Sarah Barnard's Blog, page 21

Bogged down

I'm drowning… in paperwork, in detail and nitty gritty, in car hunting and dealing with life.

Sometimes it happens this way and the creation of new plots, places and characters goes on hold. It's just the way it is and it often happens to me around this time of year. It's getting warmer, but the ground is still far too cold and wet to work properly without compacting the soil. I'm itching to get out into the garden but having to settle for sowing a few seeds in pots on my windowsills – which are now full!

My car is in need of either work or replacement and, if I'm honest, replacement will be cheaper – so I'm car hunting.  My accounts need catching up, my websites need work and I've got involved in a Charity Project – With Love. All that means that I'm firmly in business mode.

It seems like I have two heads, several in fact, but these two are the ones I'm thinking about. If I'm in business and money mode then I can do marketing, accounts, website work, and I can fit editing into that too. But somehow the characters and creation doesn't flow until those tasks are finished. On the flip side, when I'm creating then I can't settle to the other stuff.

So, I'm editing, working on publishing, writing web content and getting numbers crunched. Which means that Child of the Portal will be inching it's way closer to release…

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The Map and The Stone #samplesunday

[image error]A short excerpt from my children's book, The Map and The Stone, which was written for my10 year old after he sulked because I wouldn't let him read my other work. I gave him a copy for Christmas and he still hasn't read it….

Later that evening a vampire with white face and blood dripping fangs swirled his long black cloak in the cold night air and breathed clouds of steam as he giggled along the road.

"You shouldn't be able to do that," the werewolf beside him said with a growl. Hairy, clawed hands poked from torn sleeves and fur spilled from rips in a tattered shirt under a fake leather jacket. Dark trousers bore the marks of an apparently recent feast, vivid red splashed down one leg. "Vampires are undead, they don't breathe."

[image error]"So?" Rhys scowled. "I'm not really dead and I'm not really a vampire and I like making smoke. Maybe I should have been a demon instead and then smoke would have been right." He kicked at the pavement and a stone flew from his foot into a hedge and something small and dark with glittering eyes ran out, stopped and froze at the sight of them and then ran back in.

"What was that?" Craig stared. "It was too small for a cat and too big for a mouse. A rat maybe?"

"Nah, it didn't have a tail." Rhys crouched down, cape spilling across the pavement behind him, and peered under the hedge. "I can't see it."

Just then a car drove past and its headlights lit up the hedge for a moment and both boys were on their knees peering under the hedge. "I can't see anything either." Craig got back to his feet. "Whatever it was it's gone now." He glanced at his watch. "Come on, it's almost six." They gave up and ran the rest of the way to Tom and Cam's house, arriving so out of breath that their chests heaved and the breathed steamed from their gaping mouths.

"Vampires are the undead; you shouldn't be getting out of breath." Cam's dad was the same height as his mum with unruly curly dark hair and a smile that wrinkled his eyes and made them sparkle. He wasn't dressed up but he did have a short, dark jacket on and he had a torch in one hand. "Does anyone need the toilet before we go? Has everyone got something to carry sweeties in? Because if you haven't, then I get them all," he teased and Cam pushed him as they all held up bags for collecting their treats. Jack moved to the back door, which was now strewn with skeletons and a large bat, and there was a carved pumpkin on either side of the step, candles flickering in each one. "Kate?" he called. "Rhys and Craig are here, we're off out. I'll make sure they get home before I bring Tom and Cam back."

Kate called something indistinct from the kitchen and then stuck her head out of the door. "Do I get hugs from my two monsters or is that very uncool?" Tom and Cam grinned and hugged her close and she pushed them away towards Jack waiting with Rhys and Craig on the drive. Tom had his face painted green and his torn shirt and painted on scars matched the over-sized boots that meant he was Frankenstein's monster. Cam wore a scarlet cape over a black shirt and trousers with red horns and he carried a trident spear. His face wasn't painted but his dark hair had been allowed to grow so it fell almost into his eyes and that helped with the demon-monster look. All four boys carried small cloth bags decorated with stars, moons, witches and bats, ready to be filled with whatever treats they managed to collect along the way.

