I will be back online in April! 
​

A much needed book at the moment! 
Excellent for inspiration. 
MacFarlane's The Old Ways is still my favourite book ever. 

Arcane Publishing and Matt ArtPix have done their first fair of 2019! We had a great time at the infamous LouLou's Vintage Fair at the beautiful Bournemouth Pavilion. 
Our next fair is Vintage Somerset Fair at Wells Town Hall in the gorgeous town of Wells on March 2nd. 
This might be the last outing for Arcane Publishing for a while as there is a lot going on in thebackground for us at the moment, but of course, Matt ArtPix will be doing a lot of fairs and you will hear all about it on the Arcane Publishing website! 

No update about The Right Place at the moment as I haven't had time to spend on the book at all... 

It's been a bit quiet on here recently, but this doesn't mean I have been idle - quite the contrary, actually!

I have been working behind the scenes on getting some smashing stock and booking events for Arcane publishing. 
The first event of 2019 will be very soon at the fantastic Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre and it will be the Loulou's Vintage Fair on 17th February. Arcane will take up a small corner of Matt ArtPix's stall and we will bring some interesting, arty, glamorous and rare books! 

We will keep adding events to our EVENTS PAGE over the next few months, so do come back soon!  

A very Christmassy Fairie Tree in Chideock this week... 

 (back in September this year)
I have spent the past week hidden away in my house, resting from a testing four months and preparing to re-emerge on the other side ready to face a new year - a year of writing, hopefully. 
I am absolutely determined to make progress on my third novel, The Right Place (one of the reasons is that I am very excited about my FOURTH novel and want to start working on it as soon as possible!) and there's nothing better than actually spend some time walking around the location of your book to fire up your imagination... 

Yesterday was a glorious day in Dorset and made me reflect on the quasi-magical quality of the landscape around Abbotsbury. This is the location of my third novel and these are the paths and roads taken by my characters. 
One can lose him/herself in this landscape, take in the layers of history and forget about the world - even though some of the issues developing in front of our eyes will have an impact on our personal lives and prey on our minds daily. I need to get back to my book more than ever these days. 

​I have been looking for inspiration everywhere this first week of holiday, and I have indeed found plenty of it around... 

I had been looking for a house for Joe's family (Joe is best friend to Kat, one of my main characters). As Kat lives at the very start of Grove Lane in Abbotsbury, I have decided to give the Hardings the very last cottage in the road before you get to the Swannery. Isn't it fabulous? I will add a big outbuilding/barn in which Joe's disreputable brother Henry has made his "den". 

On the left: The Coast Path beyond the Abbotsbury Sub-tropical Gardens (which will also feature in The Right Place) is beautiful - you walk along Chesil Beach until you reach West Bexington... 
On the right, the view whilst walking up towards St Catherine's Chapel - looking down towards the swannery (and the Isle of Portland, where our HQ is located, in the background). 
For more stunning pictures of this walk, see Matt ArtPix's BLOG. 

As I have been writing so many times in this blog, St Catherine's Chapel plays a key role in The Right Place. 
Of course, I paid a visit to the little sturdy building on the hill yesterday, just as I did back in September. 
The niches were not as full as three months ago (see my blog about my September visit to the chapel HERE) but someone had left a big picture, a letter and a glass of white wine in one of the recesses...
The inside of the chapel, which is a location for many of the key scenes in The Right Place, was as atmospheric as ever... 

From Arcane Publishing's next publication to PJ Harvey's music... 
Yesterday evening, I was browsing Ms Harvey's website and watched a few of the films and videos featured on her website... I was delighted to find out that the Isle of Portland, where our HQ is located, features in a few of the videos - especially for the All and Everyone track out of the Let England Shake album (2011).
We can even spot the Arcane Publishing HQ in the video! Watch the video below... 

Talking about the Isle of Portland, the beautiful Pennsylvania Castle will feature prominently in the film Happy New Year, Colin Burstead which will be shown on BBC2 this Sunday. It boasts a great cast and stunning location... which is about 10 minutes' drive from our HQ! We cannot wait to watch it... 
And finally... 
Inspiration from Cathi Unsworth and Kate Mosse: my reading so far these holidays. They remind me of why I have become a writer and have really inspired me these past few days... 

And finally... Keep an eye out for announcements on the Arcane Publishing website... 
We will start booking events for 2019 very soon and will post the dates on the events page as usual! 

We are now taking a little break to plan 2019. 
See you in the New Year! 

In the meantime, if you are in Dorset over the holiday period, do pay us a visit at The Customs House in West Bay! ​

Next weekend, which will be the first weekend of December, Matt ArtPix and Arcane Publishing will be sharing a stall at the Vintage Christmas event at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset.  
Go the ARCANE BLOG for a glimpse of the lovely stock I will bring to the event! 

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS AT THE TANK MUSEUM
Saturday 1st December
Sunday 2nd December
10am to 17pm

The Tank Museum, 
Bovington, 
Dorset, 
BH20 6JG

​You can get more info and buy tickets HERE. 
​

I was back in London on Saturday to see the mighty Killing Joke play at The Roundhouse in Camden. 
We had a few hours to kill beforehand and went to check whether Portobello market was still standing - I am very pleased to say that yes, indeed, the stalls and second-hand shops are still there and the area still looks beautiful and buzzing! 
While there, I was chuffed to find a copy of Cathi Unsworth's first novel The Not Knowing (the main character, like the author, lives in Ladbroke Grove, so entirely relevant to our day... And I urge you to read it, I do find it hard to put it down; Cathi captures the atmosphere of a certain 90s London (music, art, alternative cultures...) perfectly.)
Incidentally, 40 years ago, Ladbroke Grove was also the haunt of the future members of Killing Joke and the backdrop to the band's genesis, and therefore, it felt kind of special to spend a few hours there before seeing the band live. 
Matt ArtPix has written a blog himself about our trip to London, read it HERE. 

Things are going extremely slowly for The Right Place and its publication date has proved to be near on impossible to firm up... My creative process has been rather stunted of late. 
Go and have a look over at the Arcane Publishing website where my book selling venture is still going strong! 

I hope to be able to post a few updates about my plans for next year on here soon. 

Here's a preview of the stock I will bring to the fair on Saturday! ​