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Wednesday, 30 December 2009

Happy New Year


Well, 2010 is almost upon us and promises as ever to be a busy one for me.

First up is The Silent Village exhibition at Ffotogallery in which contemporary artists, namely myself, Peter Finnemore and Paolo Ventura offer our response to 'The Silent Village', Humphrey Jenning's film which is both a reconstruction of a Nazi atrocity in the Second World War and an evocation of Welsh life in the early 1940s.
I have written a short story called 'A Child Called Lidice,' that will accompany the visual art. You will also be able to listen to it read on headphones in the gallery space. The exhibition opens on January 15 and closes February 27th.

For more information visit: www.ffotogallery.org

Secondly, 'Loose Connections,' a novella I've written for the Accent Press Quick Reads series, will be published on March 4th to celebrate World Reading Day. The 96 page book tells the story of Mother-of-two Rosemary, a woman under pressure. With two difficult teenaged children, a distant husband and a busy job, the stress is mounting. The loss of her internet connection pushes her over the edge. After waiting a month and two failed attempts to fix the problem, a third repair man arrives. When he too says he can't get her back online, his incompetence forces Rosemary to take drastic action. The repair man realises that Rosemary is not as naive as she first appears. She is a woman with a secret and is capable of causing him harm. Loose Connections may now be pre-ordered from Amazon for only £1.99!

Of course, my second novel 'Sixteen Shades of Crazy,' will also be published this year by the excellent new HarperCollins imprint Blue Door. The book will be officially launched in May, at the Hay Festival but can also be pre-ordered from Amazon now. After five years in the making I cannot tell you how excited I am to see this baby hit the shelves.


'Went out, got pissed. Same shit, different day.' Aberalaw, a tiny South Wales valley village where nobody ever arrives and nobody ever leaves. The new police chief has declared war on recreational drugs, resulting in an eighteen-month drought. The party-loving wives and girlfriends of local punk band, The Boobs, are getting desperate, both for drugs and thrills: Ellie, factory girl with dreams of a better life in New York; Rhiannon, hairdresser with a taste for violence and designer clothes and Sian, unappreciated, obsessive compulsive mother of three. Into their lives, enter the languid dark stranger, Johnny: Englishman, drug dealer and shameless seducer. In the space of just a few months, three women's lives will be changed forever.'

Finally, as part of the Glynneath: Big Read 10 campaign, the public have been invited to vote for their favourite Welsh book, in both English and Welsh languages, from a short list of 10 titles. My rockumentary Dial M for Merthyr has been shortlisted. If you've read and enjoyed the book please show your support by clicking on the link below and voting for it. The result of the vote will be announced shortly after the closing date of 12 February 2010.

cymunedau09communities.cllc.org.uk/27197?rc=27197

And Happy New Year! xx

Posted at 12:17 |

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