The Map and The Stone is published by Ethics Trading and can be found through all good bookstores, or at the following places:

The Map and The Stone – Paperback at Amazon UK

The Map and The Stone – Paperback at Amazon US

The Map and The Stone on Amazon Kindle UK

The Map and The Stone on Amazon Kindle US

The Map and The Stone in other eBook formats – International.

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An excerpt from Ch 9. #samplesunday

The Portal Between (Book 1 in The Portal Series)

Sam was gone, and no one knew where or why. Her car was found near the old oak tree, empty and abandoned. There was no sign of foul play, but also no sign of Sam, except for footprints that led to the oak tree…and stopped.

Two years later, her best friend Kate still cares for Sam's children, waiting for Sam to return for them. Then one day she does. "I don't have long," Sam says. "Can you help me?" Kate must help her return home from a place that is closer than you might think, but still a world away.

Sam's escape is just the beginning of her journey. Sam must go back to confront and defeat her abductor, leaving Kate to care for her children. Sam returns to the old oak tree, and the Portal to the world where she was held prisoner. In a whirlwind world of magic and monsters, where people and things are not who or what they appear to be, there are hard choices ahead, and Sam must learn if she's strong enough to make them.

From Chapter 9.

[image error]Later that afternoon Sam stood with her elbows resting on the rough wooden gate at the end of the garden. Her back was to Kate, who watched her with some concern from the kitchen window. Her hands were clasped together, fingers laced and pressed to her mouth as she leaned her head on them. Her shoulders were relaxed and she bore most of her weight on one leg while the other was bent to allow the toe of her shoe to tap slowly on the grass. Every now and then a hand would free itself to run through the still short hair that was slowly covering the scar on the side of her head. It was growing back but was still very short. She switched legs, transferring her weight to the other one.

The sun was sinking beyond her, turning the sky rich with colour. The clouds appeared almost solid in this light, lit from beneath with warm, rich red and pink. The colours in the countryside slowly bleeding into grey as the light dimmed.

Kate could hear the TV burbling in the background, glanced round to see the living room door was almost shut, and wandered out into the garden. Sam didn't appear to hear her coming. She seemed lost in thought, which seemed to be fairly standard since she got out of the hospital. Kate waited a few feet away for a moment and drank in the sight of Sam in such a normal setting with a smile playing about her mouth. She took the last few steps and slipped a hand onto Sam's waist. Sam leaned over and rested her head on Kate's shoulder for a moment before straightening back up.

"He hasn't given up you know." It wasn't really a question. Kate held on tighter as she murmured agreement. She and Lily had already mentioned the possibility more than once. "He'll try again when the boundary is weak."

"The scaly thing?" Kate had to ask, but she thought she already knew the answer. She dreaded facing that again but was more afraid of there being something worse.

"No." Sam's quiet answer confirmed her darkest fears. "That is like a guard dog, it's the Master we need to worry about." With that Sam turned away from the gate, squeezed Kate's shoulder and walked slowly back towards the house.

Other than the very short hair and fresh red scar there was no sign of the injury and surgery from only a few short weeks ago. Kate ran to catch up.

"When?" she asked, voice shaking.

From reviews:

Loved this book and the way it moved between the two worlds. All the characters are well portrayed and really come alive. Look forward to reading the next in the series.

This book makes you believe that a different realm could actually exist. The characters are so well written, one is easily convinced that these characters really lived through this experience, being transported from the world we know to one that is very foreign and intriguing. I particularly enjoyed the fact that it was penned by someone from the UK, giving the novel a rich, delicious flavor.

Want more?

Than check out other samples of this book:

The Portal Between – Amazon Kindle.

The Portal Between – Paperback

The Portal Between – Nook, iPad and other eBook formats.

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World Book Day

World Book Day is all about getting people reading, enjoying books.

I've loved books, and reading, since I learned that those wriggly shapes made words and words made STORIES!! Wow… There were whole worlds to escape into, all captured within those pages.

Now I create my own stories, I string those wriggles together and I craft my own worlds. I still love the written word, I still can often be found with my nose in a book, or glued to the screen of my kindle, immersed in the words there, lost in the story.

So, Happy World Book Day to you all, and as my gift to you, to all of you, I am giving away e-copies of one of my books for the next three days – tomorrow is my birthday and the day after is World Book Night – just grab yourself a copy and I hope you enjoy it.

The Map and The Stone.

