Who is MissMerFaery?

What is a

anyway?

A cross between a faery and a mermaid of course!

Hi, I'm Louise! I'm a writer and artist working from home in Cheshire, England. I'm mum to a little girl named Freya, am a published author, and I love to Squidoo!

In this lens I share with you what makes me tick, from family to work, spirituality to hobbies.

I hope that this page gives you a little more insight into the person behind the merfaery!

Well, one thing you already know about me is that I am a writer. So let's start there!

I have loved writing, ever since I was a small child old enough to hold a pencil and do something with it. Writing is what defines me; I am a bard, through and through. I express myself through my writing most effectively - when I was a child, I was incredibly shy, and was always able to get across what I wanted to say on paper, but never with the spoken word!

These days, my shyness is all but gone, but I still find it easier to express myself in written words, particularly when it comes to getting across my point of view!

Photo Credit: Jupiter Images

So what do I like to write?

First and foremost, I love to write stories. Fantasy fiction, in particular. One of these days, I will finish my much-neglected novel. Or rather, novels!

I have about five half-finished novels, over a hundred plots for more, and several thousand ideas for titles. I generate ideas constantly... and I am thankful for the gift of imagination!

I also love to write poems, although I don't write as many as I used to. I went through a phase between 2001 and 2004 where I wrote poem after poem; I feel they came not from me, but from a higher source. They come only fleetingly now, but I am content with that. Back in those years, they needed to flow from me. At the moment they don't. Perhaps one day in the future, they will again.

Promise & Understanding








Watch the ocean
Chase the shore
Escape away
Come back for more

And so let me
Run free and light
Then I'll come back
Before the night

(c) Louise Heyden - January 2004

Yes indeed, I am lucky enough to be a published author! I was a School Library Manager for a local secondary school for a few years, and when I left to move from the South-East to the North-West, I had an idea for a book.

As you will discover later, I LOVE books. So to work in a placed filled with them, getting to inspire young people to be just as enthusiastic about them, was a dream come true, and incredibly fulfilling. I loved it so much, and felt so passionately about the importance of encouraging a love for reading and literacy in children, that I wrote a book about it.

My wonderful publishers, EPrint, released the book in May 2009. Aimed at school librarians and those involved with the school library, "Booked In: How to Run a Successful School Library and LRC" looks at how to manage a school library well, get the right stock, think up exciting activities, and basically turn the library into a busy community hub!

So in addition to that fantasy novel, I'm also working on some further titles for EPrint too.

In 2008 I began to explore my creativity in fields other than writing.

Chance online encounters and newly forged friendships brought to my attention the world of fantasy arts and crafts... and in particular, my big passion, faeries! Suddenly, avenues of painting, sculpting and crafting opened up to me in a way I had never thought possible.

From learning to make handmade cards, to learning how to sculpt figures out of polymer clay, I eagerly began self-teaching myself it all.

I did begin to launch my work online as "Realm of MerFaery". However, when I became a mum in 2009, this has took a back seat for a while. I'm aiming to relaunch with two new projects, "Goddess of the Silver Moon" and "Ethereal Eclipse Art" during 2011!

Those I love are very important to me. I come from a small family; my parents are both only children so no cousins, aunties or uncles for me! I like being part of a small, close-knit family, and now I also get to enjoy being part of a larger one too, now that I'm engaged to my fiance John, who has lots of siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews!

John and I met in Barcelona through work (at a 3GSM mobile technology conference!!) and it was love at first sight, or should that be soundbite?? We both worked in the audio visual industry and for a while I helped John out with his AV business.

In November 2009 I became a mummy to our daughter Freya, and although I still do the odd sound job or two, I am now a stay-at-home mom concentrating on writing from home!

In November 2009 I became a Mummy for the first time!

Freya Louise was born on November 18th. I had opted for a home birth but gave birth in hospital after she decided she didn't want to come out! She weighed in at an eye-watering 10lb 3oz, but wasn't a chunky baby, just very long!

