Welcome to the WordCrafter “In the Silence of Words” Book Blog Tour
Posted: July 5, 2021 Filed under: Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Review, Books, Interview, Plays, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours | Tags: Author Interview, Cendrine Marrouat, In the Silence of Words, Play, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 28 Comments
This week WordCrafter brings you a tour that is a little different, and I’m excirted to tell you about it. This tour is not for the usual novel or poetry collection, but for a play, In the Silence of Words, by Cendrine Marrouat. We are kicking things off today, right here on Writing to be Read, with an interview with the author which will tell us all a little more about this creative author and her latest release.
Kaye: What inspired you to create In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play?
Cendrine: The play is very loosely based on some major events in my life, including my mother’s suicide. I wanted to write something meaningful and inspirational to help or bring comfort to those who might be going through something similar.
Kaye: Why did you choose to write this tale in play format? How would it be different if you had tried to write it as a literary story instead?
Cendrine: Before the idea of the play was even born, I had tried writing short stories and a novel. I quickly realized that my style was at odds with those genres. I suck at descriptions, and much prefer focusing on short, “punchy” scenes that deliver emotions between the lines.
In the Silence of Words can only work as a play. Theatre encourages uncomfortable conversations while forcing introspection, lifting spirits, and bringing people together.
Kaye: What makes In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play different from stories following a similar concept?
Cendrine: The play is unique because of the number of challenging topics it deals with at the same time; and the way each unravels on its own and as a whole. Every reader will find at least one strongly relatable element that will give them an appreciation for life.
Kaye: In the Silence of Words was, in part, inspired by the haiku poetry form. Why do you think the haiku is such a powerful poetry form?
Cendrine: The haiku was not what inspired the idea for In the Silence of Words, but I used the same technique behind this wonderful poetry form to make the storyline more impactful.
The haiku is a very short poem of three lines that says very little but suggests a lot. It relies heavily on the unsaid to convey emotions and deep meanings. As such it is the epitome of the “Say less, show more” technique every serious writer uses to craft memorable stories.
Kaye: Most of your work focuses on the importance of embracing the world and situations around us. Why do you think it is important?
Cendrine: Because life only has meaning when we choose to accept the negative as well as the positive experiences we encounter. There are lessons to learn in everything. It’s up to us to decide, when we are ready, how fast or slowly we want to grow.
Kaye: What are your goals with In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play?
Cendrine: I want to invite people to view pain and loss differently. I want them to rethink their relationship with life, death, and everything in between. Losing loved ones is, of course, terrible, often leaving gaping wounds in our hearts. However, as main character, Cassandra Philip learns, there is a healthy, albeit liberating way to grieve and move on. It just (often) requires a series of distressing events to reach that kind of conclusion.
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Cendrine Marrouat is a French-born Canadian photographer, poet, and the multi-genre author of
more than 30 books. In 2019, she founded the PoArtMo Collective and co-founded Auroras &
Blossoms with David Ellis. A year later, they launched PoArtMo (Positive Art Month and Positive
Art Moves) and created the Kindku and Pareiku, two forms of poetry. Cendrine is also the
creator of the Sixku, the Flashku, and the Reminigram.
Cendrine writes both in French and English and has worked in many different fields in her
17-year career, including translation, language instruction, journalism, art reviews, and social
media.
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We have a great tour lined up for this thought provoking play. Join us tomorrow for a guest post by the author on Robbie’s Inspiration for Day 2. Then Wednesday, you can catch my review right here on Writing to be Read for Day 3. Thursday’s stop is on Roberta Writes with a guest post by the author, and we’ll be wrapping things up on Friday with another guest post on Zigler’s News. I do hope you’ll join us as we learn more about In the Silence of Words.
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Dark Origins – Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
Posted: June 30, 2021 Filed under: Dark Origins, Nursery Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes | Tags: Dark Origins, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, Nursery Rhymes, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Writing to be Read 79 Comments
Do you know the nursery rhyme Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush?
I remember it from when I was a girl. The girls used to hold hands and dance in a circle singing the lyrics and doing the actions.
These are the first two stanzas of the most modern version:
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning.
