Here is a preview of the cover for Bethany Rose .  It continues with the visual theme for the other two novels in the Artisan-Sorcerer series, this time using a flower from the Rosa mundi which grows in my garden. The flower was chosen for its symbolism, as with the images on the other book covers. 

The Faerie Pond on Caldy Hill In a recent blog post, Jennifer Rainey  included some photos of the Hocking Hills region in southeast Ohio, where she sets some of her fiction.  As most readers of my blog will already know, my fiction tends to be set locally to me, and one of the locations I use is Caldy Hill.  Why?  Well, it's a beautiful place, it's only a short walk from my home, it's peaceful and ancient, and the air is full of birdsong and the fragrances of heather and broom carried on salty breezes coming off the Dee estuary.  Jays, crows, wood pigeons, turtle doves, goldfinches, bullfinches and owls nest there.  There are rabbits, bats, foxes, lizards, adders and badgers.  There are benches perfect for meditating while gazing along the River Dee, over to Flintshire or out to sea. In my fiction, Caldy Hill is home to the notorious Caldy fae.  If you're expecting sugary-cute, tutu-wearing, small faeries probably clutching a sparkly wand, and ...

Take a look at this well-made video which presents a large selection of ancient Mayan artifacts carved with images which, to 21st century interpretation, look like aliens. I don't place much credence on the 'aliens from outer space' theory, as the sheer practicalities of any species travelling for untold light years just to arrive here, create geometric designs in a few crop fields, or dismember a few cows or probe a few drunks' backsides is just too silly. If a species possessed the technology to travel rapidly from other planets, don't you think they'd have the sense to pick up a copy of Gray's Anatomy ? (It's even almost named for them...!) Inter-dimensional travel makes far more rational sense. If you assume you are aware of everything around you, watch this very short video  from an earlier blog post of mine.  So, (assuming you did watch the video!) if you miss that much going on in the dimension which we're all familiar with, then how...

"Data gathered by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society in 2007 revealed a median income for authors of just £4,000." There is an interesting and revealing survey here which looks at authors' experiences of publishers.  The above quote augments my recent blog post about most writers needing an alternative source of income other than writing. Organising finances can be tricky when income is erratic.  Amanda Clayman is a psychotherapist specialising in financial well-being, and here she talks about some of the traps that writers and artists often fall into. John Scalzi claims he has made an average of $100,000 from writing for the last decade (in an article written in 2008).  Read his financial advice for writers here .  The article has a strong American bias but the ideas are valid for writers of any country.  He, too, says that most writers need another source of income such as a second job or a partner who doesn't mind partially supporting...

Mad dog & English hen stay out of the mid-day sun. Standing around like a headless chicken. Summer has arrived.  How long it lasts, this being Britain, is another matter but for now the sun is blazing and the sky is pretending to be Mediterranean.  A mere two weeks ago I was glad of my winter coat as hail stones and biting winds howled down the mouth of the River Dee.  Today all the house windows and the French doors are thrown open and, as can be seen from the two photos above, the menagerie has been hiding from the heat of the day.  And these are just the pets I could find.  The other hens had vanished beneath shady shrubs, and our cat Jasper is nowhere to be seen.  Fear not, she'll return at 5.55pm sharp in time for food at 6pm.  She always does. Jasper is once again without a collar.  We no sooner buy her a new one and she contrives to lose it.  I told Richard that we might as well just tie a £5 ...

Joe Konrath's written a great blog post here , which explains the veiled ramifications of publishing contracts.  If you are still in the long-winded and frustrating process of hunting down an agent and publisher, I recommend that you take the time to read this post as it could change the way you think about the publishing industry and, if you're still dithering over the prospect of self-publishing, help you climb off that fence. Self-publishing used to be classed as the last bastion of the desperate.  Writers who self-published were giggled at, the usual assumption being that if you had to DIY it was because no 'proper' publisher thought the work worthy of investment.  And so the wannabe writer tended to pay for course after course, searching for the magic pill which would cure whichever literary malady prevented the blossoming of their ambitions.  If only their work was good enough, polished enough, individual enough while still nestling neatly...

Neil Gaiman addresses an audience of university graduates in this interesting video, in which he talks about creating good art, writing, self-belief and the changing face of distribution.  Watch it here:  http://player.vimeo.com/video/42372767?color=ffffff