Until the end of this month my books will be on sale. Read the first novel in the Artisan-Sorcerer series, Tamsin , for FREE. Other books are FREE too, and others have been hugely discounted. This is just my little contribution to those many people who are on lockdown at home while this awful coronavirus/COVID 19 rages around the globe. Or, if you're a keyworker like me, still going to work every day despite the virus, then you might enjoy reading something that's new to you. This offer is only available via Smashwords. Here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AdeleCosgroveBray You're invited to make the most of these bargains. Then, after you've read them, you could help by posting reviews either on Smashwords or anywhere else online. Reviews are really important to find new readers, so I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to write a few lines of honest review.

Bee, Happy; watercolour; May 2020. When we moved here five years ago I sprinkled some poppy seeds, poppies being one of my favourite flowers. Typically, the poppies did not grow where I'd cast the seeds. They migrated to the opposite side of the garden where, rather than thrive in the sensible flower bed chosen for them, they opted to cling precariously onto life by plunging their delicate roots between the foundations of a brick wall and a concrete path. Every year they've come up more plentiful so they must like it there. Besides, they enliven an otherwise boring wall. Flowers aren't my go-to choice of subject, as regular readers of this blog will know. However, there they were, bobbing in the spring breeze and looking gorgeous. So I thought why not give it a go? And here's the result, which I've called B ee, Happy.  The painting is on A3 Daler Rowney Aquafine, cold pressed, 300lbs, and I've used a combination of Daler Rowney watercolours with Winsor ...

Here are March's efforts for my one-sketch-per-day project, now presented as a short video. Do let me know what you think, or if you've any suggestions or ideas. Actually, the hyacinth you see in one of the watercolour sketches here has now finished flowering so I've planted it in the garden. Hopefully it will come up again next year. It was in our living room, where it filled the air with its delicious, heady perfume. We're living in strange times, hmm? The news is laden with tragic death counts and infection rates and tales of life under the shadow of the coronavirus/COVID 19. The restaurant where my husband works is closed and this is his third week at home. So far he's weeded the garden, washed down all the windows inside and out, spring-cleaned the house and finished reading the entire series of graphic novels of the X-Men. At the time of typing this, he's just come back from walking the dogs and is now listening to Scala Radio while reading a Derek...

Here is a video slideshow of my paintings and drawings from last year. I hope you enjoy looking through this collection of watercolours, oils and drawings, plus a few related photos. So other than making a few videos, what have I been doing? Since Xmas the life drawing group which I attend has been suspended due to the organiser's ill health, but to keep drawing regularly I began a new daily sketch project. It's been fun to turn these into little slideshow videos which you can see in posts below or on YouTube. Do subscribe to my channel there, as more videos will be posted regularly and there are already over 70. Last Wednesday saw me enjoying lunch in Southport with my sister Evelyn. We had a slow amble round the shops and between us bought absolutely nothing, excluding the utterly gorgeous orange and chocolate cake from a cafe in the Wayfarers Arcade . The arcade itself is a genuinely beautiful Grade II listed building with a lovely arching glass roof and ornate mahoga...

I have decided to present this on-going one-sketch-per-day project as a monthly video slideshow rather than as a picture-by-picture blog post as it's simply quicker this way. Can I encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube channel? There're over 70 of my videos there already and I plan to add to these.

According to this article , in 2019 just 26% of under-18s spent some time each day reading, and only  53% said they read books purely for pleasure. This is the lowest level recorded by the National Literacy Trust since 2005. Elsewhere in The Guardian , it was reported that, "According to a 2018 Author’s Guild Study the median income of all published authors for all writing related activity was $6,080 in 2017, down from $10,500 in 2009; while the median income for all published authors based solely on book-related activities went from $3,900 to $3,100, down 21%. Roughly 25% of authors earned $0 in income in 2017." As I've written previously , all writers have experienced a steady decline in book sales. There is so much free reading available online, including free books by the thousands just waiting to be downloaded. Consequently most writers, including traditionally published writers with established reputations and fan-bases, hold down conventional jobs as well. I...