📖 Book review ~ Ten Poems about Vegetables from Candlestick Press

Candlestick press
May 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

We’ve all heard the phrase “eat your greens”, but vegetables come in countless other colours that are every bit as nutritious and delicious as the green ones.

This selection captures the many glories of the vegetable kingdom, finding delight in planting, tending and digging them up, as well as in cooking and eating them. Anyone who has an allotment or vegetable patch (or just a tub by the back door) will know there’s nothing quite like a home-grown potato or tomato.

From skinny beans to curvaceous aubergines, the poems explore the almost-human shapes and textures of vegetables, which appeal to the senses in so many different ways:

“It’s the perfect vegetable,
palette-green, bottle-glass-glossy,
three dimensional, curvy
on top, firm-limbed but friable.”

from ‘Broccoli’ by Siriol Troup

This irresistible anthology creates a vividly earthy world, full of charm and wit.

Poems by Alison Brackenbury, Miriam Darlington, Jen Hadfueld, Ted Kooser, Michael Laskey, Thomas Lux, Natasha Rao, Sumana Roy, Siriol Troup and Steve Waling.

Cover illustration by SaracBoccaccini Meadows

📖 My Review..

My father was an enthusiastic grower of vegetables and I have fond memories of him in the garden, in all weathers, tending his ramrod rows of onions and carrots, pulling the first crop of tender new potatoes or bringing into the kitchen crisp lettuce and succulent tomatoes. The simple joy of podding home grown peas or searching for the green strands of runner beans will remain with me forever. This latest anthology from Candlestick Press takes us into the vegetable plot of imagination where we relish the sights and tastes of ten different vegetables.

Currently waiting in my vegetable box is a glossy aubergine:

“ Aubergine, aubergine - slippery sheen

nightshade black; satin. Pick it up

put it back. Skin tacky like PVC-

lit up like a stripper - or the tight black trousers

on the snaking hips of a Greek waiter - seducer

of extra virgin olive oil”

From Organic by Miriam Darlington 

I like the idea of coming back as a tomato which is described so beautifully:

“I want to return 

from reincarnation’s spin covered in dirt and buds. I want to be unabashed, audacious, to gobble space, to blush deeper each day on the sun…”

From In my next life let me be a tomato by Natasha Rao

We tend to take vegetables for granted, just one of our five a day but we never really stop to consider the beauty of them and this fine anthology of Ten Poems about Vegetables reminds us of their beauty, versatility and the pleasure they give us be that in the garden or on our plates. It’s a perfect gift instead of a card for the enthusiastic vegetable grower or for who anyone appreciates the beauty of nature’s bounty.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

Website 

📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Herbs from Candlestick Press

 

We love herbs for their fragrance and for their taste. They can be food or medicine or perfume. In these beguiling poems, it seems that herbs have other powers too; they can remind us of the past and they can make us think of love – sometimes both at the same time:

“For the cold will come, though you turn to me soon,
Your eyes going serious green from hazel,
Your quick hand on my face the scent of basil.”

from ‘Basil’ by Gibbons Ruark

Elsewhere we encounter mint and basil growing by a roadside in the Mediterranean, garden marjoram covered in bees and the headiness of wild garlic in an English woodland. Wherever they grow, herbs seem to stop us in our tracks, asking us to bend to pick a stem or simply to rub their scent onto our fingers.

Perhaps this is what herbs are for: to make time stand still as we pause for a moment to wonder at their wild beauty.

Poems by Maggie Anderson, Sujata Byatt, Jane Burn, Jim Daniel’s, Isobel Dixon, John Fuller, Lyn Lifshin, Alfred Noyes, Gibbons Ruark and Robert Seatter.

Cover illustration by Sara Boccaccini Meadows

📖 My Review

I love an old fashioned herb garden and whilst I have never been successful in cultivating one, there is something special about walking through a well planted herb border, redolent with plants and flowers which give off their delicate aroma as you brush past. Rosemary and thyme, oregano and basil evoke memories of summer barbecues whilst the pungent spiciness of wild garlic reminds me of shady woodlands and delicate pathways, lavender takes me back to my mother’s garden and harvesting the fragrant flowers to make pot pourri or fragrant bags to scent linens.

Lavender by Alfred Noyes

‘Lavender, lavender.

That makes your linens sweet;

The hawker brings his basket 

Down the sooty street:..’

The Forest Knows by Jane Burn

‘..I walk on,

Until a plush of wild garlic ripples around my feet.