This is the way we wash our face,
Wash our face,
Wash our face.
This is the way we wash our face
On a cold and frosty morning.
The rhyme was first recorded by James Orchard Halliwell, an English Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collection of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales, as an English children’s game in the mid-nineteenth century.
The song and associated game are traditional in England and different versions are found in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
R.S. Duncan, a prison governor at HM Prison Wakefield in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England suggested that the nursery rhyme was about female Victorian prisoners exercising in the yard at Wakefield. A mulberry tree grew in the yard and women inmates would dance around the tree with their children and sing the song. The tree died in May 2019.
About the Victorian prison system
The Victorian prison system was created by men for men. Accommodation for women was usually an after thought and the penal system designed for them as generally a modified version of the men’s prison.
Women convicts were considered to need saving twice, firstly from their criminality and secondly from their deviance from expected female behaviour.
To this end, instead of being subjected to hard labour, women progressed through several disciplinary stages intended to put them on the path to reform. The stages were separate confinement for four months (men had to endure nine months of separate confinement), associated labour and, finally, a transfer to a female-only institution.
Prison authorities had to deal with pregnant and postpartum women. Lying-in wards and nurseries had to be created and the regulations relating to exercise, communication, and dietary provision had to be modified for such women.
Another possible interpretation of the rhyme is that it references Britain’s struggle to produce silk. Silkworms eat mulberry leaves and during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Britain tried to emulate the success of the Chinese silk production industry. Britain’s cold winters with frost proved to be to harsh for the mulberry trees to thrive and this hampered the development of a successful silk production industry.
The lyrics: “Here we go round the mulberry bush / On a cold and frosty morning” are thought to be a joke about the difficulties experienced by the industry.
About Roberta Eaton Cheadle
I am a South African writer specialising in historical, paranormal and horror novels and short stories. I am an avid reader in these genres and my writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, the Bronte sisters, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
I was educated at the University of South Africa where I achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. I was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.
I have worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and have written seven publications relating to investing in Africa. I have won several awards over my twenty year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.
I have been published a number of anthologies and have two published YA books, While the Bombs Fell and Through the Nethergate. I have recently published my first adult novel called A Ghost and His Gold which is partly set in South Africa during the Second Anglo Boer War.
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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See the WordCrafter New Beginnings Character Development Panel Discussion.
Posted: June 29, 2021 Filed under: Character Development, WordCrafter Press, Writing, Writing Event, Writing Tips | Tags: 2021 New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference, Character Development, WordCrafter Press, writing advice, Writing Tips, Writing to be Read 4 Comments
The 2021 Wordcrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference did not turn out as well as I had hoped, by any means. This year, we had a two-day event with a pre-event promotional and social day on Facebook to launch it. If you happened to attend any part of the event, I want to thank you for your support. For those of you who did not attend, and that is probably most of you as attendence was way down from the 2020 conference. I’m sure the pandemic had a lot to do with both last year’s and this year’s turn-outs.
Whatever the reason for the poor turn-out in 2021, I think we all still had fun just getting together and talking about the craft. We had a great group of authors, who jumped in and carried on without me when I experienced an internet outage, causing me to miss one full day of the conference. Let me tell you, as the host, that was really frustrating, because I didn’t know if things had continued on without me, or simply fallen apart, and I had no way to find out until I moved to another location where I knew I would have internet access for Day 2. But most of this great group of authors just picked up the ball and ran with it, even without their host to guide them. I guess it’s true that the show must go on.
It would be a shame to let all the hard work that myself and all of the wonderful authors who were kind enough to volunteer their time to present this conference go to waste. So, I made the keynote address by horror author, Paul Kane, available from the Conference Page, here on Writing to be Read or on WordCrafter’s YouTube page, immediately following the conference, and although the editing of the conference recordings has been slow, they will all eventually be released, as well.
The first of these has recently been posted to YouTube and can be accessed both there and on the Conference Page, as well as through the link below. It is the Character Development Panel Discussion, with authors Jim Nesbitt, Ellie Raine, Paul Kane, Chris Barili, and Mario Acevedo. It’s an interesting discussion, one that you’ll want to be sure and sit in on. You can even weigh in with your own thoughts on character development in the comments. And the best part is, it’s free!
