Twelve months of non-stop work from beginning to end is the only way I can describe the last year if I am being honest with myself. Going into January, research for my new book ‘Walls Have Ears’ – The Story of Craig y Nos Castle began in earnest. That is behind me now, with over forty actual interviews conducted in partnership with folk who are related in some way to the history of the castle, from family connections with Captain Rice Powell Davies, and Morgan Morgan, to relatives of those who worked for them and/or Adelina Patti, in some capacity. The interviews are full of facts and stories all to be incorporated in the book. I hit on the idea of channeling and recording the stories of the actual ghosts and spirits still haunting Craig y Nos which led to twelve months of weekly psychic research sessions. Now with over one hundred and fifty video recordings, the stories can be included in the book. Writing the story in the first person as a chunk of rock mined from the Cribarth and sunk in the foundations enables me to say all within the title, ‘Walls Have Ears’.
The book is well underway and should be completed early in 2024. I decided to create two volumes, 1840-1919 and 1920-1980, so Books One and Two. There are many people to thank for information and stories and they will be credited in the book. In the meantime, I would like to thank most sincerely, Debbie Eve, who filtered people to me for information and interviews, Martin Gover, for permission to conduct my psychic research and spend time in places within Craig y Nos, not usually frequented by the public, Paul Brandon, as genealogist, and Jeremy Marsh (Castle Historian) without whom my weekly sessions would have been impossible. I am singularly grateful to Jeremy who painstakingly recorded every session in writing to aid clarity and accompany the video tapes. The cream on the cake for this fascinatingly interesting project came in November, when John Rolls of Showboat Television, approached us with a request to create a television series of our work. Filming has begun and we look forward to next year when it will be screened.
January also saw me severing links with my American publisher, Words Matter Publishing. Like many authors who have grievances with their publishers, there were decisions to make. I will be forever grateful to Tammy Koelling of WMP for selecting the first volume of my Crach Ffinnant series as the grand winner in the writing competition in 2018, and for publishing the following volumes, Rise of the Dragon and Ravens and Dragons. However, being restricted to one book per year held me back and slowed down my creative flow. So in February, I revised my contracts and began a solo journey. In March I launched ‘Swift Arrow Books Limited’ and created the site and online shop at https://www.swiftarrowbooksltd.co.uk. All of my books were transferred to my own publishing company and the fourth volume of Crach Ffinnant, ‘Justice Prevails’ was published and launched.
I have continued to facilitate a weekly creative writing group at Ystradgynlais Library and it was with great delight I published their first anthology of collected stories ‘500 WORDS’, in May under my own imprint, ‘Swift Arrow Books’. The group has grown from strength to strength participating in numerous community events, and it is with particular pride I see the partnership in joint work with the Josef Herman Foundation developing. The group has been invited to present a paper at a conference at Cardiff University on the topic of Storytelling and Mental Health. Though the conference is cancelled for this year, it has been rescheduled for June 2024. My greatest delight is seeing the membership/group develop into a formal community group with chairperson, Jo Paine and appropriate officers. Community research has been achieved in terms of assessing the need for creative writing and a writing competition has produced two winners in the adult and children’s categories. 2024 welcomes the group’s application for lottery funding and further developments including the publication of the second anthology of collected works – 500 WORDS.
Perhaps I may have developed hypergraphia, although the creativity is not to be snubbed. In May, I began working with a new illustrator, Gill Brooks. To say we have been productive is an understatement. Gill like me is clearly a workaholic, we enjoy our craft and there is nothing worse than being slowed down by others. This is not the case at all and our partnership has produced the following titles since May.
Hermit and the Dog Wolf; On the Road with Uncle Laz – Short Stories for Long Journeys; Around the Fire with Uncle Laz – Short Stories for Long Nights; Under the Leaves with Uncle Laz – Short Stories for Autumn Nights; Kingdom of the Trees; Sparkle the Unicorn and Grublebelly the Ogre; The Adventures of Beckett, Books 1,2 and 3; The Wizard Who Chased Time; The Devotees; Haunting Dreams – Nine Ghost Stories for Insomniacs; The Dragons Who Saved the World; The Unyielding Flame – Parable of a Collier; and Dark Tales from the Outback. 
Thus a somewhat prolific partnership with sixteen titles between us, I am certain cannot be denied. Some of the publications are available in hardback as limited editions as well as paperback. I look forward to whatever Gill and I are destined to achieve together creatively next year.
My weekly radio programme, Book at Bedtime – Tales from Wales is now enjoying its third year with Oystermouth Radio. This year saw Crach Ffinnant – Ravens and Dragons coming to an end and volume four, Crach Ffinnant – Justice Prevails beginning. The fourth series is now a longer programme and includes a guest author each week in addition to my storytelling. It is proving popular with listeners, and we began with members of the Ystradgynlais Creative Writing Group sharing their stories enabling them to both experience narrating and appearing on a live radio show. So in reality these new writers have seen their stories come into print and be heard on radio. Various authors of acclaim have appeared on the programme with many more to come next year. This has been a challenge to me and improved my editing and interview skills (I hope). But I do get a lot of fun from writing and presenting this series and love working with Grant Eden, my producer.
In summary, I am most grateful to those readers who enjoy my storytelling, Oystermouth Radio and Grant Eden, the Ystradgynlais Library Management team, and Powys County Council, Gill Brooks – Illustrator, Debbie Eve my partner and co-conspirator, and my many friends and colleagues across social media for your support and love. In the words of one of my guides, Dr. Robert, I will end with
CHANGE IS EVER CONSTANT
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year
Lazarus Carpenter - Author 