Our hallway is blocked by two huge boxes containing the new chicken house. The blurb insists it will take between ten and fifteen minutes to convert these two flat-packs into the house and run but having experienced the joys of self-assembly before, I remain sceptical. The chicken house which Mum gave me is made from re-used wood and isn’t as watertight as it needs to be. It soaks up water from beneath, which is very bad for the birds’ health. Plus we wanted to give them a bigger run anyway. So I scoured the internet and found something much better. All I have to do now is assemble it then we can have our hall back and Hattie and Joyce can move house (again!) I’m just back from a trip into the village. There’s an icy wind coming off the sea today but it’s pleasant once you get walking. I’d tackle the flat-packs now but the light will be fading soon, and so instead I’ll update this blog. So what’s new? Well, I’ve now completed the first draft of Bethany Rose , and am happy with

Work on Bethany Rose has kept me busy, as I’m on the last three or four thousand words now. The total word count will run over my intended 100,000 words but as I’ve already decided to delete one minor character completely that’s not an issue. This is only the first draft, of course; there’s a lot of work to be done yet, editing and polishing. Some people balk at this aspect of writing but I thoroughly enjoy it. I’ve enjoyed writing Bethany’s story. Her character’s an interesting mixture of contradictions; sensitive but strong, creative but practical, and incredibly brave in the face of awful circumstances. She’s a very different person from Tamsin, that’s for sure. But I won’t say too much about her publicly for now. I’ve also been enjoying our two chickens. In the spring, Mum began talking about having two pet chickens. She gave it some thought, and by early summer they were in residence in her small garden. Richard laughed and told her we’d have them by Xmas. Well he was right, a

October 31st saw an evening or short monologues by various writers from Wirral performed by members of the Carlton Players . The event was organised by Jenny Humphreys . Three other members of Riverside Writers took part, apart from myself: Tim Hulme , Carol Falaki and Peter Hurd . My contribution was one of my short pieces involving the Caldy fae, The Faerie Tree , which is partly autobiographical. This was performed by Angela Keeler , who has been acting for seventeen years. My photos are poor, my only excuse being the tricky lighting conditions which my digi isn't clever enough to cope with - sharp spotlights from the ceiling and bar area, and deep shadows. I had to push the highlight option in PhotoImpression 4 to extremes in order to be able to see much of the stage area. With my old and trusty Pentax SLR it would have been a doddle.

Tim Hulme Peter Hurd Peter Caton Carol Falaki Andy Siddle Adele Cosgrove-Bray

Am I ready for tonight? I organised it, so I should hope so… Yesterday, I was chatting to Julie Mann , one of the librarians at West Kirby Library, and we remarked how the initial planning for New Tales for Old Byways had begun at a meeting a year ago. That was when the Wirral Bookfest had been scheduled for April, before the threatened library closures set everything back months. Julie will be taking photos tonight, just as she did for last year’s Words from Wordsmiths event. Wirral TV will be filming tonight’s event. This was confirmed only yesterday. It should be an interesting experience to have a film crew moving around. I’ll be reading Seth’s Basement , which introduces one man’s strange hobby; and also Food, which is one of my series about the Caldy Hill fae. But the program is very diverse, being a group effort. Hope to see you there!

This photo was taken during a recent walk along the sand dunes, at Red Rocks in Hoylake. The solitary figure sitting on the sandstone outcrop, gazing towards Middle Eye and Hilbre Island, reminded me strongly of Rowan. This exactly captures the pose which Rowan would fall into, and in one of his favourite locations too. Editing Rowan is coming along well. I’ve almost reached the end of the MS, and my next task will be to put all my alterations onto disc and reprint the hardcopy so I can clearly see what I’m looking at. I’ve gone over the existing paper MS five or six times already. If you’d like to see some of the places where my stories are set, then I’ll invite you to visit http://hubpages.com/profile/AdeleCosgroveBray