The white globe shaped flowers grow here

Like a private universe - …’

In Ten Poems about Herbs we are treated to a literary herbal as we explore poems which celebrate the glorious nature of herbs. It is real feast for the senses, from poems about basil, wild thyme, fennel and coriander, to reminisces about marjoram, mint and the wonderfully named viper’s bugloss. With a delightful cover, and end papers, this would make the perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who loves herbs either growing them, cooking with them, or simply enjoying their simple beauty.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

Website

📖Book Review ~ Life’s Short, Talk Fast : Edited by Ann Hood

Dialogue Books
14 November 2024

Thanks to Midas for my copy of this book

Gilmore Girls hit our screens in 2000 and has been our autumn obsession ever since. Featuring iconic fall fashion, seasonal festivities, and countless cosy coffeehouse meetups, there's a reason that Vogue calls Gilmore Girls 'the quintessential autumn girl show'.

Fast-talking, warm-hearted, and endlessly rewatchable, Gilmore Girls has bonded real-life mothers and daughters since 2000, when its iconic pilot introduced us to Lorelai, Rory, and their idyllic town of Stars Hollow. To many, it is not only a classic comfort show, but a lifestyle, having even been called ‘a religion’. It is no surprise therefore that, years later, we're still head over heels with Stars Hollow.

More than twenty years after its release, Gilmore Girls has become one of the most-streamed TV shows, ever. Now, fans have the chance to rediscover the world of Lorelai and Rory in new form. Life’s Short, Talk Fast is an anthology as intimate and quick-witted as Gilmore Girls itself, in which bestselling author Ann Hood invites fifteen writers to investigate their personal relationships to the show, reintroducing readers to the twinkle lights and movie nights that so captivate audiences. 

UK-based authors Freya North and Yassmin Abdel-Magied explore how the show illuminated and explored their relationships with their own family members. Freya discusses how it led her to form a deeper connection with her 21-year-old son, who discovered the show in his final year of university. Yasmin reflects on the difficult and often unclear boundaries between mothers and daughters illuminated in the mother-daughter dynamics between Emily, Lorelai, and Rory. Nina de Gramont offers a comic ode to the unreality of the Stars Hollow world, hinged on the impossible vastness of Lorelai Gilmore’s coat collection (which she compares to Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe collection). 

For anyone who identifies as Team Logan, Team Jess, or even Team Dean, Life's Short, Talk Fast reveals what Gilmore Girls tells us about ourselves - and why it matters.

📖 My Review..

A few years ago I watched, over the space of a few weeks, the entire Gilmore Girls series on Netflix and absolutely fell in love with mother-daughter combo, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore and even developed a soft spot for Lorelai’s mother, Emily. At the time of watching the series I didn’t look into it any deeper than it being an entertaining watch on a steaming channel. I could comfortably watch two or three episodes, at a time, nicely ensconced in the cosiness of Stars Hollow and living life vicariously with this gentle show with its witty dialogue and complex relationships.

Fifteen writers have contributed to this anthology and as they share their personal relationships with the show so you begin to understand the lure of its appeal. With chapters covering diverse subjects, it’s an easy book to dip into and out of, discovering fascinating snippets along the way, and if you are familiar with the series will have you nodding in agreement. I particularly enjoyed Many Coats of Many Colours by Nina de Gramont which discusses cash strapped Lorelai’s penchant for exquisite coats of many colours. It made me smile ‘We live once, it’s cold outside’.  Freya North’s chapter Gilmore Girls-and Boys. It’s a Mother-Son Thing was particularly enlightening as by watching some of Gilmore Girls together with her son gave them both a deeper understanding of their mother-son relationship.

Life’s Short, Talk Fast looks really closely at the phenomenon of Gilmore Girls and the effects it had not just on a TV streaming public but also on parent-child relationships going forward into another generation. I think we underestimate the power of popular culture at our peril and this book goes some way into explaining its relevance twenty four years since its inception.  From its pretty cover to the enlightenment of its contents I found much to enjoy in Life’s Short, Talk Fast. It’s given me an appetite to revisit Stars Hollow again and discover the charm and hidden meanings to be found in Gilmore Girls. 

About Ann Hood

Ann Hood is the author of over a dozen novels, including the bestsellers The Knitting Circle, The Obituary Writer, The Book That Matters Most, Fly Girl and Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine; and several memoirs, including the bestsellers Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love and Food and Comfort: A Journey Through Grief, which was named one of the top ten books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island and New York.

Twitter / X @dialoguepub #LifesShortTalkFast

Twitter/ X @midascampaigns

📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems of Light from Candlestick Press

October 2024

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

This celebration title offers light in many glorious guises, helping mark one million pamphlet sales for Candlestick Press. We encounter celestial light in the form of the sun, moon and stars as well as the miracle of the Northern Lights. There’s the dazzle of the sea and mysterious bioluminescence from the natural world.

