So I've had my first holiday in ... basically, years. I have decided that 2024 would be the year I actually keep some time to enjoy myself instead of always giving priority to money-earning activities (i.e teaching agency work, which I have temporarily paused since December 2022, and freelance editorial work, which sometimes can become all-consuming, with constantly changing deadlines and demands). I have decided to tread carefully whilst I consider my next move. Sadly, all this has meant that my third novel The Right Place has once again been placed on the back-burner and the pace of development of my bookselling venture has slown down drastically (although I keep finding more items to add to my stock, see below). So back to my fortnight away: It was truly thrilling to discover a completely new area for us: Normandy. I actually grew up in France but all our summer holidays were spent abroad, so I don't know France very well! We stayed in the most brilliant gite, Le Lieu Vaillant, in Blay (about 15mn drive from Bayeux) which I highly recommand (you book via Gites de France who offer a very swift an efficient service!): a quiet rural location, animals everywhere (goats, horses, a dog, a cat and so many birds!). There is a lovely little brocante shop full of treasures which you can reach on one of your little local walks (Rock'N'Broc). We might have bought quite a few items in there... ;-) We were there to visit the D-Day landing beaches: Omaha, Juno, Gold and Sword (the latter two being the ones where the British landed) and on the final day, Utah. I am surprised at how much it has affected me (but I am one half of a British/French couple, so it was bound to happen, I guess), and I have learnt a lot about the area and what happened there in 1944. I will follow the 80th anniversary evenst closely indeed... Now we know the landscape in which the Allies fought! We were able to do this in the best conditions, without the hordes of tourists (it is going to get busy in June, this year being the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings!). It was surprisingly quiet for the Easter holiday season, and one of the advantages of holidaying there is that 99% of the time, you can park for FREE anywhere you like, even along the most famous beaches! We are really being taken for a ride in the UK... :-( Beautifully designed metal flags, The British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer Both pictures above: The British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer. A stunning location. We visited late in the afternoon and therefore were on our own! We also went to see the absolutely fabulous BAYEUX TAPESTRY. It's so famous, it was actually surreal to actually see it for real! And it is SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL! A truly fascinating work of art and history! The upstairs exhibition about the tapestry, its origins and the hostorical context is also fascinating. Careful: the museum will close in September 2025 for two years as they develop a new home for the tapestry - hopefully they won't ruin the experience by making it too interactive! Just seeing it is enough... Bayeux is a very beautiful and incredibly prosperous town twinned with... Dorchester, which is up the road from us (how didn't I know this, I wonder?). I think Dorset County Council should actually take a trip to Bayeux to understand how to run a city properly. All the shops are occupied (and they have so many!) and the city knows how to show off its culture and heritage with pride (and they have thrown money at it too, and it shows). Oh, and once again, you can park anywhere for free. Another favourite place was Arromanches, where the Mulberry B Winston Port is located - and is a pretty spectacular sight! You do have to be there to appreciate the scale of the endeavour... We visited La Galerie owned by artists Decaroline and Vanluc. Next door, you will find the beautiful La Brocante Chic (all well worth a visit!). If, like us, you have a massive thing for houses and architecture, especially Art Nouveau and Belle Epoque, then do have a long stroll along the seafront at Hermanville-sur-Mer and Lion-sur-Mer. Houses such as La Horde, La Bluette and Villa Henri were designed by the famous architect Hector Guimard, who designed the instantly recognisable Art Nouveau Paris Metro entrances. Tucked away rue George Lelong, just bnehind the seafront in Hermanville-sur-Mer, you can find this gorgeous house full of gargoyles, ceramic animals and poems. The owner is a poetry lover and has added Charles Baudelaire's poems himself to his house (poems from Baudelaire's infamous Les Fleurs du Mal collection of poems). At the top of the facade, you can admire a stunning sundial dominated by the ceramic skeleton, just my thing! Above is the fascinating Villa Louis, Lion-sur-Mer. It's an artist's house and has four rooms you can stay in! It's also packed full of vintage treasures and curios... Go to their website to watch a little video which will give you a tour of the house! And of course, there were books... We visited the super premises of Orep Editions, which specialise in books about Normandy. It is a real treasure trove for anyone interested in the history, heritage and culture of the region. All the books are published by them and their collaborators, including some English-language volumes. We did buy quite a few books - I purchased this great book about Maurice Leblanc, the creator of the illustrious 1900s "gentleman-thief" Arsène Lupin for myself! And, yes, I might have come back with a few books... You will read about these on the Arcane Publishing instagram page HERE over the next few weeks! We'll be going back as soon as possible, because there is so much to see!
