Today is the last day of my Kindle Countdown Deal for House of Grace and The Coal Miner’s Son
If you’re still unsure whether my book is for you – check out this review on The Coal Miner’s Son from talented author Val Penny.
Download House of Grace and The Coal Miner’s Son while still on offer. Hurry though the clock is ticking.
The Sale in my SHOP ends tomorrow – why not pick yourself up a gift or two?
My guest today is talented poet, Pauline Sewards who has come along to ‘Patricia’s Pen’ to discuss her writing. Without further ado, it’s over to Pauline.
Pauline Sewards
Hello. I’m Pauline, I currently live in Lincolnshire but I’ve also lived in London, Brighton and Bristol in recent years and been involved in writing communities in those cities. In Bristol I helped run a poetry night called Satellite of Love and last year I co-edited an edition of the journal Magma. I met Patricia at a writing retreat a few years ago which I was invited to by a friend I met on an Arvon course. I love the various connections and opportunities which come about through writing.
In the old days when we could actually meet each other in the physical world I used to think of each Open-Mic reading as a golden ticket to new experiences. In this time of isolation I find books and the ability to connect with others through writing are more important than ever.
My two published books are works of poetry which contain characters and narrative. The first, This is the Band ( Hearing Eye 2018) started off as an attempt to write about my love of music but also includes coming of age stories and political poems. Spirograph (Burning Eye 2020) is due to be published in September ( I am thrilled to say). This book is more personal and one section deals with my lifetime job of working in addictions. I was concerned not to appropriate other people’s stories, therefore it is written from the perspective of a worker. The book is divided into four sections called ‘Work,’ ‘Where,’ ‘Who’ and ‘Wonder’. It breaks out beyond work, just as life does. I chose the name Spirograph because I am always aware of co-incidences, connections and overlapping communities. Shortly after writing the title poem I went to a nearby charity shop and found a Spirograph toy on the shelf, box fresh from the 1970s! This convinced me, I had the right title.
I’d love to know what you think of the poems. If anyone would like a review copy let me know.
If you do purchase a copy of either of my books, please consider sending me a picture of you with the pamphlet, in your favourite reading place.
Thank you for coming along to Patricia’s Pen, Pauline, and good luck with Spirograph.
About Pauline Sewards
Pauline has been writing for many years alongside a career as a mental health nurse. She has been widely published in small press poetry journals and is working on a novel called ‘Fabric’ which is loosely based on family history. Pauline has hosted poetry events in London and Bristol and co-edited Magma magazine last summer.
Links
‘House of Grace’ and ‘The Coal Miner’s Son’ are on Kindle countdown deals from today for one week.
Grab yourself a bargain today – this is the first time ‘The Coal Miner’s Son’ has been reduced and only 99p/99c for today and tomorrow.
Amazon.com – sale prices start from 08:00am PDT
Prefer paperback? Don’t forget there are lots of bargains over in my shop. Go here
Again one week only.
Happy Shopping.
Prices reduced from this weekend 29th August 2020
Patricia’s Pen is having a Bank Holiday Sale
Signed paperbacks will be reduced – watch this space.
Readers who prefer Kindle will not lose out as copies of House of Grace and The Coal Miner’s Son will be on Kindle countdown deals for one week from Sunday 30th August 2020 – Down to 99p/99c.
This will be the first time that The Coal Miner’s Son has been reduced – however, it will only be 99p/99c on Sunday 30th August 2020 – Monday 31st August 2020 (inclusive) and then a gradual climb over the week, before returning to its original price.
To purchase on Amazon
Shop on Patricia’s Pen
Prices reduce from this weekend for one week only
29th August 2020 – 5th September 2020 for paperbacks on Patricia’s Pen
from 31st August 2020 for Kindle copies on Amazon.
Make a note in your diary.
My guest today comes all the way from across the pond. It is a delight to have Life in a Box author, Jodee Neathery, on ‘Patricia’s Pen’. Jodee has come along to talk about writing.
