Author
My second blog is a more cheerful one. I am going to share with you just how excited I am that my first story for children will be shown as an ebook. This has been brought about by an extremely brilliant author, Eloise De Sousa of EDS Mentoring. She has been a tower of strength […]
Starting on the write road — Tessa Bremner
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.
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!”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”
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.
The Bracknell Forest Library Service are loading new videos of books read by their authors for your enjoyment during lockdown. I was lucky enough to be included in their line up with my book, Space Dust. If you recall, this little adventure was written for the Library Service during last year’s Summer Reading Challenge.
Writing a book is one thing; recording it without my comical faces or extreme hand gestures was near to impossible! Add to that the intermittent sounds of Millie, our dog, joining in the recording and you have a video of Space Dust.
If you’d listen to watch the story, click on the pic below:
If you’d like to buy your own copy, paperback or ebook, click on the pic below:
Following on from the successful tour across the blogosphere, Space Dust has put together all the websites it visited over the past ten days, for your viewing pleasure. Click on any link to be transported to a new world filled with interesting facts and fiction. Do say hello to the host. After all, it’s only polite to greet when you visit a new place.
Here is a list of the lovely writers involved in tour. Thank you to you all for hosting Space Dust.
Click on any pic to purchase your copy of Space Dust.
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”
I’ve just received another review for Space Dust and I have to share this reader’s incredible post. She had taken the time to analyse every aspect of the book, giving her point of view of what the book tried to portray.
This reader gets me!
21 September 2019
Oh what a beautiful book for children from 3 to 11, and if you want to know my honest opinion, I loved it too and read it out loud to my husband who mmm mmm’d (that’s good!).
Eloise de Sousa has a way with words. When I started reading I had a little lump in my throat but soon I was excited on the adventure with Big Ox and Little One, whose Mummy had left without even a goodbye! The theme of space is so relevant as our youngsters learn more about the Universe. The story gathers pace with Little One looking for his Mummy on the adventure that Big Ox has taken him on in a canoe with his “absolute favourite spoon”. They travel passed planets and Eloise has incorporated some real life information about Venus and Saturn, and “Neptune’s glassy cloud” in a subtle way.
Beautiful flow, rhyme and rhythm, as mentioned by other reviewers. Repetition is just right. Imagination is second to none – “sea horses swimming in creamy mushroom soup, Or spring onion beams for them to perform their daring loop-dee-loops” … can you just see it?
I love how sensitive Little One is when he tells Big Ox he is “very sorry if I sound like I don’t care”; but then sees how down Big Ox is by his remark. Little One quickly wants to get Big Ox back to his happy self by suggesting they continue their travels where he may see his Mummy.
Very sensitively written. I love how the story calms down towards the end as sleep overtakes Little One but we know that there are more adventures with Big Ox and Little One to follow.
The illustrations are brave and bold and love that they are by the author herself.
I’m so pleased that I have bought a few of these books for the young people in my family as well as close friends. I’m sure they – and their parents – will enjoy.
Well done Eloise de Sousa!
A huge thank you for all the wonderful reviews coming in. I’m so happy you are enjoying the book with your families.
Do keep sending in your pics and reviews. I will be choosing a lucky reviewer to receive a special Space Dust gift soon.
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.
E. De Sousa 