Elysian Dream
NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK
***click here to see reviews***
I'm just an ex-academic - rediscovering my magic!
Elysian Dream - The Pitch
Two students are pursued out of their easy life in Edinburgh into a world full of mythological beings. HE has no idea what’s happening. SHE knows exactly what’s going on.
Two students are pursued out of their easy life in Edinburgh into a world full of mythological beings. HE has no idea what’s happening. SHE knows exactly what’s going on.
Hi, I'm Sarah Burchett-Cook. Originally from Kent, but after 28 years living in Devon in the South West of England, I now live in Scotland with my husband Stephen - and I write Fantasy & Literary Fiction blended with a touch of history, myth and legend.
ELYSIAN DREAM
Published by Golden Storyline Books (2023) and available digitally on their website and on Amazon - And now in paperback too.
CURRENT PROJECTS:
THE BOOK OF TAMONAH (Return to Elysia)
(YA/NA Fantasy) - (to be published soon - watch this space)
THE ROSA CHRONICLES:
(Light Fantasy with historical elements)
BOOK 1 - ACROSS THE VEIL (Currently re-editing - soon ready to go)
BOOK 2 - SOMEONE ELSE'S WAR (Almost finished)
BOOK 3 - TRAVELS WITH ROSA (first draft started)
SHORT STORY COLLECTION
My journey to this calling has been convoluted:
I'm a lover of nature and all things wild, and have travelled widely exploring our beautiful planet. I've spent many years working part-time as a lecturer on topics associated with the Environment, Habitats and Plants, but also with the Microbial world. I have an Honours degree in Biological Sciences (microbiology pathway) and a Master of Research degree in Applied Marine Science with an extended project studying viruses in tropical corals.
Well, this may seem a little obscure with respect to writing fantasy and literary fiction, but nature, the wider world, and a good sprinkling of realism - I believe - enhance my writing, making fantasy just that little bit tangible.
Inspiration
I developed a love for fantasy at 18 when I first read Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, still one of my favourites. The Arthurian Legend, in all its diverse manifestations, also captured my imagination, Marion Bradley's Mists of Avalon is at the top of my list here. David Gemmell is another favourite, I like that his protagonists are ordinary folk, and don't turn out to be a long lost prince or similar. Currently I'm hooked on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy. I generally prefer fantasy set in the real world (Tolkein notwithstanding), and this is where I set my own books, at least in part. But I gain inspiration from many other writers and genres, both fiction and non-fiction such as David Attenborough, Richard Mabey and Rachel Carson.
As Sarah Burchett, I have published two non-fiction books before, as a co-author, with my husband Stephen and I even have a scientific paper to my name.
Elysian Dream - Published by Golden Storyline Books 2023
Benji saw himself as a regular guy - a ‘B’ grade student living in a flat in Edinburgh with his amazingly cool girlfriend Kim. He had no idea why he kept having blackouts and weird dreams, until he discovered Kim had been drugging him. So he sneaked out of the flat and took off on his own.
Kim was a kelpie agent from the realm of Elysia tasked to locate a human hybrid with enough fae blood to restore the kelpie’s to their natural form - an ability snatched away by vengeful fae. But Kim unexpectedly fell for Benji, so when he ran off she hired the services of a sprite tracker to locate him. All does not go well. The tracker is killed and Kim is seriously injured by dark fae operatives, only to be rescued by an old friend.
Kim was a kelpie agent from the realm of Elysia tasked to locate a human hybrid with enough fae blood to restore the kelpie’s to their natural form - an ability snatched away by vengeful fae. But Kim unexpectedly fell for Benji, so when he ran off she hired the services of a sprite tracker to locate him. All does not go well. The tracker is killed and Kim is seriously injured by dark fae operatives, only to be rescued by an old friend.
The Book of Tamonah (Return to Elysia)
When Benji starts getting frightening and dreamlike ‘sendings’, Kim seeks Professor’s Long’s help. The dark fae witch Orma is on the move, and it’s now apparent she has Osun’s baby daughter, Opina, in her keeping. Long tasks Kim to work once more with Darsh to establish Orma’s.
Thrust back into the turmoil of life in Elysia, Benji has no idea what’s going on, having had his memories tampered with. He believes the kelpies are his enemy, and with Amy, another of the kelpies ‘projects’, he flees Prenya, the kelpie’s main city and ends up in Orma’s hands.
Orma has no use for a baby, and uses her considerable skills to elevate Opina’s growth and development in order to tap into her magic. Reading from the tome ‘The Book of Tamonah’ Orma fixes on Benji as the foretold consort of the witch queen, Opina, with herself as the power behind the throne. Benji, under Opina’s thrall is the willing victim of Orma’s machinations.
