The Angelic Guardian

Image:  acknowledgements Opolgraf and Fabryka (Poland)

I came across this wonderful image the other day -- and of course it is a perfect representation of the situation which I describe at the beginning of each of the Angel Mountain stories -- of lost diaries being guarded by ravens and other angels, only to be eventually found by our heroic narrator / editor through a mixture of luck, judgment and divine intervention......

It's all a bit of fun, and I have enjoyed using the device of the lost diaries and their discovery as a lead-in to each of the novels -- and also as a device for introducing the reader to Martha, her family and her world.

And by the way, the raven has just released another diary that was hidden away under her guardianship.  "Conspiracy of Angels" will be out early in April.

A new Carningli image

Ever wondered what Carningli (Angel Mountain) looks like from the air, with high-resolution digital aerial photography processed with false colour and low-level false lighting?  Well, wonder no more -- the above image (kindly sent by Jonathan Lee from Aberystwyth University) is quite amazing.  Fantastic detail, to a resolution of 2m.  Click on the image to enlarge it..... enjoy!

Stagecoach travel in the bad old days

Purely by chance, having written a section into my new novel about the joys of long-distance coach travel around 1800 (Martha goes on a trip to the Lake District) I came across an excellent description of what conditions were like,  near the beginning of Dickens's novel "A Tale of Two Cities."  There is a chapter called "The Mail" -- well worth reading.  And if you have a Kindle, or a Kindle reading app on your computer, you can download this one for free from the Amazon Kindle bookstore.......

The new novel is now ready for the printers.  Here are the final details:

Brian John "Conspiracy of Angels"
Volume 8 of the Angel Mountain Saga
A4 paperback, 352 pp, price £7.99
Greencroft Books
Publication date:  9th April 2012

This book, set in the year 1810, recounts the adventures of Mistress Martha when she decides -- somewhat foolishly -- to assist in the anti-slavery campaign.  She ends up having to rescue her own enemies from the depredations of a black villain, while she herself has to be rescued by her own family and friends.

The stunning cover has been designed by Martin, keeping the "house style" of the raven, the ornamented letter "A" and the handwriting just visible across the base of the page.

More news about the launch soon.............

Tollgates and toll houses

Those who are familiar with "Rebecca and the Angels" will know that tollgates and toll houses feature very prominently in that story.  I found this very interesting image of a tollgate and house while hunting for something else the other day -- this one is from NE Wales, but we can be sure that many of those in West Wales looked very similar.  It's difficult to imagine a whole family living in such a small house -- but we know that they did -- and that tollgate keepers and their families had a tough time of it, losing their houses and their possessions over and again as the riots built up to a climax.  Well, if you side with the enemy, you should always expect trouble.....