Ah, yes, every rainy Sunday afternoon when I was a child, my father's vinyl record collection would emerge from the gargantuan radiogram - a prized object the size of a sideboard, with a radio and record player built into it. A crackly loudspeaker was at either end, and inside was a slot intended to house the average person’s entire record collection, (probably around twenty LPs at the most.)   So the rain would fall, and the house would smell of the remains of Sunday dinner - a traditional roast, followed by a somewhat solid rice pudding - and rolling out of the prized loudspeakers would come such ‘delights’ as Delaney’s Donkey (as in the YouTube vid above) and Paddy McGuinty’s Goat , the theme music to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Paint Your Wagon and, just when it seemed things could not get worse, the dreaded James Last Orchestra. Ah, yes, the trials of youth…

Riverside Writers’ meeting last night was unusually well attended, largely due to the coverage given in the local press about an event I'd organised. We were joined by Gary Smailes from Bubblecow http://www.bubblecow.com/  who delivered an information-packed talk about today’s publishing business and the value of social networking. First Gary talked about the pros and cons of self-publishing, and the various options available. These roughly fall into two categories - the kind you pay for, or the web-based sort where you upload your MS to a print-on-demand site. Self-publishing is really only a valid option if you plan to sell a limited number of copies to a pre-established audience, such as friends and family or a circle of acquaintances who share a specific interest relevant to your book. Increasingly, mainstream publishers instantly reject any self-published works unless they have sold an absolute minimum of 3,000 copies, and very few achieve this. Gary then moved on t

Events listings leaflet for Wirral Bookfest 2009; reproduced with permission. To view larger, simply click on either image, then click on 'All Sizes' in the menu bar. The countdown to this year's Bookfest begins! We will be presenting New Tales from Old Byways at 7pm on Wednesday, October 14th at West Kirby Library. All our stories and poems will have a local Wirral theme, which means they will be set locally or have some link with the area. This is the second time Riverside Writers has taken part in this week-long festival, which will see twenty-one events taking place in libraries across the peninsula. The head librarian at West Kirby Library, told me there has been a lot of interest in New Tales for Old Byways already.

Richard took this photo of me yesterday. It was taken in our garden; you can see part of the thick curtain of glossy ivy which climbs up the wooden fence by the contorted hazel tree, right by the entrance to the Grove or "circular lawn" as I obliquely describe it in my latest Hubpage: http://hubpages.com/hub/Adeles-Garden The photo was taken for use with my author's bio for a horror/dark fantasy anthology to be edited by Raven Digitalis , who started this project two years ago. Raven intends to submit the MS to an interested prospective publisher on October 1st. My contribution was Spanish Jones , part one of which was broadcast live on 7 Waves Radio in October last year. It's a tale of pirates, selkies and witches fighting to the death on Hilbre Island and Middle Eye. Anyway, here's hoping that the MS will be accepted. Meanwhile, Riverside Writers have now received one quote for printing our anthology. Obviously we're waiting for other quotes to come in, b

While Richard spent the morning trying to sleep off one of his infamous migraines, I wrote more of Seth’s Basement , my effort for this month’s Riverside Writer’s project which was set on the theme of The Artificial Head. It’s been fun to write, and as far-fetched as my story may seem it’s actually based on a guy who had a similar set-up in his own basement. Truth can be stranger than fiction, for sure; I named one of my fictional mannequins Anton after the real-life character. Riverside Writers’ next meeting is tomorrow night, and we’re going to be joined by editor Maurice James who’ll be giving a talk about the kind of things editors look for in submitted MS.   Maurice runs the annual Coast to Coast writing competition. It’s been raining constantly here today, and both dogs are restless. It’s walkies time and they know they’re going nowhere. If it was just a light shower I’d dress Emily and Ygraine in their little raincoats and off we’d go. At least the fickle English weather

Photos from Parallel Dimensions, the Fantasy and Science-Fiction event organised by me, which took place at West Kirby Library, Wirral, on 11th July, 2009. Adrienne Odasso David Tallerman Hazel Dixon David Clements Adele Cosgrove-Bray

