Author's Copy

My 2nd edition update to Explore Gower's Beaches, Coves and Bays arrived today, and I am very happy. Next year is a fallow year for Explore Gower books, as I will be concentrating on selling/advertising the x4 books that are already available. What I do know, however, is that there will be a 5th book in the series, which will probably be available sometime in 2027...

Explore Gower's Beaches, Coves & Bays

Finally completed my 4th Explore Gower Guidebook. It has taken me longer than anticipated but has been published within its target date and is available now via Amazon. published! It makes for a great Christmas present for anyone wishing to explore the incredible variety of beaches available in Gower to visitors and residents alike :)

Beaches Edit Done

Managed to finish my edits of the upcoming re-release of my Explore Gower Beaches book after work today:

 

This spot is becoming a firm favourite of mine for getting some project work done whilst I wait for my lift home 🙂

Final Edits

Making final edits to my forthcoming reissue of Explore Gower's Beaches guide:

Explore Gower Beaches

I needed to crack on with the rewrite of my Explore Gower Beaches book today as it is being published before the end of the month. So I finished my office day job early and did just that:

Continuing Gower Beaches

Continuing work, and ahead of schedule, of the new edition of my Explore Gower beaches page.

Editing Gower Beaches

 Continuing work ediditing my Gower Beaches book...

Glorious Sunshine

It would be a crime not to sit out in the glorious sunshine with Monty and fufjcat today, as Mrs Pixie-Led busied herself around us in the garden.

Cracking on with Gower Beach Guide

Cracking on my my Gower beach guide update: 

Gower Beaches Update

Cracked on with the rewrite of my Explore Gower Beach guide today, making surprising good progress.

Where I Am Update

 I am not in too bad a place, project-wise at the moment. I am still waiting for my author's proof of AVALON 2 to arrive. I am expexting to get my hands on it on Wednesday and already know that it will need a few amendments. I am hoping to get it released officially on 10 August.

Work starts tomorrow on the reprint of GOWER BEACH, COVES & BAYS. This title, plus it's spin-off, SWANSEA BAY, should both be released by the end of September.

October is going to be devoted to getting a Gower Calenday on the market.

Finally, my 2025 projects will conclude mid-November with the publication of the first of my Christmas Ghost Stories. This will be a reworking of my story that was published earlier this year in GNS2.

Getting back to today, despite the headache that has plagued me since I woke up, I have done a fair bit of tidying, whilst working also working on my biggest Lego to date. Can you guess what it is at this early stage:

Explore Gower - Faery folklore on the Gower Peninsula

Pwscat proof-reading my book

I unexpectedly booked a day off work today, and spent it completing the update to my Explore Gower book - The Verry Volk ~Faery folklore on the Gower Peninsula:

Gower Ghosts.2

Well, what a cracking start to Spring! Day 1 and I have only gone and completed the update of the Explore Gower book - Gower Ghosts!

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...

Mission Completed.

"Don't be a fool", they said. "It can't be done. It's impossible. You are a busy man, learning two new important jobs. Where are you going to find the time?" Brushing the naysayers aside, I cracked on with with the endeavour. And today, with 6 days left before the 100-day deadline, I did it. Explore Gower's Beaches, Coves & Bays is complete and will be available to purchase on November 1st. 😯

Nearly There...

Working on the final draft of the final beach of my new Explore Gower Book.

Thank U Welsh Water

Not a bad start to the week 😀. The office closed before lunch due to an incident at Welsh Water. This spare time really was a godsend as it gave me a whole five extra hours work on my Gower Beaches book. There is now just 9 days left to complete the project, but I only have 7 more beaches to correct, plus an introduction to write. Its looking more and more likely I am actually going to complete this book on time!

The Pressure's On

10 days to complete my Gower Beaches book! Will I get it done on time? You bet your life I will.

Fall Bay

I finally revisited Fall Bay yesterday evening after a gap of over 2 decades. The path down to the beach was perilous, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unable to undertake a lot of scrambling. That said, when we finally reached the sand, we found we had the whole bay to ourselves for the entirety of the sunset. And its moments like that which always make me leave Gower to the tourists in the summer months.

I had hoped to capture a pic of comet  tsuchinshan-ATLAS, not seen since neolithic times, but as you can see from the later pics from Rhossili, the clouds over the horizon, where it was positioned tonight, put paid to that ambition.