Wrapping up the WordCrafter “Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog” Book Blog Tour

Posted: March 4, 2022 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

We’re wrapping up the WordCrafter “Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog” Book Blog Tour over at Zigler’s News, with a guest post from author Robbie Cheadle and a review by Victoria Zigler. I hope you’ll come and join in the celebration of the release of this wonderful new children’s book.

Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog” Book Blog Tour

Posted: March 2, 2022 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog” Book Blog Tour finds us over at “This is my Truth Now”, where James J. Cudney IV brings us a lovely review and interview with author Robbie Cheadle. Drop by to join in the fun and learn more about this new release and this amazingly creative mother and author.

Welcome to the WordCrafter “Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog” Book Blog Tour

Posted: February 28, 2022 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Welcome to the WordCrafter Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog Book Blog Tour! This tour celebrates the release of book eight in the Sir Chocolate book series, by Robbie and Michael Cheadle. We have a great tour planned with guest posts by Robbie and reviews and interviews with some of our tour hosts.

For this opening day, we’re over at “The Showers of Blessings” blogsite with a guest post by author Robbie Cheadle and a review of Chocolate Fudge saves the Sugar Dog by blog host, Miriam Hurdle. Please join us there to learn more about this fantastic new book.

Review in Practice: “An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores”

Posted: January 31, 2022 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments

An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores, by Mark Leslie Lafabvre offers the inside scoop on how to develop relationships with bookstores and libraries, so local and global readers can find your books. It isn’t enough to get your book onto a distributor’s list. That doesn’t guarantee that your book will be purchased and stocked in brick and mortar bookstores or libraries, it just makes them aware of your book’s availability, but the competition is tough and there is still no guarantee that those in charge of acquisitions will actually see or notice your book.

Independent authors have come a long way since I’ve been writing in this game. As more authors go indie and do it well, independent authors are becoming hard to ignore, even though traditional publishing has tried very hard to do just that.

Although dependent authors have made strides in leaps and bounds to legitimize indie authorship, traditional publishers still have an in with brick-and -mortar bookstores and libraries; they have a system in place, even if it really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Indie authors are still finding their way in this area, and this book provides the map for how to get there.

Mark Leslie Lafabvre was publishing independently long before it was ‘a thing’, as well as working for first, Kobo and developing their self-publishing platform, Kobo Life, and now, for Draft-2-Digital as their director of business development, so he definitely has the experience and expertise to offer up this wonderful blueprint for getting our own books into bookstores and libraries.

Authors want to sell books, and to do that, we need to get our books in front of as many eyes as possible, because each new eye is a potential reader. Getting into bookstores and libraries offers the opportunity for a huge increase in the number of eyes on our books, and in the number of eyes that then may go on to purchase more of our work and become fans, and perhaps superfan’s that will buy everything we write. But we need to get our books into these outlets first and in An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores, Mark Leslie Lafabvre has given us a secret for opening those doors. Relationships.

With all the valuable information packed into An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores, every author who is serious about selling their books should have a copy. I give it five quills.

Mind Fields – The Ideas of A Morning

Posted: January 28, 2022 | Author: artrosch | Filed under: Commentary, Mind Fields, Opinion, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tags: Arthur Rosch, Life Reflections, Mind Fields, Writing to be Read | 1 Comment

I value originality. It requires a level of commitment and a sense of one’s self as being unique and talented. At some base level NO ONE is truly original but in the world of human expression, of artistic and technical feats that are part of our culture, there are individuals who stand out as being special. They have hewn materials out of the core of their selves, and the results are striking and unprecedented. It is the unprecedented nature of the creations that forms the matrix of originality.