The poems also explore what light can mean to us as humans, with its promise of hope and a happier future. And there’s lighting a candle in remembrance of a loved one:

“…a sign says, and say a prayer, so I do.
I light it for you, you who made the world
a brighter place, and leave it burning.’

from ‘Fire lit up the sky’ by Carole Bromley

We hope that this dazzling selection – which includes the winning poems in our recent competition – will offer moments of delight and lasting joy, a poem (like a candlestick) being a lovely bearer of illumination.

Poems by Shasta Hanif Ali, Carole Bromley, Jane Burn, Rosie Jackson, Rachel Jeffcoat, Stephen Keeler,Nairn Kennedy, DA Prince, Penny Sherman and Laura Theis.

Cover illustration by Rebecca Vincent.

Donation to Starlight Children Foundation

📖 My review..

Helping to commemorate the millionth poetry pamphlet sold by Candlestick Press Ten Poems of Light is the perfect way to celebrate this amazing achievement. We all need light during some of our darkest times and I found so much to enjoy in these ten brand new poems, nine of whom are from winners in a Candlestick competition and what a talented bunch of poets they all are 😄 

I enjoyed Telling My Child About Light by Jane Burn especially this line :

-‘wherever you are in the world, somewhere there is light’

Whenever I visit a holy place I light a candle to remember those in my family who are no longer with me:

‘Light A Candle,

a sign says, and say a prayer, so I do.

I light it for you, you who made the world 

A brighter place, and leave it burning.’

Fire lit up the sky by Carole Bromley 

The final poem in the anthology, Things that hold light by Shasta Hanif Ali processes grief through tiny glimpses of joy in a hospice ‘When we fall, we are gathered’  - what a beautiful thought.

I’ve loved reading Ten Poems of Light, it’s beautifully presented, with a stunning cover and colourful inside papers which fit the theme of light perfectly. Each of the poems compliment each other, making this a truly special anthology and a wonderful celebration of a million pamphlets sold by this small publisher whose passion for each pamphlet, they so lovingly produce, shines like a beacon of light.

 About the Publisher

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle

Website

📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ Tamesis Street by Cressida Cowell et al

 

ShelterBox
7 October 2021

My thanks to ShelterBox and Laura Lees for my copy of this book

London, 2050. Catastrophic flooding has breached the Thames Barrier.

As Londoners fight to escape the remains of their city, a group of neighbours must band together for survival...

Global disaster relief organisation ShelterBox launches Tamesis Street, a collectively written story about climate change, as part of its hugely successful book club.

The book is a collaborative writing project, in development for over a year and featuring well-known authors, celebrities, journalists and people living and working in the areas that ShelterBox supports. Climate change is driving increasingly extreme weather events, such as severe floods and droughts, which destroy homes and force millions to be displaced each year. ShelterBox is working on the frontline of the crisis, providing emergency shelter to communities bearing the brunt of our heating world, and recently sent a team to respond to the 7.2 magnitude Haiti earthquake which has destroyed or damaged more than 130,000 homes.

A total of 30 authors have contributed to the book, including Cressida Cowell, Bill Bryson, Kit De Waal, Joanne Harris, Samira Ahmed, Michael Donkor, Balli Kaur Jaswal, Stig Abell, and Chris Packham. The book features a foreword by ShelterBox Patron, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, and Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate provides the afterword. Sir Quentin Blake has illustrated the cover.

Tamesis Street is available via the ShelterBox Book Club. To join, visit shelterbox.org/book-club/. Memberships can also be gifted in subscriptions of 3, 6 or 12 month packages. The club was launched in 2018, inspired by the communities ShelterBox supports after disaster, and is focused on international stories from diverse authors.

About ShelterBox

ShelterBox is a disaster relief organisation providing emergency shelter to communities after disaster. We help vulnerable people who have lost their homes to extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods and draught; seismic events like volcanos and earthquakes; as well as protracted crises including conflict.

