The #Llandeilo Christmas #BookFair this Saturday

The Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair this Saturday

The Book Fair, smaller in scope than the Lit Fest will bring back the same spirit, with small literary events happening all over town.  

Y cyfle nesaf i gwrdd ag awduron, gwrando arnynt yn darllen a chael copïau o’u llyfrau wedi’u llofnodi bydd ar Ragfyr 9fed 

Mae’r awduron yn cynnwys wynebau cyfarwydd a newydd: This time the Llandeilo Book Fair will be held in the Shire Hall and in the Horeb Chapel - bringing the authors right into the heart of town.

Y tro hwn cynhelir Ffair Lyfrau Llandeilo yn Neuadd y Sir a Chapel Horeb – dod â’r awduron i galon y dref 

Confirmed authors include familiar and new faces:

Kate Glanville, Cheryl Rees-Price, Anne Signol, Alex Martin, James Morgan, Rob Walton, Sam Smith, Colin Parsons, Graham Watkins, Christoph Fischer, Thompson Authors, Judith Arnopp, Angela Fish, David Lewis, Lisa Shambrook, Sarah Jane Butfield, Thorne Moore, William Scott Artus, Judith Barrow, Carol Ann Smith, Jacqueline Jeynes, Jo Hammond, Dafydd Wyn, Nicola Beechsquirrel, Carol Lovekin, JK Samuel, Sally Spedding, Charles Griffin, Kate Murray, Steve Adams, Will MacMillan Jones, Alex Martin as well as Parthian Books, Cambria Publishing, Cyfoes and Thunderpoint Publishing. Yn ogystal â Llyfrau Parthian Books, Cwmni cyhoeddi Cambria, Cyfoes a Chwmni Cyhoeddi Thunderpoint

There'll be plenty of readings and events in businesses and locations all over town, making this a mini Lit Fest before Christmas. Due to popular demand we'll also have another book hunt.   For updates on the programme and the festival locations watch this space. 

 Bydd digon o ddarlleniadau a digwyddiadau mewn busnesau a lleoliadau ar draws y dref, felly bydd hon yn ŵyl fer cyn Nadolig. O ganlyniad i nifer helaeth o geisiadau a dderbyniwyd, cynhelir helfa lyfrau arall. . I gael y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am raglen a lleoliadau’r Ŵyl gwyliwch y safle hwn. https://llandeilobookfair.blogspot.co.uk 

Time table of events: 

Flying Goose Quilting: 

1 Crescent Road, Llandeilo,  SA19 6HL 

11:00 Workshop with Nina Vangerow: Make your very own (Explorer's/Adventurer's) BookletGweithdy. Gwnewch eich llyfr archwiliwr eich hun

  1:45 Illustrator William Scott Artus will be holding na illustration talk and draw session Gweithdy. Sesiwn o sgwrs a thynnu lluniau gyda darlunydd


 Igam Ogam: 11:00 Darllenydd Cymreig annisgwyl   

Fountain Fine Art Gallery:   

 11:30 Travel writer Jacqueline Jaynes will talk about “Walking the Wye Valley Way” with images about places along the route from the National Library of Wales digital collections from 18th-20th century with well-known artists including Turner and David Cox. “Cerdded ar hyd Dyffryn Gwy.” Darlith gyda lluniau gan arlunwyr fel Turner a David Cox

1:00 SAX BURGLAR BLUES – ROBERT WALTONRobert Walton will read a selection of poems about music, street life, family and natural creatures with strong feeling, wry humour and sharp observation and some soft acoustic musical accompaniment for one poem on thumb-piano and, naturally, a gentle blues on sax for the title poem. Cerddi am fiwsig, bywyd stryd a chreaduriaid naturiol, gyda pheth cerddoriaeth

2:15 Carmarthen based author John Thompson will be reading excerpts from Genesis & Nemesis, Vol I & II of the Brindavan Chronicle, and talking about the attraction of the psychological thriller. Darlleniadau allan o Gronicl Brindavan ynghyd â sgwrs am nofelau cyffrous seicolegol 