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Announcing the return of “The Many Faces of Poetry”
Posted: June 26, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Thoughts on Meditation
By Arthur Rosch
My thoughts are not
I
more like I
am driving down a highway
while thoughts pass like billboards…
if I get to some remote area
billboards disappear
and the mind is quiet;
or…uh! there’s another one.
Hard to ignore
billboards
when they have such lush images
and the road is almost deserted
almost…damn! there’s another one.
Even this idea, this poem
interrupted me, got me up
from my pillow to write
about what thoughts are.
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Arthur Rosch is a novelist, musician, photographer and poet. His works are funny, memorable and often compelling. One reviewer said “He’s wicked and feisty, but when he gets you by the guts, he never lets go.” Listeners to his music have compared him to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Randy Newman or Mose Allison. These comparisons are flattering but deceptive. Rosch is a stylist, a complete original. His material ranges from sly wit to gripping political commentary.
Arthur was born in the heart of Illinois and grew up in the western suburbs of St. Louis. In his teens he discovered his creative potential while hoping to please a girl. Though she left the scene, Arthur’s creativity stayed behind. In his early twenties he moved to San Francisco and took part in the thriving arts scene. His first literary sale was to Playboy Magazine. The piece went on to receive Playboy’s “Best Story of the Year” award.
Arthur also has writing credits in Exquisite Corpse, Shutterbug, eDigital, and Cat Fancy Magazine. He has written five novels, a memoir and a large collection of poetry. His autobiographical novel, Confessions Of An Honest Man won the Honorable Mention award from Writer’s Digest in 2016.
More of his work can be found at www.artrosch.com
Photos at https://500px.com/p/artsdigiphoto?view=photos
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Why do I do it?
Posted: June 22, 2021 Filed under: Commentary, Nature writing, Photography, Writing Inspiration | Tags: Bears, Birds, Colorado, Flowers, Images, Inspiration, Mountains, Photography, Writing to be Read 29 Comments
Living in a rural area in the Colorado mountains provides a unique set of obstacles to be dealt with, including a forty-five mile commute, one way, on winding mountain roads which can be treacherous in winter weather conditions and clogged with tourist traffic in the summer that can turn a forty-five minute drive into and hour and a half. It can be nerve wrecking and even hair raising at times. And the wear and tear on my vehicles – proper maintenence and tires, etc… – due to all the mileage I put on them gets downright expensive!
I hate that commute and for several years now I’ve been asking myself why I do this live in this remote place. Three years ago, I hit black ice and rolled my car over on its side, totaling the car and raising my insurance, even though I had broken no traffic laws or violated the rules of the road. I hadn’t been driving too fast or being reckless. It was simply the road conditions that caused me to wreck. The cop almost landed on his derierre when he approached to issue me the ticket because the road was a sheer sheet of ice.
But it’s not just the commute. There are other unique difficulties that come with living off-grid, like hauling water and keeping generators and solar systems functioning, and chopping wood for winter fuel. Only in such remote locations does one have an internet outage during the writing conference that your hosting, causing you to have to stay at a hotel and miss one full day of events, as it happened during this year’s WordCrafter virtual writing conference. It can be tough when you don’t have the simple ammenities that many people take for granted.
Yesterday, as I was driving home from work, I saw something that reminded me of why I live where I live, in spite of the need to do that often treacherous and all too frustrating commute. As I turned off the highway and headed up the dirt road that I live off of, I came around a corner and saw a patch of brown, almost hidden in the meadow grasses below a heavily forested hill. At first I thought it might be a cow or perhaps a horse, as the folks who live just over the hill keep livestock, but it didn’t stand tall enough above the grasses to be of the equine or bovine persuasions. I slowed down to get a better look, and the sound of my car must have drawn the as yet unidentified animal’s attention, causing it to look up and allowing me a good look, as well.
