Robbie Cheadle started the “Growing Bookworms” blog series back in 2019. It was the first series that she brought to Writing to be Read, and is the longest running blog series to date on Writing to be Read. It has been a wonderful series, which originated with her Sir Chocolate series characters, and all the creative ways in which she encouraged her own sons to read and enjoy the world of literature. It has now grown into a discussion of children’s books and literature as the series progresses. Now, after six years, Robbie’s bookworms are grown and she is ready to move on with a new series, which I’ll tell you a little about below. But first, let’s celebrate the series by spotlighting all the fabulous banners Robbie has created for the “Growing Bookworms” series over the years with her darling fondant art as we bid “Growing Bookworms” farewell.
Growing Bookworms
(The fondant village is the latest banner. Click to the right for a trip back through time to the first banner with Sir Chocolate and Silly Willy back in 2019.)
Welcome “Robbie Reads and Cooks”
In her new blog series, “Read and Cook”, Robbie plans to share posts containing a book review paired with a recipe. I hope you will join us in welcoming this new and creative blog series for Robbie. I think it will be interesting to see what Robbie’s literary tastes cook up.
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October Release: Midnight Garden
17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare.
Contributing authors include Paul Kane, Ell Rodman, DL Mullan, Joseph Carrabis, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Denise Aparo, Jon Shannon, Zack Elafy, Paul Martz, Robb T. White, Abe Margel, Julie Jones, Molly Ertel, Peter McKay, Kaye Lynne Booth, Danaeka Scrimshaw, and M.J. Mallon, author of the winning story in the 2024 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest.
Scheduled for release on October 8th. Don’t miss the WordCrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour October 7 – 14, with guest posts and audio/video readings by contributing authors, and a great giveaway. So be sure to join us in sending this dark fiction anthology off right.
Tales From the Hanging Tree News
There exists a tree that is timeless, spanning across all dimensions, which absorbs every life as those who are hanged as they die… and it remembers every one. The stories within are a select few of the Tales From the Hanging Tree.
September saw the release of Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy. We launched it with a great blog tour featuring guest posts or excerpt readings from contributing authors. If you missed it, you can access each stop through the links in the tour schedule below. You can get your copy at your favorite retailer through Books2Read: https://books2read.com/Hanging-Tree
Tour Schedule
Monday Sept. 9 –Writing to be Read– Reading Excerpt by Joseph Carrabis & Guest Sylva Fae
Friday Sept. 13 – Writing to be Read– Reading Excerpt by DL Mullan & Guest Matt Usher
We also had a cool giveaway during the tour. The winners received a free digital copy of Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy.
And the winners are…
T.W. Dittmer
Merril D. Smith
C.E. Robinson
We also had promotional posts appear on the Joseph Carrabis blog site, so if you’d like to learn more about the anthology, click on the links below to see those posts.
They classified this 2015 Craig Zahler film as western horror-two genres you don’t see cross often. Although quite graphic, Bone Tomahawk has a slow, but necessary, build-up, which ends up telling a powerful but horrific story, with Kurt Russell as a strong lead character.
I admit, I grew up knowing Russell as a child actor, portraying roles in Disney films such as The Shaggy Dog and The Computer That Wore Tennis Shoes, and still to this day, I have a hard time buying into his tough guy roles like Snake Pliskin in Escape From New York or Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. But I must say that Russell, by the end of each of those movies, had become the character in my mind, and they were all characters I had come to like. In this film he portrays the tough small town Sheriff with a strong sense of morals, adding to the impact of the story through his portrayal.
The story builds slow, with an abduction serving as the inciting incident, sending the Sheriff and his compatriots into the desolate and wild landscape of the American frontier in pursuit, determined to bring the captives back or avenge them. The Sheriff and his elderly deputy are joined by a bounty hunter and theinjured husband of the abducted woman, and they all seem like unlikely companions, making for a adequate amount of tension and inner turmoil along the way as they strive to find and face an unknown enemy. What they find is worse than their darkest imaginings.
The setting may be the western frontier, but there will be no doubt as to why Bone Tomahawk was given the horror classification. The monsters that must be battled are of the human variety, but they are horrific and brutal, none-the-less. The scenes are graphic and violent, and sure to touch a nerve.
The ending was unexpected, but I’m not providing any spoilers for this powerful movie.
For horror fans who are not squeemish, this movie tells a impactful tale that will touch you at the deepest levels of your own humanity.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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This post is sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
When newlywed Rachel Corrigan agrees to accompany her husband, Tom, to his family estate before starting their lives together in the city, it is an opportunity to get to know him and to explore the manor where he grew up. But when Rachel arrives she finds Corrigan House strange, the nearby town empty, and her husband’s sudden cold demeanor increasingly frightening. She soon learns that one year ago, Tom’s first wife, Lavinia, took her own life in the twisted forest behind Corrigan House. The servants claim that her spirit resides there still, calling out from the wood, her voice as clear as the day she died.
