Today, I am delighted to introduce you to the artwork of Freya Pickard. Many readers will know Freya as a poet and the host of the bi-annual haiku challenges on https://purehaiku.wordpress.com/ and for her fantasy series, The Kaerling, which you can read more about here: https://nirunen.wordpress.com/.

Artwork of Freya Pickard

Tell us a bit about your art journey? Did you do art at school? Study art? or is it something you started as an adult?

I am a self-taught artist with no formal training. I always enjoyed painting and sketching as a child and in my teenage years. I was never very good at it, but I found it soothing to do and it was a way of escaping from school stuff when I wasn’t allowed to read. I drew a lot of dragons and unicorns and wizards, inspired by the fantasy books I read at the time: The Lord of the Rings, The Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragons of Pern.

It wasn’t until I was enduring chemotherapy, after having had major operations to remove cancer in my bowel, that I took up drawing again. The chemo was every 2 weeks, and, on top of my physical weakness from the operations, I couldn’t do much at all. When I couldn’t concentrate on reading, I started drawing images with crayons! 

In 2016, Elisa Ang invited me to take part in one of her online painting workshops. I tried everything she suggested throughout the course and from then on I painted, nearly every day, until I started work as a Bed & Breakfast owner. After that, I could only paint/draw in the winter months, when we were closed. I started making small pencil sketches of the faces of the characters in The Kaerling series.

From there, I moved on to watercolour and pastel, often mixing the two mediums. Once the Bed & Breakfast was sold, we moved into a house full of light and suddenly my paintings became large and filled the pages of my sketch book. In the last 4 years I’ve tried out many different styles, just by experimentation. I still can’t draw exactly what I see before me, but I can use what I see around me as templates for what I want to portray.

What is your favourite medium to work in or do you work in multiple mediums?

Up until now I have only worked in watercolour and pastels. Oh, and pencil too. I have tried charcoal but didn’t get on with it. I would love to try acrylics, but my budget doesn’t yet allow me to move in that direction. Eventually, (budget permitting) I would love to work in oil on canvas…

I love watercolour because it is so fluid and the way it blends with itself and water is quite magical!

I also enjoy pastels, both pencils and sticks. I use sticks to fill in colour and create shading and then use the pencils for fine work.

When I’m creating portraits, I tend to use a watercolour wash (often creating my own blends) and, once it’s dry, I use a black pastel pencil to give definition to the face.

If I’m creating a landscape, I usually use colour washes to give each section of the picture a faint, base colour. Then I use deeper colours to give the impression of distance and only use pastel sticks or pencils right at the end to finish the painting off.

Who is your favourite artist and why?

There are a number of artists who I admire greatly. I can’t decide on my favourite, but they include:

Elisa Ang, for her evocative imagery which has a pure quality to it that always lifts my heart.

Janet Weight Reed –  I discovered this amazing artist whilst struggling with the last 3 months of chemotherapy. At a time when I felt and looked grey and dreary, Janet’s brightly coloured paintings burst into my consciousness and made me feel alive!

Kerfe Roig is a poet, photographer and artist who creates incredible collages as well as painting amazing images. You can discover Kerfe’s poetry and art here: https://kblog.blog/2025/08/30/drowning/

Jennifer S Lange – I discovered this artist recently who creates fantastical artworks of imaginary realms.

John Waterhouse –  I discovered I loved his paintings when I was at college, mainly because his pre-Raphaelite images contain characters from myth and legend which really struck a chord with me.

What is your favourite artwork and what do you like about it?

I have 2 favourite artworks by Elisa Ang who collaborated with me in 2024 and created two incredible paintings to showcase two completely different scenes in The Kaerling series. 

The first was of a desert that had red-pink sand. I love the way she captured the harshness of the dunes with the swirling dust devil watched by the Chandarin warriors mounted on bactrians.

The second was of Nenyar’s Valley; a scene of tranquility and light. She portrayed the mountains and the river with the abundant vegetation absolutely perfectly. 

