Philip Carr-Gomm, Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) has just told me that my description of Lily's meeting with Ross Nichols has been published in his book, Journeys of the Soul. This book's description reads:  " Ross Nichols was one of the key figures in the revival of interest in Druidry and Celtic Spirituality in modern times. The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, which he founded, is now the largest Druid group in the world. Journeys of the Soul vividly describes Nichols’ journey through life in the first complete biography of this enigmatic and influential Druid Chief, allowing us an intimate and controversial glimpse into the life and mind of one of the founding figures of the modern Pagan movement." My contribution is an extract from my novel Tamsin , which offers a  description of Lily's meeting with Ross Nichols.  This describes a factual event, and Lily's character is loosely based on a friend of mine whose true ident

Anne "is working on another novel, about 'immortals who've been on the planet since before the fall of Atlantis'. " Source:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/24/anne-rice-catholic-church-rejection-vampire

"It is with great sadness we announce that Laurence Gardner passed away on the 12 August 2010, after a prolonged illness. "Laurence Gardner is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Distinguished as the Chevalier de St. Germain, he is a constitutional historian, a Knight Templar of St Anthony, and is Presidential Attaché to the European Council of Princes. Based in England, he is author of The Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Bloodline of the Holy Grail .  "Laurence Gardner's (other) books include Realm of the Ring Lords ,  Genesis of the Grail Kings ,  Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark ,  The Magdalene Legacy , and  The Shadow of Solomon ." Source:  http://graal.co.uk/ It was probably around six years ago that I first encountered Laurence Gardner's writings, after my friend Jon had been enthusing about Gardner's very different version of both Biblical and European history.  So I read one of his books, Genesis of the Grail Kings , and

"...We're living in era where a writer can't just write. They have to be out there. Some would argue that readings are part of a writer's job... Do readers expect their writers to be performers too?" - Ben Myers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/aug/11/public-role-private-writer Over the years I have attended many book events, and obviously some were delivered more smoothly than others.  But they've rarely failed to be interesting.  Audiences welcome the chance to meet a favourite writer, or to hear a first chapter or short story by a name who is new to them.  If they weren't interested, they wouldn't have made the journey to the event. I've also taken part in readings.  I've even organised a few.  Walking towards the mic can be a nerve-wracking experience  as every writer wants their work to be liked, but when total strangers keep on listening to the next bit, and the next bit and the next, and then smile and give a heart

You're invited to read this interesting interview with published poet and author Adrienne Odasso:- http://hubpages.com/hub/Interview-with-Poet-and-Writer-Adrienne-Odasso

I hope you'll use the link below to read this interesting interview with published author Heidi Ruby Miller, the Educational Marketing Coordinator at Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob and adjunct creative writing faculty at Seton Hill University in America. http://hubpages.com/hub/Interview-with-Writer-Heidi-Ruby-Miller

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

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

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.

A good article on turn-offs for lit agents: http://www.writersdigest.com/article/what-agents-hate/ The turn-out for the writers’ workshop broke all Riverside Writers’ previous records. There weren’t enough printed handouts to go round, unfortunately. So much for my guess-work! Among the crowd was Sci-Fi author Colin P Davies , who visited our group as a speaker some years ago. http://www.colinpdavies.com/index.htm Anyway, the workshop on constructive criticism - which I'd organised - generated a healthy amount of group discussion, which was one of my intentions. The practical exercise I’d prepared brought some levity. I read one page of what was supposed to be the start of a novel, which was written awfully on purpose, and people had to pretend that a member of the writers circle had presented this in all seriousness. How, then, would the group offer constructive criticism? Once they’d all stopped laughing, I pointed out that if they were to laugh at fellow writer’s efforts,

