On theFeast of Stephen

 

 

It's rotten having a birthday just before Christmas. 

Sometimes Toby gets just one present for both his birthday and Christmas. Sometimes people just give him money because they've run out of present ideas.  Then when he comes to spend that money there's hardly anything left in the shops. It’s the same this year. He can't find any Lego bricks he wants. 

An old man who reminds him of his Grandpa Jack is sitting cold and hungry on the street. Toby thinks of another use for his birthday money.  What he does afterwards reminds his Grandpa Jack of a well-known Christmas song.  

On the Feast of Stephen by Gill and Ashleigh James is a feel-good story for early readers. 

 

RRP  £6.00 

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Mass Book launch

 

WE actually hav four book somin out on 21 myy, soI'm hlostingingg a mass on-line book launch.

:Th GLastonbury Specification

asnby Gill James 

 

Can anyone be as challenged as Petri?

A rare and painful skin disease stops her leading a normal young adult life, she is asked to take on the Pease Child role at which her adoptive father, Kaleem, excels and what seemed like a perfect romance becomes complicated when her boyfriend's twin brother appears on the scene.

Can a rare metal alloy pay for a cure? Or should she rather give the gift of imagination? Can she ever be as good a diplomat as Kaleem? Is there any hope for her and Toby?  

Gill James again presents some present day concerns in a glimpse of a possible distant future in The Glastonbury Specification the fifth novel  in the Peace Child series. 

See more here.

And

Ston eAngels by Paula R. C. Readman 

 

Has James Ravencroft left it too late?

He has one last painting to create for a solo exhibition, but the police are closing in. Basil Hallward, his wannabe international art agent, also questions the dark beauty behind the series of paintings known as Stone Angels.  Ravencroft hides among the shadows to create his funereal masterpieces.

Will his methods horrify you or will you admire his tenacity in Paula R C Readman's chilling Stone Angels?   

Warning. Thi story is  afirst person don account from a serial killer and  contains scenes some readers may find disturbing. ..

Find out more here

 

Has James Ravencroft left it too late?

He has one last painting to create for a solo exhibition, but the police are closing in. Basil Hallward, his wannabe international art agent, also questions the dark beauty behind the series of paintings known as Stone Angels.  Ravencroft hides among the shadows to create his funereal masterpieces.

Will his methods horrify you or will you admire his tenacity in Paula R C Readman's chilling Stone Angels?   

 

Th evnet I frr bu r tikedt: reserve you place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mass-book-launch-tickets-1987490551742?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

 

I wa first published in Ocrober 2000 and my first t frstit fullol-lengh book came our in2003. I upstaged myself by having a story accepteded for Linessews in h Sand which wa a kind of protestrt by children's writers and illustrators about the  War in Iraq . It came our a few  days before my book The Complete Guide to Learning Language. I've gradually pikred up tips about getting my work out there , getting paid and an justifying calling myself a writer I'v put thm all together In this book I first wrote  this several years ago but revised it  in October 2024.

 

updated October 2024 

The last thing most writers want to do is spend a lot of time on marketing. Yet books don't sell themselves by magic, no matter how good they are. Publishers do what they can but time and money is limited, and inevitably they have to move on to the next project. If you can adapt a few useful routines, especially ones you find palatable and fun, you'll hardly notice you're doing it. There are heaps of useful suggestions here and handy check lists to keep you on track.

 

FInd your copy here 

What's your Muse

When I used to do school visits one question I always dreaded was 'Where do you get your ideas from?'

An honest response would be 'all over the place'.

Things that really happened.

Ye, on day I'll have to writet the story about the time an angel tune up and  helped us to find a lost car part

Unpicking history

What was it really like when that happened?. What was it like living through the Plague or the Black death or di[their epidemic of Spanish flu. A little different from Covid-they didn't have TV or the Internet then- let alone ZOOM.

Peopmrptsd from all sorts of places.

MY two flash collection40x140 and 280x70 contain stories inspired by the first picture I saw on Twitter that day.

Reedsy

Offers prompts: https://reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/

The Big BOOK of Prompts
Some writing friends and I put this book together:

https://www.thebridgetowncafebooksshop.co.uk/2023/02/the-big-book-of-prompts_27.html   

Retelling

I'm quite fond o retelling ell-known stories from a different point of view. These can be Bible stories, well-known fairy-tales or even something from Shakespeare.

Book Club Guidefor 140x140

 

1.       DO you have a favourite story in the collection? WHY do you like this one particularly?

2.       Can you pinpoint stories that address the following in themes: peer pressure, cost of living crisis, nature, climate change, w ar, peace, the uncanny.

3.       Cn you identify stories with   the following features: colour, seasons, weather, urban life, rural life, sport?

4.       Find  one story and identify a story structure: inciting incident, growing compilations, crisis point, climax resolution

5.       In flash fiction the author has to build characters fast. Find a character you like in one of the stories: how has the writer built this character?

6.       Tell your own story: take two characters from two different stories, put them together and see what happens.

7.       How does the author create a sense of time and place in these stories?

8.       Many writers write with the senses. Cn you find a story where this is obvious?

9.       Open the bookk  randomly read the story on the left page. What do you think was the picture that inspired this story?

10.   can you suggest another way that a writer might put together  a collection like  this from  a daily prompt Where might they find that prompt?

FI FInd your copy here