Robbie Cheadle's Blog, page 30

Robbie’s Inspiration – Thank you to Sally Cronin and Barbara Vitelli #books #YouTube #readingcommunity

This week, I have been fortunate enough to feature on the blogs of two wonderful bloggers, Sally Cronin of Smorgasbord – Variety is the Spice of Life and Barbara of Book Club Mom. Thank you to you both.

Sally Cronin

Sally Cronin has a marvelous blog where she shares free promotions for books written by authors and bloggers in the blogging community. She also shares entertaining posts about health and lifestyle choices, music, recipes, and other interesting topics.

Sally is also a talented author and has a number of excellent books which you will find on her blog.

This is my review of Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in Words

This new book sees author, Sally Cronin, delving into new genres in the form of a variety of styles of poetry and 99-word flash fiction pieces. It also includes a number of her delightful short stories, although those differ from others that I have read by this author as many of them feature an animal as the main character.

The poetry is beautiful and is split into sections, namely, Seasons of the year; All things human; Fairies and other folk; The natural world; Remembrance, Celebrating pets and Random thoughts. The poems included in the sections entitled Season of the year and The natural world largely feature the natural environment, including the various seasons and the different creatures that inhabit it, and makes use of all the senses to wrap the reader in the specific joys and pleasures of the flowers, the light, celebrations, birds and and other natural phenomena including drought, snow and frost.

The poetry sections entitled All things human, Remembrance and Random thoughts as well as some of the flash fiction and short stories utilize the writer’s amazing ability to invoke great emotion from her readers towards her characters and their circumstances and situations, while being easy to relate to and highly believable.

The poems and stories that feature pets and animals showcase the authors love of the animal world and convey the special relationships that frequently develop between people and their pets.

I appreciate the undertone of happiness that is generally present in this authors books and stories. It is a wonderful thing to be able to read a book that makes you feel great emotion and still come out on the other end with the impression that life is a wonderful and great journey. This is definitely a skill that Ms Cronin has and uses to its best advantage in all her books, poems and stories.

Sally has shared a lovely promotional post about my new book, Neema the Misfit Giraffe and a delightful review of my latest poetry book, Lion Scream. You can read Sally’s post here: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/smorgasbord-book-promotions-new-book-on-the-shelves-childrens-africa-neema-the-misfit-giraffe-southern-african-safari-adventures-book-1-by-robbie-and-michael-cheadle/

Book Club Mom – Barbara Vitelli

Barbara has a delightful blog, Book Club Mom, where she shares excellent reviews of a variety of books and author updates. Barbara also has a successful YouTube channel and has recently started hosting author interviews. She is a splendid hostess and makes here guests feel very relaxed and comfortable.

Thank you to Barbara for sharing this lovely conversation about my books and writing on your YouTube Channel. You can find this conversation here: https://bvitelli2002.wordpress.com/2023/11/07/today-on-youtube-author-chat-with-robbie-cheadle/

You can find Barbara’s latest book review here: https://bvitelli2002.wordpress.com/2023/11/04/book-review-the-last-pilgrim-by-noelle-granger-2/

Robbie’s Inspiration – Repost of Raising Bookworms – War in Children’s Literature

My mother was one year old when World War 2 broke out. Her parents lived through both WW1 and WW2. As a result, I grew up knowing about what it was like for children living under war conditions in England during WW2 and celebrating Remembrance Day on the 11th of November.

Given current events, war is as relevant now as it was for my mother in 1939 and so I have chosen to discuss war books for children for this month’s Growing Bookworms post.

Thank you to Kaye Lynne Booth for hosting.

Raising Bookworms – War in Children’s Literature: yes or no? #GrowingBookworms #childrensliterature #warbooks

Robbie’s Inspiration – Tanka Tuesday and a new book: Neema the Misfit Giraffe #poetry #childrensfiction

Thank you to everyone who voted for my Burning Ox-wagon Halloween gingerbread creation. I came third and I really appreciate your support.

