Monday, May 2, 2022

Interview with Matt Schmidt from the Side Show Hustle podcast

 I was delighted to be interviewed by Matt Schmidt from the Side Show Hustle podcast. Matt started his podcast channel only a couple of months ago but is proving to be a natural when it comes to his new craft. He's already interviewed quite a diverse and fascinating collection of side show hustlers. Matt managed to draw a fair bit out of me about why I started writing. The path of an indie author, like any author, is full of challenges and lots of learning. I hope the podcast launches a few more budding authors on their path to endless hours of rewarding fun, reflection and engagement with fans and the people, like Matt who support us in our journey. https://www.sideshowhustle.com/.../arwen-jayne-indie.../



Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Writing during the Co-vid Hiatus

 Ah! That era that started in late 2019 and went way into 2022. Indeed as of February 2022 it's still ongoing. for me, and I expect many others, it's been an unusual time. It started with the death of my father in late November 2019 from ironically Influenza A and pneumonia. It was the start of a time for me where I questioned nearly everything I'd ever being interested in. What hobbies and interests had I pursued because they were dad's interests? Then came the realization, followed quickly by acceptance, that, though I was fascinated by science I had very little aptitude for it. I'd gone as far as teaching myself Calculus and doing online moocs in that, while I was writing Ideally Imperfect. I love maths, science and engineering but to push any further than calculus was going to take a lot of bloodymindedness. Something had to give. We only have so many years on this planet, or so it seems. What did I want to do with the time I have? Writing - tick. Flute - tick? Gardening - I could ease back on, get rid of the pot plants for one thing. Languages - well I still have an addiction there which is currently pursuing Irish for no earthly reason other than it's my equivalent of doing sudoku - something to use all available brain cells when I want a rest from thinking about other things. Genealogy?  - well there's nothing but brick walls left in my chart. There comes a time when you realize there really weren't many records for ordinary people before the 1570s - Good old Henry the Eighth saw to that. Astrology? - well I've come to realize you can spend endless hours on that but all I really need to know these days are the general energies affecting the planet and how they might affect my innate quirks. 

So after all that soul searching and refinding myself have I written anything of late. Yes:



Oh No You Don’t! - Thallon's surprised and delighted when his off-planet conversation is hacked by a human. But will she agree to go out with him? Terri's workplace supervisor's just found out you don't mess with her but will he get his revenge? Dan's having to deal with hostile competitors who want his system, but to what purpose? A lot could go wrong but no-one's on their own as friends unite to deal with everything that's coming their way.




The Transformation Solution - Mars’s core is still rumbling with earthquakes but the planet’s facilitator Naira has more than that on her plate of worries. What to do with the old guard of Lyreans who still sleep in stasis in the bowels of the city, one of them her own father? Octopuses have colonised the Martian ocean but no-one except Emily knows much about them. And then there’s the dealing with the disharmony in the galaxy that is being broadcast from a source close to the galaxy’s centre.


And then there was a little short story while I worked out the "Where to from here?"





Finding Eden (a prequel to In the Unknown Everything Awaits) - Work comes in bits and pieces for remote viewer and psychic private detective Rachael Bashandi. When the local Protectors ring asking for help with a case she leaps at the chance. But not everyone in the Protectors Office approves of magick users. Fighting prejudice and her nebulous relationship with the Protectors she sets out to find one Eden Esme James who's disappeared without a trace.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The writer in us all

"Loving myself as I am" can be transformational in not only how we view ourselves but also the wider cosmos. At the level of the ego self it means letting go of all falsity, the layers we cover ourselves with to present ourselves in the way we choose to our peers and loved ones. It is saying this is who I am in this moment, eccentricities, quirks, issues and all - I accept myself as I am. I no longer need to give my power to others by requiring them to give me attention. I am myself's own source of love and acceptance. The world can no longer pull me with puppet strings made of carrots and sticks. I call back my power. I am whole. Where I am on the path right now is where I am. I act from a space that is centered in this moment, a space filled with loving acceptance. That space fills me and surrounds me. It is my comfort and my safety. My home, my lover. Then the inner eye opens and "Loving myself as I am" becomes the whole world, indeed the cosmos and beyond. All that resides within it, ever existed, ever will exist or indeed may never choose to take form. It is all 'me'.  The fact is I wanted to try every conceivable way to exist. My insatiable curiosity imagined an Iceland and a Hawaii.  I imagined life roaming the desert of the Kalahari and the shop rows of New York. I imagined religious devotion and secular logic. Piety and hedonism. Mystics and playboys. Jewellers and miners. Eight legged beings, green skinned aliens, killer whales and territorial humans. I imagined romance, lives filled with thrill, who done its and flights of fantasy. I am a writer. I am the refraction and reflection of the light of the cosmos. You are too.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Ideally Imperfect - a heroine in need of love, acceptance and redemption

