Publishing Under My Real Name

Hasn’t it been a while? Winter and lockdown wove a web of quiet days, book reading and nurturing creative seedlings. Now those seeds are nudging their way out of the snow, it’s time to come out of hibernation…

You’ve probably already noticed the first change: I’ve reverted to my true name. A scrambling of letters that might be insignificant if I wasn’t a wordsmith. I’ve put the change off for months, knowing the power of words to shape perception. I don’t think any name can match the mystical, fairy quality of Oonagh!

Also, despite the blog and Instagram, I’m a private person and the thought of being easily discoverable makes me shiver. I’ve always battled with the need to share my creativity and the subsequent vulnerability. That’s why I created Oonagh Moon, a ‘brand’ I could shield behind.

However, the time feels right to shed Oonagh. The road to self-acceptance is long enough without pretending to be someone else.

As for the push-pull between sharing and vulnerability, I’ll just let it be. I choose to focus on the joy of creation, not struggling against fears.

So, what’s next?

I’m still querying my first novel, but I’ll admit I’m getting impatient 😅

So, I’ve decided to release an ebook! A short story collection called Fireside Fairy Tales. These tales are expanded and improved versions of stories I shared on my blog last year. Stories born of community, boredom and intrigue during the novelty of the first UK lockdown. Plus one brand new selkie story! ‘What We Give To The Fire’ was drafted on the eve of lockdown two, and edited during the long, wild winter when towns closed down and folk were separated (or trapped) with loved ones. I hope you enjoy its brooding, folkloric atmosphere.

I’m currently working with an editor to polish the collection into a publishable condition, and have contracted a graphic designer for the cover. Fireside Fairytales will be available here, on Amazon, Kobo and anywhere that sells ebooks.

Here’s a taster:

A girl suspects her half-sister is a seal baby, a budding ecologist tries to find a doorway to Fairy, the muse of obnoxious poets finds freedom with the help of a supernatural stranger, Lady Alice spins travellers’ tales at her peril, and a young woman longs to shed her family’s mysterious and oppressive heirloom: a sealskin coat.

These five lyrical stories will transport you to a world inspired by Scottish language and fairy lore. A world of hidden doorways and haunting music, of sticky Edinburgh pubs and seal fur coats, where familiar ground shifts underfoot and Fairy is only a step away.

The thing I’m most excited about is that Fireside Fairy Tales the first in a three-part series. The sequel, Fireside Magic, features tall tales of witchcraft and magic, and the third book, Fireside Ghosts, takes inspiration from Scotland’s haunting past.

I’ll reveal the launch date and cover as soon as I can. If you don’t want to miss anything, you can sign up to my newsletter. (You’ll also get a free poem out of it 😉).

My stomach is filled with butterflies. These stories mean a lot to me. As I venture deeper into fairy lore, I realise I’m treading a familiar path, one that doesn’t lead somewhere new, but circles back to familiar places; my childhood bedroom, reading Brian Froud’s Good Faeries, Bad Faeries for the first time in my auntie’s spare room, the Christmas I learned about magical shapeshifters called selkies. At university, that truth might have horrified me as I thought the more Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and hardcore philosophy between me and my beginnings the better. I thought that success meant distancing myself as far from my origins as possible.

And yet, under the cloak of academia, I nursed my childhood passions, taking a course in Mediaeval Literature so I could read about King Arthur’s knights and fey Morgana, and studying Old English to be close to Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I remember finding a beautifully illustrated copy of The Iron Wolf at a book sale for Amnesty International, and being embarrassed to show my philosophy professor what I’d bought!

What I’m trying to say is that I’ve come full circle, and it’s wonderful. Once I embraced my heart’s calling, doors opened. The books and films we consume as children have a profound, sacred appeal and an everlasting influence. When I ignored them a vital part of my creativity shriveled. When I stopped resisting the things that made me me, my cup overflowed.

Embracing my first literary loves produced a book I’m proud of. And it feels only right to publish Fireside Fairy Tales under my birth name, which is as much a part of me as those original fairy tales.

Here’s to emerging from winter’s cave. Spring is coming, it’s time to bloom 🌼