Boilio

Boilio. Visited some friend's new house then sat out in the garden writing again. Got an incredible 3 chapters under my belt this afternoon.

Agapanthus:

Welsh Poppies:

Peekers:

Jonathon has become a regular visitor. He is one hell of a character:

Yours truly writing Pyewacket:

Ended the evening chilling before a garden fire:

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Pyewacket is Back on the Cards

Had a lovely quiet day today. Even gotta chance to get some serious writing done whilst enjoying the sunshine.

Knitting Together Next Year's Major Project

Well, it looks like Pyewacket, an idea that's been percolating since back in the day, is actually gonna be an official physical-world thing. It will feature as the titled short story in a new zine I've been thinking about for a good while now - titled Pixie-Led.

As the title might suggest, the zine will become a physical extension of the site you are reading now. The zine will feature the regular Pyewacket stories, photo-features on all manner of curious pastimes and intriguing articles on things that have caught my interest. Along with serialised novel-length tales of zombies, Viking werewolves, changelings, vampires, and more...

Issue 1 will introduce the character Pyewacket, one of the neither-here-nor-there pixie-led. You'll accompany him along an  introductory adventure in the twilight land of the magickal Crawley Woods. The story is titled Eve. 

There will also be an article on the beliefs and philosophy of The Lost Glove Society, presented alongside photos of my little contribution to its mythos.

Other contents will include the first of what will become regular features in the zine, Pixie-Led  - an imaginary autobiography,  Some Place Different - reviews of magical places to visit and explore and Vision-On - images of somewhere else. And more.

I've been working on this for the likely full-wrap cover for ISSUE 1:

Ì am clearing my diary in 2027 to make this come to life before the end of that year.

Stirring the Pyewacket.Broth

Work on my Pywackett tale was fed by a dream that clung to my attention long after awakening from my slumber. The ideas fuelling the project are of an ageing vintage, but the idea of the tale and the character are still very much alive and the creative yeast added to the brew today should hopefully prove a ripe recipe and, one day, prove a fruitfuil endear...

Pyewacket Nearly There...

Yep, I know I have been working on this character for a fair while now, but I'm still chisseling away at the story. It is coming together, which is good, as his first story comes out next year...

Working on Pyewacket

Vampires from Hell

Sunday, July 16, 2023

 I have felt very rushed with work and deadlines lately, both with my writing career and in my day job. To try and get at least a few of my evenings back, I devoted this past weekend to getting my novella completed, which I am happy to report has now been accomplished.  So, you may ask, what next?

Well, first of all, I am going to remove the deadline for Cold Comfort, which had been set for the end of 2023. Now, Cold Comfort has one hell of a long word count, and whilst it is true that the novel is on its final third edit, it still requires a fair bit of work. Expect to see that novel out sometime in 2024  now, along with another project that has been quite a while in the waiting - Pyewacket. I haven't written anything remotely to do with Pyewacket for a while now, but the plot of the book has been on my mind. I have high hopes for Pyewacket,  but don't hold your breath waiting to get your hands on a copy. Not just yet anyway...

In the meanwhile, look out for another fotozine on a topic close to my heart coming out sometime over the next few months. These are a lot easier to put together than novels or guidebooks. Plus I actually enjoy putting these together. So, whilst I am intending to go slow with my next couple of writing projects, I won't be lazy. So, watch this space...

The first writing Sesh of the year always feel good.

Well, I certainly didn't expect to be writing more of my Pyewacket novel on my first writing sesh of the year. But the idea for Chapter three buzzed in me yesterday evening whilst watching I-can't-remember-what. 

Click on the above photo and see if you can see fudjcat hidden in there somewhere lol.

Pyewacket

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

With the closing of Magickal Gardening until early 2023, and time off from my day job to recover from a suffocating cold virus, this morning gave me the opportunity of progressing my next book - The Curious Adventures of Mister Jonathon Pyewacket. 

