Tuesday poem - Corona Haiku

Fear clenches my heart
World isolated and locked
Smiling child comforts

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

Guest Post: Introducing Write On! Extra

Introducing Write On! Extra: daily posts for unprecedented times

by Madeleine White, Editor, Write On! magazine

Hello, I’m Madeleine and I’m the editor of Write On! magazine, a quarterly magazine published by Pen to Print. When we introduced Write On! nearly a year ago we did so based on the following ideas and ideals:

“Publishing lies at an intersection of entertainment, information and education and is the method by which we record our culture. Our culture is shifting and diverse communities such as the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, supported by the Arts Council under the Project Banner Pen to Print, are creating structures that ensure everybody can participate. “

Sadly we will not be printing Issue 4 of Write On!, as all the distribution points, including libraries, are shut down. However, you will still be able to flick through the pages online from the 2nd April. Alongside this though, our team of volunteer writers and editors will be working with you, our loyal readers and contributors, to extend the reach of the printed magazine into a daily online digest – Write On! Extra. We are aiming to bring people together to share their experience strength and hope, as well as having a bit of a laugh!

Kick-off is next week (week commencing 30th March) and our initial plans are for Write On! Extra to be a one month pilot. We are hoping to extend this beyond the crisis though. For those of you who had been looking forward to your printed editions, we are aiming to publish a bumper edition in June, comprising issues 4 and 5.

Write On! Extra extends the current weekly offering of showcased creative writing, features and interviews on our website into a comprehensive daily schedule which everyone is invited to participate in, whether as readers or contributors. We are happy to accept video or spoken extracts/ snapshots as well as written pieces.

Monday Memoirs – Stories and experiences from the past to inform our future.

Thoughtful Tuesdays – Thought for the day, mindfulness, inspiration, quotes and spiritual ideas shared to create leadership and hope to see us through the week.

Write On! Showcase – This creative writing showcase will include poetry, short stories, flash fiction and book extracts, all reflecting the weekly theme.

Thursday Connectors – How is your country/community coping with the crisis? Everyone and everywhere has different experiences and different ways of dealing with what is happening. Here we pull these together in one place.

Write On! Features – Essays, opinions and features. In Write On! Extra the subject matter  will be extended beyond the current focus of publishing and writing to include content from different sources that are relevant to our times.

Saturday Spotlight – Books are still being launched at the moment, with many publishers too committed to pull back now. Spotlight will therefore shout out a book launch a week as well as a roundup of releases, with social media activity being used to showcase the post as well as inviting other launch tags.

Write On! Interviews– This section usually features writers, publishers, editors and agents. In Write On! Extra this Sunday profile opportunity will also be extended to council and front-line staff, creative project leads and Arts Council England representatives as well as local organisations.

All will be aligned to a weekly topic. Illustrated below, these month’s themes will be starting from next week (WC 30th March),

From Head in the Clouds to Feet on the Ground – making sense of it all.

We Need You!– coming together for a purpose, how and why.

Then and Now– what is was like, what it is now, how are we going to describe this to our grandchildren when its all over. What are the core lessons that we’ve learned the core values.

Keep Calm and…..?-  what are we learning, how can we use what is happening to renew our way of life in order to grow into a better, stronger community.

Submissions should be no longer than 2000 words and if possible, fit the weekly themes. Please submit any images you have permission to use and that illustrate your work. Write On! Extra will also happy to accept video or audio content. Please also include contact details and any relevant social media IDs, such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Submit via pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk, adding in the day you are submitting for in the subject line of your Email. Further guidance can be found on the themed pages. All submissions are subject to Pen to Print terms and conditions. 

Our culture is shifting at the moment. The worlds we create do therefore not just serve us. Make a difference to your community from your own four walls and get creating and writing.

We invite local people get in touch. We also welcome partnership discussions for organisations wishing to contribute, so the voices of their beneficiaries and teams can be heard. Details will be published on pentoprint.org.

A Slice of Cake With... Rebecca Lennard

This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with Rebecca Lennard.

R. Lennard dreamed of being the headmistress of a boarding school, a jockey, a ballet dancer and a diplomat. At the same time. Two left feet stopped the dancing dream, and a fear of falling stopped the jockey one.

At ten years old, when she discovered that the squiggles on the page actually meant something, she devoured every book in the library before figuring out that she could be all she dreamed of and more if she wrote the book.

