Someone is murdering members of the local witches coven. They turn to Lizzie and the hat for their unique skills that might help eliminate the killers.
A religious zealot might be a monster, but is still a human being. This task isn’t the same as staking vampires or shooting zombies. It isn’t the usual project Lizzie takes on for her night work.
This all takes place during a recovery period for Lizzie. She needs to keep her cover band together and find a new way of getting them gigs. More bands and less venues are making finances tight. The hat didn’t make things easier during her absence, by spreading rumors about why she took her sabbatical.
Someone killing others over a point of view insults Lizzie’s sensibilities. She has secrets to keep. Her employers have secrets, too. It doesn’t make for a comfortable working environment, but she agrees to do what she can.
Convincing her strong willed employers to stay indoors during all this poses another problem. Can she keep them alive long enough to finish her task?
Good Liniment is full of magic, magical creatures, and an entire underground community living amongst us.
The Hat Series consists of short novels that can be read in a single afternoon. They’re full of snarky, dark humor and can be easily read out of order.
My review
This is my favourite The Hat book so far. Lizzie is at home with her parents recovering from a mental breakdown following an unexpected death. The Hat has to perform some interesting antics to keep things going at the flat he shares with her during this absence, and also to get to Lizzie’s parents house and persuade her to come home. I enjoyed this unexpected introduction.
Lizzie is requested to meet with a coven of local witches following the murder of one of their members. Lizzie knows the dead member and is determined to help. She learns about the witches meeting place, a local pub and restaurant called Good Liniment, and gets to meet several new witches, all of whom are interesting and have their own quirks.
My favourite of the witches was the young Dash, a sixteen year old trainee witch who has recently been taken under the wing of the highly accomplished Cyrus.
This novella retains the dark humour of the other Hat books, but I found it’s subject matter to be scarier. Some of the events, and the reasons these events occur, reached deeper into the blackness of some peoples hearts, especially people who have fanatical beliefs. This aspect of the book was most relatable given the current state of the world.
My Halloween Book Festival selection for today is Soul Swallowers by D. Wallace Peach.
What Amazon says
When swallowed, some souls gift insights, wisdom, a path to understanding. Others unleash power, proficiency with a sword, and indifference to death. One soul assimilates with ease. But swallow a host of the dead and risk a descent into madness.
Estranged from his family over the murder of his wife, young Raze Anvrell wields his fists to vent his rage. Then a chance at a new life beckons, and he retreats to the foothills of the Ravenwood, the haunt of unbound ghosts. He and his mentor build a freehold, a life of physical labor and the satisfaction of realizing a dream. They raise horses and whittle by the fire until the old man dies, and Raze swallows his first soul.
When his brother reaches out, open wounds begin to scar. But the tenuous peace won’t last. While those who rule the Vales yield to the lure of their ambitions, slavers of Ezar roam the countryside, hunting for human chattel. While one man manipulates the law, another heeds the souls of violence howling in his head.
Raze too listens to his soul’s whispers, and as danger intrudes on his quiet life, he has no choice but to return to his father’s world and join the fight.
*** In this completed series, epic fantasy blends with the wisdom of old souls to create a unique coming of age story of courage and honor in the midst of evil. Slavery is pitted against freedom, anger against forgiveness, and a desire to live peacefully against the necessity to take up the sword.
It’s a story of bitter estrangement and broken hearts, of deception and unfettered ambition. For Raze Anvrell it’s a journey of violence, redemption, and his soul’s growth as he transforms from a reckless youth into a man with a rich legacy of souls.
Magic, politics, love, and madness collide in this fantasy adventure. For lovers of beauty and battle, and complex characters willing to risk everything in the fight for their souls.
