The Witches book has finally entered the final editing stage. I am up to 4th Draft of the book and I feel it is storywise as good as it’s going to get. Time to get this book completed and published.
But even when the edit is completed there is still alot of work to be done before the book hits the presses so to speak. I still have to do the following
Typesetting for E-book, Paperback and Hardback editions
Design the Cover for all three editions.
Proof read the final copies of all three editions.
prepare the launch campaign
and so much more
As you can see the writing of the book is but one part (even though the most important part) of a whole string of things that need to be completed. So far this is the 3rd year of development for this particular book, from original concept to final completing the writing phase. I’m currently aiming for an October 2026 launch, but that is looking less likely now due to other commitments.
I have however had a stab at the cover design using Canva
Anyway thats this progress update for this week. Please keep an eye out for future post, as I will be explaining some of the background to the story, and where the original concept came from.
So my next book is progressing well. The Witches of Rumbly Combe is nearing the end of the drafting phase, and then starts the long a laborious process of editing.
It has been fun writing this book, I have yet again taken off the shackles of normality, thrown away the rule book (well most of it) and got to work on something which I hope will be as funny as relevant as the last two books.
A brief little insight into the book is below, just to wet your appetitie
When four overlooked school‑gate mums accidentally summon a tiny, rude demon, they must learn to control their chaotic, emotion‑powered magic — and themselves — before PTA politics, neighbourhood cats, and a demon council tear their lives apart.
I should be ready in a couple of week to release some more teasers, but for now in the immortal words of Buggs Bunny ‘That’s All Folks’
My other two book are still available to purchase using the link in the cover images.
Ralph and the Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse CoverMacDonald’s Farm – Fleas Have Feelings Too! Cover
I recently received some criticism over using AI to generate my cover art work below. It went along the lines Oh AI this and AI That.
Final Book Cover Design for Ralph and the Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse
Now here the thing, I am by virtue a writer. I can just about hold a cup of coffee and type at the same time. What I can’t do is draw and paint. My partner is always clipping the ends of my crayons (AKA Safety Crayons) just in case I stick them in my eyes .
Its not that I like the thought of using AI, but the harsh reality for me as a penniless writer, I simply don’t have the kind of budgets to employ an artist to do the work for me. The last quote I got was nearly a grand just for the paperback cover for the book above. In my life that’s a lot of money, that I simply can’t justify spending on a book cover for a book, which in all reality will probably sell only 10 copies during its lifetime. (BTW I’m up to 8 at the time of writing this an all time record for me. Double Digits here we come eventually!)
People who buy books expect certain things, and that all starts with the cover. They expect to get a feel for the book from it. Sometimes they might even read the blurb on the back; I know, I don’t. So if I had put up a crudely drawn cover using my safety crayons I can only imagine what the potential readers would say “OMG what a shoddy cover the book must be crap as well.”
So until such time as I make it big, become rich and famous, my feeble attempts at writing are going to have to survive with AI generated covers.
I’ll stick to what I do best and that is telling a good story in an engaging way.
I have been pondering how I find the characters for my books. and I have concluded that it isn’t by sheer chance that most of my characters appear to me.
I am; and I have to admit this shamefully, a people watcher. I find the thrill of street theatre to be compelling. I love watching the world go by, and observe how people interact with one and another. But the most fascinating aspect of observation is relating those behaviours into my characters.
I love working into my stories those characters who have made me laugh, cringe, or felt some form of empathy for them. And non of this is by accident. I purposefully sitting in a café and watch the world play out a myriad of different stories in front of me. Even though I can’t hear the conversations, I read the body language and imagine the kind of discussion people are having inside my head. Sometimes those conversation are hilarious.
But lately I find myself watching how animals interact with each other. My particular favourite is my little Murder Kitten and Pigeons who have the lack of sense to land in my back garden. I watch her little bottom wiggle, the tail go dead still, and her crouch as close a possible to the ground without getting her belly wet (she really hates getting her belly wet BTW). The pigeons for their part stand there as if nothing is wrong, and tease her by walking slowly towards her and then backing off slightly to a distance they instinctively know, she has no chance of reaching before they take flight.
But even though this little tale is unfolding in front of me, I also watch my dog, trying desperately to copy the cat. each little wiggle of the cats bottom is exactly mirrored by the dog. occasionally the cat will look back and give a look of utter contempt to the dog. But the dog nevertheless remains focused and fully committed to copying the cat. eventually the dog will get bored and charge past the cat towards the pigeons; who for their sakes take flight in a hurried flurry of feathers, because they didn’t expect the dog to come charging at them from behind the cat. The dog for her part will continue onwards oblivious to the washing line post, which she will hit head first and then spend the next 30 seconds wondering where the hell the post had come from, and more importantly where had the bloody pigeons gone to!
So do I have a point to these mad ambling other than to share a quaint little story from my life. Yes as writers every interaction between people and animals is a source of material we should take for granted. These little nuggets have a habit of growing into larger tale, and even possibly a novel.
So after launching the last two books (Ralph and The Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse, and MacDonald’s Farm – Fleas Have Feelings Too!), I am once again sat in front of the trusty old keyboard working on my next novel.
Based in the same insane and whimsically weird, village of Rumbly Combe in the deepest depths of Somerset. This novel pitches, four overlooked and underappreciated women, an 18 inch Demon, and a book of questionable magic and intentions, against the dreaded PTA of the Rumbly Combe Primary School.
Project ‘The Witches’ is progressing well and below is a brief extract from the book to wet you appetite
The Finding of the Book of Questionable Magic
There are many things one expects to find in a Somerset attic:
• Old Christmas decorations • A box labelled “Misc.” that contains nothing but regret and a single AA battery • A spider the size of a small horse, possibly with a mortgage • And at least one item that makes you say, “Why on earth do I still have this?”