I hit my brakes and then threw my car into reverse, backing to a spot off the road, where I had a fairly decent view of a large brown bear which was now watching me to see what I was up to. The bear watched me for a couple of minutes, as I dug in my computer case for my Kindle, the only device with a camera that I had available. Then, he must have decided I didn’t pose much of a threat and went back to whatever he had been doing in the grass before I came along. The grass still hid him partially, but I was able to snap several photos of him before he lost interest and decided to head back over the hill. I had a much better view as he ambled away, so I slid out of my car and walked to the back of the car to snap a few more shots. He looked back to see what I was doing, but didn’t seem to concerned, as he turned and continued on his way.
That’s why I do it. That is why I make the commute, and why I make lists and keep things stocked up, so I don’t end up making extra trips, and do all of the other things that are kind of a pain, but are necessary to accomodate my chosen lifestyle. That’s why I work so hard to grow a following and make money from my writing and publishing skills, so I won’t have to make that commute anymore.
Because living where I live, I get to see things like that big brown bear and many other kinds of wildlife that city dwellers miss out on. The bear I saw yesterday was only one of many wildlife sightings that living here has offered me. Many are just glimpses, such as the two foxes playing in a drainage pipe at the side of the road, or the bobcat running through the trees, but on a few occasions, I’ve even been afforded the opportunity to capture them in photos and created the wonderful images I’m sharing here today.
The flora and fauna surrounding my Colorado mountain home are what makes it all worth it. Beside road side wildlife, my mountain home offers opportunities to view and often, photograph many species of birds and plant life. Beautiful wild flowers and and magnificent bird photos inhabit my photo library, where the images of a small fraction of all the magnificent species to which I have been witness to, have been captured. Many encounters that I wasn’t able to capture through the lens have instead inspired poetry or found their way into stories that I’ve written, or other writings.
All of this serves to remind me of the reasons why I do what I do, and live where I live, strengthening my resolve to keep doing what I’m doing. My motto has always been “Endeavor to Perservere”, or keep on keeping on, and that’s just what I’m going to do, but now I remember why I’m doing it.
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Treasuring Poetry – If by Rudyard Kipling and The Listeners by Walter de la Mare
Posted: June 19, 2021 Filed under: Poetry, Treasuring Poetry | Tags: Poetry, Poetry Collection, Poetry Treasures, Robbie Cheadle, Treasuring Poetry, Writing to be Read 51 Comments
This month I am featuring my own favourite poems and a poem and picture from my forthcoming poetry book, Behind Closed Doors. I hadn’t intended to feature my own work this month, but sometimes life happens and so I am making the best of it.
If by Rudyard Kipling
I love the poem If by Rudyard Kipling because it is so inspiring and uplifting. The objective of the poem was to give his son advice and instruction on how to live a happy and successful life. I relate strongly to this advice possibly because I have two sons.
My favourite lines are as follows:
“If you can bear to hear the truth you have spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools.”
The first two lines above warn that his son must learn to endure his own words twisted by dishonest and harmful people in order to serve their own agendas. The second two lines explain the importance of being able to cope with failure and pick yourself up and carry on, even if what you fail at has been your life’s work.
Both of these situations are ones that everyone comes across in life – people who are willing to walk on you in order to serve their own purposes and failure. How we deal with the resulting disillusionment and disappointment has a huge bearing on our lives going forward.
I like to re-read this poem as a reminder to myself to stay strong and on my chosen path in life.
You can listen to my recital of this poem here:
The Listener by Walter de la Mare
In summary, this poem is about a traveler who comes to a house on a moonlit night and knocks on the door. He demands that the door be opened but he receives no answer.
We discover that the traveler has made a promise to return to the occupants of the house, but he has been prevented from doing so until the current time. It is too late and the occupants are gone. He clearly feels some guilt because he cries “Tell them I came, and no one answered, That I kept my word…”
I love this poem because of its supernatural undertone. There is a mystery that runs through the poem and you feel the whisper of ghosts in the imagined echoes of the listener’s words.
You can listen to my recital of this poem here:
Which of these two poems do you like best?
This is a poem from my poetry book, Open a new door.
The Thunderstorm
A deluge of rain tumbles from the sky
like a bucket turned upside down
the beggars impervious to its ferocity
faces impassive, no fear or frown.
***
Young boys stand on the roadside
eyes smoldering with hunger’s pain
need forcing them to continue standing
despite the lightening and drenching rain.