(Both of these pictures are available to view at https://nirunen.wordpress.com/2024/12/25/an-extract-from-lotari/ and https://nirunen.wordpress.com/2025/03/28/spiralling-thermals/ )

What is your favourite of your own artworks. Share a few of your artworks with us and any related stories and/or poems.

Oh dear, that’s a hard one to answer! Right now, my favourite artwork is the one of the Ghost Maker. I had a very clear idea of how I wanted her to look and studied a lot of photos and drawings of robed, hooded figures wearing silken material. I didn’t want to show her face as I think the darkness of a deep hood is more threatening than seeing specific features.

When I was ready to sketch, I simply drew the outline of the hood and then worked out how the material would ripple around her. I only drew a few lines. So, when I came to paint it, I used a dark purple for the shaded bits and simply added more white to create the light parts.

I am really pleased with the way I captured the swirling silk robes whilst keeping the threatening appearance of this very evil female!

The Ghost Maker has already appeared a few times in The Kaerling series and is present again in Earthson which will be released in January 2026.

A selection of artworks by Freya Pickard

About Freya Pickard

Pushcart Prize nominee (2022), Freya Pickard, is the author of both Vampirical Verse and The Kaerling series. Vampirical Verse is her expression of life after cancer and chemotherapy using vampires and other dark monsters to speak her dark thoughts. The Kaerling is an epic fantasy set in the strange, uncompromising world of Nirunen. Her aim in life is to enchant, entertain and engage with readers through her writing. She finds her inspiration in the ocean, the moors, beautifully written books and vinyl music (particularly heavy metal and rock). She enjoys Tai Chi, Hatha Yoga, Bhangra and Yogalates and in her spare time creates water colours and pastel drawings of the worlds in her head.

Freya currently blogs at https://nirunen.wordpress.com and https://purehaiku.wordpress.com 

Her Amazon profile can found at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Freya-Pickard/author/B086XFHF9L?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1754906686&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true 

You can also find Freya on Blueksy at https://bsky.app/profile/freyapickard.bsky.social and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@freyapickard1096 

We are deeply grateful to you, Robbie, for so graciously offering to host us on your wonderful blog site today!

When we decided to launch our new books together on the same day, Linda and I wanted to make it something special. It feels like we are making publishing history, and perhaps we are.

For this blog tour, we’ve chosen questions and answers designed to give the readers a deeper look into who we are, our background, and how we ended up where we are today, launching books together.

Question: What was your favorite childhood book and why?

Jan: That’s an easy question to answer. In elementary school, I checked the Grimm’s Book of Fairy Tales out of the library so many times they had to create a new card for it. That’s a true story. I loved getting lost in the world of ‘what if’ and fantasy as it was so vastly different from my reality. As a child, I lived in my head, often not paying attention to what was going on around me, so that book fed the part of me that longed for something magical. Another book I remember reading multiple times when I was a bit older was The Grapes of Wrath. I related to it so much because our parents lived through that difficult time in history, so there was a personal connection. I thought of a funny story about our mom reading the same books that we did. I checked a book out of the library about the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang and read it. It was rather graphic. Then my Mom picked it up to see what I was reading and freaked out. I think I might have gotten into a bit of trouble over that one.

Linda: Oh my gosh, there were so many, and like Jan, fairy tales were top in the beginning. The earliest memory I have is of someone reading to me, and I saw the magic of the words. I think that book was Cinderella. From the time I learned to read, books were an obsession. Jan and I read (and then Mom) every one of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. Dr. Seuss was a favorite, and so were all the Little House on the Prairie stories. In sixth grade, we read The Last of the Mohicans in class, and I still remember that story. Later it was The Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and all of the classics.

Question: What do you consider the most valuable magazines or blog sites for writers to subscribe to?

Jan: I am a member of the Story Empire blog, and it is my number one go-to for all things regarding writing, publishing and marketing. The expertise, writing tips, and industry knowledge from seasoned writers are top-notch. I also follow Writer’s Digest, Writers in the Storm and Writers Helping Writers. We all have so much we can learn from each other, and these blogs are a great way to expand our knowledge. I highly recommend each.

