INDEX TO BLOGS
Thursday 31/01/2013
Monday 02/07/2012 Sunday 26/05/2012 Thursday 17/05/2012 Monday 02/04/2012 Sunday 11/02/2012 Tuesday 06/03/2012 Monday 27/02/2012 Friday 10/02/2012 Thursday 19/01/2012 Sunday 15/01/2012 Sunday 09/01/2012 |
Shaun Allan
Tom Winton Talks about his new book. Peggy Randall-Martin talks about life and her books Interviewing Ey Wade's characters in The Perfect Solution Jeannette Christer talks about her writing. Lynne Northing talks about her writing Margerita Felices talks about her first novel Harri Romney talks about her children's stories Matt Posner talks about the School of The Ages Harry Nicholson tells me about his first book An Interview with Philip Catshill~ Writer & Painter Sibel Hodge tells me about her novel Trafficked |
Thursday 31 st. January 2013
Shaun Allan
It's been a while since I uploaded to my blog. I've been busy with all sorts of other things and this has been a bit neglected. However, I'm very pleased to say I have an author, who has some very unusual books and thoughts to share with us. Pay close attention because you won't want to miss it.
Over to you Shaun
My latest book is Dark Places, a collection of thirteen short stories and thirteen poems, all with a dark theme. I’m not sure why I like to write this type of story, to be honest. I’m generally an upbeat, happy sort of person – too laid back to let things get to me. I’m always making jokes and having a laugh. Perhaps it’s because I write such things? The darkness is vented in my work so there’s only light left?
I doubt it, but it’s a thought. I’m normally a very positive person. I call Sin my ‘Dark Half’, so maybe he’s writing them!
The poems contained therein were, actually, written during a time where I wasn’t so positive. Things weren’t going well in my life and various things prompted various poems. The memory of how I was treated by my natural father. Loves lost. I’m sure everyone has these twilight periods to battle through. I didn’t exactly find solace in the words, but I couldn’t seem to write anything else at the time. The stories are different. I can be at my happiest (as I am now) and still produce a piece with shadows and death. I find poetry to be much more personal and so it reflects how I feel at that moment. With a story, I follow the path of the characters, and they have their own moods unencumbered by my own.
As I’m meant to be working on the sequel to Sin, my Muse thinks it mighty hilarious to put all sorts of other ideas into my head and I need to give them form to clear the mist for Sin to continue with his adventure. Hence, I wrote I Am Death. Like a lot of my work, it grew from just the first sentence. I don’t necessarily have any idea what the story will be as I’m writing. It turns out however it turns out. This happened with Sin and with the majority of his blog posts (he has his own diary at:-
http://singularityspoint.blogspot.com
I Am Death began with, simply, ‘I think...’ and the result was a tale of Death contemplating life as he prepares to take his next soul. My wife saw a writing competition in one of her magazines and said I should enter. The Last Dance was written for this. It didn’t win, but, when my wife read it, it brought a tear to her eye. A friend of mine told me that, when she was 9, her cousin said the sink overflow was where the dragons went in. I used her exact words for the beginning of ‘There Be Dragons’ without any idea of how it would go.
So, it can take very little to inspire me. I go with the flow, caught up by the current of something I’m not entirely in control of.
The idea of the collection came from a fellow writer. She asked me to look at something she’d written ‘while in a dark place’. I suddenly HAD to write using that title, and the collection came together soon after, with the addition of stories that I couldn’t stop writing. I had the bit between my teeth and was being led along at a real pace. The themes of darkness becoming real, of reality and surreality being intertwined, of the helplessness of being pushed to events you can’t control,
were almost a whirlwind of words that were finding an outlet through my fingers.
If you know what I mean...
A friend at work created an original watercolour inspired by the stories, and this is featured in the book. It’s between the contents and the first poem and acts as a doorway to the darkness within.
I had started to write a prequel to Sin, intending it to be nothing but a short. I wanted to include it in Dark Places but was asked ‘what about Joy?’ I was halfway through what was to become Prelude, then, and stopped. They were right. What about Joy? Joy is Sin’s sister, and appears in the book as a ghost – either to help or hinder him. She disappears just when he seems to need her most and is unable to give him real information, so has to resort to guidance that frustrates and angers her brother. Suffering a mirror image of Sin’s ‘talent’, Joy has committed suicide. But what of her origins? I wrote Joy to give her that voice, that chance to tell it from her side.
Fittingly, I think, Joy became the final piece in the collection, a place she deserves.
The reaction to Dark Places has been wonderful, with comments such as: “The descriptive passages create fabulous imagery,” and “The author's portrayal of death could lead you to believe he'd actually experienced it.” I’m hoping it has the same success that Sin has enjoyed but, either way, I sincerely enjoyed creating it.
Dark Places
I am Death. I know who you are...
There is darkness and madness in each of us. We must do battle with our own demons.
But...
What if those demons opened the door in the back of your mind and stepped out. What if they became real? If the night, the shadows, the reflections and Death himself walked among us? And what if they were watching you? Waiting? Thirsting...?
Dark Places. Thirteen stories. Thirteen poems.
Thirteen doorways.
Praise for Dark Places:
"He paints a surreal scene that sucks you into the terror."
"Wow. Brilliantly written."
There is darkness and madness in each of us. We must do battle with our own demons.
But...
What if those demons opened the door in the back of your mind and stepped out. What if they became real? If the night, the shadows, the reflections and Death himself walked among us? And what if they were watching you? Waiting? Thirsting...?
Dark Places. Thirteen stories. Thirteen poems.
Thirteen doorways.
Praise for Dark Places:
"He paints a surreal scene that sucks you into the terror."
"Wow. Brilliantly written."
Dark Places can be found on Amazon at:
US: http://amzn.to/DarkPlacesUSEB
UK: http://amzn.to/DarkPlacesUKEB
And at Smashwords at: http://bit.ly/ShaunAllanSW
And in paperback form at: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/shaunallan
The ebook and signed copies are available from the bookstore on my website:
http://www.shaunallan.co.uk/bookstore.php
***************
Monday 2nd July 2012
Tom Winton
Catherine recently asked me how I came up with the idea for my newly-released novel, Four Days with Hemingway’s Ghost. Well, for starters, I do not believe in ghosts, goblins and spirits. I never dreamed I’d want to write a book about one. But somehow, the idea for a story about Hemingway, coming back to earth for four days, pushed its way into my cluttered brain and set up camp there. My hunch is that my subconscious “delivered” the idea to my conscious mind because I’ve been a Hemingway fan for a long time now--more a fan of the man than his books.
Although I grew up in New York City, my parents moved our family to Florida when I was ten years old. We stayed just four years, but along with other memories, I well remember one particular day. It was July 3rd, 1961. I was thirteen at the time and recall picking up a copy of the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel newspaper for my father. The front page headlines said that Ernest Hemingway had shot and killed himself. Though I wasn’t much of a reader back then, I did read The Old Man and the Sea about a year earlier. Little did I know that I’d someday write a book about him.
Years later, after we moved back to New York, my girlfriend and I decided to get married one night. The next day, in the predawn darkness, we drove through a blizzard in her canary-yellow, Chevy Vega and headed south to Florida. A few days later, we were married by a justice of the peace in sunny Key West. A few months after that, we moved to the Sunshine State and settled on the Gulf coast.
Over the ensuing years, we’ve made dozens of trips to the Keys. More than once we’ve been to Ernest Hemingway’s Whitehead Street home/museum. We’ve had drinks in Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Ole Hem hung out with his unlikely group of friends known as his “mob.” My wife and I have also downed a few cold ones at a small, dark saloon called Captain Tony’s—the same bar where, back in the 1930’s, Hemingway met his third wife, Martha Gellhorn.
Every time we visited Key West we could feel Hemingway’s Ghost wherever we went. It’s embedded in the streets, bars, restaurants, and all the funky shops . You cannot look at the sparkling, aquamarine water surrounding that little island without seeing reflections of Hemingway’s face. And, if you choose to go offshore in a boat--out to the Gulfstream, Papa will be waiting for you in its deep, purple depths.
What I’ve tried to do throughout my new novel, Four Days with Hemingway’s Ghost, is to have the feel of that world-famous author’s presence on every page, as it is in Key West. Even after Hem and my other main character (Jack Phelan) leave that magical little island, I’ve attempted to sustain that feeling. I think it remains there when the two men travel to Ernest’s old haunts in Havana, Cuba, New York, and finally Ketchum, Idaho, where he ended his life. Only time will tell if I accomplished what I set out to do. As always, the final say will belong to the readers. I hope you’ll take a look.
Although I grew up in New York City, my parents moved our family to Florida when I was ten years old. We stayed just four years, but along with other memories, I well remember one particular day. It was July 3rd, 1961. I was thirteen at the time and recall picking up a copy of the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel newspaper for my father. The front page headlines said that Ernest Hemingway had shot and killed himself. Though I wasn’t much of a reader back then, I did read The Old Man and the Sea about a year earlier. Little did I know that I’d someday write a book about him.
Years later, after we moved back to New York, my girlfriend and I decided to get married one night. The next day, in the predawn darkness, we drove through a blizzard in her canary-yellow, Chevy Vega and headed south to Florida. A few days later, we were married by a justice of the peace in sunny Key West. A few months after that, we moved to the Sunshine State and settled on the Gulf coast.
Over the ensuing years, we’ve made dozens of trips to the Keys. More than once we’ve been to Ernest Hemingway’s Whitehead Street home/museum. We’ve had drinks in Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Ole Hem hung out with his unlikely group of friends known as his “mob.” My wife and I have also downed a few cold ones at a small, dark saloon called Captain Tony’s—the same bar where, back in the 1930’s, Hemingway met his third wife, Martha Gellhorn.
Every time we visited Key West we could feel Hemingway’s Ghost wherever we went. It’s embedded in the streets, bars, restaurants, and all the funky shops . You cannot look at the sparkling, aquamarine water surrounding that little island without seeing reflections of Hemingway’s face. And, if you choose to go offshore in a boat--out to the Gulfstream, Papa will be waiting for you in its deep, purple depths.
What I’ve tried to do throughout my new novel, Four Days with Hemingway’s Ghost, is to have the feel of that world-famous author’s presence on every page, as it is in Key West. Even after Hem and my other main character (Jack Phelan) leave that magical little island, I’ve attempted to sustain that feeling. I think it remains there when the two men travel to Ernest’s old haunts in Havana, Cuba, New York, and finally Ketchum, Idaho, where he ended his life. Only time will tell if I accomplished what I set out to do. As always, the final say will belong to the readers. I hope you’ll take a look.
Tom's Books:-
Four Days with Hemingway’s Ghost:-
This is not a story of spooks and spirits. It is an entertaining weave of heartrending emotion, humor, and a sprinkling of little known facts. The novel also examines the lives of two very different men. One is mortal, the other immortal.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
The Last American Martyr:-
Thomas Soles may very well be the last American martyr. This self-described “simple man” writes a simple book that resuscitates the all-but-dead international labor movement. The response to his thoughts and perceptions are astounding.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Thomas Soles may very well be the last American martyr. This self-described “simple man” writes a simple book that resuscitates the all-but-dead international labor movement. The response to his thoughts and perceptions are astounding.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Beyond Nostalgia:-
Born with blue in his collar instead of his veins, best-selling author Dean Cassidy chronicles his soul-scarring rise from New York's darkest alleys to a place high atop the literary world.
As difficult and unlikely as such a climb is, there's yet another force working against Dean. He’s forever haunted by treasured memories of his long-lost teenage soul-mate. Theresa! Theresa! Theresa! She just won't go away!
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Born with blue in his collar instead of his veins, best-selling author Dean Cassidy chronicles his soul-scarring rise from New York's darkest alleys to a place high atop the literary world.
As difficult and unlikely as such a climb is, there's yet another force working against Dean. He’s forever haunted by treasured memories of his long-lost teenage soul-mate. Theresa! Theresa! Theresa! She just won't go away!
Click Here for the Kindle Book
The Voice of Willie Morgan
and 2 other Short Stories:-
All three of these short stories are filled with the emotion and drama that has become a trademark of Tom Winton's previous work. In each of them, he delves deep into the human condition.
Click Here For the Kindle Book
and 2 other Short Stories:-
All three of these short stories are filled with the emotion and drama that has become a trademark of Tom Winton's previous work. In each of them, he delves deep into the human condition.
Click Here For the Kindle Book
Trans-Atlantic Team-Up
Snow White and the American Martyr:-
Bringing you the best writing from both side of the Atlantic, Trans-Atlantic Team-Up pairs up a top-eselling author from the UK and a top-selling author from the US, so you can read "over here" what's doing well "over there".
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Snow White and the American Martyr:-
Bringing you the best writing from both side of the Atlantic, Trans-Atlantic Team-Up pairs up a top-eselling author from the UK and a top-selling author from the US, so you can read "over here" what's doing well "over there".