In a desolate town where everyone harbors a secret, Rachel finds herself a prisoner in a place which is becoming increasingly treacherous. When the village priest is found savagely stabbed and on the edge of death, it becomes clear that the remaining townsfolk – witnesses to Lavinia’s demise – are being hunted down one by one. But Lavinia Corrigan is dead. Isn’t she?
I purchased a copy of The Hungry Deep, by J.L. Murray in a Freebooksie deal. All opinions stated here are my own.
The author does a good job of maintaining a level of tension and mystery throughout the steady unfolding of this tale. There is something amiss, but like the protagonist, Rachel Corrigan, you can’t quite put your finger on what it is, until little by little, all the pieces fall into place. The spirit of Tom Corrigan’s first wife, Livinia, haunts the memories of those who knew her. The entire town emptied out after her death and those who are left all bare secrets which may be best left buried. With murder, mayhem, and mystery, this tale promises to be one to keep readers on the edge of their seats, with a satisfying pay-off in the ending.
Mysterious and suspenseful, this gothic horror novel, will hold your attention until the last page. I give The Hungry Deep four quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
Welcome to “Chatting with the Pros”. Today, my September guest is author, publisher, and educator Marie Whittaker. Like myself, Marie likes to dip her toes in several different ponds at the same time, and she is a multi-genre independent author, associate publisher and project manager at WordFire Press, and director of Superstars Writing Seminars, and she teaches publishing courses to graduate students at Western State Colorado University.
I met Marie in her capacity at WordFire Press, when I reached out, requesting a Kevin J. Anderson ARC to review back in 2016. Since then, she has kept me in the loop as new WordFire books became available, so I was never at a loss for reviewing materials, and she has been an invaluable resource in lining up authors for the WordCrafter virtual writing conferences in 2020 and 2021, and in connecting with authors for interviews. I was privilaged to get in a few sessions with her at Western, where she shared just a minunte sampling of her vast publishing knowledge with students. But she always shared something that I hadn’t previously known and I always learned something useful from her and she’s prepared to share some great stuff with us here. I hope you will all join me in giving this lady a big welcome.
About Marie Whittaker
Marie Whittaker is an award-winning essayist and author of fantasy for all ages. She is the creator of The Adventures of Lola Hopscotch. A past finalist for an Indie Book Award, and many of her stories appear in various anthologies, including Weird Tales. She enjoys teaching about project and time management for creatives. Marie has worked as a truck driver and raft guide and is now Associate Publisher at WordFire Press and Executive Director for Superstars Writing Seminars. A Colorado native, Marie is a mom to two adult children and Grammy to one who is made of pure magic. Marie resides in Manitou Springs, where she writes and enjoys hiking, gardening, and renovating her historic Victorian home. Marie is an advocate against animal abuse, a dog mom, cat mom, and bunny mom, and habitually adopts rescue animals. Find more about her at mariewhittaker.com.
Interview
Kaye: You are the Associate Publisher and Project Manager for WordFire Press. How do you manage to juggle all the responsibilities of that job, directing Superstars, plus all you do instructing and organizing students at Western, and being a mom and an author yourself?
Marie: It really helps that I love what I do, have a great boss, and am supported by two excellent teams. I also have project management tools at work and live by my calendar for both my professional and personal time blocking. I love teaching. Being an instructor in Gunnison for the WCU Creative Writing Program is a big honor! My kids are adults and out of the house now, but I have a crew of furbabies that have all hit their geriatric years at the same time so it’s like I’m running a pet nursing home over here. Ha! I love these little souls.
Kaye: You are director of Superstars Writing Seminars, which is held in Colorado Springs, Colorado each February. Please tell us about the seminars. What can attendees expect?
Marie: Superstars is a drink-from-the-firehose, deep dive into the business of writing and our industry. As the “OG” conference on the business of writing, we strive to bring in professionals who teach at the top of their fields within our industry. But the best thing of all is Tribe. Superstars has strong tribe culture and our network is one of the best out there. The conference lasts for five days now that we’ve added programming on Sunday until noon. You can find out more at superstarswriting.com. As a special gift to your readers, they can use code MARIE1371 to register with a $100 discount.
Kaye: You have a page on your website labeled “Consulting for Creatives”. Can you talk about the things you do that would fall under author support? What kind of services do you offer?
