Showing posts with label author interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author interview. Show all posts

Monday, October 3, 2022

Undawnted Presents: WordCrafter Blog Tour, Haunted Halloween Holiday by Robbie Cheadle





 
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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To Enter the Giveaway... go to Writing to be Read and leave a Comment.  
 

For a chance to win one of three US$10 Amazon vouchers or one of three paperback copies of Haunted Halloween Holiday just leave a comment to show you were here.

Follow the tour and comment at each stop for more chances to win.

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.

 

 

Monday, November 29, 2021

Undawnted Presents: WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Paranormal Anthology Set Blog Tour: Undawnted Interviews Stevie Turner

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: Stevie Turner      
Contributor to two anthologies with two stories: "Partners in Time" (Whispers of the Past), "David's Revenge" (Where Spirits Linger).
 

What is it about the genres you write that create a world inside your mind ripe for storytelling? Do you have a favorite genre for which your narratives are born?

I’ve always been fascinated by the occult from a young age, and paranormal stories are my absolute favourite to write. I experienced ghostly occurrences as a child, and I’ve had help from the spirit world when I have been in desperate need of it. By writing spooky stories I can use my past experiences and also use my imagination a little bit more than usual (I also write ‘faction’ – fiction based on fact).


As a novelist, how do you construct your plotlines? Do you develop your stories through an outline, or do the characters form your fictional world view? How do you contend with the character voices versus how you see the beginning, middle, and end of your stories?

I have no plot at all in my head when I write. I have no idea what the ending will be until I get there. I’m an absolute ‘pantster’ who loves writing this way, and hates the thought that somebody might need me to work to a rigid outline. I also do not like writing to a deadline, and prefer just to write when I feel like it.



As a writer, how to do write fiction versus nonfiction? Do you approach these two types of writing differently? If so, how does fiction and nonfiction use your skill set dissimilarly? If not, how do they work with your vision of writing the same?


With fiction I can stretch the boundaries and make it all up as I go along. With non-fiction I would need to write from personal experience or do meticulous research. I write fiction under my pseudonym of Stevie Turner, and non-fiction under my real name. My family and friends know my non-fiction books, and bloggers and readers know my works of fiction. I have two different heads and like to keep it that way.



If you could write a novel outside of your comfort zone, what would you endeavor to write? What characters do you have in mind? What genre would you dare to initiate?

I am quite happy in my comfort zone of Women’s Fiction (family dramas), Humor, Paranormal, and Romantic Suspense. I did try to write a fantasy story once, but it was complete rubbish. I don’t really want to write in any other genres apart from the ones I already write in.


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Thank you, Stevie Turner for your wonderful insight about the creative writing process. If you would like to know more about Ms. Turner, please see her biography and links below: 


Author Bio

Stevie Turner is a British author of suspense, paranormal, women's fiction family dramas and darkly humorous novels, and likes to find subjects to write about that are not often covered. Stevie is married and lives in the wilds of East Anglia, England, and enjoys cycling about the countryside when she is not busy writing.

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

 


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