Click Here for the Kindle Book
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Sunday27th May 2012
Peggy Randall-Martin
I'm delighted to talk to Peggy about her books. I recently read Sunday Meals and Snake Neckties, which I absolutely loved. It is a delightful story and I believe will prove to be a classic that will never be outdated. I've reviewed it on Amazon and given it a more than well deserved 5 star rating. Over to you now Peggy. Please tell us about yourself and your wonderful books.
"Life doesn't begin at forty, it begins when you are no longer afraid to live it," Peggy Randall-Martin, author of bestselling "So Far Behind" & "Backside of the Mirror."
I am retired and having a love affair with life! My passion is writing and it's not always a sure thing, but it is always satisfying in the end. When I get up in the morning I can be anyone I want to be, achieve any goal and even change my appearance periodically during the day with words, new characters, storylines and imagination.
The most common thread my books have with readers is that they remind them of the Twilight Zone TV series. You may remember that many of the episodes depicted bone chilling paranormal and disturbing events. This is a genre I have been drawn to since I was a child, and one that still has me looking over my shoulder, even though I know I'm home alone. You might say the genre picked me.
Some people like plots to be tied up in pretty little bows at the end of a book or story. The Twilight Zone episodes I watched didn't have tidy endings. Otherworld tales and paranormal stories in real life and in the literary world cannot be neatly explained away, and that is one of the main reasons fans of the genre keep coming back.
I've authored 13 Kindle books. Currently I am working on a trilogy with two other authors, and have 3 novellas in process including Volume 2 of "The La Bauve Family Legend Series." I stay very busy!
"Life doesn't begin at forty, it begins when you are no longer afraid to live it," Peggy Randall-Martin, author of bestselling "So Far Behind" & "Backside of the Mirror."
I am retired and having a love affair with life! My passion is writing and it's not always a sure thing, but it is always satisfying in the end. When I get up in the morning I can be anyone I want to be, achieve any goal and even change my appearance periodically during the day with words, new characters, storylines and imagination.
The most common thread my books have with readers is that they remind them of the Twilight Zone TV series. You may remember that many of the episodes depicted bone chilling paranormal and disturbing events. This is a genre I have been drawn to since I was a child, and one that still has me looking over my shoulder, even though I know I'm home alone. You might say the genre picked me.
Some people like plots to be tied up in pretty little bows at the end of a book or story. The Twilight Zone episodes I watched didn't have tidy endings. Otherworld tales and paranormal stories in real life and in the literary world cannot be neatly explained away, and that is one of the main reasons fans of the genre keep coming back.
I've authored 13 Kindle books. Currently I am working on a trilogy with two other authors, and have 3 novellas in process including Volume 2 of "The La Bauve Family Legend Series." I stay very busy!
Peggy's Books
2011 Titles:-
From the Farther side of Beyond:-
"from the farther side of beyond (a collection of novellas to keep you up at night),” is a book of thrillers by Peggy Randall-Martin, author of "So Far Behind.” You asked for a collection of her works and she was listening. This book includes five of her favorite tales that will take you to the edge and teeter on the razor-thin line between what is real and that unknown place inside us where fear thrives and curls ready to strike.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
"from the farther side of beyond (a collection of novellas to keep you up at night),” is a book of thrillers by Peggy Randall-Martin, author of "So Far Behind.” You asked for a collection of her works and she was listening. This book includes five of her favorite tales that will take you to the edge and teeter on the razor-thin line between what is real and that unknown place inside us where fear thrives and curls ready to strike.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
So Far Behind:-
In a place, condition, or time previously passed or departed from ... On the farther side of beyond ...
Anna-Jake Constan grew up in her parent's little house on Maple Street in Garner's Rest, Oklahoma. Her younger siblings moved away right after high school and never returned until the day of their papa's funeral. At 38 years old Anna-Jake resided there alone, and the horrifying events that took place in the house one dark frozen winter night are what the locals called, "the happening." They said it was the coldest day in hell ...
Click Here for the Kindle Book
In a place, condition, or time previously passed or departed from ... On the farther side of beyond ...
Anna-Jake Constan grew up in her parent's little house on Maple Street in Garner's Rest, Oklahoma. Her younger siblings moved away right after high school and never returned until the day of their papa's funeral. At 38 years old Anna-Jake resided there alone, and the horrifying events that took place in the house one dark frozen winter night are what the locals called, "the happening." They said it was the coldest day in hell ...
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Backside of the Mirror:-
Whitley Wickingham learned of her grandmother's death and left immediately for the family farm in Bridlehook, Oklahoma. The day after her arrival she explored the house and curiosity led to the attic where she found her grandmother's antique mirror. The reason for it being stored in the attic and how it was hoisted up there were mysteries at best. She began making plans to move the mirror downstairs. That's when everything changed and the definition of normal at the Wickingham Farm took on a whole new meaning.
Nothing was as it seemed and no one appeared to be who they said they were. Whitley Wickingham had no idea of the terror that lay in wait. In her worst nightmare she would never have danced so closely to insanity and she would've awakened before sheer evil forced her to run for her life. But this wasn't a night terror and she would try to go without sleep for fear when she closed her eyes it would be for the last time.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Whitley Wickingham learned of her grandmother's death and left immediately for the family farm in Bridlehook, Oklahoma. The day after her arrival she explored the house and curiosity led to the attic where she found her grandmother's antique mirror. The reason for it being stored in the attic and how it was hoisted up there were mysteries at best. She began making plans to move the mirror downstairs. That's when everything changed and the definition of normal at the Wickingham Farm took on a whole new meaning.
Nothing was as it seemed and no one appeared to be who they said they were. Whitley Wickingham had no idea of the terror that lay in wait. In her worst nightmare she would never have danced so closely to insanity and she would've awakened before sheer evil forced her to run for her life. But this wasn't a night terror and she would try to go without sleep for fear when she closed her eyes it would be for the last time.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
The Last Exit:-
In the fall of 2007, Jill Thornton crossed a time barrier and became involved with a 51-year old murder that took place before she was born ...
It wasn't just a cold case - the murder was frozen in time - a teacher had been bludgeoned to death on school property. No suspects were found and no charges were ever filed. It had been her first day as a member of the faculty and also the first day of the 1956-1957 school year. And all these years later, once in awhile, rumors were still tossed around as to why someone would've wanted Miss Causenhower dead, and what was the motive for making her suffer before she died ...
Click Here for the Kindle Book
In the fall of 2007, Jill Thornton crossed a time barrier and became involved with a 51-year old murder that took place before she was born ...
It wasn't just a cold case - the murder was frozen in time - a teacher had been bludgeoned to death on school property. No suspects were found and no charges were ever filed. It had been her first day as a member of the faculty and also the first day of the 1956-1957 school year. And all these years later, once in awhile, rumors were still tossed around as to why someone would've wanted Miss Causenhower dead, and what was the motive for making her suffer before she died ...
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Backwater:-
BACKWATER, Vol 1 of a deadly new series that takes place in New Orleans during the mid-fifties where VooDoo, bigamy & murder are a La Bauve family tradition.
Both young girls were pretty things; they had hair as black as midnight and skin as white as fresh crème. One was thirteen years of age and the other fourteen, and their lives were about to intersect for the first time. A terrifying experience lay ahead ... one neither girl would forget ... together they would embark on a dark journey and play a dangerous game that would affect the rest of their lives ...
Click Here for the Kindle Book
BACKWATER, Vol 1 of a deadly new series that takes place in New Orleans during the mid-fifties where VooDoo, bigamy & murder are a La Bauve family tradition.
Both young girls were pretty things; they had hair as black as midnight and skin as white as fresh crème. One was thirteen years of age and the other fourteen, and their lives were about to intersect for the first time. A terrifying experience lay ahead ... one neither girl would forget ... together they would embark on a dark journey and play a dangerous game that would affect the rest of their lives ...
Click Here for the Kindle Book
2012 Titles:-
Looking for Timmy:-
My little brother, Billy, and I hadn’t a notion that our misbehavior would trigger a horrifying nightmare for the folks in the small rural area where our grandparents lived … it was a wide place in the road that some said was a stone’s throw to nowhere … the residents were haunted by the young boy who went missing from the area in 1945, and ten years later, my brother and I were a big part of the reason they were once again looking for Timmy …
Click Here for the Kindle Book
My little brother, Billy, and I hadn’t a notion that our misbehavior would trigger a horrifying nightmare for the folks in the small rural area where our grandparents lived … it was a wide place in the road that some said was a stone’s throw to nowhere … the residents were haunted by the young boy who went missing from the area in 1945, and ten years later, my brother and I were a big part of the reason they were once again looking for Timmy …
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Sunday Meals & Snake Neckties:-
A coming-of-age story set in 1951 rural Oklahoma:
My Mother, Mae Bevans, was a country girl and she married a town boy, Bert Rawlins. I didn't come along until 1945. Mother said it took the Japanese two days to find out I had been born, and when they heard the news, they surrendered. For awhile when I was growing up, I believed I singlehandedly ended World War II! Later on, I started to think I may have actually started it - not giving thought to the fact that I wasn't even born yet! After all, I got in trouble for everything else - well, not everything - but when I was 6 years old, it sure felt like it. And if I really did start the war, boy, was I in big trouble.
It was 1951 and the Bevans family had Sunday meals together every week at my grandparents' farm, and I figured whoever gave out punishment for starting a world war wouldn't be able to find me way out in the country. And I believed with all my heart, if they did come out there looking for me, my Grandpa would give them a snake necktie!
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Visit Peggy's Website now for more books:-
Click here for Peggy's Website
* * * * * * * *
A coming-of-age story set in 1951 rural Oklahoma:
My Mother, Mae Bevans, was a country girl and she married a town boy, Bert Rawlins. I didn't come along until 1945. Mother said it took the Japanese two days to find out I had been born, and when they heard the news, they surrendered. For awhile when I was growing up, I believed I singlehandedly ended World War II! Later on, I started to think I may have actually started it - not giving thought to the fact that I wasn't even born yet! After all, I got in trouble for everything else - well, not everything - but when I was 6 years old, it sure felt like it. And if I really did start the war, boy, was I in big trouble.
It was 1951 and the Bevans family had Sunday meals together every week at my grandparents' farm, and I figured whoever gave out punishment for starting a world war wouldn't be able to find me way out in the country. And I believed with all my heart, if they did come out there looking for me, my Grandpa would give them a snake necktie!
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Visit Peggy's Website now for more books:-
Click here for Peggy's Website
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Wednesday 16th May 2012
Ey Wade
I am a caged in frustrated author of thought provoking, mind bending ebooks, an occasional step-in parent, a fountain of knowledge, and ready to share.
The Perfect Solution
Mona Boots wanted Brhin-Kristoffer Teddi as her child. She watched over him daily, as any mother would. If she really were his mother, it would be admirable. Deluding herselfto finally do something right in her life, she entered The Perfect Solution Childcare Center and left with Brhin-Kristoffer Teddi in her arms. It’s a choice she was prepared to defend.
Interview
I talk to Ey's characters about being in Ey's book
(Catrine - mother) Thanks for having us on your blog, Catherine. I know you only expected one of us, but our author, Ey Wade, thought it would be better if the main characters from The Perfect Solution came for the interview together. I am Catrine Teddi and the mother of Brhin-Kristoffer *she stops to release the child’s hands from around her legs and pushes him to stand in front of her* Brhin is the child given to a stalker by his preschool-teacher. Next to me is Austin Sanchez, Brhin’s father, then Bertha Wall director/owner of the Perfect Solution Day Care Center. The young girl is Stephanie, the teacher who gave the child away by mistake and last but not least, the woman handcuffed to the table, is the kidnapper Mona Boots.
If you could change something about your situation in the story what would it be?
(Catrine - mother) I would change the fact I ever enrolled Brhin in Mrs. Wall’s establishment. I would make sure all parents knew what to look for in the perfect child care environment.
(Austin - father)I would have to change the act of breaking up with Catrine. If I hadn’t been afraid of committing to a long term relationship, I would have known she was pregnant and not been surprised with the knowledge by a little cop in a filthy room.
(Bertha - director) I would have made sure I didn’t hire an incompetent to work in my daycare. *glares at Stephanie*
*Stephanie - teacher stands and angrily points a finger at the director* Well, I would have made sure to check out your stupid daycare and not gone to work in a place which didn’t follow the law. You people shut up.
*Mona- - kidnapper yells across the room from her secluded corner of the table* I’m the main one who should make a big change. I should have taken the boy and driven straight out of town. Then I wouldn’t be sitting here listening to a bunch of what ifs.
Catherine, go ahead and ask your next question.
Do you think your author has been fair in the way she has depicted you?