***
One holds a bedraggled cardboard sign
the other a tattered polystyrene cup
each hoping a passerby will pause
and give something to eat or sup.
***
A young mother stands shivering
an old umbrella sheltering her child
his eyes huge and frightened
he’s never laughed or even smiled.
***
In the middle of an intersection
an old man stands bent and alone
his head bowed in supplication to the torrent
he doesn’t complain, sigh or moan.
***
It’s rare to see the elderly on the street
poverty means many don’t live that long
my heart fills with a wrenching pain
for this anguished society to which I belong.
***
At the traffic light outside my offices there are a collection of beggars and window washers. One old man stands in the middle of the intersection. It is hard to extend any aid to him as it is not a good place to slow down. This motely crew is there every day, come rain or shine.
I have a new poetry collection coming out soon. Here is the cover, designed by the amazing Teagan Riordain Geneviene
About Robbie Cheadle
Robbie Cheadle is a children’s author and poet.
The 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 books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.
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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Mind Fields: Scammed Like An Idiot By Hackers
Posted: June 18, 2021 Filed under: Commentary, Mind Fields, Opinion | Tags: Arthur Rosch, computer glitches, hackers, Mind Fields, ransomware, tech support, Writing to be Read 5 Comments
Scammed Like An Idiot By Internet Hackers Vol 3a
“This is completely crazy!” I shouted at my smartphone. I was on the verge of a panic attack. The man at the other end, in his classic Mumbai accent, replied, “No no sir, it is not crazy. Your computer is badly infected. Do you see all these people who are using your private information?”
He pronounced Private with a “W”. Priwot.
My mouse pointer moved while my hands rested in my lap. The Command Window opened and showed an ominous list of white notations scrolling down the black background. Mumbai Man had control of my computer. I could see repeated iterations of the word “Trojan”
“See there,” he said. “See, see? See how many!” I had been fighting him for at least an hour and he was losing his composure. I was stubbornly refusing to capitulate. Is this what’s called Ransomware? So it seems. I couldn’t get rid of the guy. I couldn’t regain control of my computer until I paid five hundred dollars. Needless to say, I was upset. And I brought it upon myself by doing a stupid thing.
I had already been softened up. A week ago a demanding white pop-up window informed me that my computer had contracted a virus. In order to fix it I must call Microsoft at an 800 phone number. Riiight! And there are elephants on the moon. The pop up wouldn’t go away. No restart, no Task Manager, nothing. I shut down my computer by pulling the plug. When I rebooted I got on a treadmill of Windows fix-it bubbles that went nowhere.
After a couple hours of futzing with various remedies, including a non-functioning backup program, I realized that I had to reformat my computer. That was three days of work. Such work included ransacking all of my closets and bins looking for software. Labor intensive!
Everything was fine after the reformat, my computer worked for a week. Then that same white pop up window appeared and I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t want to reformat again! Like an idiot I called the phone number. Thus an ordeal began that went on for hours. Mumbai Man insisted that he represented Microsoft. He gave me an I.D. number. He gave me a phone number for…uh..Microsoft. I got another phone and punched that number. At the first ring a man with a Mumbai accent answered. “Microsoft Customer Service” he cheerfully announced.
The voice of Mumbai Man #1 created a bizarre feedback loop because as he spoke to me on MY phone, his voice sounded one desk removed on the phone that I had used to call…er…Microsoft.. I went through the motions, juggling two cell phones. I was assured by Mumbai Man #2 that Mumbai Man #1 was a legitimate Microsoft employee. His name was…uh… Sam Taylor. I wasn’t buying it but I was losing my grip on reality. These guys were slick! They had an answer for everything. They talked and talked and their reasoning was insane. Slowly they dragged me into the upside-down world of internet thieves. They could demonstrate to me how badly messed up was my computer. They told me that even if I bought a new computer the same thing would happen because hackers lurked in my network. They told me that every computer I ever bought from this day forward would be infected if I didn’t pay five hundred dollars.
“Sir, why are you having a broblem with this?” asked..uh.. Sam Taylor, as if this were a perfectly reasonable situation.