Tanka Tuesday

Last week was unseasonably cold here in Johannesburg. Our temperatures plummeted to 6C after a heat wave with temperatures of over 35C. This resulted in the unusual phenomena of lake spirits.

Picture caption: Emmarentia Lake steams – as always, I made a complete exhibition of myself getting this picture – haha!Winter’s final meal

Spring

Shellshock

Cold front meets

Sun soaked water

Steamy silhouettes

Contort in agony

Grey mouths silently screaming

Soul shattering incantations

As bitter wind shreds their pale spirals

And hungry winter enjoys its last meal

Season’s ending

Weary maids

See out the season

Finery

Bedraggled

Purple frocks jaded and worn

Summer’s green ahead

***

And a haiku about the last of the jacaranda blossoms

Rain sodden blossoms

Lying in soaked purple mounds

Vibrant days over

Colleen shared about submissions for an anthology of haiku called Petal of Haiku. You can find out more about it here: https://literaryrevelations.com/2023/10/16/petals-of-haiku-an-anthology-call-for-submission/

I have written my six haiku and will submit them today. Wish me luck!

Neema the Misfit Giraffe

The ebook of Neema the Misfit Giraffe is available for pre-order on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Misfit-Giraffe-Southern-African-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0CMCZ7G93. This book has been a learning curve as I obtained an ISBN from the South African National Library and had to obtain a barcode. Both of these steps were new to me, but I have managed them.

The book will launch on 15 November and Michael and I are very excited about it. It is our small way of sharing about the wonder of Southern African Wildlife. It is the first book in our Southern Africa Safari Adventures series and is about my favourite creature, the giraffe.

Picture caption: cover of Neema the Misfit Giraffe in oil pastels by Robbie Cheadle.

This book includes five of my charcoal and pencil illustrations and I also created the cover in oil pastels. There are links to video footage from my trips to the bush and also some of my photographs.

This is the book trailer Michael and I created:

Robbie’s Inspiration – Voting for the Halloween Gingerbread Smackdown is open #halloween #gingerbread

voting for the Halloween gingerbread Smackdown is open. My entry is Biting ox-wagon. There are only 5 entries so voting is easy this time

https://www.gingerbreadbydesign.com/gingerbread-smackdown-voting/2023-halloween-gingerbread-smackdown?utm_campaign=01326c63-4536-4569-9131-80e88e1557d6&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=0ca89277-39ad-4f7a-91ad-acd0f7c6c76d

Robbie’s Inspiration: W3 Prompt #78

Suzanne’s prompt guidelinesShare an emotion of yours in a  “Dectina Refrain”  poem.Dectina RefrainTen lines;Syllabic: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10;The tenth line is comprised of the first four lines all together, as one stand alone line in quotation marks. (apparently the quotation marks are optional.)

The emotion I’m expressing in this poem is happiness.

Christmas cakes

Rich

Fruit cake

Delicious

Christmas fragrance

Smells of happiness

Family gatherings

Around tables laden with

Roast turkey and all the trimmings

Smiling faces, full glasses, good cheer

Rich fruit cake, delicious Christmas fragrance

In case you haven’t guessed, I baked my Christmas cakes this weekend.

I also hosted a Halloween lunch. We had Beef Wellington, a Greek baby potato and green olive salad, roasted vegetables, cauliflower cheese and garlic bread. I made chocolate brownies for dessert.

These are my Halloween flowers – Pincushion proteas:

Robbie’s Inspiration – My Halloween gingerbread burned ox wagon and a post by Teagan Geneviene #gingerbread #halloween #guestpost

I finally managed to finish my entry for this year’s Halloween Gingerbread challenge. It is a burning ox wagon with a ghost ‘Voortrekker’ with his pet hyena.

A voortrekker is a member of one of the groups of Dutch-speaking people who migrated by wagon from the Cape Colony into the interior of South Africa from 1836 onwards, in order to live beyond the borders of British rule.