Linda: Writers Helping Writers is really the only one I’m faithful to, but it’s so good for any writer at any skill level.  

Question:  What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Jan: I can answer this question from experience. I think one of the most common traps for new writers is getting in a hurry to publish without taking the time to make sure their work is actually ready. Editing is a must for all writers, but especially newbies. There are so many aspects to writing and publishing a book. Until you do it, you may think it’s super easy. Write a story and stick it out there. That became a pitfall for many when self-publishing first became an option. Therefore, the market got flooded with poorly written, unedited books and gave self-published writers a bad name. It’s taken years for indie authors to become accepted as legitimate. Patience is key when writing and publishing. It’s important not to skip any of the steps.

Linda: They get in a rush and don’t take the time to do it properly—get it edited (and not by family or friends,) learn the rules, attend writing workshops, and learn the business first. I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to read. And learn, learn, learn.  

Question:  Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym?

Jan: Because I started my writing journey with a true story, I never considered creating a pseudonym. Once I switched to writing fiction, I tossed around the idea, but didn’t want to have to start back at square one with building a new author platform. It takes a lot of time and work to build a solid author foundation. So, I chose to keep using my real name.

Linda: No, I haven’t. I see the problems other authors have who choose to use a pseudonym and I don’t want that. It’s hard enough as it is. I’ve always used my real name.

Question: What are you working on now, or what can we expect next?

Jan: For the first time in a long time, I don’t have a new story started. But soon I will be requesting my book rights back from the publisher for The White Rune Series, which will mean new book covers and new everything except titles. So, that’s in the back of my mind while I am open to new inspiration.

Linda: Robbie, I just started Book #2 of this McIntyre series. In this story that takes place in 1881, Cade’s sister, Summer, is the main character and I foresee this story to be filled with a lot of action and romance. This series is about trying to find and bring back all the McIntyre siblings who were all separated when their parents were murdered. People in the town sent them all to different places. The three youngest ones are still missing. I’m really loving this series. Thanks for having us.

PURCHASE LINKS:

CADE’S QUEST: https://www.amazon.com/Cades-Quest-Western-Romance-McIntyres-ebook/dp/B0FD7X4H5D/

A BOLD BARGAIN: https://www.amazon.com/Bold-Bargain-Bargainer-Book-ebook/dp/B0FD7VSY68/

About the Authors

Linda Broday Social Media

WEBSITE:  https://www.lindabroday.com

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor

BLUESKY:  https://bsky.app/profile/lindabroday.bsky.social

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Linda-Broday/author/B001JRXWB2?ccs_id=4a2c44df-2076-43cd-8bf8-f15b530ea92f

Jan Sikes Social Media

WEBSITE:  https://www.jansikes.com

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjansikesbooks

TWITTER:  HTTPS://WWW.TWITTER.COM/JANSIKES3

BLUESKY:  https://bsky.app/profile/jksikes-author.bsky.socialAMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jan-Sikes/author/B00CS9K8DK?ccs_id=8185cb63-9ad0-4d7b-85ad-c2d64ce37812

Kim’s d’Verse quadrille challenge was to write a 44 word poem using the word rumpus. You can view other contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/25/quadrille-230-lets-kick-up-a-rumpus/

Garden Rumpus

A terrific rumpus reached my ears

Was my cat stalking the birds again?

Her inflicting grievous injury my fear

It’s hard natural instincts to contain

A gaggle of hoopoes with long tails

were fighting over bread on the lawn

squawking laughter in loud gales

Mish’s d’Verse prompt on Tuesday was to write a poem about noise. You can read other poet’s contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/26/poetics-its-noisy-in-here/

White Noise

Our interactions with others

are always coloured by

the white noise in our minds

The vain will determinedly state

you are proud of your hair

believing you must see it

as your crowning glory

imposing their own vanity

onto an innocent bystander

Through the eyes of the entitled

everything you have must

have come through your privilege

It could never have been the result

of your blood, sweat, and tears

Acts of kindness and generosity

when viewed by the indifferent

must have an underlying motive

could never be a generous gift

unreciprocated and unencumbered

The white noise in our minds

interferes with our view of the world

tampers with our natural empathy

justifies selfishness and insensitivity

The goodness in our souls is warped

by this on-going internal turbulence

Thursday Doors

For Thursday Doors, I’m sharing a few of my photographs from Westminister Abbey in London. I still have about 100 photographs on my camera which I need to process. These are photographs I took with my iphone and today I’ve focused on my pictures of the entrance.