We have worked in Syria for 10 years, we respond frequently in the Philippines, and we are currently working in places including India, Honduras and Sudan. When it comes to the climate crisis, we are on the front line, supporting those bearing the brunt of extreme weather - we work with communities who often have the least resilience and resources to withstand the changing conditions. https://www.shelterbox.org

ShelterBox Book Club

The book club was launched in 2018, inspired by the communities ShelterBox supports after disaster, and is focused on international stories from diverse authors. For a monthly donation of £10 - every 6 weeks members vote on what to read next from a handpicked selection. Subscribers receive a book in the post and join discussions virtually, on Zoom and in a thriving Facebook forum - where authors frequently host Q&A events.

https://www.shelterbox.org/book-club/

The contributors to Tamesis Street are:

Andrew Michael Hurley, Balli Kaur Jaswal, Bill Bryson, Chris Packham, Cressida Cowell, Charmaine Arcos from FACE Inc. ShelterBox’s partner in the Philippines, Emma Yule - Book Club Member, Helen Lederer, Jay Rayner, Joanne Harris, John Lanchester, Kayleigh Kelly - Book Club Member, Kerry Hudson, Kirsty Logan, Kit De Waal, Ather Al Atyiah, ShelterBox’s partner from ReliefAid in Syria, Mary-Noel Abia Mbata, ShelterBox’s partner from IEDA Relief in Cameroon, Michael Donkor, Mike Leigh, Miriam Mwazimva – ShelterBox’s partner from Habitat for Humanity Malawi, Monique Roffey, Patrick Gale, Samira Ahmed, Sarah Tagholm, Sarah Waters, Stig Abell, Veronica Henry, Wyl Menmuir, Yi Shun Lai, Sir Quentin Blake.

📖 My thoughts...

Tamesis Street is set in a future time which is eerily prophetic of what we could experience unless the climate challenge is faced and appropriate action is taken now. This cleverly woven collection of tales has been penned by thirty really good writers who each write a paragraph and who bring their own special interpretation of events to the story. 

Tamesis Street is set thirty years into the future, when the mighty River Thames bursts its banks, and it is a cautionary tale which is as diverse as it is consuming and which collectively is very powerful. I found the message of the story to be both poignant and heartbreaking in equal measure and it is both beautifully written and so well edited that you don't see the join. 

Without doubt, these thirty talented writers have produced a story which stays long in the imagination and for that reason I have no hesitation in making Tamesis Street my Featured Book of the Month for December. This beautifully presented little book is the perfect gift for Christmas, and beyond, and is available by taking out a subscription to ShelterBox Book Club. 

Tamesis Street is available via the ShelterBox Book Club (shelterbox.org/book-club) and memberships can be gifted in subscriptions of 3, 6 or 12 month packages.

Twitter @ShelterBoxBooks #TamesisStreet

Website

@LauraLees14

📖 Blog Tour ~ Newport Writers ~ An anthology of poetry and prose

 

2021

Welcome to our first anthology.

Since the group started, it has always been Tony’s vision to put together a collection of stories and poems penned by our members.

Please proceed with caution – these short stories and poems will introduce you to the alternative side of Newport: ghostly grandparents, a displaced porpoise, a little bit of Welshness, two philosophical security guards, a child whose food plays music, the awesome side of autism, a woman who made teddy bears in a concentration camp, and much more.

Take a whirlwind tour through bereavement, love, regret and parenthood. Laugh and defy fate as you run the gamut of life’s experiences – seen through the eyes of a bunch of writers who celebrate their individuality.

You will meet a diverse group of people who enjoy what they do and want to share it with you.

We invite you to sit back with a cuppa or maybe something stronger, relax and enjoy what promises to be a whirlwind ride.

📖 My Thoughts..

I am always in awe of people who find time in their busy lives to put pen to paper and this collection of stories has been penned by folk who find the time to write for the pleasure it brings to them and despite doing other things, they find time to meet and share ideas.

Newport Writers brings together the work of a group of writers whose passion for writing comes across. Throughout the collection there is an interesting mix of styles and topics, some are funny and made me smile, whilst others are a little more thoughtful and made me stop to consider. As with any collection there were pieces which I felt worked better than others, some short stories left me wanting more whilst a couple could have been developed a little further but overall I think that the collection works well. 

I always like to have a mixed collection of short stories and poems in my arsenal of stuff to read in an emergency - namely those times when you find yourself whiling away the time in a coffee shop or waiting for an appointment and this collection would be a great distraction for just those moments. 

This eclectic mix of short stories, flash fiction and poetry have been penned with a great deal of enthusiasm for the simple joy of writing and for the pleasure of sharing their thoughts with a wider audience.

About the Writers

We are a diverse group from south Wales with over 20 members, covering a broad age range and a variety of styles within the sphere of writing. We include poets, novelists, writers of flash fiction and short stories, plays and film scripts.

We published an anthology in February 2020 entitled Newport Writers – An anthology of poetry and prose. Available from Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.

We met on Zoom during the pandemic, but have now found a venue in central Newport where we can get together with plenty of space for social distancing.