Indigo Hill:    

  12:30 Carol Lovekin’s work examines the relationships between women -  sisters, mothers and daughters - threaded with ghosts, Welsh Gothic and magic. She’ll be reading from her new novel ”Snow Sisters” and answer questions.Darlleniadau allan o waith sy’n archwilio perthnasau rhwng menywod, gydag awgrym o ysbrydion a dewiniaeth

  1:45 Thorne Moore: “Dark tales of Llys y Garn.”Thorne Moore reads from her latest novel, “Shadows,” set in an old Pembrokeshire mansion that harbours sinister memories of long-forgotten dark deeds.Darlleniadau allan o “Shadows” sydd wedi ei gosod mewn plas yn Sir Benfro sydd ag atgofion sinistr 

  Peppercorn Kitchenware:    

  12:30 Will MacMillan Jones reads entertaining kitchen stories Straeon difyr o’r gegin    

Eve’s Toy Shop:    

1:00 Wendy White is the award-winning author of ‘Welsh Cakes and Custard’ and ‘Three Cheers for Wales’. Her latest book is ‘St David’s Day is Cancelled!’ She'll read from all 3 and talk a bit about myself as a child. Suitable for 4 - 10 year olds. Darlleniadau allan o lyfrau plant gan gynnwys “St.David’s Day is Cancelled”

 2:15 Angela Fish Come along and meet Ben, his best friend Jess, and Scoot the dog. Find out about their adventures with Lox, Guardian of the Spider Kingdom. Their first quest is to find the pieces of the Spider Gate which has been broken by the magpies, but they must do this before the leaves fall from the trees. Maybe Ben’s wise gran knows the answers! Meet Ben. Anturiaethau i blant am Ben a’i ffrindiau yn Nheyrnas y Corynnod

  Deb’s Wool Shop:  

  12:00 Ann Signol reading a story about Norris the Pantomime Horse, Gertie Gobstopper the Pantomime Dame and their adventures travelling through Wales and on the Gwili Railway. Stori am gymeriadau pantomeim ar reilffordd y Gwili 

  1:45 Colin R Parsons will reading his short story: Norman's Christmas Spirit, about Norman Dilbert, a hapless individual, who loves decorating his house for Christmas.There is plenty of festive fun in this story, with a lovely twist at the end, to make for a warm, Christmas treat. “Norman’s Christmas Spirit”. Stori Nadoligaidd gyda thro cynnes

Red Cross Book Shop  

  12:00 Sam Smith will be reading from his Poetry collection: “Speculations and Changes” Sam is editor of The Journal (once 'of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry') and publisher of Original Plus books. Casgliad o farddoniaeth

   1:00 Sally Spedding: a Reading from “Behold a Pale Horse” It's a literary thriller, set mainly in docklands London and Collioure in Roussillon in 1983, with a tragic, historical backstory involving the purge of the Knights Templar in 1307. Clement and Catherine's new marriage is a sham, and her one, reckless false move will change their lives for ever. Darlleniadau allan o nofel gyffrous wedi ei gosod ym 1983 a 1307 yn Llundain a Rousillon

2:00 Dafyd Wynn: Winner of the John Tripp award for poetry from his poetry Cerddi gan enillydd gwobr Farddoniaeth John Tripp 

Barr Jewellery: 

11:30 Kate Glanville will read from her novel Stargazing "A warm and touching family drama exploring serious issues like family breakup, domestic abuse and falling for the right person. You can spend a lifetime gazing up at the stars but one day reality will bring you down to earth with a bump!” Darlleniadau allan o’r ddrama deuluol, deimladwy, “Stargazing” 

  

 2:15 Wendy Steele reads an excerpt from her latest, witch-lit novel, The Orphan Witch. Darlleniadau allan o nofel newydd, “The Orphan Witch”

