Late May Self-Promotion Party!

                                                     (Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com)

Hello everyone! It’s near the end of May, the weather is turning warmer, and it’s time for a self-promotion party!

Be proud of your writing!

Share your book(s) with the world!

Be your own best publicist!

To help as many as possible see your work, reblog, like, and follow others.

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Roberta Writes – A wonderful review of Lion Scream by Resa

Here is a wonderful review of Robbie Cheadle’s excellent book of poetry: Lion Scream Syllabic Poetry About Southern African Wildlife.

Thank you to talented artist and costume designer, Resa McConaghy, for this wonderful review of Lion Scream. Resa’s lovely blog, “Graffit Lux and Murals”, showcases street art from all over the world so do pop over and take a look around.

Lion Scream – by Robbie Cheadle

I thought I knew what was happening to earth’s animals. Now I know what I knew, but better.

Through the use of syllabic poetry, photography, video and text, Robbie takes us on a learning tour of South Africa’s creatures and their environment. I even learned a new term:Sixth Mass extinction.

I don’t know much about poetic structures, but I know what poetry I like when I read it. I like all of Robbie’s poems, even when the message is haunting.

I also know I love animals. Please enjoy Robbie’s videos! They are only a few seconds long.

Robbie…

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Please Honor Memorial Day–2023

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I hope all of you have had a wonderful weekend, but I also hope you remember why this holiday, Memorial Day, exists.  The word “holiday” comes from “holy day,” and the remembrance of this day and its purpose should be sacred. It was originally known as Decoration Day after the end of the Civil War, and it was designated Memorial Day in the 20th Century.

This day is intended to honor, give thanks, and remember those who have sacrificed their lives for The United States of America.  Please honor the fallen and the wounded on this day.  I realize the day was meant originally for the dead, but I extend my wishes and  thanks to the wounded also. Regardless of political beliefs or stands on a war, these are the men and women who fought to keep us safe, and they deserve our remembrance.

They deserve our thanks and our honor.

Please keep in mind that this day is not merely the beginning of the summer season, nor is it intended to be the time of a special sale. This should be a sacred and somber time. There will be plenty of opportunity for shopping and vacationing afterwards. Please remember those who sacrificed.

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Pilgrims’ Way, Hollingbourne to Charing

Here is a wonderful post to enjoy from “walkingaway.”

Walking Away

It’s been a while. In fact it’s been three months since I was last on the Pilgrims’ Way and I don’t really have an explanation as to why that is, although it’s not yet a year since I began back in Winchester which for me is rather good going. (In the past I have glossed over why it took me 7 years to complete the Thames Path, the partial answer is a small, heavy and badly behaved baby). I guess I’m not a terribly dedicated pilgrim. I doubt that anything much has changed, it’s been sitting here quietly for hundreds, probably thousands of years, but I can tell you that everything has recently gone green since I was here. Very, very green.

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How “Goodnight Moon” Evolves Each School Year

Please enjoy this wonderful post from the excellent teacher, Jennie!

A Teacher's Reflections

Language is #1 for children, and literacy is the road to developing their language.  I read picture books to children all the time, and chapter read at rest time.  Books are always available to children.  They become ‘good friends’ and are as popular as toys.  Really.

I don’t know when I began reading chapter books aloud at rest time.  It was one of those ‘teacher moments’ when it just felt right.  So, I did, and it’s my favorite time of the day.  Children are eager to hear ‘what happens next’.  If you don’t know, the late Jim Trelease, author of the million-copy bestseller The Read-Aloud Handbook, the guru of reading aloud, visited my classroom to hear me read to children, especially at chapter reading.

But there’s more; the everyday constant, the precursor to chapter reading – Goodnight Moon.

I recite the book before chapter reading.  It gets children…

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With Which Authors Would You Choose To Share A Meal?

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This idea of meeting with a few authors over a meal and having a conversation with them is something I have discussed before, and it was fun to consider. I have, therefore, decided to cover this scenario again.  I was thinking about with whom I would like to dine and with whom I would enjoy having a conversation, among authors, both living and dead. Obviously, for the sake of this idea, if an author is dead, he/she will be resuscitated for the meal and conversation.

