Clan Destine Press Blog

Joining us in Clamour and Mischief is author and editor Katya de Becerra, with her story "The Jackdaw Maiden." You can listen to Katya reading from her tale on our YouTube channel. * What is the most unexpected tidbit you learned while researching your story? It was delightful over the course of my research to read so much about birds – and corvids, specifically – in Slavic folklore and mythology. We do really have a complicated relationship with birds! They are messengers, omens, spirits, shapeshifters, helpers, and so much more. The crows can enchant and they can trick, depending on...

G.V. Pearce joins us again, with their Clamour and Mischief story "All That Glitters," you can enjoy G.V. reading "All That Glitters" on our YouTube channel. What is the most unexpected tidbit you learned while researching your story? Every good heist story needs the perfect MacGuffin. In this case it needed to be something valuable, light enough for a bird to carry, and more interesting than jewellery. Sadly the Maltese Falcon was already taken – and a bit out of the weight range for the average corvid – but it was fun to browse through the many strange things people...

We're happy to work with Jack Fennell again and hope you enjoy his story in Clamour and Mischief. You can hear Jack reading from his tale, "The Song of Crows," on our YouTube channel. * The most unexpected titbit I learned had nothing to do with corvids, as it happens: in the 19th century, the Hill of Tara was believed by some to be the burial place of the Ark of the Covenant. This theory was held by the British Israelites, who believed that the peoples of Britain and Ireland were descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and...

Lee Murray talks with us about her Clamour and Mischief story "Kūpara and Tekoteko," while also offering a reading of "Kūpara and Tekoteko on our YouTube channel – have a listen! What is the most unexpected tidbit you learned while researching your story? One interesting thing I learned was that here in Aotearoa New Zealand, our raven has no name of its own. The reason for this is because the large black songbird (of which there were three subspecies concentrated mainly in the lower South Island and Chatham Islands) has been extinct for several centuries, and its name lost to...

Alex joins Clamour and Mischief with the story "Watchers," and also reads a bit, so tune in to "Watchers" and have a listen. * My favourite tidbit learned during my research was the Hungarian name for the hooded crow - the 'dolman crow' (dolmányos varjú), named after the Turkish word for a robe with sleeves, as seen in the black wings upon its grey body. But I initially read it as 'dolmen' crow, as in a megalithic tomb - perfect for use in a story which prominently features a prehistoric standing stone ... So I left the erroneous spelling in...