Cheryl Burman's Blog: Blog posts for readers and writers, page 5

Wishing Shelf Awards finalist – now Gold!

From Wishing Shelf Awards finalist to a Gold medal for River Witch!

Here’s the medal and the new award. Apparently I get a physical medal, which can be proudly displayed at book fairs etc.

Thrilled to bits that River Witch is a Wishing Shelf Awards finalist in the 2024 adult fiction category. Here’s my certificate!

Coming hot after The Herbalist’s Daughters 3rd place win in the AllAuthor January Cover Competition, being a Wishing Shelf Awards finalist is another pat on the back for ...

Wishing Shelf Awards finalist

Thrilled to bits that River Witch is a Wishing Shelf Awards finalist in the 2024 adult fiction category. Here’s my certificate!

Coming hot after The Herbalist’s Daughters 3rd place win in the AllAuthor January Cover Competition, being a Wishing Shelf Awards finalist is another pat on the back for the Wise Women series.

Readers say:

‘A lyrically written book about loss, courage, fate, and control over one’s destiny.’ 

‘I didn’t expect to be so swept away.’

‘A truly magical read! ‘

‘A...

WW1 and herbal medicine

In the course of research for my new book, the third in the Wise Women series, I discovered one of those wonderful serendipitous bits of knowledge a writer loves.

Herbal healing is a core part of both River Witch and The Herbalist’s Daughters, but in the new book the protagonist Rose rebels against all this ‘witchy’ stuff. However, when she volunteers as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachments) nurse in France in WW1, Rose discovers that her mother’s knowledge is useful after all.

The turn of th...

A book cover competition!

A book cover competition to add to the chaos around here just now!

A bit of a full week between promoting the kindle deal on Keepers in the US and UK, dealing with a new puppy (exhausting but lovely!), and now the cover of The Herbalist’s Daughters is doing well in the AllAuthor Cover Competition ….

If you have a spare second, please click this link and vote to keep the cover there – and let me know you have so I can say thank you! And if you’ve voted already, huge thanks and also let me know.

On...

Keepers 99c/99p kindle deal

Your chance to read Keepers in this 99c/99p kindle deal.

‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll reflect on what love is.’ Reader review

In 1951 Australia, Raine’s unplanned marriage to the good looking but moody Teddy appears to be going well.

Until Teddy abandons his young family.

Find the Keepers 99c/99p kindle deal here.

‘A beautifully crafted, emotionally gripping tale of love, resilience, and self-discovery. An unforgettable read!’ Reader’s House Magazine

‘A treat to savour’ Discovering...

Broken Chances Eve Kocuge

Broken Chances is a book written from the heart.

Margo, in her mid 20s, has a life in Latvia with friends, a mother who is not demonstrative but who loves her, a budding career as a bookkeeper, and a tiny but warm flat. But when middle-aged businessman Michael woos her with fancy dinners, boat trips and fun, she willingly gives it all up to marry him and move to England. Not just England, but a tiny island off the stunningly beautiful Jurassic coast. Margo falls in love with her new home, where t...

Quick cheese sage and onion bread

This quick bread is from Delia Smith’s Christmas, and a firm family favourite. The sage makes it Christmassy I guess! Serves 6-8.

350 gms onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
350 gms self raising flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons mustard powder
24 fresh sage leaves, snipped across into thin strips
110 gms strong Cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg
Approximately 5 tablespoons milk

Brown the onions in the oil over a medium heat for about 10 mins, remove from the pan and leave to cool.
Mix the on...

Season’s greetings everyone!

However you celebrate the end of the year, season’s greetings everyone and a huge thank you for all your support over the last year – and further back than that!

This year I published two more books, bringing my total to 12 in about ten years. Both books were Top New Releases, and The Herbalist’s Daughters topped its category, thanks to you. I’ve muddled along with sales, with Keepers holding its own as the favourite, especially in the US (love you guys!), with great read through to the other b...

And Then You Were Gone Ivy Logan

And Then You Were Gone is a short and intense read, as we follow Nina, a fantasy author, and her growing concern for her daughter’s emotional state.

Sophie is a bubbly, happy child until a cruel bullying incident at school sends her on a downward spiral from which she can’t seem to recover. She sidelines her best and oldest friend Nick and retreats into herself, with the lines between reality and delusion blurring.

Find And Then Your Were Gone by Ivy Logan here

Then Sophie meets a new boy...

Waiting for you

Waiting for you is a prompt from a writing workshop, and here are two short responses

Micro-flash 1
The window darkens. The streetlamps cast their white circles. I watch, in hope more than expectation.
It’s been a year. Today – tonight – you left the house. Ran into that same darkness.
The slam of the door still echoes in my broken heart.

Flash 2

I pass the time waiting for you watching the arrival of others. They come through the sliding glass doors, checking phones, hoisting backpacks, t...