This story is not my usual folk-horror fodder, though it is set in both the real and magickal world. It is, instead, a twisted children's story about a man borne from a love affair 'tween a human mother and an elf. Bored by the mundanity of the 'real' world, he nips in and out from the world of fae, to make his life more bearable.  Unfortunately, if this has whetted your appetite to read the tale, I am still progressing the storyline on its first draft so this won't be available for purchase just yet... 

Pyewacket

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Note Taking

 Thursday, September 15, 2022

Incy Wincy

Sunday, September 11, 2022 

Tomorrow I return to the job that pays my bills. I thought I'd make the most of my remaining free time with a little creative writing. As I opened my writing pad, a small spider scrambled across the page and lingered there. It was nice seeing him take such a keen interest in my work-in-progress 😀

Ironing Pyewacket

August 29, 2022

Managed to get my head around the first curious adventure of Mister Jonathan Pyewacket today. It's story has been coalescing for around a year now but today's stint of work in the garden has helped iron out the creased beast into something that will be far more presentable and should hopefully astonish the reader enough to make them anticipate any further magickal adventures Mister Pyewacket might stumble upon in the future.

My muse flutters its wings

August 15, 2022

For the first time in what seems like a very real age, I felt my creative muse make its presence known to me, fluttering its wings as it (hopefully) awakens and brings my creativity back to life...

 I have finally decided the narrative voice that will be used to tell the tale of Jonathan Pyewacket. Hopefully, this decision will give the unfurling story a decisive edge and clear the story of unnecessary 'clutters...

Strange Pyewacket

June 08, 2022

I think Pyewacket will be my strangest book of all. It's not folk-horror, not Folk of the Faraway Tree. But both are hinted at strongly in my new creation. I'm hoping to get this story published sometime in the Year New but can not promise anything firm on this just yet...

Suffolk (2)

June 07, 2022

I awoke in the Suffolk Shephard's hut to a beautiful sunny morning and wasted little time cracking on with my writing before the rest of the family awoke. Sat on the steps of the shepherd's hut, surrounded by wildflowers and fields and rabbits and an orchestra of birdsong felt like bliss - pure unadulterated heaven.

Later in the day, when the sun got too hot, I even managed to scratch my pen across a few further pages.  So far, the extraordinary adventures of Jonathan Pyewackett seems to be almost writing itself. 😃 

Suffolk (1)

 June 06, 2022

Had a much-needed getaway this past weekend. I didn't take many pictures as I am still out-of-sorts health-wise. I took the trip with my wife and son to meet up with my daughter (who lives too many miles away on the other side of the country) and her partner. They stayed in the house we had rented- my son on the first floor, my daughter and her partner on the self-contained second floor. My wife and I cwtched up in the nearby shepherd's hut. 

The weekend away was lovely, the peace and quiet of the Suffolk countryside providing medicine for the soul. Here are some pics from the trip. And yes, I did find time to do some writing on my next novel, Pyewacket. It was lovely writing by fire and candlelight.

Mister Jonathan Pyewacket Begins to Disappear

 Mister Jonathan Pyewacket beginning to disappear in the fog. From Chapter One of my current W.I.P. - The Peculiar Adventures of Mister Jonathan Pyewacket... 

The fruits of insomnia

Sunday, February 06, 2022

Insomnia dragged me down from my bed in the wee small hours of this morning. And, grabbing myself a hot water bottle and a mug of tea, I settled myself beneath a blanket on the living room settee to while away some time working on my Pyewacket storyline.

My writing proved quite fruitful, in more senses than one, and I came away from the session having moved the story on quite nicely. I also constructed a hopefully achieveable plan of action to make a December 01, 2022 publication date for the story 🙂

The book will introduce the protagonist Jonathan Pyewacket and follows his first bizarre  adventure when he inexplicably finds himself in a fairy tale world of spellcraft commerce. The book will feature four main characters and glimpses of further magical and eccentric people who could feature in further tales set in the world. I won't give away any more details right now, except to say that this first story in a possible series of escapades is going to be rather fruity.

I haven't been this excited with a writing project for quite a while 🙂

Pyewacket heads into town...

Pyewackett finds himself in a different world...