society.

Q: Tell me a bit more about yourself and any other books you’ve written. 

A: I live on the east coast of England with my malamute and lecture in the social sciences. I have contributed quite a few chapters to various anthologies, most of which have been with Moon Books. My first sole authored work with them was Old Gods, New Druids which explored polytheistic Druidry and how it works as a revivalist religion. This was followed up with Bard Song which was both a collection of my own poetry and also included instructions on how to write in early poetic metres – Irish, Welsh, Norse, Roman, and Greek. After that came the fictional anthology, A Dangerous Place, with a succession of historical murder mysteries all taking place in the same location but centuries apart. I am fascinated by the concept of the Spirit of Place and how humans interact and are shaped by it. After that I wrote Pantheon – the Egyptians which dealt with my other great love, Ancient Egyptian culture and spirituality. That was great fun to write and again led me to learn about all sorts of aspects of Egyptian ritual and practice which I had not previously known. When not writing I love storytelling, writing poetry, painting, baking cakes and breads, and reading other people’s novels.

You can find Robin Herne's author page at publisher Moon Books. You can also pre-order The Magic of Wolves and his other titles on Amazon and similar online book stores. It is due to be published early in 2024. 

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http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/authors-on-their-own-writing-logan.html