Tag: blogging

Friends

blogs, mentoring

It has been an absolute pleasure to assist this wonderful lady on her journey into becoming a writer. Not only does her talent as a writer shine, she has a heart of gold and voices that bring her characters to life each time she reads her work to me! Wishing Tess all the success she deserves after working so hard on her first children’s book.

Tessa Bremner

This blog is all about my friend and mentor, Eloise De Sousa. My children’s book, Cathas and the Squirrel Incident, is a “button being pressed” away from being published. It’s all down to Eloise.

Yes, I wrote the adventures of the little ginger cat and the Peace family but she has done all the hard work of editing and putting it all together. I don’t have a clue when it comes to using my lap top. Oh yes, I can turn it on and, on a good day, actually use it and turn it off! This lady has spent her time organising the configuration of my book despite not feeling too well and having to move home.

Eloise is an author in her own right. She has written an assortment of books
from animal adventures to murders most foul! She is a brilliant mentor and a lovely person. Her…

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Free writing – Lights Out

blogs

When the light goes out – not the light in the bathroom or the upstairs closet – no, the light in your eyes; that dim orb of humanity, the apex of my focus, my lighthouse. When that fades, will I be gone too? Will the memory of my touch, those living kisses we shared under the moonlight – will they go too? Never to be remembered. Never to be mentioned. Never?

Am I invisible without your existence? The closeness of living our shared life bears that question. We sat and ate, breathing in and out, side by side, bearing the highs and lows like waves billowing against the sandbanks till our efforts waned and the tide drew out. The carnage of our choices remain dented in the sand, only to be washed away by the next generation and the next, the endless cycle of invisibility.

Your eyes are closing now and I can feel my memories being sucked away, vacuumed into eternity where you will be without me. All the anger, the sulks and frustration fade in the drowning sun that once swam across your brown irises. As I say goodbye I know that a part of me has gone too. I’m halved. What remains is the nothingness that survived your demise. I’m afraid.

Tomorrow, the world will awaken refreshed and anew. I will still be here, missing you.

Young Writers Want More!

blogs, Children, Uncategorized

Encouraging our children to learn through lockdown has been a challenging process. From online lessons to socially distanced picnic meet ups – we have tried it all! Listening to their needs, we’ve discovered that writing prompts are not enough. Temptation has turned most children to televisions, social media and gaming instead of learning, writing and creating. We have had to do more with our sessions to capture their attention and keep them enthused. Here is what we have done to provide our young writers with enough inspiration to keep writing…

Continue reading “Young Writers Want More!” →

It’s in the family

blogs, Children, Short Stories, Uncategorized

Each time I lose hope in my children following in my footsteps, one little sprog surprises me. All that kicking and fussing that I do to make them read books, enjoy literature, watch educational programmes that put them to sleep in under five minutes – well, it feels pointless when they point their glum faces at me. That is, until today. Continue reading “It’s in the family” →

Scat the Black Cat returns!

blogs, Children, Uncategorized

After a wobbly start to Scat’s re-launch, thanks to C19, Scat has finally found firm footing for his return. Ready to face his readers with a new cover and a revised version of his book, this wily feline feels confident that more children will enjoy his fabulous tale.

Bullying affects everyone. It’s not easy to overcome the sense of helplessness you feel when you are bullied by someone. Nor is it easy to understand that some bullies have their own terrible tales to tell. Scat follows the path of vengeance against his bully but soon learns that there are consequences to every action.

Watch Scat’s story here and share it with your family and friends.

What would you do if you were Scat?

Order your copy of Scat the Black Cat here.

scat front cover 2020

 

What’s new in 2020?

blogs, Uncategorized

I tell myself every year that I will not make any resolutions so as to avoid the disappointment of not keeping them.

2020 is going to be different.

I have put into place measures that will hopefully achieve some of what I would like to see change in my life, for the future. With this is mind, I need to share them with you…

My dream is to run various writing workshops for children. So far, I have written to all the schools in my local area with the offer of enhancing their literacy programmes by establishing writers’ clubs, author enrichments or any other service they may require. To that end, I wait in hope for them to get back to me so that we can discuss exactly what sort of group or workshop would benefit their school. I know a few parents run home school groups. If you would like a group session on a specific aspect of literacy, contact me. 

The second part of my dream is to continue mentoring novice writers. So far, I have three ladies receiving my support through their virgin journeys into writing their first books. In the new year, I would like to offer my services to more individuals looking to take the plunge into writing but aren’t sure exactly what they want to do. My rates are competitive and I make sure you always have a helpful hand waiting to catch you when you hit those stumbling blocks along the way. If you feel like taking the plunge with me, send me an email and we can chat about achieving your writing goals and making your dreams come true.

The third part of my dream to is find a publisher willing to take me on. I hate marketing; I have no inclination to try fathoming the wonderful world of KDP and insights into book selling market trends. Instead, I want someone willing to fight through the white noise and publish my books, organise the marketing required for the book to sell and just tell me where to go to help sell them. New stories have been created especially for this venture. Once edited and polished, they will be ready to meet prospective publishers. So, if you are a publisher looking for a children’s author who also loves to writes crime fiction and poetry, please contact me. Make my dream come true!

