Patricia M Osborne

Thank you, Nigel Kent, for inviting me over on to your blog today to chat about The Montefiore Bride. Read what I had to say by popping over on this link here.

It’s always a joy to get a good review and hear that a reader has enjoyed my book but particularly when the review comes from the talented, Brian McManus, a fellow poet published by the awesome Hedgehog Poetry Press.

A truly enlightening volume which absolutely surpasses expectations

Patricia M Osborne is a popular, an accomplished, and a widely published writer contributing to our arts and culture in a variety of ways and forms, and it was with some anticipation that I set aside the time to read and hereby comment on her book of nature poetry, Taxus Baccata from the Hedgehog Poetry Press.

Nature poetry it certainly is but poetry which is endowed with such elemental qualities that it imbues the reader with an innate sense of satisfaction and furnishes them with an eloquent inspiration which carries them through the book and beyond.
In terms of line and stanza structure Osborne’s academic background shines through but in a manner which repeatedly delights and surprises.

The poetry is populated by a plethora of interesting characters, stories and sub-stories which offer a sense of inclusiveness and belonging to the reader but without the sometimes overpowering use of tired metaphor which sometimes diminishes much of contemporary nature poetry.

The language is crisp, fresh and emboldens the reader to search out the little mysteries and surprises which are sometimes teased in a conciliatory sense between the lines. There is a sense of the primordial below the surface here which all good nature poetry ought to possess and the rhythm is not metric rhythm but rhythm of the earth.

A complete lack of artifice completes the package and it is underlined by a real sense of the simplicity which is missing from our current world. For me, the unwritten promise of this volume is that it will have you quickly searching out more of the same. It is that kind of writing.

Brian McManus, Poet , Essayist, Reviewer, Researcher.

Thank you Brian for that wonderful review. Remember if you have read and enjoyed a book of mine, or from any writer, a review is always welcome. It doesn’t have to be an essay, a short, ‘I liked/loved it’ will suffice.

If any of my readers fancy a signed copy of Taxus Baccata – order via my online shop here – also available as a pdf for only £2.99. Pay safe and securely via PayPal.

My guest today, Julie Anne Rudd, is an author and poet. Julie has come along to ‘Patricia’s Pen’ to chat about her writing career. Without further ado, let’s go over to Julie.

History of my Writing

Julia Anne Rudd

I have always loved reading and wanted to be a writer since I was eleven. After failing my 11-plus, and going to secondary school, I discovered essay writing. Initially, I struggled with essay writing, but thanks to my father’s guidance, I finally mastered it and never looked back. 

In my early teens I aspired to become a journalist. Following my secondary education, I enrolled on a college course, serving indentures on the Middlesex County Times in West London. During my journalist career I reported on newspapers in Surrey, Sussex and Kent, writing everything from court reports and features to entertainment columns and property news. I also trained in sub-editing, relishing headline writing and page design and loved working alongside printers in hot metal newspaper production.

My lifelong ambition was to write a book, but with such a busy career I didn’t get round to it until I retired several years ago, when I moved to Devon with my second husband, Chris. In 2017 I published my debut book; a comedy mystery, The Hippies of Haggleby Hall. 

The Hippies of Haggleby Hall tells the story of when my first husband, Bob, and I bought a run-down country mansion in Sussex with friends back in 1986.  We wanted to renovate it while raising our families – and it proved a rollercoaster journey!  I wrote as Belinda Flowers, with husband Tom, and friends, Mike and Amanda, who I named Cameron and Miranda Maclaren.  With us was Mike’s feisty mum, Olive (Granny Grace in the book), without whom we could not have afforded our dream home.

Many people regarded us with scepticism including the locals, who, believing us hippies, inspired my book title.

My book characters are fictionalised (though there’s no escaping the real “us”) and some of their shenanigans are, shall we say, exaggerated, though much is true. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but we did have fun!