“A broblem?” I shrieked. “A broblem? Five hundred dollars and my computer held hostage is a broblem!. I can buy a new computer for five hundred dollars!”
“Oh, but sir, the new computer will also have the same broblem if you do not take care of this right away.”
Listen, I love the accent of Indians, be they from Mumbai, Kalikot or Kerala. I love the way they sound like they have three marbles just inside their lower lip. I have adored Indian culture my entire life. However these fellows conformed to a stereotype, this was happening in the real world and in the real world most Americans expect their tech support to speak with that lilting accent. Weirdly, it added a gloss of credibility to what was blatantly incredible.
“I’m sixty two years old,” I told the thief. “Does your mother know what you do for a living? That you rob old people on Social Security?”
“Oh, sir, you are a senior citizen? Let me talk to my supervisor and see what I can do about getting a discount.”
Hmmm hmmm count to five. “Oh yes sir, my supervisor tells me that we can make the rebairs for three hundred forty nine dollars and ninety five cents.”
I gave in. I let them install their shit on my computer. Their spyware, malware, ransomware buggy shit on my computer. I gave them my credit card number. I still don’t believe I did that. Sam Taylor had turned me over to Steve Smith who worked in Billing, and Steve Smith had then given control of my computer to Richie Logan. I watched my screen as program after program was installed, operated, then uninstalled. It was spooky! I was afraid to pull the plug on the modem and shut them out. By this time I didn’t know what to believe and I had the futile hope that these guys were actually fixing my computer.
My lovely spouse had a terrible virus experience once and contacted a reputable repair company who charged her a hundred dollars to remotely fix her computer. I phoned them while my computer chattered away, rolling files across the monitor screen.
“Unplug your modem right now!” This was the order from Jeffrey Everard in Austin, Texas. He works for OneSupport. They handle situations such as the mess I found myself in. I trust them. I think.
Jeffrey worked for an hour on my computer and charged me a hundred bucks.
Barclay Bank shut down my credit card and promised to mail me a new one with a new account number. Mumbai Men had yet to run the charge and they were not going to get my money. I called all my credit card vendors. I called the bank.
This was a horrible experience. Be careful. These crooks are skillful and incredibly persistent. They are glib, slick and ruthless. They are from India, Ukraine, Thailand, Poland, Belorus and the USA. They find your knowledge level with regard to computers and they know how to convince you that they’re not lying. They twisted my head so badly that I couldn’t locate reality after spending a couple of hours in their company. Did a little alarm go off at Microsoft Headquarters notifying them that my computer was infected? I posed this vision sarcastically and they said, “Yes that’s exactly what happened!”
I am now afraid to do any browsing on my computer. I’m afraid that any program I purchase to fight malware might be the vehicle bringing malware to my computer.
I made a mistake, a dumb mistake and it could have cost me much more. It will be a while before I can relax and use my computer normally. If ever.
My hands are still shaking.
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Arthur Rosch is a novelist, musician, photographer and poet. His works are funny, memorable and often compelling. One reviewer said “He’s wicked and feisty, but when he gets you by the guts, he never lets go.” Listeners to his music have compared him to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Randy Newman or Mose Allison. These comparisons are flattering but deceptive. Rosch is a stylist, a complete original. His material ranges from sly wit to gripping political commentary.
Arthur was born in the heart of Illinois and grew up in the western suburbs of St. Louis. In his teens he discovered his creative potential while hoping to please a girl. Though she left the scene, Arthur’s creativity stayed behind. In his early twenties he moved to San Francisco and took part in the thriving arts scene. His first literary sale was to Playboy Magazine. The piece went on to receive Playboy’s “Best Story of the Year” award. Arthur also has writing credits in Exquisite Corpse, Shutterbug, eDigital, and Cat Fancy Magazine. He has written five novels, a memoir and a large collection of poetry. His autobiographical novel, Confessions Of An Honest Man won the Honorable Mention award from Writer’s Digest in 2016.
