Friday 14 December 2012

Home made Cream Liqueur - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As a certain brand of cream liqueur seems to have become a necessary part of many people's Christmas, but with finances tight for so many, I thought I'd share these recipes as a Christmas treat to all my readers and writing chums.  ENJOY!
Cream Liqueur Recipes
Recipe 1 ~ Irish Cream Liqueur
3tbsp Espresso Coffee Powder
15g Dark Chocolate ~ chopped up small
397g Can of Sweetened Condensed milk
1tbsp Vanilla Extract
175ml Irish Whiskey
Mix and melt the espresso powder & dark chocolate into 175ml of hot water then leave to cool.  Then blend with the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and whiskey. 

Lovely!  But a bit too much caffeine for me, so I played around with the recipe and came up with this - which is even better!!!

Recipe 2 ~ CHOCOLATE CREAM LIQUEUR
Mix 3 dessert spoons of cocoa powder into 250ml hot water and leave to cool.  Then blend with condensed milk, vanilla and whiskey as above.
OR ~ Recipe 3 ~ OUR FAVOURITE! Instead of vanilla and whiskey just use 175ml of Morgan’s spiced rum.

Thursday 6 December 2012

Smug Christmas Shopping!

Almost everyone’s feeling the squeeze these days, but there still seems to be a real pressure to provide huge piles of presents for loved ones.  Books have always been a favourite present between me and my other half, but a big pile of them wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree would cost a fortune wouldn’t they?

Well no!

For the past few years we’ve both gone to our local library on their last opening day before Christmas and selected six books for each other.  It’s been really interesting reading books that I probably wouldn’t have selected for myself, and being able to choose a selection of books that I could never afford to buy for my other half.  We always wrap them up and put them under the tree just like normal presents, but once they’ve been read we don’t have to find shelf space for them!
We try to read all the books before they’re due back, but occasionally have renewed a few so that we manage to savour every word.  This makes the dull weeks of early January a real joy, and provides us with fresh input to stimulate our imaginations for new projects in the New Year.
Doing this supports other writers who get a small fee when their books are borrowed, and it also supports your local library, so it really is a super smug way to do at least some of your Christmas shopping!
     

Tuesday 27 November 2012

My Next Big Thing

Last week, the wonderful Sapphire Star Publishing writer of the family series called The Marlow Intrigues, Jane Lark tagged me in her post My Next Big Thing, when she wrote about her new book 'Illicit Love'. So this week I’m going to tell you all about my next big thing and share my answers to ten questions about my current work in progress (my Next Big Thing!) and tag other writers to tell you about their latest work next week!


What is the title of your book?
‘BITTER ROOTS’ - The second edition.

How did you come by the idea?
I’d been on holiday to Corfu, and explored all sorts of out of the way places, which I then combined with an idea I had about a young woman travelling there to discover secrets about her past – things that had happened to her family while she was a teenager.  I find it fascinating that we’re often oblivious to the lives of those around us in our teens, and often we only get to know our parents in our middle years – but what if they’re no longer around?   

What genre does your book fall under?
It’s a contemporary love story, so it fits into the Romance genre, but it doesn’t fit neatly into any exact sub genre.  It’s partly a ghost story but wouldn’t really fit into the paranormal category as everything that happens in the book is explainable and hopefully believable.  I call it modern Gothic as it’s heavily influenced by classics such as Jane Eyre.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?
This is a difficult one to answer as I don’t watch telly or get to the cinema very often, but I was at a friend’s house and saw an episode of Merlin.  The young actor who plays Arthur would suit the lead male character, Matt perfectly.  He needs to be early 30s, dark and moody, with a wild impulsive streak, and a hint of pain in his earnest green eyes.  The main character, Beth is perhaps harder to cast.  She needs to be English, in her late 20s and gorgeously curvy, which not too many actresses are these days.  She also has to have a haunted look combined with a strong, determined streak – someone like Rachel Weisz would be perfect.    

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Beth Skye travels to Corfu after the death of her estranged mother hoping to finally lay her ghosts to rest, but finds herself being pulled back to the past whilst trying to move forwards with a love she thought forever lost.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?
This has been epublished and is also available as a print on demand paperback.  It had high praise heaped on it by the RNA readers, and the first agent who read it also liked it, but asked me to do a huge rewrite then decided not to go with it after all.  I epublished the version the agent liked, but wasn’t really happy with it, so this is the second version, which is written the way I think this story should be told, and is also the structure that several readers of the first version thought would work best.  