The plot has a chilling mystery running through it, partly based on the mansion’s history and partly on a happening in my journalism days. The book is written as a tribute to Bob, who, sadly, succumbed to lung cancer, and to our friends, who remain part of our extended family.

I also enjoy writing poetry and, in The Hippies of Haggleby Hall, Belinda Flowers joins a young mums’ poetry group. Some of Belinda’s verses are included in my debut poetry book, Female Facets – Poems Celebrating Womanhood, published earlier this year. It is described by award-winning author Tania Crosse (RNA 2020 Romantic Saga Award) as:

“A lovely collection of musings on Womanhood, full of laughter, tears, poignancy and delight.”

My readers keep asking for a sequel to The Hippies of Haggleby Hall so I am now busy writing: ‘Team Spirits – the race is on to save Haggleby Hall’. This time, the friends, facing bankruptcy, launch a whacky business venture, while new hope of a valuable landscape under the stairs saving the day is dashed when the painting goes missing.

My goal is to publish the sequel later this year…so watch this space as they say in the newspaper industry.

~~~

About Julie Anne Rudd

Northampton born Julie Anne Rudd was a provincial journalist, training in West London and working most of her life in Surrey, Sussex and Kent.  A versatile writer, she has had countless articles published and her poetry has appeared in several anthologies.  Having retired with her second husband to Devon several years ago, she is busy writing a sequel to her first novel; another comedy mystery called, ‘Team Spirits -The Race is On to Save Haggleby Hall’. It continues her fictionalised story of her life in the Eighties and Nineties, when she and her first husband shared a dilapidated, Sussex country mansion with unconventional friends.

Links to Books

Social Media Links

Facebook

Amazon Author Page

I’m sure by now you’re aware that The Granville Legacy is coming soon. Katrina Marie has just finished reading Book 1 in the trilogy, House of Grace, and has written a review over on her website. If you haven’t read House of Grace yet, check out what Katrina has to say. If after reading Katrina’s review you fancy reading House of Grace, pop over to Amazon and download FREE with kindle Unlimited – or £1.99 on Kindle – paperback also available. Signed paperbacks available via my online shop.

Read Katrina Marie’s review here.

My guest today, Suzi Bamblett, is not only a fellow writer but a very close friend who I first met back in 2014 when starting out on our MA Creative Writing course at the University of Brighton.

It’s a very exciting day for Suzi, and a proud day for me as her friend, as she launches her debut novel The Travelling Philanthropist. The Travelling Philanthropist not only has a beautiful cover but a wonderful, exciting story inside. Without further ado it’s over to Suzi.

My Writing Journey

Suzi Bamblett

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved books, quickly progressing from Enid Blyton, through Agatha Christie and on to Daphne du Maurier. Rebecca was the book that made me want to write and I began each teenage summer holiday with a new notebook and pen. Then life got in the way – exams, work, boyfriend, marriage, children…

Reading was still my passion but my writing had to wait patiently on the shelf.

While my children were young, I studied with the Open University and, after completing my Bachelor of Arts, went on to do a PGCE at Canterbury Christchurch. Whilst there, I was asked to research a topic that drew together my two teaching subjects, Religious Education and Mathematics (a weird combo I know). I chose to focus on calendars and became fascinated with the shift from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar resulting in eleven missing days in 1752.

I spent the next twenty-three years teaching, my writing taking a back seat as a holiday pastime. However, my interest in the Gregorian calendar stayed with me and led me to research the Georgian period. One summer I stumbled across the real-life story of Jonas Hanway, alleged trailblazer of the umbrella, and the seeds were sown. This curious philanthropist triggered the inspiration for my fictional character, Janus Gregory, and his work at the Foundling Hospital became the backdrop for my novel, The Travelling Philanthropist.

Finally, after taking early retirement from teaching, I had time for my writing. I studied for my MA in Creative Writing at the University of Brighton (which is where I met my good friend, Tricia).

Daphne du Maurier has always been part of my writing life. Her Cornish novels inspired the location for my YA story, The Changeling, The House on the Strand piqued a life-long interest in time travel, as exemplified in my time slip novel, and Don’t Look Now and The Scapegoat fed my fascination with the uncanny, triggering two of my current works in progress, Three Faced Doll and Prescient Spirit. As you can tell, I have a number of novels in the pipeline, but my loyalty lay with my first born, hence the launch of The Travelling Philanthropist as my debut novel. I hope you enjoy it.

Blurb

The Travelling Philanthropist – a time-slip novel.

Searching for a lost child… but can she find herself in time?

Would-be journalist Anna Stratton is estranged from her adoptive parents and living with her boyfriend. But something is missing. 

Anna’s world fractures when she’s catapulted back in time. Here, in the eighteenth century, she meets philanthropist Janus Gregory and together they embark on a quest for a lost foundling. But Anna soon discovers life in Georgian London is fraught with danger and not everyone has her best interests at heart.

Meanwhile, in the contemporary world, Anna’s parallel existence unravels.

Will Anna locate the child?

Can she find herself in time?

Sliding Doors meets The House on the Strand.