More of his work can be found at www.artrosch.com
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Announcing the winner of the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest
Posted: June 16, 2021 Filed under: Fiction, Ghost Stories, Paranormal, Stories, Writing Contest | Tags: 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Where Spirits Linger, Winner, WordCrafter Press, Writing to be Read 6 Comments
The winner of this contest was supposed to be announced by the end of May, but as I explained in my last post of the month, all contest submissions were asked to make some revisions and I couldn’t determine a winner until that was done, so I’d have the revised stories to choose from. However now, that has happened. I have all the stories back with revisions and the time has come to reveal the winner.
And the winner is…
I’m happy to announce that the winner of this year’s contest is Christa Planko for her story “Olde-Tyme Village“. The winning story will be featured in this year’s paranormal anthology, Where Spirits Linger and Christa will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.
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Growing Bookworms: Handwriting skills for children, Part 1
Posted: June 9, 2021 Filed under: Growing Bookworms, Parenting, Writing | Tags: Growing Bookworms, Handwriting, Handwriting vs. typing, Robbie Cheadle, Writing to be Read 106 Comments
Why handwriting is still important
As technology becomes increasingly important in our modern lives, writing by hand with a pen has become less common. Writing on a computer is easy and allows us to move text about, delete and add text, and save sections in a separate place for future use. We are also able to access our writing from a number of devices. I access my email and blogs from all three of my laptops, both of my iphones, and my ipad. This all makes writing so much simpler, so why do our education systems still focus on handwriting? Why not let the children use laptops and ipads to write?
Cognitive benefits
Writing notes by hand improves language skills. Writing by hand takes longer than typing and forces the writer to slow down their thought process and consider the words more. When you write by hand you spend more time thinking about the structure of the writing, the spelling of words, and they way you are using them.
Writing information down also aids our memory. I knew this without consulting the research confirming that writing creates unique pathways in the brain causing people who take notes by hand to remember the content better than those who type up their notes. Like me, my oldest son, Gregory, came to this realisation on his own and writes copious and detailed notes. His effort and dedication reflects in his academic results.
Creative writing benefits
A lot of writers still use notebooks to record and flesh out their ideas by hand. When we write longhand our ideas flow better and we are less distracted by the need to keep editing our work as we go along. When we write by hand we follow the flow of the idea and leave the editing until later.
I write most of my poetry by hand, but I do type up my prose so I know the above is true. I just can’t stop myself from continuously editing.
My son, Michael, writes by hand. He has a book in which he writes down his thoughts and ideas when the spirit moves him. When it comes to school assignments, he writes his stories on a laptop and I am always amazed at how many more mistakes and errors he makes when using a laptop than when writing by hand.
Picture credit: https://www.spbooks.com/67-the-great-gatsby-9791095457428.html
Handwriting is less restrictive
This point links to the one above about writing by hand freeing our minds and creative processes from the need to edit. I don’t write my prose by hand but I do record my frameworks and basic ideas by hand. I like to use mind maps which set out my story process. I have noticed that Michael does the same when plotting.
Again, I must emphasis that using and electronic devise to brainstorm is fraught with distractions. These are our own fault as we have our social media, email, and other notifications coming through on our devices. Every time I get an email or notification from Facebook, it pops up on my screen and my eyes automatically go to the pop up and read it.
Handwriting is part of our identity and our culture
Our handwriting is unique to us and forms a part of our identity. Even people like me whose writing is difficult for others to read, still put our personal stamp on handwritten work (my writing is difficult to read because I cannot resist adding curls and whirls all over the place; my writing is a work of art).
Writing is also an important part of our culture and our development as a species, it is the foundation of our learning and progress.
If you are interested in learning a bit more about the role of handwriting in our lives and culture, Rebecca Budd has a lovely podcast entitled The Trio on Letter Writing which discusses this topic in detail.
Quotes about writing
I think of my drawing style like handwriting: it’s a mix of whatever handwriting you’re born with, plus bits and pieces you’ve pilfered from other people around you. – Roz Chast
Poets don’t draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently. – Jean Cocteau
Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the handwriting and then the look of the handwriting. – Patti Smith
About Robbie Cheadle
Robbie Cheadle is a children’s author and poet.
The 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 books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.