It looks sunny but it's freezing out there. Emily has dragged her increasingly tattered fleece blanket to the patio windows where she's made herself a nest. Ygraine is reclining on my patchwork cushions in the other room, while pretending to be asleep. I hate to disturb them but tough. They are about to help me continue beaking in my new purple walking boots. My trusty old ones (once blue and grey, now merely grey-ish and grey) are deliciously comfortable but have sprung a leak. They've lasted for something like seven years, and as they regularly get partially dunked in sea water that is no mean feat. The new ones are nowhere near as comfy. At the moment it feels like walking on springy bricks. Still, they are my favourite colour - and we all know how earth shatteringly important that is. Ahem. Cross-posted from:- http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/blogs/booksblog/adelecosgrovebray/display.var.2183659.0.wonderful_words_of_wirral.php Monday saw me putting in a guest ap

Sunday was fun. My sister Evelyn was here, then Lee arrived, and then Cat came round after she’d finished work. It’s not often that Evelyn is able to see her niece, so they enjoyed getting to know each other a little better over dinner. Earlier in the morning, Richard had cooked the roast lamb with honey and rosemary, and I did the rest of the meal. Cat’s vegetarian, so she peered at our lamb as if it was infected with Ebola. Monday night saw Richard and Lee at the Pacific Road Arts Theatre in Birkenhead, for a Chris Rea concert. Meanwhile, I was at Riverside Writers’ latest meeting, when Tim and I planned the performance programme for Words from Wordsmiths, (which is our contribution to the Wirral Bookfest )  next Monday, on April 7th. Nine members of the group will be taking part, and there will be a variety of fiction genres and poetry on the night. Thanks to West Kirby Library’s staff, we’ll be able to offer tea and coffee. And we’ve been given the use of a microphone, which

Riverside Writers met last night and we had two new people join us, which is always nice. Last month’s writing project was to create a poem or short story with the title of The Killing Tale , and all but one person had produced work for that. We were joined by John Gorman of the Wirral Academy of Arts, which has just been granted charitable status. He was able to tell us that the public performance (by professional actors) of submitted work for Wirral Writers Inc has been postponed until April 2008, in order to combine this event with another literary festival and so make promotion more effective. The bad news is that the Hallowe’en ghost tour has also been postponed until next year, because apparently I’m the only writer who’s produced any work for it! What happened to everyone else?!! Ah well, c’est la vive… I’ll use my work elsewhere in the meantime. *** It looks like there’s a storm blowing in for this evening. I’m having to keep an eye out for raindrops while I’m typing t

On Friday, I attended a talk by author Katie Fforde , who read aloud from her thirteenth novel, Going Dutch , before discussing her writing and freely answering questions from her audience at West Kirby Library. Katie came across as a warm and likeable lady, and told us that while she sometimes bases her fictional characters on people she knows, even family members, she’s always careful to make sure she writes nothing unpleasant about them! It’s always heartening to hear an author describe how they struggled to get published for ten years before being successful, as Katie apparently did. I’ve heard it said that, on average, an author experiences seven years’ worth of rejection slips. The topic of the practical benefits of developing a writing routine was discussed at some length during Saturday’s meeting of Wirral Writers Inc., organised by John Gorman .   Everyone seems to have their own quirks and methods. For example, I write (virtually) every morning until around 2pm. Some peop

90 mph gales and flurries of hail-stones encouraged me to curl up with the book I’m reading now, which is about a gang of feral cats who live in a forest shared with three other gangs. Ok, they’re children’s books and I’m old enough to be reading them to kids of my own (not that I have any, if you discount the furry four-footed sort). But who cares? They’re fun! The author, Erin Hunter , is the pen name of two writers who have a website at: http://www.warriorcats.com/ which is a cuuuuuuuute website!!!! For reasons known only to herself, Emily has lifted all of her toys from the toy box and carried them to the patio doors in the other room. At the moment, she’s busily trying to make a nest of toys and curtain. So what’s new, hmm? Our lawns had their first mow of the year – which only highlighted the poor state of the front lawns. On either side of the path, there are two half-moons of lawn. These have become clogged with moss which has killed off most of the grass. I suspect it mig