I have a long-standing interest in the development, dominance, and decline of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, with an emphasis on the actual nation-building of the amazing amalgamation we today call England. Almost everything interests me; I’ve studied Anglo-Saxon and Norse runes, and learnt to spin with a drop spindle. My path has led to extensive on-site research in England, Denmark, Sweden, and Gotland – surely one of the most wonderful places on Earth. In addition to the Circle Trilogy, my short story Ride, a retelling of the story of Lady Godiva, was published in Narrative Magazine. I’ve been the fortunate recipient of fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Ledig House International, and Byrdcliffe.  My new novel is Light, Descending, about eminent Victorian John Ruskin, and I’m currently working on a second, interrelated novel about the Pre-Raphaelite painters Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Lizzie Siddal.  www.octavia.net and www.OctaviaRandolph.com are my websites.  Author photo by Barbara Simundz