My Tuesday guest today is the very lovely crime mystery author, Sally Spedding. Sally has come along today to share an experience so without further ado let’s go over to Sally.

FEAR IS THE KEY

by

Sally Spedding 

Four years ago in November, while driving down to our bolt hole in the Pyrenees, Jeffrey, my late artist husband, decided that the eerily flat landscape around Beaumont-sur-Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire would be ideal for sketches and photographs to help with new work on his current theme ‘Deserted Fields.’

Fine, except that the lane he chose to take off the D338 was barely wide enough for our normal-sized car and seemed to become yet more narrow with each tight bend. Yes, I sometimes suffer from claustrophobia – don’t ask – but this wasn’t a good situation should anything be coming in the opposite direction.

I became a tad agitated, especially when he found an even meaner turning off and parked in its overgrown hedge. Having clambered over the gear stick and my temporarily empty seat, he was off, bobbing away into the distance, car keys in his pocket.

Grounds for divorce, I thought, feeling trapped and terrified by the thick silence of a dead, wintry afternoon. Yes, I could have gone with him, but my computer, several hefty writing pads and research files were in the boot. A no-brainer.

I often say to aspiring crime writers that ‘nothing is wasted,’ so, as the doleful minutes passed, I took a closer look at my surroundings and suddenly spotted a strange looking, tilting shrine in another section of recently trimmed hedge. With no visible commemoration, I wondered about its significance, also about the seemingly deserted farmhouse behind it, whose yard was filled with huge tractors in varying stages of decay.
‘Was anyone living there?’ I asked myself, feeling increasingly vulnerable. If not, who had lived there? And then, by the time I saw my flush-faced husband bobbing back up the lane, I knew.

Three years later, in 2019, Downfall, the first in a series featuring 20-year-old Delphine Rougier was published by Sharpe Books. While dreaming of one day becoming a gendarme, she has to work as a hotel chambermaid to support her parents, each crippled by a shocking secret. Delphine’s grim discovery in one of the bathrooms she has to clean, leads her into a world of danger and betrayal in which the past must at costs, stay hidden.

In The Devil’s Garden out just now, Delphine is training to be a gendarme in the Corrèze department, when she stumbles upon re-wilding fanaticism and treachery in high places, putting her life and those of others in the gravest danger.

So, thank you, Jeffrey. And by the way, we still stayed together!

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Wow, great blog, Sally. Thank you so much for sharing that with us all. It just goes to show how as writers we can make every experience count.

Now it’s time to find out a little more about Sally.

 

Author Bio – Sally Spedding 

Born in Porthcawl, Sally studied sculpture before words took over. Her poetry and short stories continue to be widely published – most recently in two CWA anthologies – exploring themes of betrayal by both people and places. Seeds for her fifteen crime thrillers beginning with Wringland set in the haunted fens, and most recently, The Devil’s Garden, set in France. Fourth in a seven-book deal with Sharpe Books. She has twice won and adjudicated the International Welsh Poetry Competition, is a CWA, Crime Cymru and Mystery People member, and was married to the late artist, Jeffrey Spedding. She still divides her time between Wales and the equally inspiring Eastern Pyrenees.

Find out more about Sally’s writing by clicking here.  

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If you’d like to purchase any of Sally’s books then click on the following links.

The Devil’s Garden 

The Nighthawk

Downfall

Bloodlines

Death Knell

Ghosts From The Past

Poet, Eileen Carney Hulme, is my first challenger of 2020 to take up the challenge to write a Haiku on ‘Patricia’s Pen’ and what a beautiful haiku it is too.

Keep sending in those Haiku and stories in less than 100 words. Submit online here.

I’m pleased to welcome Mark Anthony Smith as my Tuesday guest. Mark is becoming a regular visitor on ‘Patricia’s Pen’ as he’s been featured with his story ‘Stick’ and his Haiku when responding to my writing challenges. He’s here now to talk about his writing, and in particular, inspiration. So without further ado, it’s over to Mark.