After the recent horrific heat, now we have charcoal skies, strong breezes and monsoon rain. All hail the English summer…! So who’s been watching Torchwood ? The longer story format works well, I think; better than the one story per episode format, as the plot is much more rounded. I prefer Torchwood to Dr Who --not that with our resident Dr Who fan I don’t end up watching both. Usually, anyway. I’ve been reading Laurell K Hamilton’s  Skin Trade (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter)  and there’s only one thing wrong with it--I’ve got stacks of work to do and I keep thinking about what’s happening in that instead. No, seriously, it’s an excellent detective story. The prose is tight and the plot fast-paced, and so far (¾ through the novel) Anita’s kept her knickers on. No doubt they’ll fly off at some point. However, the emphasis of this novel is firmly on hunting down the bad guys. A great read. I was chatting with someone recently--no names to be mentioned--and she was complaining about t

Publicity seeping through: http://www.wirral.gov.uk/Events/events_0000586.html http://www.scifi.co.uk/news/2009/06/stephen-hunts-sci-fi-news-roundup-22nd-june-2009/ http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/news/arc/2009/nz14021.php http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/yoursay/blogs/reader_blogs/adelecosgrovebray/4433404.Parallel_Dimensions_/

Anyone with an interest in the Adshead, Ashbrook, Bray and McGowan family tree is welcome to visit http://hubpages.com/hub/Four-Branches  where I’ve created a webpage with photos about this. Today we have monsoon rain, which is a pleasant change from living in an oven turned on full. This heat wave has not been fun, and fortunately Ygraine was already booked to be groomed this week. Her coat is so thick and dense that she really suffers during hot spells. She’s much happier today. Actually she’s wrapped round my feet as I type this. She’s pretending to be asleep but she’s waiting for walkies. One move from this chair, and she’ll be spinning in excited circles. When I helped the groomer, Lisa, to he car with her equipment, the door slammed shut. I’d forgotten to put the catch on and so I was locked out. The front room widows were open, and a neighbour--a slender teenager who’s twice my height (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration…) climbed through easily and opened the door for

I have been waging war on the kitchen ceiling, polyfiller and spatula at the ready. The job would be so much easier if I could levitate. This would save having to climb up a stepladder and twist half-upside down so I can smooth away miniature potholes which bring something of a lunar texture to our temple of culinary experimentation. The house acts like a magnet for moths. There was a large, fat orange-brown one flitting round earlier, and snoozing on the ceiling is a particularly beautiful moth which looks like a Spanish lace fan. No wonder so many have been hanging out in our house--the bats are out in full force tonight. I've been photographing a few things in the garden, and have also begun weeding around the grove--which is badly overgrown with mare's tail. I've yet to find anything which can kill off mare's tail without destroying the soil for years to come. Anyway, the good news is that my Lady's Mantle has re-established itself under the contorted hazel-

Gurdjieff 's sacred dances as portrayed in the film based on his book,  Meetings with Remarkable Men   An essay about Thomas Joseph Walton (AKA West Cheshire Lad or simply "T" ) which mentions the influence of Gurdjieff's philosophy on his own can be read here: http://hubpages.com/hub/West-Cheshire-Lad This also includes previously unshared quotes from Divine Will: The Infinite Influence of All and Everything plus some illustrations which you won't have seen elsewhere.

By West Cheshire Lad AKA Thomas Joseph Walton The Universe is in a perfect harmony of Oneness, vibrating in a perfect rhythm and harmony of timeless movement, perfect in this timeless movement, a sameness in its perfection. This sameness or Oneness is not influenced in the receptor in its Oneness or Sameness, influence occurs in the receptors according to their vibrating energy and nucleus, influenced by the Great Transmitter, all puppets that manifest in the countless diversities. Each receptor is influenced and governed by the vibrating force field from the Universal Law, the Great Transmitter. Brain intelligence has little or no say in this influence. This sense of influence is positively expressed in all creation, influencing evolution, devolution, behaviour pattern etc. It is said some artists can perceive many colours of green etc, in nature’s herbage, an influence far above others in that field; also the smells, odours and aromas are not picked up by the same people. Each r

by Peter Hurd, Treasurer for Riverside Writers .