My review
I was attracted to this book by its unusual title. Soul Swallowers, what could that mean? I was amazed and delighted to discover that its meaning is quite literal and one of the themes of this book is the ability of the people in the author’s beautifully constructed fantasy world to physically swallow the souls of others, friends or foes, and acquire their characteristics, skills and abilities. I enjoyed how the author explored this aspect of the book and illustrated through her characters how the swallowing of souls impacted on the swallower, changing their personality if the soul was a contradiction to their own nature and causing internal turmoil. If the soul was a good fit, the swallower would benefit hugely from this process and the two souls would eventually meld and become completely harmonious. I found this concept unique and compelling.
The author has created a world in conflict and explores the possibilities for good and evil when one culture is consumed by another. Ideas and cultural policies that work well with a conqueror in this case the Ezar, are often badly transposed and their implementation manipulated for personal gain by the representatives of the conquerors and by the leaders of the conquered, who want to retain their positions of power under the new regime. The concept of slavery depicted in the Soul Swallowers and how its initial implementation by the Ezar is twisted in the Vales to the advantage of ruthless and unruly slavers clearly demonstrates this abuse of power. The uncaring attitude of the Vale leadership highlights the distrustful and back stabbing environment that emerges in such situations. As with other brilliant works of fantasy that draw analogies with real life happenings, the influences of Tolkien’s experiences in World War 1 and their influence on his series Lord of the Rings come to mind, the author has done an excellent job of creating a world which shares interesting ideas and thoughts on problems and issue that we are currently facing with integrating cultures in our current global world.
The main character, Raze Anvrell, is the son of one of the Vale leaders who rails against his father’s wishes for him to marry the daughter of a neighbouring Vale leader and bring about an alliance of their two families. When Raze discloses that he is already married, which results in the murder of his young wife, he turns his back on his family and disappears, building himself a life on a rural farm in the Vales. The growth of Raze’s character is intriguing to experience as he goes from being a bereaved, but rather spoiled young man, to developing into a kind and compassionate man who cares for the welfare of others. Raze’s path leads him to discover that you cannot always walk away from a bad system and sometimes you have to take a stand against it.
A fascinating and well written book and one I would recommend to readers of fantasy.
Today, I’m featuring The Magician’s Curse for my Halloween Book Festival series.
What Amazon says
She seeks adventure. He battles his darkness. Will a curse end their beautiful magic?
A 2017 Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner!
Herman Anderson hopes there’s more to life than her challenging past. So when a mysterious and alluring stage magician invites her to be his assistant, the seventeen-year-old can’t wait to start the behind-the-scenes training at his gothic Ontario mansion. But after she senses a growing attraction between her and the trained illusionist, she wonders what’s holding him back from stirring love’s magic.
Stephen Dagmar lives every day with the knowledge of his family’s curse. But as he sets the path in motion to destroy the dark sorcery, his stunningly beautiful stage partner throws his plan into turmoil. And as the sparks shine brighter with each passing moment, the magician fears that breaking free of the spell will crush Herman’s heart.
As the days tick down to Herman’s 18th birthday, she starts to unlock the secrets of the Dagmar family mansion. And each one is stranger and more painful than the last…
Will the magician and his assistant break their supernatural chains to discover true love?
The Magician’s Curse: A Paranormal Romance is Linda G. Hill’s enchanting debut book in her series, The Great Dagmaru. If you like passionate partnerships, hidden secrets, and powerful magic, then you’ll love this captivating tale.
Buy The Magician’s Curse to uncover the dark truth today!
My review
Herman has a most unusual name which has been a burden to her all her school life. Why on earth would her parents saddle her with a boy’s name? As this interesting book, filled with magic and mystery progresses, Herman finds out that it is not only her name that is unusual about her, or her parents choice that is unusual about them.
Herman’s mother has been very ill for a long time and her father is never there to offer any support to his family. Herman assumed the role of mother to her younger brother, Chad, when she was very young and now she is breaking free to establish a life for herself. She plans to bring her brother to live with her once she is settled and earning an income. On the train to her new job, Herman meets a riveting young man who introduces himself as Stephen. Much to Herman’s surprise, Stephen professes to be as taken with her as she is with him, so when he asks her to work for him as his assistant she doesn’t put up much of a fight. Fortunately for Herman, Stephen, who is a magician, is genuine in his offer for her to become his assistant and she quickly discovers that there is more to his magic than meets the eye. In fact, Herman soon comes to realise that the household staff and Stephen’s entire lifestyle is fairly unorthodox.