Marie: I offer a lot in the way of helping creatives find the work/life balance. I love helping other creatives find ways to succeed with time management. I offer advice on different publishing plans, as there are so many ways to create a successful model these days. I mean, not everyone wants to deal the traditional publishing. Some authors want to self-publish. Some want to proceed into the industry with a hybrid approach, like me. I enjoy sharing resources and tools I’ve discovered in my career so far. That can be found, along with my rather dusty blog, at mariewhittaker.com.
Kaye: You are the author of “horror, urban fantasy, children’s books, and supernatural thrillers”. That is quite a combination. How did it come about that you write in this mixture of genres? What inspires you to write?
Marie: I started off writing horror and I’ll always be a horror girl at heart. Most of my fantasy work has horror elements woven through the themes. I created The Adventures of Lola Hopscotch when I got to a good place in my career and decided I wanted to do something to help kids. The series helps kids with bullying and since I was a bullied kid, the topic sits close to my heart. There are three books to that series and the second one, of course, is a children’s horror book. I couldn’t help myself. As far as inspiration goes, I get hit with new story ideas all the time and it’s mostly when a story idea lands at the same time as the title for the work. Once that happens, I’m off to start taking notes and creating the story.
Kaye: For your adult fiction, you write under a penname, Amity Green. Why did you choose to do so? What purpose does it serve? How did you select a new name for yourself?
Marie: That is such a funny story. I mentioned that when I got started, I was writing a lot of horror. I also wrote some romance. My kids were little back then. I decided on a pen name to keep my writing life separate from my home life for my kids. When deciding on the pen name, I was thinking it over while driving from my home town in Colorado to my new home in Austin. The highway took me through a little town called Amity, Texas. It was in the part of Texas that is green and pretty. So, I came up with Amity Green. These days, I write under my real name and am rebranding my previous nom de plume’s work. My LLC is still Amity Studios, which I intend to keep.
Kaye: Please tell us about your urban fantasy Fate and Fire series.
Marie: This is one of my favorite projects. When I was studying British Literature in London, I got the idea for a teenager who was doing the same thing. This character, Tessa, is a lover of antiquities, like me. Then the idea for an adventure happened and she ended up being locked in an old bookstore and changed into a living, breathing gargoyle. I was reading a lot of shapeshifter stuff back then, so… Anyway, she is one of my most loved characters. She’s tenacious and snarky, and her character arc is fantastic. She goes from being an orphan to an underground hero. I adore her story.
About Scales
“With SCALES, Marie Whittaker kicks off the exciting new FATE AND FIRE series in a big way. Wild, creepy, and deeply imaginative dark fantasy. Highly recommended.” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of V-WARS and GLIMPSE
When Tessa Conley earns a scholarship to study in London, she’s locked in an ancient bookstore and transformed into a living, breathing gargoyle in this thrilling dark fantasy tale of magic, myth, and destiny.
Kaye: Your supernatural thriller, The Witcher Chime, was a finalist for the Indie Book Awards in 2017. What is it that makes that book stand out?
Marie: This book is some gritty, supernatural, ghost story horror told in a loose thriller format. I got the idea for the story when I was driving a haul truck on a mine site and had to drive during graveyard shifts. Ironically, I wrote that book back when I was getting rights back to another project and I wanted to learn more about being an indie publisher. So, I decided not to send it to any agents and just publish it myself. I entered it into a few indie contests. I’m really happy I published this book myself. It proved to be the best tool for learning about what goes on behind the scenes in the publishing marketplaces.
Kaye: You have a children’s series, The Adventures of Lola Hopscotch. Tell us about the books and the series.
Marie: This project started out as just one picture book to help kids with bullying. I decided to reach out to a new audience by using Kickstarter. The campaign funded and we created Lola Hopscotch and the First Day of School, which was published the following year. The project did pretty well on Kickstarter and we ended up with enough money to have art created for another book. I was thrilled to write Lola Hopscotch and the Spookaroo, which is the kid’s horror book I mentioned earlier. After that, it seemed a trilogy was in order, so I wrote the last book in the series. There’s A New Kid, Lola Hopscotch! helps kids understand how to be kind to new kids at school who might be different in some way. We picked a platypus for the new kid. It was a great time. The trilogy was featured by the PACER Center for Antibullying and StandfortheSilent.org.
About the Lola Hopscotch Series
The Adventures of Lola Hopscotch is a children’s picture book series focusing on spreading kindness, meant for adults to read with kids in order to foster communication about sensitive social issues from an early age.
Kaye: You have something you’d like to share with readers connected to your Lola Hopscotch books. Tell us the exciting news.
Marie: Since the publication of the first book, adult and kid fans of Lola Hopscotch have been asking, “Where can we get the bunny?” I’ve never expanded an IP to include toys or games, much less plush! So, I didn’t really know what to do for the longest time. I finally decided to dig into some research. After all, I, too, want the bunny. So, we decided to embrace a new crowdfunding platform and began working with the good folks over at BackerKit. They are wonderful so far. We put together a fun campaign that you can follow right now. Here’s the handy link. I would LOVE it if you would follow the project and help bring Lola Hopscotch to life for kids to hold while they read.