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I suppose about a year, but that was writing off and on in gaps around my other writing commitments.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
A few people have said it’s like Victoria Hislop’s ‘The Island’, but I think there’s a hint of influence from the Victoria Holt books I used to read in my teens, and of course ‘Jane Eyre’ is in the mix also.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
An absolute need to tell a long story that a reader could get lost in.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
If you want gut wrenching passion and an intense, Byronic hero who helps Beth to return from the depths of darkness to the glorious sunshine of the Greek isles then this book is for you.  Oh and I’m told the sex is quite good too!  Feedback from the Romantic Novelist’s Association was : This is one of the best, if not the best manuscripts I’ve appraised!  

You can read the opening chapter and find links for this and my other books on my website www.jarekadams.com  

 

Next week I’m tagging Andrew Thorn to write about his Next Big Thing on the 4th December 2012 - and I'm very excitied about what he's going to announce.


Wednesday 21 November 2012

Value for effort!

Value for money is the old sales pitch, but when it comes to books I see far too many writers underselling their work.  It takes time and effort just to learn how to be a good writer, and then it takes real determination to complete a manuscript for a book.  After that there’s the energy it takes to publish, either traditionally or independently, followed by the long march of marketing and publicizing your work.
In the world of epublishing the general advice is to price your book low in order to encourage buyers who’ve never heard of you to give your work a go.  But why not draw their eye with a really well designed book cover?  Attract them in with a good blurb that really sells what you’ve written?  And then make sure that what you’ve written is as good as it can be!
Readers can sample the opening chapters of your work, and will quickly spot badly edited or badly written work and decide against buying.  But if you’ve spent time polishing your work and making sure it’s as good as you can make it then hopefully they’ll want to read on and that means paying for your work.
Both of my books are currently priced at a lowly £1.53 in ebook format.  The paperbacks are more sensibly priced at £5.95 for Brighton Sucks, and £6.95 for Bitter Roots.  But in the New Year I’m thinking of upping the price of my ebooks to somewhere around THREE QUID!  Still a bargain if you think about it, but a better reward for all the time and energy it took to write them.
There will be a new book next year, but if you haven’t read either of my two current novels then grab one quick this December at a bargain price.  And you can be sure of getting extremely good value for your dosh as you can read the opening chapters, along with feedback and reviews on my website www.jarekadams.com
Next week I’ll be blogging as part of the ‘Next Big Thing’ blog chain, following a lovely recommendation by the fabulous historical romance author Jane Lark!      

Monday 5 November 2012

The Death of Theatre!

I’ve been reading and listening to quite a lot of discussion about the state of Theatre for Young audiences in the UK, and how this will affect future audiences for theatre.  One worrying theory appears to be emerging that plays experienced in schools (Theatre in Education) is largely to blame for young people’s reluctance to engage with theatre elsewhere. 
Although the arguments are complex I’m going to invite discussion on three main areas:  
·         Quality
·         Access
·         Competition
1. QUALITY
There seems to be an idea that if a piece of theatre is written to fit into the school curriculum that it must be in some way artistically compromised.  The main argument seems to be that young actors see Theatre in Education work as a way to get a start in the business, and that this has meant some companies produce work that is not as high quality as it should be.  Of course there is bad work out there, but it is not the majority case.  Until recent cuts hit hard there were a number of excellent companies with highly skilled actors touring across the country.  A few are still hanging on in there, and amongst these companies is Big Brum, based in the West Midlands.  I had the pleasure of seeing them in action at Warwick Arts Centre this weekend, where they performed Edward Bond’s ‘The Broken Bowl’.  This was an extremely complex piece of theatre that could only have been delivered in an educational setting where the themes and dynamics of the piece could be unpicked by skilled actor/teachers.  In no way was the writer’s artistic vision compromised, in fact it seemed to be stimulated by the opportunities offered by working in a setting where young audiences could be safely taken on an extraordinary journey.
2. ACCESS
Many young people’s only access to theatre is through companies that visit their school, or on trips to see a Panto at Christmas.  Is that something that should worry the theatre community?  I’m not sure it is, as exposure to performances, good or bad, will develop young people’s ability to view theatre critically.  It’s unrealistic to think that all of them will become lifelong theatregoers, but if enough of them do then theatre still has a future.  The aspect of this debate that worries me most is that theatre professionals themselves value work in theatres more highly than work in schools.  My own company Timezones Curriculum Support has been booked back more than twenty times by many schools, so we must be doing something right, but I recently spoke to an award winning playwright whose plays for young audiences appear in theatres across the UK, and when I asked who attended these performances the answer was ‘mostly yummy mummies’.  Theatre in schools therefore has to be valued as a way of giving access to all young people to experience imaginative and creative explorations of their world.
3. COMPETITION
It seems to me that the greatest threat to future audiences is the competition from film and television.  Theatre can be seen as sitting in a darkened room where you can’t eat or drink, and can’t text or get up and wander around to chat to your mates, and all that at a price that is often well above going to the cinema where the production values are much higher.  This was typical of the feedback given from young people after the recent ‘free ticket’ scheme failed to reach its full potential.  When money is tight, it’s a difficult argument to challenge.  Can any stage production challenge the experience of viewing an episode of Dr Who at home for free?  Of course it can!  Theatre in schools can allow young audiences to explore the power of live drama, and plays in theatres can allow young audiences and family groups to experience the unique and extraordinary talent we have in the UK.
IN CONCLUSION:  I warmly invite feedback on any of the points I’ve raised.
  

