The green and pleasant land of Dorset has been burnt to a crisp and is barely recognisable. 
We spent some time at one of our favourite spots, mostly sitting under some trees on a blanket. 
We did a short walk towards Portesham, but gave up quickly because of the heat - we will be back soon!  

I am not ready to give up on The Right Place just now. But the truth is that I have barely done any work on my third novel since Covid. The clear idea I had about what the novel was supposed to be gradually faded to the point of becoming invisible, I realised that I was not happy with the tense I had used in some chapters and would have to rewrite them again, and, to put it simply, writer's block set in... I also had other priorities (but that's another story) and couldn't find the headspace to write. 
But the time has come to start again... The first draft stands at around 50,000 words and I am really happy with some sections.

I intend on starting work again on my third novel on 1st September, with a pub date of late 2027.
​I have a lot of work to do on it.

Watch this space, I will update this blog and the Arcane Publishing news page regularly throughout the autumn and winter...  

We were recently back at the superb Imperial War Museum in London to see the exhibition Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art - the Blitz painted by war artists. 
I have been fascinated by the story of the Blitz since studying it at University as part of my British and American studies degree. I had fallen in love with London aged 10 on my first visit to the UK and the idea of this incredible city full of history and life being bombed touched a nerve... 
This is a small but beautifully put together exhibition. Every single image is significant and carries some kind of poignant beauty, but here are my two favourites:

I now belong to a family whose members have lived through the Blitz and it has become part of my story, in a way (if you had told 10 or 20 year-old me that it would one day be the case, I wouldn't have believed you!) and even though I have moved away from the capital, it still feels like my real home each time I go back.  

Walking back to Central London from Lambeth via Lambeth Bridge, we spotted one of the iconic Thames tugboats... Everyone was on Westminster Bridge and therefore, we had this one to ourselves! 

Then it was to the Water Rats in Gray's Inn Road to see the fantastic Light of Eternity live again. We saw the band for the first time last year in Bristol, then in London as support for one of our favourite bands, Ministry! 
I just adore Light of Eternity's sound (post-punk, metal, industrial... it's all there, led by Pauly Williams's guitar and Paul Ferguson's drumming) - there is basically not a weak song on any of their releases.
One of the many strengths of LOE is Fred Shreck's voice - I like his precise, clear yet devastating delivery. The fact that the band now have a new member on bass (James Oz Bowery) has freed Fred from bass duties.
​On Wednesday at the Water Rats, he was genuinely compelling!

I am no longer a music journalist and therefore will not write full-blown reviews of gigs on here, but after having neglected my blog for several years, I am back posting about writing, reading, art and music, and as we now have tickets for some super exciting gigs over the next few months (and already two in 2027!), expect gig photos to appear on here regularly! 
I've come to the conclusion that social media is the most useless piece of overrated rubbish ever created, and I don't want to waste my time on it.  

Social media is dead, long live my (old) website! 

Earlier this week, we were back in Salisbury (been a while...) to see Salisbury Museum's exhibition Bloomsbury in Wiltshire.

The Bloomsbury group has been an endless source of inspiration to many for decades, falling in and out of grace with critics and the public according to the era and trends, and this exhibition concentrates on their links to Wiltshire. Photographs, films, books, letters, paintings, ceramics and more are on display at this small but perfectly formed exhibition. I particularly loved Henry Lamb's large portrait of writer Lytton Strachey painted in the former's Hampstead studio. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of it due to the shining light... 
Visiting the group's Sussex Home, Charleston, has been on my to-do list for many years... ​

The museum is located in my favourite bit of the city - Cathedral Close. When you are there, you step into a time warp, a welcome escape from our noisy technology-led reality. 
On West Walk, we stopped to gawp at Leaden Hall, formerly an Independent girls' school, now a suitably gothic-looking abandoned(?) building (would they sell it to us for a few thousands, I wonder?)

We tried to emulate Constable by taking a walk in the (without)water meadows... 

I have been busy with things unrelated to Arcane Publishing business, but plans are starting to take shape for this autumn/winter... Over the past few months, I have been mainly working (my freelance day-jobbing) and... buying gig tickets! 
Expect a lot of gig pictures on this website in the coming months, starting next week! 

I have started plotting my return writing (this to start on 1st September) with the aim of publishing my third novel The Right Place in 2027, which is a very important year for me for many reasons... 

I also intend on opening a trial online bookshop in the winter, starting with my novels and building up a small amount of vintage/preloved books for sale. It will only be a six-months trial and then I'll make a decision about what to do next... 

​Watch this space! 

We love going back to London. After 10 years away (of course, we go back from time to time, and in the past couple of years, our visits have become more frequent) we have started to miss it quite a lot, and we really still feel like Londoners each time we are there. Dorset has always felt like some kind of temporary home, whereas London IS home.
 
The things that we miss the most is to feel that you are in a place that matters, where the most important decisions take place. For people like us who love (social) history, architecture and anything to do with culture, London is the place to be. When you live and work in London, you can’t help to feel that buzz and excitement to be in one of the most iconic places in the world. Matt ArtPix’s family all come from London back several generations.
  
For example, we have tried over the past few years to go to gigs outside London. I'm very sorry to say: it's not the same (and very few people turn up for bands that have a full house in London, even in a big city such as Bristol!). 
We knew things would be different when we moved to Dorset, but we had given ourselves 10 years before reconsidering and moving on to pastures new. With that time almost up, we have started thinking about what to do next… We will never be able to go back to London 100%, but it would be nice to get closer to it and be able to reach it within a 2-hour drive maximum!

