Amazon says

The Magisters is a science fiction story with a difference. Apart from chronicling the ultimate change of life for a select few individuals, it questions all accepted ideas by closeminded academics that leave no room for alternative thinking by some among their number. It is also about a woman born ten years after the Romans left Britannia forever and a man born in the twentieth century. Add to that everything that is currently environmentally wrong with our planet today, and you have all the necessary ingredients for an enthralling tale. Now read on…

My review

This is a quick and highly entertaining read about a few selected people from throughout history (Magisters) who are chosen by an ancient extra terrestrial to help him maintain certain historical monuments. The alien comes from an advanced race on another planet who have damaged their own home environment and the historical monuments guarded by the Magisters have a historical usage by this alien race that is very different from what modern man believes.

When a new comer, who has the power to restore these ancient monuments to their formal glory through his focused thoughts, finally joins the Magisters it enables their leader to re-establish his communication with his compatriots on his home planet. Using the Magisters collective powers, the leader is able to repair his space ships and travel back to his home planet as well as travelling around the earth world.

There is a bit of a romance slipped in which complements the main story nicely and makes two of the main Magister characters more human and believable.

Naturally, the scientists and politicians on earth notice the dramatic restoration of the seven historical monuments and question how this has occurred. How the leader and the Magisters deal with this curiosity and also with humanities determination to damage their planet home can be discovered by reading this fascinating novella.

Purchase The Magisters: Book One

Welcome to this week’s Open Book Blog Hop.  The topic today is:

‘Would you like to be a bestseller or have a smaller, more manageable following?’

The short answer to this question is yes. Of course I would like to be a bestseller, that would be immensely gratifying as writing a book is jolly hard work. When the horror anthology, Nightmareland, edited by Dan Alatorre, in which I have three short stories went to number 1 in its category on Amazon twice, I was very delighted. It is nice to think that people are interested in your book and are buying it.

I said to my mother this morning that maybe A Ghost and his Gold will be my last book. It is currently at 75 000 words and I have about another 10 000 to go maybe more. There are a couple of controversial events that I excluded initially, but I am going back to include them as I want to present as realistic a picture of the events of the Second Anglo Boer War or South African War as is reasonably possible. This book isn’t all historical events. There is a strong paranormal element which binds the whole story together and that is why the title is appropriate. This book is The Red Badge of Courage meets The Shining [in my imagination in any event – smile].

My mother reassures me that I will write another book because she says writing is a challenge for me and I will get impossibly bored if I don’t write. She may be right; time will tell. I also depends on what ideas for stories I have.

Anyhow, back to the question at hand. I would like to be a best seller, but [here it comes] only on my own quirky terms. I do not believe I could write to a formula or to a publishers specifications and, as a result, I am not sure if I can ever be a modern bestselling author. I write for my personal pleasure as well as in the hope that other people will enjoy my books and short stories. Being happy with the content of my books is important to me and I would not want to relinquish control over my content.

Anyhow, the question is currently hypothetical so I will just carry on as I am and hope for the best.

Would other blog-hoppers prefer to be bestsellers ?  Click on the blue button below to find out:

Rules:

1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

The following week, Papa and Uncle Willem had visited the general store in the local town. They had returned with exciting news.

“Our officers held a war council meeting at Balmoral recently. They have adopted an entirely new military tactic. We will no longer be employing defensive or passive tactics but will be employing a new strategy of attacking the Khakis as frequently as possible and, in particular, attempting to obstruct their communication routes.”

“How will that work practically,” asks Marta.

“The Burghers will be divided up into small groups which will all act independently of each other. The aim is that the Khakis will have to divide their own forces up and this will make them more vulnerable to our attacks,” says Willem, waving his arms around in excitement.

“In addition to the Burghers under General Botha, another four commandos are being re-organised including our Potchefstroom Commando,” says Papa.Later that evening, Estelle goes to the kitchen to get a cup of water. She can hear the adults talking in the voorkamer.