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Please Satisfy Me

My writing has shifted back to plays over recent months, BUT there is a universal thing that applies to writing in any genre, and that is to tell a great story and to satisfy your audience.
I ran a session at the Cheltenham Words on the Side Literary Festival called ‘Ten things that make a play work’, in which we discussed all aspects of playwriting, and came up with several useful tools, but spent the longest time discussing the structure of a good story.
I like tools - they’re useful for all writers.  But they’re tools not rules, and can be broken to great effect.  When we were discussing play structures in the ‘ten things’ session, the ending of the film ‘The Italian Job’ came up.  If you look at the 8 Point Arc I outlined in my last blog you could argue that there is no resolution to that film, but that’s the genius of it.  Audiences will argue forever over what ending would satisfy them! 
But sometimes rules do need to be followed.  Last night I went to see a play that I really wanted to like, but I struggled from the start as it was a bit slow and ponderous.  About a third of the way through I saw where the story was going.  Two thirds of the way through I could still see where I was being taken.  Towards the end I was starting to wriggle on the uncomfortable seat, but still held out hope that I was going to be surprised by an unexpected twist in the plot.  But the story just went where I’d thought it was going to go, and there was no surprise or interesting revelation.  It built to a climax and ended.  It was a perfect example of a story that followed only the first six phases of an 8 point arc, and really needed to give me the last two to fully satisfy me. 
You can’t build a house without tools, and the same applies to telling a good story!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Sharing the magic

Sharing the magic.
I had a really enjoyable evening yesterday talking to the Cheltenham Writer’s Circle about e-publishing and Print on Demand opportunities for writers.  We talked about how to use Amazon and how to market your books, but the one piece of 'magic' information that I really enjoyed sharing was about making your book as good as you can get it before even thinking about publishing. 
One very simple thing that writer’s seem to think is some sort of wisdom of the ancients is the ‘Classic 8 Point Arc’.  Humans are coded to look for patterns in everything from clouds to collections of words.  When we find a recognisable pattern we feel satisfied, and that’s surely how you want your readers to feel.  This arc is a pattern that most fiction follows, so I thought I’d share it here also.
On last note - Stasis used to be a long section of introduction, but most books now jump straight in to the trigger moment, but the rest of the pattern still holds. 
A classic ‘8 POINT ARC’ Storyline
STASIS – Little Red Riding Hood is sitting at home feeling bored.
TRIGGER – Her granny is ill so she decides to take her some food.
QUEST – She travels through the woods.
(& gets up to all sorts on the way – sub plot).
SURPRISE – She meets the Big Bad Wolf
CRITICAL CHOICES & DECISIONS – She decides to tell him about her granny, and he decides not to eat her yet.
CLIMAX – When she arrives at her Granny’s house the wolf is there waiting to eat her!
REVERSAL – She knows something is not right and questions him, before running away when she realises the danger she is in.
RESOLUTION – The woodman comes to the rescue and kills the wolf.
And they all live happily ever after!

Wednesday 19 September 2012

How can I help you?

How can I help you?