London is an incredibly green capital and its parks provide very welcome respite from the heat.
We went back to Battersea Park – it was quiet and cool, with an end-of-school year feel to it!
Our favourite bit of the park has to be the Festival Gardens which retain a little bit of the structures built for the Festival of Britain. I have found a fantastic blog about it HERE (the whole site is fascinating, I can’t believe I haven’t come across it before! It’s called “A London Inheritance” and is well-worth exploring for anyone interested in the history of the capital). Near the Fountain Lake, you can find a small kiosk where you can purchase drinks (hot and cold) as well as food. It’s a fab location for a nice tea stop!
Incidentally, this year if the Festival of Britain's 75th anniversary and there is... nothing to show for it! I had a look at the Southbank Centre website and there is very little going on of any interest, really... I have the feeling that the powers that be just couldn't be bothered with it. In 1951, the festival was a brilliant showcase of the country's creativity, with brilliant designs and ideas. Can't we do something similar now? It feels like a massive wasted opportunity... 

We wanted to go and walk along the river at Chiswick but we didn’t quite make it down to the Thames in the end (it had been a long day!) So instead, we decided to make our way to the wonderful Chiswick House (one of our favourites) and sit by the lake looking at the geese, coots, moorhens, ducks and occasional hot dog enjoying the coolness of the water. It was simply divine after such a hot day!
 
We’ll be back in London in early August, and I can’t wait... ​

Last week, I went back to Abbotsbury and climbed up Chapel Hill to St Catherine's Chapel for the first time in months to reacquaint myself with a place that had become very familiar indeed over the past decade or so.  

I have been posting pictures of the chapel on here ever since I decided to write a novel set around the area many years ago: The Right Place. I even moved away from my beloved London to come closer to the location of the book I was writing. And then, that very same writing first slowed down, and then stopped. 

I am not going to lie, I haven't done any work on the novel since Covid. 

After having launched an imprint, written, edited, published and promoted two novels in quick succession, the momentum I had build just collapsed from under me. It is fine. I have accepted it and have learnt how not to force things. 
I also now have a substantial stock of pre-loved, vintage and rare books and intend on developing that side of things further next year. I am still very busy with freelance projects and want to use the rest of 2026 to finish off the manuscript of The Right Place. Then it will be time to turn my intention to the bookselling side of things. 

But I will be returning to The Right Place in September. And I will finish it. 
Hopefully, I will publish it. 
And then, I will move on to the fourth novel. 

I was thrilled to see that the offerings to St Catherine are still being made (I write about it in the novel). 

As mentioned before, I am planning on using this blog and the Arcane Publishing one more often from now on as my patience with social media has been running out. 

Come back here regularly, I'll be here! 
Next time, I will write a short blog about the podcasts I've been enjoying over the past few months. 

​

I have just come back from a much-needed escapade to North West Scotland. 
I have been much inspired by the beautiful landscapes and the splendid isolation of the area (and of course, I have come back with some books!)

I will not be posting a lot on here during the summer as it will be a working summer for me (sadly not on my third novel but some freelance work) and therefore, there's going to be a bit of an intermission until the autumn.
Much plans are afoot... Watch this space (and the Arcane Publishing Instagram page: @arcanepub )
See you then!  

I am really chuffed to announce that the lovely Trevilley Exchange Library at Trevilley, Cornwall, is now back up and running and features one copy of each of my novels I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth!

Trevilley is "the westernmost rose garden in the country" and is home to author Patrick Gale and sculptor Aidan Hicks.

My first novel I Am a Muse will fit right in, as it's about a (dead) painter and sculptor and is mostly set in Cornwall!
As I celebrate 30 years in the UK next year, I am planning a little trip to Cornwall where I lived for the first 10 months before making my way to London Town...


I am now off on a road trip to Northern Scotland! There will be book-related stuff, of course! 

Watch this space and check the Arcane instagram page @arcanepub regularly for up-to-date news! 

Yes, I know, I have once again neglected my websites... I used to be so active on here, reporting on culture and music and tracking the progress of the planning, writing, editing and publishing of my two novels, I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth... Life, eh? 

To be honest, I have been finding it difficult to sit at my desk in front of a computer over the past three months, because I've had a very heavy workload from June to December and had spent many hours every day looking at a screen! 

And as the very contrary person that I am, the more people push technology onto us (social media, phones, phones, AI, social media, phones, AI, AI, AI...) the less I want to use it! 

A lot of things have been happening at Arcane HQ and I am still contemplating the best way to move forward with my writing and bookselling business. 

In the meantime, I am enjoying living among the many piles of books that surround me here in my home by the sea... 
A few days ago, I went back to Bridport and Symondsbury to climb Quarry Hill and the famous Colmer's Hill again - I realised then that I hadn't been out and about in the Dorset countryside much since last June... Instead, I have been going back to my old stomping ground of London, and started exploring new-to-us areas such as Worthing and Brighton (and yes, we are thinking about moving to the South Coast in the future...) 

Above is Hell Lane, the holloway which is the inspiration behind what I hope will be my fourth novel Hell Lane: A Barton Stacey Mystery. 

I am about to embark on a little trip north of the border for a couple of weeks and intend on taking a break from screens. 

​I will update this website on my return at the end of May! ​