Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
The Hillier Gardens are not to be confused with Hilliers Garden Centres, although I expect the one is an offshoot, turned commercial, of the other. The Hillier Gardens were founded in 1953 near Romsey, Hampshire, by Sir Harold Hillier. when
The Viridian System Series Box Set is now available on Smashwords in a pre-sale. The regular price is $11.99, which is a $3 discount on the individual book costs. It launches everywhere else except Amazon on November 10th. Why a
This walk on the South Side of the Thames happened during the mourning period for the late Queen Elizabeth. It was the Thursday, the first full day of the Lying-in-State event. Rumours of queues five and more miles long, queuing
Jane Austen has quite a following. In the millions, and that’s just those still alive. I enjoy her books, and Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy is my enduring image of Pride and Prejudice. She lived in Chawton, in southern Hampshire, not
I’ve spent the last three days talking about my chapter illustrations. You know I did them for the Princelings series – and most were specific to each book. Yes, I re-used several: views of Castle Buckmore, the Inn of the
I’ve a busy week ahead. I was hoping to start doing Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction photoprompts again, but haven’t got there yet. Instead I’ve got two book fairs and three days of ‘open studios’ ahead of me. Craft Fairs Saturday
It’s publication day for Zanzibar’s Rings. The final episode of the Viridian System series hits your kindle or iPad or other reader – or your bookshelf if you’ve ordered the paperback. Today I’ve got an exclusive excerpt for you. An
The virtual book tour (blog tour) for Zanzibar’s Rings starts today – and it’s just one week till publication. What’s in the virtual book tour? Guest posts, interviews, reviews, and various other things. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the posts people
Once again, I’m taking a look at my year in books as I did in 2020 and before. But no, this is not my book of the year. I’ll do that on the first Saturday in January – oh, that’s
Ten years old. It’s the birthday of my first published book, Princelings of the East came out on kindle ten years ago. Soon after that I discovered I could publish to all the other e-readers via Smashwords. The Princelings of
Pre-Sale means you can buy and read it now, before anyone else gets a look-in! I’m not sure how much it means to people, but I’m trying it out again. If you decide to join my email newsletter from that
The paperback version of Snowflakes and Shivers went to my publisher today. I’m hoping to get the proof back in time for the Gift Fair at Romsey Town Hall on Saturday 18th. The ebook versions are also ready and uploaded,
Editing. Yes, it is not the Camp NaNoWriMo round-up, for the simple reason I’m not doing Camp NaNo, although I did in April, when I wrote the current project. I’ve given it up in favour of self-discipline! Although, since we’ve
Greed and Retribution is the second of my Flash Fiction collection to hit the press. Greed and Retribution: The Carruthers Collection and Other Twisty Tales If you’ve been reading my flash fiction long, you’ll have come across Carruthers and his
Zanzibar’s Rings. It was my aim from day one of this year’s A to Z Challenge to finish writing the third book in my Viridian system series. So, what’s the score? I suppose in theory I have until the end