My latest tiny video about how to write a novel.

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!  

 

  Click on the image to view it larger Here it is, the new banner for my Artisan-Sorcerer novels, designed partly with AI, (please read my recent post about this issue before spouting off!), but with a huge amount of guidance on concept design and imagery from me.The text is 100% my work, and this description has already been in use for a few years. From left to right are: Bethany Rose, Rowan, Tamsin, and Fabian. Bethany has one of her sketchbooks, Rowan has his camera, Tamsin's wearing her beloved ankh cross, and Fabian's... well, being Fabian. One of his masks is amongst the symbols tucked away in the border. In the background are the Palm House in Sefton Park, the Liver Buildings (Three Graces), and the Liverpool waterfront -- not without a bit of poetic/artistic license, as anyone with even a smattering of knowledge of the city will know that Sefton Park is definitely not on the waterfront. The park is just over the road from the Artisan-Sorcerer's shared home, though...

Out now, and available as a PDF publication from  HERE . Way back in the 1990s, Cyrkel Spynn was an independent goth zine run by Alan Miller, (or Crazy Alan Craw, as he was then known). This publication had featured several peices by me, plus plenty of other writers. The zine scene was a lively, wonderfully creative and quirky, low-cost way of sharing and exploring multiple subcultures. The internet plus the rising cost of snail mail pretty much killed that scene off, but all things change. Last year, I was in the process of updating some information and wondered if there was any lingering trace of Cyrkel Spynn floating around the internet. A quick search led me to the DMMG DisAssociation Music & Media Group webpage, (so new it was still under construction), where, with a lovely example of synchronicity, I read of Alan's plan to reboot the magazine. To cut a long story short, the newly published magazine is now available, and it really is absolutely packed with interviews, book...

Our Lives in Books, compiled by Bob Stone, will be available to buy on Amazon tomorrow. It features a whole raft of talented writers, from the well known to those who are published here for the very first time. And here is a preview of some of the illustrations included in it, made by The Raggy Rat. This publication features a non-fiction essay be me, and the theme of the entire contents is the love of reading. ASIN: B0H8YWPPBR ISBN-13: 979-818497960