Children’s writer Elizabeth explains how living with Aspergers Syndrome has influenced her writing… Do you write to please your readers or to please yourself? Actually, I write to empty my head before it explodes – well that’s what it feels like sometimes. My head is full of story ideas, part written stories, or sometimes what…
Category: Children’s Books
Amateur Sleuth, Animals, Audiobook, Book Reviews, Children's Books, Classic, Crime, detective, Indie Authors, murder, mystery, Psychological
Best Reads of 2019
Over the course of the last twelve months, I’ve read 97 books. This includes paperbacks, eBooks, hardbacks and a few audiobooks, but doesn’t include those where I gave up after the first couple of chapters. What follows is a list of some of the more memorable reads, though isn’t intended to be definitive or in…
The Secret Novel-Writing Formula (Maybe)…
Writing a book series can feel as if you’re recreating the same thing over and over. And if the series is successful, maybe that’s exactly what’s going on – that, to some extent, the author dips into a kind of magic formula as a basis for each new volume. If that’s true, is it a…
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Indie Author Interview – Ken Stark
Canadian-born author Ken Stark grew up on a diet on comic books and disaster movies so it’s no surprise that he ended up writing horror novels. Dig in for a scary ride… You are known mainly for writing horror, so what scares you? Not much, actually. I can imagine myself getting scared in certain situations,…
‘Charlie the Fearless and Tancho the Brave’ by Suhmayah Banda
Charlie the Fearless and Tancho the Brave’ Two brothers, Charlie and Tancho, live an adventurous life, playing and learning as they go. While Charlie isn’t scared of anything, his brother is a little nervous and reluctant to go fast on his bike or reach too high on the climbing frame. But through a series of…
‘Schmuck the Buck’ by Exo Books
Schmuck the Buck A new take on the Rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer story, featuring Larry the Jewish caribou, who gets bullied at school. Treated badly by pretty much everyone, he nevertheless saves the day in time for Christmas with a shrewdly sent message. Written by someone called Exo Books, this is both a curious and charming little tome…
‘Akea’ by Elizabeth Jade
Akea Born into a family of huskies, Akea soon realises that she is no ordinary dog. When the wolf Kazakh begins to visit her, Akea feels strangely drawn towards him and the wolfpack. Elizabeth Jade is a young author who has a talent for writing stories. She has created a sensitive and heartening story that…
‘Sir Chocolate and the Baby Cookie Monster Story and Cookbook’ by Robbie and Michael Cheadle
Sir Chocolate and the Baby Cookie Monster Story and Cookbook Book 2 of Robbie Cheadle’s Sir Chocolate series features Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet in a hunt to find a lost baby cookie monster. As well as the story, we learn how to make a selection of delicious recipes, including Easy Sausage Rolls and Chocolate…
Creating Inspiration – Where to Start
Embarking on the task of writing a new book is always a thrill, but that thrill doesn’t start for me until I have the title, because until then, I don’t have a clue where to start. I little while ago, I wrote about coming up with the idea for a series of books in the…
Victorian Villains No 3 – Katie Webster
In my search for characters, I must admit I do enjoy a good murder. Some time ago, I started a series on Victorian villains, the first two being Amelia Dyer and Mary Ann Cotton. Ms Dyer ended up being the model for the baddie in the second of my Christie McKinnon stories, The House That…
Colin Garrow 