 

Since having a bit of modest success with my books and plays I’ve moved into a new phase of my writing career.  I’ve been able to share the skills I’ve gathered so far with other writers, and it’s a part of the process that I’m really loving.

Along with my husband Andrew Thorn, I’ve been running workshops at the Guildhall in Gloucester covering epublishing, as well as novel and play writing.  We’ve had really good feedback from these one-day courses and have more booked throughout this term.

Epublishing feedback: ‘It was a very well-balanced day, covering both the technical and marketing sides. The fact that you have to get to grips with both aspects is probably the most important thing to learn about ePublishing!’
For info on these courses see the 'workshops' section on this website   www.gloucesterguildhall.co.uk

But since those courses started I’ve also been mentoring a few first time novelists and that’s been a real pleasure.  Feedback: ‘Thanks so much for the session yesterday – really fired me up again on the book.’

I was also asked to be a judge on the Gloucestershire Theatre Association’s playwriting competition, and have since given feedback to several playwrights as a part of that process.  Feedback: ‘All of your suggestions are good ones, and ones I’ll need to think about and work on.  I’m really grateful for all the time and effort you have put into this.’

I'll be running several FREE workshops at the Cheltenham 'Words on the Side' fringe festival including a workshop for kids aged 7-11.


So if I can help you in any way, workshops or mentoring sessions, just let me know.



Friday 31 August 2012

Black or white in black and white

An interesting thought arose when I was working on my new book and introducing a new character.  If my first description of him read ‘Vincent was a tall guy with a shaved head’, what image does that put in your mind? 

Now a trickier question.  What colour skin do you imagine he has?

Does a white person automatically see a white character unless told otherwise?

What if I say, ‘Vincent was a tall, black guy with a shaved head’?

Does that change your perception of Vincent?

But I wouldn’t ever think to say ‘Vincent was a tall white guy’, unless the book was set somewhere that you’d expect the characters to be black, which mine isn’t.

That’s where I started to ponder this question more deeply.  Do we visualise characters to fit our own ethnic groups unless told otherwise?  What colour do you see characters? 

I suppose if you’re reading a book like The Colour Purple, you automatically know what colours the characters are.  But my book is set in Brighton, and has nothing to do with race issues, I just wanted to have a representational cast of characters, and some people in Brighton are black.  It’s no big issue. 

The key bit of information that is constantly drummed into any writer is to ‘show not tell’.  If Vincent was unhappy I could describe his posture and actions to illustrate this.  But how do I show that he just happens to be black?  We do use ‘tell’ words to give a mental picture of a character. 

But is this something that’s an issue for readers who aren’t white?  Is Western literature filled with white characters, and do other races only appear when a political point is being made?  Where are the black heartthrobs in romance?  In fantasy, are all the good guys white?  Are black people over represented in thrillers and crime novels?

This is an issue that I’m still pondering.  Be brave and dive in with feedback or comments.

Thursday 2 August 2012

Why release a second edition?

Wasn’t the first edition ready to release? 
Well yes, but the first edition was written the way an agent asked me to write it.  Against my gut instinct I did what she asked – who’s going to argue with a top agent when they say ‘do this and I’ll represent you.’  It took me three months to do the rewrite and although she liked the rewrite she decided that the book wasn’t quite her thing after all.  Aargh!
Another agent said ‘I enjoyed your chapters – you write fluidly with a well conceived idea that’s dark and intriguing.  But could you make your central character sixteen and resubmit to our children’s department.’  The opening chapter has a woman travelling to Corfu after the death of her mother, and in the following chapters there is quite a lot of sex!  I declined to do that particular rewrite.
I have now written a version that I feel uses the best bits of the rewrite I did for the first agent, but holds on to the structure that the readers from the RNA really liked.  I’m really happy to release this version, and would love to hear from any readers with your feedback.
You can read the new opening and find links to the new edition on my website

Friday 20 July 2012

How do I tell you your baby is ugly?

No one would take a look at someone’s new baby and say ‘Yuk, that’s the ugliest kid I’ve ever seen.’  But what should I say to someone when they’ve proudly let me read their book and it just doesn’t work for me?

I’m a firm believer in giving constructive criticism to other writers if my opinion has been asked for, and I always try to give positive comments.  But what do I do when I start reading a book, or even when I’ve made it all the way to the end of a book and I can’t find anything positive to say?  I love reading books by authors I meet on Twitter or other social networking sites, but recently I’ve struggled to finish several books, and one that did finally draw me in ended on a cliffhanger – no, no, no! 