We hold an Open Mic night once a month at popular Newport coffee shop Horton’s, and in the summer of 2021 we participated in several spoken word events.

Some members of our group are available to read and offer critique, and we have a proofreader among our membership. 

Email us at newportwritersgroup@gmail.com

Facebook: Newportwritersgroup

Twitter: @NewportWriters

@RandomThingsTours

📖 Blog Tour ~ Liberty Terrace by Madeleine D'Arcy

 

Thrilled to host a stop on this blog tour today

Doire Press
October 2021

My thanks to the publishers and Francesca at Midas PR for my copy of this book
and the invitation to the blog tour. 

Liberty Terrace by Irish fiction author Madeleine D’Arcy is a collection of short stories set in a fictional area of Cork City between 2016-2020, capturing the highs and lows of everyday life in the lead-up to and during the pandemic. 

Featuring a wide cast of characters from a Garda Superintendent and a young homeless squatter to a philandering husband and the mother of young autistic child – the residents of Liberty Terrace’s lives ebb and flow around each other, prompting readers to consider what it means to be human and be part of a community. Madeleine has poured herself into this book. As the mother of an autistic child herself – and a former Census Enumerator to boot – she brings her remarkable empathy and unique life experiences to life through the characters of Liberty Terrace.

📖 My Thoughts..

Liberty Terrace is an interconnected set of short stories which takes us, between the years 2016-2020, into the fictional heart of this small corner of Cork City and into the lives of those inhabitants who call this place home. Each story is perfectly self contained and yet as you read through the collection there is a distinct sense of continuity even though the stories are many, and varied, just like the characters.

Wryly observant, with a fine sense of time and place, I read through each of the stories in sequential order. Interested to see just what would follow next, I found that I liked all of the stories equally and the author's clever writing ensures than none of them outshine each other in terms of content and impact. The author has picked up on the nuances of everyday behaviour, with a few quirks thrown in for good measure, especially in light of the characters completing the obligatory census return form. I enjoyed how each story had its own definite identity so although there is a common theme of community, there is also individuality of people and place. Touching on the months of the global pandemic we come right up to date with how some characters deal with the oppressive nature of lockdown and about how the pandemic was turning everyone into nervous wrecks.

Liberty Terrace is an interesting, observational anthology, with some great stories which, collectively, highlight the highs and lows of everyday life.

About the Author

MADELEINE D’ARCY is an Irish fiction writer. A former solicitor, she lived in the UK for 13 years before returning to live in Cork City with her husband and her son in 1999. Madeleine’s first Doire Press short story collection ‘Waiting for the Bullet’ was awarded the 2015 Edge Hill Readers’ Prize’ from Edge Hill University in Ormskirk. In 2010 she received a Hennessy X.O Literary Award for First Fiction as well as the overall Hennessy X.O Literary Award for New Irish Writer. Her stories have been short-listed and commended in many competitions, including the William Trevor/Elizabeth Bowen Short Story Competition, Fish Short Story Prize, the Bridport Prize and the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition. Madeleine has been awarded bursaries by the Arts Council of Ireland and by Cork City Council. Madeleine was a scholarship student on the inaugural MA in Creative Writing 2013-2014 in University College Cork. Waiting for the Bullet is Madeleine’s debut collection of short stories.

About the Publisher

Doire Press was founded in the autumn of 2007 in Connemara by Lisa Frank, with skills and experience in editing and publishing, and by John Walsh, who had just received a publication award from the Galway County Council Arts Office to publish his second poetry collection, Love’s Enterprise Zone.

Since then, Doire Press has continued to blossom, finding its niche in publishing new and emerging writers who give voice to what it means to be Irish in a changing Ireland. Authors include Madeleine D’Arcy, Edward Boyne, Gerry Galvin, Susan Millar Du Mars, Adam White, Breda Wall Ryan, Willian Wall, Eamon Carr, Stephanie Conn, Simon Lewis, Amanda Bell, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, and Rosemary Jenkinson.

Twitter @MadeleineDL #LibertyTerrace

@Doirepress @Midaspr

📖 Book Review ~ On A Distant Ridgeline by Sam Reese

 

Platypus Press
14 September

My thanks to the publishers and Isabelle Kenyon for my copy of this book

In his second collection, on a distant ridgeline, Sam Reese creates twelve vivid and tenderly drawn tales with moments and memories that linger just out of reach. Between the past and present and potential reconciliations —and with a keen eye on the subtle balance of human connection—relationships and their fractured qualities are central to this new gathering of stories.

📖 My thoughts...