Rebecca enjoys learning about ancient civilisations, cosplaying and endless cups of tea.  An avid fantasy and sci-fi reader, she fell in love with dragons, space travel, discovering fantastical history and stepping through a cupboard. Fantasy became her home away from home, and she loves to share the worlds she's created with her readers in the YA series, Lissae. 

Residing on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, Rebecca enjoys the natural beauty of both the beach and the bush, finding hidden writing spots as a makeshift office. 

When Rebecca isn't writing, she's masquerading as one of the librarians on the Sunshine Coast. 

What kind of stories do you write?

I write books full of magic, action and hope. They’re aimed at teenagers, but lots of adults enjoy reading them too (including me).

Can you describe your writing why?

I have worlds in my head that are aching to be shared. If I don’t write, it feels like something is off-kilter with the world.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

A favourite?! That’s like trying to pick a favourite book, or a favourite child or something. But since you insist…

My favourite all time line is the first line of Ronah: It all started with a trip to the museum and a charging Minotaur. 

But my favourite scene would be from Rakemyst: Sam was humming. Humming. Her heart was aching so much she thought it might burst, and this bastard was humming?

Tell us about your latest project

My latest release is Rakemyst, the second book in the Lissae series. Set immediately after Ronah (book one), Rakemyst follows Shari as she struggles with the guilt over her failure to protect the ones she loves most. With the imminent merging of the two isles, she must ignore her grief and start the painful search to replace the dead Guardian’s Apprentice. 

As mysterious bone-clad warriors close in with their magic-draining arrows, her task becomes urgent.

While Shari puts the potential apprentices through an array of intense challenges, she and her Guardian, Jonathan, butt heads over whom to trust with the fate of their lands. As the battle surges, Shari fears a fractured team will leave a gaping hole in their magical defences.

Can Shari bring her crew together before a bloodthirsty army massacres her people?

If you like kick-ass characters, sword-slicing action, and vivid magical realms, then you’ll love Rakemyst.

Available at: www.lissae.com 

https://books2read.com/rakemyst 

or https://www.amazon.com/Rakemyst-Book-Lissae-R-Lennard-ebook/dp/B08128S99K 

What is your favourite cake?

Black forest cake. Cherries, chocolate and cream, what more could you ask for in a cake?

If you would like to know when Rebecca's next book will come out, please visit her website at www.lissae.com where you can sign up to receive emails with exclusive extras and get notified when her next release is available.

Follow Rebecca on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Goodreads.

Join me next week when I'm joined by Marvin Neu. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round! 

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

Tuesday poem - Homeschool

A massive part of my day
Is the walk up to school and back
Twice
In the rain, the wind, the freezing cold
In the heat, when I'm tired
Especially when I don't want to
Five days a week
Twice

But now...

A massive part of my day
Will be the teaching of my boy
At home
All the subjects, all the topics
Figuring out the curriculum
But helping him wade through
As his autism flares
At home

Stay safe, stay inside, stay connected

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Visit her website - find all her books on Amazon - join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.

Let's Stay Connected!

It's a weird world right now and no-one really knows how things are going to turn out and what it will be like when we come to the end of the current pandemic. It's important that we try to keep a positive mindset and reach out to our digital communities. Let's connect! Feel free to send me a message, drop by to say hi, share humorous photos and even have a little cry on my virtual shoulder. I'm here to help if I can.

One thing I can do is make sure you have plenty to read on your Kindle/e-reader so I've rounded up all my free books and current giveaways into one blog post to help make sure you can easily download everything you'd like.

Tales from Suburbia, Tales from the Seaside and all the Little Book Series poetry books are currently free to download in the Smashwords Authors Give Back ebook event, use the code GC92N

CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER TO GET YOURS

Both my collections of humorous short stories are also available on Audible. Tales from Suburbia is US only while Tales from the Seaside is UK only. Hit me up for your free code.

And these four books are all free to download as well. I'm hoping there is something new for you to enjoy - do let me know if you have any problems accessing any of the books.

Take care of yourself and your family, stay safe, stay connected and keep in touch!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Visit her website - find all her books on Amazon - join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

A Slice of Cake With... Dodie Hamilton

This week I am delighted to have a slice of cake with Dodie Hamilton.

Dodie Hamilton, The Spiritual Midwife, is known throughout the world for her work in psychic counselling and Healing, her particular interest being the Near Death and the Out-of-Body experience. Over thirty years she's given countless private consultations and appeared at the Mind, Body & Spirit Festivals. All her books and writings, no matter how real, how flesh and blood, as in say, A Second Chance, the first in the Gabriel Books, are borne of years of study and personal exploration, the late Robert A Monroe, of the Monroe Institute, Virginia, author of Journeys Out of Body, Far Journeys, and The Ultimate Journey, her mentor.