You can join in Dan’s challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/28/pittsburgh-preview/

My review of two very different but equally entertaining books.

Detour on the Eternal Road by John W. Howell

My Review

Detour on the Eternal Road, the third book in this series, is Sam and James’ most challenging adventure yet. Two souls, Billy Ray Chitwood, a national car racing champion, and his guide, Dale Earnhardt, have gone missing on the Eternal Road and Sam and James are tasked with locating them and getting the pair back on track with finding Billy Ray’s eternal home. Naturally, their disappearance was orchestrated by none other than Lucifer on his eternal quest to derail souls and his lesser obsession to befriend Sam and make her his queen.

While this book retains its fascinating historical aspects with a visit to the ‘Wild West’ and Hitler’s bunker during WW2, it also has a new and interesting futuristic angle. Events have been put in motion that will result in WW3 and the destruction of civilization. Howell depicts a dark and devastated post WW3 world reminiscent of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, and quickly invests the reader in this quest for human survival.

This book delves into human nature and emotions such as anger, love, and disappointment as it plunges the characters into situations involving manipulation, deception, and determination to grasp power and wealth at any cost. The darkness of the plotline and themes are, however, off set by Howell’s sense of humour which provide reprieves and laughs for the reader.

A highly entertaining paranormal adventure with a strong Christian undertone akin to CS Lewis in The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce. Highly recommended.

Purchase Detour on the Eternal Road by John W. Howell from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DT4Q1FBR

The Treacle People: Still Sticky

My Review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

The Treacle People is an entertaining and imaginative read for people of all ages. The treacle mines in Sabden which produce half of Britain’s treacle have run dry and the village people are in dire situation. Where can they find a new source of treacle to save their golden syrup, ginger beer and parkin cake business and keep the people of Britain in traditional treats?

Just as despair settles over the villages, hope arrives in the form of a note in a bottle setting out the location of the Professors treacle tracker as well as instructions to King Habbakuk fabled mines, an enormous source of treacle. The villagers set off on the adventure of a lifetime, facing manipulative and deceptive boggarts and all sorts of dangers including Moby Duck, a Great White Mallard which patrols the Molasso Sea. The ingenious characters and settings will delight children and adults alike.

Written and presented as an audio adventure, the sound effects and cast of characters were excellent. It reminded me of my childhood favourite Sparky audio series including Sparky’s Magic Piano and Sparky and the Talking Train. A delightful new family entertainment that will teach younger children to use their imaginations and to sit and listen instead of being supplied with a visual.

Highly recommended.

Purchase The Treacle People: Still Sticky from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F1NMZYDN

My poem about leadership was written for two prompts this week. Firstly, Reena’s Xploration challenge which you can join in here: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2025/08/14/reenas-xploration-challenge-394/. Reena’s prompt phrase is “the dark side of freedom.”

Lisa’s d’Verse prompt is power with fitted nicely with Reena’s prompt. You can join in the d’Verse challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/12/dverse-poetics-tuesday-power/