[image error]The boy's name was Rhys Newton and he was ten years old. He had dark curly hair and brown eyes and he lived with his mum, whose name was Lou, in a council house in a market town right in the middle of England.

Rhys found things.

He found things when no-one else could; it was as if they jumped out at him.

"Where have you put it?" Rhys''s mum asked him with that look that only mums can do. "I need my phone, what have you done with it? I know it's you. You're the only other person here and I know I left it by the kettle. Where is it?" She advanced on him across the kitchen, face turning deeper red as she got herself all worked up and he braced himself for the anger that was welling up in her. The worktop beside the kettle was conspicuously empty with no sign of the phone.

"I don't know where your phone is Mum. I didn't move it." Rhys backed away slowly, trying to think where the missing pink phone might be. He knew he would be the one to find it but he didn't know how. He also knew that would mean that she'd blame him for its disappearance in the first place.

In his last year of primary school, Rhys had already learned to be very careful. He was a bright boy with an overactive imagination, or so his class teacher said and she said he'd have to stop daydreaming when he went up to the big school, Claypits.

Rhys' dark curly hair refused to lay flat. His mum wouldn't let him have it cropped short because she said she loved his curls and liked to ruffle them when she was in a good mood, which wasn't very often these days. Rhys knew that his hair and eyes reminded her of his dad and that was also the reason she was always short tempered as well. He couldn't talk to her and he couldn't tell her that he missed his dad too, she just got angry. So Rhys kept it all inside and he could feel it building up in his head as if it'd explode out of him at some point if he let it.

"Oh go and look again." she told him as she stamped upstairs to look in her bedroom again.

Rhys breathed a sigh of relief. This usually meant that she'd given up being angry, would go and cry until her hazel eyes were red and then she'd tell him it was hay fever, even though it was November and there was no chance of pollen anywhere. Then she'd brush her short brown hair that lay flat and lifeless against her scalp and she'd pull herself together for a while.

He glanced round the kitchen and sure enough, the pink phone was laying exactly where she'd left it and exactly where it hadn't been only moments before, as if it had waited until he was alone to reappear. It lay accusingly beside the kettle and Rhys sighed. Now the phone had turned up they could go shopping and Rhys hated shopping. His mum would still glare at him as if to say he'd moved the phone and then put it back and he knew he hadn't.

So Rhys gathered up the collection of cloth shopping bags and stood at the back door gazing out into the garden which was wet and muddy after all the rain they'd had through the week. The flower beds that his mum used to slave over to keep looking nice were ragged and overgrown with more weeds than anything else now.

As the drizzle drifted down and hazed the garden into grey, Rhys thought he saw a movement under the hedge that ran along the far end and blocked the main road from sight. Not that it stopped the noise of the rumbling traffic that ran past all through the nights but at least it blocked most of the view. Rhys narrowed his eyes and peered down the garden but he couldn't see anything and he didn't feel like going out in the rain to look more closely. He often thought he saw things moving out of the corner of his eye but he didn't say anything because it felt weird and he didn't want anyone to think he was mad.

Her hand fell on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Rhys, the phone was there by the kettle with something half over it and I didn't see it. I just feel lost without it." It was an apology and she sounded tired. Rhys leaned into his mum's hand and she slid it further round him in a hug that was warm and cosy like a soft fleecy blanket and Rhys let the feeling spread through him, treasuring it until she pulled away. "Time to do the shopping," she said and she left him to lock the back door and bring the bags to the car.

He smiled as he turned the key in the stiff lock and slid the top bolt home as well. The paint was peeling on the outside of the plain white back door and Rhys's mum was always saying she'd get round to painting it a different colour one day, but one day never seemed to come. Dragging his feet Rhys wandered through the house, which was also looking grubby and shabby and in need of painting and a good clean, and he joined his mum in the car, which had another rust spot and today had decided to take three tries before it would start and stay running. He sat in the front passenger seat, mainly because he knew his mum hated that seat being empty and partly because it made him feel very grown up to sit in the front when he knew all his friends were made to sit in the back.

Just sign up for a free Smashwords account, then use the coupon to get your free copy. Download the format you need and get reading through whichever device you use. Smashwords provides ebooks for Kindle, Nook, Sony, Smart phones as well as your computer, laptop or netbook.

