"Little sister, let me tell you this story. I know your days are busy and your life full of important things. I promise not to delay you for long. "It is a simple story. It came to me last night in my dreams, and its beauty impressed itself upon my mind so strongly that when I woke, still hearing these words echo through me, I remembered you and sought a way to share it...." So begins this enchanting account of a mystical journey.         What is the ebook equivalent of "hot off the printing press"?  Here's the long-awaited release of an oldie which has been on the backburner for a while.  Getting the cover right caused the delay, as I did not want to see a pretty pastiche in pastels.  This cover is simple but bold.  Well, I think so anyway!  You're welcome to share your opinions of it.  Message... is available now from Smashwords  and Amazon . 

A Gentleman of Old Venice; ink and watercolour; Adele C-B 2004. Rooting out household junk for Sunday's bring-and-buy sale, I came across a few old pieces of artwork plus a very dusty ring-file of old stories.  Most of these are so old the paper they were typed on has gained a yellow tinge.  I started reading through a few of the stories, of course.  My fingers began itching - as they tend to when the writing bug bites - and I ended up re-writing Peter Buddha, a very short tale at just under 900 words, which dates back to 1989.  The edits consisted of deleting redundant words and simplifying a few sentences.  The re-write brought in two extra characters in order to give other peoples' reactions to the unfolding events.  The finished story will probably be added to my next collection of short stories, Dark Waters. The moral of this post, then, is that it can be useful to hang on to old stories.  Some of them - perhaps lots of them! - won't make the grade but th

 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!

The Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog. How does this work? First, leave your name on this post, (using the Linky tool at the end of this post).  Next, create a post on your own blog and add the Linky code.  Thirdly, visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments, (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! What sets this Hop apart from others, is the Feature. Each week Parajunkee and Alison will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is their Feature today? Find out below, using the links to their sites. There is also a set project which people can participate with.  This week's asks:  If you could choose any character from a book, who would it be?  What do you think that character looks like and what do you have in

Ashton Park pond, West Kirby The photo above was taken this week at the edge of the pond in Ashton Park.  I passed an elderly man who was holding a chunky camera with a foot-long lens.  Mine sits in my pocket, a modest Kodak which weighs next to nothing.  My old Pentax SLR was much more flexible from a creative view-point, and the lenses were excellent.  Meanwhile, I'm happy tinkering with this little digi, which is ok for static shots.  For snapping anything moving it's hopeless as the shutter works more slowly than the button - so you have to press the button and attempt to move the camera in time with whatever you're trying to photograph.  Mostly the resulting image is blurred or partially missing.  For example, last winter I tried to photograph our dogs playing in the snow.  They were having a fine old time, chasing each other around.  Unfortunately, due to the shutter/button delay, mostly all I caught was images of snow and various dogs' blurry backsides as

I thought I'd share a few interesting videos with you. The first is an enjoyable trip around central Liverpool, where my Artisan-Sorcerer series is mostly set. The labyrinthian Williamson Tunnels are another feature of the series. You can learn about their history and enjoy some old footage of Liverpool buildings. Most of those old dockside warehouses are luxury apartments now, by the way. Morgan and his household live in walking distance of Lark Lane, in the Liverpool suburb of Aigburth. I lived there for seven years, which is one reason why I based their fictional home there. This next very short film features a drive down Lark Lane at night. This next film is a pleasure to view, with its lovely snowy images of Sefton Park. When I lived in Liverpool I often walked through this park. The Artisan-Sorcerer's house overlooks this large expanse of parkland.

Woodland dolphins?     A section of Ashton Park in West Kirby, Wirral, has been developed as a pocket-sized woodland trail.  The height of the old trees readily lends itself to this theme, even though the smooth expanse of one of the bowling greens lies just beyond the bench in the photo above.  Taking pride of place along the trail are a number of fairly new carved sculptures made from stumps of felled trees.  While I'm not too sure of the dolphins, which in my opinion aren't sufficiently site specific to work well, the other sculptures are lovely.  You will have to click on the images to see them full-sized in order to enjoy their details.   Sculpted owl   A pair of nesting owls   Old Man of the Woods   Dangling from low branches around the trail were an assortment of wind-chimes and paper Xmas decorations - mostly snowmen and tree cut-outs - possibly created by one of the ranger-led activities for children.  I think it's important to enc

According to the Financial Times , a new self-publishing wing is to be offered by Simon & Shuster, as their response to the large increase of consumer interest in self-publishing. However, elsewhere it is claimed that S&S intend to offer their basic self-publishing package from $1,599 USD, rising to $24,999 USD for the deluxe self-publishing package.  So that's from just under £1,000 British Pounds Sterling up to £15,618. Is this true?  Surely I can't be the only so-called indie author to laugh aloud at this.

