This is the second song I am posting here – because I need a link for it for a project. My lyrics are not to be found online normally. Maybe I should change that. In any case, I am misusing my blog for this.   Song2 – Sweet Poison: The song that inspired me to write the fantasy series “Geheimnisse der Klingenwelt” (Secrets of the Blade World). The young lady dancing in the song is the protagonist of  the first book of the  series:  “Seelenpalter” (Splitter of Souls).   Sweet Poison   1) A                                 A9 With flowers in her hair G                              D                       A And silken scarves to flow around her body…

Since I need a URL for a song project and don’t store my lyrics online, you’ll get two songs of mine today. Song No 1: Snowqueen – an rather metaphorical song about an old fairy tale, or about a difficult relationship     Snowqueen © 1996 Ju Honisch (Guitar tuning DADGBE)   1) Asus4                                                   Dsus4 Have you heard about the boy who followed the Snowqueen Asus4                                                C9        Cmaj7 to her palace of glittering ice, far away on the North pole Esus4                                       …

“Elgar Eisbär und die Zivilisation” (Elgar the Polar Bear and Civilisation) was the book that fell victim to the pandemic. It was supposed to be presented at the 2020 Leipzig Book Fair, with festive whatnots and readings in intereseting places. Unfortunately, like so many other things at the time, Leipzig Book Fair fell victim to the coronavirus and was cancelled. I don’t wish to complain. Other people suffered much more from Covid than I have. I’m still alive. Elgar is still alive too. Nevertheless, my book launch unfortunately never took place, and Elgar, the fluffy polar bear with the sharp tongue, sank into oblivion. He didn’t deserve that. Here’s the blurb: Who wants to become extinct? Not Elgar. – And neither do we. Elgar is a polar bear seeking asylum in our civilisation. Driven from his melting ice floe, he tries to find his way among us urban dwellers. In…

My new novel “Serpent of Malice” is now available in English after haveing been published in German as “Schlange des Bösen”. The German version has come out in two volumes, Vol. 1 ‘Die Studentin’ (The Student) and Vol. 2 ‘Chimären’ (Chimeras).  “Serpent of Malice” fits into a single volume. German text is generally longer than English text. Many long books have therefore been divided in two halves by German publishers. Dividing the English book into two parts to follow the German publication would have resulted in two very thin books. The two  German volumes have been published and can be purchased from Torsten Low Pulishing, or ordered from bookshops, or bought at any online portal. I have already done several readings and attended various conventions and festivals, with a book table. Whether you sell a lot or disappointingly few books at such events can depend on a wide variety of…

An American SF author and friend of mine has asked me if I’d like to go to a major SF fantasy convention in Boston. He could get me to be one of the ‘guest authors’. However, that will be in 2026. The disadvantage: I would have to pay for the flight myself. The advantage: I could present my English-language novels to a native-speaker audience with a reading and presentation. I really don’t know what to say to him. Apart from the flight costs, the USA doesn’t really appeal to me as a destination at the moment. Who knows what will happen by then? Will the orange-coloured harasser of women have restricted democratic rights there to such an extent that, as a creative and free-thinking person, a) you won’t feel comfortable there and b) you might even have reason to be scared? Maybe I’m exaggerating, but I am worried. Of course…

Life is not just about writing. Nor is it just about cleaning, shopping, preparing food and physiotherapy appointments. I, for example, sing. I used to write a lot of songs myself: Filk / singer-songwriter stuff / fantasy ballads. This then increasingly gave way to writing books, as if my muse were too overworked to deal with both  songs and novels at the same time. Perhaps there has also been a departmental change: Euterpe (music) has ceded me to Kalliope (epic poetry). They may have shuffled me back and forth for a while. Or they’re taking turns and I just haven’t understood their schedule yet. At least I have to start practising again now, because I’m reading at the Festival Mediaval in Selb from 6 to 8 September 2024, and I’ve been asked to sing something to accompany the reading. I don’t know why I said yes. Apart from practising, it…

It’s always great when you meet up with old friends and realise that nothing has changed except the number of wrinkles on your face. I went to school with Renée. She was a year above me. One Monday morning she came to me with starry eyes. “Yesterday at church…” Her father always made her go to church each Sunday and she usually went to the English-language mass. As a diplomat’s daughter, she could pretty much choose her language. “…I turned round and looked into the most beautiful eyes in the world. He is the man of my life! It’s him or no one.” She was 18, I was 17, and to be honest, I didn’t take this spontaneous declaration of love very seriously at the time. I should have done so. They got married and are still together today, decades later. That’s quite extraordinary. Here’s to love!   Übrigens, das…