25/3/2024 Intermission - To Normandy we go!It's been very busy with work (sadly, not writing) at Arcane Publishing towers... So we're taking a break to go and explore Normandy!
Keep an eye out on the Arcane Publishing Instagram page for pix and more... 7/3/2024 A day at Lulworth CoveThe rain has stopped!
But the ground is saturated and most paths are full of mud... Choosing a walk is proving quite difficult at the moment! So yesterday, we headed to one of our favourite places just before it gets swamped by the tourists... and we became tourists ourselves in our own county! I feel so lucky to live so close to such a stunning place! There has been a massive, fresh rock fall at Lulworth Cove so you cannot get on the beach at the moment. The sun was surprisingly warm and at the end of the day, I felt regenerated after being cooped up at home working non-stop for weeks on end! Today, I've spent the day buying CDs, watching live electronic music videos and buying concert tickets before completing the corrections on the first draft of my third novel... I wouldn't have it any other way! 2/3/2024 Back to the book...As mentioned in my previous post, I am back working on my third novel The Right Place for the first time in months. It won't last long, so I have to make the most of it!
My task for those few days is to read through what is already there (about 50,000 words) and correct/edit as much as possible. I can tell you that quite a lot of red pen has already appeared on those pages! My goal is to finish the first draft by the end of the summer... Wish me luck! For inspiration, I will be listening to Radio 4's Daphne du Maurier Fortnight. 12 programmes dedicated to the writing of one of my favourite writers! What a treat! 26/2/2024 Quick winter updateI am back!
And starting work again on The Right Place this week! I have been updating the Arcane Publishing blog and events page so head there for updates on the new Arcane book stock and of course, keep an eye on the Arcane Instagram page! I will be posting some updates here throughout the next few months as I try and complete my first draft of my third novel! And I keep having so many ideas for my fourth novel, Hell Lane: A Barton Stacey Mystery... I can't wait to get started properly on this one, it's going to be so much fun to write! 12/1/2024 Happy New Year!Happy New Year!
I am just recovering from covid (that scuppered my plans for the first week of 2024!) and only now beginning to plan for 2024! 2023 has been a difficult year for many reasons and in 2024, I wish to prioritise my own projects and move around a bit more as I do more exploring of the UK and across the Channel! This is the year I will finally complete the manuscript of my third novel The Right Place and prepare it for publication on Arcane Publishing in 2025. I will resume my work on the MS from next week and will keep this blog updated with my progress as I did for my first two novels, I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth. I am currently looking at events to book to sell my novels as well as pre-loved, vintage and rare books! As soon as I start getting some dates, I will update the Arcane events page. And of course, keep an eye on the Arcane Publishing Instagram page where I post as often as possible about the brilliant new books I am constantly adding to my stock of pre-loved, vintage and rare books! 10/12/2023 See you in 2024!I had a wonderful time in Abbotsbury recently at the fantastic Abbey Farm Christmas fair inside the superb medieval Tithe Barn! It was a whole weekend of selling lovely vintage and pre-loved books and magazines and I enjoyed every minute of it!
I had copies of my first two novels, I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth and of course, I promoted The Right Place, my work-in-progress set in and around... Abbotsbury and inspired by the landscape and history of Dorset and by the PJ Harvey song "The Wind", which is about St Catherine's chapel in Abbotsbury. As part of my display, I brought with me for the first time the original painting by Sam Cannon, commissioned years ago when I first started working on the book. 2024 will be a year of writing and travelling - the travelling will be around Dorset and Somerset as we visit paces not too far from us, and further afield to Normandie in the Spring and, hopefully later in the year, to the West coast of Scotland... It will also be a year of writing, as I finally pick up the manuscript of The Right Place to complete my first draft. For reasons I am not going to go into here, I haven't touched my 50,000 word manuscript for over two years now. I am nevertheless determined to publish this book in late 2025 and will be concentrating my efforts into achieving this goal. This book is, for many reasons, very important to me as a writer and an individual. And to be honest, I cannot wait to get started on my fourth novel, Hell Lane: A Barton Stacey Mystery, because I've got the feeling that just like The Book of Thoth, it's going to be a lot of fun to write! I am now taking a short break to work on some freelance projects and prepare for 2024... I hope to post more regularly on here next year about the writing process and the inspiration behind my books! Please follow the ARCANE PUBLISHING INSTAGRAM PAGE for regular updates about Dorset, books, writing and more... Below are some images of the Arcane Publishing stall at the fabulous Abbey Farm Christmas Fair a couple of weekends back. 6/11/2023 The Abbey farm Christmas MarketWe had a lovely day yesterday at the always brilliant The Poundbury Independent Market ! The amount of talent on display was staggering, top quality traders were selling their wares and as a bonus, we had loads of well-behaved, super cute canine visitors, which is always a treat! But there’s no rest for the wicked – it’s now time to concentrate on my next event – a very, very exciting one for me as it will be in Abbotsbury for the Abbey Farm Christmas Market, where my third novel The Right Place will be set!
