What the Dickens?

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This blog hasn’t been updated for a while as I am now working in a supply chain support role. It’s a dream job and I have been so absorbed by it that, I am sad to say, I have neglected my own creative writing and this blog.

However, yesterday, I had a lovely surprise when I received an email from Victoria Bantock, the creator of the bimonthly magazine for writers, readers and all literary types, What the Dickens?

Victoria is now preparing Issue 2 and she will be including an extract about Frances Burney, from this blog’s Soft Footsteps series.

Virginia Woolf described Frances as the Mother of English Fiction and her satirical novels and plays about eighteenth-century society were thought to be the literary precursor to prominent authors who came after her, including Jane Austen and William Makepeace Thackeray.

Frances Burney

I am thrilled that Frances Burney will be appearing in Issue 2 of What the Dickens?

And I am also very grateful to Victoria for including my work in her amazing online magazine. Do yourself a favour and visit What the Dickens? The beautiful snow edition is full of inspirational work. Be sure to visit the jokes on Page 4 too.

 

Announcing the Farsighted Social Media Whirlwind Tour!

Announcing the Farsighted  Social Media Whirlwind Tour!

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Farsighted eBook edition is just 99 cents this week.

What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes, including lots of Amazon gift cards (up to $100 in amount) and 5 autographed copies of the book. Be sure to enter before the end of the day on Friday, December 30th, so you don’t miss out.

To Win the Prizes

1. Purchase your copy of Farsighted for just 99 cents on Amazon or Barnes & Noble
2. Fill-out the form on Novel Publicity to enter for the prizes
3. Visit today’s featured event; you may win an autographed copy of the book or a $50 gift card!
4. BONUS:  If you leave a comment on this blog post, you have another chance at $100!
5. DOUBLE BONUS:  If I receive more comments than any other blogger, *I* win $100.

…And I can win too!

Over 100 bloggers are participating in this gigantic event, and there are plenty of prizes for us too. The blogger who receives the most votes in the traffic-breaker poll will win a $100 gift card as well. So when you visit Novel Publicity’s site to fill-out the contest entry form, don’t forget to say that I referred you, so I can get a point in the poll.

The Featured Events include:

Monday, a guest blog on Novel Publicity! Emlyn kicks off the tour on the Novel Publicity Free Advice blog by discussing her brightly burning passion for books in a guest post entitled “My journey through the pages and toward a life-long love of reading.”  One commenter will win an autographed copy of Farsighted. Don’t forget to enter for the other contest prizes while you’re over there!

Tuesday, Twitter sharing contest! A tweet is tiny, only 140 characters. But on Tuesday, it could win you $50. Send the following tweet across the twittersphere, and you just may win a $50 Amazon gift card. An autographed copy of Farsighted is also up for grabs. The winners will be announced Wednesday morning. Here’s the tweet:  Looking for a fun read to round out your holiday break? The paranormal YA hit Farsighted is just 99 cents! http://ow.ly/81Dt1 #whirlwind

Wednesday, Google+ sharing contest! Yup, there’s yet another awesome opportunity to win a $50 Amazon gift card, and this time it just takes a single click! Visit Google+ and share Emlyn Chand’s most recent post (you’ll see the Stay Farsighted book cover included with it). On Thursday morning, one lucky sharer will be $50 richer. An autographed copy of Farsighted is also up for grabs. Two chances to win with just one click! How about that?

Thursday, Facebook sharing contest! Stop by Novel Publicity’s Facebook page and share their latest post (you’ll see the Farsighted book cover included with it). It’s ridiculously easy to win! On Friday morning, one lucky sharer will be $50 richer. An autographed copy of Farsighted is also up for grabs.

Friday, special contest on the author’s site! Are you ready for some more fun? Take a picture of yourself with your copy of Farsighted either in paperback or on an eReading device, then post it to Emlyn Chand’s Facebook page or email a copy to author@emlynchand.com. You just way win one of three Amazon gift cards! A $100 prize will go to the photo with the most interesting setting (so put your holiday travel time to work for you). Another $50 will go the funniest photo, and one more prize of $50 will go the scariest photo—this is a paranormal YA book after all. An autographed copy of Farsighted will go to one randomly selected entrant. For more details about this contest, please visit www.emlynchand.com.

