A few years ago an unusual thing happened on the Guadalhorce, my local river. The river dried up completely over nearly its entire length and there was, as a result, a great loss of fish. I visited the river regularly during this period and saw the river shrink down to some isolated pools which were alive with struggling fish. Later even these pools dried out and the fish they held died in their hundreds.

The river thins each summer (it is thinning now) but it usually continues to flow, albeit with reduced volume, until the autumn rains arrive and breathe new life into it.

Around the time the river dried out I started to write a little bit about my experiences on the river and was moved so much by this event that I wrote a little piece about it. I showed it to Clare Morris, our former head of English at school, and she spoke about it in very positive terms and suggested that I should do something with it.

It has since become the opening chapter in a book that I have written over the last few years and the book, like the chapter, is called Dry River. This chapter has since been joined by seven more, on a variety of themes to complete the book. I was fortunate enough to get the backing of Paul Morgan of Coch-y-Bonddhu books when I showed him a chapter or two and the outline of the remaining book and we have collaborated on the project, off and on, since the summer of 2012. Paul is a really great guy. Last year he and his wife Ceri joined me here in Spain, ostensibly to discuss the book but we actually spent most of our time fishing!

Dry River is now being printed and will be launched at the CLA Game Fair in Leeds on the 31st of July – about 2 weeks from now. It is a hardback book illustrated by some of my own paintings and some (much better!) paintings by the the American writer and author James Prosek. If you are interested in finding out a little more the following link should take you in the right direction: http://www.anglebooks.com

I will be in Leeds to sign the books (there is a limited edition of 500 copies) but the books are purchased directly from the publisher. If anyone is interested in buying the book and would like something personalised written into it please just let me know either by commenting on this post or, alternatively, by emailing me at paulmhogan@hotmail.com

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