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23/3/2025 On resuming work on my third novel... Thirteen years ago, I wrote the first chapter of The Right Place, which will be my third novel.
Since then, I have launched my imprint, Arcane Publishing, I have edited and published my first novel, I Am a Muse, I have written, edited and published my second novel The Book of Thoth and I have moved to Dorset. Whilst writing the first two novels felt natural and joyful, this one has become a rather arduous task as Real Life has kept getting in the way and writer's block has reared its ugly head many times over the past five or six years. I am determined to get this published in 2026 and then move on to my next book, Hell Lane: A Barton Stacey Mystery, which will also be Dorset-based and inspired by the artistic community of 1930s Chaldon Herring. 11/3/2025 Vera Brittain: 2 Cheyne Walk, London I have just finished Vera Brittain's Testament of Experience. After having read Testament of Youth, her book about her experience of WW1, I had to read this follow-up, which deals with WW2. Both books are a fascinating read for many reasons, and I cannot wait to get started on Testament of Friendship, her book about her great friend Winifred Holtby, the author of the superb South Riding. On my visit to London last weekend, I just had to go and have a look at 2 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, the house Vera Brittain and her husband purchased before the war - he had fallen in love with the building at first sight.
 As I prepare to resume work on the first draft of my third novel, The Right Place, I find it inspiring to read about other writers' experience of writing.
I am hoping that 2025 will bring me back to my books as I have struggled to sit down and complete my manuscript over the past few years (Real Life sometimes doesn't play ball and interferes with one's ambitions...) It is high time I published this book as I become more and more obsessed with the next two novels I am planning to write! 6/3/2025 The Dorset Pavilion: inspiration Yesterday, we finally managed to see the Dorset Pavilion exhibition at The Bridport Arts Centre - some fantastic art there, and it could have been much bigger! I now need to have a look at some of the artists' websites! In the free exhibition booklet, one can find a wonderful essay by Jon Woolcott which features so many references I have encountered during the research I have done for my first Dorset-based novel The Right Place! How lovely to see Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male mentioned, as well as some of my all-time favourites (PJ Harvey, Rob McFarlane...) Also featured is the 1930s literary/artistic community of Chaldon Herring, which I started researching a few years ago for my fourth novel, Hell Lane: a Barton Stacey mystery. This aspect of Dorset seems to have been relatively forgotten/overlooked, which I really find quite strange as it is a truly fascinating story! I will also have a look a few things I've learned reading this essay... More to discover! I now feel really motivated as I try and resume work on my manuscript... 
20/2/2025 February update: Plans afoot! It is a wet and gloomy day today in Dorset and the ArtPix/Arcane HQ is a hive of activity as we beaver away at our various projects.
The Arcane office is filled with incense and The Mighty Sieben's fabulous music - a lot of plotting is taking place! Work has resumed on the first draft of my third novel The Right Place and I hope to publish in Spring 2026. A decision has finally been taken regarding launching an online Arcane Bookshop! This, I hope, will happen in June/July 2025. Watch this space and follow the Arcane updates on Instagram HERE! I'm going to be out and about quite a bit over the next few months so there will be books, music, countryside, architecture and more!  Incredibly, January 2025 is the 10th anniversary of the publication of my second novel, The Book of Thoth. In 2023, I missed the 10th anniversary of my first novel, I Am a Muse, because I had mostly stepped back from promoting Arcane and my books. As I attempt to resurrect my much-neglected imprint this year, I couldn't let yet another 10th anniversary pass me by! If I am a Muse was more an experiment than anything else (I just wanted to see whether I had it in me to write a book, something I'd been dreaming of since the age of six!) The Book of Thoth is the book I am the most proud of - and it was an absolute joy to write! It was also hard work, with a lot of research, planning and editing. This is the first book fully designed and typeset by my partner in life and crime Matt ArtPix who had designed the cover for I Am a Muse. As the true design creative he is, he got the idea behind the cover straight away and came up with the perfect cover! I wanted the cover to be the opposite of what people would expect for a Gothic novel, and I also wished to express time-travel, ghostly apparitions with a hint of Ancient Egypt and Art Deco! There are also loads of lovely little design details dotted around the book. The beginning of 2025 is still very slow and we are still half-hibernating here at Arcane/ArtPix towers, BUT plans are afoot! Watch this space (and go to our INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT for music, books, nature, art and more!)  8/1/2025 The Right Place and Abbotsbury: 2025 South side of St Catherine's Chapel I feel like I have been going on about my third novel The Right Place for ages... which of course I have! The first chapter of The Right Place was written in 2012 during a week-long creative writing Lab (you can read all about it HERE. It's actually heartbreaking to see my picture of the very much missed Christopher Fowler!). This book definitely is the one that seems to never get finished. My first two novels, I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth got written, edited and published between 2010 and 2015 (I also found the time to launch Arcane Publishing as a proper publishing imprint!) So 2025 is the year that it gets completed and edited - publication in the first half of 2026 (if everything goes to plan). As I start writing again, I needed to revisit one of the main locations of my novel, St Catherine's Chapel in Abbotsbury. Yesterday, the sun was out and the Dorset landscape looked divine, and so this was perfect. As I resurrect my much-neglected blogs and websites, I will post more updates on the writing and publishing process. On this blog (and on INSTAGRAM), you will also find nature, culture, live music and books, books and more books!   Door to the turret - this is an important place in the novel!  Niche inside the chapel, unusually empty - these small niches feature in The Right Place  Lonely prayer card to St Catherine - the novel's characters ponder the appearance of those prayers and offerings  The ghostly shadow of a window appears on the wall of the chapel  View of St Catherine's Hill from the Coastal Path  Looking towards Grove Lane and "Grove Cottage", Kat's house in The Right Place  Provisional design for the cover (art by Sam Cannon; design by Matt ArtPix) 26/12/2024 Looking forward to 2025... Our Christmas Day walk yesterday 25/12/2024... This gloomy, eerie photograph is the perfect illustration of our year. 2024 has been an unpleasant year for us till the very end here at ArtPix/Arcane HQ, so much so that we've decided on a near-complete re-set in the New Year.
I will concentrate on my much-neglected publishing imprint and will finally complete the first draft of The Right Place and prepare it for publication, and I now want to get started properly on my fourth novel, Hell Lane: A Barton Stacey Mystery. I also hope to set up my online pre-loved, vintage and rare books bookshop by the end of the year. Watch this space, we will be much more active on here and in the real world in 2025! Please keep an eye on the Arcane Instagram page HERE!  ** UPDATE**
Sadly, due to Storm Bert battering the UK, Sunday trading at @mapperton_estate was cancelled. Thank you to all the people who came and bought books from us! Watch this space for more news... I am thrilled to announce that Arcane Publishing will have a stall at the famous Mapperton Christmas Market at the enchanting @mapperton_estate in Dorset on the 23rd and 24th November 2024. I will bring a carefully curated selection of beautiful pre-loved, vintage and rare books to this special event (fashion, architecture, art, first/early editions and more ...), as well as copies of my first two novels, I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth. This will be the only event for Arcane Publishing in 2024. I am now ending Arcane's hiatus. After an extremely challenging year, I am planning on finally working on developing Arcane Publishing further in 2025 and completing and publishing my third novel, The Right Place. I hope to do more quality markets next year and to launch an online shop to go with my websites and instagram. The Mapperton Christmas Market Mapperton Estate Mapperton Beaminster Dorset DT8 3NR Saturday 23rd November: open 10am to 6pm Sunday 24th November: open 10am to 4pm You will need to book your tickets on the Mapperton Estate website. |
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March 2025
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