A pleasant weekend; Cat arrived, limp with a heavy cold but happy that her studies and exams are over for the summer. She carried off some of the books I'd piled up, having had another major clear out of works which I have no desire to read again. Some books can be returned to indefinitely over years, decades even. Others are a once-only experience. I can't see the purpose of storing objects which attract more dust than interest. I'm in the process of making more space in the front bedroom as this is to become "my" room. My office will probably be in there eventually, plus more space for my painting and needlecrafts, plus (more importantly) a dedicated meditation area. I already have ideas for the decor but first I need to find new homes for that "really useful stuff" which all homes collect, like DIY tools and half-empty tins of paint. How many DIY tools are in your home, and how often do you actually use them? And when you come to use them, isn'

by Thomas Joseph Walton AKA West Cheshire Lad Hark! ‘Tis for me the stormcock’s striking note! Sentinel on poplar bough, bugler o’er castle moat! My carol: - the wild shout of challenging mistle thrush, Piercing trumpet call shrill o’er hawthorn bush. Farewell! My heart pangs of a bygone day, Of many happy hours, years in a flowered bouquet Embraced in years to the perfumed rose. Ah, so short the day, my sweet repose. Call again, O wind on summer plain! Your whispering byways I will travel again. Come! Drink again the breath of wild thyme, Awakened to your peaceful beauty, joy sublime. Entranced, I gaze on lofty rocky crag, Silhouette of the battle-scarred old warrior stag. I’ll take the walk on pastures green again, To feel the breath, the beating of your rain. Alas, - the visions that flash before my faded eye Of birds on wing, as feathery clouds float by. What bliss I found, my childhood days to roam Along your leafy lanes, your fields of furrowed loam. When

Known by his closest circle as Tom, or simply “T”, Thomas Joseph Walton would have seemed an unassuming man even to most people. He served in the Merchant Navy. Before retirement, he was employed (as far as I understand) as a diver by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. He married his childhood sweetheart, Vera, and together they had two daughters and two sons. He self-published a collection of his poetry, West Cheshire Lad , (1973; 1974) plus an earlier collection titled Poems and Prose (1967). Using the pseudonym of West Cheshire Lad , he also self-published a treatise on his philosophy, which he called Divine Will: The Infinite Influence of All and Everything . Only fifty of these were printed for private circulation. However, copies are available for public viewing at the National Library of Scotland: http://discover.nls.uk/default.ashx?q=West+Cheshire+Lad&searchtype=1&cx=004988112283334510717%3Alqhse3e39qi&ie=UTF-8 His philosophy was heavily influenced by th

Visit this site to watch a short video of Wirral's first Junior Poet Laureate, Holly Green, when she performed some of her own work as part of Wirral Bookfest 2008. The video includes shots of West Kirby, the beach and marina, and the venue for Holly's reading is West Kirby Library. If you're quick, you can spot me in the audience. http://www.wirraltv.net/wirral-bookfest-the-best-word

Algid skies have enveloped this typically limpid spring Bank Holiday, and Emily has decided to hybernate. Perhaps she is still recouperating after chasing Cat round the garden on Sunday. Emily has adeptly trained my niece in the art of playing tag with a headless rubber duck. Cat has yet to accept that she cannot ever hope to win. Two human feet in competition with four nimble Jack Russell paws haven't a hope in Hades. Ygraine determinedly kept out of it, being perfectly content to snooze under the St John's wort. Only the enticing scents of a roasting chicken, wafting graciously through the open kitchen window, kept her from sliding completely into dreamy oblivion.  And Emily? Well, the photo tells that story.

On the TV news this morning was one of the two Scotsmen who have allegedly become infected with swine flu. He said it felt like having a head-cold. In other words, he had the sniffles. Every year, flu viruses reduce the population slightly. As has been suggested elsewhere, the sales of potions to protect against such bugs generates much lucre; and the medicine itself also fills a few extra coffins. Every so often there really is a pandemic--or so history reports. Certainly right now the press is having a merry time predicting devastation from this pig-related flu, perhaps as it conveniently distracts people from thinking about the pig’s ear which seems to have been created in the world of finance. Medical folk keep telling us that stress reduces the ability of our immune systems to ward off viruses (and ill-health in general.) Worrying about pig flu could therefore possibly increase a person's susceptibility to it. Anyway, whilst busily peeling the veg for tonight’s dinner,

