Wait—Catherina Steel invented goblin martial arts? And what MG fantasy ‘Vanishings’ is (also) about
Meet the author of a magical adventure where a 12-year-old should look before she leaps.
“I love magical stories that tug at my own adventurous and curious spirit.”
In May, author Catherina Steel kicks off her series The Wythic Wood Mysteries with the spellbinding adventure Vanishings. In this middle grade fantasy, a twelve-year-old girl will do anything to help a friend—but needs a lesson or two in looking before she leaps.
The forests in The Wythic Wood Mysteries stem from Steel’s love for hiking, the outdoors, and the enchanting essence found in these settings.
Vanishings is also driven by the author’s personal experiences growing up. In our interview with Steel (below), our conversation ends up including the idea of how so many of us readers might be pulled into these magical worlds just to avoid, well, real life. (You’ll see what I mean in a bit.)
Oh—and we also talk about what really made me really want to talk about Vanishings: The book introduces a brand-new kind of martial arts! From goblins!
(I know—What?)
Find our interview about Steel’s book Vanishings below…
In this article:
This post contains some affiliate links. If you click the link, I earn a small commission. (At no extra cost to you. So relax.)
1
More about Vanishings
For fans of Amanda Foody and Debbie Watson comes a magical adventure story about an twelve-year-old girl who will do anything to help a friend—but could use a lesson or two in looking before she leaps.
Tilly’s friend Michael disappeared from Wythic Wood a year ago, and he’s still missing. Convinced that no one’s searching for him, Tilly convinces her gran to allow her to spend the summer with Opa, their family’s magical teacher and wizard, at his home in Clayton Forest—which just so happens to be right next to Wythic Wood.
In Clayton Forest, alongside her twin cousins, Jess and Zach, Tilly meets magical beings like fairies and gnomes, gets lessons in potion-making and a goblin style of martial arts called Gobight fighting, and starts to understand her own magic better.
But none of this excitement distracts her from her real goal, and with Jess and Zach at her side, she soon embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth about Michael’s vanishing.
As usual, impulsive Tilly doesn’t exactly think ahead—and she and her cousins soon find themselves hunted by the Witch of Wythic Wood and the creatures under her command.
An enchanting escapade perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson adventures and The Wingfeather Saga, Vanishings is a tale of friendship and teamwork in a realm where magic can be wielded for both good and evil purposes.
Available:
2
INTERVIEW: Catherina Steel on GOBLIN KARATE and what Vanishings is (also) about
What is the most important lesson that you want readers to gather from your stories?
I hope the readers will learn to show kindness to those around them, regardless of how similar or different they are to themselves. I hope they will see how much our differences make us unique and special in our own ways and that this is something to appreciate about others/ourselves.
I would love to encourage them to stand up for others and help those who feel left out, to be included and welcomed.
How did your personal experiences shape this novel?
I stood out from my peers—literally—I was tall for my age, and am now 6 foot! I also had white blond hair with dark eyebrows and eyelashes—an uncommon trait but more typical of Frisian people.
I also tended to stand up for others who were bullied or made to feel less than—perhaps because I knew what this felt like from the age of seven. I was bullied a lot, mostly by boys, which I found very confusing as a child. I still struggle with the effect of how this shaped my view of the world.
I discovered reading fantasy [the faraway tree is one of my childhood favorites] and/or mystery books [the famous five series] gave me a place where I could adventure in different worlds and experience things like friendship which were hard-won in my youth.
What drew you to writing novels for a younger audience?
I care about the impact that bullying can have on a child. I also remembered how much novels helped me and I wanted to write something that would do for young readers as the books I read at this age did for me—I guess it’s like giving back to something–recognising how much benefit I got from reading.
I wanted to write a fun and magical story that took the reader away from themselves and allowed them to experience something wonderful, uplifting, and to also show them the beauty that can be found in the great outdoors!
I’m a strong believer that fitness and health can be nourished in children—creating good habits that will carry through to their adult lives—setting them up for a healthier future.