“You have a hard choice to make, Willem,” Papa says. “You can accept Lord Roberts offer and surrender your weapons. His words could be sincere, and you might get to keep your farm and your livestock. The alternative is that you go to the Potchefstroom district and join up with the Burghers there. This option is risky as if the new military strategy fails, you will be branded by the Khakis as a rebel and punished accordingly.”

“What are you going to do, Pieter?” Uncle Willem asks plaintively. “You are faced with the same choice.”

“Not really, Willem. My farm is already lost to me. My livestock is here, but I have no land and no home,” the bitterness in Papa’s voice shocks Estelle, as she stands in the kitchen, her bare feet slowly turning to ice.

“I can’t believe we are having his conversation, Willem.” Aunt Sannie’s voice cracks like a whip and her words drip with disgust. “The strength of our army in the field must be preserved,” she continues. “If you two aren’t prepared to return to your commando, then Marta and I will have to take your places. Someone has to fight for the volk. We won’t stand by and let you two cowards undermine our hopes for a free Afrikaner nation.”

Estelle is shocked at Aunt Sannie’s frank and disrespectful comments about Papa and Uncle Willem. Papa is not a coward, his is the bravest person I know.

“You are shirking your duty towards your country, Willem, and I am ashamed of you,” she states coldly.

Estelle knows her mother is also keen for Papa to return to the war and that is the correct way for her to feel, but she isn’t as unpleasant about it as Aunt Sannie.

“Don’t be silly, Sannie,” Uncle Willem says. “Of course, Pieter and I plan to return to the fight. We needed to know what was happening first, that’s all. We didn’t even know where to join our commando before today.”

“I’m glad to hear this ridiculous discussion is finished then,” says Aunt Sannie. “Would anyone like some more coffee?”

Estelle slips away quickly before she is caught eavesdropping on the adult’s conversation.

You can join in the fun here: https://scvincent.com/2020/02/06/thursday-photo-prompt-choice-writephoto/

Estelle hears a dry rustling noise in the patch of tall grass and wild daisies near their camp. She looks in the direction of the noise and sees two green lights shining in the dark, near to the ground. Her blood turns to ice and her hair seems to physically stand on end.

“Look, Papa, look,” she screams.

Papa grabs his Mauser and aims it at the eyes, ready to fire. The eyes stop moving forward. They stay still in the dark, looking at them.

Is it a hyena?

Nothing moves in the vast stillness of the African night.

Written for the Carrot Ranch flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills. You can join in here: https://carrotranch.com/2020/02/06/february-6-flash-fiction-challenge/

I visited Sally Cronin at Smorgasbord blog earlier this week with a post about OCD and how interacting with sufferers has influenced my writing. Thank you, Sally for hosting me. If you haven’t visited Sally before, I highly recommend that you do, she has a wonderful blog that is just like an on-line magazine.

Robbie Cheadle has been a frequent guest on Smorgasbord over the last two years, writing about a wide range of subjects. Today Robbie shares the condition OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), her observations in those that suffer from OCD and how it has influenced her writing.

How interacting with OCD sufferers has influenced my writing by Robbie Cheadle

What is OCD?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, obsessive-compulsive disorder (“OCD”) is an anxiety disorder in which time people have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations (obsessions) that make them feel driven to do something repetitively (compulsions). The repetitive behaviors, such as hand washing, checking on things or cleaning, can significantly interfere with a person’s daily activities and social interactions.
Obsessions are involuntary thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again in your mind. You don’t want to have these ideas, but you can’t stop them. Unfortunately, these obsessive thoughts are often disturbing and distracting.

The cycle of OCD

Compulsions are behaviours or rituals that a person feels compelled to act out again and again. OCD sufferers develop compulsions in an attempt to control obsessive and intrusive thoughts. For example, if an OCD sufferer is afraid of contamination, he/she may develop complicated cleaning rituals. The relief provided by compulsive behaviour, unfortunately, never lasts and usually increases over time, in tandem with increased anxiety by the OCD sufferer as a result of the time-consuming and invasive nature of the rituals.