Smashwords link.

Code: VD69K (Expires on March 6th)

I hope you enjoy it.

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Interview.

Today I've been interviewed over at Linda S Prather's blog. So, wander over and have a read, and then check out the other author interviews on the site.

Interesting stuff..

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Sam's back. The Portal Between, for #samplesunday

This weeks excerpt for #SampleSunday is from:

[image error] The Portal Between, chapter Two: Light My Way.

The story so far:

Sam's been missing for two years and has just found her way back home, aided by Kate and Lily and the magic she is only just discovering she might possess. All three women are a bit stunned at events, which mean different things to each of them.

"Leave her. She needs time." Lily pressed a mug of hot sweet tea into Kate's trembling hands. "Are you ok?" she asked, concerned.

"Honestly?" Kate asked, a small smile starting. Lily nodded.

"Truth is always best at times like this."

"I have no idea. No, I don't think I'm ok. But I don't know what to feel or what to think. I've hoped and coped all these years and now she's back I don't know what to do next."  Kate's head fell into her hands and she ruffled her hair through limp fingers, holding it briefly behind her ears.

A child cried out, caught in a bad dream. Kate was on her feet in a second, heading for the stairs.

"Tom, I'm coming." She called, recognising the familiar cry, and raced to the stairs. As she reached the bottom she could hear muffled voices as Sam held her son for the first time in years and comforted him. Tom, not quite awake was wailing. "Mummy, Mummy, I want my Mummy." His voice hitching and drowsy, he hadn't yet realised who was holding him.

"Hush my love, you're safe now." Sam crooned and he began to calm. She had her back to the stairs and his eyes opened to see Kate with Lily behind her. Realisation dawned. His eyes widened, suddenly very frightened. He scrambled to get away from the unknown adult holding him. The wailing increasing in volume was just a noise. He kicked, hit and screamed, terrified now.

"Sam, let him go a minute." Lily was being practical again. "He doesn't know it's you." Sam reluctantly put the wriggling child down and stepped away. She started to back down the stairs. The other doors on the large landing opened and two more sleepy children appeared to see what the noise was all about. The look of pure anger on Cameron's face sent Sam scurrying down the stairs.

"I hate you!" He yelled, "Why did you go? Why did you come back?" He ran back to his bed, slamming the door behind him. Kate winced. She'd known he resented Sam over the past couple of years and he had a temper, but she was still surprised at the venom in his voice. Tom stared at the door, then back at Sam, disbelief clear on his young face.

"Mummy?" He asked, hesitant, wanting to believe it was her, but unwilling to hope. Hope had hurt for too long. He looked harder, hope beginning to dawn in his eyes. "MUMMY!" He yelled and raced down the stairs into her arms.

Susan stood at the top of the stairs staring at the scene below. Her brother hugging someone she didn't know and crying. But not sad crying, this was happy crying. The woman was crying too, so were Aunty Kate and Lily. She was confused. The woman looked like the pictures that made Aunty Kate and Tom cry a lot.

"Aunty Kate?" She asked, lip starting to quiver. Kate took the stairs two at a time to reach her, swept the little girl into her arms and took her down to join the others. Susan rested her head on Kate's shoulder, looked at her seriously.

"You got hurt!" she sounded surprised and her small hand started to reach out to the cut, and then pulled back.

"She's right you know." Lily observed, "We should get that cleaned up." She reached out to touch the skin round the cut and Kate flinched. It was sore but at least had stopped bleeding. It probably looked a mess. The skin below it felt tight and she was sure there was crusted blood down her face.

"In a minute." She said, softly, "We have some explaining to do first don't you think?"

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The Portal Between

The Portal Between -Kindle

The Portal Between – Other ebook formats.

The Portal Series – Amazon Author page.

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On my desk.

Currently on my desk….

I have a handful of projects lurking on my desk and I'm working on them all. They're each at different stages, and some need more work than others.

My head is a little crowded ….

Sam.

When Sam left before the beginning of The Portal Between, she went willingly. She wasn't abducted, but Ametsam still prevented her from coming home and she never told Kate exactly what he did.Sam never explained to Kate, or to us, why she hated him, why she was so damaged both physically and mentally when she came back.

This is her story.

