NEWS
Under Flint Skies by Elizabeth Hurley
I am tickled pink to announce my first full length novel, Under Flint Skies. The silly thing is I launched it two months ago and it was bonkers at the time. I also launched one of my walking guides and […]
Russian Art after the Revolution
Russian Art after the Revolution – Theodora Clarke. An Arts Society Lecture. Excuse the brevity of this post. I kept forgetting to take notes! Much was lost after the Russian Revolution but I hadn’t realised that we had lost so […]
Electric Bikes. Yes or No?
I’m thinking about a cycling book for next year as I love cycling and want everyone to find places to enjoy it as much as I do. One of my recommended routes is the Mevagissey to Eden trail. It’s about […]
May was a rotten month – Newsletter
I love May, it is one of the finest months of the year, in fact it might even be my favourite. The days are warm, the nights are chilly, the countryside is lush, there are two bank holidays and everyone […]
Creative Writing – Penzance Literary Festival
Creative Writing at the Penzance Literary Festival As you know I’m branching out into fiction. And in fact my first book is almost ready to launch. Somewhat terrified but anyway. I saw details of a creative writing course being held […]
Cycling with others
I was getting close to finishing one of my walking books, which in reality meant that I was bored of spell checking and had started to flick through Facebook, when a post caught my eye, “Who’s coming on this bike […]
Persian delights. Iranian art and architecture
Behind the Veil: the Arts of Islamic Persia – John Osborne So my second BODFAS approached and I was determined not to make such a mess of it this time. However, the fates are cruel and things cropped up. The phone rang […]
Knickers, knockers and knee britches
The Foundations of Fashion – Kate Strasdin Well I’m just back from my first NADFAS talk. For a long time I’ve missed the lecture circuit and academic discussions, so it was nice to stumble across the National Association of Decorative & […]
Top Place Names in Cornwall
We probably all have our favourite Cornish place names, but I think the number one place name, is one we can all agree on. Before we get to that one though let’s have a look at some of the other […]
Lost Lands – warnings from the past.
There is something very exciting about lost lands and histories. As a maritime nation, we have an uneasy relationship with the sea. It has protected us from invaders (sometimes), it has enabled us to travel and explore the world, it […]
The History of China Clay in Cornwall
In the late seventeenth century, traders from the far east began to bring home beautiful cups and plates made out of exquisite porcelain. To a continent that was used to pottery and stone wear, these pieces were treasures to be […]
The Ordnance Survey is quite simply the best!
I read a post earlier today that made me laugh and brought back happy memories. This cyclist was talking about his tour around Crete and the maps that he had used. Wow. Maps, useful looking ones at that. When I […]
The Tale of Bolster the Giant or What Happens when you Annoy a Saint
There is something about the landscape of St Agnes that invites larger than life tales. Here, a most unpleasant giant mistreats his wife and moons after a local saint. Boy did he pick the wrong woman to mess with. — […]
There’s nothing new under the sun but it still smarts
As many of you probably know, I am an independent author. That means I commission my own proofreaders, (not for the blog)(1) typesetters, editors and cover designers. I publish under my own small imprint called Mudlark’s Press. It’s hard work […]
The Little White Hare of Lanherne
While researching the Vale of Lanherne I came across this lovely old folk tale. I have reproduced it in full courtesy of the magnificent Project Gutenberg. Unlike most tales about White Hares this is not one of betrayal and revenge. […]
Blackberries and Cornwall
I have a theory and it’s this. Blackberries grow best on tin. Now my proof for this is sketchy and my explanation is even poorer but bear with me. I walk a lot, all over the place, and the best […]
Frustrations of building a new walk
For a while now I’ve been convinced that there must be a decent walk that links Roche Rock, St Dennis Church and Castel-an-Dinas. It would be a big walk, around 10 miles I think, so it’s one to build up […]
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Same story, different date.
Today’s headlines sounded rather jolly, the ebook is declining, the print book is rising, ra ra ra. Here’s the BBC story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39718016 “Last year, one of the most eye-catching figures from our statistics was that physical book sales were increasing […]
With Pola Negri, trying to track down The Woman He Scorned, in Mevagissey
When you write a history you need to make sure you are not simply repeating facts without establishing the truth of them. This involves lots of enjoyable detective work hunting down primary sources. One established “fact” was that Pola Negri, […]
How to take care of dogs in hot weather
In this current heat wave, it’s easy for life to become really difficult for our best friends. A few years ago we had our first experience of a dog experiencing heat stroke. Agatha is a ninety mile an hour sort […]
Butterflies, flutter by.
