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Showing posts from January, 2024

Books as Individuals

 Last week, we shared a blog about our Children's and Young Adult books , with a promise to share some bookish ideas for adults the following week. And here we are! We don't really go in for the "books for him/her/it" thing, and a number of our books don't fit snuggly in with market genres, so instead we're going to give you a brief introduction to our books as individuals. Why? Because our books are as unique as our readers: we do not like to pigeon-hole. Proudly introducing our books... Filled with nature, memories, and ecological warning, Child of the Earth  is a companion book to Susan's monthly blogs . Child of the Earth  takes the reader through a wildlife year in rural Lincolnshire and very rural Northern Scotland. Interspersed with short fiction, poetry, and pictures, it truly is a gem of a book. But you don't need to take our word for it - this book was a Wishing Shelf Book Award Finalist .   The beginnings of a family saga, Day's Dying Gl...

#HistFicThursdays - Things to Inspire - Musical Instruments

 A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post about Writing from Artefacts  about a box of historical objects I received as a gift. Each month of 2024, I hope to build on this and introduce you to some of the artefacts I've gathered over the years. These are all things which have been - at least in part - inspirations for me, and I hope they will give you a few extra ideas along the way for your own writings... The old organ in Thomaskirche It's probably unsurprising that I'm starting with musical instruments, since music is my day job! There tends to be music in all my stories, and there is something very special about connecting to the music of the past. When I went on my German adventure in 2013, it was very special to visit Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was the Director of Music for more than quarter of a century. Here are three of my own little musical treasures... Music is something which is here to stay - its forward-facing legacy at least as long as its past. Wh...

#HistFicThursdays - Invention, Nature's Child - Free Short Story

I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that I took the title for this short story from a poem! If you are unfamiliar with the poem, I've included it at the bottom of this post rather than here since it gives away a significant part of the plot. So here is a little piece of historical sci-fi because, as fans of Doctor Who know, sci-fi is not limited to the future! Girolamo Fabrizio (from Wikipedia) Invention, Nature's Child Candlelight flickered in the small office, the pale stone walls alive with dancing shadows. They were monstrous, not in size but in shape. Deformed oddities and dissected organs in jars which refracted the flame’s glow. “Sir?” Harvey asked. There was no sign of his teacher. “Doctor Fabrizio?” “You’re returning to your language already?” came an amused voice from behind an amphora. It spoke in Italian, but Harvey had heard almost no other language in three years, making it easy to understand. Adjusting his own speech accordingly, he replied. “I am to leav...

#HistFicThursdays - 2024 Calendar, and Pictures in Stone

 Happy New Year, Readers! Because we're in a new year, I'm trying to be super-organised. There are so many things going on, I have to keep tabs on everything! So here's what is planned... This year for #HistFicThursdays, I am opening up a space every month for a fellow Historical Fiction writer to share a guest post. This opportunity is open on a first-come-first-serve basis, so please get in touch if you are interested in having a guest post. Each month, there will also be a free historical short story or poem, across a broad range of times and genres. There'll be one or two book tour posts, too, and I'm also aiming to write a post about the inspirations for aspects of different books. So, if it all goes according to plan, it will be a very busy year of #HistFicThursdays! To start off the inspirational posts, here's a quick introduction to my new release. It's not Historical Fiction, but it is all about the inspiration for the story I wrote in NaNoWriMo las...