I have been waiting for this creation to be finished in order to share Teagan Geneviene’s lovely post about Michael and my new book, Sir Chocolate and the Chinese Candy Dragon, and the new WordCrafter anthology, Midnight Roost, in which I have a short story. Thank you, Teagan, for this gorgeous showcasing of my new ‘Halloween’ books.

You can read Teagan’s post here: https://teagansbooks.com/2023/10/21/sir-chocolate-and-the-chinese-candy-dragon-robbie-cheadle/

Teagan also has two exciting Halloween novellas, the latest of which is A Peril in the Bayou.

You can read my reviews of both of Teagan’s Halloween novellas here: https://roberta-writes.com/2023/10/18/roberta-writes-halloween-book-festival-a-peril-in-ectoplasm-just-once-more-by-teagan-riordain-geneviene/

Robbie’s Inspiration – Tanka Tuesday, Jacaranda trees #poetry #poetry community

I am scrapping in with my post. It was a mad work week and we celebrated mom’s 85th birthday yesterday. She didn’t want a cake and lunch at home this year, so we went out instead. It was very nice and there were no dishes to wash afterwards – haha! She spent this afternoon giving me advice on my Halloween project which was proving to be more challenging than expected. Together, we made a plan …

From mid-October, Johannesburg explodes with purple as the Jacaranda trees come into bloom. This last for about three weeks and then the display is finished for another year. It is amazing while it lasts.

My kigo words for the following haiku and tanka is purple.

Purple explosion

Streets lined with petal litter

Splendid October

***

Purple on Grey

Purple against grey

Water absorber versus

Rain generator

Vibrancy of spring colours

Set off by dullness

***

The kigo words for my shadorma below is growing season.

First rain

Patchy sky

Grey threaded with white

Rain laden

Life giving

Promise of continuance

Of growing season

***

Lastly, a shadorma about my peaches and my loeries using unripe as a kigo word.

Patient loeries

Rosy globes

Flesh still unyielding

Appealing

Yet unripe

Loerie sentinels stand guard

Assessing progress

I had another go at water colour painting. It is a completely different technique to using pencil or charcoal. I’m learning to be looser and more fluid. This is a little more impressionism and I am used to realism so it takes getting used to. On the whole, I think I’m improving.

You can join in Tanka Tuesday here: https://tankatuesday.com/2023/10/17/24-seasons-syllabic-poetry-challenge-no-4-10-17-23/

Robbie’s Inspiration – Midnight Roost Anthology WordCrafter Book Blog Tour #readingcommunity #MidnightRoost

Giveaway

A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop. Just leave a comment to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.

Reading from “Night of Terror”

Reading from “Night of Terror” – YouTube

About Julie Jones

Julie Jones lives in northeast Oklahoma with her husband of over twenty years, their two children, and one very spoiled rescue dog named Zelda. Julie has co-written three anthologies and published her own book of linked short stories, CHAIN REACTION, which includes her 2020 OWFI winner for Best Horror Short Story, “Camelot”. Julie is currently plotting a fourth book with her cohort and writing a weird Western novel under a pen name, while editing a trunked novel and working full time. A reader of all genres, she especially loves sci-fi and fantasy and strives to craft tales that both entertain and spark thought in her readers. She can be found on Facebook and Twitter, as well as her website www.juliejones.net.

Julie’s story, “Tourist Trap” is featured in the 2022 Visions anthology from WordCrafter Press.

Inspiration for Teddy

Teddy’s inspiration drew from two distinct narratives, one purely imaginative and the other seemingly grounded in reality.

The first source of inspiration was a work of fiction, an episode from the renowned series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” entitled “The Inner Light.” In this captivating episode, Captain Picard experiences an extraordinary journey when an alien space probe renders him unconscious. Within the depths of his own mind, he lives out an entire lifetime as a citizen of an alien world, complete with its joys, sorrows, and milestones, until he grows old. The profound twist occurs when Picard awakens on the familiar bridge of the Enterprise, only to realize that the decades he’d spent in the alternate existence were a mere illusion, lasting a mere fifteen minutes in reality.