Lola Hopscotch Plush Pre-Launch
Kaye: What is the single best piece of advice you can offer to aspiring authors?
Marie: Keep writing, and never stop learning. The moment you think you know everything there is to know about our industry is when you accept the career of a midlister, at best. Set expectations for yourself and your writing career so you can balance your life from the beginning. And lastly, it’s my experience that series sell better than stand alone books. Just food for thought.
My Review of Chupadogra
I recieved a digital ARC copy of Chupadogra in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.
Chupadogra: The Manitou Monster Hunters Club, by Marie Whittaker, is Book 1 in her Legendary Roots series. Its a delightful middle grade story about a young boy, Jack, who like the Jack in the fairy tale, is drawn to a magical item better left lie. That Jack is tempted by some magic beans, while this one is called by a magic book, but both magical items lead to adventures beyond their wildest dreams and battle a monster of myth. Like that other Jack, he must use his wits, (and the help of a former bully and his younger sister), to outsmart his opponent, who is bigger, and meaner, but not so bright.
Jack disobeys his grandmother, and lets out all his family secrets, along with a mythical cat-eating Chupadogra, so it naturally falls to Jack to capture the beast and save the cats of Manitou Springs. Lauren Vanbury becomes an unlikely ally in his quest, and they are joined by his kid sister, Gracie, who won’t be left out, no matter how hard Jack tries to exclude her. This story is full of surprises as readers learn the magical secrets right along with Jack and his friends, but there’s no spoilers here.
A charming middle grade mystery which carries readers into worlds of magic and myth. Delightfully entertaining. I give Chupadogra five quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Friday Sept. 13 – Writing to be Read – Reading Excerpt by Dl Mullan & Guest Matt Usher
The Giveaway
Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop you visit to let us know you were there and earn an entry in the giveaway for a free digital copy of Tales From the Hanging Tree.
About Tales From the Hanging Tree
Tales from the Hanging Tree is a wonderfully dark, themed anthology which revolves around an ephemeral and timeless hanging tree that absorbs the memories of all hanging victims. This WordCrafter Press anthology was created by invitation only and includes stories from authors Kaye Lynne Booth, Paul Kane, DL Mullan, C.R. Johansson, Joseph Carrabis, Sylva Fae, and Matt Usher.
Book Trailer
Inspiration for Death for Sale, by Matt Usher
Hanging is harder than it looks. In media, you’re more likely to find your average strangulation hanging. This belies a long history of hanging development. Strangulation is more of an amateur, homespun kind of hanging. Many works in this collection consider this to great effect. Others prefer the cleaner solutions. They both have their appeal.
The history of hanging, dating back to at least Homer, converges in different nations to a common point of development. An odd form of mercy: you see, there’s the short drop, the medium drop, and the long drop of the famed “long drop, short stop”. This is because the merciful version of the art of hanging causes death by cervical fracture long before the patient can enjoy asphyxia. Cleaner that way. No risk of having to watch the hanged make a drama out of the proceedings.
The body’s weight does all the work, leaving the executioner to the simple task of pulling a lever. The English, masters of execution that they were, with a long, long history of hanging innocents, had it down to an exact science. The solution is to make a table that compares the soon to be departed’s height and weight to an array of possible drop distances. This was, of course, to avoid the chances of decapitation with a too-long drop, or a drawn-out death by a too-short one. Jolly humanism at its finest. Wouldn’t want to cause a mess. Unless you happen to fall athwart the long history of botched hangings. But hey, you can’t get it right all the time.
You’ll find plenty to learn about the history and morbid dynamics of hanging in this collection. In my own contribution that takes place in the near future, despite everything I’ve said, I’ve opted for a traditional death by strangulation. It just has that particular frisson. Makes your skin crawl. Others have plumped for the quick and painless style. Why be shy about it when you’re spoiled for choice? So much for the how of hanging; this anthology explores why. Even the Hanging Tree has its reasons.
About Matt Usher
Matt Usher is an agender creature in the big city. Before this, they had no other fiction publications. They write as a critic at Compulsive Reader. They cherish a love of the music of language and a polycule who are the dearest people in their life.
They are the strange sort of being that makes spreadsheets for fun. This is often in service of automatic calculations and data storage for traditional roleplaying games, their most important hobby. Collaborative creativity is one of their most valued things.
They play bass and trumpet, like pro wrestling, and write extremely nerdy poetry. They are immensely neurodivergent and rather queer.