Writing and Inspiration

Mark Anthony Smith 

I’ve just finished my Novella but I can’t talk too much about at the moment. However, there was something on the nature of love that kept me thinking. It took me three or four false starts to achieve the story because the narrative voice wasn’t quite right. I’d been agonising over it since February or March of 2019 but it’s finished now and left me quite bereft of ideas.

This is where my ‘binge reading’ comes into play. I will read anything and everything to store up and fire that internal rhythm again. The hum might come from ‘word play’, ideas, or observations. Sometimes, it’s the poetry in song lyrics. I like putting two words together with the aim of creating a dissonance or harmony. A piece of my writing often arises from working this way.

When writing Haiku, this come from observation. It sometimes starts with a thought or feeling. Memories are always a good catalyst. These reminisces are then jolted by reading or listening to music.

My flash fiction pieces, ‘She Opens Doors’, published with Nymphs, was observation triggered, while ‘Chitter Chatter’, published by Spelk, arose from working in The NHS and reading H P Lovecraft.

I like not being able to immediately understand a piece of writing. Sometimes, I use it to fire my own rhythmic patterns of thought. Studying Social Sciences at Degree level really paid off for me too as I feel better able to formulate questions and make connections between two or more ideas.

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Thank you for sharing how you gain your inspiration, Mark. I’m sure that many of my readers will relate to a lot of those ways. For me, my biggest inspiration comes from walking around my local park and lake, visiting National Trust properties, and I need to have classical music on in the background when I’m writing.

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And now to find out a little more about Mark Anthony Smith.

Mark Anthony Smith was born in Hull. He’s been an avid reader from an early age. After leaving the army he studied English to AS Level at Suffolk College and later started an English Degree at Hull University. His writing career began after winning ‘Star Letter’ with Writing Magazine. Later that same year he was commended by Writers’ Forum magazine for his Haiku, ‘Hearts of the matter.’ This encouraged Mark to publish a book of the same name.

Further successes followed with an Anthology and CD for Homelessness. But things spiralled once he took to Twitter. Since joining Twitter, he’s been published in Spelk and Truly U and has poems or short stories appearing in The Cabinet of Heed, Detritus, Nymphs and Pink Plastic House. If he gets stuck for ideas, he binge reads to start an internal hum of creativity.

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You can purchase Mark’s ‘Hearts of the Matter’ on Kindle and paperback from Amazon

You can find Mark on social media by clicking on the following links.

Facebook

Twitter

STORY AND HAIKU CHALLENGE

Time to get those pens and pencils moving and fingers clicking on the keyboard…

‘Patricia’s Pen’ is open for submissions to ‘Write a Story in LESS than 100 words’  along with the Haiku challenge. Previously published work welcome. 

See HERE for full guidelines and to submit online.

 

POSSIBILITY OF AN ANTHOLOGY IN PAPERBACK

 

Just a thought to those of you that are hoping to be published on ‘Patricia’s Pen and to those PREVIOUSLY published on here – how do you feel about the possibility of an anthology in paperback format containing your stories and poems on Amazon?

It would be published under my imprint White Wings Books with an ISBN number. This means it could then be added to your ALCS claims. What do you think? I’m not sure I can do it yet but if enough writers are interested then I’ll do some research later on in the year. Let me know your thoughts – HERE

 

 

I hadn’t intended publishing any more Story or Haiku challenges until 2020 but this beautiful haiku popped into my Inbox on the 30th December 2019 from poet, Liz Byfield, and well, it just couldn’t wait. It had to be published today.  You’ll see why…

So here we are, almost at the end of 2019. I thought I’d share a few of my highs for the year.

In February 2019 I graduated as a Master in Creative Writing (Merit) with the University of Brighton. This was a dream come true as I left school at fifteen to help support my family. After gaining my Bachelors in 2014, to become a Master was icing on the cake.

Later in July, my youngest son graduated at Warwick University with MMaths (Distinction) making me a very proud mummy.

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Now for some publication highs.