Carry on reading here: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/smorgasbord-blog-magazine-health-column-guest-post-how-interacting-with-ocd-sufferers-has-influenced-my-writing-by-robbie-cheadle/

Purchase link for Whispers of the past

I have signed up for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2020, hosted by Karen from Books and Chocolate blog.

https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2020/01/back-to-classics-challenge-2020.html.

Evil under the sun by Agatha Christie is my first read for this challenge in the category of genre classic.

What Amazon says

Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England, Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christie’s most intriguing mysteries. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea.

My review

I am a big Agatha Christie fan and this book was very entertaining. A quick and fast paced read, in this particular murder mystery, we are introduced to the victim in advance of the murder taking place. The victim is a guest at an exclusive hotel in an island just off the English coast which is cut-off from the mainland during high tide. She is holidaying with her husband and step-daughter and having an obvious affair with one of the other guests, Patrick Redfern, who is also holidaying with his quiet and unassuming wife, Christine. Other guests include Hercule Poirot, a minister with a past, an elderly ex-military man, an elderly spinster, called Emily Brewster, and an elderly American couple, Mr and Mrs Gardener. An attractive old friend of the victim’s husband is also resident at the hotel.

The reader gets peeps into each guests activities and thoughts before the murder takes place and this sets the stage for our intuition that a murder is going to occur and suspicions about certain of the guests. A number of the guests appear to have water-tight alibis which Hercule Poirot needs to disprove or prove in order to discover what really happened at the time of the murder.

Of course, in Ms Christie’s usual brilliant way, she has laid lots of red herrings that lead the reader off on an entirely incorrect path about the identity of the killer. I had some suspicions about how the murder transpired and by whom, and the whole case was satisfactorily and neatly wound up for me by the end of the story.

Purchase Evil under the sun

Welcome to another edition of the ‘Open Book Blog Hop’.  This week’s subject is:

‘How do you keep track of all the books you read?’

I read a lot of books. I read a reviewed 150 books last year in a wide variety of genre’s including children’s, poetry, horror, supernatural, cosy mystery, family drama and the odd memoir and thriller.

My preference is to select the books I read and review by which I mean that I rarely read and review books on request by an author or publisher. The reason for this is that I quickly learned that I frequently didn’t enjoy books that I read at the request of someone and this caused a conundrum for me when it came to the review. I don’t post reviews that are less than 3 stars. That is a personal decision I have made as I firmly believe that despite all attempts, I make to read and review books with a fair and unbiased eye, there are some topics or styles of writing I just don’t like and that would reflect negatively in my review. Another reader could have a very different experience of the same book. I know this is true because I have read reviews of books by other readers who have assigned a low rating to a book. I have read and loved the same book and it has been a 5-star read for me. A good example of this is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. 13% of the reviews for this amazing book on Amazon are 1 star reviews. I gave it 5 stars.

I digress, however, from the question of how I keep track of the books I have read.

I have entered the Goodreads reading challenge again this year. Goodreads then keeps track of all the books I read and review on my Robbie Cheadle profile. I have, however, recently created a second profile on Goodreads under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle. This is the publishing name I am using for my supernatural, science fiction and adult writing and books. The result of this is that I am now reading and reviewing thrillers, science fiction, romance, adult classics, supernatural, dystopian and horror books on my Roberta Eaton Cheadle profile. I am reading and reviewing children’s and poetry books as well as books I read as part of Rosie Amber’s book club on my Robbie Cheadle profile. I am aiming to read 120 books this year, with at least 60 books under each profile. I have not entered the Goodreads challenge under this new profile, but Goodreads still records all the books I enter as read and reviewed and I can access the list if I want to. I provides the date I entered the book as read.