"Sam" fits in to two places within the Portal series. The actual text of her telling her own story is the time when she was missing, it runs into the beginning of The Portal Between. But the document she wrote doesn't come to light until after the main events of Child of the Portal, so it also fits at the end of the series, nicely encapsulating the whole story.

Child of the Portal

Third, and final, book in the Portal Series. This one carries the death of two major characters and the birth of a new generation of daughters who may carry the magic.

There are challenges to be faced and some shocks in store.

Child of the Portal is currently out with test readers and is scheduled for release later this year.

The Map and the Stone

At the end of The Map and The Stone we left Rhys still missing his dad, and now without the aid of the Darkling and his people as well. Lou and Greg seemed to have a spark and Rhys was starting to wonder if he really wanted his dad back at all.

So, what would happen if his dad turned up? Can the Darkling come back?

Sage

Sage is stocky, fit, and very laid back. She's about as chilled as it's possible to get. But when you ask her what she's been up to since you last saw her, she'll laugh and say, "Oh, this and that, took a weekend on a moon, saved the world, you know, just stuff." You laugh with her, it's preposterous, right?

Sage is serious. She is our face to the universe, not chosen but landed the job by an acident of dna and a car crash in the wrong place at the wrong time. She's hoping she's the first of many, because she can't do it all alone.

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Kindling.

[image error]Just after Christmas I treated myself to a kindle. I had a bit of money put by, an amazon voucher, and I snuck in before the UK VAT rise, so I consider it to be a bargain.

But is it as good as the reviews say?[image error]Yes. So far anyway. I have over 40 books loaded on there and I can slip all of them into a pocket. The screen is clear and glare free, the text superb and the ability to change text size is fantastic for times when my eyes are tired, or when one of my children wants to read.

As an author I find that changing the way I interact with my writing helps point out any problems, putting it all on the kindle for a read through takes it away from my desk and saves me printing it all out several times. It really does make me look at my work in a different way.

[image error]So, over 40 books. What's an average paperback from a shop these days? £6? These were all free, gifts, or under £5. Financially it's a long term investment and for business needs it's an essential bit of gadgetry that saves from the moment it arrives.

It's also very very cool.

[image error]It doesn't have a touch screen. It's only in black and white. The casing is only in graphite in the UK, there's a white version in the US. It isn't backlit. But, neither is a paper book… I don't see the problem. It's a lightweight book, that I can read anywhere I would read a normal, paper book. Actually, it's a lightweight library in my pocket. I have over 40 titles on mine, but it can fit up to 3,500 depending on individual file size. I don't know anyone who's even got close to that and I imagine you'd need to be a bit canny with the way you arranged your categories or you'd never find anything.

If you're considering getting one, if you want something to read books on, then go for it.

Just my thoughts, this isn't a sponsored post.

Kindle with Wi-Fi, Graphite

Kindle 3G, Graphite

The Portal Series on Kindle

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The Portal Sundered. #samplesunday

At the end of The Portal Between, Lily returned alone; Kate's world was rocked again. Sam has problems of her own, the magic is out of control, and Lily can't help this time. Kate tries to pull her life back together but it's hard and she finds comfort where she can. But who else can wield the magic? Who challenges Sam's right to rule?

The Portal Sundered is the second book in my Portal Series and continues the story from shortly after the end of The Portal Between. From this I offer you a snapshot of domesticity with tea and biscuits.

Kate idly reached out for the leather spine of the book that had caught her eye. It was old. There was no title on the cover but the leather was embossed with a floral design. The pages inside were thick rough paper and were covered with carefully mounted photographs. She had the first pages open when Lily came through with the tea. Lily put the tea mugs down with more force than she intended, spilling some of it.

"It's only an old photo album." Lily shrugged and reached out for the book.

"Is this one your Mum, Grandma even?" Kate asked as she pulled the book away "You have to be related, you are the spitting image of her!" Lily reached out again to take the album from Kate and stopped. Her face was frozen and unreadable. Kate frowned but Lily composed herself quickly.

"No, that's the Aunt I inherited this place from. You can see that's the back door behind her." Lily pointed out the door frame and the metal lantern that still hung there. "She was a farmer's wife. He had sheep and sold the wool. She used to sit and spin in the kitchen, by the fire." Lily's eyes glazed slightly as she found the image in her memory. Her eyes dropped to her own hands. She shook her head to clear the past.