Poetry 

Five poems were published in Reach Magazine (Indigo Dreams Publishing)

Soulmates
Lady of the Woods
Castles in the Sand
Leda’s Recompense
Mother’s Love

‘Witches’ Exhibition’ was chosen to be included in Gloucester Poetry Society’s anthology – Magic theme.

Poems selected to be included in collections with Hedgehog Poetry next year are:

Heavenly Heather
Mother’s Love
Beanz Meanz Heinz

Short listed

White Hunter – Poetry (Swanwick Writers’ Summer School 2019)

Sherry and Sparkly (Conversational Poetry with Maureen Cullen) highly commended with Hedgehog Poetry Press

Short Stories published in anthologies

Asylum – The Leicester Writes Short Story Prize 2019

 

Winter Solstice – A Feast of Christmas Stories (Unwrap A Sussex Tale)  (Chindi Authors)

 

The biggest high has to go to Hedgehog Poetry Press – I was one of the winners in Nicely Folded Paper – Deux Competition.  The prize – my poetry pamphlet ‘Taxus Baccata’ is to be published in 2020, hopefully March.

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In 2019 I also featured on various blogs with articles and interviews. These may be read on the links below.

Interview May 2019 – Papers Pens Poets 

Article – House of Grace – A Period Drama – July 2019 – SchoolsHistory.Org.Uk

Interview – Meet the Author – August 2019 – Curled up with a good book 

Interview – Interviewing Patricia M Osborne – August 2019 – Isabella Muir.com

Saga Saturday – House of Grace was Born – August 2019 – Rachel Brimble Book Blog & Updates

What Books Mean to Me – October 2019 – Chandler’s Ford Today 

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2019 also brought two new additions to ‘Patricia’s Pen’

Tuesday Guest Feature  and The story and haiku challenges.

Guests featured in 2019

Willow Woods – Elizabeth M Hurst – Stephen Cope -Rosemary J Kind – Meryl Lawrence  Val Penny – Lynette Creswell – Sue Wickstead – Geoff Parkes – Michelle Dunbar – Anita Hunt MA

Other guests featured in 2019 

Lexi Rees – Colin Ward – Rosemary Noble – Angela Petch – Carol Thomas – Roland Chesters – Claire Baldry – Isabella Muir – Hugh Carey with Rich – Allison Symes

Watch out for more guests in 2020 including:

Madalyn Morgan – Sally Spedding – Mark Anthony Smith – Michael Sanchez

Fin Gray – Elizabeth Gates – Deborah Edgeley – Raine Geoghegan – Kellie Butler

And that’s just for the first quarter of the year.

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Keep those stories and haiku coming in as they’re ideal for coffee break reads

Check the online guidelines and submit online 

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And I’m saving the best for last – watch out for UPDATES on ‘The Coal Miner’s Son’

Also to come later in the year is a newsletter so you can subscribe to keep up-to-date. It will also offer rewards for your loyalty.

That’s all for now except to say Thank you for being loyal followers and …

 

 

 

 

Following this morning’s story from Phil Clinker, ‘Patricia’s Pen’ will take a break from the Story and Haiku Challenges and Tuesday Guest Feature until the new year.

Before the new year I intend to do a round-up of 2019 and what’s to come in 2020.

If you get a chance over the holidays then why not have a go at one of the challenges and send it in for consideration on the link below.

Submit 

And if you get a new Kindle tomorrow and looking for a great read over the holidays – don’t forget House of Grace. The Coal Miner’s Son is coming in 2020.

And don’t forget to read today’s story from Phil Clinker with The Old Man.

Our final story challenger for 2019 comes from Phil Clinker. Phil’s response to the challenge comes in the form of ‘The Old Man’ which you can read below.

Christmas Day. Late morning. The old man pulled the blanket up to his chin to keep the cold at bay. He was freezing, his bones ached and teeth chattered. He’d endured a rough, sleepless night, and needed to make up for it. If only he didn’t feel so desperately cold …

and lonely. He sighed. Old people should never be alone at this time of the year, he thought, wiping a tear from his eye as he snuggled further into his bed.

Outside, Prancer and the others chewed on carrots, unaware of their master’s depression.