On A Distant Ridgeline is an interesting collection of twelve short stories which are easy to dip into and out of at whim. I enjoyed the finely balanced style of writing and the creative use of language which the author offers in each of these creatively written short stories. There is much to consider and reveal but I won't spoil any of them by recounting their content except to say that I found something to enjoy and consider in each of the individual stories.

Sometimes, in my experience, short stories can be a little disappointing, containing just one or two good ones, with the rest making up the word count, but not so with On A Distant Ridgeline as all the stories deserve equal recognition and show the author's skill in making each story flow so beautifully. The author has an interesting way of saying much in a few words and blends and controls everything with fine skill.

I think the concept of small, considerate connections is what I will take away from this finely written anthology of short stories.

About the Author

Hailing from Aotearoa, Sam Reese is an awardwinning writer, critic, and teacher. Currently a lecturer in creative writing at York St John University, he is the author of the short story collection Come the Tide and non-fiction books on jazz, literature and loneliness, American short fiction, and Cold War politics.

Twitter @Svhreese #onadistantridgeline

@platypuspress

@kenyon_isabelle

Blog Tour ~ Midsummer Magic at Miss Moonshine's Emporium ~ Authors on the Edge

 

Delighted to be one of the stops on this blog tour

21 June 2021
Third stand alone book in series

My thanks to the authors and to Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book
and the invitation to be a part of the blog tour

Are you ready to meet Miss Moonshine? Life may never be the same again...

It’s summer in Haven Bridge and Miss Moonshine is getting ready for a busy season. From the window of her Wonderful Emporium, at the heart of the pretty Yorkshire town, she watches and waits, weaving plans to bring happiness to all who step through her door. For Miss Moonshine is no ordinary shopkeeper. She may not have what you want, but she will always have what you need...

Nine romantic novelists from Yorkshire and Lancashire, including bestselling and award winning authors, have joined together to create this anthology of uplifting stories guaranteed to warm your heart. This magical collection of contemporary romances will make you laugh, cry and wish for a Miss Moonshine in your own life.

My thoughts..

Meeting again with Miss Moonshine in this latest offering from the nine talented authors who make up Authors On the Edge is like settling back with tea and biscuits for a good old natter with treasured friends. 

The fictitious Yorkshire town of Haven Bridge where Miss Moonshine's Emporium is to be found is once again the focus for nine lovely stories which takes you through a whole range of smiley faces emotions.  And as you would expect the nine authors make the stories their own and yet each keep Miss Moonshine very firmly in focus but never let her dominate the stories which are all about the characters, the place, and the circumstances in which they find themselves.

There's a whole hint of summer loveliness in midsummer magic and as I found myself dipping through the stories on midsummer's day I thought how lucky I was to have discovered this set of short stories. Each one guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and a  distinct longing to hop on the bus and head for Miss Moonshine's Emporium to have a mooch around the bric-a-brac to discover a piece of treasure for yourself.

Sometimes with an anthology of stories by different authors there may be one or two which you don't really like as much as the others, and, I guess, that's life, however, as I read Midsummer Magic at Miss Moonshine's Emporium I was enchanted by the stories which are all quite different but each one is presented with thoughtfulness, care and fine attention to detail. I won't list the individual stories, as that way you can discover the magic of this anthology for yourself, without me spoiling anything.

Beautifully written, Midsummer Magic at Miss Moonshine's Emporium is a perfect pick me up at any time of year but it's even better when reading the anthology in the garden with the scents of midsummer all around you, and just maybe there'll be a delicate sprinkling of Miss Moonshine's special magic just for you.

About the Authors

The nine Miss Moonshine authors Mary Jayne Baker, Sophie Claire, Jacqui Cooper, Helena Fairfax, Kate Field, Melinda Hammond, Marie Laval, Helen Pollard and Angela Wren meetup regularly in the little mill town of Hebden Bridge, on the border between the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire hence their group name, Authors on the Edge. This picturesque town, home to many writers, artists and musicians, was the inspiration for their magical character Miss Moonshine, and their uplifting series of anthologies featuring romance and happy endings.

Twitter #AuthorsOnTheEdge

@Rararesources

Amazon UK

❆Book Review ~ Ten Poems for Winter from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
November 2020

My thanks to Candlestick Press for my copy of this poetry pamphlet

Winter seems to divide opinion more than any other season; we love it or we definitely don’t! The poems in this mini-anthology are guaranteed to delight readers of every persuasion; we encounter muddy walks, ice-skating, cosy fires, chilblains and even a snow pudding.

