WordCrafter Blog Tour: Haunted Halloween Holiday by Robbie Cheadle

Book Trailer

 

Summary

 

Count Sugular is delighted when the Sugarpop Bats invite his family to a Halloween party at the Haunted House. He and his wife, Witch Honey, decide to hire a caravan and enjoy a weekend away with their family.

Includes some fun limericks to introduce the various characters.

 

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Interview

 

Some writers write for the "moral of the story." In your children's books, do you write for the imaginative aspects of the narrative, or do you also prescribe to having a teachable moment in your books? If so, how and why?

Thank you, Dawn, for this interesting question. My books do all have elements that can be picked out as teaching points. I think that all stories have these elements as they all rely on certain human behaviours and characteristics to bring the plot to a successful conclusion.

My characters meet new people and form friendships and working relationships with them. They identify issues, solve problems, and find ways around obstacles in their path. They learn to be patient and understanding as well as determined and resolved, depending on the circumstances.

My plots, however, to not revolve around morals or ethics. The settings and storylines in Michael and my children’s books are fantasy adventures.

In Haunted Halloween Holiday, Count Sugular and his family are invited to a Halloween party and take the opportunity to turn it into a family holiday. At the party, they meet up with old friends, dance and have fun, and see some beautiful artwork.

Everyone at the party is different and has a unique skill set. Some bake, some cook, some make music, and others are artists, but they are all appreciated for their talents, and they all contribute towards making the party a big success.

It is all about teamwork and acceptance as well as not pigeonholing people. Trolls can learn to cook and can open a restaurant if they work hard at it and are determined. People who are sad and depressed can find ways of seeing the brighter side of life and sharing their talents with the world.

I deliberately chose to write fantasy books and I want the books to be fun and engaging and expand the imaginations of the readers.

The illustrations in Haunted Halloween Holiday are all made from Fondant, biscuits, sweets, and cake. I have found that my illustrations encourage creativity in children. Some children want to replicate what I have done, others attempt to make the characters from other mediums like play doh and even mud.

It is amazing how innovative and creative children can be from all sorts of different backgrounds and economic circumstances.

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What is a lesson from your childhood that comes out in your writing, as a conscious or unconscious theme? When did you notice this trend?

I was a lonely child. I moved schools fourteen times over my twelve-year school career and only two of those moves were during my high school years. During my primary school years, I sometimes moved schools twice in one academic year. My shortest stay at a school was six weeks.

Moving schools was not easy for me. It was new environments, new peers, and new teachers all the time. The schools don’t teach the syllabus consistently so I would miss sections and repeat sections following a move.

I didn’t form close friendships and I was a lonely child, playing mainly with my three younger sisters.

To this day, I don’t have close female friendships. I don’t think I ever learned how to deepen friendships with people. I have always viewed all my relationships outside of my direct family as transitional. I have closer friends in my on-line world than in my physical world. I can take on-line friends with me wherever I go and reach them often and timeously.

I think my childhood loneliness and anxiety to fit in comes through in Michael and my stories. They all have a strong focus on acceptance of difference, teamwork, being helpful and supportive, and friendship. I have taught my sons to be kind to others, to invite them into their friendship groups and offer them support when they can see a need.

Thank you, Dawn, for the great questions and for hosting my book tour today.

(Anytime!)

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Review

Another wonderful installment of Robbie Cheadle's children's book series. This time, it's autumn for her sugarland family! The sinister season is not complete without a Haunted Halloween Holiday.

In this story, everyone in the community works together for a common goal: well, a party of course! Join in with her culinary characters as they win over your heart, and appetite, with their rhymes and times. Because people who play together stay friends forever!

If you like family friendly content, then her children's series is for you. It is a family affair as Robbie and her son, Michael, write these fantastical stories for other children to enjoy. 

Be sure to purchase your own copy!  

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The prizes will be given away in a random drawing.

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Robbie Cheadle is a South African children’s author and poet with ten children’s books and two poetry books.

The eight Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie has also published two books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.

Robbie has two adult novels in the paranormal historical and supernatural fantasy genres published under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle. She also has short stories, in the horror and paranormal genre, and poems included in several anthologies.

Robbie Cheadle contributes two monthly posts to https://writingtoberead.com, namely, Growing Bookworms, a series providing advice to caregivers on how to encourage children to read and write, and Treasuring Poetry, a series aimed at introducing poetry lovers to new poets and poetry books.