Remember, it’s all about the books!

About Farsighted: Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t.  When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider. Farsighted is the winner of the 2011 Dragonfly eBook Awards. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the Author:  Emlyn Chand has always loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). When she’s not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm, Novel Publicity. Emlyn loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media interweb. Visit her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

Now please enjoy this exciting excerpt from Farsighted…

“Did Dad tell you? A new tenant moved into the old pharmacy next door.”

“Really?” I ask, not letting on I already know. If I feign ignorance, Mom’ll divulge all the details. “What is it?”

“It’s a psychic shop,” Her voice crackles with excitement like a fire that’s just beginning to burn. “The All-Seeing Miss Teak. Isn’t that cute? Miss Teak, Mystic. Ha, I wonder if that’s her real name.”

I laugh. “That is funny. Never had a psychic in town before. What’s she like?”

“Oh, she’s very friendly. Why don’t you go over and say ‘hi.’  I’m sure she’d like to meet you.”

“Okay, I think I will.” I’m incredibly intrigued, because first off, it’s a psychic shop—how weird is that?—and second, its presence made Dad super uncomfortable—also very cool. I waste no time heading next door to check out the scene.

As I step cautiously into the new shop, a recording of soft, instrumental music greets me. I can make out chimes and a string instrument I don’t recognize but for some reason reminds me of snake charmers. The smell of incense fills my nostrils, which explains the burning I detected earlier.

“Hello?” I call out into the otherwise quiet room.

Nobody answers. I walk in deeper, sweeping my cane out in front of me in a metronome fashion. This place is new to me, so I need to be especially careful while moving around.

Thump! Despite my precautions, I stub my toe on something hard, big, and made of wood. Just my luck to stub the same toe twice in one day. I reach down to press my fingers into my throbbing foot to alleviate some of the pain. Something teeters before rolling off of the chest and across the floor; the sound it makes indicates a curved path. Suddenly, the object stops. Somebody’s stopped it.

“Hello?” I call again.

“Hello,” a deep, feminine voice responds, placing more emphasis on the first syllable than the second.

“I- I’m sorry I knocked that thing over. I didn’t mean to…” I hope she’s not angry. Probably not a good idea to get on a psychic’s bad side.

“That wasn’t just a thing, it’s a crystal ball,” she says as she walks over, sending my blood pulsing through my veins. I sense her looking at me for a moment before she places the ball back on top of the chest.

“Can it see the future?” I ask, allowing my curiosity to outweigh my uneasiness.

“No.” After a pause lasting several beats, she continues. “But I can see the future sometimes when I look into it.”

“Oh, okay.” I tighten my hand around my cane and turn to leave. It may not be the most polite thing to do, but all of this hocus-pocus stuff is freaking me out more than I would’ve guessed.

The psychic lady speaks again, stopping me cold. “Don’t run away, Alex Kosmitoras.” She must’ve spoken to Mom earlier today. That must be how she knows my name.

“I’m not running away,” I say meekly. “I’m just going back over to Sweet Blossoms.”

“Don’t run away,” she repeats—this time she speaks louder and with more energy. “Don’t run away from your abilities. They are gifts.”

“What?” I ask in confusion. What abilities is she talking about?

“You already know. Watch. Listen. Be open to your gifts.”

I turn to face Miss Teak, but find she’s already gone, returning to wherever she was before I got there.

Is it safe to leave? I trail my fingers across the wooden box I ran into earlier; a thick coat of dust clings to the tips as I pull away. If this shop just opened, why is it already so dirty? I wipe my hands over my shirt to get the gritty substance off. Shivers rock my whole body. Something about this place is wrong, and I’m not sticking around to figure out what. Tapping my cane along the floor, I’m able to find the exit without knocking into anything else.

 

Does Simon Burns represent your interests?

This blog doesn’t often contain material of a political nature but yesterday something happened that made me very angry indeed. I’ll provide some background. Some years ago I heard of 38 Degrees. It is my belief that this organisation does exactly what is says on its home page:

38 Degrees brings you together with other people to take action on the issues that matter to you and bring about real change.