What kind of stories do you write?

I write about love and the keeping – or the losing – of it. Since I believe in Angels and Ghosts and all things that cannot be explained, I write about the Mystery of this world and of world beyond it, and the dreams we all share.

Can you describe your writing why?

I can’t do anything else but write. My head is so filled with words, people whispering – or shouting- telling me their secrets, I have to let some of it out, or I wouldn’t be able to hear my own voice! Even as a child the stories were there, just waiting to come out. 

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

I like this moment from The Light House Keepers where my person, Daisy Banks, is remembering the accident that crippled her, and how in the ambulance on the way to hospital her heart stopped beating: 

‘Death that snowy morning was laughter so wonderfully buoyant it lifted her out of her body.  The world fell away to the sound of glass breaking, and of Noddy Holder singing:  ‘... so here it is merry Christmas, everybody having fun, look to the future now, it’s only just begun…’  

Then there was Nanny Banks sitting on a cloud knitting, Freddie, the Dachshund, beside her: 

‘Are you staying, sweetie,’ she said, ‘or just passing through?’ 

Nanny died when Daisy was six, and the dog a month later. Then an Angel arrived. You’d think a Messenger from God would make the most of His moment, fly through the night on majestic wings and to the sound of trumpets. Not this one! Dolce and Gabbana leather pants hugging his crotch, a leather jacket with the letter G emblazoned on the back, he sat astride a Harley. Engine thrumming, he barred the way, talking as if he’d lived all his celestial life in the sound of Bow Bells.

‘Hello treacle. Where d’you fink you’re goin’?’

Tell us about your latest project

I have just completed Fettered Wings, the fourth novel in the series ‘The Helplessness of Angels.’  It is now available on Amazon along with other three of the series, A Second Chance, Perfidia, and Reluctant Angels. It’s been a big moment in my life to get this done. I’ve written three other novels between those in ‘Helplessness’ and feel some sense of achievement to get this done. The publishing of Fettered Wings has coincided quite nicely with a series of articles in magazines about my life as the Spiritual Midwife and the investigation into NDE’s and the Out-of-Body-Travelling phenomena that has been the joy of my life.

What is your favourite cake?

Chocolate Gateaux – the gooier the better – with pouring cream. Yum!

You can keep up to date with Dodie and her books on her Facebook and Twitter. All her books are on Amazon. 

Join me next week when I'm joined by Rebecca Lennard. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round! 

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

Tuesday poem - Mother's Day

When becoming a mum I never realised
How much I'd both lose
and gain
My physical shape may never recover
Being sliced open -
twice!
- will do that to you
And then there is the lack of inertia
The complete removal of self
The dwindling desire to put you first
It's all too much...
effort, time, money, effort, time
When are you supposed to fit you in

When becoming a mum I never realised
How much I'd...
worry
panic
shout
cry
not sleep
cry
shout
panic
worry
It's a never-ending roundabout of grief
that I can't get off
But
It's also powered by smiles and hugs
Love and kisses
Home-made cards and snuggle time
Breakfast crumbs in bed one day a year
And daffodils in a jam jar

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

The Funny Club - free ebook

 

Hello and welcome to the Funny Club 

A free anthology of
comedy shorts

This book is an eclectic mix of 12 authors who write different shades of humour in a variety of genres. From satire to smirk, laugh out loud to giggle, we’ve got your funny bones covered. Strap yourself in and refuse to move until you have soaked up every last gag. This is is a not-for-profit publication and free for fans of comedy to enjoy. We hope that the stories within whet your comedy appetite and that you explore the other work of the authors you enjoy.

Featuring stories from:

• Nicky Blue
• Maaja Wentz
• Mike B Good
• Claire Buss - ooh, that's me!
• Sam Hill
• Sheila Patel
• Rebecca Shoulders
• Mark Roman
• Corben Duke
• Ahava Trivedi
• Thomas Phillips
• Oliver Franks

Available to download for free from your favourite book retailer. Click to grab your copy! 

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

A Slice of Cake With... Ann Duggans Robson

This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with Ann Duggans Robson.

Ann Duggans Robson has written a series of books collectively called 'The Pinkmouse Gang'. Ann taught English and History in Comprehensive schools for twenty years and now works as an artist and writer of children's books. She has a B.A,(hons) in fine art and has studied literature with the Open University. She is learning French with an adult education class at the moment.

She has four children, nine grandchildren, two dogs and a very helpful and supportive husband.

