Technicolour mountain

April has to be my favourite month on the mountain -- when everything is fresh, and spring flowers are bursting out on all sides.  There is also something about the incredibly bright fresh green of the bilberry on the higher slopes of the mountain that adds a magical quality to the light.....

BUT August is actually not too bad either.  The gorse on the higher slopes is in full bloom (it's a different variety from the gorse that blooms in April and May on the lower slopes) and is complemented by those lovely pastel shades of purple and mauve from the heather that has spread everywhere above the bracken zone -- especially on those areas burnt within the last few years.  On the highest heath areas the grasses are turning white and buff.  Lower down the deep green swathe of the bracken covered slopes is breaking up as the bracken starts to die back -- and patches of foxy red are beginning to appear and spread.  By the end of September the browns and reds will have replaced the green, and suddenly it becomes easy to walk anywhere on the common.  Among the crags and scree slopes on the mountain, the extraordinary bilberry green is also beginning to wane, and some leaves are turning to red and even yellow.

The subtlety and range of colours at this time is extraordinary -- and that's not even counting the colours of the old grey and blue rocks, which change subtly as the slabs and boulders get wet and dry out, and as they are illuminated by the sun as cloud shadows drift across the landscape.

Not a bad old place.....

Ten years of the Angel Mountain Saga

Doesn't time fly when one is having fun?  A tenth anniversary has crept up on me...... with the realization that it is ten years since the first publication of "On Angel Mountain".  Since then, lots of reprints, six new volumes (and another on the way) and a short-lived and rather disastrous episode involving Transworld and Corgi -- which taught me that big publishers are not necessarily any more efficient than little ones, and that in certain circumstances (such as mine) you are better off just doing it all yourself.

Anyway, with total sales of the series now nudging 60,000, and with something like 25,000 copies of "On Angel Mountain" sold in all editions, I suppose I should be reasonably pleased.

Planning a few things to celebrate the tenth anniversary -- watch this space!

PENfro Book Festival

Plans are now well advanced for the inaugural book festival at Rhosygilwen on 18th September.  There will be 30 trade stands in Neuadd y Dderwen (the main hall) and 26 speakers in all, giving shorter and longer talks and participating in "conversations" with other authors.  Three venues will be in use -- the Conservatory in the mansion for keynote addresses and other talks; the bar, mainly for poetry events; and the summer house in the mansion grounds for childrens' and family events.  the summer house events are free, but there is a charge of £5 each for the conservatory and bar events.  A Festival Pass, costing £10, will give free access to as many of the events as you can physically get to;  that has to be good value, and Festival Passes can be purchased in advance and on-line by going to this web page:

http://www.rhosygilwen.co.uk/eventDisplay.aspx?e=107

There is already massive interest in the festival, and we are convinced that we will have an excellent turnout from book-loving people from across West Wales.

Greencroft Books at the PENfro Bookfest

We will be taking a stall in Neuadd y Dderwen for the day of the festival, Sunday 18th September 2011.  The hall will be buzzing -- 30 stalls taken by publishers, journals, booksellers, agencies interested in literature, and groups of authors.  Entry to the "book fair" part of the festival is free.

I'll be on hand to talk about the Angel Mountain Saga and my other books, and to sign copies, apart from the times when I shall be away on "official duty" -- for my pains, I'm Chairman of this one, although it would be nice if somebody else will take over for next year....

Miss Carn Ingli

This is nice -- a lovely piece of work from Sonya Dawn Flewitt  -- it's yours for £2,200!  Always happy to give artists a plug.....

The profile is an unusual one -- there is a long tradition of the mountain having the profile of a reclining woman, but from the south and SE the profile is very different indeed, with head to the left, breast, rib cage and raised knees.  And of course, it is this profile -- or the other one -- that is responsible for the tradition that the mountain has something to do with Mother Earth, or the Earth Goddess.

http://www.greenstagegallery.co.uk/artist/76/sonya-dawn-flewitt

PENfro Book Festival

For my pains, I'm chairing the organizing committee for this inaugural Book Festival at Rhosygilwen on Sunday 18th September.  Much more info here:

http://penfrobookfestival.info/

Keep an eye on the web site for developments.  It's updated almost every day.  leaflets are going out this weekend, and media coverage will slip into gear at the beginning of September.

Click on the images to enlarge them -- and if you go to the web site you can download PDFs of both the poster and the programme.

PENfro Book Festival programme coming soon.....

The progamme for the Book Festival (18 Sept) is just about organized -- just a few details to be sorted out.  It looks like being a fun-filled day, with a very strong local dimension and also some well-known keynote speakers like Stan Barstow, Trevor Fishlock, and Catrin Collier.

All 30 of the tables in Neuadd y Dderwen are now booked, so the hall will have a nice buzz about it!  The talks and worshops will be in the Conservatory in the big house, in the bar next to the big hall, and in the summer house in the garden.  There will be nominal charges for the "events" and a day pass costing £10 will entitle the bearer to attend everything -- bearing in mind that quite a few events will be going on in parallel.

I'll be giving a talk on the writing of the Angel Mountain Saga, and I'll also have a table in the hall.