Today I discovered that the timer on my effectively prehistoric Kodak has died. When this tragedy happened I do not know. It passed away peacefully in the back of a drawer, its fate only coming to light when, of course, it was needed in a hurry. Now, a normal person would simply wait for a passing buddy to take aim with a camera so the required shot could be taken. This would have been much easier. Instead, as I needed to get the image emailed off sharpish, I had to improvise with the camera on my PC. First there was too much light coming in from the window beside me. Then, with curtains closed, there wasn't enough light so I created something of a homage to Heath Robinson with an assortment of spotlights and tinfoil reflectors. I had been asked to pose holding my books. That's easier said than done when one hand is needed to operate a computer mouse. And smile - but not so you end up looking as ridiculous as you feel while posing like this. Well, here's the result. Pleas...

Emily and Poppi inspect pools of water beside the sea wall.   Hoylake Beach   Looking towards Hilbre Island   Adele at Red Rocks, Hoylake, with dogs Emily and Poppi.     Richard sitting on Red Rocks, on Hoylake Beach. Sand dunes and grassy marsh running from Red Rocks alongside West Kirby beach. Sparrowhawk hovering over the grassy sand dunes along West Kirby beach.   Several of my short stories and one of my Artisan-Sorcerer novels, Rowan , are set close to Hoylake and West Kirby beaches.  So here're a few photos so you can see the location for yourself.  Richard and I were here this morning, taking our dogs for a walk.  It was breezy but sunny and pleasant, though three hours later it's pouring down.  The weather is typically changeable here, being right on the coast and with being a peninsula, which seems to create its own microclimate anyway.   Click on the photos to see them bigger, ...

 It's bargain time, people!  Win a FREE ebook copy of Rowan:  An Artisan-Sorcerer Story. All you have to do is answer the following question:  Where was Rowan and his aunt living at the start of the novel? You will find the information on the page dedicated to Rowan via the menu above. The first ten people to  email the correct answer to ACBwrites@aol.com will receive a coupon code which can be redeemed at Smashwords, where a variety of ereader formats are offered.  Plain text or HTML versions are also available.  Another option is to download a free ereader to your PC from Amazon or Adobe if you haven't done so already. Competition ends on December 19th, 2012, when the coupon will expire. Good luck!

This is the first in a series of fictional interviews with characters from the Artisan-Sorcerer series, done purely for fun.  This first is with Rowan, who appears in the novel of the same name plus the as-yet unreleased novel, Fabian.   He also appears in Intimations , a collection of five short Artisan-Sorcerer stories. About Rowan: Rowan lives with secrets. His family know nothing of his life after his mother banished him from the family home.  Rowan is attracted to the handsome and vivacious Aiden, a member of Morgan Gruffudd's secretive community of artisan-sorcerers.  But blackmail threatens to destroy the new life Rowan has been building.  People are dying - and Rowan is caught in the middle of a secret war.  Character sketch of Rowan Over to Rowan... Name:   Rowan Adshead. Age:   19. Distinguishing features:   Green eyes, sandy-auburn hair, slim build. Place of Birth:   Liverpool.   My mo...

The new ebook cover for Rowan ....

Never underestimate a Jack Russell Terrier     It's a pity this photo didn't turn out better.  I've tried tweaking it but the image suffers from poor exposure.  I had been busy in the kitchen and decided to check up on our two Jack Russells.  They'd dragged a cushion off the couch and taken it onto the patio.  And there they were, contentedly sunbathing in comfort.  I didn't want them to stand up before I had chance to take the photo, so I quickly put the batteries back into my digi camera - it devours batteries if they're not removed - and snapped this on Auto.  Is that cute or what, hmm?   It is as well that they enjoyed the sunshine as it's poured with rain almost non-stop since.  The car park behind The Concourse was largely underwater last night as Tim and I arrived for the Riverside Writers meeting.  We discussed several versions of the proposed front cover for Seaside Stories, as this project is nearing complet...

One of our garden's visitors A friend challenged me to sum up the themes of my novels in just two or three words. After a few moments, I said that Tamsin is about making choices, Rowan is about taking responsibility, Bethany Rose is about overcoming adversity;and Fabian is about taking control. It was an interesting exercise as I'd not consciously thought about it before. Have a go yourself, either with something you've written or with a few favourites novels. If you're wondering what's happening on the writing front: (a) I've nearly finished correcting the proof copy of Bethany Rose ; (b) the Seaside Stories anthology is still receiving a few submissions; (c) I'm selecting and completing work for another short story collection; and (d) there was an article about cryonics in Marie Claire magazine's August issue which featured me and two friends. I hadn't known the relevant magazine issue had come out until Freddie told me. She and I have b...

Get ready for some great ebook bargains! All through July, the first novel in my Artisan-Sorcerer series, Tamsin will be at 50% its usual cost. Many other ebook titles will be at 25% their usual cost, while Spanish Jones and The Karens will be entirely FREE! All you have to do is visit Smashwords  then make your choice. A wide variety of ereader formats are available, and if you don't have an ereader you can download a free one from Adobe or Amazon, or download an HTML file which you can read on your usual computer. And when you've done that and read your heart out, how about writing a few reviews on Smashwords, or on your blog or forum - or will you take part in this forthcoming competition? Competition Time! Are you artistic? Create a web banner or some fanart based on the Artisan-Sorcerer series! Entry fee = NONE! Prizes = FREE EBOOK copy of the forthcoming 3rd novel in the Artisan-Sorcerer series,  BETHANY ROSE, for every contribu...