*In unison* (Catrine) I think she was right on the nose.
(Austin) She did a great job.
(Bertha) I think she was very fair.
(Stephanie) Yeah, I think she did her best to not make me look stupid.
(Brhin) I like the way she made me really brave and I ran away from
the lady. Too bad she caught me again though.
*Mona curses under her breath* Well, I disagree. I think she made me look like a raving maniac. I’m not crazy! *she kicks the table and chairs next to her, knocking them over as she struggles with the handcuffs and the guards as they drag her from the room.* I’m not crazy I say. I just wanted my boy.
(Austin) Whew, I’m glad she’s gone. Sorry about that Catherine. Our author had a lot of problems with her too
What have you learned about yourself by the end of the story?
(Bertha) I learned that I must be more observant and diligent in the hiring of staff, and take a more active role in the running of the day care centers.
(Catrine) I learned that I am resilient and will do any and everything to protect my child.
(Stephanie) I think I learned to follow my first mind. If I would have, none of that night’s events would have happened.
I learned *Brhin stands on his chair* .... I learned that I don’t always have to listen to what my teacher says if she is wrong.
Could your story have been written as another genre and, if so, which one, and how would that have changed things?
*Catrine leans forward* I’ll just answer this for everyone. No, I believe it was written exactly where it should be, in the women’s fiction and suspense genres. After all women tend to be the ones most often in charge of the children and the only ones really interested in child care
*Mona can be heard banging around in the hall* Don't you dare answer for me Ms. Catrine Teddi. If I had my choice, this story would have been written in horror. Nothing about the life Ey Wade gave to me has been good. I believed taking Brhin would make it right.-----What a joke!!
Could your author write a sequel about you? If not, could a prequel about you or your parents or grandparents be possible or interesting?
(Catrine) Not about this story per se, but she did write one where Brhin is a man and going through something similar.
*Austin interrupts.*I think she could write a prequel about our great romance. It would be a love story out of this world. *he smiles in Catrine’s direction*
*Mona Boots yells into the room from the hallway* She'd better not write anything else about me if she knows what’s good for her.
(Bertha) I don’t want Ey to write another thing about me. I have enough trouble to work through after this night.
(Stephanie) Me neither. I’ve had enough of the limelight.
If you met your author in a story how do you think you'd get on with her?
(Austin) I think I’ll answer this one for all of us. I know we would all get along with her famously. Ey Wade is the best. She shows compassion and willingness to find some good in everyone.
*Mona yells in from the hallway* Well you can just speak for yourselves. I'm tired of people talking for me. I still think she made me look like an insane idiot. Exposing things I have worked years to erase from my mind. I don't like it. I know we would have a battle on our hands if I were to meet her in person..
(Austin) I like the way Ey didn’t make me into a jerk for leaving Catrine to rear our son on her own. I knew nothing about the boy. And when it came to Mona, it is amazing how Ey found it in herself to write a plausible reason to make us care for the woman. I know I like Ey and those who don't aren't worth counting
Links:-
More Interviews with the Characters
Web
Purchase books here: Kindle , Smashwords Sony or Kobo,
Nook and on iPad here.
* * * * * * * *
(Catrine - mother) Thanks for having us on your blog, Catherine. I know you only expected one of us, but our author, Ey Wade, thought it would be better if the main characters from The Perfect Solution came for the interview together. I am Catrine Teddi and the mother of Brhin-Kristoffer *she stops to release the child’s hands from around her legs and pushes him to stand in front of her* Brhin is the child given to a stalker by his preschool-teacher. Next to me is Austin Sanchez, Brhin’s father, then Bertha Wall director/owner of the Perfect Solution Day Care Center. The young girl is Stephanie, the teacher who gave the child away by mistake and last but not least, the woman handcuffed to the table, is the kidnapper Mona Boots.
If you could change something about your situation in the story what would it be?
(Catrine - mother) I would change the fact I ever enrolled Brhin in Mrs. Wall’s establishment. I would make sure all parents knew what to look for in the perfect child care environment.
(Austin - father)I would have to change the act of breaking up with Catrine. If I hadn’t been afraid of committing to a long term relationship, I would have known she was pregnant and not been surprised with the knowledge by a little cop in a filthy room.
(Bertha - director) I would have made sure I didn’t hire an incompetent to work in my daycare. *glares at Stephanie*
*Stephanie - teacher stands and angrily points a finger at the director* Well, I would have made sure to check out your stupid daycare and not gone to work in a place which didn’t follow the law. You people shut up.
*Mona- - kidnapper yells across the room from her secluded corner of the table* I’m the main one who should make a big change. I should have taken the boy and driven straight out of town. Then I wouldn’t be sitting here listening to a bunch of what ifs.
Catherine, go ahead and ask your next question.
Do you think your author has been fair in the way she has depicted you?
*In unison* (Catrine) I think she was right on the nose.
(Austin) She did a great job.
(Bertha) I think she was very fair.
(Stephanie) Yeah, I think she did her best to not make me look stupid.
(Brhin) I like the way she made me really brave and I ran away from
the lady. Too bad she caught me again though.
*Mona curses under her breath* Well, I disagree. I think she made me look like a raving maniac. I’m not crazy! *she kicks the table and chairs next to her, knocking them over as she struggles with the handcuffs and the guards as they drag her from the room.* I’m not crazy I say. I just wanted my boy.
(Austin) Whew, I’m glad she’s gone. Sorry about that Catherine. Our author had a lot of problems with her too
What have you learned about yourself by the end of the story?
(Bertha) I learned that I must be more observant and diligent in the hiring of staff, and take a more active role in the running of the day care centers.
(Catrine) I learned that I am resilient and will do any and everything to protect my child.
(Stephanie) I think I learned to follow my first mind. If I would have, none of that night’s events would have happened.
I learned *Brhin stands on his chair* .... I learned that I don’t always have to listen to what my teacher says if she is wrong.
Could your story have been written as another genre and, if so, which one, and how would that have changed things?
*Catrine leans forward* I’ll just answer this for everyone. No, I believe it was written exactly where it should be, in the women’s fiction and suspense genres. After all women tend to be the ones most often in charge of the children and the only ones really interested in child care
*Mona can be heard banging around in the hall* Don't you dare answer for me Ms. Catrine Teddi. If I had my choice, this story would have been written in horror. Nothing about the life Ey Wade gave to me has been good. I believed taking Brhin would make it right.-----What a joke!!
Could your author write a sequel about you? If not, could a prequel about you or your parents or grandparents be possible or interesting?
(Catrine) Not about this story per se, but she did write one where Brhin is a man and going through something similar.
*Austin interrupts.*I think she could write a prequel about our great romance. It would be a love story out of this world. *he smiles in Catrine’s direction*
*Mona Boots yells into the room from the hallway* She'd better not write anything else about me if she knows what’s good for her.
(Bertha) I don’t want Ey to write another thing about me. I have enough trouble to work through after this night.
(Stephanie) Me neither. I’ve had enough of the limelight.
If you met your author in a story how do you think you'd get on with her?
(Austin) I think I’ll answer this one for all of us. I know we would all get along with her famously. Ey Wade is the best. She shows compassion and willingness to find some good in everyone.
*Mona yells in from the hallway* Well you can just speak for yourselves. I'm tired of people talking for me. I still think she made me look like an insane idiot. Exposing things I have worked years to erase from my mind. I don't like it. I know we would have a battle on our hands if I were to meet her in person..
(Austin) I like the way Ey didn’t make me into a jerk for leaving Catrine to rear our son on her own. I knew nothing about the boy. And when it came to Mona, it is amazing how Ey found it in herself to write a plausible reason to make us care for the woman. I know I like Ey and those who don't aren't worth counting
Links:-
More Interviews with the Characters
Web
Purchase books here: Kindle , Smashwords Sony or Kobo,
Nook and on iPad here.
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Monday 2nd April 2012
Jeannette Christer tells us how a bit of bad luck led to her writing her first novel. she didn't stop there so let's read on...
I started writing in 2004/5 when I was forced to leave work with a frozen shoulder. I could sit at a keyboard and tap out my stories but I couldn't lift anything or even lift my left arm above waist height. It was excrutiating as I'm sure other sufferers will confirm. I had always wanted to write and knew I had a story or two in my mind so I sat down at my brother's PC and bashed out 'Spindrift' over about three months. I worked at night on it for about three hours per night and the time just flew by. My late husband was Cornish and he took us to his old haunts for our holidays so I knew Mevagissey quite well. He also had lots of older relatives living in the archetypal Cornish cottages so I could base my story on fact. I then promptly forgot about it once I started work again and it was only a chance conversation with my colleague Deborah Donaldson that it came to mind. She asked to read it and inspired her to write too which was very nice to have someone to talk literary stuff with. She chanced upon YouWriteOn and we decided to publish our books. I had just finished my second book 'Polly's Small Town War' so we both had two books coming out together. My third followed a year later which was a sequel called 'Polly's Homecoming'.
I am shortly to leave work due to an office closure so I hope to be able to get my fourth novel 'Ellie' off the ground. This one is set in the 1800s in my home town of Barton upon Humber. I am looking forward to getting into writing mode again but will have to do quite a lot of research for this one.
I started writing in 2004/5 when I was forced to leave work with a frozen shoulder. I could sit at a keyboard and tap out my stories but I couldn't lift anything or even lift my left arm above waist height. It was excrutiating as I'm sure other sufferers will confirm. I had always wanted to write and knew I had a story or two in my mind so I sat down at my brother's PC and bashed out 'Spindrift' over about three months. I worked at night on it for about three hours per night and the time just flew by. My late husband was Cornish and he took us to his old haunts for our holidays so I knew Mevagissey quite well. He also had lots of older relatives living in the archetypal Cornish cottages so I could base my story on fact. I then promptly forgot about it once I started work again and it was only a chance conversation with my colleague Deborah Donaldson that it came to mind. She asked to read it and inspired her to write too which was very nice to have someone to talk literary stuff with. She chanced upon YouWriteOn and we decided to publish our books. I had just finished my second book 'Polly's Small Town War' so we both had two books coming out together. My third followed a year later which was a sequel called 'Polly's Homecoming'.
I am shortly to leave work due to an office closure so I hope to be able to get my fourth novel 'Ellie' off the ground. This one is set in the 1800s in my home town of Barton upon Humber. I am looking forward to getting into writing mode again but will have to do quite a lot of research for this one.
Jeannette's Books :-
Spindrift
Sarah Cooper, was facing redundancy...
The story is set in Cornwall and Sarah, the main character, is bequeathed a beautiful house named 'Spindrift'. Upon receiving a letter asking her to contact a solicitor, she sets out to Cornwall and meets up with Daniel Price, who is dealing with her great aunt's affairs. She is immediately attracted to Daniel and their love story begins. Unfortunately, he has failed to inform her of Christina, his ex-girlfriend, who turns up and starts to cause problems between the couple. Christina goes to great lengths to claim Daniel as her own but he and Sarah have other ideas for their future..
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or
Click Here for the Paperback
Sarah Cooper, was facing redundancy...
The story is set in Cornwall and Sarah, the main character, is bequeathed a beautiful house named 'Spindrift'. Upon receiving a letter asking her to contact a solicitor, she sets out to Cornwall and meets up with Daniel Price, who is dealing with her great aunt's affairs. She is immediately attracted to Daniel and their love story begins. Unfortunately, he has failed to inform her of Christina, his ex-girlfriend, who turns up and starts to cause problems between the couple. Christina goes to great lengths to claim Daniel as her own but he and Sarah have other ideas for their future..
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or
Click Here for the Paperback
Polly's Small Town War
Polly and Laura Hardcastle are fictional sisters living in the house facing St Peter's Church. It was a small town during WWII and was fortunate not to suffer any really heavy bombing, which seemed to have been reserved for Hull across the water.
The story tells of Polly's and Laura's lives as they deal with the hardship and heartache of life in the 1930s and 1940s. Laura is married to Sean O'Connell who is a nasty piece of work and delivers his final deception in a particularly unexpected way
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or
Click Here for the Paperback
Polly and Laura Hardcastle are fictional sisters living in the house facing St Peter's Church. It was a small town during WWII and was fortunate not to suffer any really heavy bombing, which seemed to have been reserved for Hull across the water.
The story tells of Polly's and Laura's lives as they deal with the hardship and heartache of life in the 1930s and 1940s. Laura is married to Sean O'Connell who is a nasty piece of work and delivers his final deception in a particularly unexpected way
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or
Click Here for the Paperback
Polly's Homecoming
This sequel to Polly's Small Town War finds Polly and Chris returning home from Canada on a foggy November day. Polly's first thought is to see her sister but they find Laura, George and their daughter Emma's circumstances much reduced. Polly's obvious reaction is to offer help to Laura both financially and emotionally, but George becomes jealous. Unfortunately, their planned Christmas party at The Elms does not have the intended happy outcome and matters are made worse when Emma is taken ill and diagnosed with polio. George blames Chris for this and a split opens up between the families.