The attraction between Herman and Stephen is incredibly strong but Herman can sense there is something not quite right with their relationship and this causes her to hold back from committing herself completely to him. What is Stephen’s secret and will Herman be able to accept it when she eventually discovers what it is? I did like the fact that the character of Stephen illustrated respect for Herman and gave her the opportunity to make her own choice about his unusual situation.
This book is for adults and, although not graphic, it does contain descriptions of sex and suggestions of sexual freedoms. The romantic aspect of this book is the overriding genre with the supernatural element playing a lessor role.
My Halloween Book Fair choice for today is Maledicus by Charles F. French.
What Amazon says
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke) Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Franklin attempts to make it through life day by day. Roosevelt is a widower, who lost his beloved wife to cancer and a retired history professor, and he has not stopped grieving. He and his two closest friends, also retired and who have also lost loved ones, form a paranormal investigation group. They hope to find an answer to the question: is there life after death? When asked by a local teacher to investigate a possible haunting of her house, the group discovers an evil beyond anything they could have imagined. This is no mere ghost. Maledicus, who was in life a pimp, torturer, and murderer during Caligula’s reign in Rome, in death has become a sociopathic demon that attacks the weak and the innocent. Maledicus threatens a five year old child’s life and soul. Terrified by what they have discovered, Roosevelt and his friends must choose to either walk away from this threat , or to do battle with this ancient creature at the potential loss of their sanities, their lives, and their souls.
My review
Maledicus is the right hand man to Caligula, Emperor of the Roman Empire, and they are equally despicable, inhumane and outright evil. Maledicus has plans, great plans, whereby he will ascend to the top position of Emperor but he underestimates the incumbent, Caligula, and his many eyes and ears. Maledicus never achieves his aspirations and is dispatched to the afterlife in an unpleasant and painful way.
In the non world between Heaven and Hell, Maledicus lurks. He is not reconciled to his unnatural death and believes his chance to aspire to greatness will come. He sets about manipulating events and circumstances to achieve his ultimate goals of greatness.
Meanwhile, time has moved on and in the 21st century, three elderly and retired men, Roosevelt, Sam and Jeremy, have formed a ghost-investigating group, with the occasional help and support from Roosevelt’s nephew, ex-US Marine, Patrick. They have all suffered personal losses and this is a great way for them to keep themselves mental and physically active and to indulge in an interest in ghosts and the supernatural. When their Investigative Paranormal Society (“IPS”) gets its first really legitimate case, they find themselves up against an on-going evil that refuses to die. Can the IPS go up against an ancient and expanding evil and expect anything other than untimely deaths?
I enjoyed the characters of Roosevelt, Sam, Jeremy and Patrick and learning about their individual losses and life experiences, all of which weave together into the fabric of this well planned story.
The idea behind this book is fresh and clever and the ending was superb. I was really impressed by the author’s unique and thrilling ending.
Thank you to Professor Charles French for sharing my post about the merits of Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Carmilla is an important gothic horror novella as it is the original vampire story and also suggestive of Lesbian love despite its conservative Victorian setting and readership.
My September Dark Origins post focuses on climate change and the possible catastrophic effects of global heating or, as is the case in The Road by Cormack McCarthy, global cooling. Thank you for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.
This graph illustrates the change in global surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 average temperatures, with the year 2020 statistically tying with 2016 for hottest on record (Source: NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies).
I have fallen horribly behind with writing and sharing reviews. This time of the year is my ‘hamster in a ball’ period when I seem to be running as fast as I can and … not getting very far.
Today is a catch up and I am sharing reviews of three excellent, and very different, books I have read recently.