Writing…there are formulas, warnings of “always do,” like show don’t tell and “never do,” like start with the weather. Writers can use pie charts or snowflake patterns to create their novel, follow progression charts to build suspense, outline, or fly by the seat of their pants, to name a few options. We can become realistic writers setting our story in an actual location, tale writers charming the reader with beautiful language, or yarn writers proficiently telling outrageous lies that the reader believes, or I guess a combination of all of the above.
Writing is emotion, not an equation with a single solution. It’s that gray area that makes it an art by giving authors the freedom to find what is extraordinary in the ordinary or what is universal, meaningful, and human in the uncommon. My Nana, a born storyteller, instilled a sense of wonderment and endless possibilities in me at an early age. Her animated tales, especially the one about being a distant relative to one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting, had me polishing my tiara for when it was my turn to be a royal. Nana embodied Oscar Wilde’s quote, “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” I credit her keen perception and sense of humor for the person I am today and for what I have been able to accomplish.
My five-year writing journey to publication began with a story pouring from my heart, but after a person whom I highly respected read the first fifty pages declared it unpublishable, I could either give up or do what it takes to realize my dream. Life in a Box, published July 2017 is a character driven work of literary fiction asking the question, how much would you sacrifice to hide a secret? The novel alternates between a contemporary timeline and the 1900’s through the 1940’s and by the last chapter we learn the cost of protecting those we love. When you are fortunate to have a built-in base of colorful characters hanging on your family tree, it’s both fun and rewarding to create a story that salutes their uniqueness. I mourn they never witnessed me seeing the dawn before the rest of the world, but I suspect they held a heavenly book-signing party in my honor.
My new novel, A Kind of Hush, detailing how life is seldom a tidy affair exploring if there is a gray area between right and wrong is almost complete. A family of four is enjoying a summer outing when tragedy strikes…one parent survives along with their teenage daughter and young son found hiding in the nearby woods. Was this a tragic accident, or something more heinous, and if so, whodunnit and whydunnit?
My deepest gratitude to Patricia for allowing me to share my story. If you have any connections with the House of Windsor, please tell Elizabeth II I’m still waiting for her to ring me up. Tiara ready and willing to travel.
It was a pleasure, Jodee, and please do come back once A Kind of Hush has been released.
If anyone out there can help Jodee with connections to the House of Windsor, I’m sure she’ll be forever in your debt!
About Jodee Neathery
JoDee Neathery, born in Southern California, moved to Texas at the age of five. Midland, a postcard of small-town America, was populated by dreamers and doers and the friendliest people on the planet. Little girl under the covers dreams to dance on Broadway, become an author, sing like Streisand, and marry Paul McCartney all fell short with the practical side of making a living emerging into a career in banking and public relations recruiting. With retirement came time, her writing dream materializing into a novel, Life in a Box, loosely based on the colourful characters hanging on her family tree.
Book Links
Social media links
It’s lovely to invite Daisy White back to ‘Patricia’s Pen’. Daisy has come along to discuss ‘Writing a Crime Series in Lockdown’ so without further ado, it’s over to her.
D.E White
The first book in the DC Dove Milson series was published on March 31st 2020 by Joffe Books. Just a few days earlier I had been collecting my children’s work from school, under the instructions that we would break early for the Easter holidays, but hopefully the lockdown restrictions would ease in a couple of weeks…
So along with every other author in the same position, I needed to find a way to continue working, to write the next book in the DC Dove Milson series, to home school, to worry about vulnerable friends and relatives, to stock pile (we didn’t and there was a slight toilet roll shortage), and to try to adjust to the new normal.
My publisher did an amazing job of marketing my book, and my agent was extremely busy sorting out rights deals behind the scenes. I allotted extra hours to PR for Glass Dolls, alongside starting to write book two, The Ice Daughters. Normally I would have visited bookstores for signings, but everything went online. I spent time guesting on blogs (always a lovely and fun way to catch up with fellow authors!), joined author and reader groups on social media, and combined this with writing.
