An evening in the garden

The first nice evening of the year 2019 fell on Good Friday. This was the first chance for neighbours to spend an evening out in their gardens playing and having bbqs. The evening sunshine was soft and warm, the air thick with the scent bbq smoke. This audio recording was made from my own back garden and picks up the ambience of neighbours just enjoying being out in the gardens. Good Friday 2019 was a good one :)

Berserk! Continuing Chapter One.

Pushing onward with Chapter One, detailing the characters and their mission:

Pixie-Led ~ a devilish tale of smoke and mirrors

Well here it is - Pixie-Led ~ a devilish tale of smoke and mirrors. After all the hard work I have put into this over the past 10 month, it is a wonderful feeling seeing the finalised physical book in all its glory :) 

Berserk! Chapter One Progressing Nicely...

Storyboarding - Chapter One of Berserk!

I wish I could draw! lol

Dawn Chorus

The rewards of rising early at this time of year are immense!

Berserk!

So excited to start work on my next novella , I began
writing it on the work's coach home this evening

With my fourth novella, Pixie-Led, now published and available to buy, I started writing Chapter One of my fifth novella, Berserk!, this evening. I have been musing on this new book for the last month or so but its strange how my story plots only ever truly take shape when I put pen to paper and actually start writing the story itself. After a month of basic note-taking and research, the denouement of my next book came to me like a bolt out of the blue within a few minutes of writing the very first paragraph of it. I have to admit that I am getting pretty excited by this tale, even though it is still in its infancy. I won't go into too much detail at the moment, but the story, whilst still the same as the basic plot I outlined here, has now developed a dark Viking theme too.

Pixie-Led is Published! :o)

I have spent so much time with the characters in this book it feels quite sad saying farewell to them and sending them out to make new friends. Here it is though, finally out of my hands and out in the world. I hope you like it :)

Buy Pixie-Led here.

It is now time to find some new characters to work with...

Research...

With Pixie-Led off to the publishers, I am already knee-deep in research for my next novel:

Lore ~ a fishy tale of maritime folklore. Promo

The second of my book video promos, this one of for Lore ~ a fishy tale of maritime folklore:

Fin

Pixie-Led has now been sent off for publication...

Light on Water

Light on Water

Newton Beach

I tool a walk along Newton Beach today. It was a beautiful day and I managed to do a little audio field recording whilst down there. You can hear the resulting audio recordings here. I recommend good quality headphones for the best experience:

This was my first visit to Newton Beach and whilst it was not the most scenic of beaches, it did offer  a fine brisk walk and some interesting finds along the route: 

Washed-up tree-trunk, Newton Beach

Seaglass and Pottery found on Newton Beach

Spring has Sprung!

I won't lie. Winter's are a very real struggle for me. There appears to be two distinct versions of myself. And they are delineated clearly by the seasons. My hopes, inspirations, even my simple enjoyment of life are lost, swallowed whole, in the black void that is winter. In a possible attempt to protect myself through the darker half of the year, my minds goes into hibernation mode as early as September. My thoughts become cloudy and unfocused, as though it is afraid to think or even try to motivate itself. I have grown to dread this gloomy half of the year. But whilst my fear of this seasonal melancholy can and does stain my enjoyment of the brighter and warmer months in this country, my anticipation of the return of spring and summer offer a guiding light that helps me through the harsher moments of winter.

With all that said, it was with great relief this morning that bright morning sunshine drew me out into my garden with a mug of coffee in hand. Waiting for the drink to cool, I took a wander around the flower beds and saw, with delight, that Spring had finally sprung! I cherished my day in the garden, with the rays of the sun warm upon my face and very much look forward to the days, weeks and months ahead...

A morning coffee in the garden - one of life's simple pleasures

Pixie-Led - The End

I have been working hard on this since last August, but this morning I finally completed my 4th novella. I just have to format it now ready for publishing sometime in April.