I have finally finished the assignment I have been on since early January - very early starts and a lot of driving around have been stealing my energy...
I am now ready to get back to what I love doing best: write books, find new stock for the Arcane Publishing second-hand book stall and walk around the beautiful Dorset countryside to find inspiration for my writing.
I will be able to post more regularly over the next three months or so, especially updates about the progress of the first draft of The Right Place which has been dreadfully abandoned over the past few months... 
Today, I went for a walk down the Portland Beach Road to take pictures of the very pretty pink flowers which spread out over the pebbles on the side of the road: thrift, or Portland Pinks. 

Ironically, as everything is kicking off before the next round of European Elections, Portland is full of colourful vans sporting the logos of national sailing teams from all around Europe and a mixture of languages can be heard being spoken. We didn't even know about it (!): Portland is hosting a very big sailing competition, the European Sailing Championships, which are an important step towards selection for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo! 

Spring has arrived in Dorset, and I am on holiday...
After a very intense three months working in a very busy environment, it really is bliss to just go out and find oneself in the gorgeous Dorset countryside. 
I am trying to reconnect with nature and with words, and I hope to start writing again at some point over the summer. 
I hope to go out and get as much inspiration as possible in the next few days... 

Lambs have started to appear... Next week should be good in the fields around here! 

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. 
​