95 words

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Thank you for that, Phil. I love how you’ve used Santa as a metaphor for all those poor old people out there suffering alone.

No one should be alone at Christmas, unless they want to be. We need to take care of our old folk. And of course at this time of the year it is also worth thinking about those poor homeless people, cold and lonely on the street.

Click on the link below to see how you can help a homeless person this Christmas. What better gift?

Let’s end homelessness together. 

 

 

The Oak and The Mistletoe

To the ancient druids the oak tree was sacred. An English oak was more sacred, and if it was an English Oak that had accepted mistletoe, that was the most sacred of oaks.

Ancient druids gathered in the grove of oaks on Winter Solstice when a special ritual was performed. The chief druid climbed the oak and lopped the mistletoe which was caught in a white cloak by the other druids. During the ceremony two white bulls were sacrificed and mistletoe was later presented at the altar to the earth goddess to bring ‘fertility to the spirit of the earth’(Paterson, 1996). The white berries signified the sun god’s semen.

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On this Winter Solstice it seems like the perfect time to share my poem ‘The Sacred Tree’. ‘The Sacred Tree’ forms part of my collection about myth, folklore and legend around trees which I plan to publish in 2020.

The Sacred Tree

In a subtle seduction,
Oak welcomes
Mistletoe’s seed.

Evening reddens
the sky as drums beat
to a crescendo.

Entering the grove of oaks,
wreath-crowned druids process
in gold, white, red,
clutching staffs.

One trails, bent,
a stringy silver beard falls
to his knees. He rings a bell.

Seers surround
the sun-god tree,
ivory candles ignite
one by one,
flames flit
in the breeze,
shadows flutter.

Drums mute.
Crickets chirp.
A snowy owl screeches
from a distant trunk.
Heads rise.
Deep breaths echo.

Priest, in white, ascends
the oak, unsheathes
the golden sickle strapped
to his back,
lops the stem
bearing milk berries.

Brothers clothed in gold catch
the twig in a cloak.

Drums pulsate,
beasts bellow,
eyes focus
on two white bulls
led by the horns.

A red-robed butcher
grips his blade, slits
one bull’s throat
and then the other.
Crimson gore spurts
into the vessels,
metallic stench rises.

Drums cease.

Mistletoe glazed
with bulls’ blood
is blessed, offered
before the altar.

Sun-god’s gift of semen
is embraced
by the earth goddess.

Patricia M Osborne © 2018

Published with Ink Drinkers Poetry, Issue 4 (2021)

I am joined today by the lovely author, Willow Woods.  Willow has come along to chat about her writing journey. 

Thank you, Patricia, for inviting me to do a guest blog!

It is a delight to have you over here, Willow. Without further ado, it’s over to you. 

 

My Writing Journey

by

Willow Woods

 

I fell in love with writing in junior school when I first took part in a creative writing class. I’d always loved reading and it was the only subject I was advanced at for my age. When I was in lower school I spent my time selecting books from the upper school library not realising I was doing anything wrong, however, the teachers were not happy when they found out. At first, writing was a fun hobby but when I started secondary school, I borrowed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s book In the Hands of the Goddess and that’s when I made the decision that I wanted to be a writer. The problem I had then was careers in creativity were never pushed – I always assumed I’d do a 9-5 job and that would be that.

In Year 10 I began working on two novels, Where I Belong and The Shadow Courtesan. I finished the first draft of Where I Belong shortly that year and The Shadow Courtesan (previously titled ‘Changes’) in Year 11. Over the years both books went through rewrites with the material changing drastically as I got older. After my nan died in 2015, I began work on the final draft for Where I Belong. Unfortunately, at this time, I was made redundant from a job I loved and went through a health scare.

Once I was in receipt of my completed manuscript, I attempted to go down the traditional route of publishing, i.e. searching for an agent. However, this was without much success as the message fed back to me was as my novel wasn’t part of a series it was less appealing to the market.