There’s also a Skype meeting between a child and a grandparent – a poignant reminder that distance from a loved one can mean living in different seasons:

“You hold handfuls of snow to my face, say

‘You can eat it’, your eyes laughing as you gulp it down

and show me red berries on the naked tree, footprints on the icy track.”

from ‘January Skype July’ by Christine Coates

These are poems to curl up with: they relish the season’s rigours, finding warmth and humanity in the midst of darkness and cold.

Poems by John Clare, Christine Coates, Jane Duran, Robert Hayden, Rhiannon Hooson, Christopher James, Ted Kooser, Ruby Robinson, Rob Walton and Holly Yuille.

Cover illustration by Alexandra Buckle

❆My thoughts..

This superb mini-anthology completes the quartet of seasonal pamphlets and is every bit as wonderful as the seasons which have gone before and collectively the set would make a wonderful Christmas, or New Year, gift.

Winter 2020 is a reflective time when we look back over the year which is nearly over - and what a year it has been - and look ahead, with fingers crossed, to a new season of hopefulness. In this collection of poetry we are given the opportunity to take stock of the year whilst allowing this talented bunch of poets to lead us into the magical world of their imagination. As always, there is a thought provoking collection of verse which never fail to touch me on an emotional level. 

Some make me smile and ignite a memory long forgotten;

Snow Pudding by Jane Duran reminded me of making icy cold snow drinks as a child long before slush drinks were commonplace. I didn't use maple syrup but orange cordial!

"One way is to pour maple syrup 

on fresh snow, Find a corner 

by the house that the wind misses..."

Now by Holly Yuille reminded me of my misspent youth and dancing to Northern Soul at the legendary, Wigan Casino.

"We can huddle in the middle at the end of the dancing

a ragged mountain of limbs, blankets and woolly coats

our thoughts diving down to a lullaby

of pounding Northern Soul..."

Winter by Ruby Robinson reminded me of putting my tortoise away to hibernate and one year we forgot where we had put him. We eventually found him, in Spring, at the bottom of the bedding chest.

"We keep our tortoise in the fridge through the winter.."

Others are poignant and beautiful and made me sigh with longing, especially Bleakmid by Rob Walton, The Ragged Kingdom by Rhiannon Hooson, Chasing the Light by Christopher James, Winter Fields by John Clare, and Late February by Ted Kooser.

January Skype July by Christine Coates, reminded me of all the FaceTime calls I've had with my little granddaughter this year. 

" While I'm here, tears falling on the screen

raindrops on window panes..."

It's always really difficult to pick a favourite and this collection is quite perfect so I'm not going to even try, however, my last mention has to go to a particularly favourite poem of mine which reminds me of my dad who got up ridiculously early to go to work but always had the fire ready for when we got out of our beds.

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden

" Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blue black cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather

made banked fires blaze..."

I've loved spending the magic of the seasons with Candlestick Press this year as their poetry pamphlets are really special and a wonderful window on a magical world. However, it's not just about the poetry, it's also about the beauty of the covers, so all credit to the talented cover designers/artists who bring their very special creative skill to the production of these wonderful poetry pamphlets.

These beautiful poetry pamphlets make absolutely perfect gifts at any time of year but have been especially welcome in this challenging year.

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Clouds, Walking, Birds, Home and Kindness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter @PoetryCandle

Book Review ~ Historical Stories of Betrayal

 

17 November 2020

My thanks to the authors for the ecopy of this book

Betrayal, treachery, treason, deceit, perfidy – all names for the calculated violation of trust. And it’s been rife since humans trod the earth.

A promise broken

A mission betrayed

A lover’s desertion

A parent’s deception

An unwitting act of treason

Betrayal by comrades

Betrayal by friends

Could you resist the forces of misplaced loyalty, power hunger, emotional blackmail, or plain greed? Is there ever redemption, or will the destruction visit future generations and even alter history? These questions are still with us today.

Read twelve tales by twelve accomplished writers who explore these historical yet timeless challenges from post Roman Britain to the present day...

AD455 - Roman leader Ambrosius is caught in a whirlpool of shifting allegiances

AD940 - Alyeva and cleric Dunstan navigate the dangers of the Anglo Saxon court

1185 - Knight Stephan fights for comradeship, duty, and honour. But what about love?

1330 - The powerful Edmund of Kent enters a tangled web of intrigue

1403 - Thomas Percy must decide whether to betray his sovereign or his family

1457 - Estelle is invited to the King of Cyprus’s court, but deception awaits

1483 - Has Elysabeth made the right decision to bring Prince Edward to London?

1484 - Margaret Beaufort contemplates the path to treason

1577 - Francis Drake contends with disloyalty at sea

1650 - Can James Hart, Royalist highwayman, stop a nemesis destroying his friend?