I have picked some very special items for this event, and I will be changing the stock around during each day and from day to day. Head to the Arcane Publishing instagram to know more about the stock we'll be taking to the event! I do not do events very often as Arcane Publishing, but this autumn, I've decided to go for it. I am therefore thrilled to announce two special events for November: On Sunday 5th November, Arcane Publishing will have a full stall at the Poundbury Independent Market on Sunday 5th November, 10am to 3pm, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset. I will be in the Jubilee Hall, all warm and dry! I had a brilliant day there in the Spring and I will bring a stock which will be 99% different from the one I brought to the market last May. Of course, I will have copies of my two novels I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth, and I will bring vintage novels and pre-loved books about architecture, music, fashion, art and more… And on Saturday 25th November and Sunday 26th November, I will be in Abbotsbury for the Abbey Farm Christmas Fair!
This one is very, very special. My third novel, The Right Place, which is still a work-in-progress, is inspired by the landscape around Abbotsbury and the PJ Harvey song The Wind, written about St Catherine’s chapel. I have based some of the characters and plot on the lyrics of the song, which itself is based on the prayer to St Catherine. A long time ago, I fell in love with Abbotsbury whilst on holiday, and I kept coming back again and again. In 2012, I wrote the first paragraph of what would eventually become my third novel, inspired by the landscape of Dorset and the song. I have based some of the characters and plot on the lyrics of the song, which itself is based on the prayer to St Catherine. I loved Dorset so much that I moved to the county several year ago, leaving London behind… Sadly, I couldn't afford anywhere near Abbotsbury and have settled on The Isle of Portland, which is not too far. The first draft of The Right Place now stands at 50,000 words but is far from being finished, and unfortunately, it has stayed untouched since August 2021 – I suffered terrible writer’s block during lockdown and have had to prioritise other things since then. But this year, I will use the even in Abbotsbury to kick-start my writing again and I have given myself the goal of finishing the novel in 2024 and publishing it in 2025. So here is to 2024 and The Right Place! For this event, I will have copies of my first two novels, I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth, and I will be promoting my third novel The Right Place, to be published in 2025 on Arcane Publishing. The cover features a specially commissioned painting by Sam Cannon showing the chapel! I will also bring items specially chosen for the event, with a different stock on each day! Expect to find vintage and pre-loved books about art, fashion, nature and more, as well as vintage and pre-loved novels, beautiful children’s books and more! I will post about the event and my stock nearer the time. I am slowly starting to ease myself into the autumn and picking up the Arcane Publishing business where I left it back in mid-August... Still a lot of work to do which is not Arcane/book-related, but I now can find some time here and there to dedicate myself to a few tasks...
The writing of my third novel The Right Place still hasn't resumed and I don't think it will happen before December, but I have applied to a few exciting events to sell my books and I hope to post about them in the forthcoming weeks... I am particularly excited by one of the them which would be a huge promo coup for The Right Place, but I need to be accepted first so won't say anything more about it! I am happy to announce that on Sunday 24th September, I will be helping my partner-in-crime Matt ArtPix on his stall at the fabulous Loulou's Vintage Fair at Paintworks in Bristol (I love that area of Bristol as it's got the wonderful Arnos Vale cemetery too!). The last Loulou's vintage fair in the city was back before Covid hit and it was a roaring success, so we hope that this event will become a regular feature in our events calendar! I will be posting about the stock I'll be taking on the day on the ARCANE INSTAGRAM PAGE so head there for some lovely books! More announcements to be made soon, so watch this space! |
AuthorI think therefore I write. Archives
March 2024
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