~~~

Suzi has provided a teaser for The Travelling Philanthropist below but first, let’s find out a little more about her.

About Suzi Bamblett

Suzi Bamblett lives with her partner, Colin, in Crowborough, East Sussex. A self-confessed chameleon, she is sister, mother, granny, teacher, creative and last but not least, an author. Suzi writes psychological thrillers and suspense stories for adults and young adults. She’s a huge fan of Daphne du Maurier and her Imagined Dialogue with Daphne can be found on the Daphne du Maurier website. Suzi’s writing has been published in literary magazines and anthologies. The Travelling Philanthropist is her debut novel. Her second novel, Pearl Seekers will be released later in 2021.

Teaser

Prologue

The young woman stumbles along cobbled streets clutching a precious bundle to her breast. Emerging from the fog, she faces the black iron gates of the convent. Gently she lowers the child into the casket but can’t let go. With a sob, she snatches him back up. Not yet. Bowing her head, she inhales his new-born scent.

Behind her, in the shadows, the man waits.

The woman looks over her shoulder. Is someone watching? Her eyes are drawn back to her child. Still she hesitates. Although the casket is lined with cloth, the wind is biting.

‘’Tis a cold night,’ the man says.

With a cry, she spins round.

‘It is after midnight.’ He sighs. ‘The nuns all a’ bed until morning prayers.’

She stares at him. From tricorn hat to polished shoe buckles, every inch the gentleman.

‘Even if the child should survive the night, he may not be given a place at the Foundling Hospital.’ The man steps closer. ‘The weekly lottery is tomorrow. If a black ball is drawn, they have no choice but to dispose of him. They are reluctant to take a child when they have no details of the mother, especially if he is sickly and weakened by a night out in the cold.’

The woman stands uncertain, her arms wrapped tightly around her child.

‘I can help you,’ the man continues. ‘I know someone who will take good care of him. It is a boy, is it not?’

‘Yes.’ She finds her voice at last. ‘Yes, my son.’

‘He will be well looked after. Trust me.’

What choice does she have? She cannot return to her place of work with the child; they’ll both end up on the streets. A sob escapes her as she thrusts the baby into the arms of the man. ‘Here, take him. God bless you, sir.’ She turns, her footsteps echoing as she disappears into the smog.

