charles barrow's writing

Visit Mrs Middleton's shop  for a nice line in gifts and stationery, like this postcard. And by the way, I know of no one who is commonplace, they are all peculiar in some way.

I recently tweeted a Dorothy Parker quote, 'I hate writing, but I love having written.' and I admitted agreeing with her sentiments, so I feel I should explain and qualify.  I have trouble sitting still. I can't sit through a film on TV without hitting the pause button several times and leaving the room on some mission or other. I'm restless by nature so sitting down for long periods in order to write is difficult for me. It's why I choose to write longhand, in pencil, in a notebook. I can move from chair to sofa and from living room to kitchen in a continuous round. When I get fidgety I move on. If I write at my computer then I'm confined to the kitchen table which becomes unbearable for me after an hour or so. This, of course, makes typing up what I've written in longhand an arduous chore. And when I'm faced with hour upon hour of re-writing and editing it's equally daunting. I should add that while I find the physical act of writing a challenge ...

I just bought a new pencil. It's an Ash twig with graphite running through its centre. Marketed as a 'Scribbling Stick' I chose it from a market stall selling products made from coppiced woodland timber by a company called Native and Traditional   www.wight-crafts.com I say I chose the pencil. I had real trouble choosing from a variety of differently sized and shaped, Cherry, Juniper and Oak wood Scribbling Sticks and in the end I think the pencil chose me, in a Harry Potter Sorting Hat kind of a way.

Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight. An immense and unusual brick building. A big inspiration for the Abbey where John Mann hides out after his escape from captivity, and where he finally enters the priesthood.

I love this image - The Shining Path by Kit Boyd. There is a sense of adventure and hope ingrained in it. A journey along a moonlit path, a journey into the night certainly, but not a dark night. It's evocative images like this that help me to conjure the world that John Mann walks through. I hope to post some more images that inspire me.

I'm happy to announce that I published The Stolen Days of John Mann on 9th January 2014. It is currently available at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble in an ebook format. Click on the book cover image to the right and you'll be taken to the Smashwords site where you'll be able to download the book in the format of your choice. If you enjoy my story please take a few minutes to leave a review.

I recently migrated from another blog to this one, but I liked some of the posts on that blog because they told the story of my setting out to turn a short story I'd written into an eBook. So I saved them and I've posted them below. They all appeared on my Project eBook blog between Feb - Nov 2013. Onwards and upwards.