In addition, Roberta Eaton Cheadle contributes one monthly post to https://writingtoberead.com called Dark Origins: African Myths and Legends which shares information about the cultures, myths and legends of the indigenous people of southern Africa.

 

 

WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set Blog Tour: Undawnted Interviews Roberta Eaton Cheadle

About the Anthology Set 

 

Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set, which is released today, December 1st, 2021 from WordCrafter and is available for purchase.

This anthology set is a bundle including Whispers of the Past, Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger. All three anthologies combined into one convenient paranormal set for lovers of ghost stories.

 

Amazon Books

 

 

 

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Author Interview: Roberta "Robbie" Eaton Cheadle
A contributor to all three anthologies in the set for a total of five stories. Titles: "The Last of the Lavender", "Missed Signs" (Whispers of the Past); "Ghost in the Mound", "The Thirstyland Journey" (Spirits of the West); "Listen to Instructions" (Where Spirits Linger).


As a poet, writing in the horror genre of the paranormal/supernatural is a different tone then the succinct and lyrical form of creative writing, how do you find writing horror? Is it a challenge?

As far back as I can remember I have always written poetry and played with words, forming them into descriptive paragraphs that, as a young girl, I thought were quite delightful. I have also always enjoyed books about people and their everyday lives and grew up reading L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. These were the books I attempted to mimic with my descriptive passages.

At the age of ten I progressed to adult books. I had read everything in the children’s library and wasn’t allowed to borrow adult books. I resorted to reading my mom’s books behind the couch. I am the oldest of four girls and my mom was a very busy mother. She never missed me or noticed me stretched out on the floor behind the couch with one of her books in my hands. My mom was a Stephen King fan. I worked my way through The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, The Running Man, Cujo, Christine, The Talisman, Firestarter, Carrie, and Pet Sematary. These books scared me to death, but I loved them. When I had exhausted mom’s King collection, I moved on to her collection of Charles Dickens books. These were beautiful leather-bound books with thin, wispy pages.

My reading tastes remained dark, and I favour books about war, paranormal and dystopia. As a result, transitioning from writing poetry and children’s books wasn’t difficult for me. That being said, I might not have thought to attempt writing horror if I hadn’t come across a short story competition on another writer’s blog. An idea for my first horror story, The Willow Tree, came to me and I decided to give writing horror a whirl. Since that first attempt in 2018, I have written two supernatural historical novels and written dark stories for inclusion in nine anthologies, three of which are the WordCrafter anthologies.


Writing children’s books are often more visual creative than writing short stories, how do you use your gift for visualization in your writing craft of long narratives?

The feedback I receive from readers is that my books are very descriptive. The feedback has been positive despite my initial concern that modern readers don’t like a lot of description. Descriptive prose is my writing style, and I wouldn’t want to change it.

I have lived through some difficult experiences including numerous house robberies, thefts of cars, two children with chronic illnesses necessitating numerous operations and hospitalisations, and a home invasion when my mother and I were tied up and I had a gun at my head.

When I write, I insert myself into the circumstances of my story and visualise how I would feel, think, and react. I draw from my own negative experiences and try to capture the essence of them on paper. I always write dark literature for adults and my characters are usual either ghosts who are already dead or people who are destined to die. I have written about death from a gunshot numerous times in my stories.

Why am I drawn to writing dark stories? I do not know as I am naturally an upbeat and positive person.


Out of the five short stories you have written, which one was your favorite? Which one was the most unsettling? And, which one drew from one of your real-life experiences?

My favourite of these five short stories is The Ghost in the Mound from Spirits of the West. This was based on a real event in South African history where a wagon train comprising of nine ox-wagons was attacked and all the families were killed in the ensuing fight. Afrikaans women did use termite mounds as ovens to bake bread and some of these mounds are enormous. I had the idea of a young mother hiding her baby in one of these old ovens to save it from death during an attack and from that idea, this story was born.

The Thirstyland Journey from Spirits of the West is the short story that is the most disturbing to me as it is the one that is most closely based on a true story. The outcome and deaths in that story are all real and it was a most tragic situation as there were several children who died. Life for pioneering families was extremely hard and many of them died of sickness, starvation, or thirst, and during attacks.

Missed Signs from Whispers of the Past is the story that is most closely based on a real-life experience. The reason I say this is because the main character suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and has a horror of germs and illness. The character of Sean is based on someone close to me who suffers from this illness. I like this story very much.