With the child under his black cloak, the man strides back to the waiting carriage.

~~~

Want to know more? You can purchase The Travelling Philanthropist here.

Links to Suzi Bamblett’s social media and website

Facebook

Twitter

Website

It gives me great delight to introduce Brian McManus, a fellow Hedgehog Press hoglet, to ‘Patricia’s Pen.’ Brian is here to discuss his writing methodology so without further ado, it’s over to Brian.

My Writing Methodology

Brian McManus

Neither I nor my family have any great background in writing although I recently discovered that my great grandfather was a poet who sent his poems home from the American west to where he had emigrated in the late 1800’s.

I dabbled with crime fiction for a short while but my interest in writing poetry stemmed from my involvement in a major negative life event, the Lockerbie Air Disaster with the loss of 270 lives in 1988. My reflections on that led to the publication of my book of poetry, prose and photographs – Blue Daze, Black Knights – the Story of Lockerbie thereafter, now sadly out of print.

There followed a long hiatus in writing again as the writing and publishing of my book was a sometimes painful and cathartic experience. I have always considered that in the dance of life emotion is the music and correspondingly much of my poetry is fuelled by emotion.

I picked up my pen again as the Covid storm broke across the world in early 2020 and settled that I wanted to address what I considered to be the egregious sense of ineptitude from Boris Johnston and his government and give a voice to the many hundreds, indeed thousands of people who had summarily been disenfranchised and suffered grievously, sometimes with their lives. My thoughts and reflections led to the publication of my poetry pamphlet Liar Liar by The Hedgehog Poetry Press in November 2020.

My writing process is a little convoluted but generally speaking the germ of an idea about which I want to write will occur to me, or indeed at times simply present itself to me, and then during the following days and weeks I will worry away at it until it takes the basic shape I am at least content with.

There follow many more weeks when I will edit and re-edit until I consider it’s fit for purpose but often something else will present itself to me and I edit or even rewrite once again. There comes a time when the poem almost speaks to me and says “right, enough, leave me alone now”.

I am constantly reminded of the words of the great poetic strategist Ezra Pound who always advised T.S. Eliot to ‘kill your darlings’, that being if you get to the stage where you consider yourself finished and very satisfied with your work it’s time to consider almost ripping it up and starting again.

I have a further volume of poetry slated for publication by The Hedgehog Poetry Press on 14th April 2021 – “Solastalgia” –  where I hope to bring down the poetic veil on probably the most challenging time many of us have lived through.

There will be no hiatus for me this time. My research interests focus primarily on the decline of western civilisation and the prospect of an uninhabitable world due to rising temperatures and rising sea levels, and I already see several issues that I feel a compulsion to address through the medium of poetry.

About Brian McManus

Brian McManus is happily married and lives north of Glasgow with his wonderful wife. They have just celebrated a landmark wedding anniversary.

They have two grown up children of whom they are immensely proud and three lovely grandchildren.

Brian has stepped away from the world of work now but spent most of his days in public service and latterly in a senior leadership role with a major media company.

Most of his days are now spent reading and writing poetry, researching the subject matter to provide him with the material around which he writes.

Links to Books

Liar Liar

Links to Social Media

Twitter

Website coming soon – under construction

With only a few hours left of 2020 I thought I’d do a blog to let you know what you have to look forward from me in 2021.

The first has to be that The Granville Legacy, Book 3, in the House of Grace trilogy will be released in March 2021. Watch out for a preorder button on Amazon in the next few days. The story is now out with Beta Readers and only earlier this evening I got great feedback so I hope you’re all going to love it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you haven’t started the trilogy yet you can download a copy here from Amazon for £1.99 and US equivalent, and if you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for FREE.

In April 2021 a collaborative poetry pamphlet with writer Maureen Cullen, ‘Sherry and Sparkly’ will be published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press. Watch out for this as all proceeds will go to Cancer Research.

In July 2021 – my full mythical poetry collection will be published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press

and in September 2021 The Worth Park Poetry Timeline will be published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press.

I’m quite sure there will be more publications. For instance, I need to sort out what’s happening about my children’s picture book. Watch this space.

Apart from my publications, many more guests will appear on Patricia’s Pen. These are a few to watch out for.

12th January 2021 – Hedgehog poet Brian McManus

26th January 2021 – Author Juliette Bowers

9th February 2021 – Hedgehog Poet Robin McNara

16th February 2021 – Hedgehog Poet Vic Pick-up

2nd March 2021 – Author Jane Risdon

23rd March 2021 – Author Lynne Shelby

13th April 2021 – Author Alyson Sheldrake

27th April 2021 – Author Val Moore

11th May – 2021 Author Dawne Archer

8th June 2021 – Author Natalie Normann

29th June 2021 – Author Tim Taylor

13th July 2021 – Author of the Hunter series Val Penny

And that’s just a taster – there’ll be plenty more going on and hopefully I can reignite the writing challenges too.

Why not follow my blog to make sure you don’t miss out?

And that only leaves me to wish you all a happy new year in 2021 with the promised light and vaccination and we can hopefully all return to living properly again.

Well I’m sure one thing we’re all in agreement with and that it has been an awful year, one we’ll all be glad to put behind us and with the vaccination we can hopefully forward in 2021. However, on the other hand it has been a wonderful publishing year for me with The Coal Miner’s Son Book 2 in my House of Grace trilogy, published in March 2020. Of course, had I known we were about to be hit by a pandemic, I may have rethought this. I had it all planned to do lots of face to face events. I managed a pre publishing event for a book club at my local book college and that was it.

I was then lucky enough to be one of the winners with The Hedgehog Poetry Press which resulted in publication of my nature poetry collection Taxus Baccata in July 2020.

This followed in December 2020 with The Montefiore Bride where all proceeds have gone to a local homeless shelter Crawley Open House.

A couple of days ago I sent over the first payment of £375, so thank you to each and every one of you who purchased a signed copy or pdf via my website as you contributed to that amount and in turn have helped the homeless. I still have signed copies and pdf versions for anyone who would like one. You can receive a pdf version by email within 24 hours of your order. Go here.

The Granville Legacy is in its last proofing stages and almost ready to go to press for a March 2021 publication. Remember it’s beautiful cover?

Other publications have been light as I haven’t had time to make many submissions, however I have had poems included in the following:

Ahead of Time Published by Reach Magazine (Indigo Dreams Publishing) July 2020

First Days at Juniors

Isolated

TV Wonder

All published on line here by Imspired – these will be published in print January 2021.

The Talent Show – Reach Magazine (Indigo Dreams Publishing) December 2020