It provides an opportunity to help co-ordinate action in a peaceful and logical way within the understood democratic process of the United Kingdom.

Simon Burns is the Conservative MP for Chelmsford. His website declares the following mission statement :

Since I was elected as Member of Parliament for the Chelmsford area in 1987, I have fought to the best of my abilities, for the interests of all my constituents regardless of their political affiliations.

Mr. Burns should be reminded that the Conservatives did NOT win the last election. He should also be reminded that there is no mandate for the current proposed changes to the NHS. He should also be reminded of his mission statement above.

38 degrees are helping ordinary people, like me, to take a stand against the current political tactics to destroy all that is good about the NHS. Mr. Burns isn’t happy about the co-ordinated efforts and his reaction to “the interests of all of my constituents regardless of their political affiliations” is to refer to us ordinary folk as Zombies.

Mr. Burns, as an MP, is a public servant. He SHOULD BE representing the interests of all of the electorate. The electorate are his customers. As one of his customers I feel that his customer service skills are fundamentally lacking, including the fact that he does not follow the mission statement on his own website to fight “to the best of my abilities, for the interests of all my constituents regardless of their political affiliations.”

Mr. Burns’ abilities to represent the electorate are sadly lacking, as he only seems to want to insult the electorate who express an opinion that differs to his own.

Perhaps he is less of a public servant and more of a caricature. Perhaps he is like another Mr. Burns, who is equally thoughtless about his customers and equally hungry for power at any cost.

Mr. Simon Burns, you owe 38 degrees members a public and full apology. Either that or you should resign for not representing “the interests of all of my constituents regardless of their political affiliations”.

 

Nirvana Moment on Bonfire Night

Wikipedia declares a general definition of Nirvana as “synonymous with the concept of liberation (moksha) which refers to release from a state of suffering after an often lengthy period of committed spiritual practice “

Perhaps you could describe the practice of writing as a “state of suffering”. If you are a solitary writer, you may have to isolate yourself at some point to actually get on with the ‘job’ of writing. This isolation could be seen as a “state of suffering” as could writer’s block; lack of self belief; worry that your work and words are not good enough. Then when you actually release your words, in book, script or thesis format you may have your greatest moments of suffering, lack of acknowledgement of your work by your peers, a bad review, poor grades, As a proofreader and editor I have nursed many people through the pain of getting their words and ideas into a happy and healthy format and liberating them from their isolation and self doubt. Support and a good review can give you that writer’s Nirvana Moment.

I have been lucky enough to have that Nirvana Moment with my book, Soft Footsteps, this weekend. I have worked with Ajit Jaokar, the owner of the futuretext publishing group for many years now. I was thrilled to see this wonderful review on his Open Gardens blog. A short extract is below:

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“Maggie Baldry has long edited many futuretext books including my latest book (to be launched in Jan 2012). However, she had an idea to be a writer and came up with this excellent idea for a book . As Maggie discusses below, I was one of the inspirations for Maggie’s book. I loved the ethos and idea of this book – and Maggie is a great writer and believes in this book. Very glad to be a part of it”

Soft Footsteps celebrates the achievements of women who are leaders in their professional and creative lives, historically and in the 21st century.

The 21st century Soft footsteps of change are pioneering women because they have all been involved in projects that are making best use of new media platforms and leading edge technology. Their work provides pathways within the new media industry for other people to follow, hence, the title of the work; Soft footsteps. Soft footsteps will reveal how individuals with passionate ideas, a strong work ethic and self-belief can create successful and satisfying careers doing work that they love.

I was totally fascinated by the stories of all of the ladies featured in the Soft Footsteps book. It was a labour of love combined with a spiritual practice for me and I hope it will be a source of inspiration for others.  It is probably just a coincidence that Ajit’s blog was posted on Bonfire Night, but it was most definitely a Nirvana Moment for me. It lit up my evening like a spectacular firework display. I would say to anyone else who wants to write and they are still at the “state of suffering”, keep committed, keep writing and enjoy and celebrate any Nirvana Moment.

 

Distractions, creativity and workflow

At 19:30 GMT on a Sunday evening, what are you doing?