I’m just a girl,

standing in front of the world,

asking it not to crush me.

 

Join me on my journey

into 2020.

 

 

 

 

Blast Off with Space Dust

blogs, Children

Welcome back to Space Dust’s journey across different blogospheres. A big thank you to Cecily for hosting us yesterday.

Today, we have stopped off at my blog so that I could share a bit more about the book with you and, maybe give you a snippet of the next book! Continue reading “Blast Off with Space Dust” →

Space Dust Storytime

blogs, Children

Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting families taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge. Not only did we travel through space with Big Ox and Little One, some of us got the chance to colour in sea horses, draw our own Little One portraits in astronaut’s helmets and capture fire bears in plastic bottles. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Summer Reading Challenge and look forward to promoting other events through the library service in the future.

My favourite part of the events was meeting future young writers who were so excited to tell me all about their stories. I will re-iterate what I told the parents I spoke to: there are good writing support sites for young writers, including the Young Writers website and Young NaNoWriMo, which I’ve linked. We have a range of young writers growing and developing and I can’t wait to see what they have to offer in the near future. If you need any help supporting their writing, let me know.

Without your valued support, author events would be a total flop, so thank you to all the families that turned up to my Story Time at the Summer Reading Challenge. Please don’t forget to leave your review of Space Dust (if you’ve bought a copy), on my selling page. It is always nice for other families to find out whether a book is worth it or not.

Keep reading.

E.

 

 

How to Inspire Words

Adult Fiction, blogs, Uncategorized

Have you ever been tempted to write a short narrative motivated by music? It is a wonderful exercise that produces different effects to the words, sometimes attaching a rhythm or patterning to the narrative.

In my endeavours to find ways to stimulate my writing, I try to choose music from different genres. It can inspire thoughts about characters or influence a scene that has been suffering from mental block. Sometimes, it’s just for fun to relieve tension and let the mind flow, unimpeded.

Today, I’d like to share with you a little piece written under the influence of Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. I’ve chosen an extended version that allows me enough time to become accustomed to the melody and then to submerge my mind into the emotional senses aroused by the music. Suddenly, the music speaks and all I have to do is note the words flowing from its narrative.

So, here it is – my little piece written under the influence of Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy! Enjoy.

Soft, sensual lips slowly murmured my name. I felt the quiver resonating through my body, sending shivers down my spine, extending outwards to my toes and the butterflies dancing under my ribs. Shadows of laughter hinted at those lips, so delicious and inviting. Yet, something held me back. Was it the unanswered question lingering in my dry throat, hungry for the lips to sate me? Was it knowing that once I succumbed to such sweet temptation, there was no going back? Or the fact that our bodies were entwined when they weren’t supposed to touch? Oh, sweet torture.

Angry, I let go of those long fingers wrapped around my waist. They slipped away, taking the warmth of their touch with them. Desolation engulfed my now hollow frame. How could I be so stupid? Those lips had promised salvation; knights willing to slay the hunger growling inside me like an ugly beast pushing and shoving at my maligned heart. Helpless, I watched as they turned down their protuberant smile and sharp lines invaded smooth skin around them. A sadness I had caused shaped something once so beautiful and eager. So easy it would have been to say yes; so easy to quiet the doubts pecking at my temptation.

Alas, those sweet persuasions were now far away and focused on a new prey, a prey eager to take the trip to fantasia.

I watch as they meet, the enduring touch divulging a missing innocence that was never there to begin with, the embarrassing tartness of such haste and machination. My heart cries at the betrayal but my mind celebrates its fastidiousness – the victory of overcoming a certain desolation that would have cracked an already fragile heart, the hurt that might have been suffered after such sweet salvation.

No. I refuse to watch any longer. After all, it is my birthday and there will surely be more hidden promises of amuse bouche awaiting to entice my appetite for amour.

 

 

 

Copyright  held by ©Eloise De Sousa (2019). All rights reserved.

Who’s Joining the Spoilt Miranda series?

blogs, Children, Uncategorized

It has been the long awaited sequel to Cecil the Bully and Spoilt Miranda. At last, their friends will be getting a chance to tell their own tale of meeting the infamous Ms Crow and her deadly stare.

Without further ado, I present:

Snotty Norman and Spotty Sally Find Fame

Now that the year 6 children of Arden White Primary School have enjoyed their summer holidays and forged new friendships outside the confines of the school grounds, we meet them again as they start their first day at Evelyn Winsborough Academy – a school with a reputation for aggressive behaviour and truancy.

Little do they know that the school has had a major overhaul over the last year. With sparkling new classrooms and hi-tech gear to keep the children occupied (and monitored), Mr Dank, the Head Teacher, expects a high standard of behaviour from the newbies. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know what’s coming his way as the notorious Arden White crew start their new year causing chaos down the clean halls and run riot over brittle-backed teachers.

Join the young ruffians as they encounter Ms Crow again in a comical calamity that leaves the teachers huffing and the children puffing to get out of her way!