What a great year it’s proving for the butterflies. When I saw this cover I couldn’t resist, isn’t it gorgeous? While I was out walking the other day I had the rare opportunities to stalk butterflies so I’ll share my […]
New Cover Design and Series Re-Launch
Now that we are onto the third book in the series I felt it was time to stand back and have a look at the collection. Book One, Walks in Mevagissey Area was the first and something of a prototype […]
Slightly over-excited
This was me yesterday on Facebook: I WAS AMAZING!!!! No really, A-MAZ-ING. God I’m stoked, that was so much fun. My audience were the best people ever, they laughed at my rubbish jokes, they were engaged, they asked smart questions, […]
Getting your book onto the shelves of a bookshop
(I’ve borrowed this blog from my Hurley Books page as I’m talking about this at the Penzance Lit Fest) I speak as a bookshop owner. Someone who loves books. Most of us that run bookshops do, so please bear in […]
Me at the Penzance Literary Festival
Well, they do say that a blog title should say it like it is. I have been invited to talk at this year’s Penzance Literary Festival. I am very excited about it and also terrified. I’m going to be talking […]
Multi-tasking doesn’t work
Egads! What a fool am I? The past few weeks have been a nightmare because in a moment of deranged lunacy I thought I would be efficient and multitask the release of my next two books. I’d be like an awesome […]
What’s in a name?
When I decided to start getting serious about writing I realised that I would need a website and an e-mail address. I don’t like self-publicity, it seems so needy and particularly unBritish but for heaven’s sake, I have decided to […]
Who put that river there!
Well, I’m a bit embarrassed, fancy not spotting a stream in a place you’ve lived in for nearly twenty years. Not having a car for a while has meant that I’ve had to walk everywhere and I’ve been discovering loads, it’s like being […]
The Spoken Word
Over the Christmas period, I decided to experiment with an audiobook. Being my own publisher means that I get to play with format and presentation and I have really enjoyed it. After the physical book came the e-book, with all […]
When the rivers run red
There are many many famous river confluences around the world with their dramatic clash of colours and I am pleased to add a little Cornish stream to the likes of the Nile, Mosel, Rhine, Colorado and Yangtze. Ladies and gentleman […]
Walking Ethy Woods
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”1″ gal_title=”Ethy”] Well it was a wet and muddy walk but I’m beginning to think all my walks are wet and muddy, plus I forgot my inhaler, so wheezy to boot. Anyway we parked up in Lerryn, a lovely village […]
Punctuation
Here’s a thing. I am not good at punctuation, never was, never have been. Doubt I ever will be. I remember after my first month of English A level, the new teacher took me to one side, and asked what my […]
Does this sound like hell?
This was a short piece of creative writing I had to do. The brief was to place your character in a heaven or hell scenario. Enjoy. Sheila sat at her table, the nylon upholstery of her chair prickled the backs of […]
Helping Those That Help Themselves
Something has been bothering me recently and has got me thinking about the phrase “help those that help themselves.” I was listening to an article on Radio 4 about the state of the Spanish Banking system. The experts were saying […]
Free shots and new shots!
OK, so that’s the next ten shots wrapped up and published. Shot One “The First Shot” is now available on all e-readers and is free of charge. The Amazon Kindle may still be 99p for a few days whilst Amazon […]
Riptides and Weaver Fish – A Memorable Day at the Seaside
Our first family day on the beach this year proved to be something of a disaster. My eldest had just bought his first surfboard and had been desperate to take it out but we just hadn’t been able to find […]
How to Improve British Sports
I think it can be agreed that the Olympics has been a huge success but what has made it so successful? I would like to say that it’s been a lot more than the number of medals that we have […]
The Launch of a New Book
Well, all bar the sweeping up and a bit of publicity, my book is done. It is written and published and yet here I sit feeling concerned and deflated. When it launched as a digital version over the weekend I […]
Never, Ever Make Reading a Chore for Children
I was on St Austell Bay Radio on Tuesday and had great fun, much less scary than I thought it was going to be, but then I hadn’t anticipated DJs on pogo boots, school kids and chocolate rolls. I was […]
One Coat is Never Enough
I am now the proud owner of a new coat, much to the confusion of Steve, who thinks that I have more than enough coats already. But that’s daft, I don’t have a heavy weather coat and this is what […]