Tag Archives: Wales

New Novel – Boys from the Backfields

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My new novel Boys from the Backfields has just been published

The cover of the book features a painting I did of the Cefncaeau Estate in Llanelli. The story is set on a very similar housing estate where in 1963, Mick, a 13 year old boy, witnesses the murder of Betty Fish. Half a century later the murder is still unsolved and  still overshadows Mick’s life.

cefncaeau-view

Cefncaeau View – Oil on Canvas

Boys from the Backfields is available as a paperback and as an ebook in all the usual places, or can order a signed copy directly from the publishers Opening Chapter.

More information at http://openingchapter.com/books/boys-from-the-backfields/

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Boys from the Backfields

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Backfields-front 1 cover oct 8-2013Who killed Betty Fish?

In 1963 the world is rocking to the Beatles, and being rocked by the Cold War and the assassination of President Kennedy.

There are far more important things on the mind of Mick Matthews, a 13 year old boy growing up on a council estate in Wales, such as the murder of a middle-aged widow in one of the posh houses across the road. Mick and his small gang are out gathering blackberries and scrumping apples when they witness the murder as it happens.

Around the same time as the demise of Betty Fish, Mick falls in love with the enigmatic Angel, a girl of the same age.

Fifty years later, the murder is still unsolved and the shadows it casts over their lives are as dark as ever.

About the book

Boys from the Backfields is a story I’ve been working on, on and off for nearly twenty years. I’ve finally decided to publish it. The book is in its final editing stage and will be available early November 2013.

More info soon . . .

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The Greatest Living Artist in Wales

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My new novel Cheats and Liars is now available in paperback and as an ebook in lots of formats

Cheats-and-Liars-FrontEveryone’s a cheat or a liar, or both. What happens when the Greatest Living Artist in Wales decides to stop playing the game?

Brian Llewelyn is an artist at the peak of his powers, in fact he’s the Greatest Living Artist in Wales. Despite his success, or perhaps because of it, his life seems worthless. He decides to redeem himself by investing heavily in a community arts project.

Following this altruistic path exposes the fragile foundations his success is built on. His life disintegrates and his career evaporates as the corrupt liars and cheats propping him up turn on him.

Cheats and Liars is an exploration of success and its fallout set deep in the psyche of Brian Llewelyn, The Greatest Living Artist in Wales.

Available from:

Amazon.co.uk: Paperback / Kindle

Amazon.com: Paperback / Kindle

Smashwords – other ebook formats

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The Elchurch Series

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I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but while Cheats and Liars is cooking I’m looking at all my works-in-progress deciding what story to focus on next. Trouble is, there’s a lot to choose from and I really would like to work on them all.

Here’s a batch under consideration.

From the Backfields

The favourite at the moment is From the Backfields. The first draft of this was written about 15 years ago. It’s been lingering at the bottom of a drawer and at the back of my consciousness ever since.

From the Backfields is set in the Welsh seaside town of Elchurch and follows Mick, a man puzzled by the mysteries of his own life, for 50 years. The story starts in 1963 when Mick is just 13 years old.

Elchurch is really Llanelli in a parallel universe. Perhaps all stories come from parallel universes, or, maybe, a parallel universe is created every time someone tells a story.

There’s a story in there somewhere. Continue reading →

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A visit to Margam steelworks

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A Visit to Margam Steelworks

(i)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Roads meandering
Imposing structures
Imposing structure
Meandering roads
Giant Nostrils
Disgorging Clouds
Winds disturbing
Black noxious dust
Railway tracks
Slow-down bumps
Black puddles
Yellow jacks
Distance
Miles
Lives
Lived
Bad
Smell
Taste
Sound
Sight.
#
 (ii)
FAT FLIES
Fat flies in the portacabin office
cheeky flies
flies with confident looks
licking their feet on
the mayonnaise roll
Continue reading →
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Where is your song

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A poem from a few years back – playing with audio recordings

:http://derecjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/where-is-your-song.mp3|titles=where

transcript below

 

Where is Your Song?

What is there to sing about
in the dirty valleys of Wales?
The land of my fathers’ follies,
the land of Mam’s poison cake.
Where sheep flood the green hills
like maggots, munching
to certain slaughter,
and pass their moronic character
to the people, through their plates.
The rivers run cold and collect
the toxic discharge that the Lords left.
The stone-walled slate-roofed mausoleums
of mediocrity, house the bigots
and the hypocrites of fear.
Why allow these demons
to inhabit our beautiful land?
Where is the sleeping Prince
who promised to return?
Wales is not a place of blood and tears.
Wales is not a deposit of dirty rain.
The evil of our history has skewered
our hearts to a red jersey,
the only paltry pride we have left.
Oh Wales, where is your song of joy?

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