Polly's desire for a child of her own is threatened by illness but eventually the couple have the child they crave only for Polly to neglect Chris in her obsession with her baby. Chris meets a young woman in his new employment who makes it plain that she would be a better wife than Polly. Will Chris be tempted?
This story takes the sisters through the twists and turns of life in a country trying to recover from six years of war and deprivation.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or
Click Here for the Paperback.
This sequel to Polly's Small Town War finds Polly and Chris returning home from Canada on a foggy November day. Polly's first thought is to see her sister but they find Laura, George and their daughter Emma's circumstances much reduced. Polly's obvious reaction is to offer help to Laura both financially and emotionally, but George becomes jealous. Unfortunately, their planned Christmas party at The Elms does not have the intended happy outcome and matters are made worse when Emma is taken ill and diagnosed with polio. George blames Chris for this and a split opens up between the families.
Polly's desire for a child of her own is threatened by illness but eventually the couple have the child they crave only for Polly to neglect Chris in her obsession with her baby. Chris meets a young woman in his new employment who makes it plain that she would be a better wife than Polly. Will Chris be tempted?
This story takes the sisters through the twists and turns of life in a country trying to recover from six years of war and deprivation.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or
Click Here for the Paperback.
* * * * * * * *
Sunday 11th March 2012
Lynn Northing's has given us an insight into her development as a writer: what inspires her; what she likes to write and why. I'm sure you'll enjoy what she has to tell us. There are links to her books at the end of the piece.
I have had a great interest in books all my life. As a child I loved to read Beatrix Potter and the whole range of Fairy Tales, then Enid Blyton where I lived the adventures of the Secret Seven and Famous Five. In my teens I discovered Science Fiction, until I stumbled across JRR Tolkien and the Hobbit, soon to be followed by The Lord of the Rings. I think Tolkien changed my outlook on reading for ever more! My main choice of reading now is fantasy, Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams etc, and yes, I still read children’s books to keep a check on what is out there.
In my teens I began to also turn my hand to writing. I started to earn money from magazine articles, but realised my main interest was to write books. My first, written at the time, was ‘The Quest’ about a village blighted by the curse of an evil wizard. Back then I knew little or nothing about the writing process as a business. You only need a story to tell, right? I soon found that isn’t the case at all. Yes, the story is all important, but so is the way it is written. Maybe one day I will rewrite ‘The Quest’, properly!
I continued to write over the years, still making money from magazine articles and greetings cards. Always though came the call of ‘The Book’
I took courses with The Writing School, and the Academy of Children’s Writers, and clutching my diplomas, headed back to book writing. ‘Zac’s Destiny’ came next, a children’s sword and sorcery fantasy, closely followed by ‘Gertie Gets it Right (eventually)’, a humorous children’s fantasy. I still couldn’t get that elusive publisher interested. Rewrites continued. Why did I start to write for children? Mainly I think because I still have a very childlike outlook on life. I’m not in my second childhood, I just never left the first one.
In the early years of 2000, I discovered the writer’s site, ‘YouWriteOn’ (God bless the internet!) Before long I had the opportunity to publish my books through YouWriteOn, so further rewrites followed before submission. This time, at last in 2008, I was able to actually hold my books in my hand! What a feeling.
Last year I also published these two books on Kindle with much more interesting and colourful covers.
I have learned a lot over the years, and it has been a hard slog. It is always worth it in the end though when you can finally see your books selling on Amazon.
I am now in the process of writing another children’s fantasy, ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, a humorous fantasy novel for children of nine years of age and older.
‘Finn is a bored young leprechaun. He wants something exciting to happen, but never having been blessed by the Good Luck Fairy, he soon gets far more than he bargained for. This is no fairy tale…’
I am also writing an adult fantasy, ‘Dimensions’.
‘When Leah first sees the old necklace in the window of an antique shop, little does she know what life has in store for her. Increasingly drawn to the pentacle on a silver chain, Leah finally buys it and soon finds herself having strange dreams about Stonehenge. Trying to put the dreams to rest, she visits the ancient site; only to be transported into another dimension.
Leah arrives in a besieged land of wizardry, magic and demon might. The land needs the help of an Outlander, and to Leah’s disbelief and shock, she has been called.’
Add to that a compilation of short macabre Twist in the Tale stories that I intend to release just on Kindle, and yes, I am busy! What I need now is to give up the day job and dedicate more time to writing. Uhm. One day…
I have had a great interest in books all my life. As a child I loved to read Beatrix Potter and the whole range of Fairy Tales, then Enid Blyton where I lived the adventures of the Secret Seven and Famous Five. In my teens I discovered Science Fiction, until I stumbled across JRR Tolkien and the Hobbit, soon to be followed by The Lord of the Rings. I think Tolkien changed my outlook on reading for ever more! My main choice of reading now is fantasy, Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams etc, and yes, I still read children’s books to keep a check on what is out there.
In my teens I began to also turn my hand to writing. I started to earn money from magazine articles, but realised my main interest was to write books. My first, written at the time, was ‘The Quest’ about a village blighted by the curse of an evil wizard. Back then I knew little or nothing about the writing process as a business. You only need a story to tell, right? I soon found that isn’t the case at all. Yes, the story is all important, but so is the way it is written. Maybe one day I will rewrite ‘The Quest’, properly!
I continued to write over the years, still making money from magazine articles and greetings cards. Always though came the call of ‘The Book’
I took courses with The Writing School, and the Academy of Children’s Writers, and clutching my diplomas, headed back to book writing. ‘Zac’s Destiny’ came next, a children’s sword and sorcery fantasy, closely followed by ‘Gertie Gets it Right (eventually)’, a humorous children’s fantasy. I still couldn’t get that elusive publisher interested. Rewrites continued. Why did I start to write for children? Mainly I think because I still have a very childlike outlook on life. I’m not in my second childhood, I just never left the first one.
In the early years of 2000, I discovered the writer’s site, ‘YouWriteOn’ (God bless the internet!) Before long I had the opportunity to publish my books through YouWriteOn, so further rewrites followed before submission. This time, at last in 2008, I was able to actually hold my books in my hand! What a feeling.
Last year I also published these two books on Kindle with much more interesting and colourful covers.
I have learned a lot over the years, and it has been a hard slog. It is always worth it in the end though when you can finally see your books selling on Amazon.
I am now in the process of writing another children’s fantasy, ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, a humorous fantasy novel for children of nine years of age and older.
‘Finn is a bored young leprechaun. He wants something exciting to happen, but never having been blessed by the Good Luck Fairy, he soon gets far more than he bargained for. This is no fairy tale…’
I am also writing an adult fantasy, ‘Dimensions’.
‘When Leah first sees the old necklace in the window of an antique shop, little does she know what life has in store for her. Increasingly drawn to the pentacle on a silver chain, Leah finally buys it and soon finds herself having strange dreams about Stonehenge. Trying to put the dreams to rest, she visits the ancient site; only to be transported into another dimension.
Leah arrives in a besieged land of wizardry, magic and demon might. The land needs the help of an Outlander, and to Leah’s disbelief and shock, she has been called.’
Add to that a compilation of short macabre Twist in the Tale stories that I intend to release just on Kindle, and yes, I am busy! What I need now is to give up the day job and dedicate more time to writing. Uhm. One day…
Lynne's Books on Kindle and in Paperback :-
Gertie was a witch. At least, she was supposed to be a witch. As her mother had told her at a very early age, she came from a long line of witches. A fairly crooked line maybe, but a long one all the same.
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or Click Here for Trailer on YouTube
Here for the paperback
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or Click Here for Trailer on YouTube
Here for the paperback
Zac awoke with a start. Raised voices sliced through the darkness as booted feet hurried across the cobblestones of the castle’s courtyard.
This is it, thought the boy, but I’m not ready.
Fighting down the fear threatening to paralyse him where he lay on the straw of the stable floor, Zac climbed to his feet on sleep-weary legs
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or Click Here for Trailer on YouTube
Here for the paperback
This is it, thought the boy, but I’m not ready.
Fighting down the fear threatening to paralyse him where he lay on the straw of the stable floor, Zac climbed to his feet on sleep-weary legs
Click Here for the Kindle Book
Or Click Here for Trailer on YouTube
Here for the paperback
Lynne's Website
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Monday 6th March 2012
Today I am talking to Margerita Felices
Tell me sometyhing about yourself, Margerita..
I live in Cardiff with my partner and three little mad dogs and I work for a well-known TV broadcasting company. I love living in Cardiff because, for all its modernisation, there are still remnants of an old Victorian city. I love writing and base my stories in Cardiff because it has such character. When I can, I go out to the coast and take photographs, mind you, we have a lovely castle in the city centre and a fairytale one just on the outskirts, so when I feel I can’t write anything, I take a ramble to those locations and it clears my head.
I suppose it was inevitable that some day I would write a novel. My teachers at school used to limit me to no more than ten pages. When I left school, I wrote short stories for magazines, and it paid my way through college. I am Gothic, I love the fashion, the architecture and the music. The club in my novel is real. When I was writing book one, I got all my club material and clientele from here, I wouldn’t have finished that section without it.
What have you been writing?
My first full length novel is called Judgement of Souls: The Kiss at Dawn. It’s the last story in a trilogy. I am currently writing story two, the prequel, and after that will be the very first book in the series. I’ve written short stories for magazines, one about a fake psychic, one about a woman who after an accident is given blood and then starts to see grisly murders in her dreams. And I have a TV script, it’s a romantic story that needs a re-write, it needs to be much longer and it needs to be made into a novel. It’s on my to-do list.
What have you had published to-date? Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? We'd like to hear about that.
Tell me sometyhing about yourself, Margerita..
I live in Cardiff with my partner and three little mad dogs and I work for a well-known TV broadcasting company. I love living in Cardiff because, for all its modernisation, there are still remnants of an old Victorian city. I love writing and base my stories in Cardiff because it has such character. When I can, I go out to the coast and take photographs, mind you, we have a lovely castle in the city centre and a fairytale one just on the outskirts, so when I feel I can’t write anything, I take a ramble to those locations and it clears my head.
I suppose it was inevitable that some day I would write a novel. My teachers at school used to limit me to no more than ten pages. When I left school, I wrote short stories for magazines, and it paid my way through college. I am Gothic, I love the fashion, the architecture and the music. The club in my novel is real. When I was writing book one, I got all my club material and clientele from here, I wouldn’t have finished that section without it.
What have you been writing?
My first full length novel is called Judgement of Souls: The Kiss at Dawn. It’s the last story in a trilogy. I am currently writing story two, the prequel, and after that will be the very first book in the series. I’ve written short stories for magazines, one about a fake psychic, one about a woman who after an accident is given blood and then starts to see grisly murders in her dreams. And I have a TV script, it’s a romantic story that needs a re-write, it needs to be much longer and it needs to be made into a novel. It’s on my to-do list.
What have you had published to-date? Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? We'd like to hear about that.
My first novel Judgement of Souls has just been published as an eBook by Book to Go Now and is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads. I love Rachel, my main character – she’s strong and independent, but I do admit to having a soft spot for Daniel, the club owner. I had a few short stories published in a few women’s magazines some years ago. I didn’t keep copies of the magazines but I do have the stories saved. I re-wrote one of them recently and BTGN are publishing it as a short story, it’s called The Psychic.
Did you have any say in the title / covers of your book(s)? How important do you think they are?
Very important. I loved the cover the moment I saw it. I did have another idea but I think that will fit nicely with book two. I chose the title myself and didn’t want it changed.
Funnily enough each book will be called Judgement of Souls. The next is called Judgement of Souls: The Call of the Righteous.
What are you working on at the moment / next? Do you manage to write every day?
A: I’m writing book two of the Judgement of Souls trilogy. I’d like to write everyday but it’s not always possible, I have a full-time job so I try and fit writing in when I can. I carry a Dictaphone so that if I get ideas I can record them for later.
What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it?
Sometimes you do get to a point when there’s too much in your head and nothing makes sense. I listen to music - that inspires me with some ideas. And if not, I leave everything alone for at least a week and then re-read what I’ve already written, it helps.
Do you have any suggestions for other writers?
Don't give up. If you have a story that is dying to be told, then work hard to tell it. But make sure you are doing your best work and you get an editor that can help you make the most of your manuscript.
Don’t give up even though you may get rejection letters. If everyone thought like that there’d be no books, no films. Keep writing, even if its dribble! Then read, re-read and edit. Try and write a little each day. One hundred words a day is seven hundred a week, twenty-eight hundred a month and one hundred words a day is so simple!
And carry a Dictaphone or a notebook and pen!