I post reviews for every single book I rate on Goodreads and Amazon, whether the author died two hundred years ago or not. With regards to my comment about not posting 1 or 2 star reviews, due to my selection techniques, these sorts of reads are very few and far between and it is most unusual for me not to post a review of a book.

Prior to my recording my reads on Goodreads, I never kept a record of books that I read.

Let’s see how other blog hoppers keep track of their reading matter.  Click on the blue button below to find out, or just leave a comment:

Rules:

1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

Here is another unedited extract from A ghost and his gold:

“The following day, Robert volunteered to accompany the wagons which were going out to retrieve the bodies of the British troops who had fallen during the skirmish.

At daybreak, the Boers had declared a truce to enable this expedition of recovery and Robert had leaped at the opportunity of escaping the town, albeit for a short time and for such a miserable purpose. Viewed from his hard seat in the back of the wagon, the glorious early morning sky with its fluffy white clouds tinged with varying shades of pink did not bring him the happiness he sought or expected. The journey seemed endless and his trepidation at what he must find at the end of it grew with each jolting rotation of the wooden wheels over the rutted ground. His chin gradually dipped until it rested on his chest as he grappled with his desolate thoughts, ignoring the fresh beauty of the unspoiled countryside.

He was vaguely surprised when a small contingent of Boers met them at the site of the altercation and helped the small party of men seek out the bodies of their comrades.

Once again, the enigma that was the Boers struck him. Their faces were sorrowful and their eyes downcast when they came across the body of a dead soldier, smashed by a bullet and crumpled into a grotesque and twisted shape on the hard ground. Their expressions and words gave no hint of elation or pride at their triumph during the previous day’s warfare.

Robert’s mind grappled with the unpleasantness of having the faces of these men, his opponents, imprinted in his thoughts. These pictures would overlay his preferred depiction of a faceless and devilish enemy, upon whom he could fire without remorse, a scowl of rage upon his face and his heart wrapped in a protective blanket of British righteousness.”

Published for Sue Vincent’s Thursday write photo prompt. You can join in here: https://scvincent.com/2020/01/30/thursday-photo-prompt-daybreak-writephoto/  

I am visiting the lovely Sue Vincent‘s blog with a post about the Old Man of the Sea and how I wove this myth into a short paranormal story I wrote. Thank you, Sue, for hosting me.

Background

In Greek Mythology, the Old Man of the Sea is the term used for several water-gods, purported to have existed since the beginning of time. The water-gods most often referred to in terms of this expression are Nereus, the eldest son of Gaia and her son, Pontus, and Proteus, a prophetic water-god whom was referred to as “Old Man of the Sea” by Homer. Triton, a Greek god of the sea and the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite; Pontus, an ancient, pre-Olympian sea-god and the fatherless son of Gaia; Phorcys or Phorcus, a primedial sea god and the son of Pontus and Gaia, and Glaucus, a Greek prophetic sea-god born mortal and turned immortal as a result of eating a magical herb, are also referred to using this expression.

The Old Man of the Sea is the father of Thetis, a figure from Greek mythology who appears mainly as a sea nymph, a goddess of water or one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god, Nereus.

Sinbad the Sailor

I learned about the Old Man of the Sea as a child when reading the book, The seven voyages of Sinbad the sailor. This book describes the seven voyages undertaken by a fictional mariner called Sinbad throughout the seas east of Africa and the south of Asia. During his voyages, Sinbad encounters magical lands, mythical creatures and sees many supernatural phenomena. The stories of Sinbad are Middle Eastern in origin.

Sinbad encounters the Old Man of the Sea in his fifth voyage when he is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by this evil old man. The Old Man of the Sea climbs onto Sinbad’s shoulders and twists his legs around his neck, riding him like a horse, day and night until Sinbad is ready to fall down dead.

Carry on reading here: https://scvincent.com/2020/01/31/guestauthor-robbie-cheadle-old-man-of-the-sea/

What Amazon Says

Five tribes. One leader. A treacherous journey across three continents in search of a new home. Written in the spirit of Jean Auel, Survival of the Fittest is an unforgettable saga of hardship and determination, conflict and passion.