This book is a collection of short stories and vignettes from the “Pip-verse.” They are tales of Paisley Idelle Peabody, aka Pip, and her friends who appear in The Three Things Serial Story, and Murder at the Bijou ― Three Ingredients 1, and A Ghost in the Kitchen ― Three Ingredients 2. . Most of these tales are written in the author’s “three things method of storytelling,” meaning they are driven by sets of three random things, which were supplied by her readers. These short stories occur at various points in the timeline of those adventures, but they do not include any spoilers. . If you enjoy Roaring Twenties slang, have a sense of whimsy, and don’t mind having your heart lifted, then jump in the jalopy and hang on tight. There’s no telling where we’ll go, but there’s sure to be fun along the way. You’re the cat’s pajamas!
My review
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories about Pip. The author captures perfectly the conflict of the 1920’s, a time of rapid change and progress to which the attitudes and thought processes of the average person, and the institutions, have not yet adjusted.
Pip is a modern woman, a flapper, who wants to be independent and live her best life. Unfortunately, the world is not yet ready for Pip and she fights a constant battle against society. Thank goodness for her Granny Phanny, a most emancipated elderly lady, but who manages to rein Pip in and get her to tow the social norms of the time while still keeping the champagne bubbles in life.
This book is well researched and the language of the time is a hoot, perfectly suiting the humorous style of the writing and stories, which put an amusing spin on Pip’s struggle as an enlightened flapper against the world.
A one sentence summary of a few of my favourite stories in this collection:
Pip’s Lemon Christmas – A lonely Christmas Eve is looking up when a gorgeous delivery man arrives with a surprise package for Pip. A quote: “What would any self-respecting flapper do in such a situation? Refuse to be a sourpuss, that’s what a flapper would do!”
Pip’s a Chicken – Pip’s cooking lessons under Granny Phanny’s direction are not going well, but Granny has found her own way of coping … and eating. A quote: “Just because your friend chicken turned out as tough as an old rooster doesn’t mean you can quit.”
Pip Sees a Camel – Pip is late again and Granny Phanny decides to teach her a lesson. A quote: “That dewdropper is advertising classes for the Camel Walk dance. And that nasty, spitting beast got away.”
This collection is an entertaining peep into life in the 1920’s with strong female characters. Highly recommend.
Picture caption: The beautiful dark blue cover of The Bubble Reputation featuring a woman trapped inside a bubble
What Amazon says
If you want to destroy someone’s reputation, social media provides the perfect tool.
Emmie Hobson, children’s author and TV presenter, is riding high on a wave of popularity when an unscrupulous newspaper editor, desperate for a scoop, brings Emmie’s world crashing down.
Social media picks up the baton and a terrifying backlash of hate and abuse is unleashed. Threats are made and there are those, inflamed by the rhetoric, prepared to take the law into their own hands.
My review
The Bubble Reputation is an intriguing and chilling story which focuses on the unscrupulous nature of some reporters who will do anything for a ‘story’, fake news, and the power of social media.
Emmy is an up and coming author of a series of popular children’s books. She has her own television show and is in line to receive an award at the upcoming British Recognition of Achievement Awards Ceremony. In addition, Emmie has great relationships with her parents and partner.
Ursula Bloom is the frustrated editor of In the Picture, a paper with falling circulation figures. Ursula needs a scoop to book her paper’s circulation and she is not concerned about how she gets it or whether it is based on truth. She hatches a plan with a junior reporter to commence a smear campaign about Emmie.
The detail in this book as to how the smear campaign starts and effectively ‘gets its fake teeth’ into Emmy and everyone involved with her is fascinating and believable. Soon Emmie is fighting to hold on to everything, her reputation, her show, and her book contract. Everyone around her is fair game and her parents and partner get hauled into the media mud fight.
This is an excellent novella which will make you extra careful about what you share in the public domain.
