Dear friends and supporters,

This is to wish you all health and happiness at this Winter Solstice, and all my best wishes to you and yours for Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Pancha Ganapati, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, the birth of Sol Invictus, or any other festival of light and friendship.

I have been working on a new update about therianthropes—beings that can be both human and animal—and their crucial importance in so many mythologies, especially those of peoples who are essentially hunter-gatherers. But I can see it is not going to be ready before Christmas.

I have been a bit lax in rewarding your support with new material, because my work on this book—which I am still as excited about as ever—has been hampered by dealing with an ongoing family crisis. I could really do with some extra days in the week.

If you want to see what I am thinking about day-by-day, consider following me on Twitter @neilphilip myth. I tweet mostly about mythology, folklore, children’s books and literature generally, and retweet things I find interesting from archaeologists, medievalists and the like. 

All best, Neil