~~~

I have featured many guests during 2020

January 2020

Mark Anthony Smith

Sally Spedding

Madalyn Morgan

Michael Sanchez

February 2020

Fin C Gray

Deborah Edgeley

Mark Anthony Smith

Raine Geoghegan

March 2020

Joy Wood

Kellie Butler

Helen Christmas

April 2020

Shirley Anne Cook

Julia Firlotte

Denise Leggett

John McCullough

May 2020

Alison Chisholm

Elizabeth Gates

Craig Jordan-Baker

Joseph Carrabis

June 2020

Martin Lott

Lance Greenfield

Suzi Bamblett

Henrietta Newell

Gaynor Kane

July 2020

Beth Haslam

Andrew Quartermain

Lynne Hallett

August 2020

Georgia Conlon

Daisy White

Jodee Neathery

September 2020

Pauline Seawards

Margaret Royall

Damien Donnelly

Carol Thomas

October 2020

Nigel Kent

Allison Symes

November 2020

Lexi Rees

Ann McMaster

Elizabeth M Hurst

December 2020

Karen Mooney

Darren J Beaney

And 2021 will bring you more guest features and many more poets published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press

All that remains is for me to wish you all the best festive period you can have under the present circumstances and pray for a hopeful bright 2021.

Don’t miss out on news and guest features from Patricia’s Pen – follow today.

My guest today is Darren J Beaney who is another poet published by the awesome The Hedgehog Poetry Press. Congratulations, Darren, on the release of your brand new collection Honey Dew.

Darren has come along today to chat about his writing, including Honey Dew. Without further ado, it’s over to Darren J Beaney.