1718 - Pirate Annie Bonny, her lover Calico Jack, and a pirate hunter. Who will win?

1849/present - Carina must discover her ancestor’s betrayer in Italy or face ruin.

What did I think about it..

I am quite often guilty when reading anthologies to dive in somewhere in the middle, so I  was determined when reading Historical Stories of Betrayal to begin at the very beginning. After all it's the very best place to start in this fascinating anthology which takes us from the Roman occupation of Britannia in 455 AD through to the surviving alternative state of Roma Nova in the 20th and 21st Century.

So often betrayal, retribution and revenge has played a huge part in our collective history when destiny turned on a heart beat and what this anthology does so successfully is give us a collection of stories which feature the act of betrayal so succinctly. Each story comes in at around forty or so  pages which I read quite comfortably in an hour, transported back in time, whether it be witnessing inglorious death at the feet of Venus, witnessing skulduggery in the court of the Anglo-Saxon kings or grieving for a young and frightened boy King forcibly removed from those who loved him.

Each one of the twelve authors is at the top of their game in producing high quality historical fiction and the twelve stories definitely offer a tantalising glimpse into what they do so well. Five of these authors are already familiar to me, I have read and enjoyed their work and expected no less than to be beguiled by their stories - I wasn't disappointed. Of the remaining seven authors whose work was a new experience I was just as intrigued by their writing skills and the clever way they brought their interpretation of history alive in the imagination.

There is no doubt that absorbing fiction brings history alive and all that's needed is an intriguing entrée into a long forgotten world and what this anthology does so admirably is give us that starting point, firing the imagination with a longing to discover more not just about the history being described in such fascinating detail, but also in reading more of the work of these twelve talented writers.

Historical Stories of Betrayal is available now - click here for more details. It's currently free to download.

The authors

Judith Arnopp, Anna Belfrage, Derek Birks,

Helen Hollick, Amy Maroney, Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Cryssa Bazos, Mercedes

Rochelle, Tony Riches, Elizabeth St John, and Annie Whitehead.

Follow on Twitter @HistFictioneers #Betrayal

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Book Review ~ Beach Hut Surprise - Sarah Mallory, Sophie Weston, Lesley Cookman,Liz Fielding,Joanna Maitland and Louise Allen ☼

Libertà
July 2020 

Who's there? Lovers, vampires… A body?

Little Piddling—now renamed Little Piddling sur Mer—is a resort with ambitions.

But odd things keep happening in Little Piddling. Especially among its delectable beach huts. They are a magnet for lovers and other, stranger, visitors.

Take a romantic stroll along the beach after dark and you might encounter more than you bargained for.

Six favourite authors let their hair down on the Piddling sands...

What did I think about it..

It’s been such a treat, over the past few days of this summer heatwave, to spend time in Little Piddling sur Mer with this bunch of talented authors. Each of the six stories, whilst all very different in content, share a common theme of being based around a row of beach huts nestled in this rather special coastal resort, all of which add an air of jollity and delight to each of the stories. 

Little Piddling sur Mer could be any number of seaside resorts I’ve visited over the years and in the hands of these six talented authors the place comes alive, whether it be at the height of its Edwardian splendour, an other worldly encounter in 1973, a mystery with a dark past, a troubled ghost with a hidden secret, a tale of vampires, or the case of the missing brewer, all are guaranteed to be quirkily different but equally entertaining. I found each novella really easy to get into and even before the first chapter was ended I felt like I was amongst some rather special friends who had just been waiting in the shadows and who were more than happy to brush away the dust from the nooks and crannies of the beach huts and were ready to reveal their story to me.

Unsurprisingly, all the authors of Beach Hut Surprise are successful in their own particular genre but in this anthology each of them have stepped out of their respective comfort zones and have delved into areas a little bit different to their norm, however, there is no doubt that each of the stories work really well and entertain from start to finish.

It would be difficult and entirely remiss of me to choose a favourite story from the six on offer as each have their own special appeal, and it becomes rather like choosing your favourite chocolate biscuit from a box of gourmet chocolate biscuits. There something deliciously different about each of them and yet collectively they become a perfect variety of entertaining stories. All six novellas are a perfect length for reading in an afternoon in the garden, or whiling way an hour or so socially distanced in the park.

You can read more about the background to the stories and the authors by clicking here

Follow on Twitter #BeachHutSurprise

@SarahMRomance

@sophiewestonbks

@CookmanCrime

@lizfielding

@joannamaitland

@LouiseRegency

@LibertaBooks

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