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.

Crawley ~ an adult faery tale. Promo

March 27, 2019

Just days away from completing my 4th book, I have just made this little promo for my first. I shot the video down at my favourite local woods and recorded the video earlier this month in Skye :)

My furry girl staring me out as I write:

Lycanthrope

My holidays on the Isle of Skye always inspire me. As I edit the final draft of my 4th novel, the seed for my 5th has now already germinated. The characters in the next book will be a heavy metal band, a photographer, a farming family on the remote Faroe island and a Lycanthrope! I have just written the basic story outline as we head out of Scotland. I have high hopes for this story...

Heading Home Through Glencoe

And so our holiday has come to an end. I had so looked forward to spending another week on Skye and being able to show my children around the place and now it is over. All that is left is just memories and photographs and a few sound recordings [1][2][3][4][5][6] to remember it by.

Heading down to Glenfries now for an overnight stay near the Scottish border, then it will be a sad farewell to my daughter at Birmingham train station so that she can head home to Norwich whilst the rest of us head back to Wales. Anyway, here are my last set of pics of the holiday as we headed back through Glencoe:

The snow peaks of Glencoe

Glencoe Mountain Range

Snowy Glencoe

Heading home through Glencoe

Waterfall, Glencoe

Lovelocks at a Glencoe Waterfall

Lovelocks at a Glencoe Waterfall

Loch Ness

We couldn't leave Scotland without paying a visit to Loch Ness now, could we! Beautiful, ain't it!

Loch Ness, Scotland

Sauropod Dinosaur Footprints, Duntulm Bay

Our last full day on the Isle of Skye was marred by heavy rain. Our (adult) children decided to make the most of the cosy holiday cottage and remain indoors for the day. But my wife and I had our hearts set on seeing the world -famous dinosaur footprints, which were located just around the corner from us at Duntulm Bay.

Duntulm Bay, Skye

It was cold and wet and the path down to the beach was not easy to navigate. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, we found ourselves alone on Duntulm Bay. Thankfully, the 170 million-year-old Sauropod footprints were easily located, so we did not have to linger outside for long :o)

Duntulm Bay, Skye

The footprints, which are only visible at low tide, are ranked as some of the very best in the world. They were formed when the area was a brackish lagoon and the huge Sauropod dinosaurs used the swampish waters to help support their lumbering weight.

Sauropod Dinosaur Footprints, Duntulm Bay, Skye

It is difficult to imagine how different this location looked back in those times. Skye would have been filled with swamps and dense vegetation and its climate would have been warm and tropical. In fact, at the time these footprints were made, the island was actually located south of the equator!

Sauropod Dinosaur Footprints, Duntulm Bay, Skye

It was a strange feeling stood amongst these dinosaur footprints, knowing that a huge beast, now long extinct, had walked this very path.

Sauropod Dinosaur Footprints, Duntulm Bay, Skye

Sauropod Dinosaur Footprints, Duntulm Bay, Skye

Feeling somewhat small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, we finally headed back to the cottage to dry and warm ourselves and to make the most of our family time together.

You can learn more about these dinosaur footprints in this interesting Guardian article here.

Pixie-Led. Chapter 15. Final Edit. Skye.

My last full day in Skye :0( and my last writing session in our lovely holiday cottage in Duntulm :0(

The Northern Lights, Skye

There were a couple of reasons behind us visiting Skye in March, rather than heading up to to the Isle during our Summer holidays. The first was monetary considerations (it is far cheaper to holiday during winter months). The second was my wife's life-long wish to see the Northern Lights. Whilst most people head to Iceland for the chance of seeing them, the Aurora Borealis is also visible from Skye and the north of Scotland. Unfortunately, they are best discerned during the colder months of the year! Of course, it is still down to luck whether your visit coincides with a show of the lights, or whether the weather permits seeing them even when they are on display. We visited Sky last March in the hope of glimpsing them, only to have the sky overcast on the one night they were active! Thankfully, we were lucky this time. And we only had to take a few steps from our holiday cottage to photograph them!

The Northen Lights, photographed over Loch Cleat, Skye

This glimpse of the Aurora Borealis has fuelled our desire to see a more spectacular display now and we are already making plans to hopefully visit Norway in a few years time. When the conditions are right, the displays there can be truly spectacular!