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Monday 27th February 2012
I'd Like to welcome Harri Romney, who writes stories for children, to my Blog.
Tell me, Harri, what started you writing and why did you choose to write for young children?
I haven’t actually been writing for too long. I’d always said I’d like to write a children’s book, ever since I was around 8 years old, and then kept hold of that ambition right through my years training and working with children. Then unfortunately, a couple of years ago my brother in law sadly passed away before his time. That event is quite significant, in that I decided to try and achieve everything on my ambition list. During February 2010, I started to write my first story, then my second, third (these were the Winston and Fairy series; next came the Lord Tarquinius Snout series with his rather rotten capers), and I just can’t seem to stop. I choose to write for younger children because I relate to them and their world; I wouldn’t know where to begin, if I had to write a novel for a teenager or an adult.
How do you find inspiration for your stories?
I don’t think that I have ever really grown up. Apparently my sister used to say I was a Peter Pan. I still get really excited about the same things as my kids do (such as fireworks or snow), and we go a bit mad at festivals such as Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas, Easter, Diwali and so on. I’m certain that my inspiration comes from these exciting events that continue to keep my interest, through a child’s eyes.
I believe you do your own illustrations? Is that because you're an artist or because you thought you'd have a go? If you work with someone else how do you advise them to make the pictures? Tell us about your front cover pictures too.
I’m certainly no artist by trade or choice – I’m afraid I have to do my own illustrations, because there is no one else to do them for me. I had hoped that if an agent took on my work, they’d match me up to an illustrator. However, when my husband suggested that I publish my work onto Kindle that created the requirement for me to draw something (which I’d not done since my school days 20 years ago). It’s amazing what you can pull off when you’re forced into a situation.
How do you fit writing into your day? How do you deal with distractions?
At first I wrote during the school days while the children were out at school, because I had no other jobs to go to (apart from my weekend work). Then when I started working a 6 day week, everything regarding my writing was put on hold, until I cut my hours. I have to work around those hours in between both school runs, and try not to do too much while the girls are home – sometimes the thoughts come to me in the very early hours of the morning too. Unfortunately, (or fortunately whichever way you’d look at it), we moved house a few days prior to Christmas and so I had to leave my previous job as a Learning Support Assistant during January (due to the travelling distance), so at the moment I’m back to working at this stuff all day during my child-free hours.
How many books have you written? What is your latest title and when was it published?
I’ve written around twenty stories. Most of them happen to be in narrative verse; there are only three that aren’t. So far only four of my stories have been published onto Kindle, but over the next few days another narrative verse story called ‘Clunky Monkey’ will be released – This will be suitable for children aged 3 to 5 years. At the moment I’m illustrating ‘A Dog Called Dog’, and ‘Beware, Beware There’s A Shadow Out There!’ They won’t be out until beginning of March though.
What are your goals?
I have LOADS of goals. I want to work on getting all of my books published eventually into paperback, plus finally graduate in my studies at some far flung point in the future. I’d also love to build the house of my dreams, travel the world and all the usual things. Most of all, I want to make sure that my two girls are as happy as they can be, and raised well.
What jobs have you had in the past?
I’ve had a whole catalogue of jobs unfortunately. I left school at seventeen and became an office junior at a large city insurance company. Then I left that job to pursue a career in teaching, but decided that I’d rather be teaching support staff or become a nursery nurse instead. I’ve also worked temporarily as a bank cashier, which I really hated because I’m no good at hard selling products to customers (but luckily when RBS took over NatWest, I lost my job), and then I went into floristry for a while; now I seem to have gone back into childcare… My mother believes that ‘jobwise’ I’m like revolving doors and can’t settle.
If you could travel to anywhere in the world to find inspiration for another story in either childrens' fiction or another genre, where would it be and why?
That’s a tough question. I’d love to go to so many places in the world and I even keep a specific page in my special book to mark off each place when and if I get there. However, I also have an obsession with the Middle Eastern countries (hence why I have studied its ancient history/religions now for 6 years). I could probably get some inspiration from them all… I guess right now, the most obvious place though would probably be Lapland, because I’d write another Christmas story.
Who do you most admire as a childrens' writer. What is it about them you most want to emulate?
There are so many brilliant children’s writers. I love particularly the works of Julia Donaldson, Lynley Dodd and Nick Butterworth. Their books are so beautiful and colourful. These authors are pure genius.
Tell me, Harri, what started you writing and why did you choose to write for young children?
I haven’t actually been writing for too long. I’d always said I’d like to write a children’s book, ever since I was around 8 years old, and then kept hold of that ambition right through my years training and working with children. Then unfortunately, a couple of years ago my brother in law sadly passed away before his time. That event is quite significant, in that I decided to try and achieve everything on my ambition list. During February 2010, I started to write my first story, then my second, third (these were the Winston and Fairy series; next came the Lord Tarquinius Snout series with his rather rotten capers), and I just can’t seem to stop. I choose to write for younger children because I relate to them and their world; I wouldn’t know where to begin, if I had to write a novel for a teenager or an adult.
How do you find inspiration for your stories?
I don’t think that I have ever really grown up. Apparently my sister used to say I was a Peter Pan. I still get really excited about the same things as my kids do (such as fireworks or snow), and we go a bit mad at festivals such as Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas, Easter, Diwali and so on. I’m certain that my inspiration comes from these exciting events that continue to keep my interest, through a child’s eyes.
I believe you do your own illustrations? Is that because you're an artist or because you thought you'd have a go? If you work with someone else how do you advise them to make the pictures? Tell us about your front cover pictures too.
I’m certainly no artist by trade or choice – I’m afraid I have to do my own illustrations, because there is no one else to do them for me. I had hoped that if an agent took on my work, they’d match me up to an illustrator. However, when my husband suggested that I publish my work onto Kindle that created the requirement for me to draw something (which I’d not done since my school days 20 years ago). It’s amazing what you can pull off when you’re forced into a situation.
How do you fit writing into your day? How do you deal with distractions?
At first I wrote during the school days while the children were out at school, because I had no other jobs to go to (apart from my weekend work). Then when I started working a 6 day week, everything regarding my writing was put on hold, until I cut my hours. I have to work around those hours in between both school runs, and try not to do too much while the girls are home – sometimes the thoughts come to me in the very early hours of the morning too. Unfortunately, (or fortunately whichever way you’d look at it), we moved house a few days prior to Christmas and so I had to leave my previous job as a Learning Support Assistant during January (due to the travelling distance), so at the moment I’m back to working at this stuff all day during my child-free hours.
How many books have you written? What is your latest title and when was it published?
I’ve written around twenty stories. Most of them happen to be in narrative verse; there are only three that aren’t. So far only four of my stories have been published onto Kindle, but over the next few days another narrative verse story called ‘Clunky Monkey’ will be released – This will be suitable for children aged 3 to 5 years. At the moment I’m illustrating ‘A Dog Called Dog’, and ‘Beware, Beware There’s A Shadow Out There!’ They won’t be out until beginning of March though.
What are your goals?
I have LOADS of goals. I want to work on getting all of my books published eventually into paperback, plus finally graduate in my studies at some far flung point in the future. I’d also love to build the house of my dreams, travel the world and all the usual things. Most of all, I want to make sure that my two girls are as happy as they can be, and raised well.
What jobs have you had in the past?
I’ve had a whole catalogue of jobs unfortunately. I left school at seventeen and became an office junior at a large city insurance company. Then I left that job to pursue a career in teaching, but decided that I’d rather be teaching support staff or become a nursery nurse instead. I’ve also worked temporarily as a bank cashier, which I really hated because I’m no good at hard selling products to customers (but luckily when RBS took over NatWest, I lost my job), and then I went into floristry for a while; now I seem to have gone back into childcare… My mother believes that ‘jobwise’ I’m like revolving doors and can’t settle.
If you could travel to anywhere in the world to find inspiration for another story in either childrens' fiction or another genre, where would it be and why?
That’s a tough question. I’d love to go to so many places in the world and I even keep a specific page in my special book to mark off each place when and if I get there. However, I also have an obsession with the Middle Eastern countries (hence why I have studied its ancient history/religions now for 6 years). I could probably get some inspiration from them all… I guess right now, the most obvious place though would probably be Lapland, because I’d write another Christmas story.
Who do you most admire as a childrens' writer. What is it about them you most want to emulate?
There are so many brilliant children’s writers. I love particularly the works of Julia Donaldson, Lynley Dodd and Nick Butterworth. Their books are so beautiful and colourful. These authors are pure genius.
Links to Harri's website & some of her books :-
Harri's Website(Click Here)
Harri's Website(Click Here)
Fireworks & Aliens
Lord Tarquinius Snout and the Vacuum of Doom
Winstone & Fairy ~ The Quest to Save Spring
***************
Friday 10th February 2012
Matt Posner has written a wonderful novel, which is part of a series. He's agreed to let us in on his inspiration for this. Over to you Matt.
How I Came to Write School of the Ages
by Matt Posner
Catherine has asked me to write on this subject, for which reason I will, although it should be noted that School of the Ages is at present not all finished, and it is further yet from publication, than from completion.
I read epic fantasy throughout the 1970s and 1980s. I remember being very upset when I reached the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring, the point at which Gandalf fell in Moria. I guess I have always related to the wizards. Something about being a bookish, scholarly type myself. Another favorite of mine who came along right when I was a teenager was Belgarion, in the David Eddings Belgariad books. I reread those books dozens of times.
My first novel was an epic fantasy novel called Symbols of Rulership. I started it when I was thirteen and rewrote it several times, abandoning it was I was nineteen. When I was sixteen, I submitted it to Del Rey Books, without identifying my age, and I got a nice "almost" letter. The novel featured a young man travelling across a sub-created landscape with companions of various races and powers, gathering magical objects that had been hidden by his father to help him grow to power and eventually rule a distant kingdom. Magic powers, magic powers, magic powers: I loved it. I studied linguistics by reading Mario Pei's popular books on the subject. I created languages, some by modified codes, some the hard way. I wrote lists of spells in the various languages. I was Ronald Tolkien Junior.
By age twenty, I had to acknowledge that the Symbols of Rulership era of my writing had run its course. I began to conceive of something quite different: a very dark, death-obsessed wizard, not evil, but in a sense divorced from humanity, desiring to be like others, but too weird and alien to pull it off. I named him Doctor Ink. I wrote a short story to introduce him, creating also his apprentice, thirteen-year-old Margaret. I make him into a character for Dungeons and Dragons and played him in a campaign with college friends. Once I was away from that college setting, and had done some mainstream fiction for a while, I began to write the novel Doctor Ink. He was a grisly necromancer who had no problem ripping apart bodies with his bare hands or consorting with ghosts and giving commands to horrendous things that crawled out of tombs -- but he just wanted to be loved. And Margaret, who was a normal girl at the beginning with the special quality of being very brave, was gradually getting twisted up inside from being around Doctor Ink's world, even though he was good to her and sincerely did his best. The novel worked its way through the last few months of Doctor Ink's life and was ultimately titled The Necromancer's Tale. It was a superb novel. (See below for a sample.) I was sure it would sell and launch my career. It made the rounds of the NYC publishers and again fell just short. Too modernist, I think, or too scary.
I went into a period of writer's block after this unexpected contretemps. I felt terrible, and I lost my nerve and just niggled at writing with no real faith in myself. This lasted NEARLY TEN YEARS. I didn't come out of it until early 2002, when reverses in my career caused me to think, "I need to write something commercial and get some money." What could I write about that was commercial? Why, magic, of course.
My original idea was to have a magician and a few apprentices, and to have them travel the world, interacting with creatures like Bigfoot and Nessie, which would turn out to be elemental spirits. This premise didn't trigger me with plot and characters, but I was excited by a different idea. I had been working for two years at a mesivta -- a Jewish Orthodox high school, and I was learning a great deal about a culture that I hadn't learned about from the Jewish side of my family, and I found it fascinating. I also was teaching college to Chasidic men in Flatbush. The idea began to emerge: what if I wrote about a school full of religious Jews studying Cabala, mixed in with a more mainstream or non-religious group? There would be constant culture clash. This idea triggered a lot more ideas. One of the rabbis I knew was teaching an article called "The Myth of the Historical Jesus" (http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/jesusrefutation.html) which I found especially fascinating. It contained a character named Yeishu ben Pandeira, a would-be Messiah who was rejected by a grand rabbi for supposedly making a dirty joke. I knew right away he would make a great villain. All I needed was a hero.
I have a history of struggling with my protagonists' names, and when I sat down to write for the first time, I still didn't know what I was going to call my thirteen-year-old wizard. Casting about in the air, I pulled out the name of another would-be Messiah, the Biblical villain Simon Magus. This name would be an eerie parallel to Yeishu when the two inevitably butted heads. My young man would take the name because it sounded cool, and then would be mistaken, by Yeishu's ghost, for the real Simon Magus. But how could Yeishu possibly think a young boy was a famous religious leader? The tale I would tell in The Ghost in the Crystal would emerge from these questions.
