Creative Scotland Crowdmatch has provided £164 of match funding
From The Yew's Hollow Heart
Dalkeith, United Kingdom
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Aim
a serial novel, delivered in weekly instalments in text & audio
From The Yew's Hollow Heart
When a burnt-out activist falls into the hollow heart of an ancient yew, she travels over a thousand years back through the tree's lifespan and finds herself at the centre of a struggle to protect the forest.
a serial novel, delivered in weekly instalments in text & audio
Cover art by Annalise Jensen
TL;DR
Reasons to support this crowdfunder:
- Every contribution of £10+ functions as a pre-order for From The Yew's Hollow Heart (as long as you select a reward at the bottom of this page)
- Creative Scotland will match fund all contributions £1 for £1*
- Receive a serial novel in weekly chapters by email, in text and audio formats, beginning November 2026
- A queer-authored book, with queer characters, narrated by queer voice actors
- Entirely human-created - no generative AI has been or will be used in any way in the writing and production of this book
- An eco-conscious and anti-capitalist project, aiming to keep the environmental cost of this book as low as possible and cutting out massive corporations.
Remember to scroll to the bottom of the page to select a reward!
(Only click 'donate' on the right if you want to support without any reward. But don't do that, get yourself something nice.)
*As long as there is a minimum of 25 unique supporters, up to £250 per contribution
Findabair, the Hunter; Sovay, the Ranger; Morgan, the Witch; Sebile, the Smith. Character art by @willowandroxas
About the Book
After years of court appearances and community service, burnt-out activist Sovay is relieved to take up a job as the sole ranger of Tarn Wadling woodland.
But before long, Sovay learns that her sanctuary is threatened by the expansion of a motorway. Unable to face another fight, she says farewell to her home - and falls into the hollow heart of an ancient yew, knocking herself unconscious.
When she wakes, Sovay finds herself in a changed landscape. Her small woodland is subsumed by an endless forest: this is not Tarn Wadling, but the Kingdom of Elfed, in a time before England existed. Pulled back to the distant past, far from the troubles of her present - to Sovay, this is a gift.
Morgan’s brother has been dead for six seasons, but the weight of his loss is as heavy as ever. He was the leader of Elfed, and she ought to have chosen his successor by now. Her cousin has stepped in, but she can’t let him take the sword that belonged to their kingdom’s founder.
Instead, Morgan brings the sword to Watlynn Mere. It is a sacred, secret place, and no one else should know about it. Yet there is a woman beneath the yew on its banks: bizarrely dressed, speaking a strange tongue, and determined to stay.
In the heart of the ancient greenwood, solitary Sovay and distrustful Morgan find each other, and a connection that will span fourteen hundred years takes root.
Inspired by the legends of Robin Hood, King Arthur and the Ballad of Sovay, this sapphic historical fantasy is perfect for fans of Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke, Sistersong by Lucy Holland and Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn.
About Me
I am the author of two middle grade fantasy novels, The Sky Beneath the Stone (Kelpies, 2022) and The Edge of the Silver Sea (Kelpies, 2024). Silver Sea received starred reviews from Kirkus and the School Library Journal and was named a Kirkus Book of the Year 2025.
Begun in 2020, From The Yew's Hollow Heart is my debut adult novel.
I have been writing stories inspired by the legends of Robin Hood and King Arthur since I was a teenager. I like to imagine that those stories were mulching in my mind until this book was finally able to fruit, like a mushroom.
The inspiration is clearly still there in some names and details, but the tale has become something quite different. Arthur was a good leader, but he is gone, and it is the women who are left behind who must fight to protect their forest kingdom through a combination of outlawry and direct action.
This book arose from my fascination with trees and my personal experience with activism, and some of the incredible long-term direct action I've borne witness to over the years. In researching this book I camped in woodlands every month through the seasons, studied herbal medicine for several years, visited protest camps and read dozens of books on the ancient past and the natural world.
Above all, I was inspired by the ancient yews I am lucky to live close to, particularly the Ormiston Yew, pictured below. This quote from the book is the best expression of how I feel about yews:
When Patrick had walked the paths of Tarn Wadling with Sovay, “introducing her” to the trees, as he’d put it, he’d waxed uncharacteristically lyrical about yews. He’d told her how they remade themselves every five hundred years, carving out their own hearts as they were reborn so that it was impossible to say just how old they were; how they could live for thousands of years, and really, who was to say that left to their own devices, they wouldn’t just keep going?
Why ebook and audio only?
I wanted to try something different from the traditional publishing model for this project. To put it simply, FTYHH is all about reverence for the natural world and particularly trees, so it would have felt hypocritical to print it on paper.
It's really important to me to share this book in a way that doesn't put more money into the pockets of billionaires (in other words, not working with Amazon). I've written more about the reasons behind this choice in my essay, A Weird Publishing Manifesto.
I have always wanted to try serialising a novel - I really like the idea of extending the interactivity of the book by publishing it a chapter at a time, and I love to imagine people listening to their weekly chapter as they walk through the woods.
This project has been lucky enough to receive a pledge of match funding from Creative Scotland, who will match each contribution £1 for £1 (as long as there are at least 25 unique supporters, to a maximum of £250 per contribution). It's a cool vote of confidence for this weird publishing model!
The Audiobook
Although I have been able to fund some of this project myself, this crowdfunding campaign will cover the costs of post-production for the audiobook and marketing materials.
I am very excited about the audiobook because we have an amazing queer and gender-diverse team narrating the two point of view characters: Sovay and Morgan.
Sovay - voiced by Florence St Leger (she/they)
Florence is a queer and neurodivergent voice actor known for her work in videogames like Denshattack, the lead in an exciting new secret title, and other audiobook titles such as the Crystal Cove children's series and The Merry Christmas Murders.
Morgan - voiced by Nicky Endres (they/she)
Award-winning narrator Mx. Nicky Endres uses their alto-to-baritone range to bring versatility and authenticity to intersectional Queer identities. Their natural Non-Binary Trans voice isn’t so much a Sound as it is a Perspective.
I am also really happy to be working with UK-based audio production company Audio Factory on post-production for the audiobook.
What You'll Get
For all supporters of £10 and over, supporting this project functions as a pre-order for the book, which will begin being released in November 2026.*
Every week you will receive a chapter of the book by email, in text and audio formats, for 29 consecutive weeks. Previous chapters will be available to read and download, and every 10 weeks the project so far will be compiled in case you decide to start reading or listening at a later date.
At the end of the 29 weeks, you will receive the completed ebook and audiobook files in various formats to suit your e-reader/listening device. So if you'd prefer to read or listen to the whole thing in one go, you'll be able to at this stage!
There are lots of other reward options available if you'd like to support for more than £10, including prints of the incredible cover art by Annalise Jensen.
The fulfilment date has been set to 30th June 2027 to account for final publication of the ebook and audiobook once the serial is complete. Physical rewards will be sent out by the end of December 2026.
*By supporting this crowdfunder at £10 and over, you consent to your email address being added to the serial mailing list. All supporters from £5 and over will be thanked in the Acknowledgements. Wildflower seed packets will be sent to UK addresses only.
Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to welcoming you to the Kingdom of Elfed this November!
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 7th September 2026 at 8:17am