Leadership

a great responsibility

Respect essential

to ease tensions

and conflict

Integrity

both in being honest,

having strong moral principles,

and the ability

to uphold territorial integrity

and national sovereignty

Vision

to plan the future

with imagination and wisdom

Negotiation

to resolve points of difference

and craft outcomes

to satisfy various interests

the needs of all stakeholders

Honesty

being free of deceit

and avoiding self interest

Humility

having an accurate opinion

of your abilities and

expressing yourself modestly

with a non-imposing mentality

Authenticity

being able to identify the

reality or truth of a situation

and take ownership for decisions

owning up to your mistakes

Seven qualities of good leadership

There are many more

Strong leaders

can lead their followers

off a cliff; like lemmings

An inability by the masses

to chose good leaders

leads to power abuse,

corruption, and ‘feeding’

flowing downward

from the top

all involved closing ranks

to protect each other

Society spirals downwards

into economic distress,

anger, and discontent

as the dark side of freedom

rips out its soft throat

Thursday Doors

Today I’m starting with the first stop on our tour of Flanders WW1 memorial sites and cemeteries. These photographs are for Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/14/thursday-doors-returns/. My choice of photographs is deliberate as it goes with the theme of power abuse and the dark side of freedom.

Our first stop was Langemark German Military Cemetery. I realised later on the tour that the German cemetery is much plainer that the Allied cemeteries. There were no flowers, just rows of plain markers.

Da Jackson’s d’Verse prompt is to write a quadrille of exactly 44 words using a derivative of the word jabber. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/11/quadrille-229-shall-we-jabber-on/

As my jabberer is a bird, this post is also for Don’t Hold Your Breath blogs bird of the week challenge which you can join here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/fire-breasted-flowerpecker-birds-of-the-week-invitation-cxxix/

Noisy Jabberer

Hadedas love to jabber

especially early in the morning

Africa’s ‘alarm clocks’

we love to hate them

They have extraordinary

sensory capabilities

Their long beaks allow

detection of vibrations

within the soil

made by small invertebrates

they can’t see, hear or smell

Time for breakfast

Sunday Stills

Terri’s prompt for this week is autumn peaches and tans. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/08/10/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-tans-and-peaches-of-august/. These photographs are from my March 2024 trip to Pilanesberg National Park.

All the photographs below are of juvenile lions except the last which is a baby kudu.

This is a catch-up post as it’s been a busy week and Michael had his final year dance last night. Parents were invited to a dance cocktail event, so it was a busy day.

My poems are for three challenges. Silver Charms is written for Frank’s d’Verse challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/04/haibun-monday-8-4-25-silver/ and Esther Chilton’s writing challenge for small here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/08/06/writing-prompts-77/

False Spring is for Merril’s d’Verse challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/07/mtb-a-revisit-with-the-cherita/

Silver Charms

When I was a girl, charm bracelets were the fashion. Every girl had one and the accumulation of charms for the bracelet was competitive. I was not a girly girl and my ambition at the time was to race BMX bicycles with the boys. I never asked for a charm bracelet. My mother clearly thought I should take more of an interest in the girls’ activities, and she presented me with a silver charm bracelet for my 10th birthday. Insightful woman that she was, my first charm was a small bicycle, perfect in every way. It even had tiny pedals and a bicycle stand. Having always been enchanted with light, the silver bracelet did please me and I did ask for new charms for a few years. The charm that delighted me the most was a small boot – sounds ordinary, but it wasn’t. The boot opened up and inside were the old woman and some of her children. This was my favourite charm. It still is as I still have this charm bracelet after all these years. I don’t have my BMX bicycle, however, so mom was right.

charms sparkle brightly

fantasy catching the sun

young girl’s silver dreams

False Spring

a week of warm weather

***

weavers fooled by false spring

madly start nest building

***

fickle nature changes her mind

bleak ran and grey skies return

my plants safe for a bit longer

CFFC – Morning

These photographs are for Dan’s CFFC post and are of early mornings. My timings have overlapped with my previous morning post but I can live with that. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/04/time-of-day-morning-cffc/

The first photograph is of sunrise over Tokyo from our hotel room. This was taken through glass.

The following photographs were all taken at Madikwe when we stayed at Thakadu Bush Camp.

Lastly, I would like to thank Freya Pickard for her wonderful review of Lion Scream. You can read it here: https://purehaiku.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/lion-scream/

Freya is a huge supporter of the poetry community here on WordPress and hosts a biannual haiku challenge which will be opening for submissions soon. Freya also has a marvelous collection of poetry and fantasy books which you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Freya-Pickard/author/B086XFHF9L