My Gift Fairs timetable for 2024

If you are in South/central England, or planning a trip in that direction, you may want to visit a craft & gift fair for one of my personal appearances.

I’m using four venues in 2024: Lymington, Lyndhurst, Romsey and provisionally Salisbury or Chichester

The details are in the posters below (click to enlarge them).

My schedule is:

  • April 27th – Romsey
  • May 25th – Lyndhurst
  • June 8th – Romsey
  • June 22nd – Lymington
  • (tba) – Lyndhurst, Chichester or Salisbury
  • July 20th – Lymington
  • July 27th – Lyndhurst
  • August 10th – Lymington
  • August 24-25 – Salisbury (prov)
  • August 31st – Romsey

I have all the Princelings books in paperback to sell, and of course I’ll sign them if you like!

I also have my scifi books, my short story collections, and my books for younger readers, plus my father’s memoirs.

There are also two notebooks, with pictures plus lots of journalling space – the Princelings one, with chapter illustrations and quotes, and a full-colour George’s Guinea Pig World one.

Autumn and Christmas Fairs are yet to be confirmed.

Hampshire Open Studios 22-24 August

During 22nd to 24th August I’ll be at Chandlers Ford Methodist Church Hall with the Chandlers Ford Art Group, creating our own ‘pop-up’ Open Studio.

Do come along and see how I do my illustrations–and maybe buy a copy of your favourite!

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More Craft and Gift fairs in Southern England

Lyndhurst

I’m doing more craft and gift fairs during the rest of the year. You’ll remember from my January post that I’m doing the Mynt Image Craft and Gift Fairs in the Hampshire/Wiltshire area.

Here’s a selection of stalls during the first half of the year:

I tend to put my banners back to back, with the one for the ‘Meet the Author’ short story volumes and for White Water Landings facing the way people are walking around the room. I’ve sold a good number of Princelings books, mainly the first one, not surprisingly. White Water Landings goes extremely well in this area, as many people remember the Sunderland base at Calshot from after the war until the sixties. Many people tell me what their own fathers or grandfathers did in the war as a result of chatting about my father’s memoirs.

Book sales itinerary for autumn 2022

For the rest of the year I’ll be visiting as follows:

  • 20 August: Lyndhurst Community Centre
  • 26 August (Friday): Lymington (Masonic Hall)
  • 17 September: Lyndhurst Community Centre
  • 1 October: Romsey Town Hall
  • 5 November: Lyndhurst Community Centre
  • 19 November: Romsey Town Hall
  • 3 December: Lyndhurst Community Centre
  • I may get a late entry to Salisbury in December or late November, also.

All the fairs are free entry, and run from 10 am to 4 pm.

If you’re in the area, maybe visiting the New Forest, or the Isle of Wight, or Salisbury’s Cathedral (or Winchester’s for that matter), or even Stonehenge, why not divert to one of the events and meet me in person!

I’ll have all the Princelings books (and Messenger Misadventures) with me – unless I’ve sold out!

Talent Seekers country

This is all Talent Seekers country. Castle White Horse would be located among the chalk downs beyond Salisbury; Castle Forest is sort of in the New Forest, and Castle Deeping is roughly where the Queen Elizabeth Country Park is, north of Fareham (on the A3). But I took a great deal of liberty with the geography of this area–best to say it’s fictitious, but inspired by certain landforms!

Castle White Horse

Illustrations at Hampshire Open Studios August 22-24

If you’ve wondered how I do my chapter illustrations, you can find out at Hampshire Open Studios, August 22-24 at Chandlers Ford.

The Chandlers Ford Art Group is cleverly using the Methodist Church Hall as a members’ studio space. As I’m a member, I’m there!

My pop-up studio

I have a table to work on, or at, a display space behind me, and I’ll be showing illustrations from the Princelings series. I’ll also have some of the illustrations printed at A5 (roughly half letter-size), which will fit in an envelope if anybody wants to buy them. I’ll take a box of Princelings paperback books, which do after all, contain around 25 illustrations in each, plus a great story!

In the spirit of the ‘studio’ I’ll be working on an illustration in front of your very eyes! I have no idea what, at present, but as I draw them on my iPad now, I can always rework something I think needs improvement.

I’d quite like to do some illustrations for other books, though. I just don’t know what, yet!

How to find us

Here’s the link to the Chandler’s Ford Art Group.

The Methodist Church Hall is to the right of the church as you enter from the road (car park behind).

Nearest main road is the M3 (London-Southampton). Exit at junction 12, follow the signs to Chandler’s Ford, and pass the Nuffield Health Centre on your left. About a mile further is a mini-roundabout among a small shopping area, and straight on after about 200 yards is the Church on the left.

The Number 1 bus between Southampton and Winchester passes the door. Nearest train station is Eastleigh (or Southampton Parkway/Airport), but it might be easier to get the bus from Winchester or Southampton rail stations.