Skip to main content

#HistFicThursdays - Writing Craft: Your Own Way or the Highway

 After the loss of NaNoWriMo, it did not take the Crowvus writers long to realise how much we relied on this structured routine for our writing. For me, November had become the only time I was guaranteed to do creative writing. In fact - if truth be told - I've done very little at any other point of the year. Consequently, we decided to adapt to our own interpretation: Cro(w)NoWriMo - the W is in brackets because there was some discrepancy over whether or not it should be in there. The rules were simple: Write. As November went on, the end goal changed slightly for each writer. Was it 50,000 words? Was it to write every day? Was it to write an entire book? For me, it was about finishing a book. I haven't finished an historical fiction book in ages - though I've started plenty! Now, with four more writing days left on the clock and into the final chapter, I might finally be able to lay the ghost. The story I returned to was Poisoned Pilgrimage , the book I began as a submiss...
Post a Comment

Book Review: The Stranger of Wigglesworth - Colby Hess

Blurb:

The arrival of a mysterious stranger in the happy village of Giggleswick causes a schism that disrupts their innocent, carefree existence. A brave, clever, freethinking boy then sets off on a quest to reveal the stranger’s deception and rescue his fellow villagers.


Review:


This is the story of how a stranger appears and starts telling happy, content people that they'll be more happy and content if they live their lives his way. When they refuse, things start going wrong in their joyful little village of Giggleswick. But all is not as it seems... there is a darker force at work!


I thoroughly enjoyed it. To me, it had elements of The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning, both in content and style. The story is written in a kind of gentle poetry which is more about rhythm than rhyme and that makes it a wonderful thing to read aloud.

The Stranger of Wigglesworth is a picture book for older children. It states clearly on the cover that it is for Ages 6-11, and it's important to keep this in mind when reading it. There are a lot of words in here which littler children wouldn't understand, and some parts of the story are very dark. The only slight issue I had with it was that, on one single occasion, the illustrations got so dark that I struggled to see what was happening, but that didn't spoil the overall reading experience for me.

This is a book to be read aloud where possible - and definitely one to be shared!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Masterworks: Legacy - Samantha Wilcoxson - Interview

  Today is the last of a series on nine interviews I'm sharing on the Crowvus Book Blog. These are from the authors of the short stories included in the  Masterworks  anthology by the  Historical Writers Forum . We're running through chronologically, some are video interviews, others are written. I am delighted to welcome the fantastic Samantha Wilcoxson, who is sharing the artist inspiration for her short story Legacy , as well as the appeal of James A. Hamilton, and the delights of researching. First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself, what you write (besides Masterworks!), and what inspired you to begin writing. I was inspired to write by my love of reading. After watching me read, write reviews, and keep journals for twenty years, my husband asked me why I didn’t try writing, so I did! Without really planning on it, I ended up writing historical biographical fiction. I’m drawn to a tragic tale but also to lesser known historical figures with emotive stor...
Post a Comment
Read more

#HistFicThursdays - Apollo's Raven - Linnea Tanner - Book Blast

 If you've been following this blog for a little while, you might remember me sharing a fabulous guest post about this book in 2022 (which you can read here ). It's always great to welcome Linnea Tanner onto the Crowvus Book Blog, and I'm delighted to be taking part in her Coffee Pot Book Club book blast blog tour. So, let's meet the book... A Celtic warrior princess is torn between her forbidden love for the enemy and duty to her people. AWARD-WINNING APOLLO’S RAVEN sweeps you into an epic Celtic tale of forbidden love, mythological adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. In 24 AD British kings hand-picked by Rome to rule are fighting each other for power. King Amren’s former queen, a powerful Druid, has cast a curse that Blood Wolf and the Raven will rise and destroy him. The king’s daughter, Catrin, learns to her dismay that she is the Raven and her banished half-brother is Blood Wolf. Trained as a warrior, Catrin must find a way to break t...
2 comments
Read more

#HistFicThursdays - Strait Lace by Rosemary Hayward - Guest Post

For this week's #HistFicThursdays blog, I'm delighted to be welcoming  Rosemary Hayward  to the blog with a guest post about her new release  Strait Lace ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour. Read on to discover the history surrounding this fabulous book. But first, let's meet the book... Blurb It is 1905. Edwardian England. Harriet Loxley, the daughter of a vicar and niece to a prominent Nottingham lace manufacturer, spends her days playing cricket with her brother, scouring the countryside for botanical specimens, and never missing an opportunity to argue the case for political power for women. Given the chance to visit the House of Commons, Harriet witnesses the failure of a historic bill for women’s voting rights. She also meets the formidable Pankhurst women. When Harriet gets the chance to study biology at Bedford College, London, she finds her opportunity to be at the heart of the fight. From marching in the street, to speaking to hostile c...
2 comments
Read more