A bird in the bush... It feels weird going for a walk with only one dog in tow.  Even Emily keeps looking behind her and waiting, as if half-expecting Ygraine to emerge from behind a clump of long grass.  Emily's missing her life-long buddy too.  And the heap of old jumpers between the wall and my computer desk feels very empty.  Ygraine always snoozed there while I worked.  I have begun compiling short stories for the forthcoming sequel to Dark Tides , which I've called Dark Waters .  However, since planning these two short story collections I have re-released the two Amazon Shorts ebooks, A Wirral Otherkin Trilogy and Quiet Lives , thinking that as they were already in publishable condition it would be silly to leave them gathering dust on a shelf.  A bird in the hand..., etc.  Compiling Dark Waters, I realised that too many of the stories which I'd earmarked for that project already feature in those....

Three stories of selkies and faeries. Encounter the notorious fae of Caldy Hill. Meet the secretive selkies who swim beyond Hilbre Island then walk on land in human form. Discover the magic of Wirral's ancient history in these enchanting dark fantasy tales. Includes: Frog , New Year's Day and Swap .  Price = $1.99            ISBN: 9781476028736 (for all outlets except Kindle) ASIN: B007YFRI9U (for Kindle) A Wirral Otherkin Trilogy was previously published by Amazon Shorts in 2007.  I've decided to re-release it, and as of this morning you can now download it directly from Smashwords.  Kindle's edition is in progress - give that a few hours  and it will be in their system.  It will take a few weeks for it to filter through to the other outlets, (but Smashwords offers a variety of ebook formats anyway).   

 Recent press articles about the continuing rise in popularity of ebooks have set me thinking.  My stance on self-publishing has long-since been one of obstinate refusal, partly due to my past experiences when running a self-published music zine a long, long time ago.  Who on earth remembers Smokin' Dragon now?  Even I have to flex my memory - and I owned the pesky thing!  And before anyone asks:  no, the title did not imply a heroin habit.  Any drug-related implication didn't even occur to me until the zine's name was already well established.  I forget who pointed it out to me now.  Its name was a reference to Chinese astrology - I was born in the year of the dragon - and to an admittedly corny usage of the word "smokin'" as in "hot".  I did say it was corny...    The project began as a few sheets of A4 photocopying paper stapled together, printed with news about emerging rock bands, penpal contacts, and a smatterin...

Amazon Shorts will cease to be available from June, so if you wish to purchase copies of my two Shorts, A Wirral Otherkin Trilogy and Quiet Lives , you’d best act now. You’ll find these on Amazon, or you may prefer to use the clickable links on my website. According to the email sent out by Amazon, their Shorts program has been replaced by Kindle. If I wish to make my Shorts available on Kindle (an e-reader which costs nearly $300) then this self-publishing option is available to me. Otherwise, all Rights revert to me. My views about self-publishing can be read here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Self-Publishing-Pitfalls Amazon Shorts were short digital downloads which enabled a customer to try out a writer’s work for a minimal fee. For the author, Shorts offered a way of supplementing their income and promoting their work to a wider audience. At least, this was the theory. In practice, few people seemed to grasp what an Amazon Short was. Was it a piece of clothing designed for ...

It looks sunny but it's freezing out there. Emily has dragged her increasingly tattered fleece blanket to the patio windows where she's made herself a nest. Ygraine is reclining on my patchwork cushions in the other room, while pretending to be asleep. I hate to disturb them but tough. They are about to help me continue beaking in my new purple walking boots. My trusty old ones (once blue and grey, now merely grey-ish and grey) are deliciously comfortable but have sprung a leak. They've lasted for something like seven years, and as they regularly get partially dunked in sea water that is no mean feat. The new ones are nowhere near as comfy. At the moment it feels like walking on springy bricks. Still, they are my favourite colour - and we all know how earth shatteringly important that is. Ahem. Cross-posted from:- http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/blogs/booksblog/adelecosgrovebray/display.var.2183659.0.wonderful_words_of_wirral.php Monday saw me putting in a guest ap...