What one does not expect to find is a book. A talking book. A talking book with opinions. And, worse, a talking book with attitude.
But that is exactly what Maddy found when she went upstairs to use Sarah’s loo.
To be clear, she had not gone up there looking for a book. She had gone up because Sarah’s downstairs loo had a door that didn’t quite close unless you lifted it, jiggled it, and whispered encouraging things to it like a Victorian governess soothing a fainting child. Maddy, being a woman of spiritual sensitivity, preferred not to negotiate with bathroom doors. She believed boundaries were important.
So, she went upstairs.
And when she came back down, she was holding a large, dusty, slightly damp tome that looked like it had been written by someone who had strong feelings about punctuation and even stronger feelings about other people’s incompetence.
Sarah blinked. “Where… where did you get that?”
“Your attic,” Maddy said cheerfully, as if this explained everything, including the dampness, the dust, and the faint aura of judgement radiating from the book.
“I don’t have anything like that in my attic,” Sarah said, which was true in the sense that she had never put anything like that in her attic. But attics are mysterious places. Things migrate. Objects appear. Socks vanish. Entire ecosystems form. Some attics are basically portals with insulation.
Jo squinted at the book. “Why is it… damp?”
The book shuddered, shook off a few droplets, and said in a voice like a disgruntled librarian who had been forced to work overtime during a heatwave:
“Oh, marvellous. More amateurs.”
The women screamed. It was not a dignified scream. It was not even a horror‑movie scream. It was more of a scream, of four women who had collectively reached the limit of what they were prepared to deal with today, and talking literature was definitely not on the list.
He everyone, Charlie here, I’m please to announce that I have started converting Ralph and the Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse to an Illustrated Audio Book on You-Tube.
I started this little project so my Brother-in-law could enjoy the story. He is suffering from a degenerative condition which makes it difficult for him to read these days, and he enjoys listening to Audio Books more and more.
I felt this format would increase access to those who enjoyed reading and stories, but found it difficult to read a book, and sometimes found Audio Books un-engaging.
Here are the first 3 chapters, and I aiming to release 1 chapter a week. But as solo indie writer this may prove to be difficult.
Unfortunately due to money constraints I’ve had to utilise AI tools to make this project feasible. But the rest assured the Story is all mine.
He everyone, Charlie here, I’m please to announce that I have started converting Ralph and the Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse to an Illustrated Audio Book on You-Tube.
I started this little project so my Brother-in-law could enjoy the story. He is suffering from a degenerative condition which makes it difficult for him to read these days, and he enjoys listening to Audio Books more and more.
I felt this format would increase access to those who enjoyed reading and stories, but found it difficult to read a book, and sometimes found Audio Books un-engaging.
Here are the first 2 chapters, and I aiming to release 1 chapter a week. But as solo indie writer this may prove to be difficult.
Unfortunately due to money contraints I’ve had to utilise AI tools to make this project feasible. But the rest assured the Story is all mine.
I am very excited to announce the imminent release of my next book
MacDonald’s Farm – Fleas Have Feeling Too!
I am starting to get through a large backlog of books I wrote, but never really quite got around to doing the edits and preparations for publishing. I’ll be posting updates, and offering some promotional downloads, so keep checking back.
Created using ChatGPT
A mild‑mannered Somerset farmer becomes the centre of national chaos when a violent goose, acrobatic goats, and a secret dragon turn his quiet life into a viral circus he absolutely did not sign up for.
Hi, well being broke makes you try different things than people who have large advertising budgets. But here is the thing, your audience still expects a certain level of professionalism. And without any budget that can be really hard to achieve.
So I rethought about AI and its uses. For me it allows me to do all that boring promotional stuff which the audience expect, and lets me concentrate on producing the novels I write.
Now I know to many of you this video may seem a little crude and amateurish, but for me considering this the first time I’ve ever done such a thing… I is bloody wonderful. But hey don’t take my word for it, have a watch and let me know your thoughts
Jones’ Bakery have release a shocking image of a recent incident where a small Black Pug raided it’s shop on the High Street and proceeded to eat all the sausage rolls and the tray they were served on.
Small Black Pug, Eating a Tray of Sausage Rolls.
Mr Jones said about the incident; ‘He just pushed his way in to the shop, hopped up on the counter and started to eat all the freshly baked Sausage Rolls. Customers were screaming, and then he started to eat the tray they were served on. Suddenly a whole group turned up with a Springer Spaniel holding a dog-lead and a Rubber Chicken in its mouth. One of them even killed our potted Fern in the corner over there. It was really strange, one even floated to the ceiling nearly hitting the ceiling fan, and one of the women glowed with a faint trace of radioactive menace.
When Asked to explain how the situation concluded itself, Mr Jones replied. Well as you can see it looks the CSI team turned up and just tossed that finger print power everywhere! They didn’t this woman suddenly arrived and a fight broke out between her and the group, next thing the whole shop was engulfed in what smelt like school chalk. We Had to throw away all the stock it was covered in the stuff.
Jones’ Bakery has placed this poster in the window to reassure customers that the small black menace has received a lifetime ban for ‘Acts of Culinary Carnage.’
Bakery Banning Poster for Agro, after he raided the Sausage Rolls
The small black Pug is believed to belong to a Mr De-Arth (pronounce Mr Death), and has not been seen since the incident. We have tried to contact Mr De-Arth, but so far he has proved to be elusive to our requests for comment.
For more tales like this read the new book by Charlie Hicks, Ralph and the Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse.
Charlie Hicks - Author 