Cheryl Burman's Blog: Blog posts for readers and writers, page 4

A Game of Wings and Marks

A Game of Wings and Marks by Rebecca Crunden appealed to the magical realism fan in me, although this is actually paranormal romance, and well done too.

When Octavia’s dog sniffs out a bleeding, near to death person in the woods, Octavia’s instinct to help leads her into a situation she could never have imagined.

With angels and demons fighting for her favour, Olivia needs big brother Caleb to protect her as best he can while she sorts out what the hell (literally) is going on.

Find A Ga...

How did you know?

How did you know? is a prompt from a Dean Writers Circle workshop, stolen as usual for my FaceBook prompts.

Abby was aghast. Wasn’t it meant to be the best kept secret in the world? Just her and Josh. He’d sworn he wouldn’t tell a soul, not until Abby was ready to face the inevitable music. He’d said he was okay with it, really, and ….
‘And what?’ she asked somewhat snappily.

The decision didn’t actually sit 100% comfortably with Abby, even though she’d made it without any pressure.
Josh ha...

We are walking on the bones of our ancestors

We are walking on the bones of our ancestors is a prompt from a Dean Writers Circle workshop, stolen as usual for my FaceBook prompts.

The tour guide led them across the cathedral stone floor towards the entrance to the crypt. ‘We are walking on the bones of our ancestors,’ he intoned solemnly. ‘Below us lie the dead of this town for 700 years.’

Julie tried to imagine how many bones that might amount to, and came up with a rough estimate of a gazillion, minus those that rats had gnawed co...

The floorboards creaked

The floorboards creaked is a prompt from a Dean Writers Circle workshop, stolen as usual for my FaceBook prompts.

The house sat sleeping, blinds drawn against invasive sunlight. It had slept for many years, glad to rest, to let the silence heal the rooms where once the cries and laughs of children rang,

The house dreamed on, banishing that last day when shouts, screams, heart-breaking sobs had soaked the walls, seeped into the carpets, plastered themselves to the ceilings.

The house h...

Warren James Day 8 June 2025

Warren James Day 8 June 2025 will be a truly interesting event in the Forest, and the organisers are calling on local (ish) writers, musicians, performers to submit pieces to help make it so!

Parkend Working Men’s Club, Lion Row, Parkend, GL154JZ. FREE event. 2-5pm

Warren James is a Forest folk hero who led a rebellion against the authorities in 1831 to pull down enclosures stopping people getting access to the forest – a key part of their livelihood.

The 1831 Dean Forest Uprising
(also k...

The light flickered and went out

A final prompt from a Dean Writers Circle workshop, stolen for my FaceBook prompts.

‘This is our new home?’ Julie dropped the cases she carried to the wet ground and stared.
‘Told you it was quaint, didn’t I?’ Alex paused beside her, a huge box cradled in his arms. He grinned.
‘Quaint is an interesting word,’ Julie muttered.

The grey stone farmhouse squatted bleakly at the end of a cracked concrete path where sickly weeds gasped for purchase. Scrappy grass spread either side of the path, f...

He leapt up

Another prompt from a Dean Writers Circle workshop, stolen for my FaceBook prompts.

He leapt up
The picnic had been going well, until –
‘Ouch!’ Peter leapt up. His high-pitched squeal made Elaine jump up too.
‘What? What?’ she cried.
Peter rubbed his backside through his summer shorts. ‘Something bit me,’ he grumbled.

Elaine peered at the vacated spot where the rug heaved like a mini storm at sea. She frowned. ‘Oh no. We’re picnicking on an ants nest – bullants I’m guessing.’ She glanced up...

Coming Home to Hummingbird House Jane Harvey

Jane Harvey’s Hummingbird House series brims with real life characters struggling with life’s messiness, and Coming Home continues the tradition with Harvey’s normal fluid and evocative style.

As the central character, Betty Williams engages us fully with the 1980s story of herself and her longtime friend and admirer Arthur. I won’t do spoilers, but poignant comes to mind.

Find Coming Home to Hummingbird House by Jane Harvey here.

Harvey does her research, and I love the way she peppers ...

Frogs in a box

I was finally able to go to a Dean Writers Circle writing workshop last week, puppy waiting patiently at home. This was one of the prompts, which I have stolen for my FaceBook prompts.

Frogs in a box
Father brought the kittens home one wet summer morning. He worked shifts at a factory on the local industrial site.

‘Found ’em on the verge,’ he said, ‘on the road out of Parkend.’

Mother eyed the water-stained, crumpled cardboard box with a mixture of horror and sympathy. ‘What made you sto...

Just Benny Alex Banwell

Just Benny by Alex Banwell has penned a heart warming story of the struggles of a young boy with epilepsy who desperately wants to be ‘normal’.

Benny’s mother cossets him, forever hovering, always anxious. His father, who wanted a boy’s boy, cannot cope with his babied son, while Benny’s big sister Emma tries her best to balance their mother’s spoiling of her little brother and their father’s apparent indifference.

But as Benny grows into his teens, he slowly finds he doesn’t have to be ‘rubb...