RICHARD M. CARR

Richard (Rick) is a British author of both novels and poetry. During 1984 he began studying ancient Irish history and mythology, focusing mainly on the Iron Age and was especially enamoured by the Táin Bó Cuailnge, The Cattle Raid of Cooley; a typical Irish tale that combined magic, myth, history and ancient tradition. Rick then expanded his reading material to include the art forms of Early Medieval Britain and Ireland, and the ancient peoples who inhabited Britain and Ireland during the First Millennium A.C.E.

Concurrently Rick began a long literary passion for writing poetry, directly inspired by his interaction with nature, mythology and romance. Often he had to juggle the time allotted to poetry with yet another passion for creating art and design inspired by such masterpieces as the illuminated manuscripts The Book of Kells and The Lindisfarne Gospels.

By 2001 Rick was working as a regular contributor and Assistant Editor for the popular Pagan E-Zine Echoed Voices, which had amongst its cyber-pages interviews with Pagan celebrities Philip Carr-Gomm, Emma Restall-Orr and Anna Franklin. It was after E.V.'s interview with Restall-Orr that Rick came into contact with the wider, vibrant Pagan and Druid community which existed in the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire, England. Rick and his future wife Mary also wrote the four-part satirical short story Diary of a Sacred Tree, which was successfully published in both Witchtower and Anna Franklin’s Silver Wheel. Throughout his career Rick has been expanding his knowledge of the history of British and Irish Druidry, Wicca, witchcraft, and their traditions and applications.

Checkett’s Wood, a historical fantasy originally written during the spring and summer of 2011, is his first venture into publishing novels. Combining his deep interest and knowledge of British mythology, history, genealogy, folklore, magic and nature - Checkett’s Wood is the culmination of many years of experience and research in all of those fields. Rick is married to Mary, a long-established Astrologer and his collaborator on a number of other projects. Rick is also a keen photographer in his spare time; visiting and recording many ancient and historical sites of Britain and Ireland.