Kayleigh Kavanagh is a disabled writer from the North-West of England. Growing up in the area, she learnt a lot about the Pendle Witches and launched her debut novel around their life story. Her main writing genres are fantasy and romance, but she loves stories in all formats and genres. Kayleigh hopes to one day be able to share the many ideas dancing around in her head with the world.
Her latest book is the historical fantasy, One Foot in the Ether: Whispers of the Pendle Witches.
You can visit her on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads and Tiktok.
I am so excited about your book, One Foot in the Ether: Whispers of the Pendle Witches. Why did you choose this particular story to write?
More than two hundred and fifty years after the infamous Pendle Witch Trials, the spirits of rival witches Demdike and Chattox remain tethered to their bloodlines—watching, waiting, and bound by unfinished business.
Now, in the late 1800s, a pragmatic midwife and a troubled young psychic (descendants of the two witches) are drawn into a haunting legacy. An ancient being is stirring—an angry god of the old world, hungry for vengeance and ready to consume the future.
To stop it, the living and the dead must unite, recovering the lost knowledge of their craft. Whilst facing age-old problems and new foes. Some spirits don't re
st easy, and in Pendle, they're clawing their way back from the past.
Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your book?
Demdike, one of the original witches, is still stuck here on earth two hundred and sixty years after her death and she’s done with everything.
Chattox, her frenemy and long-time companion in the ether, is much less serious and prone to bouts of boredom, which she does strange things to alleviate.
They’ve been dead for nearly three centuries; they’ve got an excuse for being quirky.
Claire is the practical midwife trying to navigate her place in a changing world.
Yana is young and naive but at that age where she thinks she knows everything, her gift of foresight only adds to this assumption.
They’re all snarky and sarcastic in some way, whilst the living women also try to be ladylike and fit the mould of the era.
Where and when does this book take place?
Colne is a small town in the Pendle Borough, in the north of England. The book is set in the latter half of the 1800s, around 1872.
They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?
When the living and the dead finally connect, and the two worlds collide.
Does your book carry a message?
Not consciously, but endurance and realising you still have power regardless of the situations was something my alpha readers picked up on: this and female rage. So, I’d say personal empowerment is a strong theme.
Where can we pick up copies of One Foot in the Ether: Whispers of the Pendle Witches?
What's your next project?
There will be two more books in the series, which I hope to get out in 2026/7. However, between then and now, I’m currently working on a second book in the “Secrets of Olde” series. This interview series focuses on conversations with different deities, and this next one is about Hecate. The working title is Secrets of Olde: Hecate’s Hope.
Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?
Thank you for reading my books. I know there is a lot of choice out there, and you have limited time and brainpower, so it's an honour that you used both in my creation. I hope you enjoy my writing and the stories yet to come.