The obvious problem that I face in promoting this book is that people think it's a cheap Harry Potter imitation. Kids learning magic in a boarding school: yes, that's the same, but that's about it. Not only are half those kids Mishnaic or Chasidic Jews, but on top of that, the school is located in New York City, and the students can and do go out into the city and practice their powers and have adventures there in the most fascinating setting ever available to literature. And also, Simon doesn't have a prophetic fate, an ultimate destiny: he is just a kid who is growing up in the way that American kids do. He has both parents, and there is no risk of the world being destroyed by the villains, and Simon's tragedies and losses are personal to him and his friends and family. The story is about coming-of-age, with magic as a metaphor for maturation and adulthood, but that's not unique to Harry Potter by any means. Quite the contrary: these themes were masterfully developed in the Earthsea books by Ursula Leguin in the 1970s, when J.K. Rowling and I were little kids. Furthermore, my books are multicultural. Religion, race, and ethnicity are not avoided. Magic comes from God, and all world traditions point in that direction, and as my series develops, I will bring in more and more traditions and cultural tropes, more and more cultures and people who represent them. Jewish culture is in The Ghost in the Crystal; the second book, Level Three's Dream, deals with learning disability and uses the vehicle of Alice in Wonderland. The third book, due out this summer, takes the kids all over Europe, and the villains are Nazis. (Simon doesn't like them any more than Indiana Jones does.) The fourth book incorporates India and Hindu culture, and the fifth will include Persian and Arabic traditions. Not only am I not copying J.K. Rowling, but I'm prepared to say that, while I like her books and I will read everything she writes, I am a better novelist than she is, and I intend to prove that by the time my series is done.
Pardon me for a moment. Someone is whispering in my ear.
Okay, I'm back. Simon's best friend, Goldberry Tinker, who is a smart British girl with divinatory powers, has asked me to tell you that she isn't ANYTHING like Hermione Granger. She adds that no book is worth anything whatsoever without a British sense of humor in it, or the British way of talking, and that's why she is there, as well as her parents, who are NOT dentists, thank you very much. And she adds that no she isn't posh one bit, just because her father is rich, and that she's quite ready to get her hands dirty doing anything that needs to be done. Oh, and that I ought to go and pick up her clothes at the dry-cleaners.
That's what Goldberry had to say. She tends to interrupt my interviews. Now I must conclude, because I have about fifty other things to do today. Above is the story of how I came to begin School of the Ages. How I came to finish it -- well, that story isn't ready to be told.
Selection from The Necromancer's Tale: Unpublished novel, completed 1992
"When I was young," said Doctor Ink, and he paused to suck wet air into his lungs, air tasting of icy cloud and dirty grass.
"When I was young..."
"You were never young," said Margaret.
"When I was young," said Doctor Ink, " and my years were fewer than my ribs, I was, myself, an apprentice of a sort...an apprentice to Death. I learned early on the value of a sharp ear and a careful eye. I have tried, again and again, to explain to you the merits in these things; for it is by high concentration alone that you will progress in the Art. Surely I had you young enough that I might expect you to have learned so important a lesson. But it is clear that you have not; and so I must conclude that you are willful and stupid."
"I am not," said Margaret, and she wiped rain from her white skin. "I know every lesson you've given me by heart; why, I could recite them in my sleep!"
"You do not know," said Doctor Ink, "the herbs suitable for treating blemishes, abrasions, and lacerations of the skin, and the means by which they are used."
"I do so! " cried Margaret. "Old fool! I've known that list for years! "
"Prove it to me, then," said Doctor Ink.
She began to recite. Doctor Ink heard no errors, nor had he expected any.
………
I read epic fantasy throughout the 1970s and 1980s. I remember being very upset when I reached the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring, the point at which Gandalf fell in Moria. I guess I have always related to the wizards. Something about being a bookish, scholarly type myself. Another favorite of mine who came along right when I was a teenager was Belgarion, in the David Eddings Belgariad books. I reread those books dozens of times.
My first novel was an epic fantasy novel called Symbols of Rulership. I started it when I was thirteen and rewrote it several times, abandoning it was I was nineteen. When I was sixteen, I submitted it to Del Rey Books, without identifying my age, and I got a nice "almost" letter. The novel featured a young man travelling across a sub-created landscape with companions of various races and powers, gathering magical objects that had been hidden by his father to help him grow to power and eventually rule a distant kingdom. Magic powers, magic powers, magic powers: I loved it. I studied linguistics by reading Mario Pei's popular books on the subject. I created languages, some by modified codes, some the hard way. I wrote lists of spells in the various languages. I was Ronald Tolkien Junior.
By age twenty, I had to acknowledge that the Symbols of Rulership era of my writing had run its course. I began to conceive of something quite different: a very dark, death-obsessed wizard, not evil, but in a sense divorced from humanity, desiring to be like others, but too weird and alien to pull it off. I named him Doctor Ink. I wrote a short story to introduce him, creating also his apprentice, thirteen-year-old Margaret. I make him into a character for Dungeons and Dragons and played him in a campaign with college friends. Once I was away from that college setting, and had done some mainstream fiction for a while, I began to write the novel Doctor Ink. He was a grisly necromancer who had no problem ripping apart bodies with his bare hands or consorting with ghosts and giving commands to horrendous things that crawled out of tombs -- but he just wanted to be loved. And Margaret, who was a normal girl at the beginning with the special quality of being very brave, was gradually getting twisted up inside from being around Doctor Ink's world, even though he was good to her and sincerely did his best. The novel worked its way through the last few months of Doctor Ink's life and was ultimately titled The Necromancer's Tale. It was a superb novel. (See below for a sample.) I was sure it would sell and launch my career. It made the rounds of the NYC publishers and again fell just short. Too modernist, I think, or too scary.
I went into a period of writer's block after this unexpected contretemps. I felt terrible, and I lost my nerve and just niggled at writing with no real faith in myself. This lasted NEARLY TEN YEARS. I didn't come out of it until early 2002, when reverses in my career caused me to think, "I need to write something commercial and get some money." What could I write about that was commercial? Why, magic, of course.
My original idea was to have a magician and a few apprentices, and to have them travel the world, interacting with creatures like Bigfoot and Nessie, which would turn out to be elemental spirits. This premise didn't trigger me with plot and characters, but I was excited by a different idea. I had been working for two years at a mesivta -- a Jewish Orthodox high school, and I was learning a great deal about a culture that I hadn't learned about from the Jewish side of my family, and I found it fascinating. I also was teaching college to Chasidic men in Flatbush. The idea began to emerge: what if I wrote about a school full of religious Jews studying Cabala, mixed in with a more mainstream or non-religious group? There would be constant culture clash. This idea triggered a lot more ideas. One of the rabbis I knew was teaching an article called "The Myth of the Historical Jesus" (http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/jesusrefutation.html) which I found especially fascinating. It contained a character named Yeishu ben Pandeira, a would-be Messiah who was rejected by a grand rabbi for supposedly making a dirty joke. I knew right away he would make a great villain. All I needed was a hero.
I have a history of struggling with my protagonists' names, and when I sat down to write for the first time, I still didn't know what I was going to call my thirteen-year-old wizard. Casting about in the air, I pulled out the name of another would-be Messiah, the Biblical villain Simon Magus. This name would be an eerie parallel to Yeishu when the two inevitably butted heads. My young man would take the name because it sounded cool, and then would be mistaken, by Yeishu's ghost, for the real Simon Magus. But how could Yeishu possibly think a young boy was a famous religious leader? The tale I would tell in The Ghost in the Crystal would emerge from these questions.
The obvious problem that I face in promoting this book is that people think it's a cheap Harry Potter imitation. Kids learning magic in a boarding school: yes, that's the same, but that's about it. Not only are half those kids Mishnaic or Chasidic Jews, but on top of that, the school is located in New York City, and the students can and do go out into the city and practice their powers and have adventures there in the most fascinating setting ever available to literature. And also, Simon doesn't have a prophetic fate, an ultimate destiny: he is just a kid who is growing up in the way that American kids do. He has both parents, and there is no risk of the world being destroyed by the villains, and Simon's tragedies and losses are personal to him and his friends and family. The story is about coming-of-age, with magic as a metaphor for maturation and adulthood, but that's not unique to Harry Potter by any means. Quite the contrary: these themes were masterfully developed in the Earthsea books by Ursula Leguin in the 1970s, when J.K. Rowling and I were little kids. Furthermore, my books are multicultural. Religion, race, and ethnicity are not avoided. Magic comes from God, and all world traditions point in that direction, and as my series develops, I will bring in more and more traditions and cultural tropes, more and more cultures and people who represent them. Jewish culture is in The Ghost in the Crystal; the second book, Level Three's Dream, deals with learning disability and uses the vehicle of Alice in Wonderland. The third book, due out this summer, takes the kids all over Europe, and the villains are Nazis. (Simon doesn't like them any more than Indiana Jones does.) The fourth book incorporates India and Hindu culture, and the fifth will include Persian and Arabic traditions. Not only am I not copying J.K. Rowling, but I'm prepared to say that, while I like her books and I will read everything she writes, I am a better novelist than she is, and I intend to prove that by the time my series is done.
Pardon me for a moment. Someone is whispering in my ear.
Okay, I'm back. Simon's best friend, Goldberry Tinker, who is a smart British girl with divinatory powers, has asked me to tell you that she isn't ANYTHING like Hermione Granger. She adds that no book is worth anything whatsoever without a British sense of humor in it, or the British way of talking, and that's why she is there, as well as her parents, who are NOT dentists, thank you very much. And she adds that no she isn't posh one bit, just because her father is rich, and that she's quite ready to get her hands dirty doing anything that needs to be done. Oh, and that I ought to go and pick up her clothes at the dry-cleaners.
That's what Goldberry had to say. She tends to interrupt my interviews. Now I must conclude, because I have about fifty other things to do today. Above is the story of how I came to begin School of the Ages. How I came to finish it -- well, that story isn't ready to be told.
Selection from The Necromancer's Tale: Unpublished novel, completed 1992
"When I was young," said Doctor Ink, and he paused to suck wet air into his lungs, air tasting of icy cloud and dirty grass.
"When I was young..."
"You were never young," said Margaret.
"When I was young," said Doctor Ink, " and my years were fewer than my ribs, I was, myself, an apprentice of a sort...an apprentice to Death. I learned early on the value of a sharp ear and a careful eye. I have tried, again and again, to explain to you the merits in these things; for it is by high concentration alone that you will progress in the Art. Surely I had you young enough that I might expect you to have learned so important a lesson. But it is clear that you have not; and so I must conclude that you are willful and stupid."
"I am not," said Margaret, and she wiped rain from her white skin. "I know every lesson you've given me by heart; why, I could recite them in my sleep!"
"You do not know," said Doctor Ink, "the herbs suitable for treating blemishes, abrasions, and lacerations of the skin, and the means by which they are used."
"I do so! " cried Margaret. "Old fool! I've known that list for years! "
"Prove it to me, then," said Doctor Ink.
She began to recite. Doctor Ink heard no errors, nor had he expected any.
………
Friday 20th January 2012
Having a novel set in the 16th century must have been quite a challenge to tackle. Harry Nicholson has kindly agreed to tell us a little about it and how he came to write it. It's my pleasure to introduce Harry ...
Harry Nicholson
I’m thinking back, trying to discern how I came to write an historical novel. When I was tapping out Morse in the pitching wireless cabins of tropical steamers, it was not in my mind – though I read all the books in the ship’s library. A career in television studios might have brought it about – thirty years working with stories in pictures soaks the mind with images. Perhaps I’ve just reached the proper age to be a teller of stories.
My first story is about ‘Tom Fleck’ and his struggles to be a free man in the Northern England of five centuries ago.
………
My first story is about ‘Tom Fleck’ and his struggles to be a free man in the Northern England of five centuries ago.
………
The start of a book.
It is the first session of a creative writing course at Whitby Coliseum. Alan Combes, the tutor, calls out: ‘I want a fifty thousand word draft of a novel from you lot by the end of term. You can take the theme: ‘something lost and something found’’.
Hmm . . . I mutter in my mind. In that case, I won’t be here next week, I’ve only signed on in the hope of honing my poetry; a few bits of free verse, maybe - but not a novel!
Four years later and it is finished.
Tom is a young Cleveland farm labourer living in 1513, the fourth year of Henry VIII. I’ve drawn out a character from the unrecorded masses, so that we can engage with the lives of ordinary people of the Tudor North East. He lives before 1566 and the beginning of parish registers so, like his humble neighbours, he leaves no record. But this is a beauty of fiction, we can use it to breathe life into lost generations.