My neice Catherine sent me this (slightly squiffy!) press cutting, from the Leigh Journal , in which I'm talking about Rowan .  If you click on the image you will be able to read it. The emphasis on vampires is a bit misleading.  Rowan really isn't a novel about vampires, although Aiden claims to have certain vampiric abilities (which Fabian seems to dismiss).  Rowan is more concerned with a young man taking control of his life and finding his place in the world.  I don't want to say too much, and therefore spoil the story for you.  But I can truly say that since publishing Rowan on Smashwords yesterday, copies have been selling at a much improved pace.   

As of this morning, Rowan is now entering wider ebook distribution.  For the last three months it has been exclusive to Kindle KDP Select, but having completed its time there I chose not to renew it.  So now you can download it from Smashwords in a selection of ereader formats, and once it's worked its way into their Premium Catalogue (which usually takes around two weeks) it will be distributed to the various outlets listed in the side-bar here. If you prefer a paperback copy, you can get that from Amazon.com also.   

Having read through Mark Coker's free ebook, The Secrets of Ebook Publishing Success , it seems I'm already doing pretty much everything he suggests - with one main exception.  The front covers of Tamsin and Rowan didn't give quite enough information.  A browser needs to be able to know, at a glance, what the product is and if it's likely to be their kind of thing. So, after a bit of thinking, I've now re-worked the front covers slightly by adding a subtitle which reads simply, "An artisan-sorcerer story."  This lets a browser know they're looking at a series, that the series doesn't have a number and so can be read in any order, and also gives a minimalist description of what the book is about.  Having re-done the covers, I then uploaded new versions to Smashwords and Kindle.  Rowan is currently only available on Kindle, but the paperback version should be out within days.  After May 17th, Rowan will have completed its three month's e...

Enjoy!   

You can read a small piece about  Rowan in yesterday's online edition of the Leigh Reporter here.   

Preview of paperback cover for Rowan Here's a preview of the cover for the paperback edition of Rowan (ISBN 978-1470139537), which should be available to buy by the end of March.  You can buy the ebook version right now from Kindle.  For the time being, the digital version is exclusive to Kindle as part of their KDP Select project.  So far, even though the Rowan ebook was only published eight days ago, sales are doing rather nicely.  Take a look at the dedicated page here, if you haven't already, to learn more about this novel.   

Rowan lives with secrets. His family know nothing of his life after his mother banished him from the family home.  Rowan is attracted to the handsome and vivacious Aiden, a member of Morgan Gruffudd's secretive community of artisan-sorcerers.  But blackmail threatens to destroy the new life Rowan has been building.  People are dying - and Rowan is caught in the middle of a secret war . Rowan by Adele Cosgrove-Bray ASIN: B007ASQYIC Available now on Amazon Kindle. Visit the dedicated page for Rowan here to learn more - just use the menu above.   

Hot off the software, here's the proposed front cover for Rowan , which should be available as an ebook by the end of this month.  All the shells used are from either West Kirby beach or Red Rocks, Hoyake, which is where Rowan would have collected them.  Some of the poetry which Rowan writes features shells.  Anyway, let me know what you think of the cover. Other than creating this, today I had an appointment with my dentist - a lovely man whose kindness has helped me overcome my childhood horror of dentists, which was caused by the horror of a dentist I was made to attend as a child.   Why my sister Hazel and I were continually sent to this uncaring, even cruel person I do not know.  His syringes had a similar thickness to knitting needles, and the drill he used was a huge thing on a folding arm which made your entire head vibrate.  As soon as I reached my teens I rebelled and went elsewhere, and Hazel swiftly did likewise.  ...

Snowdrops in my garden. I've been wearing my techie hat today, giving this site a much-needed re-design.  Instead of having all my books for sale in one heap, on one page, I've split them up.  Now all the short stories are together, the two poetry ebooks are together, and Tamsin and Rowan  have dedicated pages.  It's easier for people to find what they're looking for, and I can add character sketches and other relevant bits 'n' bobs. I am also considering shipping the bibliography to HubPages.  There, it can rest in peace while satisfying the zealous administrator aspect of my make-up.  Here, it's a bit pointless maybe?  People might be confused between which material is currently available and which is not.  It always surprises me how long these 'little jobs' can take.  Let me know what you think, anyway.  And if you've any bright ideas for making the site better, please feel free to share them.    ...

Top: Fabian; Second & Third: Rowan - pencil and coloured pencil sketches on lined paper. Some of my fictional characters had their origins in old RPG forums and/or blogs.  Fabian, Tamsin and Bethany Rose certainly did, though all have evolved considerably since then.  I've always found the creative process interesting for its own sake.  As well as using character charts, I occasionally sketch the fictional people I write about.  This week, I've been looking for a way of compiling these in a way that appeals to me.  Sketchbooks, being largely experimental or given over to quickly-done work, oftentimes end up containing a few tolerable sketches hidden away amidst a pile of glorified doodles.  Well, mine do anyway!  I'd like to put together some kind of album-cum-scrapbook which combines the best sketches and maybe even some finished art, photography and various mixed media to depict each character's... well, ch...

Watercolour and pencil sketch, finished today...  This is a depiction of Rowan, who appears in my short story  Seagull Inn which can be read in Ruins Terra published by Hadley Rille Books.  He also appears anonymously in another short story, Shell Boy , which is published in Riverside Writers 2010 anthology, and is the main character in the eponymously named novel.