Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Author Update – Judith Barrow, Charles E. Yallowitz and Sandra J. Jackson

Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life

Welcome to the first of the Cafe and Bookstore updates this week and there are new releases and fantastic reviews to share. The first author is Judith Barrow whose latest release A Hundred Tiny Threads has received another wonderful review.

About A Hundred Tiny Threads

It’s 1911 and Winifred Duffy is a determined young woman eager for new experiences, for a life beyond the grocer’s shop counter ruled over by her domineering mother.

The scars of Bill Howarth’s troubled childhood linger. The only light in his life comes from a chance encounter with Winifred, the girl he determines to make his wife.

Meeting her friend Honora’s silver-tongued brother turns Winifred’s heart upside down. But Honora and Conal disappear, after a suffrage rally turns into a riot, and abandoned Winifred has nowhere to turn but home.

The Great War intervenes, sending Bill abroad to be hardened in a furnace of carnage…

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Guest author: Marilyn Armstrong – Visions

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

Over the years, I envied Christians. They always seem of all the things which for me are nothing but doubts.

On August 30th, 2004, sometime between midnight and dawn, I had a vision in that peculiar space between sleeping and waking. I was very near death. The skin all across my abdomen had turned septic. Antibiotics were not working. Even the emergency debridement from the plastic surgery swat team had not fixed it. I knew I was dying. I could feel myself slipping away. I expected death to be more dramatic and certainly more frightening. I was less afraid than sad. I felt I had not done whatever it was I was supposed to do this time around the wheel.

Then came the vision. Unlike a dream, it has stayed clear as crystal. Never has it become faded or confused.

I was a little bird, a sparrow. I was broken…

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Odd Jobs and Characters with Sally Cronin

Robbie's inspiration

Michael and I are delighted to have Sally Cronin from Smorgasbord visiting us today. Sally is going to tell us all about another one of her fascinating jobs, this time in the school housekeeping and caterer field.

School Housekeeper/Caterer – Feeding the 5, 000 or so it seemed

My thanks to Robbie for kindly inviting me to guest post with this series of my sometimes quirky jobs over the years. Not only did they provide me with a living but also brought some wonderful characters into my world who now populate the fictional ones I create.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to keep our marriage together, my first husband and I finally split up. All our furniture and belongings were in storage, as our accommodation at the pub we ran was fully equipped. I headed off with two suitcases into a B&B for a few weeks and took some temporary…

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Thistledown – Midsummer Bedlam 10

Teagan's Books

Friday, September 15, 2017

Welcome back to the faery world of Thistledown!

Writing Process

The writing of this episode was frequently interrupted.  That can make it even harder for creativity to flow, to fly by the seat of my pantser pants.  Then I reminded myself that there were still faery characters waiting in the wings, marking time until their parts in the story are found by my flying pants.  Actually, that didn’t make it any easier.  However, I finally finished the chapter.

About This Episode

It’s been fun to imagine slightly off-kilter versions of the characters in this serial, what I called the “scary faeries,” from the colorless world of Bedlam Thunder’s visions.  You’ll meet another of those today.  Without further ado, let’s fly off to Thistledown.

Thistledown

Midsummer Bedlam 10

Neon Brand, Unsplash

Fire andFurry

Beautiful birdsong made music throughout the branches of the primeval evergreen tree.  My…

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September Featured Agent – Thao Le – Part Two Interview

M J Mallon Author

An chance to have those all important opening lines of your manuscript or picture book (if you’re an author/illustrator,) critiqued by agent, Thao Le, Via Kathy Temean.  Closing date for this wonderful opportunity: 21st September. Source: September Featured Agent – Thao Le – Part Two Interview

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Media Training for Authors – Introduction and Opening the Door – Don’t be shy!

Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life

I have been an Indie Author for 20 years and without a massive budget behind me to get noticed, I had to push open a few doors myself. For most of it is very hard to self-promote, even for someone like myself, who have a background in public speaking at conferences and major events.

We have a tendency to think global with our marketing because we have access to the world via the Internet. But I have always sold more books, especially print books by creating a market in my local environment. When I first began marketing my books there was no Amazon, worldwide web or global readership to the same extent and we relied on local media picking up the story. This sometimes led to nationals then taking an interest. That is how it worked with my first book Size Matters and I enjoyed both local and national coverage…

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Jazz Age Wednesdays 1

Teagan's Books

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Each weekend I give you a new serial episode. I’ve been giving that throughout most of the past four years. However, Teagan’s Books is about more than serial episodes.  It’s about my books too.  So I’m creating this midweek feature.

I added a poll to the last post. Not a majority, but some people wanted me to keep it to one post a week.  No one is obligated to visit every post.  Although I have to say I find that discouraging.

Since my current release is Murder at the Bijou — Three Ingredients I, I’ll be having Jazz Age Wednesdays.  That means short stories from the “Pip-verse.”  (At least for a while.  When Atonement in Bloom is published, the midweek feature will be from that universe.)

We like to joke about Wednesday being “hump day” and camels. Did you know that…

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