This is the sound that awakens us each morning. :) The audio recording was taken from our bedroom windowsill. Captured in the recording are the sounds of traffic, our neighbour's cat, a great tit, sparrows, a magpie, a blackbird, gulls, planes and chickens:
Fluttering Polythene #4 & #5
Continuing my photography series on polythene caught on barbed wire, here are two more images captured from my local water tower:
I think I have found myself a new project for a future issue of Sweyne's Eye :)
New Cover Designs For My First Four Folk-Horror Novels
March 03, 2020
Here they are - the new cover designs for my first four folk-horror novels. My fifth (Berserk!) was only published a few month ago, so I am still happy with the cover for that book. To celebrate the relaunch of these titles, they will be offered for sale at just 4.99 for the entire month of March. :)
Click on the image of the book you are interested in purchasing to be taken to the appropriate Amazon page:
March 1st 2020 - Time to Crack On
[Background reading] Well, I made it to the other side of winter. Just. Time to get back on track and also try and get my health back in some semblance or order...
March 1st also sees the end of my month long break from writing. I did use the time productively, however, and produced three photography zines during February. But although I enjoy photography, my real passion is definitely writing and it was with relief when my month-long abstinence from working on my next novel came to a close and I opened up my writing bureau this morning to continue work on Solstice. 'Tis time to crack on...
Oh, and in case you were wondering what that red and green thing is on top of my writing bureau, it's this Manor Ware ornament from the 1970s - one of my fondest items from my childhood:
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| Piscies fishing in a boat. A Manor Ware ornament from the 1970s |
Folk Horror Titles Relaunch New Cover Designs!
February 29, 2020
Having looked through my back catalogue of books on Amazon with fresh eyes, I have come to the conclusion that the cover design of my first novel appears a little tired. And so I have started work on a classy new relaunch of my folk-horror titles. Look out for these spanking new cover artworks on heading your way soon...
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| Working on a classy new book cover for Crawley ~ an adult faery tale |
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| Working late into the night on the new cover of Pixie-Led |
Storm Jorge
All I seem to have recorded on my Tascam DR40 this year is the rain and the wind. It will be lovely when the weather finally improves and I get to do some rambling and record some less inclement sounds... Still, there's nothing quite as atmospheric as listening to a storm when you are chilling at home in the warmth, so here we go - Storm Jorge, recorded from my living room this afternoon. As usual, this is best appreciated whilst wearing a good pair of headphones (by the way, you can see the audio recorder to the right on the mantelpiece in the accompanying photograph to the audio):
Storm Jorge
All I seem to have recorded on my Tascam DR40 this year is the rain and the wind. It will be lovely when the weather finally improves and I get to do some rambling and record some less inclement sounds... Still, there's nothing quite as atmospheric as listening to a storm when you are chilling at home in the warmth, so here we go - Storm Jorge, recorded from my living room this afternoon. As usual, this is best appreciated whilst wearing a good pair of headphones (by the way, you can see the audio recorder to the right on the mantelpiece in the accompanying photograph to the audio):
Perfect Balance!
My favourite character amongst our garden birds. He has been visiting us for the nearly seven years we have been living in our house and is always a welcome sight. Given his chunky size, he is still a bit of an acrobat. Look at those balancing skills!
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| Perfect Balance! |
Given that he is a bit of hungry fella, and that we have known him for so long, he has earned himself a nickname. Here is is arriving, and lingering, on our birdfeeder the other day. He added to his girth quite considerably on this visit, and continued to eat until an impatient starling came and chased him off (caught at the end of the following video):
Sparrow
When we first moved into our house, nearly seven years ago now, the only birds we saw here were jackdaws, magpies, pigeons and seagulls. All lovely birds. But we really missed the smaller birds that used to frequent our previous garden.
Despite setting up a bird table and keeping it well stocked, it took several years before we finally managed to attract smaller birds into the garden. But then, a couple of summer's ago, these little fellows, House Sparrows, suddenly arrived en masse in our garden. Not only did they feed from our bird feeders and enjoy the water from our bird-bath, they also nested in our privet hedge. And last summer, the colony of house sparrows expanded again when the little birds nested for a second time in our hedge. Now, our garden is abuzz with the birds and their constant chattering from our hedge is a real joy to behold :) All great news given the population of these precious little creatures are in decline nationally.
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| House Sparrow Atop Our Garden Birdfeeder |
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| House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) |
To further encourage the House Sparrows and retain them as residents in our garden, we have also installed a communal nesting box on our house. More news on the hopeful success of this if and when it happens...
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