I like being a two-novel writer.

Copies of my new Brighton novel arrived today - hurray! Now that I have the actual physical objects, I really feel like it's been published.

Stephen Dearsley, from my first novel, Stephen Dearsley's Summer of Love, isn't a bit jealous that he has a new companion - it's a bit like having a baby brother - or maybe not. Anyway, I feel like a new child has been born.

Many thanks to Ward Wood Publishing, and especially to Adele Ward, for producing such a beautiful book. Thanks and admiration to to Kayla Bell who designed the brilliant Modernist cover - I love it.

So folks, it really is out there now -Blue Notes, Still Frames is my second Brighton novel and it moves forward to 1994 - My first Brighton book, Stephen Dearsley's Summer of Love was set in 1967.  Here's the publisher's blurb, if you want to know what it's all about.

You can buy the paperback edition a number of ways. Either directly from the publishers:

http://www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-colin-bell-blue-notes-still-frames.htm

From Book Depository, especially if you are outside the UK:
http://www.bookdepository.com/Blue-Notes--Still-Frames/9781908742629

You can buy it at Amazon too - especially if you want the Kindle edition which is already online:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_24?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=blue+notes+still+frames+by+colin+bell&sprefix=Blue+Notes%2C+Still+Frames%2Caps%2C124&crid=1N88VF8VOJ86O

Or, of course, you can order it from your local independent bookshop. Mine, here in Lewes is the excellent independent bookseller Skylark - the owner, Matt Birch is a champion of Lewes' artist community and for that we are all grateful.

He is stocking both my novels so go and see him at the Needlemakers, West Street, Lewes,  or contact him via his website:

http://www.skylarkshop.com/

I'm proud to appear alongside so many writer friends and acquaintances in Lewes' The Needlewriters, a new anthology.

I was supposed to have been at the launch of a new poetry anthology last Thursday but, unfortunately, I was struck down with the latest lurgey and had to take to my bed instead. I am sad to have missed the launch of this excellent book, The Needlewriters, which is an anthology of work by the writers who have appeared at Lewes' Needlewriters events since its beginning in 2008.  The readings take place just down the street from my house, at the intriguing Needlemakers centre which was built as a candle-makers before becoming, quite literally, a needle-makers factory, supplying syringe needles for the medical corps treating the wounded in World War One. It is now a pleasant complex of arty shops and a restaurant.

 I was proud to have been asked to read there after the publication of my novel, Stephen Dearsley's Summer Of Love and now, I'm doubly proud to appear in this anthology along with so many writer friends and acquaintances from all over Kent and Sussex.

Needlewriters have also produced The Needlewriters Companion,  an online anthology with extra work from all the contributors - you can find it by using the link below:

http://www.needlewriters.co.uk/#/the-needlewriters-companion/4588177767


The book, The Needlewriters can be purchased (£10) either directly from the publisher, The Frogmore Press,

http://www.frogmorepress.co.uk/

or from Lewes' splendid Skylark Shop - unlike Lewes's other rather anonymous and centrally-controlled bookshops, its owner, Matt Birch,  is one of the few great independent booksellers who actively support local writers. He even sells copies of my novel (thanks Matt!)

http://www.skylarkshop.com/

 Those of us who are lucky enough to live in or around Lewes can be truly grateful for the support that this small town gives to literature and the other arts.

I'm one of three East Sussex writers booked for the next Needlewriters in Lewes.

I'm getting ready for my next novel reading and this time, very conveniently, it's in my home town of Lewes, UK, just down the road from my house at the building known as The Needlemakers.  I shall be sharing the evening with two other East Sussex writers, the poets Sian Thomas and Liz Bahs.  http://www.needlewriters.co.uk/

The building was once a candlemakers' factory that,  during World War I, became a surgical needle manufacturers. It now houses an eclectic collection of specialist shops and a splendid cafe where the Lewes Needlewriters' meetings take place four times a year. The events are usually well attended because Lewes folk appear to like the mixture of readings, food and drink. The atmosphere is always benign and receptive so I am really looking forward to it.  http://www.needlemakers.co.uk/

The Needlemakers Cafe doesn't just russle up great meals, it makes an excellent performance space too in the middle of our arty and rather liberal town here in the South Downs National Park. So, you might like to come on down next Thursday and make a night of it with some wine, supper and, I hope you'll agree, some interesting readings.

I am now thumbing through my novel, Stephen Dearsley's Summer Of Love (publisher Ward Wood Publishing) trying to decide which passages to read - the bits that give the spirit of the novel without giving out too many spoilers.

I'm also trying to decide whether to read some of the Fibonacci poetry that I have recently put together in a collection called Brief Encounters about, yes, some of my brief encounters,  or, maybe to include a chapter from my new novel, Blue Notes, Still Frames, also like Stephen D, set in Brighton and due to be published by Ward Wood in 2015. I may just go with the flow on the night. These Needlewriters events are always supported by Matt Birch who runs Skylark, one of the Needlemakers shops, a splendidly Lewesian emporium that stocks not only books but arts and crafts many with an ecological and ethnic bias.  http://www.skylarkshop.com/

Matt Birch at Skylark

Matt is one of that great but endangered species, an independent bookseller, and I, for one, am impressed by his support for writers - and not just us local ones. He will be selling tickets for the event but he will also do a display of the books being read on the night so, if you haven't done so already, this would be a great opportunity for you to buy yourself a copy of my and the other readers' books - the authors' signing will be free!