Crystal Clear

Crystal Palace

Finally returned to writing after a long hiatus. Just polished off 2,000 on Still Life, a story exploring postmortem photography past and present. Looking at the age of Victorian England and the Great Exhibition, through to very modern maternity wards.

It is extremely difficult to go back to writing after you've taken a long break. As most writers will tell you, it's a muscle, and if you don't use it you lose it. Well, not entirely, but it takes some work  getting back into shape.  

The weirdest part is when you think you remember where you left off, then return to find an extra couple of chapters you hardly remember writing. That's when you really know you've been away too long.

However, it is nice to return to a solid manuscript. It's now at around 57,000, so just reaching the edge of a novel. I think it's easier to find enthusiasm for finishing something off than for building it up. Less of a marathon ahead. I've got a fairly clear idea where I'm going and the characters are fully formed. I'm also feeling more at ease with the Victorian era, which means I can write more words before I need to stop and Wikipedia something.

I have about a week left to press on with it, then taking a break. Off to India for Christmas. Hopefully that'll refresh my brain, as there's quite a few projects I want to work on when I get back. 

After a long period of distraction and side projects, it's really nice to come back to the page.

Pharaoh Enough

Notes From the County

This.

Coming soon.

I know I have been silent on matters of writing for quite some time. There's a story behind that, but it'll have to wait. Let's just focus on the fab cover for a moment, shall we?

The work of José Bethencourt Suárez, a talented cover designer.

For those of you who haven't been following the Creeper's journey, this is a tale set in Hookland, a mythical county in England where all the folklore you've ever heard of (#FolkloreThursday) takes on a life of its own.

Hookland (@HooklandGuide) is the brain child of bestselling author David Southwell. We were introduced through my publisher a while back, and I fell in love with his idea. A place where every type of mythos, from UFOs to pixies and ghouls, has a home.

David's currently working on the Phoenix Guide to Strange England, a guidebook for tourists to Hookland, and an inspiration for anyone who wants to jump aboard the creative commons ghost ship. The beauty of Hookland is that artists of any ilk, from writers and dramatists to photographers and finger painters, can come and play. Every story told, and each piece of art, helps to build the county.

As far as I know, this is the first novel set there.

It's a story about bricks and mortar, and the memories held within.

This is also my first attempt at self-publishing in print, which I'm sure I'll talk about later on. It's going to be available through Amazon CreateSpace and on Kindle. Possibly also Smashwords.

Just waiting for Mr. Southwell to complete the forward, which will appear as Notes from the County, for anyone curious to learn more. Also hoping to feature a map of Hookland.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a tingle of nerves, not having published anything in quite some time, and making my return in such rich literary landscape. I am hoping to write a few more tales there. But I think I'm ready. Shut my mouth, sharpen my pencil - release into the wild.

Keep an eye out for dates and pre-order.

Thesaurus

Musical Interlude: Apocalypse

Grandstanding Bandstands

A while back I was doing some research into the age of a bandstand in Bristol. It was for a work of historical fiction - I needed to know whether it would have been there at the time my characters were.

I stumbled across a really helpful website by Paul Rabbitts, which includes a database dating bandstands in the UK.

He's just launched a crowdfunder to publish a book on the subject, and I wanted to give it a shout out. You can donate to the project here.

The Allusionist

My new favourite podcast at the moment is The Allusionist hosted by Helen Zaltzman. It explores all aspects of etymology (the origin of words). Here's a sample episode about why you can't trust dictionaries. You might also like to check out the Online Etymology Dictionary.