"She is very like you." Kate observed, looking thoughtful. "Or maybe you are like her. If this photo wasn't so old I'd swear it was you." Lily startled at that but Kate didn't see it she was absorbed in examining the picture. Kate turned a few pages and her eyes wandered over the pictures there. "There are some strong genes in your family Lily. Most of these women could be you."

"Fresh tea?" Lily asked.

"You just made one." Kate replied, pointing at the steaming mugs on the table, but still engrossed in the photo album.  "I don't suppose there would be any biscuits?" Kate asked hopefully as she looked up. Lily shrugged at the tea, grinned widely at the mention of biscuits and got up to go through to the kitchen to fetch some. Kate frowned slightly at Lily's unusual distraction. Then she went back to browsing through the photo album. Now and then she glanced up. The house was relatively unchanged although modernised.

Lily rooted through the kitchen cupboards for her tin of biscuits. It was reassuringly heavy as she'd baked the day before. As she turned back to the dining room table she caught Kate looking at her with a quizzical expression. Lily followed Kate's eyes as she looked from the picture in front of her back to Lily standing in the doorway clutching an elderly biscuit tin. Lily's head was canted to one side and her hair was loosely held up by a large clip at the back of her head. Strands had escaped and wafted round her face.

"Did you do that on purpose? Kate asked. She held up the album and Lily felt like she was looking in a mirror. Her own face looked back at her, leaning on the doorframe, hair pinned up, clutching the old battered biscuit tin. The similarity stopped there. The woman in the photo had a long sleeved ankle length dress on with a white lace edged apron over it. She was smiling broadly and her cheer radiated from the image, frozen in time. Lily's face was creased in the edges of a frown and her jeans were torn at the knee. A plain white, slim fitting t-shirt clung to her torso and left her arms bare. The face, tin and posture were almost identical. Lily shrugged and stepped away from the doorframe, breaking the moment.

"Can we please put that away now?" Lily softly asked Kate, placing her hand on the album. "I don't like looking at old photos. There are too many people in them that we can no longer see." Kate looked up to see the plea clear in Lily's eyes and nodded. She took up the album, carefully closed it and slid it back onto the shelf.

"Sorry." Kate said as she reached for her tea. "I love old photos. I just can't resist them. I have all my family's old albums at home. I've been wondering about seeing if I can put them into a family tree one day. But it's all very complicated." Kate sipped at her tea. Lily remained tight lipped on the other side of the table.

"It's not something I've ever really been interested in." Lily shrugged, avoiding meeting Kate's eye. She pulled the lid from the biscuit tin and the aroma that wafted from it was divine. She held out the tin.

"Oooh Lily, you've been baking!" exclaimed Kate as she took a soft, iced, buttery, crumbly biscuit. Lily smiled then and relaxed into drinking her own tea. "I'd ask for the recipe but you know I can't bake. I can cook fine but cakes and biscuits defeat me every time. But you?" Kate spoke around her biscuit, crumbs spilling as she talked "You are a marvel in the kitchen. You're like my Gran was. She was brilliant." Lily grinned and simply held out the tin again.

Intrigued?

The Portal Sundered- Kindle UK

The Portal Sundered – Paperback, Amazon UK

The Portal Sundered – Ebook formats – International

The Portal Sundered – Kindle US

The Portal Sundered – Paperback, Amazon US

Sarah Barnard – Amazon Author.

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The youngest was aged 7 years.

I have a friend, I've never met her but she's still a good friend.

Tracey Smith is an author, a broadcaster, successful and a really good mate.

She's also proud to be a Trustee for The National Association for Children of Alcoholics & a COA. Next week is the third Children of Alcoholics Week. Tracey supports them and works tirelessly to raise awareness because she's been there, she was one of those children.

Someone reached out to her, someone helped.

Will you?

Watch.

Then go to iTunes and buy a copy: A Change is Gonna Come. Please. It's only 79p.

Your purchase will help raise the funds so desperately needed so that NACOA can continue to provide a free helpline for kids as young as 7. That's the youngest age of a child that has phoned the NACOA helpline. Seven. A child aged 7 was so desperate for help that they picked up the phone. I'm so glad that NACOA was there for them.

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