pixie-led | Chris Elphick: February 2025

Alluring Trees

These trees always catch my eyes whenever we drive home after picking my son from work. And now I can share the with you 🙂

Frustrating February

Whilst January 2025 seemed to last 80 days, Febbray seems like it lasted just 8 days. But what a frustrating 8 days they were.

The month started out well with Familiar, my last novel, getting published within the first week of February. Unfortunately, things kind of went downhill after that.

Whilst I managed to complete one more creative project this month - the update and reissue of Guy N. Smith - 50 years of Pulp horror, it was not an easy edit and took three weeks of nightly configuration to get my original word doc aligning properly on the final book proof.

So, what is in store for March?

March will (hopefully) see the republishing of x2 Explore Gower books, namely The Verry Volk and Gower Ghosts. It may also see me start work on the second edition of the Guy N. Smith zine. At the moment, I still don't know whether this volume will see the light of day as I don't think I have received enough content for it as of yet. With the deadline for contributions being the close of March, there is still time for an avalanche of contributions to reach me though.

Whether the second Guy N Smith zine goes ahead or not, I will continue to get as much work done on my first ghost story, which was originally intended for that zine.

March will also see my first field trip of 2025. I won't be heading out far, just Parkmill, or more specifically, a field near the village where I have spotted some trees that have grown into and have been mutated by metal bars placed around their girths to protect them as saplings. These should hopefully provide for some interesting photography.

So, by the end of the forthcoming month, The Verry Volk + Gower Ghosts should be be back on sale in superior manifestations, the bones of my first Christmas ghost story should be assembled, and I should have produced some nice pics of characteristic Gower trees.

Watch this space to keep up with my progress on these and maybe other creative projects as we finally say goodbye to winter and take a welcoming step into the early Spring...

A Visit by Shirley Jackson

I had to order this book from the USA as it costs an arm and a leg here in the UK.

Guy N Smith Zine 1 Update

Updating my Guy N Smith zine took longer than I envisioned. But, it is finally done, and here is a first look at the new cover I have given the zine:

A blast from the past.

I remember buying this radio about a half century or so ago as a child. It used up all of my birthday money and I found it really liberating to plug in the mono earphone and be transported to a different experience. One of the first things I remember hearing on it was Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the world, whose live show I will hopefully be seeing with my father in five six or so weeks.

Anyway, I bought a 9v battery for it yesterday and, guess what? It still works! There ate only 2 channels it can still receive in this day and age though, lol:

Honesty Sown

I picked some seeds from this Honestly plant I found growing in Knighton last September, when I attended last year's Guy N Smith con. Today, I sowed them 🙂🌱

Cone

Found this in our garden today:

The Amethyst Cross

With the arrival of this little gem, my Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories collection is just x2 books short of completion...

There is still no sign of A Visit by Shirley Jackson, which could be anywhere between here and the USA. The post was less than a fiver so I just hope it turn up as I snagged it as a cheap price and I haven't seen it avalaible at a price I am willing to pay anywhere else online.

One of Seth's 2024 issues, Captail Dalgerty Returns ended up being unavailable, but I have finally managed to source and order another copy at that. It is just a waiting game now...

Our Bedroom in TV Light

Cat TV

My furry daughter spent Friday night watching Cat TV:

Gower Ghosts

I am still edidting Gower Ghosts at every opportunity I get.

Misty Muse

Very misty day today. And it aroused my muse, which is already slowly drip-feeding me a short ghost story set in a fog bound office block...

Witch Hazel

The outstanding plant in our, albeit winter-bleak, garden at the moment has to be our Witch Hazel. Watch this space for its successor...

Gower Ghosts

Still working on the second edition of my Gower Ghosts.

Breathing Space

What the hell am I doing? Ineed to take a chill pill. Despite wanting to drastically reduce my workload, I have been ploughing through my year's schedule as through my year's schedule as though the devil himself was chasing me. Having already republished an updated issue of Avalon, plus my latest novel, Familar, this year, I seem to have scedules several more titles to be updated in the last couple of months left to February.

Having spent ridiculous hours over many evenings pouring over the edits and typesetting of the Guy N Smith fanzine update, I have decided to ease my foot off the accelerator a little now. As such, I can only now guarantee that the GNS zine will see a reissue by the close of February. The reissue of Explore Gower's Verry Volk and Gower Ghosts could therefor be delayed, with their republication dates now pushed back to sometime in March? Allowing me some breathing space 🙂

The above said, what did I do within minutes of finishing work this afternoon? Edit Gower Ghosts lol.

Ghostly and Ghastly

What kind of kid's book had illustrations like these?

Lord Halifax's Ghost Book

Continuing cataloguing my ghost story books. As you can see from the front page of this book, which was a childhood Christmas present, I have always had an instinct to log my book lol.