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I consider myself an author of speculative fiction, which can encompass many genres, but one of my areas in writing, in teaching, and in study is Gothic/Horror.  Three of my novels, Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 1, Gallows Hill: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 2, and Evil Lives After, The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book 3 are all of the Horror and Gothic genres. I have already written the first draft of two other horror novels. Horror and Gothic have interested me since I was a youngster, and it will the rest of my life.

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I would like, therefore, to have a meal with 3 masters of this field: Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker. I think this would be an enlightening, provoking, stimulating, and lively conversation. I would raise a glass with them and toast to their enduring brilliance.

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My question, then, to all of you is this: with what three authors would you like to have a meal and conversation?

 

 

Acorn Bank and Dorothy Una Ratcliffe

Please enjoy a wonderful post from John Bainbridge at “Country Ways”!

Country Ways

On Sunday morning, we went over to Acorn bank near Temple Sowerby. Most interesting to me because it was the home of the wonderful Dorothy Una Ratcliffe – a quite remarkable woman in so many ways. A great chronicler of Yorkshire and its dialect, a champion of Gypsies – not only a leading member of the Gypsy Lore Society in its greatest days, but an occasional dweller in caravans and a traveller on the roads.

Acorn Bank

She was a great society beauty and a campaigner for a great many social causes – and a real lover of our countryside.

Dorothy Una Ratcliffe

Her book The Cranesbill Caravan, detailing her time in a caravan in the Yorkshire Dales, is a great favourite of mine and deserves to be read by everyone who loves the outdoors and the Gypsy way of life.

Bluebells at Acorn Bank

Dorothy was born in…

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What Is One Of Your Favorite Books–Revisited?

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I am a teacher, a writer, and a lover of books. I cannot remember a time when I could not read, and the simple act of reading a book is one of the best pleasures in life.  So, I was thinking today about a book, one of my all time favorites: The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, that I have used in classes at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. This novel is brilliant, funny, witty, Gothic, romantic, and deeply engaging.  Can you tell I love it?

Here is a quotation from the back cover of the paperback:

“Wondrous . . . masterful . . . The Shadow Of The Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.”

— Entertainment Weekly, Editor’s Choice

I love to ask this question of readers: What is one of your favorite books? (If you wish, offer more than one.)

 

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Roberta Writes – Sunday Stills, Purple and Tuesday Tanka

Please enjoy the excellent creativity in Robbie Cheadle’s post!

Terri’s Sunday Stills prompt this week is purple. Purple is not my favourite colour but I do like mauve and the more pinky purples. You can join in Terri’s challenge here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2023/05/14/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-in-a-purple-haze/

Maroon day lily after the rain

Purple shoes and handbag

Purple hair and trousers

Purple fondant flowers

Tanka Tuesday

Terri also provided the picture for this week’s Tanka Tuesday challenge hosted by Colleen. You can join in here: https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2023/05/09/tankatuesday-weekly-poetry-challenge-no-319-5-9-2023/

Shackled

Elusive freedom

Hovers just beyond my grasp

Shackled as I am

By my man-made needs and wants

Which bind me tightly

By Robbie Cheadle

This is an additional haiku I wrote which is unrelated to the challenge

Lonely Death

Outliving your friends

Means there is no one to mourn

When death comes calling

By Robbie Cheadle

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The Cult of Rock and Stone

Please enjoy this fascinating post from Bon Repos Gites!

Bonjour From Brittany

In Brittany, it seems almost impossible to travel more than a few miles without seeing some form of ancient megalith. While many are older than the written word, their real meanings today remain clouded in mystery, shrouded in superstition and folklore.

Erected between approximately 3,500 to 6,500 years ago, Brittany’s megaliths range from single standing stones known as menhirs (Breton for long stone) to lengthy alignments of stones; from a simple dolmen (Breton for stone table) to more complex passage tombs. In its most basic form, a dolmen consists of just three stone slabs; two set upright supporting a flatter slab that formed the roof of a burial chamber. The whole structure would originally have been covered by stones and earth to form a small but significant mound in the landscape and where such mantles survive, they are called tumuli.

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It is widely believed that prehistoric man worshiped celestial…

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