Stone Devil From The Invisible College Trilogy
The statue of the Stone Devil that features in my YA series, The Invisible College Trilogy and appears in the cover design for book 2, ‘Dust and Shadows, is based on this photograph I took some years ago. I’m glad I did, as it has since disappeared. In book one, ’They Do Things Differently Here’, […] more…
The Voynich Manuscript: Decoded After 100 Years
In book 1 of my The Invisible College Trilogy, the main protagonists, teenagers Emily and Peter, discover a ‘book of mysteries’, which contains, amongst other things, a transcription of a document written in an indecipherable text, accompanied by illustrations, also not understood. I based this upon the Voynich manuscript.For over a hundred years the Voynich […] more…
Essex Book Festival 2019: Essex Authors and You
Come along this coming Saturday 9th March to the Essex Authors and You day at Chelmsford library. From 10.00 to 16.00 local authors will be holding seminars and talks. Between 12.00 and 14.00 there are opportunities to chat informally with many of the writers on a one-to-one basis and to listen to them introduce themselves […] more…
The Flammarion Engraving: Inspiration for The Invisible College Trilogy Covers
The inspiration for the background of the covers of my The Invisible College Trilogy. According to Wikipedia, ‘the Flammarion engraving is a wood engraving by an unknown artist that first appeared in Camille Flammarion’s L’atmosphère: météorologie populaire (1888). The image depicts a man crawling under the edge of the sky, depicted as if it were […] more…
Essex Authors’ Day, Chelmsford, Saturday 17th March 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed the Essex Authors’ Day, on Saturday 17 March at Chelmsford, Essex, library. An Essex Book Festival event, it featured over forty local writers giving talks, readings and ‘Meet The Author’ sessions. All presentations were free. My talk on ‘Writing Speculative Fiction’ was well-attended. I described a number of sub-genres and offered suggestions […] more…
Busy Working on My Seminar for the Essex Book Festival 2018
I am currently busy working on my presentation/seminar on ‘Writing Speculative Fiction’ at the Essex Authors’ Day, Saturday 17th March at Essex Libraries, Chelmsford, part of the Essex Book Festival. The session will be an interactive presentation and discussion of Speculative Fiction. I will give an outline of the genres and sub-genres, listing examples of the main […] more… Essex Book Festival 2018: Essex Authors Day, Saturday 17th March
Essex Book Festival 2018 On Saturday 17th March I will be holding a forty-five minute seminar from 10a.m. at Chelmsford library, with the title ‘Writing Speculative Fiction’. I will also be giving an author reading and have a ‘Meet the Author’ session. More details to follow. I look forward to meeting friends and readers. more…