I adore being a first-time mum and can't believe Freya is almost 18 months old already. We have great fun playing and exploring together and I am fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mummy. Right now I am working on building my online writing and finishing my books so that I can boost that to "work-at-home mummy"!

I loved being a mum and a writer so much I signed up for Session 7 of RocketMoms back in 2010 - and thanks to the motivation, I now have over 150 lenses!

I love my garden! When we bought our house in Cheshire we fell as much in love with the garden as we did the house. It's a lot of work, and we have a long way to go to get it looking how we want, but it's worth it!

When we took the garden over it was mainly cottage style at the front, which is perfect because this is my favourite style, the classic English country garden filled with snapdragons, bleeding hearts, lavender, love-in-a-mist, sweet peas and more. The back garden had very little in the way of flowers as it was more of a practical garden - mainly lawn and bushes with a large vegetable plot and fruit cage at the back. Right now the veggie patch is a higgledy-piggledy jumble of wildflowers and weeds, and the fruit cage is a jungle, but I can't wait to get my hands dirty and get it back to being a working garden. I have always wanted to grow my own food and can't wait to get started!

My other garden plans include a wildflower meadow and lots of wildlife-friendly plants!

Favourite Things About My Garden...

*** Watching and listening to the birds ***
*** Watching things grow from tiny to huge! ***
*** Meditating among the flowers ***
*** Our three oak trees ***
*** Enjoying the peaceful sunshine ***
*** Planting faeries amidst the flowers!

Especially the sea! This picture was taken from Merlin's Cave in Tintagel, Cornwall, on a truly wild day! I love to feel the wind in my hair and the spray of the ocean salt. If I had my way, I would spend everyday outside in Mother Nature, exploring oceans, beaches, wildwoods, ancient rolling hills and magical mountains.

Mainly because I don't like to be pigeon-holed, and because I find it impossible to define my spirituality, and therefore hate it when other people try to!

I prefer to call myself spiritual rather than religious. I draw beliefs from both Christianity and Paganism, believe it or not. Is it possible to be both? Some would say not! There's another prime reason why I don't like those labels.

I long for a world in which people respect each others' spirituality. Is it really too much to ask? Is this what God would want - people hating and persecuting one another because they do not hold the same beliefs?

If forced to label myself anything, however (such as on the UK census forms!) I will call myself pagan, and proudly so. It is the Old Religion, the faith of my ancestors on this small island, and it is where my heart feels most at home.

What do I believe?

Well, I call myself a kitchen witch, which would make people assume that I am merely a pagan, but I am far more complex than that!

I believe in God, and Jesus. I might not go to church and I might be a witch, but I pray each night to God. However, I also believe in the Goddess, whom to me is the embodiment of the spiritual here on Earth. God is the Heavenly Father, the Goddess is the Motherly Earth. I find God in nature, rather than in a church,

I believe in angels, and that they can do a great deal to help us here on the physical plane. I also believe in other spirit beings, and that the pagan deities are the many aspects and manifestations of God and the Goddess here on Earth. Do I believe in fairies? Well yes of course, don't you? ;)

I believe that being a witch is a perfectly natural thing, and to me it has nothing to do with specific rituals or casting formal spells (I find Wicca an interesting subject but prefer the natural path of traditional hedgecraft), but has everything to do with being attuned to Mother Nature, the cycle of the Earth, and living in harmony with the world around us. The magic comes from that! It is about honour and respect, healing and sacredness. Consequently, the ways of the druidess and shamaness call to me also.

I am not simply "away with the faeries", however! I feel strongly about making a difference in this world, about defining the borders of right and wrong, about educating the next generation and filling them with respect and wonder for our world and the people in it. I will speak my mind and spread the word about things that matter to me, be the subject matter moral, environmental or political. We only live once, and if we want to make our mark then we must break free of our fears and live as we truly want to!

Blessed Be, my friends.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about this mischievous MerFaery...