Would that be a favourite time to write for you?

Or are you an early bird, a night owl or a mid day magpie writer?

When proofreading my authors’ books the work discipline is naturally enforced with the production deadlines for publishing and marketing but when venturing into my own creative writing there always seems to be some ‘obstacle’ in the way that prevents me from settling down into a disciplined work flow.

For example, this evening, I was pulling together some research about the 1970s for a fantasy novel I’m planning to write but so far I’ve managed to let myself be distracted by the Strictly Come Dancing Results show, laundry, Twitter, Facebook and other networking and social media metric sites. This is without the most delightful distractions of my lovely family and pets. What should I do? Give up writing and stay with the day job? Lock myself away like a hermit?

No, I have made a decision… starting tomorrow the networking sites that are not working for me will be pruned away and I will concentrate on the 1970s fantasy novel. Saying that though I am so pleased Audley Harrison is still in Strictly …  

From the BBC Strictly Page Team Audalie

 

Review – Meet Franklin Bean by Emmy Swain

My review of this book on Goodreads

“At this time of year we are all considering which Christmas gifts to buy. Look no further than Emmy Swain’s magical children’s book.. The tale is intended for children but it’s a universal story about how weird it can be to move to a new place and meet new people, yet this weirdness can be coped with and make you stronger when you meet a special and amazing dog like Franklin Bean. Emmy has written a captivating and enlightening story, which is beautifully illustrated by Levi Whitworth. Looking forward to hearing more about John’s adventures with Franklin Bean. “Cool frijoles”

Plus my personal note to Emmy

“My dear you are a word magician. What an enchanting and uplifting story.”

Want to know more, I would highly recommend visting Franklin Bean.com

This review is also posted on my dedicated review blog : Maggie’s musings

 

Radio Ramble

From Wikipedia RNI campaign bus

As a youngster I was a big fan of the pirate radio stations, Radio Caroline and Radio Northsea. I was just a naughty kid listening to the radio late at night when I should have been sleeping, I didn’t know that Radio Caroline helped get the Conservatives elected in 1970. Nor at that early age did I care about the other suggested events reported on that particular Wikipedia page. Now we have huge television screens, 3D/HD, on demand, 24 hour a day television, if you want it. I enjoy television but there is something about radio. Radio 4 plays are always enjoyable, challenging and brave enough to showcase new talent.

Absolute Classic Rock My getting ready music; doing the housework music; singing and dancing, when I’m in the house alone, music. I adore Absolute Radio but it was stations like Radio Luxembourg (Fab 208) the precursor of the pirate radio stations Caroline and Northsea that made me a lifelong radio fan.

Originally I just used to listen on my little transistor, frequently warming up batteries on the radiator to extend their life. Then for my 12^th birthday Mum bought me my beautiful bright orange Dansette Record Player and Radio and I could listen to my favourite radio stations whilst doing my homework or reading. But still saved my little transistor for late at night whiling away the wee small hours with Santana, Led Zeppelin and the sweet talking DJs,

Radio Northsea used to close with Move Over Darling by Doris Day. An evocative song sung by a beautiful lady who also starred in the film of the same name. The Calamity Jane star’s romantic role and a song that still makes me feel that it’s time to go to sleep.

From Pirate Radio Hall of Fame : Tony Allan, broadcasting on Radio Caroline during the seventies. Photo by Martin Stevens, reprinted from ‘Offshore Radio’ published by Iceni Enterprises.

Tony Allan was one of the great stars of pirate radio. Sadly he died in 2004 but if you’d like to read and hear more about the life and work of this wonderful man I would suggest you visit the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame .

Special effects in film and television are very clever and there are many great stories and breathtaking visuals for us all to enjoy but there is something about radio that stimulates my imagination; makes my heart sing and makes me feel like a teenager again.

 

1969 – Pivot Point

In the previous post of this retrospective, I talked about my own sense of loss at the end of the 60s. To me it was a ‘golden decade’.

As the 60s was coming to a close – I felt scared of going to the High School and scared of the sense that my magical childhood days were slipping away. Like Black Beauty, I was no longer free to gallop amongst the trees, fields and grass but I now had to become a ‘work horse’.

