Category Archives: new author online

Myths and Magic: Saffy’s Secret Quest

My thanks goes to Kevin, who has kindly agreed to take part in my blog tour. Without people like Kevin, it’s so hard to get news of your book out there. So it’s greatly appreciated. And he’s my first stop!

So today, I’d like to bring you news about my second children’s book. It’s due out on the 28th May this year but it’s now available for pre-order. It’s book two in the Saffy’s Secret Quest Series, which I’ve written for 5-7 year olds. Here’s a little bit more about Myths and Magic:

The Blurb:

Saffy has solved the first clue in her quest to save the magical world of Mandoreum from danger. Now it’s time to find the second. 

She isn’t alone. Her new friend, Lily, a dragon from Mandoreum, wants to help. Together they take a trip and uncover special stories and unexpected surprises.

But Saffy soon learns that first appearances are not always what they seem. And plotting in the background is a witch who will do everything she can to stop them…

Opening extract:

Saffy Berry smiled and winked at the little dragon statue on her dressing table. And the statue winked back!

The statue was, in fact, Lily – a real dragon from a magical world called Mandoreum. Lily needed Saffy’s help. Narla, the Queen of the Witches, had stolen Fairy Godfather Freddie’s wand and cast an evil spell, taking away all of Mandoreum’s magic and beauty. But, just before she was able to do so, the Fairy Godfather had managed to cast a counter-spell.

“Lily, I don’t know what we’re going to do.” Saffy’s smile faded as she thought about the counter-spell. She and Lily had to find six clues about dragons in the human world – jewels, a book, play, castle, colour book and toy. As Saffy had discovered, they needed to be solved in order. They had already found the first one, the jewels, which turned out to be two of her necklaces.

The second was a book and, if they succeeded in finding all the clues, Narla would be banished from Mandoreum forever and the magical world would be restored.

“I’ve looked through every single one of my books.” Saffy pointed over to her bookcase, then thought of her annoying younger brother. “And Harry’s books too. All the dragon pictures that should be there aren’t. Instead, the dragons have changed into knights, elves, princes – everything you can think of except a dragon.”

She felt as if she had been searching for ages and yet it had only been yesterday that they had solved the first clue.

Lily thumped her stump of a tail on the dressing table. Saffy knew her tail had once been long and elegant, so she could steer herself gracefully through the air, but that was before Narla’s spell. She looked at her new friend, feeling her frustration. The little dragon had been so excited when they worked out the first clue. Poor Lily’s skin had been covered in bald patches and her scales were hanging down. When they found the necklaces, the scales all came back, and shone once more. And the cracks in Mandoreum’s castle walls mended.

But Lily still had fluffy white balls of cotton wool instead of claws. She didn’t have any teeth, her wings were broken and she couldn’t even breathe the tiniest flame. Of course, she also had that tiny tail – all because of Narla.

If they couldn’t find the book, Mandoreum would remain dull. There wouldn’t be any

flowers, trees or green grass. But, worse than that, Lily, and everyone in Mandoreum, would be the way Narla had left them. Forever.

Author bio:

Esther has been a freelance writer for over twenty-five years, regularly writing articles and short stories for magazines and newspapers such as Writers’ Forum, Writing Magazine, The Guardian, Best of British, The Cat, This England, Yours and The People’s Friend.  

Winner of several competitions, including those run by Writing Magazine and The Global Short Story Contest, she has also had the privilege of judging writing competitions and relished being given the role of head judge of the Writers’ Forum monthly short story competition.

Esther loves writing but equally enjoys helping others, which she achieves in her role as a tutor for The Writers Bureau. Always on the lookout for a new challenge, she is taking the distance learning college over at the end of July.

She has had two how-to books on writing published, with a third due out later this year, as well as two collections of short stories. Her second children’s book is coming out in May, where she writes under the name of Esther Moonstomp.

Blogs: https://estherchilton.co.uk

https://esthermoonstomp.co.uk

 

Buying links:

UK: Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Magic-Saffys-Secret-Quest/dp/1806342103

Ebook: details to be released.

US: details to be released.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Muse

The desk is cold to my hand.

I can not command

My poetic muse.

So think of girls who lose their shoes,

And poets who

Say more than they ought to

Of women and wine

And men who may seem

To spend their time

In fleeting dreams.

 

But it is no crime

For a poetic muse

To lose

Her ethereal shoes.

Yet what can be said

Should she lay her fickle head

Upon the poet’s empty bed

Where love sleeps.

Or is dead.

The Autumn Dark

The Autumn dark is coming down.

One day I will drown

And leave the night

And the light.

For I am bound by dark

And will not fight

The inevitable  night.

Barmaid

She says that she used to see me

On her way to school.

As she pours my usual drink, I think

Of Larkin’s “The Old Fools”.

And I cast around for something to say

About my so ordinary day

Bill Who Lived on a High Hill

There once was a man named Bill

Who lived on a very high hill.

His young mistress Sally

Lived in a valley

And his wife she lived with Bill!

Feisty Miss White

When a pretty young lady named White

Said, “I will turn out the light”.

And I said, “then get into bed?”,

She smacked me hard on the head.

Those nurses can get feisty at night!

 

Those nurses they

“Passing Through: some thoughts on life and death”, by K Morris is available to download in the Amazon Kindle store

I am delighted to announce that my new poetry collection, “Passing Through: some thoughts on life and death” is now available to purchase in the Kindle store.

Book Description:

In the last week of January 2025, poet K Morris suffered a seizure whilst at home. This was rapidly followed by several other seizures, , and the discovery that he was suffering from a brain abscess, which required an urgent operation.

In this book the poet describes his thoughts and feelings as he grapples with his own mortality. Other poems touch on the mundane rhythms of hospital life, and the poet’s yearning to return to the great outdoors and Mother Nature.

Kindle download links:

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F8TWMZJD/

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8TWMZJD/

Forthcoming paperback:

“Passing Through: some thoughts on life and Death” will also be available as a paperback in the near future.

Ron the Poet

There once was a poet named Ron

Who said, “poetry is for everyone!”,

But when he wrote on a bus

The driver created such a fuss!

As he didn’t like poetry or Ron!

Gwen the Hen and a Fox Called Ken

There once was a hen named Gwen

Who dated a fine fox called Ken.

They met for a meal

And I really do feel

That we won’t be seeing Gwen again …

Our Own Hell

I heard school children at play

On a late December day.

Soon I will turn 57.

Will I be nearer to heaven?

Or to hell?

 

 

I’ve  heard mythologists tell

How gods play

With women and men,

And how we have no chance against them.

 

 

On this winter’s day

In late December, I know that our fate

Lies in man’s hands.

 

 

When the jackboots stamp in the concentration camps

Men create living hell

And no gods weep.