As you talk about how personal experiences made you a fan of these genres… now I’m wondering whether most of us fans were pulled in by the same kinds of reasons. Have you talked to others about this? (Other fans? People who have read your new book?) Are we all here looking for our own ‘escape’?
In the past, this was something I’d only discussed with people close to me, but with Vanishings publishing on May 20 this year, I’ve found myself discussing it more often because it’s a topic I’m passionate about. I haven’t yet discussed how this potentially made me a fan of this genre—so I’m loving this question.
I’ve previously mentioned numerous studies like the one which looked at the impact reading, even just six minutes a day, has on stress/anxiety. And I’ve read several studies which considered the effect of spending time regularly in the great outdoors (and exercising and diet) has on stress levels in the brain and how this reduces the likelihood of mental illness such as anxiety and depression or decreases the severity of them.
Both these activities distract you from the stress/es in your life and allow your brain to return to a non-stressed state—and the tension to leave your body.
While the benefits of reading aren’t limited to the fantasy genre—I believe these stories use more imagination because you’re picturing scenes that go beyond real life. I’ve a fairly vivid imagination, and I love magical stories that pull me into adventures and/or mysteries, tugging at my own adventurous and curious spirit.
It’s so much fun meeting mythical and magical beings/creatures. Reading fantasy allows me to explore environments and themes in a way that’s not possible in real life.
My mind lights up when I recall imagined images and drawn pictures from reading truly memorable stories, particularly those from my youth. I was always going to be a fan of fantasy—regardless of my childhood experiences—but would I have loved it as much as I do? Most likely, but I can’t know for certain.
I do know that reading helped me cope—giving my brain a chance to destress through escapism—and this is no small thing for a young person who’s being bullied.
What has inspired your style of storytelling as an author? (Particular books or movies or examples from other arts? Any other kinds of inspirations?)
In the beginning, I was guided by the imaginative books I read as a child such as those by C. S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll. I read quite a few of Enid Blyton’s books like the Famous Five series and the Faraway Tree series and I was channeling her writing style at first—but my own voice began to immerge as my confidence grew.
I also loved the Anne of Green Gables books and The Secret Garden as a young reader. All the stories I read back then influenced how I viewed the world and, in a way, gave me permission to write my own stories, including the ones I never wrote down that I made up as I played with my dolls—I’ve a vague memory of one from when I was about nine or ten that I may try and write someday.
I take a lot of inspiration from nature—looking through an imaginative lens. But I’ve also taken an idea from one of my PlayStation 2 (yes, it still works) games Arthur and the Invisibles, and the black knee-high boot was inspired by the story There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe by Jane Cabrera.
We went on a family trip around Germany when I was ten and visited several old castles. This is where I drew my concept for Mort’s fort from (he’s the good goblin in my story). The corner towers and central “castle” I pictured were made within rocks.
For the walls, I turned to a tree-walk I’d been on, and came up with rows of fir trees to form the walls, with a tree-walk strung between them, so the fort could be protected as the goblins raced from tower to tower, stopping to shoot arrows as they raced along the wooden planks.
It’s so cool that you INVENTED A WHOLE NEW KIND OF MARTIAL ARTS for this book! Tell us about gobight martial arts!
I originally had the children learning martial arts but an editor (rightly) suggested that I make it more interesting. This was in the early stages of me learning to write—I still am [chuckles].
The children learn the skill from a goblin called Mort, and his goblin friends. Goblins have long arms and sharp fingernails and toenails. It made sense that the hand-to-hand combat stances would need to be altered for both attack and defence moves.
I also wish I had learned self defense as a child, or even as an adult, because it would have helped me feel safer in certain environments during my life. I believe it’s a skill all people should learn—particularly girls.
It also made sense, for this story, that the children learn a style of martial arts as they would need to defend themselves if they were to risk the dangers of Wythic Wood.
For this brand-new fighting style, did you actually need to outline specific moves or routines? How much were you influenced by real experience and / or movies or research or whatever?