Thrust back into the turmoil of life in Elysia, Benji has no idea what’s going on, having had his memories tampered with. He believes the kelpies are his enemy, and with Amy, another of the kelpies ‘projects’, he flees Prenya, the kelpie’s main city and ends up in Orma’s hands.
Orma has no use for a baby, and uses her considerable skills to elevate Opina’s growth and development in order to tap into her magic. Reading from the tome ‘The Book of Tamonah’ Orma fixes on Benji as the foretold consort of the witch queen, Opina, with herself as the power behind the throne. Benji, under Opina’s thrall is the willing victim of Orma’s machinations.
ACROSS THE VEIL - The Pitch
There is another world - hidden. It runs alongside ours.
An invisible barrier keeps it secret from everyone - well almost everyone.
Reluctant but gutsy Rosa crosses from that world in search of her father. Instead she finds her own destiny
There is another world - hidden. It runs alongside ours.
An invisible barrier keeps it secret from everyone - well almost everyone.
Reluctant but gutsy Rosa crosses from that world in search of her father. Instead she finds her own destiny
Book 1 of The Rosa Chronicles
Across the Veil (as yet unpublished)
A light fantasy with historical elements, that transports the reader to and from an alternative world and the amazing characters in both worlds. Set right down through the west of Britain from The West Highlands of Scotland to Cornwall.
Rosa is a descendent of an ancient, lost Scottish tribe, the Epiddi, whose natural talents set them apart from other folk. Along with tribal people from other parts of Bretannac, their name for Britain, Ireland and Brittany, the Epiddi 'shifted' to a parallel world more than three hundred years ago in a great act using their combined talents. Separating these two worlds is a portal called the Veil.
But Rosa’s Epiddi heritage comes only from her mother Heather’s side. Her father, Edmund, had been a lighthouse keeper in the Highlands until, following a tragic accident, he found himself awakening in a strange and unfamiliar place.
The legends on each side of the Veil are manifest on the alternative side, and Edmund is considered to be a giant by the diminutive Epiddi people. He is accepted by many, but regarded with suspicion and mistrust by others, especially Ross of Silver Brook who has his own designs on Heather.
When Rosa adopts an Irish Wolfhound that has also slipped inexplicably across the Veil, he too is regarded as a creature out of legend – a Hell-Hound. In a moment of irony, Rosa names him Hound, and he becomes her constant companion.
Ross’s bitterness at losing his chance with Heather slowly drives him to a heightened state of rage, known as The Turn, and he rallies a gang of youths inciting them into helping him remove Edmund from their world - by whatever means necessary.
After her father is brutally taken from them, Rosa with her Ma and Hound, flee south to Curnow to escape the bigotry of his attackers - followed silently by Rosa’s unseen protector, Florrie, an ancient Epiddi woman considered crazy even by her own people. Florrie has links to Edmunds ancestors, and her talent is for foresight. As such, she is driven by the need to keep Rosa safe from harm. During their journey south, they are kidnapped; they encounter plague; and they meet many curious characters - including the shaman of mysterious mountain tribe called the Brythona. This shaman prophesised Rosa’s coming, calling her the ‘golden-crowned child of two worlds’.
As Rosa grows to womanhood, she becomes determined to find her Da, or at least discover his fate. She meets Albie, a doctor from the other side of the Veil. Albie teaches her many things, including how to move freely between the two worlds and she takes up a double life on either side of the Veil. But Rosa's destiny, prophesied by the Brythona shaman, beckons and she has a life changing choice to make.
Take a look some of the beautiful places she saw on her journey south.
Rosa is a descendent of an ancient, lost Scottish tribe, the Epiddi, whose natural talents set them apart from other folk. Along with tribal people from other parts of Bretannac, their name for Britain, Ireland and Brittany, the Epiddi 'shifted' to a parallel world more than three hundred years ago in a great act using their combined talents. Separating these two worlds is a portal called the Veil.
But Rosa’s Epiddi heritage comes only from her mother Heather’s side. Her father, Edmund, had been a lighthouse keeper in the Highlands until, following a tragic accident, he found himself awakening in a strange and unfamiliar place.
The legends on each side of the Veil are manifest on the alternative side, and Edmund is considered to be a giant by the diminutive Epiddi people. He is accepted by many, but regarded with suspicion and mistrust by others, especially Ross of Silver Brook who has his own designs on Heather.
When Rosa adopts an Irish Wolfhound that has also slipped inexplicably across the Veil, he too is regarded as a creature out of legend – a Hell-Hound. In a moment of irony, Rosa names him Hound, and he becomes her constant companion.
Ross’s bitterness at losing his chance with Heather slowly drives him to a heightened state of rage, known as The Turn, and he rallies a gang of youths inciting them into helping him remove Edmund from their world - by whatever means necessary.