Would you like to visit a real haunted location? Have you already? What would you like to experience at a haunted place that would help you as a horror fiction writer? If you have a past experience, did that help you write your stories?

My husband and I have travelled extensively in the UK and South Africa. We favour visiting sites of historical interest, especially battlefields, forts, castles, and museums. We have visited several sites that are believed to be haunted. Our own house, which is the original farmhouse in our area in Johannesburg, is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of a gang of bandits who hid in the house and were killed in a shoot out with the authorities in 1929.

I am open minded about ghosts and spirits, but sadly, they have never chosen to reveal themselves to me. I would be interested in experiencing a paranormal phenomenon, but I don’t think I have any gifts in that direction. I do experience the dark horror of certain places and I am imaginative so I am able to write my stories without having any real supernatural experiences. I am particularly interested in the psychology of murderers and people who die unnatural deaths as a result of murder or war.

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Thank you, Roberta Eaton Cheadle for your understanding of the horror genre and storytelling. If you would like to know more about Ms. Cheadle, please see his biography and links below:  

 

 
Author Bio

Roberta Eaton Cheadle is writer of young adult and adult fiction in the supernatural fantasy, historical horror, and historical supernatural genres.

To date, Roberta has published two novels, Through the Nethergate and A Ghost and His Gold, and several short stories in various anthologies including Whispers of the Past and Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger edited and compiled by Kaye Lynne Booth, and Spellbound, compiled by Dan Alatorre.

Roberta has a historical supernatural novel set during the Second Anglo Boer War in South Africa coming out in early 2021.

When she is not writing, Roberta enjoys working in the garden and creating fondant and cake artworks. 

 

Author Links

• Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
• Blog: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za

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If you like this interview, then read the others in the Lingering Spirit Whispers series: 

• Stevie Turner
• Kaye Lynne Booth 
• Jeff Bowles  
  

WordCrafter Blog Tour: Where Spirits Linger Review

Out of the corner of your eye you see a shadow move, a presence in the distance. 

Is someone trying to get your attention or hide from you? Ghost stories are as old as human civilization itself. The paranormal intrigues us, shapes our view of the after life, and haunts our dreams. 

The anthology, Where Spirits Linger gives us a taste of the various ways we mere mortals can experience the spirit world. In the six short stories, the reader is transported in time and space into these realms of impossibility. So real in fact that the improbable comes across as probable. 

The People Up Stairs by Kaye Lynne Booth takes on a journey with Cassie. Cassie from an eight year old to a nineteen year old tells her story in diary form about the apparitions living on the second floor of Edna's house. A mystery wrapped in a conundrum. Is Cassie's fate sealed by her acceptance of  the spirits from beyond? 

Listen to the Instructions by Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a tale of twisted fate. If you carried out the will of the deceased, then your life will be tame. But, if you were only in the game for self-indulgence, then your life would exist in misery. Which would you choose? Listen to a ghost? Or listen to yourself? Your life may depend on it. 

The Chosen Few by Enid Holden is a short story from the spirits' point of view. These ghosts control their surroundings and the people who dare live in their dwelling of choice. Would you live in this haunted place? If you knew, the spirits created your experience for their own entertainment? 

The Final Portrait by S.L. Kretschmer asks the reader to understand a spirit. A painting showed how someone died, but would you, if asked by a ghost, to paint them as they were? What would you do? Honor a final request? Or, depart without a second thought? How the living see the dead can leave a lasting impression in this world, and the next 

David’s Revenge by Stevie Turner is a story about plotting. If you died tomorrow, how would you set up everyone in your life? Would you leave them in peace? Or, would you make suspicion the focus? David died and he had everyone on the hook. He even manipulated the police and psychic medium to do his bidding. Is this how you would spend your time before you left your body for good? 

Olde Tyme Village by Christa Planko is about Steve and an old estate belonging to his family. A chance visit that led to many more questions than answers. Could Steve return the property to its former glory? Or was the estate too haunted to become anything more than a ghost asylum? Will the reader ever know? 

Where Spirits Linger gives the audience the ups and downs of different hauntings. From the tame to the problematic, this anthology has a story for everyone's paranormal tastes.  Why not, take a bite?

If you would like to know more, then please stop by Kaye Lynne Booth's websites:

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Day 1:  http://writingtoberead.com/?p=21087

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