I never trained in martial arts myself (although I wish I had). I have a friend who teaches Krav Maga and I watched some of the videos he posted on his social media account. I also researched stances, blocks, and strikes because I wanted to understand it well enough to be able to write the training and fight scenes.
In Vanishings, I had this situation where young humans were being taught hand-to-hand combat by friendly goblins, so there were things I needed to consider when writing these scenes:
One—how could children go up against fully grown goblins who have longer arms, giving them greater reach?
Two—Goblins have weapons at the ready with their sharp fingernails and toenails.
These attributes made it necessary that the fight stances, strikes, and blocks be modified to counter them—whether it was a goblin fighting another goblin, them attacking another type of being, or another type of being attacking them.
So, coming up with a new kind of martial arts was born to meet the needs of the story. I also love how this created a fun feature of my story—Goblin Fight = gobight!
Why write about anxiety and how does being outside help with it?
As someone who was bullied a lot, I’ve developed a thing for keeping my “back to the wall” so that I only need to focus on what is in front of me. When you are out in the open, this is simply not possible, inducing anxiety.
I’ve a fairly extreme form of social anxiety, so I use techniques to manage this—even with social media [shakes her head slightly.] I have learned that, if left unchecked, anxiety can worsen and lead to issues with being able to breathe, leaving the house—even just to check the mailbox, and more.
It’s important to create steps toward reducing anxiety by managing it and having a plan on what to do in certain circumstances. Grounding techniques are a common way to do this which includes noting things around you that help bring you back to the reality of the situation—and not the perceived one. Breathing techniques also play an important role.
A study done by researchers at Stanford shows that getting into the great outdoors reduces stress, calms anxiety, and can lead to a lower risk of depression. Based on my own experience—maintaining a healthy diet and fitness also helps me to manage anxiety.
What’s next in The Wythic Wood Mysteries for Tilly, Jess, and Zach?
We left off with Tippi, the weredog, staying with Opa in Clayton forest. We learned the Witch of Wythic Wood has placed a curse on the weredogs of Wythic Wood and they’re unable to transform into their human forms.
Tilly is determined to come back to visit Opa, along with Jess and Zach, to find out what the Witch had done and try to release Tippi and her pack from the curse. But will her gran unbind her magic so she can foresee what happened or will happen? Will unbinding her magic unleash the weredog poison from the bite and scratch she received during the first adventure?
More danger. More searching for clues in Wythic Wood. More information about the elf in the shadow. Tilly, Zach, and Jess, with help from their magical friends, once again venture into Wythic Wood to uncover more secrets.
Will they survive?
What will they uncover?
Find Vanishings (The Wythic Wood Mysteries Series #1)
More about Catherina Steel
Catharina Steel has an adventurous spirit and enjoys traveling and exploring. The forests in The Wythic Wood Mysteries series stems from her love for hiking, the outdoors, and the enchanting essence found in these settings. Steel’s book Vanishings is being published by SparkPress on 20 May 2025.
She has had various pets over the years—among them a kid goat named Billy, named after the famous Billy the Kid. Her current cherished companion is Macherie, a gentle and sweet greyhound.
During her leisure time, Sweet enjoys viewing properties, walking in the southwest region of Western Australia where she dwells, reading, sketching, and watching TV series.
3
Find more of Catherina Steel online
More from Monster Complex
Discover Urban Fantasy: 101 Must-Know Authors and Their Best Works
Celebrating Women’s History Month 2025 with Monster Complex female authors!
Ryan North on Squirrel Girl: “She’s always gonna be laughing with you—not at you.”
How Bookshop supports your local independent bookstore online
Libro.fm: Love Audiobooks? How to Support Your Local Bookstore Online
Catherina Steel kicks off her MG fantasy series The Wythic Wood Mysteries with the spellbinding adventure Vanishings. In our interview, we discuss what pulls us readers into these magical worlds. Plus how the author has created a brand-new kind of martial arts! From goblins!