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Messing About on the Water

Friday 18th saw me cruising along the shroppie - the Shropshire Union Canal, if you like - departing from The Cheshire Cat, in Christleton, and sailing to the Crow's Nest winding point at Tattenhall. We sailed by lovely countryside, past masses of moored narrowboats and cruisers, and the kind of houses that you'd need to be made of stone not to feel envious of.  Everyone enjoyed the day, and even though rain was constant this did not dampen our spirits as we watched cows peering at us through hedges, saw various waterfowl swimming around, and peeped into mysterious-looking copses of mossy old trees.  The next day, I felt tired out. How can looking out of windows be so tiring? Answers below, please. Other news: While waiting for a few weeks to tick by before starting on the editing/rewriting process for The Sorcerer, (my 5th Artisan-Sorcerer novel), I've been compiling a collection of short stories that relate in some way to this series. Many of these stories have been publ...
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A Few Thoughts

The creator of this lovely illustration is unknown, unfortunately, otherwise I'd be the first to credit their work to them. My husband's a huge Dr Who fan, and has been since he was a boy. His favourite doctors were acted by Tom Baker and Patrick Troughton, though he's enjoyed watching them all. Anyway, I thought I'd share this dalek illustration, which reminds me of how much hate is circulating through the world right now. Blind hate, offering no honest solutions to anything. Telling willfully ignorant people what they want to hear in order to bolster their delusions. Rather then deal with their own self-hatred, they look for external scapegoats. Rather than acknowledge that a few billionaires hold so much power, they blame the vulnerable for their vulnerability, the poor for their poverty, the ignorant for their ignorance - all the while being breathtakingly, willfully ignorant themselves.  At least old Dr Who always tried to negotiate a resolution to conflict.  
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Meet Rowan: New Artisan-Sorcerer Novel Video

As mentioned in recent posts, I've been experimenting with creating videos in an attempt to improve my skills in this area. This one was easier than anticipated, as Rowan's depiction here was very clear in my head. He's taking a stroll along the beach between West Kirby and Hoylake, and in the background is a close approximation of Hilbre Island. The video makes Hilbre look closer to the mainland shore than it really is, but this was the only way to get much detail into the image, otherwise the buildings would have looked like tiny pale blobs.  Rowan's wearing a second-hand dinner jacket bought from a local charity shop, and his jeans are the pair that his Aunt Lydia keeps trying to coax him to let her mend - to no avail, as Rowan likes them as they are. He's carrying the camera that Aiden bought for him. If you've never heard of Hilbre Island, then you can read about it and see photos here . And if you haven't a clue who Rowan is, then read the novel!
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Free Mic Scam!

 Apparently, if I accept a free mic and use it to produce a five-minute video "of something interesting", I could earn up to $2000. Do I see a few cynical eyebrows raise in reponse? I hope so. I thought I'd share this latest in obvious scams, anyway. And so the email read: " Hi Art & Fiction by Adele Cosgrove-Bray, "I hope this message reaches you in high spirits.  Your content popped up in our suggestions as we explored similar topics, and we've just organized a Talent Moment Program, which is why we'd love to have you involved. "Might our involvement in acquiring an audio mic which is hand-made in California, USA make a difference for your work? As a condition, we anticipate that you will use this mic to record no less than 5 mins of something interesting. C urious to see the projects created by our past collaborators? Please visit this source:" And here they inserted a link. As I can do without a computer virus, it'd be a cold day i...
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Artisan-Sorcerer Video Trailer

 Here is a very short video to introduce the Artisan-Sorcerer novels and short stories. The image was generated following a detailed description from me, and under my direct guidance.  The scene is of the lounge in the Artisan-Sorcerer's home. On the walls you can see one of Fabian's masks, and paintings by Bethany Rose and Jim. The bookshelves are crammed with books, CDs and DVDs, as described in the novels, and some of Bethany Rose's patchwork cushions are on the chairs. The chess board references the frequent games mentioned in passing in the stories. And you can also see Morgan with his two dogs.
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How to Write a Novel

 My latest tiny video about how to write a novel.
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It's Done!

The first draft of the 5th Artisan-Sorcerer novel is now finished.  Phew! What a protracted task that turned out to be. 50,000 words into the first manuscript, I decided that I disliked it - a lot. So I set it aside for a while - a long while. Having picked up the project again, I then threw away around 25,000 words, and then re-wrote much of what was left. And then, of course, I needed to write the rest of the story. I can't say much about the whys and wherefores of my decisions without giving away spoilers. Let's just say I'm happy with this version. When I've given it a month or so break without even peeping at it, I'll most likely find plenty to find fault with, but this is typical of any editing stage. There's a lot of work yet, editing, re-writing, editing again, polishing, etc. But it's on its way!  
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