It’s always a nervous time when a new book comes out, especially book one in a series. Luckily the response was great, and I was so encouraged and relieved to read the reviews. The book bloggers were amazing, spreading the word and absolutely ‘getting’ the characters and plot. Always a lovely feeling, and of course as authors we write for the readers. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.
I had already had to come up with synopsis for four books in each of the two series which were eventually signed (The DC Dove Milson series by Joffe Books and my new cosy mystery series by Bloodhound Books), so I had an outline of what I needed to do. It was tough going, trying to rearrange my working day to meet the deadline, but all of that was insignificant compared what was happening in the world.
A significant amount of time was dedicated to research, but once I start on a book, I do 2,000 words a day until the first draft is done. Afterwards I edit and edit and edit again. Finally, The Ice Daughters went off to my wonderful agent, Lina Langlee at The North Literary Agency, and soon afterwards was delivered to my publisher.
I have already started book two in my ‘cosy crime series,’ with a November delivery date, and alongside this will continue to develop a new psychological thriller too.
Soon the edits will come back for The Ice Daughters, and these will be added to my to-do list. It won’t be long before the next cycle is complete and I will be back to marketing prior to the book’s release, and writing the third books in both series.
Yet, even though it can be a struggle (okay, has been a struggle!), I am so aware how lucky I am to be able to make my living as a writer, and as long as readers continue to enjoy my books, I will continue writing more.
Thanks for sharing that, Daisy. I agree that as writers we are very lucky.
About Daisy White
Daisy White started writing fifteen years ago, scribbling ideas at work on the night shift, firstly flying as cabin crew, and latterly working for the Ambulance Service.
Her Amazon bestselling 1960’s cosy mystery trilogy, The Ruby Baker Mysteries, was published in 2017 by Joffe Books, followed by psychological thrillers Remember Me and The Forgotten Child (HarperCollins) in 2019.
Glass Dolls, the bestselling first book in a new DC Dove Milson crime thriller series, was published in March 2020. The second DC Dove Milson book, The Ice Daughters, will be out later this year.
A new cosy mystery series, out in 2021 will be published by Bloodhound Books.
Daisy is a multi- award-winning entrepreneur. She is represented by Lina Langlee at The North Literary Agency.
Links
For Speaking Engagements – Contact: kaye@andromedatalent.com
To contact Daisy: daisy@daisywhiteauthor.co.uk
‘Patricia’s Pen features two writers this month:-
Yash Seyedbagheri – Moondance
Doug Hawley – Freedom
Yash Seyedbagheri
Claire Deveraux loves to dance with the moon on cool autumn nights. Of course, she tells no one, not even her friends who are all high-powered professionals, lawyers, doctors, people who live by cold facts and statistics. She needs something of her own, without demands, without judgment. She’s given up enough as it is, relegated her true self more than once.
She goes to the field outside town to dance where she can focus on the mountains with their gorgeous jagged peaks rather than the bland Stalinist-style office buildings downtown. Claire whirls around in the vast field, reaching to the luminous disc above, straddling the moon. Or so it seems. The moon smiles, welcomes her into this new world. It invites her to share herself, asks for her hand, for her body, for things concealed by society. She’s afraid, but the moon whispers, letting her no there is no judgment happening here. It speaks to her in a tender hush.
Claire reveals herself bit by bit, dance after dance, exposes the desire to seek beauty, not commodification. To enjoy things without explanation or cold logic. She wants peace, solace, and joy, to absorb the world’s beauty, the small details. She doesn’t want profits and perfidy. She tells the moon this, in words and bodily motions.
Claire likes to think the moon approves and accepts her without question. The idea is comforting. Claire thinks of her friends, moving with cold precision, uncovers more and more of herself, anger flowing with a kind of swiftness, to be replaced by love and joy, raw and unfettered. Her inhibitions fade like stardust. She dances on, dances without rules. Her arms outstretched, head thrown back, flame-coloured hair blowing in the tender breeze, silhouetted by her luminous protector. With each gesture, she senses a release from her body, her mind, while the moon watches on, a gentle, loving luminous friend and partner, dancing with her in the still of the night, whispering to her in ways her friends never will.