Picture caption: The intriguing cover to The Changeling of the Third Reich in a striking dark red and featuring a picture of a young teenage girl in two worlds during WW2
What Amazon says
The year is 1968, and the Vietnam War is in full swing. Dr. Bridget Castle, a neurosurgeon in Boston, handles the victims of anti-war protests, the casualties of war, and the stress of being a woman in a male-dominated profession with ease. Her husband, her parents, and her patients all love and respect her, but her tight-knit world is in danger of unraveling when someone from her past shows up and threatens to expose her closest-held secret: that she is a Concentration Camp survivor.
For more than twenty-three years, Bridget has walked in the shoes of a girl killed in the Blitz, blurring the line of when her own identity as a German Jew ended and when she assumed the role of changeling. If not for her childhood diary to remind her of all she endured, she would be completely successful in taking on the memories of the girl she replaced. But when the son of a Nazi soldier is placed in her care, she finds herself unable to deny her past any longer.
The last time Bridget had to stare into the face of evil, she learned, despite losing everything, just how strong she was. Now that the ghosts of her past have awakened, will she be strong enough to avenge the life that was stolen from her?
My review
A dual timeline novel, this interesting story moves between an American city during the Vietnam War and war-torn Europe during WW2.
Dr Bridget Castle is a successful woman. A female doctor, she has fought for, and received, recognition, attaining the position of head of neurology at the Catholic hospital where she works. Bridget has a happy and fulfilling marriage to another neurologist; she also has a loving family. Bridget’s adopted father is also a doctor.
Bridget has overcome a terrible past. As a young Jewish girl in Nazi Europe during WW2, she survived internment in three concentration camps and was finally rescued by her adopted father, one of the liberators of the camp. During this period of her life, Bridget, lost both her brothers and both her parents. She has terrible memories of abuse, her own and other peoples, and suffers nightmares.
The story revolves around Bridget’s interactions and experiences with several patients and a few fellow doctors at the hospital. Each interaction triggers memories from Bridget’s traumatic childhood which are presented as diary entries in a journal Bridget managed to hold on to during the war years.
While some suspension of belief is required by the reader to embrace the many coincidences in this story, it is a good read, well researched (I wondered if some of the historical input came from relatives or people who lived through the war in Europe) and with an entertaining and thought provoking story.
Bridget’s character is full of internal conflict as a result of her traumatic past and particularly, the deemed rejection by her mother that took place a few short weeks before Bridget was captured by the Nazi’s and incarcerated. This perceived rejection has coloured Bridget’s entire life and thoughts about her former family.
The book examines some deep themes: racial and other prejudices (in addition to Hitler and his Nazi’s prejudice against Jewish and other people during WW2, the book examines also prejudice against the teenage Vietnam War protested who were abused by the police based on their looks and a dismissal that they were all drug takers); gender inequality at that time in America; family and other relationships and the concept of sacrifices made for love.
I enjoyed this book and the detailed history presented all wrapped up in an entertaining story.
The hay bales are Rice Krispies logs made with white chocolate, Rice Krispies, desiccated coconut and yellow food colouringSir Chocolate is leaning against Rice Krispies and Smartie blocks
Finally, the licorice trolls chocolate log fire goes ‘snap! crackle! and pop!
Today, I am delighted to welcome author and poet, Kaye Lynne Booth, to Roberta Writes for the Day 4 stop on her The Rock Star & The Outlaw book blog tour.
Tour Schedule
The Rock Star & The Outlaw, by Kaye Lynne Booth – September 18 – 22
Monday – Sept. 18 – Opening Day – “Amaryllis & The Pretty Reckless” – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – Sept. 19 –“Writing with music and LeRoy McAllister & Review” – Carla Loves to Read
Wednesday – Sept. 20 – “The characters of Nick and Monique” – Writing to be Read
Thursday – Sept.21 – “Prostitution in the American West and the character of Maggie” – Roberta Writes/Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – Sept. 22 – Closing Post – “Writing the Villian & Juan Montoya” – Writing to be Read
Prostitution in the American West & the character of Maggie
The character of Maggie Louise O’Flaherty was interesting to write. She was inspired by a visit to the Old Homestead Museum in Cripple Creek, Colorado, where I learned some surprising things about the ladies of the night in Colorado mining towns in the late 1800s.