Looking back I do realise that I had an incredibly protected and privileged childhood. My creativity was encouraged by my lovely Mum, even when I painted my bedroom ceiling dark blue with silver and yellow stars. I was trying to recreate the constellations, with an emphasis on Orion. This was my “Patrick Moore” phase.

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The 1^st Moon landing had stirred up much interest in the stars, as did The Sky at Night with Patrick Moore. Patrick Moore wrote some wonderful books including the annual astronomy year books.

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In September 1969 I started at the Girl’s High School. It was uncomfortable. A shy 11 year old, who blushed every time anyone spoke to her (teachers or pupils). I was used to the atmosphere of a cosy junior school, with one class teacher who taught you all subjects. Basically a kindly “Auntie” type figure. Safe and reassuring. Now there was a form teacher, who also taught French and Latin and specialist teachers for all of the other subjects. The lessons and homework were not a problem but I always felt like an outsider. During break times I would normally have my nose in a book. There was a long bus journey home, again I would read my way home. On arriving home, I would have tea, do my homework, watch some telly, bath and then more reading until bedtime.

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I’m sure I’m not the only kid who felt disconcerted about the transition from junior school to high school but there were many great books, music bands, films, pirate radio stations and television programmes that helped me get through this phase.

from Wikipedia

Patrick Troughton was no longer the Doctor, an event that was also a source of much sadness for me and we had to wait until 1970 for Jon Pertwee to introduce his dandy version of the Doctor in full colour. Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) and Monty Python’s Flying Circus were first aired, both of which I was not supposed to watch, but I sneaked down to watch them anyway.

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The Beatles had already split up, their final live performance at Apple Corps building at 3 Savile Row, London, on 30 January 1969. Many bands and artists were getting ready to fill the void left not least Jethro Tull with Ian Anderson’s resonant flute playing and the most commercially successful and influential rock bands of all time, Pink Floyd

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Book-wise, the library at the High School held some delights I hadn’t found before. My interest in astronomy and the constellations named after characters from Graeco-Roman myths led me to reading as many books as possible about Greek and Roman mythology and the works of Homer. Heroic deeds, strong women, magic powers, shape changers, it’s all there. If you’re a writer and you’re looking for inspiration. I would highly recommend looking back at the Greek and Roman classics.

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For me 1969 will always be a creative pivot point. A time when I truly started to immerse myself in as many books, bands, films and television programmes as possible. By the end of 1969 my sense of loss had changed to a sense of adventure, alongside discovering the total joy that was pirate radio.

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…to be continued…

 

Soft Footsteps : 6 questions

Can you answer these questions?

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1. Who was the first woman writer to be published in the English language?
2. Which woman was the first “man of the year” in 1969?
3. Who is the most famous actress in the history of the world?
4. Who is convinced that ignorance and terror can be ended by global connectivity?
5. Who can tell you about successful social enterprise business planning?
6. Who is the creator of the PulseWire Web Portal?

Can’t answer these questions? You need to buy this book and download it to your Kindle device. It will answer these questions and inspire you.

Hush now, it’s a steal at £2.46 GBP.

 

Patrick, George, Mr.Watzisname, 11 plus, Men on the Moon and a Black Horse

In the last post, Getting lost with Doctor Who via Mary Poppins, a brief description was given of my early memories and encounters with books and television.

Whilst I was discovering my literary and televisual delights, my sister J was also discovering her own musical delights via the Beatles. We had this blanket, very similar to the one pictured here. At that time everyone had their favourite member of the Beatles. J’s favourite was Paul, Ringo was the joker of the group and John was, even then, the more avant-garde Beatle.

My Beatle was, the ever gentle, George Harrison. George reminded me of Patrick Troughton.

In fact I can remember thinking that George was Doctor Who’s son (Patrick Troughton’s incarnation of the Doctor). There was a gentleness and other worldliness about George and Patrick that I loved then and still do, now. This was a magical time in my childhood, with all of the buzz of the Beatles, the cosmic and quizzical Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who and growing up in the sixties.

