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New Year Books

I had more time than usual for reading over Christmas and New Year, mainly because I abandonned social media. Fortunately, Santa had provided me with lots of interesting things to read, and it being a time for relaxation I picked the lighter options first.

If you have read my writing style page, you will not be surprised that many of these are old books, or re-publications of lost works. There is a lot to be learned about plotting, pacing and the balance between plot and character from good vintage mysteries and thrillers. I am sorry to say that I find that the literary quality of many of these superior to contemporary serious fiction.

The times we live in call desperately for new stories. I strongly believe that that is true on every level, from politics and economics to light entertainment. That means that the literary but entertaining style is much more appropriate now than experimental language and forms. Engaging plots and characters expressing important feelings and ideas in lucid, readable, good quality prose are what is needed.

Reviews

With this in mind, I am doing a short video series reviewing my Christmas reads on our YouTube channel with a new short coming out every couple of days. I didn’t enjoy all the books, but there was something to learn in every case. Here’s the first one. You can subscribe to the channel to hear when new videos are available.

New Year Art: More Gingers

The Ginger Rogers drawings series is progressing. I am hoping to launch the Fred and Ginger products on the store in February. They have all been challenging, and today’s image had pressures of its own being by far her most famous outfit ever. You probably know that if you slow the Cheek to Cheek dance sequence (from which this post is taken) down you can see feathers floating off the dress and getting in Fred Astaire’s face.

Feathers

The feathers are not too difficult to capture, but the pose and proportions need to be just right or she morphs from the epitome of 1930s elegance to a dumpy cloud! Finding contrast and definition in a large block of white is difficult, and I am pleased with the result. One of the things I have noticed while working on these drawings is how the movement of the long skirts closely alligns with her legs underneath, even in this very fluffy example. If you follow the line of her left leg up from her shoe, you will see that it is also the line of the shadow in the skirt. I had expected the dresses to have more independent movement.

And that’s a note of caution for modern digital photographers. When you draw something complex, you have to spend a lot of time looking at what is really there in front of you. You find that often reality is not what you expect. When I trained in Affinity Photo, I was shocked at the degree to which digital photgraphic processing involved taking an image and then altering it to fit some fashionable fantasy that had nothing to do with what had been in front of the camera lens.

History of Feathers

The original dress is now in a museum (if anyone knows which one, do put it in the comments). A staff member at a feather processor developed a technique for straightening the feathers to give this elegant, drapey effect. She guarded the secret and never passed it on, and no one has managed to recreate it. So this dress is unique.

New Year Books and Art

It’s been a turbulant start to 2026 for JB and myself at Castle Sefton Press with family and financial challenges. (We are both fine now, so please don’t worry). And as ever I seem to be behind where I’d hoped to be. However, we both have new projects under way.

I have almost left social media altogether, having previously written about my problems with Meta. Much as I enjoy making short-form videos for TikTok, I have not managed to find anyone interested in my style of reading and writing after four months. I think this is an image problem of the platform. There is no reason why people with those tastes shouldn’t be on TikTok, but they probably have a negative idea of what it is like and think it is not for them. So I’m not sure that there is much value in my trying to keep up with the relentless demands of the algorithm.

I also think that there are worrying signs that TikTok UK is moving in the direction of Facebook. Less content is being shown to followers and there are more prompts for payment. Whether this has anything to do with the US takeover, I couldn’t say. Perhaps all social platforms self-destruct from greed and control when they get big enough. I’m developing a presence on Pinterest and YouTube instead.

New Book

I have a title for my new novel, which I hope will be the first in a series. I’m planning to sit down and get the first words onto paper in the second week of February. I’ll let you know if that happens. It’s forming as something deeper and more serious than Ghost Train in my head. But I expect there will be a fair amount of humour when it emerges onto the page.

New Art

As well as the Fred and Ginger series, I have an abstract series that will be launched around Easter. Over summer I’m hoping to extend my range of animal art and add it to a greater range of products.

I had thought of adding some of our range to Etsy, but the fees are now eye-watering. And like TikTok Shop, it is stuffed with what I can only describe as tat being sold at prices that don’t even cover the cost of the materials that formed it. Sometimes I feel that launching an online store today feels like opening a shop in Pompeii just as Vesuvius started to erupt: the infrastructure on which you have placed your business is collapsing around you.

Thanks

So that makes supporters like you more valuable than ever. Thanks once again for reading this post, and do subscribe if you haven’t already. I will never send spam or share your details, and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you like videos, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel too, and perhaps visit Castle Sefton Press . Sharing is helpful too, but only with those you think would enjoy my work.

I’ll be back soon. Hopefully with the finished Fred and Ginger series and news on the start of the new book.