Doug Hawley
Last week I was returning from a normal work party removing ivy (ivy seemed like a good idea at the time) in my local Portland area Tryon State Park when I saw a herd of deer 150 feet (or forty-some meters to the non-US) ahead of me on the trail with a man behind them. This seems odd because while deer are seen occasionally in the park; a whole herd would be unusual. As I got closer, I could tell that my inferior depth perception, which had caused me to fail as a baseball outfielder, had failed me again. These eight animals were baby goats about a foot and half high (or half a meter to most of the world).
I asked the man behind them if he were their goatherd, but he demurred. We agreed that they probably originated in the environmental education farm about a hundred yards (or meters) away. They seemed to be having a great time on their walk gamboling (not gambling – goats aren’t idiots) without restraint. If you want to see what that looks like, check out Youtube. Different goats, but you get the idea. They were socialized to the extent that people seemed to be neither particularly interesting nor fear inducing. I didn’t get the chance to find out what they think of dogs, which are common in the park.
My work partner later confirmed that their enclosure had broken and they all decided to go on a harmless walkabout. Now that they are back in their corral, I wonder if their leader is planning for another prison break. Was their day of freedom like playing hooky? They might not have enjoyed the day off if they had known about the coyotes.
Previously published by Wilderness House (2016)
Pictures from Pixabay.
Summer Picnic with Jaffareadstoo
I was invited on a summer picnic to discuss books with Josie Barton over on Jaffareadstoo – why not pop over here and join me.
Georgia Conlon is here to tell us about her blog which features readers and writers discussing books they’ve read during isolation. So without further ado, it’s over to Georgia.
Georgia Conlon
Escapism makes sense, but that’s not what reading is to me. Instead, I reckon reading gives you a way to look at life from new perspectives. Literature is a way to reassess what it means to live, in terms of your own identity and your connections with others. This is one of the reasons I started my blog: the isolation book club.
When lock down began, I knew it would be hard. I had to sort out a new routine and get myself into some creative projects, or I believed I’d fall under the grey fog of feeling purposeless. Although I’ve been online teaching (I’m an English Teacher, and have just finished my NQT year!), I still knew that my inability to go out-and-about could be detrimental to my mental health. This is where the blog came in.
By spending time reading one or two books a week, I not only improved my subject knowledge, but also used literature to look at my life and the world around me in new ways. The Easter Parade by Richard Yates reminded me of how grateful I am for my family (even more so because I couldn’t see them at the time I was writing). The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson had me thinking about writing letters, and the importance of the epistolary form in creating an honest dialogue. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers highlighted the need to listen to others, particularly at this present time, when people have been experiencing feelings of loneliness to a greater extent than usual. Derek Owusu’s recent award-winning debut novel, That Reminds Me, had me thinking about teachers I admire, and those I have been influenced by, and the significance of spreading kindness.
And I’m not the only one writing for the isolation book club. Every Sunday I am lucky enough to publish posts by writers from a variety of professions. Their ideas have been incredible, and their posts include thoughts on religion and spirituality, philosophy, parenthood and childhood, poetry, and even guides on how to self-publish. Most recently, a close friend of mine – and fellow blogger – wrote a response to #BlackLivesMatter by listing some brilliant black women who are making amazing art, with links to their work.
I couldn’t have survived lock down without the support of the writers and creators around me (and that includes the writer of this blog, Patricia M Osborne: you can read her post here). I’m very proud to be part of such a wonderful community, who, whether they know it or not, shape the world around me, through their personal writing.
At the moment I’m looking for new writers for my Sunday Guest Post spots, so if, while reading this, you’ve come up with something you’d like to write about, give me a shout. It would be great to hear from you.
Perhaps the isolation book club is actually a place that has brought people together during lock down. Pretty ironic, right? I might have to change the name.
