I'm very pleased to announce that ...

 ... the next anthology of stories from the Seasonal Collective is about to hit the streets.  Read on for more info ...

I have always loved telling stories and letting my imagination run riot in the process.  Full-length novels are an awful lot of work.  But the enjoyment comes from the initial thinking that goes into creating the story.  Once the basic plan is there, the next phase - the writing - requires a lot of self-discipline over a significant period of time.  But crafting the sentences, putting the words on the page, is where the enjoyment is for me.  And once the novel is finished and away with the editor, there is a great sense of achievement as well as some regret, especially if I know there is a character that I won't meet again in another story.  Novel writing is, of course, the bulk of my job as a writer, and it is a serious business.

But short stories are a very different kettle of fish!  That's where the fun is!  In a short story you can write in any number of different genres.  At the moment I'm having great fun writing ghost stories.  Short stories give a writer the opportunity to try something new, for example, to test out a character or a situation.  See my short story in Spring Paths, Madame Beauvary's Curio Shop.  She was very much an experiment, and I've decided to keep her.

In a short story, you can try out a new or different way of telling a story, such as using monologue or the first-person point of view.  My story Eithne, in the Earth anthology, provided that chance.  Which brings me very neatly to the point of this post. Air, the next collection of tales in the Elements series of books, is about to be released.  The cover is all done - see above -, the editing is done, and the final proofread is complete.  This book may be a little shorter than the last, but the stories are still as varied, beguiling and compelling as in any of the other collections that we have released.  To give a little taste of what's to come, the blurb is below.

about the book ... Air, An Anthology - a collection of short stories that are fast, fresh and unpredictable. The second in a four-book series dedicated to the cornerstones of our existence, Air celebrates the element we cannot live without, the invisible connection to every living thing on this planet. So breathe in, breathe out and grab a front-row seat for this incredible ride.

From the pens of award-winning Canadian and British wordsmiths, this collection unleashes unbounded imaginings that feature winds of change most unexpected; a windstorm fallout in Treeless County; an Appalachian bird-watching excursion that reveals a unique creature; vital answers from the past when Tarlia’s sword falls silent, and unforeseen consequences inspired by a beautiful work of art, to the solemn truth that living in the past is no way to enjoy the future; a woman who falls unexpectedly from the sky; the compelling notion of words floating through the air; a coming of age while ice sailing, and a creation set loose into an unknown world … that used to be alive...

Discover for yourself why this multi-genre treasure trove is completely unforgettable.

You will be able to get the book at all usual retailers, and I will add the appropriate buy link as soon as it is available.  In the meantime, keep checking this space.

Join me and many other authors for the Authors at the Coast event ...

... in Whitley Bay on November 14th.  Read on for more details ...

A multi-genre book event at a new venue on the north-east coast is coming up, and I am really pleased to say that I will be there.

Having lived in Whitley Bay for a while when I was working at the proper job that I once had before writing took over my life, it will be lovely to go back to that part of the country in my current guise as a scribbler.  I really enjoyed my time up in Whitley Bay when I was last there.  There's something magical about the scenery of that stretch of coastline, and I remember the many walks I took along the seafront after work or at weekends.  From where I was living back then, I had a view of the coast, and there were days when I would drive home and just sit there for a while watching the sunlight on the sea, before grabbing my briefcase and going indoors to get something to eat.

Enough of the reminiscences!  Authors at the Coast will be at Spanish City on Saturday, November 14th from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm.  The event is free for everyone, so please bring your friends and family.  A full list of the authors attending is on the banner below.

I will be there with all of my books.  I will have my seven Jacques Forêt Mysteries with me.  If you would like to chat about France, the Cévennes, the stories, or even Jacques himself, please drop by and say hello.  I will also be able to give you the latest info on the next book in the series.

I will be bringing the three Miss Moonshine anthologies as well.  If you are in need of a feel-good, heart-warming read for the coming festive season, then these collections of gentle stories will be just the ticket.  They might even turn out to be the perfect present for that difficult-to-buy-for great-aunt in your family.

I will also have the four multi-genre collections of short stories that comprise the Seasonal Paths Anthologies.  I work with one American and eight other Canadian authors to put these books together.  Having completed the seasons series, we are now creating stories based around the four elements, and I will have the first of those books with me, too.

There will be lots to see, and even more to talk about if you can make it.  So, please join me and loads of other authors at  Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Tyneside, NE26 1BG

I'm continuing my journey following the Granville-Paris Express ...

  ... and I'm stopping off in Dreux today.  Come and join me ...

The city of Dreux has a population of just over 31,000.  Which seems quite small to us.  But when you consider that between 1954 and 1990 the population more than doubled, you have some measure of this town's exponential growth.  In the heart of the city, you have a core of old historic buildings.  Between and completely surrounding the original confines of the ancient town, you have modern urban dwellings and the results of what must have been a significant housing crisis in the early decades of the mass influx of people into Dreux.

I've driven through this place, and more frequently, driven around it on the bypass hundreds of times.  It's not really a place that I want to come back to.  It's too noisy, too busy, too crowded. Having read Andrew Hussey's book, I can now see that it is a perfect example of the societal and urban fracturing he draws attention to in Fractured France.  The population is multicultural, the hijab is openly worn on the streets, and, despite the ban, I see a group of women wearing burkas strolling on the opposite side of the street.  For a moment I wonder which country I'm actually in.

But I'm here because I want to get to the station to see if the original building, completed and opened on June 15th, 1864, is still intact.  If it is, it will be one of the few along this rail route that has served as a station and is still used as such here in the 21st century.

I'm not disappointed.  The long wings of the first building are still identifiable as they flank the central portion, which houses the station's main entrance and primary foyer.  The solid quadrangular shape of the building was given a more modern facelift in 1932 by the Parisian architect Paul Louis Genuys (1818-1937).  The frontage of the building that we see today, with its sweeping arches, high semi-circular windows and stone pillars, was Genuys' vision and gives the impression that the traveller is entering a vast mansion.  Old photographs and postcards show the station as it was before Genuys worked his magic.  I prefer the current version to the characters' experiences on the Paris Express in 1895.

As I cross the square in front - all part of a remodelling of this area of town in 2017 - with its fountains, I notice a street name that I recognise.  There's another street in Granville - the starting place for our journey - that has the same name: Place Pierre-Semard.

Pierre Semard (1887-1942) was born into a family of rail workers and spent his youth in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne.  At the age of 13, he followed in his father's footsteps and began work on the railway.  During his career, he became a Trade Unionist.  Eventually, he held the post of Secretary General of the Federation of Railway Workers and became the leader of the French Communist Party.  During the occupation, he was imprisoned and eventually executed on March 7th, 1942, as a political prisoner.

I turn to make my way back to the car.  I need the peace, the quiet, the lilting ripple of the stream that flows beside my camping spot.  As I make my way through town, I can not think of a better-placed street name than that outside the station here in Dreux.

You can catch up with the previous posts in this series by clicking the following links: Granville part 1, Granville part 2, Vire, Flers, Briouze, Argentan and Surdon. My review of the book, The Paris Express, is Here