The second source of inspiration hails from the realms of non-fiction, recounting the harrowing tale of an unfortunate man who suffered a head injury during an accident. His unconscious state led him to dream an entire lifetime, so vivid and authentic that upon waking, the abrupt realization that it was all a figment of his imagination nearly drove him to madness.

Drawing from these poignant narratives, I wove a horror story around my protagonist, forcing him to confront a chilling conundrum: What constitutes true horror? Is it the monstrous apparition that haunted his mind, or the devastating revelation that his dream life was but a mirage, an ephemeral wisp of existence, never to be realized?

About Keith J. Hoskins

Keith J. Hoskins is a short story author, award-winning poet, and founding member of the Bel Air Creative Writer’s Society. He has four short stories in four anthologies as well as his own anthology, Beyond the Portal. Keith is currently working on his first novel: Kray and the Coveted Seer, a fantasy novel set in a magical world. Keith’s main genres of interest are fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

Keith’s stories, “The Cost of Magic” and “The Sight” are featured in the 2022 Refracted Reflections and the 2022 Visions anthologies, respectively, both from WordCrafter Press.

About the Book

20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/318L0l

Tour Schedule

Monday – October 16 – Opening Day – Isabele Grey (Interview & Reading) – Writing to be Read

Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted

Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds

Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration

Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read

Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullen (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes

Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kryosmagica Publishing

Monday – October 23 – Closing Post – Denise Aparo (Reading) & other stories – Writing to be Read

Treasuring Poetry – Meet the poet, Merril D. Smith, and a book review

My October Treasuring Poetry guest is poet, Merril D. Smith. Merril discusses her favourite poem and poetry in general. I’ve also included my review of Merril’s poetry collection. River Ghosts. Thanks for hosting Kaye Lynne Booth.

Treasuring Poetry – Meet the poet, Merril D Smith, and a book review #poetry #poetrycommunity #bookreview

Robbie’s Inspiration – Bad Moon Rising and MasticadoresUSA posts #BadMoonRising #MasticadoresUSA #childrensfiction

Michael and I have been fortunate enough to have received promotional coverage for two of our children’s books over the past two days.

Bad Moon Rising

Thank you to author, Teri Polen, for sharing about our new Halloween book for children called Sir Chocolate and the Chinese Candy Dragon as part of her Bad Moon Rising series. You can read her fun post here: https://teripolen.com/2023/10/17/badmoonrising-sir-chocolate-and-the-chinese-candy-dragon-by-robbie-and-michael-cheadle-childrensbook-halloween-cooking

You should read all the Bad Moon Rising posts as they are all very entertaining and you will find lots of amazing Halloween reads.

Teri has some great books which you will see on her blog. I reviewed her horror book, Sarah, as part of my Halloween Book Festival on my other blog, Roberta Writes. You can read that post here: https://roberta-writes.com/2023/10/11/roberta-writes-halloween-book-festival-sarah-by-teri-polen/

Haunted Halloween Holiday

Thank you to Barbara from MasticadoresUSA blog for featuring our book, Haunted Halloween Holiday, yesterday. You can read her lovely post here: https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/10/16/haunted-halloween-holiday-by-robbie-and-michael-cheadle

About MasticadoresUSA

In 2019, Juan Re Crivello established Gobblers/ Masticadores. In 2021, he founded Masticadores USA. Gabriela Marie Milton became the first editor of the English edition based in the United States. Other editions of Masticadores are in Spanish, Italian, Romanian, French, English and Portuguese. Masticadores now has 16 publishers and 200 writers in 10 countries. In 2022, there were already 250,000 views. In November
2022, Barbara Leonhard became editor of Masticadores USA.

MasticadoresUSA publishes poetry, reviews, interviews, and short fiction. Various poetic forms, such as rhyming, free verse, prose poems, and so on are accepted for publication. You can find out more about publishing on MasticadoresUSA here: https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2022/11/08/about-us-and-the-new-submission-guidelines/