Thank you for that fabulous article, Georgia. If you think you have something to say for Georgia’s isolation book club do contact here.
Let’s find out a little more about Georgia.
About Georgia Conlon
Georgia Conlon is a writer and English Teacher from London, currently using the summer holidays to read some books and tell some stories. You can find her on the following links
My guest feature this week is rather different than usual, so much so, I decided to put it out on an alternate day.
Instead of looking at books, Andrew Quartermain talks about his new venture, Piano Sanctuary. Piano Sanctuary holds a very special place in my heart as I have enjoyed many piano retreats in Leiston over the years, and can’t wait to get back there. Anyway, without further ado, let’s go over to Andrew.
Andrew Quartermain
Piano Sanctuary was one of those business and artistic ideas which had been drifting around the mind like an unwritten Impromptu for some time. I came up with the idea of a “Sanctuary” in 2018 but the threads which pulled together to produce what Piano Sanctuary ended up being, started way back in 2005 when, together with personal trainer Lesley Hepher, I started what was for many years called “Adult Piano” – weekend piano courses for adult learners at the stunning Leiston Abbey in Suffolk, and within the umbrella of Pro Corda, the national arts education charity I run.
I’m sure so many readers of this can then relate to what came next. Lockdown happened and a catalyst moment came. This was the time to bring a pending idea forward – however rough around the edges the crafting of its planning stages may be – and swing it into action “warts ‘n all”!
Piano Sanctuary was always intentioned as a social forum, a coming together of lovers of piano music, of creatives, of people who just love having music in their lives. Strangely, this sudden entrance into a period of time where by default people were being driven apart seemed the perfect moment for a sanctuary – but not quite as I’d originally planned it!
And so it was that, with a portable “zoom handy-recorder” battery operated microphone in one hand and in the other, a pile of piano music raided from a hasty blitz on my music room at my little farmhouse in mid Suffolk, I marched into the 14th century Guesten Hall at Leiston Abbey one Thursday evening in late March. I chose 3 pieces from the pile, put up the lid of the Yamaha concert grand we have in the beautifully acoustic of the Guesten Hall, and started playing.
Actually to be more precise, I started talking…..Then playing!
What came out was a sort of homemade cross between BBC Radio 3’s “In tune” programme and “Smooth Classics at 7” on Classic FM. I’ve always had a fascination with radio since spending a year in radio studios as a boy during my brief foray into singing as Choirboy of the year. I did a bit of TV that year too, but I found radio so much more fun. Behind that microphone and without vision, stories can be properly told, communications can be properly brought to life, images imagined, and scenes set.
And so Piano Sanctuary evolved as a “radio show” version of what a lot of musicians started to do during lockdown. The concerts from the living rooms.
The live streams.
By Episode 2 I had my first guest plugged in by Skype. The “lifestyle” concept of how I’d imagined Piano Sanctuary taking shape back in 2018 (and inspired from all the incredible personalities who had attended “Adult Piano” weekends over the years, which was also all about lifestyle alongside piano with personal training sessions taking equal bill to the piano sessions) started to become central to Piano Sanctuary – the radio show. By show 4, a celebrity Italian chef had joined the guest line up which included wine experts, opera singers and travel specialists in equal measure to concert pianists.
At the time of writing Piano Sanctuary is about to hit Episode 20. This will be a special episode on a number of fronts as for the big 20 I will be doing a 24 hour Piano Sanctuary Pianothon to raise funds for another area of Pro Corda’s work as a charity which is our extensive music provision for young people with disabilities. Many of these children and young adults are still cut off and having to shield and we’ve had to increase resources vastly to serve them digitally. More information about this crowdfunding campaign can be found on this link.
Thank you Andrew for such an informative post. Personally I can’t wait to get back to Suffolk and enjoy one of the lovely piano retreats. In the meantime, I’ll have to make do with listening to ‘Live at the Abbey’ online – Piano Sanctuary at Soundcloud.com
Patricia M Osborne 