The Primacy Of Memory

There is a moment in life as one grows older that the memory recreates all the life’s experiences as if for the first time. Re-living my life from the sheltered glade of memory has been a rich meditation. What did I do and why did I do it? Observing behavior that was inexplicable at the time but contemplation later reveals why something happened. At no time have I lost a firm conviction that higher powers are always at play in the Self and that these powers design with great wisdom all that shall befall the sole witness to this life and that is one’s Self. The events in a life are far from pointless: they are signboards on a journey of profound discovery. Having a deep faith in that idea has enabled me to survive otherwise insane events that boiled up from within myself. When the psyche accepts full responsibility for the unfolding life it gains a power that shows itself in acts of compassion. Some of the work of compassion is restraint from judging people and events without consulting the context in which their behavior forms. Sometimes it is needful to discern and this discernment is a form of placing a context over the specific acts and ideas that carry the consequences of thinking. ALL thinking is consequential. Thinking is the most important thing one does and the skill brought to thinking shows development of the soul’s concept of itself. If you are going to think, it is wise to learn HOW to think and WHAT to think about.

Watching The Domino

We ordered a pizza for delivery. In twenty years, we’ve never ordered food to be delivered so this was a special birthday gift. What set this apart was the experience of tracking the delivery driver’s trajectory as he wound his way through the complicated streets of our neighborhood. We sat watching the phone in fascination as the vehicle’s icon reflected the driver’s turns and twists as he negotiated the neighborhood looking for the right place. This went on for ten minutes and we became like cheerleaders hoping for our team to score. We were thrilled when he came onto our driveway and broke out in cheers as this ordinary experience of modern tech showed us that it worked and that it was, indeed, completely ridiculous.

Dark Origins – African myths and legends: The San (previously Bushmen) Part 1

Posted: January 26, 2022 | Author: robertawrites235681907 | Filed under: Uncategorized | 44 Comments

Introduction

Replica of a San family living in the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn in the Klein (Small) Karoo. Picture by Robbie Cheadle

The San peoples, previously know as Bushmen, are members of the various Khoe, Tuu, or Kx’a-speaking indigenous hunter-gather cultures which are also the first cultures of southern Africa. The territories of the San peoples include Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and South Africa.

The hunter-gatherer San peoples are one of the oldest cultures on Earth and are believed to be descended from the first inhabitants of what is now Botswana and South Africa. The San were traditionally semi-nomadic as they moved seasonally within certain defined areas based on the availability of water, game, and edible plants. The areas occupied by the San were semi-desert or desert areas, including the Kalahari Desert.

Pictures of the Groot (Big) Karoo, an area historically occupied by the San. Pictures by Robbie Cheadle

During the colonial period, much of the land occupied by the San peoples was conquered. The pattern of lost land and reduced access by the San to natural resources has continued and is a primary contributor to the current displaced position of the San and the destruction of their ancient traditional lifestyles.

Rock art – human hand

The San are well known for their rock art which is found in caves and rocky overhangs where the San lived. These rock paintings comprise mainly of animals and human figures. On a recent trip to Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, I saw a reddish handprint of a San Shaman. It is believed that the San didn’t view rock as a solid surface and these handprints indicate so-called energy points, where the San believed a person could travel through a cave wall’s illusory solidity.

IXam mythology

IXam, formerly spoken by the IXam-ka peoples of South Africa, is considered an extinct language. Fortunately, some of the IXam stories were recorded by linguists Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd in Cape Town in the 19th Century.

This is the IXam story of the sun’s origins:

“The sun was an old man of the Early Race who lived in a hut on earth. The light of the sun shone out of his armpit and only lit up the space around his house. The earth was dark and cold and the mothers couldn’t dry the ant or termite larvae that they collected to eat. Everybody was hungry and cold because there was no warmth from the sun who refused to share his light.

The mothers gathered the children together and told them to pick up the old man and throw him into the sky. They did this and now he sheds light over all the earth.”

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to the San peoples and IXam story. Next month, I’ll be sharing more about the culture and traditions of the San and another traditional story.

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has short stories and poems in several anthologies and has 2 published novels, Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy, and A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.

Roberta has 9 children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.

Roberta was educated at the University of South Africa where she achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. She was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.

Roberta has worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and has written 7 publications relating to investing in Africa. She has won several awards over her 20-year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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Want to be sure not to miss any of Robbie’s “Dark Origins” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress. If you found it interesting or entertaining, please share.