Get to know James Morgan-Jones

I wrote first as an early teenager – thirteen, I think. My efforts then were largely inspired by television programmes. A favourite was a fabulous, intelligent and prescient children’s series called ‘Timeslip’. Looking back, I can see how this has influenced some of my writing today. It’s a cliché to say that they don’t make them like that anymore, but, actually, they don’t. We also had an RE teacher who once told the class that if we were looking for stories to write we could do worse than delve into the Bible. I took that advice on board and wrote something called ‘The Lost Scroll’. That was probably the first time I shaped a story. I used people and, crucially, places that I knew and still do that today, most particularly with regard to place, though not exclusively and not always with complete faithfulness to the original. In one of my books I consciously decided to use a character very closely based on myself, using some personal experience. This has to be done with great caution and with a ruthless sense of detachment. The
character must serve the novel and not the other way around. Self-indulgence has no place in good writing.

    The biggest influence on my desire to write in early years was when I read ‘Sons and Lovers’ for A level. That was a revelation and I realised for the first time what literature could be. Having said that, a few years earlier I was enormously impressed by Alan Garner’s ‘Elidor’ and indeed all his novels, and I would still recommend his work to anyone who hasn’t read it. His novels (particularly the earlier ones) are categorised as children’s or teenage literature, but stand in a class of their own as classics, irrespective of readership age. I can’t say that anyone I knew influenced me, though I was encouraged by one or two dear friends who knew of and understood my desire to write, and I remain eternally grateful for that.

    I think I am most influenced by the power of place and the psychic and spiritual connection that many people feel to it. I am also interested in trauma (including illness) and how emergence/recovery from it can deepen that connection and root a person in the course of their life. We live in such a disposable and superficial age that spiritual aspiration is often seen as something to be politely ignored, patronised or, worse, repressed. This, I think, is a terrible mistake and will have, in the end, to be addressed. My characters are often very young, striving to find something to believe in and with which to anchor themselves, usually struggling with a central trauma or dilemma. All this interests me, because although it is at its most extrovert in the young, I believe that the desire to identify what endures in life influences people into adulthood and even old age. Because of this drive toward continuance and timelessness, the past is always a strong presence in my work, often spilling over into the present, or threatening to do so. I enjoy recreating other periods – particularly the Victorian/Edwardian era to which I have always been drawn, and this features, or will feature, in at least two of my books. I am not drawn to powerful figures – politicians or monarchy, for instance – but to the lives and fates of ordinary people. These individuals often intrude on the present in my books, and the supernatural is a strong strand in all of them, particularly the novels. People with highly developed psychic perceptions have always fascinated me. Such abilities, and the idea that a psychic dimension exists in the human brain at all, are often (if not usually) dismissed nowadays. To me this is a nonsense. The psychic facility is a natural part of the human psyche and, if it is allowed to, can help and sustain us. I am working on a quintet of novels called the Glasswater Quintet. The books are linked by character and place but are not linear in sequence. They start and finish in roughly the present day but move backwards and then forwards again in between. I am currently working on the fourth book. I write short stories intermittently when taking a break from the novels.

    I don’t plan meticulously when I start a book. This, to me, seems mechanical and restrictive. I have a good idea of where I want to go, and can often envisage a strong and dramatic denouement. However, how I reach that point is usually a matter of exploration. Personally, I think writing should be a living, intuitive process for it to have any real immediacy and conviction. The best aspect of writing is the pride taken in a piece of work when the end is reached. The worst is the constant battle against the spectres of self-doubt and the fear of failure.

    I work in a small room decorated with lots of rich, oriental red. It contains my computer and accessories, a mini library, a single bed and, very often, a cat. I am able only to give a relatively short period of time a day to writing, and consequently my daily word count is small but consistent. It is astonishing how quickly a manuscript can build. I return constantly to a text, reworking particular sections, even particular paragraphs or sentences, sometimes to the brink of obsession. This can be both a good and a bad thing. Good in that a meticulous self-scrutiny is likely to make you a better writer; bad in that, unless you know where to draw the line, or at least to take time out, you can easily end up not seeing the wood for the trees and becoming exhausted. Thus far, I have had my work both proof read and copy-edited by two people. This I find very helpful, because each sees different things and has different suggestions to make. Being with a small publisher gives me considerable quality control and an input on most matters, including cover art. It would not suit me to have these things taken entirely out of my hands.