Ideally Imperfect



Alys, who renames herself Gratia early in this book, suffers from defensiveness. It's destroyed her marriage and lost her relationships with her father and friends. Not liking her life she determines to turn her it around, one piece at a time, to create a new reality.
This is the third in the series "The Martian Vampire Chronicles", and a continuation of the world created in "Lefthand Adventures." Favorite characters will appear, including faeries, delphines, the Shang, the Lemurians, The Malakim and immortals of Boswell and Mars and of course the baddies, the Din, led by Sakla. However I hope I've included enough backstory along the way that the book can be read on its own.
I wanted this story to be about reality creation and self acceptance. For Gratia that means coming to terms with the loss of her mother, early in life, finding a way to balance her hormones and her defensiveness, recognizing her potential, her true interests and her capacity to love beyond the bounds of what she was raised to consider as acceptable.
It is a story of an individual finding peace with who they are and making the most of it. About blossoming into a life unknown and unexpected.
Those who have read the first book of the series, "An open connection of the heart", will recognize the main character as someone who had life changing impact on Callan. When his wife refuses counselling he determines to do it himself, learning how to manage her as best he can, to defuse situations that might make her explode in anger. To avoid the triggers. But his counsellor, Leigha, warns him that it won't make the problem go away. And she was right. Having done all he could Callan ends his marriage and ends up living in a caravan, living on two minute noodle, until... well that was book of the series.
So why did I rework Alys into this story. Purely and simply a writer's compassion for one of her characters. I couldn't leave her as she was. There had to be a more positive future for her.
So if you read Book 1 I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive Alys and enjoy, as I have, her journey into becoming Gratia, short for gratitude.
You can find the book at all good online vendors, eg:

Monday, May 27, 2019

Almond Strawberry Pikelets

Almond Strawberry Pikelets



  • 3-4 frozen strawberries, defrosted and mashed
  • three heaped tablespoons of lentil flour
  • two heaped tablespoons of almond meal
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of psyllium husk
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • a little water
Mix all together and add water to a firm batter. Put spoonfulls of batter in a flat non stick frypan and cook until golden. Enjoy.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Hazelnut pumpkin pie - vegan, gluten free, sugar-less




First the crust

The crust part of this recipe was originally sourced from http://fromthegroundupwellness.com/recipes/savory-vegan-pumpkin-pie-with-almond-meal-crust

Grease a flan tray or pie tin and then line with grease-proof baking paper. The oil helps to hold the paper in place. Trim any excess paper.

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F

You will need:

  • a cup and a half of almond meal
  • a pinch of Himalayan salt. (don't use sea salt cause there's too many microplastics floating around in our oceans these days)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon  ground cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil (in my climate I need to heat this to make it liquid)
  • 1 tablespoon of water. 

Mix into a dough then place in the flan tray  and press it with a spoon, spreading it out and up the sides. If it sticks to the spoon sprinkle a little rice flour over the mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes then set to one side. While it's been cooking you might have ground some hazelnuts and pre-cooked your pumpkin.

Now for the mixture

Preheat, if you haven't already, your oven to 180C/350F

You will need:

  • 2 generous cups of cooked pumpkin - I used Japanese pumpkin on my first attempt but butternut or just about any other pumpkin should work well, even golden nugget squash.
  • 1/2-3/4 cup of hazelnut. 3/4 is better but it takes time for me to grind this in my coffee grinder. You can also purchase pre-ground hazelnut meal but since I grow my own hazelnuts I thought I'd better use them. They're sweeter, juicier and better tasting fresh.
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of tapioca or arrowroot flour as a binding agent.
  • 1&1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon. I don't add any nutmeg as it is an irritant that causes digestive problems for those susceptible to it.
  • 1/4 teaspoon of allspice
  • a grind or two of Himalayan salt.


Mash together then place in you pre-prepared pie crust. Spread to the edges

Bake for 20 minutes

So tasty it disappears in minutes so if you are serving more than two people you might want to double the quantities.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Sprouted quinoa, toasted pine nuts, shredded nori, rice and carrot sushi and patties




My friend Robyn, who's a great amateur chef and amazes me what she produces in her small but compact kitchen, turned up the other day with some treats for me. I quizzed her on the ingredients then had to have a go myself:

The mix for the sushi and the patties is basically the same.


  • Sprout one cup of quinoa
  • Cook one cup of rice
  • Cook half a carrot and mash it.
  • Toast about 1/3 cup of pine nuts in the fry pan until browned
  • Shred or finely cut up one sheet of nori


Mix together and use the mixture as filling for sushi rolls

To make the patties add two tablespoons of psyllium seed as an egg replacement. Add about a dessertspoon of turmeric for color and flavor. Pan fry until brown

I use a non stick fry pan for toasting the pine nuts and browning the patties so no oil needed.

Serve the sushi chilled, the patties warmed. Both are quite sweet tasting.

Robyn's original mix used cooked pumpkin instead of the carrot but I didn't have any so I substituted.