Some technical issues

Posted: November 13, 2021 | Author: robertawrites235681907 | Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Writing to be Read’s wonderful host, Kaye Lynne Booth, is experiencing some technical issues. Please be patient, she will be back on-line soon. In the meantime, posts by guest bloggers will continue as normal.

Have a great day!

Treasuring Poetry – Meet poet, Lauren Scott, and a review

Posted: November 13, 2021 | Author: robbiesinspiration | Filed under: Uncategorized | 68 Comments

Today, I am delighted to introduce poet and blogger, Lauren Scott. I met Lauren recently through another blogging friend and I am delighted by her beautiful poetry and posts about hiking adventures with her husband.

Take it away, Lauren.

Which of your own poems is your favorite?

I narrowed it down to two favorites: “Simple Existence” and “To My Babies.”

Simple Existence

I stare at this page, milk white as the

blanketed ground in winter’s staging.

Where are the syllables?

***

I fear they have flown to faraway places,

across desert dunes and boundless oceans

and might not return so that I may tell him

(again) how irreplaceable he is.

***

Instead, I’ll touch his lips with mine

and steady myself in the arms of a man

who is satisfied with my simple existence.

To My Babies

You are a new bloom in our family garden,

too little to understand the deepest emotions.

Cradled in my warmth, I watch your tiny lips

form a smile, so unaware of reality’s sharp edges.

Your laugh, my melody. Your cries, my lament.

I am your buffer, guarding you from shadows.

I delight in each change as you evolve into your true self.

For all tomorrows, you will be in my heart

as time prepares you to fly, to realize your own life

What inspired you to write these particular poems?

My husband and I have been married for almost 33 years. He is literally my best friend, so our relationship has provided an abundance of writing inspiration. “Simple Existence” is a favorite because it exemplifies my absolute love for him, as well as his unconditional love for me that harbors no expectations to change me in any way. I can’t ask for anything more. After two years of marriage, we began to grow our family.

Our daughter was born first, and our son was born three years later. Becoming a mother was another euphoric experience. I wrote “To My Babies” when our children were infants, and even though they’re now adults, they are my life as much as my husband is. My words in this poem aren’t meant to be complex, but it is their depth and my emotions that I strive to underscore, sentiments only a parent will understand. Family is beyond precious to me, and therefore, the words flow effortlessly.

Which genre of poetry do you enjoy writing the most and why?

I enjoy writing Free Verse the most because there are no restrictions or rules. I simply let the words fall and arrange to my liking.

Which genre of poetry do you enjoy reading the most?

Free Verse is also my favorite genre of poetry to read, but I aspire to learn from reading other forms, as well.

What is your favorite poem?

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets, and “Storage” is a poem that stands out no matter how often I flip through the pages of her book, Felicity. This poem continuously delivers the same effect, resonating with me as I grow older. “Things” just don’t matter. Family matters. Friends matter. The relationships in my life are what I hold close to my heart. And making room in our hearts for more Love and reveling in Nature’s gifts, well, what could be worth more?

Storage

When I moved from one house to another

there were many things I had no room

for. What does one do? I rented a storage

space. And filled it. Years passed.

Occasionally I went there and looked in,

but nothing happened, not a single

twinge of the heart.

As I grew older the things I cared

about grew fewer, but were more

important. So one day I undid the lock

and called the trash man. He took

everything.

I felt like the little donkey when

his burden is finally lifted. Things!

Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful

fire! More room in your heart for love,

for the trees! For the birds who own

nothing – the reason they can fly.

More than coffee: Memories in verse and prose by Lauren Scott

My review

This lovely book is a mix of a memoir about the author/poet’s life with some beautiful freestyle poems included after each prose section to enhance the emotion and moments shared. The memoirs are relatable and cover delightful memories of family brought back through inherited items and stories shared by family members as well as the author’s own life experiences including achievements, romance, parental love, and overcoming fears. The author’s personality and humour comes through strongly in her writing and poetry, as well as her joy and pleasure in the simple things in life.

My favourite poem in this collection and the one that summarised for me the spirit and essence of this book is Fulfilled.