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 mother still lives on Menlove Avenue, where I was ra

As I type this, the sun's shining.  When I took these photos this morning, it was raining steadily.  Still, I wanted to share this steep flight of steps cut into the rock which leads up to Mariner's Point.  The 60ft high sandstone column was put there in 1841 after the windmill which used to stand there blew down during a storm.  Sailors had used this as a point of navigation. If you climb the stairs - there's a bench at the top! - you can follow a rugged footpath into Stapleldon Woods.  The ground is pretty much a quagmire at the moment, and so I opted not to do this despite my two dogs straining at their leashes.  You have to watch your footing in places even when the ground is dry, as it's a tangle of gnarled roots and jutting rocks around slopes and dips.  When the ground is a mushy, sliding stew of deep mud and wet leaves it would be too easy to fall and injure yourself.  (And while this might amuse the Caldy fae, from my Artisan-Sorcerer series, I'd so

Emily and Poppi    Here're our two Jack Russell Terriers, once again snuggling on their favourite doggy cushion.  It used to be Richard's cushion but they had other ideas.  It's a shame about the red-eye, though I managed to tweak it and reduce it to ochre-eye.  Is it an improvement?  I'll let you decide.   Last weekend saw us in the garden, raking together autumn leaves and making a bonfire from a heap of pruned branches.  The dogs were safely indoors, of course.  The leaves were quite damp from all this rain we've had, so consequently the fire was very smoky.  But it's one of those gardening jobs which simply needs doing.    Smoky autumn bonfire   Just behind the fire you can see our two conical compost bins, which were made from recycled rubber.  They have no base, so to extract good compost  you simply slide a garden fork under them and lift them off.   They're suprisingly light to move around, yet the compost inside stops them from

So today I've decided to join in with this Feature & Follow Blog Hop , which looks like a bit of fun.  My friend Ali recently passed comment about how his blog attracts traffic from numerous far-flung corners of the world, from places where he perhaps wouldn't even expect people to be reading his site.  My own blog behaves in a similar way; though people leave comments only rarely, a surprising amount of traffic comes this way, and increasingly so. Anyway, new readers are always welcome, of course.  If you're new here today, hello! So, how does this Feature & Follow Bog Hop work?  First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they

Sleeping dogs don't peep.   Richard and I went to Chester yesterday for a meal out.  We decided to avoid our usual haunts and try somewhere new to us.  Later, after meandering round numerous shops, we went on to have coffees which tasted like bonfire smoke smells - kind-of smoky and gritty, and spectacularly putrid.   Look, it's only the first week of November so why are most of the shops crammed with Xmas tat already?  I wish we could do as some Scandinavian countries apparently do and ban all Xmas decorations until December.  I'll freely admit I can't abide the forced cheer and frantic commercialism of the festival.  Ok, ok, so umpteen billion people disagree with me; I can live with that.  Call me Ebeneezer if you wish.  Or should that be Ebeneezella?  No matter.  But do we really need to have carols shrilled at us each time we enter shops still decorated with grinning pumpkins?   I've said many, many times before that Chester is one of my favourit

Ready for the chop?  Emily and Poppi offer encouragement.    On Saturday evening, Richard suddenly announced that he wanted his hair cut short.  His naturally curly, thick dark brown hair had been long since his teens.  When we first met, he had what is now called a mullet but at the time the style was simply described as long-at-the-back-and-short-at-the-sides.  Very 1980s.  Which was fine when you were actually in the 1980s.   He'd had enough of total strangers assuming they were both witty and innovative by telling him, often loudly, that he looked like a particular ageing porn star or Frank from Shameless.  And he'd had enough of getting his long locks tangled in the head-straps on his sleep apnoea mask.   He'd mentioned his intention to Ted, when they were in their usual pub on Saturday.  Ted apparently said Richard would never go through with it.  Ted would buy him a pint, (of non-alcoholic, as Richard can't drink), if he carried it through.  I s

When I was a child, I read and re-read a novel called Chia , which was about the life of a Scottish wildcat.  I think I wanted to be a wildcat, as Chia's life sounded much more fun than junior school.  Or should I have been a lion?  Elsa was read to death, also.  And don't get me started on Jonathon Livingstone Seagull.   I didn't fancy being a seagull, though; I'm still not a fan of sushi.   Enjoy this fabulous slide show depicting Scottish Wildcats. According to the Scottish Wildcat Association's website, it is now believed that maybe only 100 wildcats now survive. I think it would be a crying shame if this beautiful, magnificent creature was to vanish altogether - and yet this looks likely to happen within the next ten years. There is a captive breeding programme, which seems to have had mixed success.  Part of the problem, apparently, is due to cross-breeding with feral cats.  The familiar moggy and the wildcat are two distinct breeds - or s

Here's the new ebook cover for Tamsin.

Romance, heartache, treachery and death! Eighteen stories and poems inspired by the sea, from a group of imaginative writers who live surrounded by water on the Wirral peninsula in England. Featuring: Tim Hulme * Andy Siddle * Adele Cosgrove-Bray * Peter Caton * Nikki Bennett * Ruth Ann Titley ISBN: 9781301150069; published 2nd October 2012. FREE from here! This ebook was first mentioned at a Riverside Writers meeting early this year.  We had produced a paperback anthology in 2010, and fancied doing something similar.  It had been a fun project for our group to work on together.  This time around we wanted to be certain of a much wider distribution, and so an ebook was suggested.  And here it is!  Enjoy!

The new ebook cover for Rowan ....