The vet has just phoned me to say Emily's operation went well, and I can collect her at 4pm. This house feels so empty without "Little Mouse" leaping all over the place! (We nicknamed her that when she was a very young puppy, because she wasn't much bigger than a mouse - well, a hamster, perhaps). I can recite all the phrases about responsible pet owners and unwanted puppy litters bla bla bla, but I still feel like a total meanie, booking her in to be spade by the vet. I know she'll be frightened and in pain, and wondering why I've "abandoned" her... Poor little mite. ***   "I don't like Wuthering Heights," Cat said. "It's soppy." Then we coaxed her to watch Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Bi noche in the lead roles. She likes it now. "Isn't he the one who played Voldemort ?" she asked. "Yes," I said. "He looks different with a nose."   ***   4.20pm, and finally I get to re...

Remember that Warholian line about everyone having fifteen minutes of fame? Well, in this age of supposed equality, this seems to have been extended to spiders - the one living in our bird house, to be exact. Yup, dear ol' Incey Wincey made page two of the Wirral Globe this week. On the TV news, there was a brief piece which announced that British fruit growers have lost up to two-thirds of their crops due to the wet weather. Apparently this has been the wettest June since records began. (This in itself doesn’t mean much, as the records only go back around 150 years which, in the life of this planet, is like a blink to you and me.) The bulk of my raspberry crop has been ruined. The fruits are rotting on the canes, which renders them absolutely useless. But that’s nothing compared to the problems other people are having right now. Read this:- http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23402936-details/'We've+all+been+forgotten'+say+30,000+UK+flood+victims/articl...

Have you encountered any faeries while wandering the ancient woods and heathery moor of Caldy Hill? While sitting by a dark and peaty pool cradled by mighty oaks and rustling rowans, were you startled by a sudden hush, when all the birds ceased singing and even the restless breezes from the yawning mouth of the Dee fell still? It is just possible that a faerie may have been passing by. I don’t mean the kind of cartoon “fairy” with a sparkly tutu and gossamer wings. They’re just make-believe. I mean the real, ancient kind of faerie; the kind who can enchant with a glance and whose beauty might steal your heart, if not your soul. Did you know that the seals which congregate on Hoyle Bank beyond Hilbre Island have a secret other-life? And do you know the real reason why the sea never returned to Parkgate harbour? Further clarification can be obtained by reading A Wirral Otherkin Trilogy , which was published this week by Amazon. This trio of Dark Fantasy stories consist of Frog ...

“Let’s go for a day out,” said hubby, gazing expectantly at Monday’s clear blue sky. Off we went, evidently having missed one Chester bus but we happily waited for the next, scheduled for half-an-hour later. By the time we accepted that this bus was never going to materialise, we resigned ourselves to waiting for the next one. Finally, we settled down to the enjoyable journey through the western towns and villages of the Wirral peninsula until, when just beyond Neston, the driver yelled, “No brakes!” I thought his driving had been getting a little hairy. Fortunately, he stopped the vehicle safely then radioed for help. Another bus would come for us all, he said. So we waited. And we waited. One little old lady loudly grumbled about her missed appointment. No doubt this was inconvenient to her, but rather less so than crashing upside-down into a ditch, surely! Not to be consoled, she declared she was going to write to the council about it. Perhaps they might consider passing a byl...

Apparently one of my poems was read aloud on Terry Wogan 's radio show this morning. My sister Evelyn told me this in an email, and I honestly don't know a thing about it. I haven't submitted any work to the BBC. My friend Wendy has just phoned me to say she'd heard it on the car radio around 7.30am. She was on the way to work at the time. A rapid Google search didn't identify any other poet with the same name as myself, however. Then again, it can't yet be presumsed that everyone has internet access. So, I'm still none the wiser. As I write this, the house is in a state of controlled chaos. Screaming drills and stomping workmen’s boots, hammering and sawing herald the arrival of B-Day! That’s Bathroom Day, in case you wondered. Our old and extraordinarily vile bathroom suite is currently sitting on our front lawn awaiting proper disposal. Upstairs, in what truly is the smallest room of the house, various repairs are starting to take place prior to the...