History Lesson
The Homestead House was Cripple Creek’s most illustrious house of prostitution. Built in 1896, the house was operated by Madam Pearl DeVere, who created a high-class parlor house for the rich and powerful. A visit to this house required an application process and was by appointment only. Anyone who did not hold millionaire status need not apply. Appointments were pricey, to say the least. Refer to Note 3
At the time, Cripple Creek boasted 56 bordellos, none of a stature of Homestead House, of course, but there were offerings for gentlemen seeking female companionship of all occupations. There were also girls not affiliated with any house, who worked the street along Meyers Avenue, which housed Cripple Creek’s red-light district. Refer to Note 2
Although high priced houses like Homestead House were not typical of mining towns across the American west, the number of bordellos is not surprising. Money flowed in mining towns, and although prostitution was tolerated, and the law found clever ways to look the other way. In the town directory, the house would be listed as a boarding house and the women who lived and worked there, as boarders. Although prostitution was illegal, much needed funds were provided in taxes and fines leveled on the women, so the local law overlooked their profession, and concentrated on lesser infractions which could be fined, such as doing their shopping on the wrong day of the week, when the respectable ladies were out. (They may as well of worn large scarlet A’s on their chests.) For the parlor houses to be taxed as businesses, they were listed as boarding houses, and the ladies were listed as boarders.
Most mining towns thrived with number of saloons, gambling houses and bordellos, and prostitution was one of the few occupations for single women in the west. (Other occupations single women might undertake included seamstress, laundress and selling baked goods.) It is reported that in the California Gulch area, near Leadville, Colorado there were 36 women to 2000 men. In general, men outnumbered women by at least 3 to 1 in the mining towns of the west. Yet another reason for the law to look the other way – coming down on the industry would likely cause an uprising from the local population.
Prostitution was not an easy life. Soiled doves were required to have a clean bill of health before they were allowed to practice their trade and they underwent frequent checks by the local doctor. They stuffed themselves into tightly bound corsets, often laced tight enough to break ribs, and often cut off their air, causing them to feint. This is why the feinting couch was a standard furnishing in parlor houses. Scarlet ladies fell pray to venereal diseases, pregnancies resulting in abortions under dangerous conditions, drug use and overdoses, and they underwent poor treatment from their customers, often resulting in beatings or even death. Many bordellos hired in house muscle to enforce house rules and make sure the women weren’t harmed. Even in the high-end houses, depression and alcohol and drug usage were not uncommon. Believed to be accidental, the Madame of Old Homestead, Pearl DeVere, succumbed to an overdose of laudanum after a lover’s spat. Refer to Note 3
Although some women found themselves there due to life circumstances and a lack of alternatives, others were there by choice. Working in a brothel or saloon was a means of providing a living for women who would otherwise have little other choices. “Many saloon or ‘dance-hall girls’ made more money dancing with the men than they could as a prostitute.” Refer to Note 4. For some, it was a means to a better life. Many of the smarter, business minded women succeeded in working their way up to operating their own houses, or investing in a store or restaurant, and escaping the business altogether. Notes 3 and 4. Still others found husbands and quit the life.
”Prostitutes of the American West were far from fallen women—many were savvy entrepreneurs. Often, sex workers saw the West as a place of opportunity, one where they could work their way out of the profession entirely due to high demand and high revenues.” Note 1
The Character of Maggie
I am enthralled by the prostitutes of the west and the lives that they chose. Call them soiled doves, ladies of the night, fallen women, or whatever you will, they were strong women who chose to establish their independence with determination. Especially the saloon keepers and madams, who were early entrepreneurs, and often served as a mother figure for the women who worked for them. Although they get a bad rap and are frowned upon in today’s society, they were a vital part of frontier society. Refer to Note 4. So, when Amaryllis and LeRoy find themselves in 1887 and in need of funds, there had to be Maggie for them to turn to.
