Travels around the Charente
8 February 2024
A memorable night was the launch of my first published book ‘Clara’s Secret and Other Bristol Mysteries’. The event took place at Waterstones in Bristol and was attended by more than 200 guests.
The publication was covered by BBC Radio Bristol – live interviews – which was very exciting for me, a newly-published writer. The response from listeners has been overwhelmingly positive.
The book has since been re-published by my independent publisher TradShack as 'Fables and Folk - a collecetion of supernatural and extraordinary stories from the West of England'
My audio drama ‘One Single Ticket’ was launched at the Clifton Suspension Bridge visitor centre and opened by the Lord Mayor of Bristol.
The project was realised by former BBC producer and internationally respected BAFTA and EMMY winner Martyn Harries. The play was engineered by the department of Computer Science and Creative Technologies, where Martyn is the Senior Lecturer Audio and Music Technology.
[Ref: https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/MartynHarries]
The play had a cast of eighteen, plus sound crew. The recording took place at various theatres and much of it was captured on film by my son, Nick, a professional photographer. Again, the launch was very well-attended and sales were high. The book of the play has sold thousands and has 80 five-star reviews so far.
[TRIVIA: Martyn played Brunel in the spoof promo video set at the Avon Valley Heritage Railway based at Bitton station, North Bristol.]
This is the new novel I am promoting; here is the background. I watched an interview with Robert Harris talking about his inspiration for ‘The Ghost’. He was intrigued by the idea of a person having status, power and influence. And then losing it. His subject was a former UK Prime Minister.
I thought: what if the person falling from grace was a famous TV celebrity? Maybe nothing new. But what if that person was innocent of any wrongdoing? What if his downfall is a carefully orchestrated set-up? This idea formed the background for the story: but 'Who Killed Nina Rossi' is the heartbeat of the story.