Apps seem to be everywhere now, spreading like rampant rabbits across cyberspace. Logging-on to a social network now requires extra time just to delete the latest invasion of apps which have arrived while life unfolded on the flesh-and-blood side of the computer screen. Altering settings to “ignore all” only works for those apps already jamming your inbox. An absence of only a few days results in an avalanche of new apps offering to perform a multitude of tasks, each a celebration of utter trivia. Trivia can be fun sometimes. And I too have been known to send people virtual flowers or improbable eggs out of which hatch all creatures bizarre and pixilated. However, an acceptance of all the cyber-gifts which I’ve been merrily sent would require profile pages so engorged with multitudinous apps that its downloading might result in the instantaneous combustion of my computer. I like my computer. Therefore, if I have declined your invitation to play Hangman, hunt assorted monsters,

What do you call a hedge-witch who eats too much cake?  A hedge-hog. I know; it's a terrible joke - but it's had me giggling throughout lunch. Blame Tal for emailing it to me. Its arrival was timely, as I was already relishing an evil chuckle or two following a conversation with a Wicaan acquaintance who is unemployed having walked out of a job. I won’t go into the reasons why she left; too long a story. Anyway, she was bemoaning her lack of cash so I suggested she perform a working to attract a job to herself. She stared at me as if I had grown a second head. “That’s not allowed!” “Why ever not?” According to X (as I shall name her here), Wicaan beliefs forbid the use or any magic to benefit themselves. “So if you were ill,” I said, “you wouldn’t use herb lore to help heal yourself?” That’s different, she said. That would be ok. So I likened getting a job to a form of healing; after all, she would have been healing her bank account. “But using magic to earn

"The taxpayer is required to pay £40m a year to cover the costs of having chaplains on call in hospitals. An obvious alternative...would be for patients to be visited by their own local vicar, rabbi or imam. "In a population of over 6o million, a little over 1.1 million regularly attend Church of England services. In hospital, even allowing for a few thousand panicky, injury-time conversions to faith, the non-believers are in a majority. "It is bizarre, and occasionally downright sadistic, that the grievously sick, the dying and the bereaved are forced into the arms of a priest, whether or not they happen to be believers." Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-why-is-support-for-the-sick-a-religious-issue-1666750.html I hadn't even realised that we tax payers were paying for hospital chaplains. Surely £40m would be better spent on training and employing more nurses, buying new equipment, or on providin

Tim Hulme 's short story, The Trunk in Granny's Attic , was published in this month's edition of Writers' Forum after winning first place in this magazine's competition. As winner, he was also awarded £300. Tim has been a member of Riverside Writers for something like seven years. He holds the post of Secretary and Co-Treasurer for the group. He is also a member of Port Sunlight Writers. Carol Falaki' s first novel, Birth in Suburbia , follows the experiences of three heavily pregnant women. Filled with factual information about pregnancy and labour gleaned from the author's career as a midwife. Midwifery student Gemma aids each birth and learns new things along the way. Carol has been a member of Riverside Writers for approx. two years. Read Carol's novel here: http://bookrix.com/_mybook-carolfalaki_1228743771.3955790997 The date of the forthcoming Riverside Writers evening event, New Tales for Old Byways, has been confirmed for 7pm, Wednes

Tune your radio to 92.1 FM on April 3rd at 11am (GMT)- or go to http://www.7wavesradio.co.uk/  - and you'll be able to hear me and other members or Riverside Writers live on Cath Bore 's show.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1165377/Please-freeze-How-scores-middle-class-British-couples-hoping-buy-immortality-just-10-week.html This link will whisk you away to The Daily Mail newspaper, where you may read an article about cryonics which includes an interview with me. Life insurance for cryonics costs around £10 per month, and not per week as the intro blurb suggests. I've never described myself as a Science-Fiction writer, even though I've written a few short Sci-Fi stories. There're more incorrect details in there, too, but nothing important.