    Favourite authors – aside from D H Lawrence and Alan Garner – are Beryl Bainbridge, Daphne du Maurier and Paul Scott (I believe Scott’s ‘Raj Quartet’ to be one of the great works of English literature, shamefully underrated). All these authors, it recently occurred to me, have something of the outsider about them and consequently had/have rather strained relations with the literary establishment.

From the Amazon Reviews for
"On the Edge of Wild Water (The Glasswater Quintet Book 1)"

Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 starsAn utterly compelling read

ByAdrian Gilpinon 15 April 2017

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

This is a gloriously clever and thrilling book. The author cuts through spacetime, leaving not just his readers but his characters in an unsettling universe of overlapping realities. I could not put this book down. In part, the tone of the narrative is absolutely "normal" and grittily unforgiving in its observations of family dynamics and psychology. In part, the narrative is spooky and haunting - creepily raising the hairs on the neck as time falls away causing history to inhabit the here and now. The storytelling is compelling, the wordsmithery a joy.

5.0 out of 5 starsHighly recommended

ByMs. Don 3 January 2017

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

This is a gripping and evocative read with its roots firmly tethered in rural Wales. The strong storyline is peopled with vivid characters that weave between past and present in an atmosphere of brooding suspense.
Teenage Bethan is taken to a remote Welsh cottage to help combat anorexia but history and long dead lives begin to seep through into the present. In this place, the past can’t let go.
If you enjoy a good story tinged with the supernatural I’d highly recommend this book.

Introducing Angela Fish, author and reader at the Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair Dec 09

Angela Fish will present her books at the Book Fair from 10:30 - 4pm in the Shire Hall.

At 2:15 pm Angela will read from her work at Eve's Toy Shop.
Come along and meet Ben, his best friend Jess, and Scoot the dog. Find out about their adventures with Lox, Guardian of the Spider Kingdom. Their first quest is to find the pieces of the Spider Gate which has been broken by the magpies, but they must do this before the leaves fall from the trees.

Meet Ben. Anturiaethau i blant am Ben a’i ffrindiau yn Nheyrnas y Corynnod

Their next challenge is to find three magic ingredients for the Spider Wizard to make a potion to cure the Spider Prince. Ben meets some scary creatures as he searches for the dragon’s breath fern. The final adventure takes Ben, Jess and Scoot to Spider Lake in the Dark Mountains where they meet a very special lady. Will she help them to find a new home for Lox and his friends? Maybe Ben’s wise gran knows the answers!

Links to find Angela;

Website: http://www.angela-fish.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/angelaEfish

Facebook:    http://bit.ly/2a9Z73Z

Links to buy Angela’s wonderful books

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/2aiza4t

www.bookguild.co.uk

Cambriapublishing.org.uk

Angela Fish is a writer who specialises in intergenerational communication, women’s writing and Welsh Writing in English. She gained her MPhil in Literature at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) in 1995, and became a principal lecturer there until 2009.  She also established and directed the Wales Centre for Intergenerational Practice, based at the university, in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government and the Beth Johnson Foundation.  Her publications include non-fiction, fiction, short stories and poetry, often with Welsh and feminist themes, and she has worked with local schools and communities to improve communication between the generations. She has been in demand, nationally and internationally, as a conference presenter and an invited speaker in her field.

Her first book for children, Ben and the Spider Gate was published in 2015 and the second, Ben and the Spider Prince was released in May 2016. The third in the series, Ben and the Spider Lake, came out in September 2016. A picture book, The Captain’s Favourite Treasure, will be released at the end of 2017/early 2018. She is currently working on another children’s book alongside a novel for adults.

Angela is a member of the Society of Authors; the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group (CWIG - a subsidiary group within the Society); the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators [SCWBI] and lives in south Wales.

 Ben and the Spider Gate

“It is a stunningly well-written and delightful book for children and parents and very well-illustrated with some engaging and enchanting artwork throughout the book.”