Excerpt from “12 Angry Dead”, by DL Mullan
About DL Mullan
DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology. Her lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins, debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally Ride Festival lecture invitations. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions. Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows, as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. Currently, Ms. Mullan’s artistic renditions are seen on book covers, blog sites, and various merchandise. As an independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate the way she perceives the creative arts.
As a writer, DL Mullan loves to stretch her imagination and the elasticity of genres. She writes complex multigenre stories in digestible and entertaining forms, be it poetry, short fiction, or novels. Her science, history, mythology, and paranormal research background is woven into her writings, especially in Undawnted’s Legacy Universe. Ms. Mullan’s creative endeavors are available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. She is also an award-winning poet.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at http://www.undawnted.com.
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That wraps up this stop and the WordCrafter Tales From the Hanging Tree Book Blog Tour. Thank you all for hanging around with us, and thanks to the contributors of the anthology for all their promotional efforts for this tour. Be sure to use the schedule above to go back and visit any stops that you missed, and don’t forget to comment so I know you were there and can enter you in the drawing for the giveaway. I’ll leave this open through the weekend and announce the winners in this month’s “WordCrafter News” on Monday, the 30th, so be watching for that. After all, you might be a winner!
There exists a tree that is timeless, spanning across all dimensions, which absorbs every life as those who are hanged as they die… and it remembers every one. The stories within are a select few of the Tales From the Hanging Tree.
Stories by Kaye Lynne Booth, Paul Kane, DL Mullan, C.R. Johannson, Joseph Carrabis, Sylva Fae, and Matt Usher.
Today my guest is author Sylva Fea, whose debut book is a short fiction collection, rather than a novel. She got her start writing for children and has published several children’s books. Let me introduce her, and then we’ll go on to the interview, followed by my review of her short story collection, No Fairytale.
About Sylva Fae
Sylva Fae is a married mum of three from Lancashire, England. She grew up in a rambling old farmhouse with an artistic family and an adopted bunch of dysfunctional animals. Her earliest memories are of bedtime stories snuggled up close to Mum to see the pictures. It was a magical time, those last special moments before dozing off to sleep would feed dreams of faraway lands and mystical beings. She spent twenty plus years teaching literacy to adults with learning difficulties and disabilities but now lives in Cheshire, juggling being a mum, writing children’s stories and keeping up with the crazy antics of their naughty rabbits.
Sylva and her family own a small woodland and escape there at every possible opportunity. Adventures in their own enchanted woodland, hunting for fairies and stomping in puddles, originally inspired Sylva to write stories for her girls. Whether it’s sat at the campfire in her own woods, or pottering around the beautiful local countryside, Sylva now finds her story inspiration being out in nature.
Sylva published her first children’s book Rainbow Monsters, in 2017. She has since published seventeen other children’s picture books, two chapter books, four illustrated anthologies, and has several short stories published in other anthologies. Three of her books have won Best in Category for children’s books at the Chanticleer International Book Awards and she’s seven won Reader’s Choice Awards. In addition to writing her own, Sylva has ghost written several books, and is an editor and writer for Mom’s Favorite Reads magazine and Connections eMagazine.
Kaye: I just released the first three books in my own children’s series, so I want to ask you to talk about being a children’s author briefly. How did being a children’s author come about for you? How did you handle illustrations? What were the challenges in writing for children?
Sylva: I started making up stories to entertain my children when we went on walks in our woods. Hunting for pixies and faeries hiding in the trees turned a boring walk into a woodland adventure, and it kept my girls amused. Later on, my middle daughter asked if I would write the stories down so she could read them herself, and then she demanded pictures to go with the stories. I obliged, of course, but I never intended to publish anything – these were just to entertain my children, and fun for me to create.
Sometime later, I joined Twitter (X) and my first follower was the amazing author, Lesley Hayes. She asked me to write a short story for her blog. I was daunted by the prospect, but gave it a go. Lesley convinced me to keep writing, she encouraged and supported me and gave me the confidence to publish my first children’s book. I discovered how much I loved writing stories and haven’t stopped since.
Kaye: You started your writing career with children’s books and then, moved on to short fiction for adults. How did that transition happen?
Sylva: Lesley Hayes encouraged me to join a group for indie authors (I now admin it) so I could learn from the more experienced authors. The group was putting together an anthology (You’re Not Alone) in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, an although it wasn’t my genre, I wanted to get involved. I enjoyed the challenge of writing a short story, and submitted more stories to our group’s anthologies. A couple of years later, I joined up with some author friends to run an online magazine, Mom’s Favorite Reads, which ran a monthly flash fiction challenge. This gave me the opportunity to write flash stories – another new challenge to master! I now help author, Melanie P Smith with Connections eMagazine, and contribute 1000-word stories for the picture prompt challenge. The transition from children’s stories to adult shorts was quite easy because the word counts are similar and my brain is programmed to tell a whole story in a few words.
