The highlight of 2024 was, without doubt, the publication of my novella, ‘The Sisters of Cynvael’, by Cinnamon Press. The book had previously won the Press’s Literature Award and was published, as a result of that success.

‘Sisters’ was launched online in May, together with a poetry collection, ‘Love Haunts in Shades of Blue’, by Yvonne Baker, another recipient of the Literature Award.

I love this story and am so pleased to see it in print – beautifully produced, with a cover that features many of the elements of the book… the wood, the river, the stones.

It is loosely based on the traditional tale of Huw Llwyd, the ‘magician of Cynvael’, told from the point of view of his daughter, Mared. To quote the last paragraph of the back cover: ‘Reworking the legend of Huw Llwyd, ‘The Sisters of Cynvael’ blends myth and social commentary in a gripping feast of language and invention.’ Thank you, Adam (my Cinnamon editor) for those kind words and, of course, for editing the book.

It was also a great pleasure, as ever, to have some stories, accepted for inclusion in anthologies.

The first of these was a short piece in ‘Byways’, Arachne Press’s celebration of ‘short cuts, well-trodden meanders, ancient pathways’ – all examples from ‘off the beaten track.’ 

My contribution was one of those ancient pathways – the Golden Road, which runs across the Preseli mountains, and has been a route followed by travellers, throughout the ages.

There is always something special about setting a story locally, as it provides an intimate connection with your words, and is one your neighbours and friends can relate to. It also gave me the excuse (as if one were needed…) to go up to the Golden Road, and make a video of me, reading ‘Palimpsest’… on a very cold and windy day… Here’s a shortened version of the video

A previous post, ‘The Joy of Hardback Books’, referenced two other acceptances from last year, each having the added thrill of the publications appearing in hardback form.

‘Stranger’ was also available in different formats, but the hardback version was ‘signed’ by all the contributors – a nice touch!

And ‘Botanical Short Stories’ was accompanied by some wonderful illustrations by RHS award-winning artist Sarah Jane Humphrey. Beautiful!

I felt very lucky to be included in both these editions, and even more so when Sans.Press, publisher of ‘Stranger’, nominated my story, ‘Haire’, for a Pushcart Prize – an acknowledgement which I really do appreciate.

In addition to these, I had two ‘reprints’. 

The Bristol Short Story Prize has undergone a transformation this year and will, in future, have a new home at the University of Bristol’s English Department. To mark the end of the old ‘order’, an anthology was published containing all past winners of the Prize – including, therefore, my 2022 winning story, ‘A Cure for all our Ills.’

And Wordsmithery, who produce Confluence literary magazine, brought out a collection of their favourite stories from their first fifteen issues, and were kind enough to include my story ‘Water, Earth, Stone’. Thank you so much for that!

Writing events were thin on the ground this year, but I did take part on a panel in Chapter One bookshop, Narberth, talking on the subject of ‘So you’d like to write a book.’ 

Many thanks to Phillipa Davies and all the team for inviting me.

And, of course, I went to ‘Ty Newydd’ – an ambition achieved.

An interesting course, in a beautiful setting, with great company – what more could one want?

But, as I’ve said before – something which is not always recognised –is the joy of discovering like-minded people along your writing journey, both in person and online. Which, I’m pleased to say, has happened again this year.

And who knows what 2025 will bring? Another delight of writing is its unexpectedness. Yes, there will be plenty of rejections, if you are brave enough to send your work out there – that is a ‘given’, at all stages in a writing career. But, hopefully, there will be rewards of many different kinds, too.

Thank you to all readers for your support – I am very grateful to all those who have bought my books and for the kind words that have been said about them.

Onwards and upwards!