We find his rare surname in the register of St. Hilda’s church at Hartlepool:
Baptisms 1596, September 19th : Christoferye child of Willm. Fleck.
I imagine that William heard tales of how his great grandfather, Thomas Fleck, loved a strange woman and stood with the army on the terrible battlefield of Flodden. This story brings him to life.
Here are some excerpts from the novel, just fragments of Tom’s ‘landscape’:
He is with his father, about to dig into a burial mound on the Cleveland Hills:
They waited for a day of drizzling low cloud when they could dig the mound in secret. Clear weather would paint them, like standing stones, against the skyline. Francis sat on a rock in the clinging mist and, grey-faced, stared at the burial mound. His eyes closed and his face softened. Not for the first time Tom watched his father fall into a trance.
….
Tom has a sister, Hilda:
She fixed him with a desperate stare and struggled to speak. 'Where else can we live? We can't just wander the tracks from parish to parish. But I don't want to stay here, not now Mam and Dad are gone.' She let out a sobbing cough.
Tom stopped eating and moved to her side. He put his arms around his sister and felt the trembling of her thin shoulders. 'Now, don't fret. We will have our own spot. There'll be apple and damson trees, with hens of all colours scratching about underneath. Mind - thou will have to tend them. Meg can have some pups and they'll have white stars on their foreheads like her own. I see a milking nanny goat to build you up and you'll have a cosy bedchamber - with a mirror of polished brass so you can see to comb through your bonny locks.' He stooped to kiss the crown of her head.
She straightened up and hugged him. Then, pushing him away, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and giggled. 'Have a care! I might hold you to that! Now eat your supper.'
…..
They have a neighbour:
Agnes Humble stood, knife in hand, staring, as she often did, towards the single-toothed outline of Roseberry Topping. The hill reared up in isolation as though cast adrift into the Cleveland ploughlands from the dark crags of the moor edge. As a girl she had done some courting on the sheep-cropped turf of that hilltop. Each morning when she looked that way, she remembered him and those bright days. Where has all the time gone?
….
He is tested on the Scottish border:
'Form into a column fifty men wide,' a breast-plated marshal shouted above the chanting of the priest. 'Stay to this side of the beck. Follow Cuthbert's banner.'
But let’s not give too much away.
The novel took a while longer than expected. It trundled for a year while I studied creative writing with the Open University. I hit the keys for ‘The End’ twelve months ago, and went on to revise and revise and revise. I began to agonise over semi-colons and Mark Twain’s rule of: ‘When you see an adverb - kill it’; this was a sign that the actual storytelling might be done.
……
‘Tom Fleck’ exists in paperback and as an ebook for all the main readers.
The first chapter can be read on My Blog Click Here
........
It is the first session of a creative writing course at Whitby Coliseum. Alan Combes, the tutor, calls out: ‘I want a fifty thousand word draft of a novel from you lot by the end of term. You can take the theme: ‘something lost and something found’’.
Hmm . . . I mutter in my mind. In that case, I won’t be here next week, I’ve only signed on in the hope of honing my poetry; a few bits of free verse, maybe - but not a novel!
Four years later and it is finished.
Tom is a young Cleveland farm labourer living in 1513, the fourth year of Henry VIII. I’ve drawn out a character from the unrecorded masses, so that we can engage with the lives of ordinary people of the Tudor North East. He lives before 1566 and the beginning of parish registers so, like his humble neighbours, he leaves no record. But this is a beauty of fiction, we can use it to breathe life into lost generations.
We find his rare surname in the register of St. Hilda’s church at Hartlepool:
Baptisms 1596, September 19th : Christoferye child of Willm. Fleck.
I imagine that William heard tales of how his great grandfather, Thomas Fleck, loved a strange woman and stood with the army on the terrible battlefield of Flodden. This story brings him to life.
Here are some excerpts from the novel, just fragments of Tom’s ‘landscape’:
He is with his father, about to dig into a burial mound on the Cleveland Hills:
They waited for a day of drizzling low cloud when they could dig the mound in secret. Clear weather would paint them, like standing stones, against the skyline. Francis sat on a rock in the clinging mist and, grey-faced, stared at the burial mound. His eyes closed and his face softened. Not for the first time Tom watched his father fall into a trance.
….
Tom has a sister, Hilda:
She fixed him with a desperate stare and struggled to speak. 'Where else can we live? We can't just wander the tracks from parish to parish. But I don't want to stay here, not now Mam and Dad are gone.' She let out a sobbing cough.
Tom stopped eating and moved to her side. He put his arms around his sister and felt the trembling of her thin shoulders. 'Now, don't fret. We will have our own spot. There'll be apple and damson trees, with hens of all colours scratching about underneath. Mind - thou will have to tend them. Meg can have some pups and they'll have white stars on their foreheads like her own. I see a milking nanny goat to build you up and you'll have a cosy bedchamber - with a mirror of polished brass so you can see to comb through your bonny locks.' He stooped to kiss the crown of her head.
She straightened up and hugged him. Then, pushing him away, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and giggled. 'Have a care! I might hold you to that! Now eat your supper.'
…..
They have a neighbour:
Agnes Humble stood, knife in hand, staring, as she often did, towards the single-toothed outline of Roseberry Topping. The hill reared up in isolation as though cast adrift into the Cleveland ploughlands from the dark crags of the moor edge. As a girl she had done some courting on the sheep-cropped turf of that hilltop. Each morning when she looked that way, she remembered him and those bright days. Where has all the time gone?
….
He is tested on the Scottish border:
'Form into a column fifty men wide,' a breast-plated marshal shouted above the chanting of the priest. 'Stay to this side of the beck. Follow Cuthbert's banner.'
But let’s not give too much away.
The novel took a while longer than expected. It trundled for a year while I studied creative writing with the Open University. I hit the keys for ‘The End’ twelve months ago, and went on to revise and revise and revise. I began to agonise over semi-colons and Mark Twain’s rule of: ‘When you see an adverb - kill it’; this was a sign that the actual storytelling might be done.
……
‘Tom Fleck’ exists in paperback and as an ebook for all the main readers.
The first chapter can be read on My Blog Click Here
........
Below is one of many great reviews of "Tom Fleck". If you haven't read the book yet, there's a wonderful treat in store for you.
A new review of "Tom Fleck":-
5.0 out of 5 stars
Move over Bernard Cornwell ..., January 6, 2012
By Vic Heaney ", author of "Vic's Big Walk"." (Pyrenean Foothills, France) -
This review is from: Tom Fleck (Kindle Edition)
... there's a new kid on the block.
Tom Fleck is a jewel of a book and Harry Nicholson is a gem of a writer. This book is at least the equal of most historical novels I have read - and that is quite a few.
One feels that one is alongside Tom and Meg during their adventures which culminate in the bloody battle of Flodden Field - the largest ever fought between England and Scotland.
One feels, smells and hears not only the battle but the flora and fauna of the North East countryside: the very basic life of the silent majority - the poor - of those times. One sees and enters, through Tom's unlikely friendships and romance, the more elevated existence of the rich and haughty few.
The background rings very true. I love learning history while getting a rollicking read. I suspect there is more where this came from and can only say to Harry - "Bring it on!"
Excellent!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Move over Bernard Cornwell ..., January 6, 2012
By Vic Heaney ", author of "Vic's Big Walk"." (Pyrenean Foothills, France) -
This review is from: Tom Fleck (Kindle Edition)
... there's a new kid on the block.
Tom Fleck is a jewel of a book and Harry Nicholson is a gem of a writer. This book is at least the equal of most historical novels I have read - and that is quite a few.
One feels that one is alongside Tom and Meg during their adventures which culminate in the bloody battle of Flodden Field - the largest ever fought between England and Scotland.
One feels, smells and hears not only the battle but the flora and fauna of the North East countryside: the very basic life of the silent majority - the poor - of those times. One sees and enters, through Tom's unlikely friendships and romance, the more elevated existence of the rich and haughty few.
The background rings very true. I love learning history while getting a rollicking read. I suspect there is more where this came from and can only say to Harry - "Bring it on!"
Excellent!
Harry has kindly contributed 2 of his poems, about India, a country he knows well and has visited often:-
The Platform
She lay at the end in the shimmer of the long afternoon of an obscure Indian branch line. I shouldn't have been there but I’d made a mistake with a train. Flies were feeding off the suppuration on the sores on her legs. She was a teenager, I was nauseated and walked away. But I kept drifting past, she was a magnet pulling one eye to its corner. Suddenly I jumped through the plate glass window between us, cleaned and disinfected, dressed her sores and healed my eyes. Her eyes were dull, I didn’t understand them; we had just fingers and lint. A crowd of advice givers had by then assembled; I tucked a twenty-rupee note inside her sari and moved away, back through the window. Years later it occurs to me she may have been a professional and I wonder if it matters. Harry Nicholson |
Winnowers
Each one held a corner of the sheet Those chanting, straight-backed women Robed in black and savage red Rhythmically tossing threshed grain High into the wind. They were not veiled and so we hid And watched across the barren stones With unacknowledged yearning As the grain flashed higher in the sun. As our stomachs griped with stolen apricots And our bowels groaned with uncivilised water, With a lens I pulled them close And pinned them onto celluloid. Harry Nicholson |
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Sunday 15th January 2012
Let me introduce you to my guest, Philip Catshill.
Hello, Philip, good to have you.
Tell us about yourself …
Hello Catherine, Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about myself.
This year, I reached the magic age of 60! I have had 60 years of happiness marred only by a few months of sadness and a couple of despair. I nearly joined the Army and even once, attended for assessment for a helicopter pilot in the navy, but my ears had been damaged in childhood so I failed the balance tests. My third choice, the police, proved to be the best. I was once asked to describe my job in two words. “A joke,” I said, and it was. It was a laugh every single day bar one, and they paid me for it!
It would be great to hear more about what novels you've written and how you started writing.…
My original intention was to write a brief account of an accident and an illness I had 30 years ago, and the eighteen months it took to get back to my work as a police sergeant. The accident happened simply because my head was in the way when a friend slammed the car boot lid shut. Stupidly, I ignored the dizziness and later, I had a few drinks at a party. The combination of the two events brought on a massive stroke.
After reading the manuscript, which I called “A Step out of Stroke,” Rosie Goodwin, the author of several best sellers, (The Ribbon Weaver, etc) suggested using the experience as the basis for a novel, which I did. Somewhere along the line, I thought, “What if the injury had been deliberate?” and the seeds for my first novel “Who Else is There?” were sown.
“Who Else is There?” introduces Police Sergeant Mike Newman. Encouraged by an attractive policewoman, Sandra, Mike is persuaded to call an end to his disastrous marriage. After a drink and discussion with his best friend, Mike gets a blow on the head which leads to a life threatening stroke, but there, the similarity between fact and fiction comes to an end. Mike’s near death experience and damaged brain have left him with some severe disabilities to deal with, but he seems to have developed an unforeseen ability. Mike refuses to believe in anything paranormal, but what other explanation is there for what he sees? As the novel progresses, the reader becomes aware of a growing clique of police officers that are rapidly rewriting the rule books and enforcing only the laws relevant to their evil intentions. Corruption thrives. Once you realise that you cannot trust the police, who else is there?
Too many investigative crime novels make light of crime. Mine do not, nor do they glorify it. Having been a police officer myself, I suppose I have a greater awareness of the aftermath of crime with the devastating affects it has on victims and even the investigating officers. My novels do not offer escapism but, as with my paintings, the style is realism.
… and where we can access your novels?
They are available from Amazon for Kindle, Smashwords for everything else. All the links are below.
Have you another book in the series and/or another series or stand alone books in the offing?
Mike Newman and his friends have quite a way to go before they can rid the police of the wave of corruption that has spread throughout the ranks. The second Mike Newman mystery is available as an EBook and has attracted some stunning reviews.
After the previous attempt to kill him had left him with brain damage, Police Sergeant Mike Newman realised that images of a murderer's victims were guiding him to clues, but not their solutions.
While he is back in hospital after a shooting, his daughters are abducted on their way to school. Every policeman in Hartingham wants to get involved in the search, but not every policeman has the same motive. Some, a handful of corrupt officers have evil in mind. This novel has been described as action packed and fast moving. Within days of its release, reviews like this were appearing on Amazon:
“This story was gripping and the characters very real. It's a well written British mystery of murder and suspense. I found it hard to put down and didn't want it to end. Great storyline and I'm sure you would enjoy it.”
My own stroke story has been completely revised. It is now a bio-novel. It tells the story of my 18 month recovery from my first stroke, but I have changed the format so that it now reads more like a novel than a diary. It is now called “C.V.A. A hard way back.” Parts of this bio-novel will make you laugh, but keep the tissue box handy.