She writes in verse and paints the pictures then manipulates them in a computer to create the finished book. The process is all her own. She has sculpted full-size models of the main characters and knits the other characters sometimes in enormous sizes for the delight of her young readers at storytelling in schools, bookshops and art galleries.

What kind of stories do you write?

My books are written in rhyme and full of my brightly coloured watercolour paintings of the anthropomorphic mouse characters and their adventures. They usually are based on true events and the family and friends I know-heavily disguised. 

They are about family life, travel, hobbies, adventures and some naughtiness.

I include a DVD where I read the story whilst showing the paintings and little vignettes of me chatting to the audience. I show the knitted characters and sculptures. 

Can you describe your writing why?

I don’t know really –I’ve done it since I could write –it has got me into trouble especially at school! I love the playing with rhyme and rhythm also the need to entertain without making a show of myself. To make something physical out of an abstract. To describe my life and events I think. The need to record feelings and opinion and events in case memory is lost. I love to create a little book. 

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

From Pinkmouse Bliss where they get married

So with help from birds and bees

And friends, some wet, some prickly

They promised to love forever

And when old and broke and sickly.

They settled down to married bliss

For cuddles snoozes and a tickle

But time had come or a change

For ladies can be fickle.

With blue eyes burning bright

Pamela to Percy said

‘The time has come for little mice

So no more time in bed!’

Tell us about your latest project

My latest book is the seventh in the series The Pinkmouse Gang. The children born of Percy and Pamela Pinkmouse need looking after and they are pests! New characters are introduced –twins born to the Scruffs - the residents of the house.

Again there is a DVD but only for windows this time - in the back of the book there is a quiz, colouring and puzzle page.

What is your favourite cake?

Christmas cake.

You can keep up to date with Ann and the Pinkmouse Gang on Facebook and at her website. 

Join me next week when I'm joined by Dodie Hamilton. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round! 

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

Books Read in February 2020

21 Days of Putting On Your Positivity Pants by Victoria Brown - 3 stars

A simple, straightforward guide to being more positive made humorous by talking about pants lol. But it was interesting and I'm taking lots of pants under advisement. I agree with the creation of this book - for those positivity pants on! It was a little short, I'd have liked more research, more success stories and less buy these motivational posters online. But I get the sales tactic. It'll certainly get you thinking in the right direction.

30 Days Stream of Consciousness: Abduction by L.E. Moebius - 4 stars

A short novella from the POV of the alien in an alien abduction story making it a unique read. I enjoyed how the alien's empathy grew towards the subject and felt so sad for the human's ordeal.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - 5 stars

Recap: there's a mixup with Ernest's lol

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this. I do like reading a play from time to time. All the action dealt with in dialogue, no descriptive narrative. And this play is funny, still funny today. I never saw the film but I think I may, just to see what they did with it. And because I need to hear the handbag line!

Predictive by L.V. Lane - 4 stars

At first, I didn't warm up to predictive Eva but that's the beauty of this book, you get sucked into the characters and have to know what happens next. There are some nice touches to the world-building that bring it away from our societal rules. The characters are unique, the symbiont tattoo is intriguing and the bed-hopping a little salacious! Hoping this is the first in a series rather than a standalone, there's a lot of scope for future reveals, disasters and adventures.

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman - 4 stars

Recap: Irene, Vale and Kai are drawn into peace negotiations between dragons and fae.

Review: I enjoyed the mixture of known and new characters. The Blood Countess was suitably scary and the fae and dragons were both represented marvellously. Kai and Irene are still hanging on together which is nice but I kinda want her to get lost in Lord Silver. There's intrigue and plots twists but it's not overly complex which is a good thing and there's a neat setup for the next book.

Sam Nero PI by Jane Jago - 4 stars 

Recap: A series of cases for P.I Sam Nero and his receptionist Sugar Kane.

Review: Loved the hardboiled noir feel to the books and characters. Real gangsters and family and money with some android and hologram technology thrown in. All the women looked fabulous and were able to ooze sexuality but that fits with the genre. I really liked the twins and there is so much world-building I foresee lots more cases.

Abnormal by AJ Mullican - 3 stars

** spoiler alert ** Recap: Clare is an abnormal who gets found out and has to go on the run.

Review: fast-paced dystopian futuristic story full of depraved sickos. I didn't mind the bed-hopping, each to their own and the sex scenes weren't full of cringeworthy cliches. I was disappointed that the entire plot was for nothing as Clare ended up captured in the end and we never learn why she is important. Is this the first in a series?? There were hints that Eli knew more but again we never found out. It would've made a good cliffhanger. at times the relationship stuff seemed forced and unrealistic whereas at other times it was spot on. I'd read book two to find out what happens next, if it exists?