Kaye1; I’m curious. Why did you choose to use a pen name? And how did you choose the name to use?
Sylva: When my children were little, I wanted to safeguard them from the world of social media, and so set up accounts under a pseudonym, Sylva Fae. This meant I could have a public account and keep my real name account for just family and friends. My youngest daughter’s name is Sylva – I love the name – and it means ‘of the woodlands’. Fae is a term to cover all kinds of faerie folk, so Sylva Fae simply means woodland faerie. I like names with meanings, and this fit with how I started out, telling faerie stories to my girls in the woods.
Kaye: You’re just now releasing your first short fiction collection, No Fairytale. Tell us about these stories. Do they have a common theme? What inspirations can you share with us?
Sylva: The stories are very random, both in subject, and in length. They range from 200-word flash fiction stories, to 8k words. There are a few familiar themes that appear; I often use my woods as a setting, and characters are based on people I know. I guess the common theme is me, because every story contains a little of my real-life experiences.
Kaye: You are a wife and mother, and you write, too. Do you have any advice for juggling family and writing life?
Sylva: All of my stories are planned in my head before they ever make it onto paper. I play around with ideas, and think through how the characters would react to different scenarios, while I do mundane tasks, like washing up and vacuuming. A boring chore becomes an opportunity to plan a story. I tend to work out dialogue while walking, so walking to and from school to pick up my girls also becomes a multitasking opportunity. I try to give myself a little time to write each day. Some days I get the chance to work on my laptop for a few hours, but on other days, I grab five minutes here and there, typing on my phone. Writing every day keeps me sane, but family comes first, so multitasking is the only way I can do this.
Kaye: Some of your books have won awards. Can you talk about the award-winning books? Which award do you feel is the most prestigious?
Sylva: My books have won sixteen awards over the years. It’s hard to pick the most prestigious, so I’ll pick my favourite. My very first book, Rainbow Monsters won in the children’s story category in the Chanticleer International Book Awards. Winning this award gave me a huge amount of confidence to become a children’s author.
Kaye: You also write for Connections emagazine. Would you tell my readers a little about that? What type of content do they print? And what type of writing do you do for them?
Sylva: Connections is primarily a magazine for people who love to read books. It features author interviews, new book releases, short stories and poems, but it also contains general interest articles and interviews. As I mentioned before, I write short stories for the magazine, but I also contribute articles, interviews and source general interest content. The magazine is always free to download, so feel free to check it out: https://melaniepsmith.com/emagazine/
Kaye: Do you plan to stick with short fiction? Or do you envision a novel in your future? Do you already have future works planned out?
Sylva: Now my children have grown up, I keep meaning to leave the children’s genre and write for adults, but I still have a ridiculous number of works in progress that I want to finish before I leave picture books for good. I have a YA story ready for publishing, and two adult novels on the go. The new challenge of writing a full-length novel is a little daunting but I keep telling myself, to just take one chapter at a time, and each chapter is just the same as writing a short story. We shall see…
Kaye: Please tell my readers how they can find you online, if they’d like to learn more about you and your books. (Include links here.)
Sylva: You can find me on most social media by searching for Sylva Fae, but I am stuck in my ways, and mainly use Facebook for connecting with readers.
This multi-genre collection of 36 tales is comprised of 18 short stories and 18 flash fiction stories. From crime in a quaint village to woodland horror. Go on a time-travelling mystery, or imagine the horror of encountering a real earworm. Discover magic and mayhem, mystery and adventure, and delight in tales of karma and vengeance. No Fairytale is an eclectic assortment of stories to entertain a wide audience.
My Review
I proofread a copy of No Fairytale, thus discovering both book and author. What follows is my honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.
No Fairytale is a collection of short stories by author Sylva Fae. Tales of magic and mystery with a hint of life lessons mixed in. With more than thirty short and flash fiction stories, this collection is a worthy read. Too many stories to review individually, but I’ll offer up here my favorites.
“The Magic Box of Apples” – A tale about the magic of kindness. This one touched my heart. Granny Apple has a magic box that is always filled with what she needs. But is it really magic? Peter Aspen learns the secret as this short tale unfolds.
“Hollin Hey” – I’m a bird lover, so it is only natural that I would fall in love with this story about an animal sanctuary and a recued crow. The touching ending makes it all worth it.
“No Fairytale” – The book’s namesake story is one of cheating and revenge. No Fairytale indeed! When this girl says it’s over, she means it.
“The Witch in the Woods” – A short ditty about a self-perpetrated deception. But this witch has good reason and good intention.