I understand the effort that goes into writing a book, so I really want to be able to say something positive.  I can’t bring myself to write negative reviews or to give 1 star ratings on Amazon, so I remain silent – but is that really helpful?

Maybe it’s just me.  Isn’t reading a book a different experience for each reader?  Maybe others will love your baby, so I’ll just thank you for showing it to me and keep my damn fool mouth shut!

So, what do you do when you read a book you really didn't enjoy?

Friday 1 June 2012

Are we becoming shut-ins?

So far today I’ve swapped banter with several writers around the globe, and my husband Andy has done an electronics lecture at MIT (Massachusetts), and now he’s giving a tutorial to someone about website management in Boston, and all without leaving the house in Gloucester!
I am very much in love with technology (well most of the time) and love being able to travel online and in my mind, but I am wondering if perhaps we need to get out more?
Poverty is partly the reason for our lack of movement.  Filling the car with fuel or travelling anywhere costs lots of dosh which we haven’t got in oodles at the moment.  There are lots of things I’d love to go and see – theatre, film exhibitions, but when it’s a choice between paying bills or having fun, well unfortunately we don’t actually seem to have a choice – the bills just have to be paid L
I’m sure it’s affecting our writing as neither of us has had any new input for ages – we don’t even watch telly (no license). 
However, this isn’t going to be a complete whinge!  We do both have exciting things in the pipeline, and we are managing to keep ourselves entertained by making wacky videos for YouTube.
We were going out and about doing investigations in various spooky sites, but even that was beyond us this month, so instead we created a short video about the dangers of smoking.  I know lots of you have taken a peek at Loo Roll’s adventure but we haven’t had much feedback yet.  Go on, have a peek and tell us what you think – really - do we need to get out more?


Wednesday 25 April 2012

APRIL ADVENTURES

Trying to find monthly adventures to go on with my husband, Andy despite having absolutely no money has been quite a challenge.  But it’s also been quite a lot of fun!

We searched through all our reference books for ideas, and yesterday came up with a double adventure.  There is a small churchyard a few miles from our house, which contains one famous resident and on 24th April the possibility of seeing spectral visitations.

Driving into the tiny village of Haresfield we saw the church steeple in the distance, but couldn’t find our way to the church.  The village was deserted, but then as if by magic a man appeared.  Stopping the car we asked for directions to the church, and the reply came, ‘I’m on my way there now, I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.’

We followed his directions through a closed gate, and along a road marked ‘Strictly Private – No Entry’ and finally came to the church.  Passing the sign warning us of unexpected rabbit holes we quickly got on with videoing ‘Jarek Adams Investigates’ before the man appeared.  He then produced an enormous iron key and let us into the tiny church.  Our eyes were immediately drawn to an ancient oak chest with two further giant iron keys sticking out of the lid.  He explained that in medieval times the vicar held one and the verger held the other, and that the church valuables were stored inside.  Our imaginations immediately worked out how to use this glorious object in our books.  Brighton Bites, which I’m working on at the moment will feature it in a hopefully unexpected way.

The very nice chap also pointed out the empty fields surrounding the really eerie graveyard, and explained that these had been full of houses until medieval times when the plague drove everyone away, leaving the church as it is today in a tranquil island of its own, with only the crows, and our mysterious guide visiting daily.

Although we’d love to have the money to skip off to the Caribbean, our monthly adventures are turning out to be just that.

You can see the video by following this link.




     

Friday 13 April 2012

Spooky coincidence or portent?