Maggie isn’t a bonafide madam. She operates a saloon and dance hall called Maggie’s Place. It isn’t a high-class brothel like the Old Homestead. In fact, hers is a struggling business which she’s trying to build up, and she has competition from the Silver Leaf Saloon across the way, where the owner has lots of money to sink into it, where Maggie does not. But she manages to provide a roof and a bed to the women who work for her hustling drinks and dancing, and employs a piano player to provide the music. She dresses the part, and the girls look up to her and respect her.
Although she keeps to the shadows and we don’t see a lot of her, her role is key to the story. She looked after LeRoy when he was a boy, and is there to offer advice and help when needed, thus reinforcing the motherly aspect of her character. Maggie is the woman who is there when our protagonists need her, providing needed employment, assistance in plans for a jailbreak, medical attention for gunshot wounds, understanding and moral support.
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press‘ Readers Group and sample her works with a free copy of my short story collection Last Call and Other Short Fiction.
Thank you to writer and blogger, Marsha Ingrao, for this wonderful author interview. I really appreciate Marsha’s showcasing of This Is How We Grow, stories and poems for perspective taking, compiled and edited by Yvette Prior. Marsha is a fellow contributed to this amazing anthology and is also the host of Story Chat Y3, a unique story writing blogging challenge. Marsha is showcasing, and hosting a discussion about, stories contributed by her current followers and also other interested writers and bloggers. You can find out more about it here: https://alwayswrite.blog/2023/09/14/story-chat-y3-story-writing-tips/
Welcome to Always Write. My goal in this Author Interview Series is to interview the talented authors who participated in Yvette’s anthology This is How We Grow, as well as the authors in the upcoming Story Chat, Online Literary Conversations.
Draft copy
I met Robbie several years ago blogging, and now rarely a day goes by in which we don’t chat through our blogs.She has been so supportive of all my challenges commenting on almost all of them in spite of how busy she is. Everyone I know in the blogging world adores her, and if you don’t know her well yet, I hope you will by the end of this series. This is the first of several posts. In some of the posts she will offer writing advice, and others tell about her writing and blogging journeys.
I finished reading Yvette’s anthology, This Is How We Grow. Robbie, you have done so much. We all have to pant to keep up with you. In all of your activities on your blog, you don’t mention much about the difficult health issues you talked about in this enlightening book on perspectives that had me in tears as I read it. However, our readers will have to read Yvette’s book to get that glimpse of your life as we are going to veer away from that in these interviews.
That’s true, Marsha. I never shared much personal information on my blog because I didn’t think it would interest people, and it wasn’t in line with the purpose of my blog. My blog was a bit of an escape from home anxieties.
I started my first blog, Robbie’s Inspiration, in October 2016. It was after the launch of Michael and my first Sir Chocolate book, Sir Chocolate, and the Strawberry Cream Berries story and cookbook. The blog was intended to be a platform where I could share my cake and fondant art and poetry, and promote our Sir Chocolate books series. We had a contract with TLS Publications for 8 books at the time. I didn’t know anything about blogging initially, so I never really expected to develop friendships the way I have.
Robbie’s Fondant Self-portrait during Covid
I was lucky enough to find Sally Cronin’s blog Smorgasbord early on, and I modelled my blogging off her approach and started sharing book reviews and recipes and interviewing a few blogging friends to help them promote their books.
I started my blog, Roberta Writes in October 2018 while I was writing my first YA novel, Through the Nethergate. I deemed it appropriate to split my children’s and adults writing. My split is a little blurry, though, as I tend to share poetry and photographs on both blogs. Although there are some cross-over followers, many of my followers are unique to one or the other blog.
roberta-writes.com 