Why I started writing the White Haven Witches, and why I set the series in Cornwall.

The first in a short series of blogs about the White Haven Witches

The end of October 2024 marks six years since I released Buried Magic, the first book in the White Haven Witches series. It has literally changed my life. At the time I was working as a nurse in Regional Public Health in Wellington, New Zealand, and like many writers, was writing in my spare time. I am now a full-time writer living in the Algarve in Portugal, and it’s all because of the success of that series and the subsequent spin-offs.

I am often asked many questions about the series, if I’m a witch, and what places influenced White Haven, amongst others. I thought now would be a good time to address those. I have written blogs in the past, but it’s time to update and expand them.

The series idea was developed from a need to change direction in my writing career. My first series, Rise of the King, was not a commercial success, although my readers loved it. It’s a YA Arthurian fantasy set in the Otherworld, a world which now interlinks with the larger White Haven World. I was frustrated with my lack of success, but knew if I could write the right book in a popular genre that I would find readers. But I just didn’t want to write to market. I wanted to write something that I loved. I did as successful authors advised. I looked at what I enjoyed writing and thought of how I could incorporate that into a genre that had a large readership.

The reason I wrote Rise of the King, then called Tom’s Arthurian Legacy, was that I love myths, legends, magic, and witchcraft. There are wonderful witches in the Arthurian legend, and the Arthurian legends occur in that liminal zone between the known and the unknown. I love that about them, which is why I set my series about King Arthur in the Otherworld. I especially loved writing about witches. I have been a pagan for years and have always been interested in witchcraft. You can read about that in my post Leaning into my Witch, which talks about my life as a witch. Currently, witch-lit is huge, and deservedly so. In 2018 it was a popular genre, but nowhere near as big as it is now.

I looked at the types of stories there were about witches, and found most of them were mostly romance. I don’t write pure romance, because it doesn’t interest me. I certainly don’t read it. I don’t mind romance as a subplot, but I didn’t want it to be the centre of my series. However, I love mysteries and detective stories. I decided that my witch series was to be about contemporary witches who had mysteries to solve, and importantly they were the good guys! I was so over witches being portrayed as evil. I wanted believable characters that were grounded in reality, but that practised witchcraft in the modern world.

Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash

So many books have complex magic systems, and that’s fine. We all see magic and witchcraft differently. However, seeing as there are perfectly good systems of magic and well-rooted belief systems about witchcraft, I decided I would incorporate those into my series. I’d already read lots about witchcraft, but I invested in more books so that I could include rituals and elemental magic in my stories. I love research, and I love reading about witchcraft, so it was fun, and to be honest, instinctive. Writing about witches and witchcraft released thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge that I’d developed over the years without even realising. I practise eclectic witchcraft, and although I draw on some Wiccan traditions in my books, my witches aren’t Wiccans. I wanted them to be eclectic witches, too.

Then I had to decide on my characters. I didn’t want to write a series just for women, so it was natural for me to decide on a mix of male and female witches. During June/July of 2018 I thought about names, the first plot, titles, and series title. I learned from my first series that I had to decide on a title that made the genre clear, and that would have continuity with later books, plus the series title had to signpost the genre. I took inspiration from some of the titles out at the time. Having Magic and Witches somewhere in the titles was very important. And then I needed a setting.

Setting is so important! I love reading books that are set in wonderful places, be that gothic mansions, cottages with pretty gardens, vibrant cities, exotic palaces, or magical towns. My favourite author, Lawrence Durrell, had rich, evocative settings for his novels, and that concept stuck with me. I do not want to read about dour, grim places. Books offer escapism, and I wanted to offer a place that readers felt comfortable in and would want to visit again and again. I wanted magic, colour, fun, as well as intrigue, and an undercurrent of the uncanny. I needed Cornwall!

Wonderful Cornwall

I know Cornwall well. I have spent many, many happy holidays there, both as a child and an adult. The quaint Cornish fishing villages are gorgeous with their winding lanes, old buildings, rich history, beautiful harbours and quays, and boutique shops. The landscape is wild and beautiful, and littered with standing stones and ancient sites. The beaches are breathtaking, and there are lots of coastal paths. The narrow lanes twist and turn through the landscape, and to be honest, are a bit hazardous, but they are so pretty. It also has rolling fields and moors, and lots of public gardens and houses. Importantly, it has diverse myths and legends, and folklore. It is also the most pagan county in the UK. To be honest, it was an easy decision to set my books there.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

All of Cornwall is wonderful, but I particularly love the south coast. I debated setting my series in a real place, but quickly realised that this would restrict me. Therefore, the best thing to do was invent a place that had all the characteristics of the towns I loved. Twisting lanes, cottages, hills and moors, a harbour and a wonderful beach, pagan traditions, and lots of history. After brainstorming a few names, I decided on White Haven. Yes, I know that such a place exists in Cumbria, although spelt differently, but lots of places have the same name, so that didn’t bother me.

Okay, so what towns influenced White Haven? Well, they aren’t all on the south coast, but most are. Looe where we had a couple of memorable holidays. We camped on the hill above the town, and a huge storm ripped through one night. That was fun. Other places include Mevagissey, Fowey, St. Ives, Mousehole, Padstow, Boscastle (for its wonderful Museum of Witchcraft and Magic), and Polperro with its pretty stream. Of course the surrounding places, too, such as Heligan Gardens where we also camped in the nearby campsite, and was also subjected to another huge storm! Bodmin Moor and Jamaica Inn, of course, where we stopped on our last visit, and where I’d love to stay again. I am a big fan of Daphne du Maurier, but have a terrible confession. I have not yet been to Menabilly. Something to rectify next time. I haven’t been to the Isles of Scilly either, so plenty to see on my next visits.

The beauty of creating your own town is that it can grow as your plots require. I’ve never tried to describe in it’s entirety, because, like any town, it’s surprising what you discover. Harecombe, the town next to White Haven, is also fictional, but Mevagissey, the next closest place to White Haven, is of course very real, and hugely popular.

The first two books of the series, Buried Magic and Magic Unbound, are one big story. All subsequent books are self-contained, although little nuggets continue into other books, and the characters continue to grow, and more new characters arrive. The first two books are about the search for the lost family grimoires of the five White Haven Witches, and is told from Avery’s point of view. I write in close third person, and for the first seven books, all are told from her point of view. However, after multiple requests from readers, and a real need for me, from Vengeful Magic onwards, the stories are told from multiple perspectives.

In the next blogs, I’ll talk about the characters, the locations that feature in the books, Cornish myths, and the significance of the seasonal celebrations in my plots.

If you haven’t tried this series yet, you can see them at Happenstance Books and Merch, named after Avery’s shop. The White Haven Witches collection.

The first six books in the series

Thanks, and see you soon. I love to hear from my readers, so please comment below.