Twenty-seven years of book sales

This is an interesting diagram -- showing the total number of invoices issued by Greencroft Books per year, between 1986 and 2013.  Over most of that time I have had between ten and twenty titles in print,  and year on year the number of invoices written out has fluctuated above and below the 200 mark.  The peak activity period between 2001 and 2009 coincides with the writing and publishing of the Angel Mountain books.

But the last 8 years have seen a gradual decline in activity, coinciding with the slow demise of bookshops as Amazon has stolen more and more of the book trade, and as Ebooks have appeared and made a dent in the market.  Now there are just a few bookshops left in West Wales, and ironically some of my best sales outlets are not bookshops at all, but stores like Vincent Davies in Haverfordwest,  Picton Castle, Tregwynt Woollen Mill, Window on Wales in Solva, Newport Information Centre, Ocean Lab in Goodwick, and -- of course -- the Pembrokeshire Candle Centre, which just happens to be run by my wife!!

The times they are a-changin'..............

The Spirit House at Brithdir Mawr

The Spirit House being thatched by Alan Jones and friends, March 2014 (photo: Tony Wrench)

The finished Spirit House, seen from the slopes of Carningli

This is an interesting new feature in the landscape -- the Spirit House built by Emma and the members of the Brithdir Mawr community.  It looks a lot like the thatched round houses built at Castell Henllys and now run as an educational / visitor centre to teach people about the Iron Age.  Given the obvious similarities, the National Park could not very well turn this one down when they received the planning application (yes, it has planning consent!), having given themselves consent for the cluster of thatched round houses not so far away.......  so that was a pretty smart move on the part of the folks at Brithdir!

Another reason for the planning consent was probably that this is classed as a "religious building" and meeting house -- it is not intended to be a dwelling house. I have never quite understood the logic of the planning laws which say that new dwellings are not OK in most locations in the countryside,  whereas buildings not intended to be lived in are OK.  The environmental / visual impact is exactly the same.........

Anyway, there it is, and I really like it!  Let's hope it brings pleasure and spiritual awareness to lots of people in the future.  The entrance looks straight up at Carningli, so the mountain is clearly the place where the spirits are deemed to be.  Haven't we heard that somewhere before?

Three cheers for the artists

 

Three cheers for the clever people who help to make books visually attractive.  Inside and on the outside.  This illustration is from Boz Groden, who did the quirky and very appealing illustrations for my children's book called "The Strange Affair of the Ethiopian Treasure Chest."  It's rather good -- worth sharing!

Fifteen years.......

I have just realised that it's fifteen years since Mistress Martha was born!  In 1999 Inger and I were on holiday on Gran Canaria when I had that strange delirious episode which involved the inspiring story of Martha flooding into my head -- and the rest is history.

"On Angel Mountain" was not published until 2001, but the period of my life now known as the Angel Mountain Period officially began in 1999!  I will be putting up some further posts in celebration, so watch this space.......

Across the moor

A nice photo of Carningli from the west, taken this morning.  Grey skies, muted colours, but beautiful nonetheless.....

Happy St David's Day!

Greetings to everybody on this auspicious day! (Wales should really be playing England today of course, but since that might have given the men in red some sort of psychological advantage, the powers that be put it off till next Saturday.  Disgraceful.....)

A nice photo of Carningli to celebrate with.  I don't need to explain that this little mountain is the focal point of all eight of the Angel Mountain stories, featuring the indomitable and incorrigible Martha Morgan.

Thinking of which, why are we so preoccupied with St David or Dewi Sant -- patron saint and father figure?  In these days of sexual equality, should we not also be celebrating the life of  a maternal figure or role model?  Mother Wales?  If you are looking for Mother Wales, look no further than Martha Morgan........ in all her delightful complexity.......

http://www.brianjohn.co.uk/about-martha.html

Acts of God -- and East Greenland 1962

Some of my favourites from East Greenland 1962  -- the Oxford University expedition which laid the foundations for the story in "Acts of God." 

In memory of our dear friend Geoff Arnold (on the right in the bottom photo) who died last year.