charles barrow's writing

I saw my dear friend Jess at the weekend. She is a very talented artist. She created the cover for my book on the right there. You can see more of her work at   www.jessdavies.net    While we where chatting she surprised me by suggesting she'd like to re-design the cover. I like it very much but I was intrigued to hear her say she has had an idea for another image, and was it possible to change the cover at this stage? I told her that it is possible to change an ebook cover as and when you like, it is almost encouraged by some experts. If your book has lost its allure and no one is reaching it down off the shelf then give it a face lift the experts say. Jess would like to re-work the image to have it better reflect the character, tone and mood of what can be found on the inside, she said. Funny then, but it would seem that book Botox does the very opposite of the variety used on humans.

MacGuffin - 'An object or event in a film or book which initially appears to be of great significance but which actually serves merely to advance the plot.' Oxford English Dictionary. The MacGuffin wasn't invented by Alfred Hitchcock but it is very closely associated with him and his films.

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.