As of today, there is a new cover for the ebook edition of Bethany Rose . 

Five thrilling insights into the secretive lives of artisan-sorcerers! Five stand-alone tales featuring Fabian, Bethany Rose, Rowan, Jason and the Peacock King himself! Discover the people.   Explore their world.   Taste the magic.   Out today on Kindle, Smashwords (and associated distros once it seeps through!)   Only $2.99.  Treat yourself!

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 completion now.   I've be

Poppi   Poppi and Emily, blanket buddies   Sunny snoozes     These photos answer the queries about how our two dogs are getting along with each other.   They're both doing fine together, as can be seen.   A fresh coat of white emulsion is now on the kitchen walls.  A second coat will be needed, and I'll need to do the ceiling too.  The external doors and a few internal doors are sporting fresh paint as well.  All of them need doing though,  the problem of new white paint being that it makes every other surface look like it needs painting.  We're just doing everything white, doing the Blank Canvas thing.   I've begun compiling the contributions for Seaside Stories , which will be a free ebook showcasing original stories and poetry from Riverside Writers members, including me.  As a group, we published a paperback anthology in 2010 and while we had fun doing that we also found that distribution was an issue.  We had people wanting copies that, short of hand-mailing, we co

Emily and Poppi enjoying the sunshine.     I've begun a major clear-out of household junk.  So far I've filled two bin-bags with shredded MS and gone-curly ring-clip files, ancient plant pots and "useful" kitchen equipment which  hasn't been used since the last Ice Age.  And this is only the start of the de-junking process.  The wheelie bin is already piled high, so there's no point in me doing more until that's been emptied.   The dogs supervised, of course, until they got thoroughly bored with listening to me singing along with Suede, and  wandered off to snooze on cushions.  Actually, this afternoon I thought Poppi had somehow got out of the garden as I couldn't see her anywhere.  The garden's escape-proof but you should never underestimate the resourcefulness of a Jack Russell.  Anyway, I found her curled up fast asleep on Richard's pillow, which she'd dragged half-way across the bed to a sunny spot.   Poppi is settling into the househo

Sleepi Poppy   Our chickens are now happily re-housed with a family in Bebington, who have kept hens before.  I'll miss their antics - and their lovely fresh eggs - but we've a planned big change on the home-front and so we needed to find a new home for them.   While we said goodbye to Penny and Felicity, we said hello to Poppi.  She's a fifteen month-old Jack Russell who Emily had befriended.  Her owner couldn't look after her properly anymore, and asked Richard if he'd be  interested in adopting her.  That's a bit like asking a kid if it wants ice-cream...and so we have a new family member - who will easily fit in with our planned domestic changes.  We've had a cat named Poppy, so it feel a little odd calling her this but it's been her name for so long already it seems silly to change it.  If she'd been given some pea-brained blood-and-guts name then I'd change it immediately, but Poppi is a lovely name so it's staying - we'll just lat

Frederika I had lunch with an old friend on Thursday.  Freddie and I have known each other since high school days, when we were regular attendees at the Lowton Vortex.  I wonder how many Lowton people remember the youth club being nicknamed that?  Not many, I'm sure.  Anyway, that was a looooooong time ago; mucho aqua under the bridge etc. etc.  Freddie now lives in Nottingham but she was visiting family who still live in Lowton, and as I have family there too we decided to meet for the first time in around twenty years. I recognised her immediately, even though she was standing with her back to me.  As we crossed the road, heading towards The Waterside pub-restaurant in Leigh, who did we see but my neice Vikkey with nine-month old baby Logan.  "Hello Logan, I'm you're Aunt Adele," - and right on cue he began wailing.  I have this effect on kids.  Lunch was good.  Freddie and I had a great time catching up on each other's news, of course, and then we went

Widowed at sixteen and facing bankruptcy, Bethany Rose resolves to rebuild broken dreams. Morgan seems perfect, but he is a member of a mysterious and secretive occult order. Can he protect Bethany Rose from power-crazed assassins plotting to control the order? Terrified by visitations from a faceless black-robed spectre, Bethany runs to Morgan - and straight into danger. They want to be together. But will love keep them apart? Paperback: ISBN-13: 978-1478253211 ISBN-10: 1478253215 Ebook: ISBN: 9781476124902 ASIN: B008XNJRGY (for Kindle)    

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

I enjoyed this video, which shows what one man has done with the gardening space available to him.  It demonstrates how even small and seemingly uninteresting spaces can be transformed into something lovely.  The idea reminds me of the late Geoff Hamilton's BBC series, Paradise Gardens , in which he promoted a similar idea.  The series is a pleasure to watch for its own sake; it has a dreamy, tranquil quality as well as being grounded in practicality. A quick Google search for "gardening in small spaces" offered me 82,800,000 results.  Clearly there're plenty of ideas out there, such as using tubs, drain pipes, old tires, vertical gardens, home-made greenhouses, wooden palette boards and even a derelict car to house both ornamental and food plants. Our garden is a fairly decent size.  I keep talking about putting in a pond...and maybe a duck or two could then be added to the menagerie which hasn't been so small in a long time.  Having now got only one dog, on