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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Mind Fields – The Windows Deluge
Posted: July 2, 2021 | Author: artrosch | Filed under: Commentary, Mind Fields | Tags: Arthur Rosch, Internet, Mind Fields, Progress, Writing to be Read | 7 CommentsMay 11, 2021
I have eighty two websites open on my computer. Right now. It’s a lot of info, and I barely know where to go next. All of it is Image. The text is merely relish on the photos and digital constructions. Every day that I sit at my computer or use my phone I am assailed by an overwhelming deluge of images. Who can discriminate within a field of overlapping network pages? There are so many things to look at!
Let me go from left to right at the top of my computer’s browser. I’ll read them off to you:
Lisa Witt’s Piano Lessons/Fredmiranda photography forum/dpReview camera review/.goodreads, literary opinion/Photoshop lessons/Ebay Tamron portrait lens for sale/two more Ebay pages/Youtube, archeology video/Smashwords, my book sales site/I have two pages of Inbox in the email pages that I use/ four windows open on Artsy, a wonderful auction site for artists/the Wiki page of photographer Diane Arbus. If you don’t know who she was, check her out, immediately!/National Geographic, always urging me to subscribe…I’ll stop there. You get the idea. You probably have your own plethora of open websites in front of you. What are your plans for today? It’s Sunday. My plans involve a lot of sitting in front of my computer looking at these open websites. At intervals I will swing my chair a hundred eighty degrees and practice piano scales. I usually check my email first but I haven’t done that today. I’m more curious about the reviews of a Canon camera that I want to buy. I sold my old camera using Facebook.
If I click on the little arrow at the top of my browser bar, I see yet another forty or fifty open pages. It’s insane! Everything is so interesting! Much of it isn’t worth the pixel density it’s projected upon. It may be interesting but it’s still Junk. That’s not my problem. I know how to avoid junk. I don’t use my phone for internet. I’m not a phone person. I’m a Desktop person. I like the size and resolution of my computer monitors. One of the monitors sits behind my digital piano where I can read music from its display.
It has occurred to me that much of what I do from day to day is incredibly cool and none of it existed ten years ago. That’s how fast the pace of change happens beneath our feet. It’s like living in a constant earthquake. The mental agility required to navigate the current epoch is intense. Do we have mental health issues? I wonder why. Every human being must now be a juggler, a dancer and respond to life as if riding a surf board. And you wonder why you’re so crazy.
You’ve heard the Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” It’s a riff on the historical knowledge that “interesting times” are times of trouble and turbulence. I view our own times as interesting beyond credulity. These are INCREDIBLE times and it’s a privilege, albeit a demanding privilege, to be alive in this cauldron of possibilities. China just landed its own Mars Rover on the red planet. Holy shit! What’s next? Where is the dividing line between science fiction and science fact? It keeps moving. I guess that’s my point in this rambling essay: living requires several kinds of agility. If you don’t move with skill you’ll be lost in the undertow of this great wave of information that keeps rushing onto the shores of our consciousness like a digital tsunami. It will take agility to survive. It has always been this way. It’s likely to be this way for the indefinite future.
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Arthur Rosch is a novelist, musician, photographer and poet. His works are funny, memorable and often compelling. One reviewer said “He’s wicked and feisty, but when he gets you by the guts, he never lets go.” Listeners to his music have compared him to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Randy Newman or Mose Allison. These comparisons are flattering but deceptive. Rosch is a stylist, a complete original. His material ranges from sly wit to gripping political commentary.
Arthur was born in the heart of Illinois and grew up in the western suburbs of St. Louis. In his teens he discovered his creative potential while hoping to please a girl. Though she left the scene, Arthur’s creativity stayed behind. In his early twenties he moved to San Francisco and took part in the thriving arts scene. His first literary sale was to Playboy Magazine. The piece went on to receive Playboy’s “Best Story of the Year” award.
Arthur also has writing credits in Exquisite Corpse, Shutterbug, eDigital, and Cat Fancy Magazine. He has written five novels, a memoir and a large collection of poetry. His autobiographical novel, Confessions Of An Honest Man won the Honorable Mention award from Writer’s Digest in 2016.
More of his work can be found at www.artrosch.com
Photos at https://500px.com/p/artsdigiphoto?view=photos
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