Author: lazaruscarpenterauthor

Storytelling originated with visual stories, such as cave drawings, and then shifted to oral traditions, in which stories were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. There was then a shift to words formed into narratives, including written, printed, and typed stories. This book is dedicated to all storytellers who have walked the earth from the beginning of time, and into our future.

It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to facilitate the Creative Writing Group every week. Over the months, membership has increased bringing yet more talented folk with their individual unique imaginations. No two stories are the same, yet all are imagined from one image in each chapter. Their short stories are printed in this collected work.

          Creating a story limited to five hundred words is no easy task but there are sound reasons behind the weekly exercises. Storytelling is a skill that if honed, and directed can result in stunning portrayals with words, and images leaping from a page like a mini film. Each week the group shared an image then in their own time, wrote a story to reflect their ideas about how the picture spoke to them.

          The completed stories though limited to five hundred words, excludes the word count of a title. Many writers have issues keeping a story on track as ideas keep coming to mind during the creative process, and blurring an intended storyline. Initially, this exercise assisted members of the group to stay on track with their stories, moreover, to spark an intuitive drive.

          In the beginning, I was not overly concerned about spelling, punctuation, or the finery of presentation, these things can be learned easily, but good storytelling cannot. So directing the writers to limit their word count for a story encouraged them to be careful around structure whilst maintaining an emphasis on an intuitive theme. My only guidelines were to study the image, leave it alone for a few minutes perhaps whilst having a coffee, then revisit it, close one’s eyes, and then write everything coming to mind stimulated through intuitive thought.

          When folk were happy with their story it would be emailed to me for viewing, formatting, and editing. In the early days, there was a lot of editing offered, and there would be learning points to share with the writers. At the next meeting of the group, members read their stories out loud in order to encourage feedback which in turn slowly increased their confidence in storytelling.

          The publication of these collected works is intended to increase their confidence as writers even further. Nothing is finer for a storyteller than to see their tale and name in a book. Our writers have achieved this, and it is with pleasure and bated breath I await more stories and possibly even novels from them.

          I hope you as a reader enjoy the tales as much as I enjoyed witnessing their growth as storytellers.

Lazarus Carpenter

April 2023

Crach Ffinnant, Justice Prevails, is Volume IV, and the penultimate novel in my series about a man who was a dwarf a prophet, and seer to Owain Glyndwr, the last true Prince of Wales. The war twixt Wales and England is at a fever pitch as Crach, continues on his quest to serve an ancient prophecy. Meanwhile, bloodlust amongst the dragons creates mayhem as Lord Edmund attempts to prove their existence to Henry IV. The official launch of Volume IV will be on 29 April, at Swansea Book Festival to be hosted by Holly Morgan in the Elysium Gallery.

And we are off, what a productive day. My new publishing company is up and running with the business registered with Companies House, a business account opened, the domain name swiftarrowbooks.com purchased, and a new website under construction. My energy, confidence, and enthusiasm are incredible and I am so excited about the birth of this new venture. Debbie Eve is joining the company as Illustrator and no doubt the staff team will grow over time. So as well as providing my own resources for my work, we will be able to help others too. The website will include free one-hour consultations via Zoom to help the business grow. So onward and upwards ….. All is Bliss

Since leaving Words Matter Publishing earlier this year, I have embarked on self-publishing volume four of my Crach Ffinnant series, as it was ready to go prior to my departure. There are three other books in the series all requiring new ISBN’s, including a completed rewrite of the Ballad of Penygraig so I have been very busy indeed. A number of other projects on my desk are near completion and will also need to be published. But more about that in another post. Rather than simply self-publish, I have taken a giant leap toward setting up my own Publishing House. Swift Arrow Books was launched last week and although there is much to do, I am up and running with eight of my titles soon to be released under this banner. Some may say, I have lost the plot to embark on such a project at my age, but others who know me well will say, ‘Why not, get on with it, you got this!’ Initially, I thought it would only be used for my own books however, I have been asked if I would consider publishing others’ work too. I am not at all motivated toward Vanity Publishing, in fact, the mere idea makes me sick to my stomach, knowing how creatives are used and abused in the industry. I have friends who have lost the confidence to write due to ill-treatment and others who after spending thousands are left high and dry with broken promises, a lack of publicity, and almost no royalties worth mentioning. Funding publishing is no easy task and one I have begun in earnest to explore. Today, a request to publish three titles came into my mailbox with a note, funding is not a problem. Clearly, this project is meant to be and I look forward to my new future, not only as an author but now as a publisher too. The Law of Attraction evolves once more. All is Bliss and it is true, change is ever-constant.