That’s Christmas, Sunday, 13 September 2015

Ben and the Spider Prince

“An amazing mix of fantasy and fairly normal school life makes this a must read for pre-secondary school youngsters. Brilliant!”  

 Books Monthly http://www.booksmonthly.co.uk/

Interviewed by Jan Baynham. 20 September 2015

http://janbaynham.blogspot.co.uk/2015_09_01_archive.html

Featured on "Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life". October 13 2015

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/christmas-grotto-2015-childrens-books-ben-and-the-spider-gate-by-angela-fish/

Interviewed by Judith Barrow. July 25, 2017

https://judithbarrowblog.com/2017/07/25/my-series-of-author-poet-interviews-at-narberth-book-fair-mondayblogs-today-with-angela-fish/

She was invited to give a live interview on the Roy Noble Show for BBC Radio Wales in January 2017. 

Social media links and buy links.

Web: www.angela-fish.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AngelaFishAuthor

Twitter: @angelaEfish 
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/AngelaEFish

Publishers website: http://www.bookguild.co.uk/authors/angela-fish/

Buy from the publisher’s online bookstore: https://www.bookguild.co.uk/bookshop/

 from Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/hempbyt  or from other online bookstores (Waterstones, WHSmiths). Signed copies available via author’s website.

Introducing Wendy White, reader at the Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair Dec 9th

Join local author Wendy White for a reading from her work at Eve's Toy Shop at 1:00 pm. 


Wendy White is the award-winning author of ‘Welsh Cakes and Custard’ and ‘Three Cheers for Wales’. Her latest book is ‘St David’s Day is Cancelled!’ She'll read from all 3 and talk a bit about myself as a child. Suitable for 4 - 10 year olds.

Darlleniadau allan o lyfrau plant gan gynnwys “St.David’s Day is Cancelled”
Biography for Wendy White 

 Wendy White grew up in Llanelli and worked as a library assistant before training to become a primary school teacher. She is the award-winning author of ‘Welsh Cakes and Custard’ and ‘Three Cheers for Wales’, which feature Betsi Wyn and Emyr Rhys, along with their Mam-gu and Da-cu. Her latest book is ‘St David’s Day is Cancelled!’ 

Introducing the authors and readers of the Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair: Carol Lovekin

Carol Lovekin will be showcasing her work at the Horeb Chapel during the Book Fair on Dec 9th. At 12:30 she can be found at her favourite shop, Indigo Hill, where she will be reading from her new novel ”Snow Sisters” and answer questions.

Praise for Snow Sisters
‘Lyrical, evocative and crafted with magic, Lovekin’s writing is utterly enchanting’  Amanda Jennings, author of In Her Wake

Carol Lovekin is a traditionally published writer based in west Wales. She writes contemporary stories examining relationships between women -  sisters, mothers and daughters - threaded with ghosts, Welsh Gothic and magic. Her two novels, Snow Sisters & Ghostbird are published by Honno, the Welsh Women’s Press.

‘…this author is an artist with great insight’  Leah Moyse

‘There’s magic woven into this book – it’s there in the narrative, but it’s also in the writing. There are images in this book that will long live with me…’  Being Anne tinyurl.com/yact7sqv 
 

Praise for Ghostbird
‘Charming, quirky, magical’  Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

Carol blogs at: https://carollovekinauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/Carol-Lovekin-1006022299431923/timeline/?notif_t=page_new_likes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009564096097

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carollovekin

Link to an interview with Carol 

Guest post: "Being your own Publisher" by Dr Jacqueline Jeynes, author and publisher

Being your own Publisher – Dr Jacqueline Jeynes, author and publisher 

Jacqueline will be at the Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair on Dec 9th (Horeb Chapel) and will talk about walking the Wye Valley Way at the Fountain Fine Art Gallery at 11:30.

Fed up with hassles and restrictions when dealing with a publisher for your books? Me too, so I decided to do it myself. Five years ago, I would not have considered it – too difficult to reach group buyers, too much marketing effort needed – but now, your side of the bargain seems to be expanding while theirs shrinks and you are expected to do all this anyway.

