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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Purchase
TSL Publications
Lulu Books

 

 

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.

 

 

Off to the Races: December 21 through 25, 2021 for Family and Friends Time

The Undawnted team is going on a Staycation. 

It's not like we can afford a real vacation. We will be around. We have a lot of housekeeping to do to get our events and programs ready for 2022. 

So if you have a question, use our Contact form, and we will respond as usual. 

Otherwise, we will be updating and polishing the site, ourselves, and off some eggnog! 

What do you have planned for the holidays? 

Have a great and fireplace smoking week! 

 

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Movie Night with the Novelist is still on for this coming Saturday and Sunday, so don't fret! These movies are the last ones for 2022.

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Our news and updates, as well as Movie Night with the Novelist, are now on our A Novelist Idea newsletter!

Join our Creative Tribe. 

Learn. Grow. Master... with Undawnted.

A Writer's Life is Making the Most Out of the Universe

I am having so much fun!

I knew world building for a novel was great, but universe building is even better. You may have noticed the additions to the Legacy Universe. I love mythology, so I am creating my own for this extended universe of different stories, characters, and supernatural elements. 

It is fun. 

I am also outlining some counterintelligence novels. Often in a universe we see only the effects of the antagonist, I want to get to know them. Should we feel empathy for the bad guys? Or, pity? 

My characters have already been showing me and talking to me in a creative sense, not a "need medication" sense. I believe there are some good scenes in the works. I am brainstorming plot lines and other scenarios as I go along.

Likewise, I have to refocus my efforts. I have been doing chores to get ready for winter. Energy efficient curtains for the back door, shopping for the house, and just regular stuff that needs to be done. That means I have to budget time for writing. I do need to sit down and make some time to write more.

And, do you like the book cover designs? Some will be revised and polished down the line, but you get the idea. 

I love being artfully creative. You should see my Tshirts! 

Anyway, I am planning out my strategy. Now, if I could get help with my chores! 

A writer's life. I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Have a great and wonderful day.

Let the 31 Days of Halloween Commence!

Time to dust off the coffins and get out the skeletons.

That's right! It's All Hallow's Eve again. This year Undawnted is going to get into the festivities. 

31 days... oh, so many activities to partake in. The Hero's Journey continues...

Did we say: partake? Pass the cupcake! 

Let's Trick or Treat together... see you tomorrow! 

Have a great and scary day. 

Autumn Cider Seasonal Reads 2019

Welcome to our seasonal reading program!

It's September... you know what time it is? Autumn Cider!

As the evenings turn cool, fire pits are decorated with people cooking marshmallows and wearing sweaters.

The holidays are close at hand. First, we get to enjoy the descending darkness into longer nights. We get costumes and candy... and fireside stories from beyond.

How do you get your fall fill? Well, read, of course!

Check out our Autumn Cider Seasonal Reads program on our menu and featured novels, chapbooks, and more!

New Look for Psychotic Elephants

The last cover for Memoirs of a Psychotic Painting Elephant did not give the impression of anything psychedelic or elephanty. 

To celebrate the beginning of this year's Winter Frost Seasonal Reads Program, Undawnted updated the long form poem's image. 

I kept the theme going with different colored page headings... in neon inspired tones. 

If you are going to be creative and have fun, you might as well go for it!

I hope you have fun with this poem as much as I did writing it. 

 Buy your copy today!

Time Again for Winter Frost Seasonal Reads

Undawnted's seasonal reads program turns the calendar over to December once more and that means it's time for Winter Frost.

Cold nights sitting by the roaring fireplace with hot cocoa in hand is what the chill of winter's frost brings us. 

The holidays are being celebrated with parties. Carolers make their rounds through neighborhoods, People shop at the local businesses for gifts. Children have sugar plums dancing in their heads.

What to do on those long winter's nights? But read, of course!  

DL Mullan will Now Be Available through Library and Subscription Services

Are you a library card holder or a subscriber to a book service?

                                                                                                   

Then you have access to Hode: The Legend Lives Again, if you are a participant of these services:

24 Symbols

OverDrive 

So next time you want to relax and read search for DL Mullan.

More titles are on their way throughout the rest of this year!

Have a great and wonderful day.

Plotting My Stargate

Every time I sit down to write, another project pops out of the woodwork.

I am busy with an external source's clothing line, book cover art events, as well as my own creative ideas. 

I didn't know summers could be this eventful!

Since I am disabled by illness, my time to be creative everyday is limited. So once I run out of juice, I am done until I can recharge my batteries again. I wish I had solar energy! 

Even with the handful of projects swirling around me, I am still outlining and mapping out a future for myself. You cannot move forward in a vacuum, even thought I try. The universe constantly reminds me that plot points have to be set into motion even in our own lives. The stargate of creativity works when you have all the coordinates.

I know my timeline has changed several times especially now that I am permanently disabled. I have to go with the flow. I am in uncharted territory and my stargate malfunctions all the time. 

So am I accustomed to having a map that goes in several directions at once. "Scotty, beam me up!" Does that work? Can I change scifi series in the middle of an essay? 

No matter your stargate, life does not have to be an endless series of stops and goes. You can decide for yourself where you will want to end up. Follow your stars to change your stars. 

You may feel worn or cursed, but I assure you there is light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to know how to program your stargate. Brainstorming, goal setting, and some patience goes a long way. 

I have always wanted to be a writer and artist. Disability now gives me that focus. I just wish had a lot more time to be creative. 

Life is a set of coordinators. If you are headed in the wrong direction, well, then set a new course.

I'll be waiting in the Café at the End of the Universe. 

Oh, I did it again!

Have a great and wonderful day. 

 

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A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet. This year, DL Mullan has begun sharing her knowledge via A Novelist Idea Newsletter. If you too want to become a Fearless Phile, then subscribe to her newsletter at her Substack.

Learn. Grow. Master… with Undawnted.