Chased by a ruthless enemy, Xhosa leads her People on a grueling journey through unknown and dangerous lands following a path laid out decades before by her father, to be followed only as a last resort. She is joined by other fleeing tribes from Indonesia, China, South Africa, East Africa, and the Levant, all similarly forced by timeless events to find new lives. As they struggle to overcome treachery, lies, tragedy, secrets, and Nature itself, Xhosa is forced to face the reality that her enemy doesn’t want to ruin her People. It wants to ruin her.

The story is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia, where ‘survival of the fittest’ was not a slogan. It was a destiny. Xhosa’s People were from a violent species, one fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened their lives except for one: future man, a smarter version of themselves, one destined to obliterate all those who came before.

My review

Survival of the Fittest is the second of Jacqui Murray’s prehistoric man books that I have read. The first, Born in a Treacherous time, is the story of a prehistoric woman, Lucy, and her struggle for survival in the harsh conditions of a continuously changing landscape and set of increasing adverse circumstances. Lucy journeys to find a safer home for her loved ones.

Survival of the Fittest is set at a slightly later date and features Xhosa, the unusually adaptable and innovative daughter of the leader of a large group called “the People”. Xhosa has been allowed to learn to use weapons and hunt with the warriors of the group and has a strong relationship with Nightshade, a giant of young warrior, who is her father’s Lead Warrior at the commencement of the story. Early in the story, a hunting group including Xhosa’s father, Xhosa herself and Nightshade are attacked by a savage group of a different people called “the Others” and Xhosa’s father is killed during the resulting skirmish. These leads to a battle for leadership between Xhosa and Nightshade which results in a lot of unresolved issues and conflicts between the pair.

The Others are more advanced that the People and have sharp stone tipped spears which fly much further than the People’s heavier and less innovative weapons. It soon becomes apparent that the People are in grave danger from the threat posed by the Others who covet their land, which is rich and desirable. Xhosa wants to leave and search for a new home for the People, following the cairns left by her father when he made a journey years before. Nightshare wants to stay and fight. Before a decision is made, the dynamics of the People change due to the arrival of another group, led by Pan-do and his young and unusual daughter, Lyta.

This book is well researched and every sentence demonstrates the author’s excellent knowledge of her subject and this time period. The story is similar in some respects to the Earth Children series but I find it more realistic and I don’t have to suspend my belief nearly as much while reading this book.

The characters in this new story are engaging and interesting. Xhosa is an unusual woman of high intellect and great physical strength. Her father has encouraged her to follow a different path from the other women of the tribe and learn to fight and lead like a man. Xhosa is driven by her need to do the best she can for her people and ensure the survival of the tribe. She realises that this goal means she has to be prepared to uproot the group from their current home and strike out in search of a new home. She also knows that the journey will not be easy and that many will be sacrificed along the way. Xhosa is a good leader and is prepared to take the necessary steps to do this.

Nightshade is a conflicted personality. He comes across as loyal, in many ways, to Xhosa but also jealous of her position within the tribe and irritated by her leadership methods and decisions. I never felt comfortable that Nightshade was truly behind Xhosa and felt she should be wary of him which, of course, she isn’t.

Pan-do was my favourite character in the book. He is the perfect leader, binding the group together and providing for distraction and light relief when needed to prevent the group from becoming overwhelmed and despairing. He is also cunning and clever and saves Xhosa, Nightshade and the People from certain death on more than one occasion. Pan-do is open minded and is devoted to his daughter who is a bit of a psychic and has visions. This quality of Pan-do’s extends to other people within the tribe who have unusual insight.

This book will appeal to readers who enjoy a well-researched and believable historical novel with a solid plot and well developed and interesting characters.

Purchase Survival of the Fittest

Amazon US

Amazon UK