A Slice of Cake With... Eric Klein

This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with Eric Klein.

Eric is a lifelong science fiction and fantasy reader but has always enjoyed those stories that show how the science and technology can affect people’s lives. By day he works in hi-tech, lecturing and writing on telecom security (at the hardware level, not about the people who use phones to commit fraud).

Eric has done quite a bit of travel for fun and business and has included events in the story that are based on his own experiences. 

As mentioned in the acknowledgements section, Eric is married to a wonderful (and tolerant) scientist who had two great children when they met. Now he is the grandfather to her daughter’s son (Grandparenting is wonderful.) and his grandson makes an appearance in the story, too (you can guess as whom).

What kind of stories do you write?

I write what is considered hard science fiction, why is it hard? Because I am constrained to what is know to be real science, with only a little extrapolation (which is hard as they keep passing my tech in real life).

Can you describe your writing why?

Actually, there is a specific reason for my first book and a general reason for all my writing. The first book came to me in a rather vivid dream – repeating every night for a week, until I wrote it down. Ended up being almost 5 chapters just to get it out of my head. But more generally, I am writing to point towards the kind of future I would like to leave for my grandkids. Showing what is possible and a little of how we can get there. Kind of like what Star Trek (TOS) did for me when I was very young. 

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

Start of Chapter 8:

Slowly waking, I realize that I am doubly constrained. First by the head on my shoulder, a rather pleasant restraint. And secondly, it felt like something was strangling me. After the attempts on the captain, I start to panic. Opening my eyes, I see that there is no one standing over me, and after shifting a little I notice my free arm is still encased in black cloth. Apparently, I had fallen asleep still wearing formal wear and it was only the tie that was trying to strangle me.

I try to move without waking her, but Fay opens her eyes and says, “And just where do you think you are going?” “To the refresher and to remove this tie.”

Tell us about your latest project

So far, I only have the one book published. The sequel is in the works, and trying to keep the politics and being sensitive to a religion I am not part of are taking a lot of effort. So, I would have to say at this time it is still The One: A Cruise Through the Solar System. The story of a computer trouble shooter that wins a cruise. It comes complete with a beauty pageant, science workshop, and space pirates. All while showing the various places we can colonize. 

What is your favourite cake?

Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake served with a glass of old vine Zinfandel.

You can keep in touch with Eric all over social media:

• Twitter 

• Facebook

• Purple Toga Publishing

• GoodReads  

• Amazon Author 

Join me next week when I'm joined by Ann Duggins Robson. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. 

I'd be delighted to have you. You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

Tuesday poem - Where Did I Go

I seem to have lost myself
Somewhere along the way
I'm a mum and a wife and a writer
Of course
But...
There's more inside
More life, more love, more smiles
I just know it
Don't get me wrong
I like me the mum
Me the wife
And me the writer
I work hard, I worry lots and
I care so much I could cry
But I'm still not me me
I checked under the sofa
Behind the fridge
Then I ran out of time
School run, dinner time, bathtime, bed
The search continues tomorrow
Not a nook nor cranny will be safe!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. 

Pre-order The Gaia Collection - in hardback!

Pre-Order your hardback copy of
The Gaia Solution today.

All three of the Gaia books collected together in one volume.

The hardback release date is 6th March

The Gaia Collection is also available to pre-order in Kindle format.

Exclusive Offer - Request a Signed Author Copy

The Gaia Collection is my hopeful dystopian cli-fi trilogy set 200 years in the future after much of the planet and the human race have been decimated during The Event, when the world went to war with high-energy radiation weapons.

In The Gaia Effect, Kira and Jed Jenkins – a young couple who were recently allocated a child – together with their closest friends, discover Corporation have been deliberately lying to them and forcing them to remain sterile. With help from Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, the group of friends begin to fight back against Corporation eventually winning and taking over the governance of City 42.

The Gaia Project, Corporation fight back under a new, more terrifying organization called New Corp and Kira, Jed and their friends end up fleeing for their lives trying to find a safe place to live. They travel to City 36 and City 9 in vain and must go further afield.

The Gaia Solution, the main characters have ended up with the Resistance and not only do they have to deal with surviving against New Corp but an extinction environmental event is looming on the horizon and they’re running out of time to save what’s left of the human race.

Pre-order your copy today!