It’s a gorgeous spring day here. I’ve got the French doors open, and Emily has dragged her blanket onto the patio step to stretch out on it while she’s sunbathing. The forsythia is a blaze of yellow, and cherry blossom is drifting like snowflakes on the warm breeze. Daffodils and crocus are in bloom everywhere, and there’s a pair of blackbirds rummaging for nesting material underneath the shrubby St John’s wort. Yesterday I was in Liverpool as Kevin Holt , a photographer from The Daily Mail , had arranged to visit Richard’s studio so he could take a few shots of us both which will be used in the forthcoming article about cryonics. These will be used as part of an article about cryonics which will published in that newspaper, probably next week sometime. Afterwards I had a meander round the city centre, and bought a new pair of trousers--plain black, but the material is lovely and soft.

If you walked into a cake shop and said, "Oh, I really love your confectionary, and I appreciate how long it's taken you to learn the craft, and your cakes would be perfect for my dinner party," would you expect to not pay for cakes? Of course not. Even if you then said, "But your cakes would reach appreciative mouths, and we'll want more free cakes every week!" you'd still be expected to pay for the cakes--especially when it's obvious that everyone else involved in staging the dinner party is picking up a nice salary. Why, then, should a writer be expected to hand over a regular supply of "cakes" for free? This lady's saying no.

Plans to tackle some more gardening were halted by today’s incessant soft rain. Instead I finished writing ch. 18 of Bethany Rose then had a book cull. I collect far too many books for the space available. Any non-fiction book that hasn’t been opened for five years might as well be consigned to the category of Outgrown Or Boring. Off to the charity shop with ‘em! We watched a peculiar little film yesterday:   The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes .  Beautifully lit, and very surreal, the film used puppets and/or automatons as well as live actors. Basically, it’s a story of a piano tuner who is taken to an island-based mental asylum to repair a series of automatons. The asylum’s doctor seems to be madder than his patients (or at least that was my impression.) An interesting if rather puzzling film; it’s plot reminded me of something from the Twilight Zone or Tales of the Unexpected. I’ve now finished reading  The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1)  by Patrick Rothfuss, which

Tune in to 7 Waves Radio on 92.1 FM today (Friday) between 1pm and 2pm (GMT), to hear Tim Hulme, Peter Hurd and myself live on Cath Bore's Lunchtime Forum. Non-Wirral residents can hear the show via the station's website at http://www.7waves.co.uk/ I'll be reading Food , which is the latest in my series of short faerie tales set on Caldy Hill.

Three members of Riverside Writers have become finalists in the Coast to Coast writing competition. Tim Hulme's The Trunk in Granny's Attic came in 6th place in the short story category. Carol Falaki's Water Births came in 8th place in the poetry section, and this poem will also be published shortly in Mothering Magazine. Peter Hurd's Hallowe'en story, A Quiet Night In , came 1st in the comedy story category. All three members have performed their work on 7 Waves Radio 92.1 FM, as guests on Cath Bore's Lunchtime Forum.

Wrote 1,850 words this morning, which takes the total word-count for Bethany Rose up to 23,250 so far. Writing the spooky bits is such fun...! Warm spring sunshine yesterday enabled me to get some weeding done. Today's torrential rain has forced me to postpone further efforts. We have three yellow crocus and a patch of snowdrops in bloom. What happened to the rest of my crocus though? I planted heaps of them four years ago, and there has been less each year. Anyway, yesterday I had no sooner finished weeding a stretch of one border when a cute little robin came to investigate. I was looking out of the kitchen window as I was washing my hands, and saw a wren on the fence. Bathed the dogs yesterday. I managed to capture them in the bathroom by stealth. Otherwise if they hear the 'B' word they hide under the bed and will not come out! I bathed Emily first as she was the cleanest. I'd no sooner towelled her dry than she jumped back in the bath to torment Ygraine. So th

Yesterday I was at Radio City in Liverpool to meet producer Ali McBride . While enjoying the amazing view across the city centre from the top of Radio City Tower, she told me about Roy Basne t t ’s Friday show, Zone Unknown. His guests have included the Most Haunted team, parapsychologists, Bigfoot hunters and a white witch, and he hosts debates on conspiracy theories. Then we stepped into a tiny recording studio and I narrated Spanish Jones (part one), a tale of selkies, smugglers and ghosts. Ali said she will to add a few sound effects, such as the cries of seagulls and the sounds of the ocean. While it’s only part one of a three-part story, it is complete in itself. Parts two and three are set in contemporary times, whereas part one is historical. It will be broadcast on City Talk 105.9 FM tomorrow (Friday 6th) sometime between 10pm and 1am (GMT).

