Tumbleweed

A little while back, I wrote that I would be using the characters Pinnochio and Raggerty from Rupert the Bear as inspiration from one of the folk tales contained in my next novel, Lore. Well, the second draft of that story has now been completed and I have now also finished the illustration I wanted to go along with tale.

I had the opportunity to visit the British Museum a couple of months back, and whilst there I saw this fella:

He is a wooden carving of a water spirit (I am sorry to say there is little further information I remember about the object) and as soon as I spitted him, I knew I wanted to use him as the character in folk story. I had to change a little of the detail of the actual structure of the figure as the water spirit in this tale manifests itself, not as a piece of sculpted wood but from tumbleweed. Anyway, the photo below shows the drawing I finished of him this afternoon...

...and here is the finalised imaged that will be used in the book:

The completed illustration of Tumbleweed

Can't Beat a Morning Like This

Llangynidr

Working on the second draft of Lore on a lovely sunny morning on Llangynidr :)

My cats hate me writing lol

Second Draft!

When I write a second draft, I WRITE a second draft ;)

New Crawley Cover Design

February 07, 2018

To match the stylistic theme of my new novel, Lore, when it is published on October 31st, I have decided to update the cover of my first novel. Here is the new design:

Research

Researching, taking notes and starting work writing draft two of Lore! #deadlinesmustbekept 

New Edn™ Cover Design

July 01, 2018

To match the stylistic theme of my new novel, Lore, when it is published on October 31st, I have decided to update the cover of my first two novels. Here is the new design for Edn™:

Lore Cover Design

The finished design for the cover of Lore:

This would make the cover or Lore fairly similar in design to my first book - Crawley ~ an adult faery tale. If I used this image, I would probably change the cover of my second book, Edn™ ~ a trippy tale of alien horticulture to a similarly styled monochrome image. We'll see...

The photograph I used for this cover was taken from this Instagram image I took whilst on a pedalo Llangorse Lake in Cardiff:

Getting There...

I sat out in the garden nice and early this morning and managed to complete the first draft of my third novel, Lore. I am more than happy with the tale and the second draft should be little more than just tidying up the prose. Looks like I will easily hit my target of getting this book published this coming Halloween 2018 😎 

Proof Reading

My Favourite Writing Spot

Lore - Chapter Nine begins...

Money Spider

A little money spider visited the page I was working on this morning. Known to be lucky little guests, he was more than welcome to interrupt my writing for a few minutes :) Despite his hindrance, or because of the good fortune they are said to impart to those they meet, I surprised myself by managing to complete the first draft of chapter eight of Lore today. :)

Pen Wrestling

Sometimes it's difficult to write when you have a cat:

Sunshine

Coffee and Writing in the Garden

Promo Shot

May 13, 2022

The first advertising short for Edn™:

Chapter Six begins to take shape

Completing Chapter 5

Completing Chapter Five of Lore out in the garden :)

Started Chapter Five

8,654 words into Lore

Writing Outdoors

Raggerty and Pinoccio

Two of the scariest things from my childhood were Raggerty from Rupert Bear and the old illustrations from my 1961 edition of Pinoccio. These images stirred terrifying concepts in my young mind and have brewed in my head for decades. They now form the inspiration for the third chapter of my third novel, Lore...

Edn™ has now been published

14, April 2018

Edn™ has now been published. You can buy a copy here. Here is the finished product, alongside my first book - Crawley:

Morning Writing

Cat Love

Editing Lore...

Merman Research

I love this image of a merman. It is exactly how I envisioned the creature washed up at the start of my new novel Lore. The drawing is by Arthur Rackam and you can find more of his great artwork here.

Folklore Research

Lore - Making a start on my 3rd novel

Lore Begins...

Holidaying in a remote region of the Isle of Skye, overlooking the sea. No internet, mobile phone or even a TV signal for a week! Lovely to be able to switch off from the world and just chill though. Also, this lack of modern distractions can make for a very creative experience.

Conjuring up fresh ideas for a new novel at Greshornish, Skye

There is something very hypnotic about the sea. Watching its waters stirs the imagination. And with a window seat with a view as magnificent as this, you can bet I spent a good few hours just watching the waves and wildlife that lived here:

My window view for a whole week :)

Whilst I already had an idea for a short story about a merman planned out, having so much free time to just sit and ponder, I fleshed out and expanded upon that tale and soon had the beginnings of a full length novel concocted in my head.