A memorable book that was read to me at school was the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. There have been some name changes to some of the original characters. Fanny is now called Frannie and Dick is now called Rick. But despite this desire to censure names due to slang references to female and male body parts, the magic of this series still lays in waiting to introduce children to the world of imagination and magic. Wikipedia gives a brief introduction to the main characters below:

The main characters are Joe, Beth, and Franny, three siblings. Franny is the youngest, Beth is next in age and Joe is their big brother. They live near the Enchanted Wood and are friends of the residents of the Faraway Tree. Other characters include:

• The Angry Pixie : He lives in a house with a tiny window and has a habit of throwing cold water or any liquid at hand over people who dare to peep inside.
• An owl lives in the house after the Angry Pixie’s. He is a friend of Silky’s.
• Silky the fairy : Silky is so named because of her long, silky, golden hair.
• Mr.Watzisname- : He cannot remember his name (for a very good reason) and sleep and snores all the time. During a particular episode at the Land of Secrets, Mr. Watzisname discovers that his name is ‘Kollamoolitumarellipawkyrollo’. Funnily enough, this is forgotten by the end of the episode (even by the man himself) and he goes back to being Mr. Watzisname.
• Dame Washalot : She spends her time washing her clothes and throwing the dirty wash water down the tree. If she has no clothes to wash, she washes the dirty laundry of other people and even the leaves of the Faraway Tree!
• Moonface : Moonface is named because of his cute little round face that looks like the moon. His house is likewise round, and filled with curved furniture. There is a slippery-slip in the middle of his house, which is a slide which lets you slide down to the bottom of the Faraway Tree instead of climbing down!
• The Saucepan Man : lives with Mr. Watzisname. His name stems from the fact that he is covered all over with saucepans and kettles. Sometimes, he cannot understand what his friends are saying because he is quite deaf, which is further aggravated by all the noise from the pans and kettles which he carries all the time.
• The Saucepan Man’s mother- lives with Dame Washalot. She runs a cake shop.
• Dame Slap- runs a school for bad pixies which in adventures, the friends accidentally land in.

Where we lived, in North Yorkshire, our home was surrounded by trees and fields and I spent a large part of my time up trees, playing make-believe and pretending that I was living in the Faraway Tree. A bright and carefree time.

Then, came the first of a series of exams. The 11 Plus. Suddenly from being allowed to play with paint, plasticine and enjoy stories of magic, our worthiness was measured, based on our abilities in Arithmetic and English. Success at the 11 Plus meant you were considered suitable for further academic education, with a possibility of being considered for university. Failure meant you were considered suitable for a more vocational and practical education and perhaps with a consideration of further education at a Polytechnic. Looking back I wish I gone for a vocational and practical education, it would have been a lot more fun. Safe to say this is the time when I started to dislike school. Instead of being a place of stimulation and creativity, the daily schedule became mechanical. I remember thinking that my class teacher was trying to turn us all into Cybermen, soul less, joyless and identical. Apart from a few brief escapes (including pop festivals and holidays) 1969 – 1981 was a period of my life when I felt very much like I had been programmed to function in a certain way, behave in a certain way, work within a limited environment with fewer chances to enjoy the magical time of my early childhood. There were many joyous times, but from an educational and work perspective, those areas of my life were something that were endured, rather than enjoyed.

Back to the end of the sixties. My 11 plus was passed and the Junior School gave me a book as a reward. The book was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. This book is written in the 1^st person from the perspective of the horse, Black Beauty. Wikipedia displays an admirable and memorable quote as below:

“…. there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham….”
—Black Beauty, Chapter 13, last paragraph.

At the age of 11, this was the first book that made me think. It is not a children’s book or a fairy tale. There are many sad moments and I can remember this book making me cry. It is the first book I read that was not “sugar coated” .

My final summer days at Junior School marked the celebration of the Moon Landings, one giant step for man, etc. Although there was a lot of excitement and news coverage, I would still rather have jumped into the Tardis than have been a crew member on Apollo 11.

As the 60s was coming to a close – I felt scared of going to the High School and scared of the sense that my magical childhood days were slipping away. Like Black Beauty, I was no longer free to gallop amongst the trees, fields and grass but I now had to become a ‘work horse’.