Fulfilled

Let me drink from the gaze in your eyes
Eyes that have me wildly mesmerized
Mesmerized under their vivid piercing spell
Spell which only you many cast over me
Me, with a heart madly in love
Love, a whirlwind of euphoric emotions so true
True in not only our hearts, but in our minds
Minds, fully aware of their endless thoughts
Thoughts so amorous of us entwined
Entwined in each other’s arms eternally,
Eternally, still to few seconds for our time together.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy basking in the bright rays of happiness in life.

Purchase More than Coffee: Memories in verse and prose

Amazon US

About Lauren Scott

Lauren is a writer of poetry and short memoirs who lives in Northern California with her husband of almost thirty-three years, Matthew, and their energetic canine, Copper; they have two grown children. She has authored two collections of poetry: New Day, New Dreams and Finding a Balance. Her recent book, More than Coffee, a memoir in verse and prose, was published in September of this year. This collection of poems and stories paints a picture of young dreams and fears from the early woes of childhood and teen years into adulthood where these dreams and fears transform.

Her writing projects are sometimes serious – drawn from painful subjects and raw emotions – or they spotlight her silly side – pulled from humorous moments captured in photographs. Lauren is inspired to write from her love of nature and the marvelous wild world that surrounds her: the smell of the woods, the sound of a babbling brook, and the chorus of birds singing. Recent backpacking trips with her husband along the California coast and Sierra Nevada mountains have stirred up thoughts to pen about love, lost friendship, family, and the possibility that anything can happen. Hikes along the Paper Mill Creek remind her that life is fragile. From trout hatchlings to swallowtail butterflies, Lauren marvels at how the world is interconnected and every living thing matters. She hopes her readers will find a little nugget of delight, comfort, or understanding in her poetry and stories – some detail that resonates with them beyond her words.

Find Lauren Scot

baydreamerwrites.com
Lauren Scott Amazon Author page

About Robbie Cheadle

Robbie Cheadle is a South African children’s author and poet with 9 children’s books and 2 poetry books.

The 7 Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie has also published 2 books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.

Robbie has 2 adult novels in the paranormal historical and supernatural fantasy genres published under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle. She also has short stories in the horror and paranormal genre and poems included in several anthologies.

Robbie writes a monthly series for https://writingtoberead.com called Growing Bookworms. This series discusses different topics relating to the benefits of reading to children.

Robbie has a blog, https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/ where she shares book reviews, recipes, author interviews, and poetry.

Find Robbie Cheadle

Blog: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Blog: robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com

Twitter: BakeandWrite

Instagram: Robbie Cheadle – Instagram

Facebook: Sir Chocolate Books

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Want to be sure not to miss any of Robbie’s “Treasuring Poetry” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress. If you found it interesting or entertaining, please share.

Dark Origins – The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Anderson

Posted: October 27, 2021 | Author: robertawrites235681907 | Filed under: Uncategorized | 48 Comments

Have you read the story of the red shoes? This is the one fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson’s that I had a lot of trouble understanding as a young girl.

Overview

The Red Shoes - Hans Christian Andersen — Picture credit: https://www.voyaprenderingles.com/readings/stories/red-shoes

Karen is a little girl whose family is so poor, she has to wear thick wooden shoes during the winter that chaff her feet and make them red and raw. During the summer months, she goes barefooted. A kindly shoemaker makes Karen a pair of shoes from old scraps of red cloth. The first time Karen wears these shoes is on the day of her mother’s burial. An elderly woman driving past sees the little girl walking after the coffin and takes pity on her. She offers to take Karen into her own home and raise her.

Karen believes her good luck is attributable to the red shoes and develops a passion for shoes in this colour. The elderly lady, whose eyesight is failing, takes Karen to buy a new pair of shoes to wear for her confirmation. The shoemaker and Karen collude so that she can acquire a lovely pair of red dancing shoes. The shoes take over Karen’s thoughts and she wears them to her confirmation, dwelling on her beautiful shoes the entire time. When she comes out of the church, still wearing the red shoes that are the talk of the congregation, an old soldier puts a curse on her shoes.