Richard spent a rough night due to the cold he's caught. Consequently he spent half of today in bed. He's sat in his Man Cave now, watching a documentary about The Beatles, with Saffron purring in his lap. He likes some of their music but not all of it. Saffron couldn't care less what's playing so long as she gets her ears tickled. The photo depicts one of the tattoos he's done recently.  To see more, visit his website: http://www.myspace.com/riche_tattoo_artist Anyway, while he was snoring triumphantly in bo-bos, I was busy tapping away on this puuter. Today's word count for Bethany Rose is 1,879 words. I love it when a character does something unexpected. I had no idea Bethany was going to move into a haunted house! This MS is very different in mood from Rowan. Whereas Rowan has a languid romantic feel to it, BR is much, much darker. Did anyone tune in to 7 Waves Radio today? Four members of Riverside Writers were guests on Cath Bore's Lunchtime F

The word count for Bethany Rose now stands at 11,000 words. Only 89,000 to go. No! Don't think of that!! Today's tally was 2,000. It was 3pm before I realised I'd forgotten to have lunch. Did I mention that I'd begun writing the new version of BR ? Anyway, it began to appear on my puuter screen on January 16th. I hadn't intended to spend that evening working but TV was as boring as it usually is, and while busy washing dinner dishes the start of the novel came to me. My fingers started itching, and so it began. Do your fingers itch, literally burn and itch, when you've got a tasty idea demanding to be written or painted or photographed? I find myself pulling odd facial expressions as the images of the idea flows through my mind. It's like watching a cinema screen in 3D inside my head. Who needs a remote control zapper when with a flick of Will you can rewind, rewrite, bring details up closer or move away as the story bursts into life internally? Then

The pond is still partially frozen. This doesn't seem to be troubling the ducks and geese at all. The dogs enjoyed snuffling through mounds of soggy leaves in the wood, of course. Horses have been brought to the neighbouring field, among them an adorable Shetland pony--chocolate brown with a caramel-coloured tail and mane. They thundered up to the wire fence to say hello. The dogs were on leads, of course, kept out of the reach of the horses' hooves. Later I walked into the village for a few odds and ends from the supermarket, and to pick up Richard's prescription from the medical centre. He's been having a lot of migraines lately. They seem to go in cycles; he'll get a run of them, then they'll calm down again. The staff know him by sight, whereas I have only needed the doctor once since we moved to the area, eight-and-a-half years ago. Earlier today I did more work on Turning Tides . I'd written it once already, but my old puuter ate it when it died. S

One of my Dark Fantasy stories has been nominated for the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll 2009 Award. Called Old World Magic , this was featured in   Ruins Metropolis , an anthology published by Hadley Rille Books. In this tale, a visit to her local New Age shop brings Tracy into conflict with the notorious fae of Caldy Hill, Wirral. Vote for my story here:- http://www.critters.org/predpoll/shortstorysf.shtml Nominations are listed by story title, in alphabetical order. Voting closes on January 14th, 2009.

...Another year, that is. And yikes what a chilly start! I'm wearing four layers and I'm still cold. Stew for tonight's dinner--which I'm not looking forward to as I loathe stew, but there was little else I could do with the mountain goat which was supposed to have been lamb. Lamb?!! A howling chainsaw would have struggled to make an indent on that thing. Bleeeurch!! Here's hoping my culinary efforts can render it tolerable. Tamsin is finished; all edits done. Unless a publisher wants any changes to be made, it will now remain as it is for all time. The final full-stop is in place. And the word-count now stands at 85,000 words, which is only 1,000 less than on the previous draft. Now I'll begin editing Rowan , which I'm looking forward to doing, actually. Plus there are two short stories on the back-boiler, and I need to start thinking about what to do with Bethany Rose , as last year I wrote 50,000 words of that before admitting that I hated the