Forget the “vanity publishing” tag – this is about becoming a professional publisher as well as an author. I am referring to non-fiction in this instance, as I do not write fiction, but many of the principles will still apply. There are three important elements to consider:

-        ISBN – there is no point considering publishing unless there is an ISBN number. Most book shops will not stock without an ISBN and you need one to sell via sites such as Amazon. You usually buy them in a block of 10 for around £150, or you can now buy a single number, and register your details with Nielsen ISBN Agency for UK and Ireland. It is a simple process and they have lots of guidance online to help – see www.isbn.agency@nielsen.com . Once you register a title against a number, they include details on their own list that goes out to bookshops who can order online via Nielsen who pass the order on to you. You still have other numbers available, of course, so you can publish more titles in the future.

-        Printing – the first book I published ‘Peg loom Weaving: all you need to know to get started’ ISBN 978-0-9926100-0-5 was A5/ full colour/ 145 pages/ illustrations on front cover and around half the pages in the book. As a practical crafts guide, I specifically wanted spiral bound so that readers can open it flat, though bear in mind libraries do not like spiral bound as you cannot see the title when lined up on shelves unless you include an outer ‘flap’ across the spine. My local printer was happy to take on the job as long as it was pdf-ready to print. Once set up on their system, they can print off small quantities as and when I need them, for example 20 at a time.  It is ideal as it does not involve storing large quantities of books or having to have a minimum of 500 printed at a time. This works out at around £5 a copy and we sell them for £12.50 each

-          Other recent titles published need a different format, so my printer recommended Cambrian Printers in Aberystwyth. “Before Hiroshima: Forgotten Prisoners of War in Burma, Japan & Far East” is A5 with laminated cover and a mix of black and white/ colour illustrations. The next book “Walking Wales: The Art Lover’s Guide to Wye Valley Way” is square format with full colour illustrations and laminated cover. There is also an E-book version which was converted for me online, for around £90. The latest version is B5 (so a bit bigger than A5 and therefore more expensive to print per page) and is a revised version of my book published in 2002 “10 Ps of Managing Risks Post-Brexit: 10 Basic Principles”.  The best feature with this printing company is they have a choice between digital or traditional printing methods. The digital print is from pdf-ready file and can be in any small quantities you need at a time. If you need a bigger print run of 1000 or more, they will shift to traditional printing to keep the prices lower. Digital print is around £5-£10 a copy depending on page size and number of colour illustrations.

-          Practicalities – there are basic bits of information that have to be included in every book. These include the inner title page plus author name/ date first published. It also includes publisher’s name and contact details/ printer’s name and contact details/ standard statement about ‘all rights reserved’ etc ( provided by Nielsen)/ and a note that the book can be ordered direct from publisher. Once you have a printed copy, you have a legal obligation to send it to the Legal Deposit Office of The British Library within one month of publication. Also register the titles with Public Lending Right scheme www.plr.uk.com for any payments due from libraries if book is borrowed, and ALCS the Author’s Licensing & Collecting Society Ltd www.alcs.co.uk who collect payments made when photocopies of your books are made – I still get money from them each year for my Health & Safety books published 15 years ago!   

Remember to have several copies to send out to relevant reviewers – if you get positive feedback, there should be the option to add a few sentences to the back cover as the digital format makes it easy to amend. List the title and details on Amazon. They add their own p&p amount for the total price charged to the customer, then they take off their own fee before passing the payment on to you. It is usually a bit less than the full selling price, but it involves little effort other than posting books out to customers. Website and social media pages are important, under your own and the publishing name.

E-books – sites such as Amazon have a facility where you can set up the book as an E-Book – Kindle Publishing guides you through the process, or you can pay someone to set your text out for you. The structure is a bit different from how you might produce your version for print, and it is easy enough to do but can be very time-consuming.

The only other issue now is the volume of sales and how you keep the income as publisher (total sales received) separate from income as author (% of total sales received). It depends how many millions you make I suppose!