The elderly lady starts to ail and is dying and relies on Karen for her care. One evening Karen abandons her and goes to a ball wearing the red shoes. Once she starts to dance, she cannot stop and on and on she dances for days and days. Eventually, in desperation, she begs the village executioner to cut off her feet. He obliges and makes a pair of wooden feet for her and a pair of crutches. Karen returns to the church but the red shoes appear and bar her from entry.

In the end, Karen dies and goes to Heaven where no-one cares about her red shoes.

My thoughts

This is a strange and scary story. When I was a girl I attended a convent and went to mass every Sunday. This story often used to plague my mind when it came to confession and I confessed all sorts of strange ‘sins’ to the Father because I was so worried that I’d been vain and made to much of my dresses. I was very fond of pretty dresses.

As I grew older, I wondered why Hans Christian Anderson wrote such a condemning story about a young girl who liked pretty shoes. Research has subsequently led me to understand that the author grew up in a stern and conservative society which condemned dancing, drinking, playing cards, and the wearing of bright colours that drew attention to the wearer. Karen’s sin is not just her vanity about the red shoes, it is also her succumbing to the sin and allowing it to undermine her ethics and morality. Karen choses to dance and ignore her responsibilities towards her benefactor thereby overruling her understanding of what is right and wrong. Having given in to sin, there is no turning back and returning to the way things were before, and her only redemption is in death.

Quite a heavy topic for a fairy story, but then most of the fairy stories are based on dark realities.

Origin

The origin of this story is not as dark as the theme of the story itself. Anderson named the little girl after his own half-sister, Karen Marie Anderson, who he despised. His half-sister was the illegitimated daughter of his mother. She was not raised with Hans but boarded out. It is believed that at one point Karen became a prostitute and Anderson feared throughout his life that she would re-appear and embarrass him in his new wealthier position in life.

The story was based on an incident the author witnessed as a young lad. His father, a shoemaker, was sent a piece of red silk by a wealthy woman to make a pair of dancing slippers for her daughter. His father used some of his own valuable red leather along with the red silk to make a lovely pair of shoes. The woman rejected them, saying they were awful and he’d spoiled her silk. Anderson’s father replied “In that case, I may as well spoil my leather too,” and he cut up the shoes in front of her.

Original Painting, Book Artwork for the story "The Red Shoes" from Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen: Good | Andrew Cox PBFA — Picture credit: https://www.abebooks.com/Original-Painting-Book-Artwork-story-Red/22561631855/bd

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Roberta has 9 children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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Roberta Writes – WordCrafter Where Spirits Linger Book Blog Tour featuring Christa Planko

Posted: September 23, 2021 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

It’s Day 4 of the WordCrafter “Where Spirits Linger” Book Blog Tour and we’re over at “Roberta Writes” where Roberta Eaton Cheadle interviews the author of the winning story in the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Christa Planko. Her story is featured in this paranormal anthology, along with the stories of 5 other authors. I hope you will join us to learn more about Christa and her story.

Welcome to my stop on the WordCrafter Where Spirits Linger Book Blog tour. You can find the other posts to date here:

Day 1: https://writingtoberead.com/2021/09/20/welcome-to-the-wordcrafter-where-spirits-linger-book-blog-tour/ hosted by Kaye Lynne Booth

Day 2: https://theshowersofblessings.com/2021/09/20/where-spirits-linger-book-blog-tour/ hosted by Miriam Hurdle

Day 3: https://pattysworlds.com/day-3-of-the-wordcrafter-where-spirits-linger-book-blog-tour-blogtour-wordpresswednesday/ Hosted by Patty Fletcher

Today I am delighted to feature Christa Planko, a co-contributor to the WordCrafter Where Spirits Linger Book Blog tour and the winning contributor with her short story, Olde Tyme Village.

Who is Christa Planko, tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a person who has always loved to write and edit. If you had asked me in grade school what I wanted to be when I grow up, I would have told you then that I wanted to become a writer. I was fortunate to fulfill that dream by becoming a professional copywriter. In my spare time, I also dabble in creative writing.