Finally, in 2018 I began researching into self-publishing and seriously considering taking the route as an indie writer. I was stuck in a job I absolutely hated and was going through another health scare. Although it was a horrible time, those two aspects gave me the motivation to do what I wanted to do. Why should I have to work in a 9-5 job because that’s what we consider the norm? We literally work most of our lives and get to enjoy so little. I wanted to enjoy my life and do something that made me happy – as long as the bills were paid, did my job matter?

So, I took the plunge! I quit my job (best. feeling ever), found a part-time job in a place similar to where I was made redundant and I’m now so lucky to have two jobs I totally love. In December 2018 I finally published my first novel, Where I Belong. I was so excited! Especially when I got sales notifications through! I was on such a high.

Then. Disaster…

 

After ordering copies for events for 2019 I found out that the editor hadn’t edited properly. When discovering my book had errors, I cried. I’d spent years working on Where I Belong; it’s literally my baby! To then find someone I’d hired hadn’t done their job –  I was left with printed copies stacked up in my sitting room… and had no idea what to do. I’d love to have been able to write them off, absorbing the loss; but couldn’t afford to do that, even if I hadn’t quit working full-time.

I immediately set about looking for an editor. Luckily I knew someone close to me who was qualified to do the job. We’d previously made a point not to work together to ensure our relationship didn’t grow awkward, but in this instance they agreed to help, and saved me! That just left me with the predicament of what to do with the copies I’d had printed.

I had no choice but to take them to events. I decided when selling my copies that honesty was the best way so whenever I spoke to people about the book I disclosed the inadequate editing. As a thank you to  my readers for purchasing, I created vouchers. This means, whenever someone buys a physical copy of my novel, they also get a free eBook version which thankfully is error free. I’m excited that now the only books containing errors are the ones bought from me. Amazon copies are clean and hopefully when they start appearing in more bookshops (working on it!) these will be clean too.

The past year has been a huge learning curve. I’ve given talks at events (and was invited to speak at several, which was a weird and amazing feeling!) I learnt to really look into services and not just take someone’s word that they are who they say they are. I spent six months researching editors/proof-readers for The Shadow Courtesan and once it was edited sent several copies to readers to make sure they didn’t find any errors.

The best thing about this year though has been going to different events (comic cons!) and selling at them, meeting people who will actually be reading my book. One woman bought a copy and came back a few hours later to say how she’d started it and was loving it! I’m such a pessimistic person so that was just an unbelievable moment.

I’m glad I took the plunge and (as cheesy as it sounds!) followed my dream! Tamora Pierce is my favourite author to this day (and In the Hands of the Goddess my favourite book – it was with me at my wedding and my nan’s funeral). I wonder if I’d ever have wanted to become a writer if I’d never read her books (thankfully I won’t know!)

Thank you again Patricia! 😊

A pleasure, Willow.  Thank you for sharing your writing journey with my readers. What a hard lesson you had to learn but I am pleased that you were able to find a solution for the badly edited books.

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If anyone is considering taking the indie publishing route then do make sure you get a reputable editor, formatter, and cover designer, either by word of mouth or from a society such as ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors)

Below I will provide links of  where you can find Willow on social media and where you can purchase her books, but first, let’s find out a little more about her…

About Willow 

Willow currently lives in London with her husband, their cat Nora and hamster Pumpkin. An animal lover Willow fosters with a local animal charity. She is a strong believer in #adoptdontshop (and would probably adopt every animal that comes into the house if she could!)

She holds an MA in Historical Research and has recently completed her second MA, this one in Creative Writing. Born to an Irish mother and Scottish father, Willow’s Celtic heritage has a strong influence on her writing along with her love of history. Although living in London, Willow is originally from a small Hampshire town and very much misses the countryside (and stars!)

In her spare time Willow enjoys gaming (and has a slight addiction to Final Fantasy IX), going to comic cons, archery and dressmaking. Willow previously enjoyed Ninjutsu and is hoping to soon put her gi back on and get back into training!

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Willow’s Books can be purchased from Amazon on the links below or direct from Willow.

Amazon 

Amazon 

You can find Willow on social media by clicking on the links below.

Facebook

Twitter 

Website