News

2022

In 2022 my novel Seaside Towns was accepted to be re-published by Cockatrice Books, and was launched in February, 2021.

Some reviews of the book:

‘A compelling love triangle between two men and the lure of the past. It manages to be both gentle yet searing, introspective yet intensely physical. A real gem of a book, its Welsh setting makes it shine brighter still. Seek it out if you can.’

Buzz Magazine

‘A vivid and moving description of memory, loss and eventual redemption, a wise, compassionate exploration of human vulnerability and human worth.’
Rob Mimpriss

I have also been working hard on researching local history of the eastern Carneddau, hoping to make this the focus of a PhD in the future. Read all the latest at my blog, The Places Where We Go.

2021

In 2020 my novel Of The Ninth Verse was accepted to be re-published by Cockatrice Books, and was launched in February, 2021.

Some reviews of the book:

‘With its austere beauty and precisely knowledgeable evocations of the land, its people, and its rhythms, written in prose “felt in the blood, and felt along the heart”, Of the Ninth Verse has a profound and rooted authenticity that convinces and enchants – an enthralling novel by a writer at the peak of her powers.’ – Jim Perrin

‘This subtly written novel is both a coming-of-age story, and a love story with a difference. Rooted firmly in rural Wales, it tells a compelling narrative of forbidden yet irresistible love. Reynolds handles the plot and characters beautifully, and the prose is elegant and readable. The female perspective is convincing, as the novel unrolls to its inevitable ending.’ – Angela Topping, poet and critic

‘This one will stay with you. Beautiful. Tragic. The result of their couplings push the relationship into the light for their mother, neighbors, townsfolk to judge. The sister desperately tries to keep her little family together but hopelessness and threat of change overcomes one of them. For those of us who read this genre, you go into it knowing there is a lot of sadness. I have so much respect for the author and truly recommend this book. ’ – Amazon customer

2020

It’s been a strange year, but being kept close to home by covid-19 meant I did a lot more walking and exploring in my local area. A result of this was having my blog, The Places Where We Go, featured by the Daily Post. I have been doing a lot of work this past year exploring and documenting the ‘lost cottages’ of the Eastern Carneddau around my home. My aim is to thoroughly photograph and research each of these upland cottages and eventually produce a book about this lost way of life. In December, 2020, my photographs and research were featured in an article about some of the cottages I have explored so far.

2019

After a long editing process, my new novel, Seaside Towns, is now available on Amazon! Seaside Towns follows a couple of weeks in the life of Anatoliy Yevtushenko during a holiday on the Welsh coast, as he recalls his failed relationship with his first love, and forges a new one with his travelling companion.

I’m very pleased to announce that recently I won first prize in the Reading Autistic Pride poetry competition, with my poem ‘In Your Bee Box,’ a poem which speaks about the autistic experience and recalls Sylvia Plath’s poem ‘The Arrival of the Bee Box.’

Last year I was delighted to work with a group of writers on the ‘Weird and Wonderful Wales‘ project, run by Literature Wales and artist Pete Fowler. We created various works based on Welsh legends, in a two day workshop in the beautiful Plas Mawr in Conwy. Art works and literature inspired by the sessions are now on tour around Wales.

2018

After a long break due to terrible internet access, I’m back with news! My short story,  ‘A Drowning, And Resurfacing Slowly,’ has been published with other stories from the Madness of North Wales project in an anthology called Dangerous Asylums, edited by Welsh short story writer Rob Mimpriss. It’s available to buy on Amazon. The various authors involved had great fun touring North Wales as far south as Aberystwyth for book launch events, including a lovely evening in Denbigh itself, the site of the North Wales Hospital which inspired the stories.

In other news, I’ve teamed up with the creator of Oddly Autistic, to post book reviews on the site. My ‘The Non-Adventures of…’ blog, about my autistic experience, will be also featured on the site.

2014

May: An extract from ‘A Drowning, And Resurfacing Slowly,’ my short story for the Madness of North Wales project, is published in issue 104 of the New Welsh Review. (The story is temporarily removed from the Madness site for copyright reasons, while the New Welsh Review issue is still current.)

Currently working on my novel, tentatively titled Persephone, and a novella, currently titled In The Deepness of The City, an extract of which can be found here.

2013

Olwen, a winter story, is published on the website of Rob Mimpriss, Welsh short story writer.

Work continues on Persephone, the draft title of my current novel, set in England and France during and after World War One.

Work is completed on the first draft of novel For This Reason The Owl, but I’m holding off publishing while I look around at other opportunities. Set in a near future when manufacturing and energy production have broken down, For This Reason The Owl follows the inhabitants of a small village where every day life is a struggle to survive. Literary fiction with a magic realism twist. Read the opening chapter here.

2012

A Drowning, and Resurfacing Slowly is published on the Madness of North Wales site. The North Wales Mental Health Research Project is an ongoing project exploring the history of psychiatry in North Wales, and is commissioning fiction based on the history of the North Wales Hospital (Denbigh Asylum). A Drowning, and Resurfacing Slowly follows the progress of a mother who is convicted of killing her two year old child.

Drift (Collected Poems) is published via Thorn and Eth.

The Myth of Wings is completed and published via Thorn and Eth. The Myth of Wings is a novel set in WWII England and the 19th century American Midwest. Ed is a young American airman stationed in England during World War Two, who falls in love with Cassie, an artist from the nearby village. Interspersed with this narrative, Ed and Cassie’s lives start anew in 19th century America, where they live as pioneers and struggle to unravel another life that only Ed remembers. Read the opening here.

2011

Seren and Mor, a short story set in the Iron Age, is written for an ongoing project linked to the excavations of the Meillionydd hilltop enclosure, a Late Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age settlement on the Llŷn peninsula in northwest Wales.

Of The Ninth Verse is published via Thorn and Eth.