What would it be like if we could see the future?  What if there is some pre-set pattern that we’re all following to our eventual demise?  Although I’m not sure I believe that, my recent birthday made me ponder a few strange patterns in my life.
Like the day I woke up with an ominous feeling that I shouldn’t leave the house that day.
Yes, I often wake up feeling like that, but this was different in a way that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.  I was supposed to drive to Cardiff to see a friend, and it would have been easy to cancel the trip, but it seemed stupid to say to my best friend, ‘sorry I can’t see you today, because I’ve got a funny feeling.’  Superstitious nonsense that I chose to ignore.
As it turns out I had a completely uneventful journey, a lovely visit with my friend, and made it all the way home to Gloucester before an uninsured driver ploughed into the back of my car causing over a thousand pounds worth of damage!  Coincidence, or was there something to that feeling of foreboding I woke up with?
Something else made me think about portents a few weeks ago.  My husband is a Londoner, and I grew up in Wales, but we decided to make our home in neither place, choosing to live somewhere in the middle.  We searched several towns for a home, and eventually found our house on Stroud Road in Gloucester.  Along that road, a little way from our house is a small Rose Garden, and I recently discovered that the lovely space we’ve enjoyed since we moved here was created when a house was destroyed after an aeroplane crashed into it.  Although the pilot was killed, 85year old Florence Drury, and her companion 69year old Ethel Hutchins who lived there both stayed downstairs that day and were unhurt.  Did something tell them not to venture upstairs?  But there’s more to this mystery.  We thought our move here was a random decision, but it turns out that the crash happened on the very day I was born.  Spooky coincidence or a strange portent?

Friday 16 March 2012

Sometimes I just can't help my Welsh Roots poking through

In the Green Valley by Jarek Adams


(To be read out loud in a South Wales Valleys accent)

I add a baaaby
i woz a gorjus ikle thin
I cwched up to er airvry nite
wile she did ave a suck at me

I called er Blodeuedd
the farmer called er mint sorce
silly bugger
talks to me like ee’s my butty sumtimz

E cum rownd with is missis
a rite chopsy bugger
a bit twpt if ewe arsk me
norutorl nice

She pointed to my baaaby un sed
‘be luvverly with moron und pys’
I coon’t buleev my years
I wuz fewmin

I told er, ‘go waaay’
she sed, ‘ark at er
ew d’yew think ewe are?’
‘Thas rite, a bloody ewe I sed!’

I did a crap rite in frunt of er
she gor i on er shoo
and bloody moaned
‘wor a lor of do do they do do’ she sed

Wen I lookt rownd ee’d taken my baaaby
I was fewrius I can tell ewe
iss not wot ew’d call a gud life
next eel be takin the bloody coat off my back


KEY:
Cwch - cuddle
Butty - friend
Chopsy - talkative
Twpt - daft
Moron - carrots
Pys - peas

Sunday 26 February 2012

Time Travel

It seems like more and more these days I’m waiting on someone somewhere to make a decision that will have a direct impact on my future.  I put all the energy I can into a project, but how it’s received is out of my hands.
And the waiting is excruciating!
If I knew what the decision was going to be I could at least get on with dealing with it.  Full steam ahead, or a quick change of direction.
If only I could leap forwards into the future.  Everything would be so easy then.  It would be clear what I need to do now.
But while I’m stuck here in limbo, I can at least distract myself with ponderings about  time travel. 
Watch the video 'Jarek Adams Investigates Time Travel' on YouTube

http://youtu.be/Y6-3BmchPAo

Wednesday 25 January 2012

After Dark Adventures

OK, after several years of being too poor to go on holiday or to do anything much besides work, Andy and I have decided that we need a really big adventure.  It has to be fun, interesting, and creative. 

Oh, and it also has to cost nothing - Peasy! 

After much thought we decided to find unusual and quirky things to celebrate each month throughout the year, starting in January.  We regularly celebrate Burn’s Night (what with Andy’s Scottish ancestry) but it didn’t seem any where exciting enough to call it an adventure, so we delved into our books and quickly discarded several other ideas. 

19th January: St.Wulstan’s Day.  As that would have only involved a trip up the motorway to Worcester to visit his tomb is wasn’t any where nearly enough fun.

20th January: St Agnes’s Eve would have allowed us to dabble in divination, but the various ceremonies involving the summoning of wraiths of future lovers seemed like a dubious activity for a married couple to engage in.

Then we came across the story of Bevil Blizard, ‘The Last Necromancer of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire.’  He’s said to wander the graveyard on the anniversary of his death on January 24th, and his story grabbed us for a number of reasons-

1.      We live in Gloucestershire so travel costs would be minimal!
2.      Who doesn’t love wandering around graveyards after dark looking for deceased necromancers?
3.      Zombies are terribly trendy at the moment and will appear in the second of my Brighton Trilogy books, which will be published this year at Halloween.

You can follow our graveyard adventure on YouTube – Jarek Adams Investigates

You can read Brighton Sucks as an e-book or now Print on Demand – just follow the links on my website.