My Writing Story

Darren J Beaney

I started writing (and reading) poetry in the mid 1990’s. I was having some mental health and substance abuse issues and writing down my thoughts and feelings helped me to slowly sort myself out.  Starting the MA in Creative Writing in 2018 really helped me to focus on how to improve my writing – as I shared my words with others for the first time. Having a number of critical friends really helps. As part of the MA, I took a module entitled Poetry, Theory and Practice and the assignment forms the bulk of my debut collection – Honey Dew – published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press (14^th December 2020). Copies in print and pdf format can be purchased from my website.

Honey Dew is a collection of 21 love poems with a mix of themes – the story of my early relationship with Jo, my lovely wife, and the ways in which I try to express my feelings toward her.  Trying to describe my writing is one of the hardest things I have tried to do, a lot of what I write doesn’t get shared! There are poems I have written that I really like, but when I read them out I just think “what the *&@% was that all about – I obviously took to much acid years ago…” I asked my MA buddy, critical friend and fellow Dragonfly, Barbara to help me describe my writing and this is what she said:

“Poetry that has a unique, sideways perspective and is rich in surreal imagery.  It often tries to do something different with language and can sometimes rewrite what is expected of poetry. It can be entertaining.“

I read poetry most days and try to write as often as I can. I am currently trying to find a home for the anthology written for my MA dissertation. It was originally titled What’s Love Got To Do With It, but now after even more editing and the inclusion of more poems it has a new working title – The Machinery Of Human Life. With a bit of luck, a publisher will take a chance on it and maybe Patricia can ask me back to talk about it!

~~~

Thank you for sharing your writing story with my readers, Darren, and yes, definitely come back to Patricia’s Pen once The Machinery of Human Life is ready to enter the world.

See below for a taster of Honey Dew with Surfin’ girl, one of the poems included in the collection.

Surfin’ girl

The blue haired girl once surfed through the park,
secure in her fashion. Floodlit eyes
shining on improbable catwalks,
parading her tone. Inflating the hearts
of those she invited to climb on her board.

Rinsing aqua to blond, nothing dumb
in that, her glow radiated
like polished platinum, leaving
an iridescent trail so precious
that he followed adventurous,
trekking. His quest to collect all her smiles.

Then au natural, stunning brunette
radiant like her eyes that sparkled
brighter with each tide. Rousing, she added
to the understanding of many, multiplying
knowledge, explained the value of π,
leaving memories that cannot be taken away.

Now with a few hairs of grey she leads
as a mother. Inspiring! Her love
is uncomplicated with no rules
and she cares. Her love is like oceans,
her affection forever gently lapping against our shores.

In years still to come she may be white
like teachers’ chalk. She may change colour
again to mask the signs of passing years.
But she will never disguise what is inside,
she will always ride the waves like
the blue haired girl.

Wow. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is going to be a fantastic collection with those wonderful images and sound echoes.

Purchase a signed copy of Honey Dew from Darren’s website here.

About Darren J Beaney

Darren J Beaney has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Brighton. He is part of a collective that host a word night in Brighton – Flight of the Dragonfly.  He is a hopeless romantic! He cuts his own hair. He enjoys music, predominantly punk rock. His favourite author is Orwell.  He loves Marmite.  He lives near the West Sussex coast, with his family, their rescue cats, rescue dog and furry hamster.  He has had poems published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press, Indigo Dreams Publishing, Parthian Books, Dempsey & Windle, Poetry NI, The Four Parts Press and The Angry Manifesto. He was a finalist in the Write Bloody UK 2020 full collection competition.

Social Media Links

Twitter

Facebook

Website

Today is the official release date for The Montefiore Bride. The Montefiore Bride is a prize winning short story published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press and the Victorian tale told in prose/poetry is fiction based on facts. It makes a perfect stocking filler or keepsake – best of all is if you purchase a signed copy or a pdf via my website – the proceeds will go to help the homeless at Crawley Open House.

Find out more about The Montefiore Bride – and get a preview read by going here.

Order your copy now safely and securely by PayPal