I have updated my HOME page with a list of projects I'd like to work on in the future. 

I am very excited about it, and all I can do is keep my fingers crossed  that it all goes to plan and come to fruition - and doesn't get derailed because of lack of funds and the necessity to earn a living...  

I have re-done the picture gallery on The Book of Thoth page to make it a bit clearer. I might add a few pictures later on as I go along. I have used these pictures as inspiration for various scenes and settings in the book. 

The writer's block seems to be receding... My medicine this week has been reading "Gillespie and I" by Jane Harris and a few stories from "Haunting Ghost Stories", a fab illustrated collection of... ghost stories published in 1980. 

I have been talking about this small press quite a lot on here, and now, at last, Ignite Books have got a WEBSITE! With authors Joolz Denby, Steve Pottinger - both Ignite Books founders - and newcomer Dave Barbarossa, Ignite Books is a small press full of beans. 

Long Live Ignite Books!  

I am back working on The Book of Thoth. I am working out what the next scenes are going to be as well as whether I got the timeline right. This involves re-reading bits I have already written and taking notes about when the events in each part have been happening - I need to do this in order to be able to carry on with the story! 

I have posted a second extract on The Book of Thoth page - please remember that this is only the first draft and I am hoping to improve on a few things in the forthcoming drafts... But I am quite happy with what I have got so far; I even find myself getting rather excited while re-reading it, which must be a good sign! 

I regularly receive in my inbox various messages inviting me to book a place on  courses for writers. The latest one is £245 for "Manuscript submission masterclasses". Are you kidding?

Creative writing seems to have turned into a multi-million pounds industry. 

I have quite a romantic idea about what being a writer is. For me, a writer is not someone who's been to Cambridge or Oxford, done an MA in creative writing, learnt how "to pitch themselves" and "position themselves in the market". How can something as creative and intuitive as writing have become so infused with corporate speech?  

For me, a writer is self-made, DIY, someone with an urge, a passion; it's someone who writes because they cannot do without it. It's someone whose imagination is too powerful: they would go mad if they didn't write all those things they write. 

Also, I love writing because it is a solitary activity I can do at my own pace and in silence. It is my very own little universe.
I am not looking for the company of "fellow writers", companionship. I do not wish to "share my experience". 
I do not want a smug publishing professional to tell me what to do or not: for me, writing is so personal that no one can tell me how to do it. I just follow my instincts, my intuition, two things that have become "swear words" in our society. 

It seems that people are trying to find ways of restricting writing, of controlling it. You almost need a "business plan", you need to "identify your strengths and weaknesses as a writer", you need an "action plan". 

And I say "NO", even though I am perfectly aware of the consequences!