J. L. Harland   •   November 2nd, 2018

We’ve had quite a busy summer with various things going on, including the wonderful Cardiff Book Fair at the beginning of September. A weekend of talks, inspiration and meeting other people. Already looking forward to next year.

We’ve also had some writing success. Jan’s crime novel, The Penaluna Way, was longlisted for the Cinnamon Debut Novel Prize! Whoopee! Her poem Llangollen Eisteddfod was highly commended in Writers’ Forum. It can be read below this post. Jacqui’s flash fiction story, Karma, was published online at CafeLit.com. So, we’ve been celebrating.

We’ve also been writing. The sequel to our novel about the feisty Elin Fiorelli is in progress and we’re about half way through the first draft. We think the first novel (still looking for a publisher) had about fifty edits so it’s early days with the sequel. New characters, new places and new adventures for Elin. It’s taken a lot of planning before the writing stage as more research is needed for this one. All good fun. We’re hoping to get the first draft finished before the end of the year.

A short story experiment has also been underway and, depending on the result of this trial way of working, could form a couple of future blog posts. Watch this space.

Llangollen Eisteddfod

Approaching the field,

the tent is the main attraction,

with its circle of secret entrances,

out of the sun, into a canvas world:

the smell of crushed grass and

the swell and the creak of ropes,

holding the bell down on its sea of green.

By day, fresh flowers garland the stage,

drawing the bees in;

By night, rigged spotlights turn everything to magic.