After her father is brutally taken from them, Rosa with her Ma and Hound, flee south to Curnow to escape the bigotry of his attackers - followed silently by Rosa’s unseen protector, Florrie, an ancient Epiddi woman considered crazy even by her own people. Florrie has links to Edmunds ancestors, and her talent is for foresight. As such, she is driven by the need to keep Rosa safe from harm. During their journey south, they are kidnapped; they encounter plague; and they meet many curious characters - including the shaman of mysterious mountain tribe called the Brythona. This shaman prophesised Rosa’s coming, calling her the ‘golden-crowned child of two worlds’.
As Rosa grows to womanhood, she becomes determined to find her Da, or at least discover his fate. She meets Albie, a doctor from the other side of the Veil. Albie teaches her many things, including how to move freely between the two worlds and she takes up a double life on either side of the Veil. But Rosa's destiny, prophesied by the Brythona shaman, beckons and she has a life changing choice to make.
Take a look some of the beautiful places she saw on her journey south.
Book 2 of The Rosa Chronicles
Someone Else's War
Rosa finds herself on the wrong side of the Veil after it is sealed, and is bent on finding a way home against all odds. She plans a route around the world looking for inspiration and wisdom from folk with the 'old knowledge', but it is the late 1930's, the world is heading for all out war - and Rosa's unusal behaviour and abilities have not gone unnoticed by British Intelligence.
As Rosa finds herself embroilled in the thick of, what she considers to be someone else's war, she unexpectedly finds herself running into tantalising hints of her own world on the other side of the Veil, but these connections always seem to be just out of her grasp.
As Rosa finds herself embroilled in the thick of, what she considers to be someone else's war, she unexpectedly finds herself running into tantalising hints of her own world on the other side of the Veil, but these connections always seem to be just out of her grasp.
Book 3 of The Rosa Chronicles
Travels with Rosa
With the war finally over, Rosa resumes her plans to find folk with the old knowledge that may be able to help her find the way home to the other side of the, now sealed, Veil.
Rosa speaks: "During my years of travel I kept detailed diaries and now I sit and write of those days, but, suffice to say, I lived in many places for varying amounts of time - sometimes life was exciting, though other times could be as dull as dishwater. There were dangers, too. I was kidnapped in Central America; sold twice, once in the Middle East and once in Africa; and spent time in a Bolivian prison. I fell deathly sick in India - a very new experience for me as I had never been ill before - and was taken in by a lovely family who nursed me back to health. There were many highlights too. I flew over the Grand Canyon in a balloon; dived on the coral reefs of Belize and went ‘walkabout’ with a nomadic tribe in Australia, to name but a few of my adventures. I met many fascinating people along the way and learned about so many cultures. Until finally I met my beloved Charley in South America. Yes, I need to pen these events now before the memories fade too much or become too jumbled."
Will Rosa ever make it home? You will need to read the books to find out.
Rosa speaks: "During my years of travel I kept detailed diaries and now I sit and write of those days, but, suffice to say, I lived in many places for varying amounts of time - sometimes life was exciting, though other times could be as dull as dishwater. There were dangers, too. I was kidnapped in Central America; sold twice, once in the Middle East and once in Africa; and spent time in a Bolivian prison. I fell deathly sick in India - a very new experience for me as I had never been ill before - and was taken in by a lovely family who nursed me back to health. There were many highlights too. I flew over the Grand Canyon in a balloon; dived on the coral reefs of Belize and went ‘walkabout’ with a nomadic tribe in Australia, to name but a few of my adventures. I met many fascinating people along the way and learned about so many cultures. Until finally I met my beloved Charley in South America. Yes, I need to pen these events now before the memories fade too much or become too jumbled."
Will Rosa ever make it home? You will need to read the books to find out.
Contact
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sarah-Burchett-Cook-107156893982184
Twitter: twitter.com/CookBurchett
Contact me by email: Just click here
Twitter: twitter.com/CookBurchett
Contact me by email: Just click here
Longhouse Image licenced under Creative Commons
Photo attribution - Alex Cameron |
Traditional Turf-Roofed Scottish LonghouseLonghouses feature a number of times in 'Across the Veil', so it seemed appropriate to include an image of this traditional longhouse taken in South Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands. This one also has a small broch-like structure at one end.
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Inspiration
I developed a love for fantasy at 18 when I first read Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, still one of my favourites. The Arthurian Legend, in all its diverse manifestations, also captured my imagination, Marion Bradley's Mists of Avalon is at the top of my list here. David Gemmell is another favourite, I like that his protagonists are ordinary folk, and don't turn out to be a long lost prince or similar. Currently I'm hooked on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy. I generally prefer fantasy set in the real world (Tolkein notwithstanding), and this is where I set my own books. But I gain inspiration from many other writers and genres, both fiction and non-fiction such as David Attenborough, Richard Mabey and Rachel Carson.