Biography Dr Jacqueline Jeynes – Author & Publisher

I did full-time teaching degree (B.Ed(Hons) ) while the children were at school, then started my own Management Training Consultancy 1987 – 2011. As well as business training – I have an MBA and my PhD is on health and safety in small firms - I kept up with my own interests and learning in the arts completing an OU BA in history of art.

At the same time as training in companies, I was distance learning tutor with the OCA for more than 20 years, on history of art and textiles 40 credit modules, revising their Understanding Western Art course at one stage. While a tutor with OCA, I completed a BA (Hons) in Creative Arts (2011) studying their modules on creative writing, printmaking and textiles.

We moved to Wales 11 years ago and continue to keep up with my personal interests in the arts as a student on practical arts courses with Lifelong Learning. I wrote the new Distance Learning History of Art course for Aberystwyth University Lifelong Learning 5 years ago and have continued to add to the distance learning options offered with The Welsh Depicted/ Historical perspective on Contemporary art/ Gregynog and the influence of the Davies Sisters. I am currently writing two new options for 2018 on The Cubists and Post Impressionists.

As the tutor, I love my students and I want them to succeed. It is soul-destroying to receive harsh negative criticism from a tutor rather than feedback that will help them get it right next time. If contact with the tutor is only by written word, it is vital to get it right. Basically, the courses are written with the aim of helping them to know how to learn, whatever the topic.

I still choose to attend SELL courses each year, including painting, sketching, and 3D work, as it makes me focus on different aspects of the arts. The more different elements you study, the more closely they fit together. And although I definitely do not need credits towards another degree, I do need the structure of a course to make me finish it! I have tried out techniques that I would not normally consider my forte, especially finer detailed painting such as botanical illustrations, but found that I do actually enjoy them – in part, thanks to the great tutors we have at Aberystwyth University.

Basically, I want to know the how and why art is produced, and am willing to try any new techniques that someone else can show me. It may not be my personal preference, but I will always give it a go. As I said, the more you study, the more it all overlaps and you can understand the context of art better. I still love printmaking and am a member of Aberystwyth Printmakers.

Personal ethos? I love writing to pass on information to a reader. The writing for Silver Travel Advisor started by chance four years ago and I am now a regular contributor for them. My aim is always to make the information as clear as possible, unambiguous, and avoid jargon which often just confuses people. I write reviews wherever and whenever I travel, including local hotels, restaurants and attractions in Wales – see my blogs and reviews on the Harbourmaster monthly wine-tastings, walking Cardiff Bay, and doing the longest Zip Wire in Europe at Zip World! I am interested in wines, gin and the Prosecco festivals and love to try out different tastings.

The Walking Wales: Art Lover’s Guide to.. series is based on long-distance treks I have completed, my journals and photographs, plus beautiful images of old paintings of places along the route courtesy of National Library of Wales project. There are many more books that I aim to complete including:

·         The Art Lover’s Guide to Malta & Gozo to be published for 2018 as Valletta is City of Culture

·         Walking Wales: The Art Lover’s Guide to Llangollen Canal & Brecon-Monmouth Canal/ The Art Lover’s Guide to The Severn Way

·         Revision of Practical Health & Safety Management for Small Firms (original publication 2000)

·         Maybe a book on “Public Art: The Wetherspoon pub Collections” 

·

I have been married to Leslie for 35 years, have 5 sons plus 3 step-children/ 24 grandchildren between us and 3 great-grandchildren. I completed all of my degrees after the children started school, was an international Speaker & Presenter for many years representing small firms and women entrepreneurs, and after writing articles in a range of magazines and journals, had my first book published in 2000. I received national Writer of the Year (non-fiction) award in 2015. I am the eternal student, love writing and walking, and I don’t do much housework unless someone comes to stay!

Dr Jacqueline Jeynes

PhD MBA B.Ed.(Hons) B.A.(Hons)

www.jackiepencoed.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/jackiepencoed

www.pencoedpublishing.co.uk

also see www.silvertraveladvisor.com for my regular reports and reviews