“Dwelling in the Shadows” – I love this story because of the somber tone and poetic language that could make one believe they have stepped into a fairytale. The story of a secret pact told so eloquently I had to read on to the end.
The collection, as a whole, is delightful; a mixture of short and flash fiction which has a little something for everyone. The characters in these stories are easy to relate to because we’ve all been there. Sylva Fae takes the ordinary and finds the magic in it. I give No Fairytale five quills.
Shadows of recent events follow James as he leaves Alaska, traveling through Canada with a group of strangers until a detour brings them to a house nestled deep in the forests of British Columbia. Haunted by his failures, conflict and mystery threaten to pull James into the very thing he’s been trying to run from.
When the fate of other people’s lives are affected by the choices James makes, will he take a side in a conflict he doesn’t fully understand, or will he look to the road again, distancing himself from any involvement, and the potential consequences it brings.
I purchased a copy of Darkness Within the Forest from FreeBooksie. All opinions stated here are my own.
Darkness Within the Forest is the Darkness series Book 2, by Mathew Neighbors. On the run from one surreal situation, James quickly finds himself in yet another situation in which choices must be made, even when he doesn’t fully understand the stakes. Or perhaps it is the reader who did not grasp the depth of this tale, because I certainly wasn’t feeling it.
The writing contained a lot of telling and minimal showing, making it difficult for me to relate with any of the characters, least of all the protagonist, James. It begins by offering up backstory, which will affect his behavior throughout the story. Perhaps that is where the tale should actually begin? Because the relating of the backstory, for me, seemed far more interesting than the tale that eventually unfolds.
While Darkness Within the Forest has the potential to be an interesting and entertaining tale, it falls short in structure and writing style. I give it three quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
Today, I am delighted to welcome talented poet and author, Elizabeth Gauffreau, as my Treasuring Poetry guest.
What is your favourite style of poetry to read i.e. haiku, ballad, epic, freestyle, etc?
My favorite style of poetry to read is free verse, although recently I’ve become quite taken with the duplex and the pantoum. I also enjoy reading persona poems, such as T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which has been a long-time favorite of mine. In addition, I enjoy narrative poems such as George Franklin’s Angel of Sorrow poems. (Travels of the Angel of Sorrow and What the Angel Saw, What the Saint Refused)
What is your favourite poem in your favourite style to read?
Because I’ve been reading more poetry collections in the past several years than I ever have before, it’s hard to pick just one favorite poem. I’m going to go with Patricia Smith’s “Now He’s an Etching.”
The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which is definitely not my favorite poetry form. However, Smith uses it so skillfully, I didn’t even notice the meter until someone pointed it out to me.
I strongly encourage readers to listen to Smith read the poem herself to get the full experience of it. https://poets.org/poem/now-hes-etching (Click on the blue speaker icon on the right side of the screen.)
Now He’s an Etching
of the sluggish, coolly vengeful way
a southern body falters. Muscles whine
with toiling, browning teeth go tilt and splay,
then tremulous and gone. The serpentine
and slapdash landscape of his mouth is maze
for blue until the heart—so sparsely blessed,
lethargic in its fatty cloak—OKs
that surge of Tallahatchie through his chest,
and Lordy, hear that awful moan unlatch?
Behind the mic, he’s drowning in that great
migration uniform of sharkskin patched
with prayer and dust. His cramped feet palpitate
in alligator kickers, needle-toed,
so tight he feels the thudding blood, so tight
they make it way too easy to unload
his woe. The drunken drummer misses right
on time, the speakers sputter static, but
our bluesman gravels anyhow—The moon
won’t even rise for me tonight / now what’s
a brokedown man gon’ do? That wretched croon
delights the urban wanderers, intent
on loving on this perfect underwhelm
of Negro, jinxed and catastrophic, bent
into his hurting halves. Inside the realm
of pain as pageant, woozy revelers raise
their plastic cups of fizz and watered rye
to toast the warbler of decay, whose dazed
and dwindling lyric craves its moonlit sky.
“Now He’s an Etching” made such an impression on me that I actually sent a “fan girl” message to Patricia Smith (to which she responded graciously with “thank you”). Then I wrote a puente in response to her poem. (I’ve sent it out to literary magazines in hopes of getting it published.)
I would be remiss if I didn’t include Smith’s commentary on her poem:
About this Poem
“I mourn the elders. I mourn the black bluesmen and women who could only move sanely through their hours with the help of heartbreak. I miss their stout southern stature, bodies resolute with a recollected woe. I ache for the gut gravel of lyric, the knowledge that my crooner is truly suffering, and that she or he has decided to allow us to suffer too. But many of the elders still with us have become millennial playthings, one of the many ‘woke’ things to sample and add to the cultural resume. Hopefully, this poem springs from that space.”