The third Mike Newman mystery is in preparation. The working title is “The Woman in Green” which readers might remember, was a character mentioned briefly in the second novel.
Writing has become a passion. I have ideas in mind for the next Mike Newman Mystery, another story from life, and a standalone adventure novel using two of the characters from the Mike Newman series. Oh I wish I had started this thirty years ago! Mike Newman is causing me to lose sleep.
Who are your favourite authors and what makes them special to you?
This is difficult because I have read so many books of varying genres, so I will list just three for these reasons which have set them apart from the rest:
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart because this is the longest book that I have read from cover to end in one exhaustive, marathon sitting. Avenger by Frederick Forsyth because this is the only book I finished and then read again immediately (it was that good) and finally my all-time favourite is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. My copy is the most thumbed book on the shelf. I cannot even guess the number of times that I have read it.
Last but not least, please tell us about your wonderful ability to paint and what subjects you prefer to depict.
Just sixteen days after my second marriage and two days after we came back from honeymoon, my car was rammed from behind and was catapulted into another. I was injured of course. The head injury brought on my second stroke and brought my police career to an end. At the time, my wife’s mother attended an art class at a local college, and I was encouraged to give it a try. I have never regained sufficient dexterity in my right hand, which meant that holding a paintbrush in my non-dominant hand was a challenge in itself. Hey, there is nothing clever in what I do. Some people have to hold a paint brush in their teeth or toes, now that is clever. I lost the heart for painting when my mother-in-laws life was ripped away by cancer, but one day, I’ll get back to it. I recently put some paintings on my website. I’ve been extremely encouraged by the comments I’ve received so maybe I’ll start painting again soon. Thanks to a book by Michael Warr, I have adopted, adapted and developed different techniques for displaying realism in water colours. My “Cats” painting, which is a water colour, attracts considerable praise, but my favourite subject reflects my passion for the ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet in particular. Oh, just writing this makes me want to grab the paint palette!
Thanks you, Philip. It's amazing how you've overcome your health problems and made life such an adventure. I'm, sure both your paintings and your books will be an inspiration to everyone who enjoys them. Good luck with your new projects.
Before I go, Catherine, would you mind if I were to mention “The Writers’ Collection”?
I feel privileged to have been approached by the American writer, Dennis Sheehan, (Author of the political thriller Purchased Power), who invited me to participate. Dennis has brought ten writers together and every week each posts a short story on a given subject. The Writers Collection has been published for five weeks now, and the subjects have been Brazil, Christmas, Henry VIII, The Horse, and most recently, Beaches. This week’s given title is “Brotherswater” which I think has been the most challenging to date. Simply click the links at the end of each story. They are free to readers. The Writers’ Collection
Hello, Philip, good to have you.
Tell us about yourself …
Hello Catherine, Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about myself.
This year, I reached the magic age of 60! I have had 60 years of happiness marred only by a few months of sadness and a couple of despair. I nearly joined the Army and even once, attended for assessment for a helicopter pilot in the navy, but my ears had been damaged in childhood so I failed the balance tests. My third choice, the police, proved to be the best. I was once asked to describe my job in two words. “A joke,” I said, and it was. It was a laugh every single day bar one, and they paid me for it!
It would be great to hear more about what novels you've written and how you started writing.…
My original intention was to write a brief account of an accident and an illness I had 30 years ago, and the eighteen months it took to get back to my work as a police sergeant. The accident happened simply because my head was in the way when a friend slammed the car boot lid shut. Stupidly, I ignored the dizziness and later, I had a few drinks at a party. The combination of the two events brought on a massive stroke.
After reading the manuscript, which I called “A Step out of Stroke,” Rosie Goodwin, the author of several best sellers, (The Ribbon Weaver, etc) suggested using the experience as the basis for a novel, which I did. Somewhere along the line, I thought, “What if the injury had been deliberate?” and the seeds for my first novel “Who Else is There?” were sown.
“Who Else is There?” introduces Police Sergeant Mike Newman. Encouraged by an attractive policewoman, Sandra, Mike is persuaded to call an end to his disastrous marriage. After a drink and discussion with his best friend, Mike gets a blow on the head which leads to a life threatening stroke, but there, the similarity between fact and fiction comes to an end. Mike’s near death experience and damaged brain have left him with some severe disabilities to deal with, but he seems to have developed an unforeseen ability. Mike refuses to believe in anything paranormal, but what other explanation is there for what he sees? As the novel progresses, the reader becomes aware of a growing clique of police officers that are rapidly rewriting the rule books and enforcing only the laws relevant to their evil intentions. Corruption thrives. Once you realise that you cannot trust the police, who else is there?
Too many investigative crime novels make light of crime. Mine do not, nor do they glorify it. Having been a police officer myself, I suppose I have a greater awareness of the aftermath of crime with the devastating affects it has on victims and even the investigating officers. My novels do not offer escapism but, as with my paintings, the style is realism.
… and where we can access your novels?
They are available from Amazon for Kindle, Smashwords for everything else. All the links are below.
Have you another book in the series and/or another series or stand alone books in the offing?
Mike Newman and his friends have quite a way to go before they can rid the police of the wave of corruption that has spread throughout the ranks. The second Mike Newman mystery is available as an EBook and has attracted some stunning reviews.
After the previous attempt to kill him had left him with brain damage, Police Sergeant Mike Newman realised that images of a murderer's victims were guiding him to clues, but not their solutions.
While he is back in hospital after a shooting, his daughters are abducted on their way to school. Every policeman in Hartingham wants to get involved in the search, but not every policeman has the same motive. Some, a handful of corrupt officers have evil in mind. This novel has been described as action packed and fast moving. Within days of its release, reviews like this were appearing on Amazon:
“This story was gripping and the characters very real. It's a well written British mystery of murder and suspense. I found it hard to put down and didn't want it to end. Great storyline and I'm sure you would enjoy it.”
My own stroke story has been completely revised. It is now a bio-novel. It tells the story of my 18 month recovery from my first stroke, but I have changed the format so that it now reads more like a novel than a diary. It is now called “C.V.A. A hard way back.” Parts of this bio-novel will make you laugh, but keep the tissue box handy.
The third Mike Newman mystery is in preparation. The working title is “The Woman in Green” which readers might remember, was a character mentioned briefly in the second novel.
Writing has become a passion. I have ideas in mind for the next Mike Newman Mystery, another story from life, and a standalone adventure novel using two of the characters from the Mike Newman series. Oh I wish I had started this thirty years ago! Mike Newman is causing me to lose sleep.
Who are your favourite authors and what makes them special to you?
This is difficult because I have read so many books of varying genres, so I will list just three for these reasons which have set them apart from the rest:
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart because this is the longest book that I have read from cover to end in one exhaustive, marathon sitting. Avenger by Frederick Forsyth because this is the only book I finished and then read again immediately (it was that good) and finally my all-time favourite is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. My copy is the most thumbed book on the shelf. I cannot even guess the number of times that I have read it.
Last but not least, please tell us about your wonderful ability to paint and what subjects you prefer to depict.
Just sixteen days after my second marriage and two days after we came back from honeymoon, my car was rammed from behind and was catapulted into another. I was injured of course. The head injury brought on my second stroke and brought my police career to an end. At the time, my wife’s mother attended an art class at a local college, and I was encouraged to give it a try. I have never regained sufficient dexterity in my right hand, which meant that holding a paintbrush in my non-dominant hand was a challenge in itself. Hey, there is nothing clever in what I do. Some people have to hold a paint brush in their teeth or toes, now that is clever. I lost the heart for painting when my mother-in-laws life was ripped away by cancer, but one day, I’ll get back to it. I recently put some paintings on my website. I’ve been extremely encouraged by the comments I’ve received so maybe I’ll start painting again soon. Thanks to a book by Michael Warr, I have adopted, adapted and developed different techniques for displaying realism in water colours. My “Cats” painting, which is a water colour, attracts considerable praise, but my favourite subject reflects my passion for the ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet in particular. Oh, just writing this makes me want to grab the paint palette!
Thanks you, Philip. It's amazing how you've overcome your health problems and made life such an adventure. I'm, sure both your paintings and your books will be an inspiration to everyone who enjoys them. Good luck with your new projects.
Before I go, Catherine, would you mind if I were to mention “The Writers’ Collection”?
I feel privileged to have been approached by the American writer, Dennis Sheehan, (Author of the political thriller Purchased Power), who invited me to participate. Dennis has brought ten writers together and every week each posts a short story on a given subject. The Writers Collection has been published for five weeks now, and the subjects have been Brazil, Christmas, Henry VIII, The Horse, and most recently, Beaches. This week’s given title is “Brotherswater” which I think has been the most challenging to date. Simply click the links at the end of each story. They are free to readers. The Writers’ Collection
Electronic Books by Philip Catshill
Who Else is There?
*****5 star reviews |
Suffer Little Children
*****5 star reviews |
C.V.A.~A hard way back
New!! |
Available from: (click the link below)
***************
Sunday 9th January 2012
It's great to have Sibel Hodge here to tell us about her insightful story. Welcome to my blog, Sibel. l'll hand over, now to you Sibel.........
I’d like to say a big thanks to Catherine for letting me talk about my novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave. It’s something very different from my normal chick lit, but it’s a story that needs to be told…
About five years ago I watched a mini series about girls from Eastern Europe who’d been trafficked. It haunted me for a long time, and then gradually it faded from my mind and I got on with my life. Then a little while ago I was sitting in a doctor’s surgery waiting for an appointment and picked up a magazine. Inside, was the story of one women who’d been trafficked. It made a chill run through me, and I realized that in those five years, I’d never heard anything in the media about it.
That got me thinking, and I started researching other victim’s stories online. They were horrific, heart breaking, gut wrenching, and I knew this was a subject that, despite being such a global problem, a lot of people are unaware goes on. I really wanted to do something to raise awareness into the subject and Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave was born.
Although the book is fictional, it’s inspired by these victim’s stories, and is a very sad global reality. In 2007 the US Department of State carried out a Trafficking in Persons report. The statistics shocked me to the core: 700,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 80% of which are women and girls, and up to 50% are minors. The figures will be a lot higher four years on.
And one of the truly scary things is, most people think it only affects third world countries, but it’s going on right under your nose. The US Department of State estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States alone each year.
I wanted Trafficked to be gritty, hard hitting, and tear-jerking. And I wanted it to make people really stop and think about this subject. I chose to write it in the form of a diary so the reader really feels every emotion – the fear, beatings, horror, desperation, hope, and faith. I wanted people to experience the ordeal through the eyes of all the Elenas out there.
You can find out more about Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave is available in paperback and all ebook formats. For more information, please see Sibel's Website
It's great to have Sibel Hodge here to tell us about her insightful story. Welcome to my blog, Sibel. l'll hand over, now to you Sibel.........
I’d like to say a big thanks to Catherine for letting me talk about my novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave. It’s something very different from my normal chick lit, but it’s a story that needs to be told…
About five years ago I watched a mini series about girls from Eastern Europe who’d been trafficked. It haunted me for a long time, and then gradually it faded from my mind and I got on with my life. Then a little while ago I was sitting in a doctor’s surgery waiting for an appointment and picked up a magazine. Inside, was the story of one women who’d been trafficked. It made a chill run through me, and I realized that in those five years, I’d never heard anything in the media about it.
That got me thinking, and I started researching other victim’s stories online. They were horrific, heart breaking, gut wrenching, and I knew this was a subject that, despite being such a global problem, a lot of people are unaware goes on. I really wanted to do something to raise awareness into the subject and Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave was born.
Although the book is fictional, it’s inspired by these victim’s stories, and is a very sad global reality. In 2007 the US Department of State carried out a Trafficking in Persons report. The statistics shocked me to the core: 700,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 80% of which are women and girls, and up to 50% are minors. The figures will be a lot higher four years on.
And one of the truly scary things is, most people think it only affects third world countries, but it’s going on right under your nose. The US Department of State estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States alone each year.
I wanted Trafficked to be gritty, hard hitting, and tear-jerking. And I wanted it to make people really stop and think about this subject. I chose to write it in the form of a diary so the reader really feels every emotion – the fear, beatings, horror, desperation, hope, and faith. I wanted people to experience the ordeal through the eyes of all the Elenas out there.
You can find out more about Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave is available in paperback and all ebook formats. For more information, please see Sibel's Website
Thank you, Sibel, for telling us about this very thought provoking story. It is quite astonishing that we have both found ourselves being drawn to write about these kind of things. Let's hope that it will be stopped and the suffering will end. I have downloaded the Kindle version of Trafficked. I will be fascinated to read it and see how it deals with a subject parallel to that of Sari Caste as our inspirations seem so very similar.
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Copyright © 2012 Catherine Kirby - All Rights Reserved