—Patricia Smith
Your new poetry book, Simple Pleasures, comprises of haiku. Is that your favourite form of poetry? Why?
No, it isn’t. My go-to is free verse. In this instance, though, haiku was the best form to convey the experiences I wanted to share with readers.
What is your favourite of your poems in Simple Pleasures?
I’m going to go with this one because it was inspired by the Green Mountains of Vermont, which is where my heart is.
back in the valley
peeling fence to lean on
Green Mountains steadfast
Tell us a bit about Simple Pleasures. What inspired the book? How did you choose the title and cover?
My husband and I were on a scenic drive to escape the awful mess the world is in, and a haiku just popped into my head. So I wrote it down (fiddled with it, of course) and took a picture of the scene which inspired it. My husband and I had fun going on the hunt for the wild haiku together, so we kept at it for a year, until I had enough poems and photographs for a collection and had covered all four seasons. Now that the book is finished, I miss those hunts!
The title Simple Pleasures refers to the simple pleasures of life, which never fail to restore my equilibrium in difficult times. The subtitle, Haiku from the Place Just Right, refers to the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” which was part of my childhood, probably from church camp. Simple pleasures and simple gifts are synonymous to me, so the title and the subtitle seemed just right!
As far as the cover went, I wanted something that would show up clearly in an online thumbnail, which is why I went with a saturated color for the background. The branch of flowering crabapple spoke to me as having a haiku feel to it in its simplicity.
My review of Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right
Picture caption: Cover of Simple Pleasures featuring a spray of pink blossoms against a dark blue background
Simple Pleasures is a collection of delightful haiku written about a variety of different places that have moved the poet to write due to their beauty, family connection, or historical meaning. Each poem is accompanied by a gorgeous colour photograph (I read the ebook). As a South African, I found this book to be a wonderful visual and literary tour of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
One of my favourite poems in the collection is as follows: “grey heavens, grey sea goldenrod out of context lighthouse bears witness”
This short collection of 53 poems will fill your heart with joy.
Picture caption: Elizabeth Gauffreau author photograph
Elizabeth Gauffreau writes fiction and poetry with a strong connection to family and place. Her work has been widely published in literary magazines, as well as several themed anthologies. Her short story “Henrietta’s Saving Grace” was awarded the 2022 Ben Nyberg prize for fiction by Choeofpleirn Press.
Liz has published a novel, TELLING SONNY: THE STORY OF A GIRL WHO LOVED THE VAUDEVILLE SHOW, and a collection of photopoetry, GRIEF SONGS: POEMS OF LOVE & REMEMBRANCE. Her latest release is also photopoetry: SIMPLE PLEASURES:HAIKU FROM THE PLACE JUST RIGHT. She is currently working on a novel, THE WEIGHT OF SNOW AND REGRET, based on the closing of the last poor farm in Vermont in 1968.
Liz’s professional background is in nontraditional higher education, including academic advising, classroom and online teaching, curriculum development, and program administration. She received the Granite State College Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018.
Liz lives in Nottingham, New Hampshire with her husband.
About Robbie Cheadle
South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.
Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/
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This segment of “Treasuring Poetry” is sponsored by WordCrafter Press and the Poetry Treasures series.
How does a farm boy and son of a poor country preacher become one of the world’s greatest naval commanders, a hero to one nation, and a pirate scourge of the Spanish Main?
July 1557. One month after England’s entry into the Anglo-French war. A world where kinship and patronage are as important as national identity.
Follow the 17-year-old Francis Drake into a cutlass-slashing, cannon-blasting sea raid as he joins his cousin John Hawkins in cutting out one of the Hawkins’ ships, and rescuing its crew from French captivity.
One raid will create a legend.
Please note that Retribution is a short story. This is bridge story between two upcoming novels, Adventures of Francis Drake–Sic Parvis Magna and Adventures of Francis Drake–First Blood.
I recieved a digital copy of Retribution, by Paul Jariabek in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Retribution is a short story, (about 23 pages), which can be read in a single sitting. In fact, I read it while waiting during a dental visit.
Let me start by saying that this is not a genre that I would normally pick up, even though it is historical fiction, although I did enjoy the swashbuckling antics of Pirates of the Carribean. It is the tale of a rescue mission and subsequent battle during the Anglo-French war in 1557. Readers are privy to the reasoning and planning of the raid to retrieve a stolen ship, and the fast moving execution of the plan through the eyes of young Francis Drake, a young man trying to prove himself and find his place in the world.
A fast-paced quick read, that will make you want to read the stories it bridges. It is obvious that the author has done his research from his realistic descriptions. I give Retribution four quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
