Tag Archives: young people

Myths and Magic: Saffy’s Secret Quest

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barmaid

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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

Rise in the number of children calling a helpline as parents are TOO DRUNK . . .

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“CHILDREN as young as five are calling a helpline to be read bedtime stories because their alcoholic parents are too drunk to tuck them in at night”,

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/769135/Children-call-helplines-for-bedtimes-stories.

This is just so incredibly sad.

What Would Your Youthful Library Record Say About You?

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What would your youthful library record say about you? An interesting question and one addressed by John Crace (amongst others) in yesterday’s Guardian, (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/03/youthful-library-record-haruki-murakami-belle-de-jour).
I, like John Crace, used to enjoy reading the Biggles books. Indeed I still have a copy of “Biggles Millionaire” on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in my living room. A good old fashioned yellow hardback book. I also still possess H. G. Wells “The Time Machine” and his “War Of The Worlds”, together with Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (although the latter is missing one Braille volume. Heaven only knows what happened to that)! I must have been an extremely boring teenager as I have no recollection of reading anything salacious unless one counts a rather abridged version, on audio cassette of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” which, I must confess I did not enjoy reading.

Kevin

The Garden

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Warm summer days.

The haze

of belief.

Time is a thief

that steals

our ideals.

The secluded garden.

Ideas that harden.

The truth

youth

doth know

Oft ends in woe.

A book.

The path forsook.

The backward look

to a place

lost in mist

he can not resist.

Reading Aloud: An Almost Magical Entry Point for Kids in the World of Books

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Books are one delight that all children should be introduced to as early as possible in their lives. For a parent there is no feeling quite like the first time you read to your son or daughter. You are opening the door onto the huge world of literature. There is a book available for every type of reader, whether factual or fiction. Reading to your child will open their eyes to the world around them and the possibilities available to them; providing they are willing to let their imaginations run wild.

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Reading aloud to kids – a memorable gift

Reading aloud to a child is possibly one of the most amazing gifts that can be given to anyone. It is actually the gift of time and of sharing this time together. Reading aloud to your child will create a lasting memory and a bond between you that will be incredibly difficult to break. In fact, many adults describe being read to as a child as one of their most cherished memories. This gift allows your child to explore strange new worlds while wrapped in the security and safety of a parent’s arms.

The impact of today’s technology on reading

It is far more difficult in today’s modern age of electronics to obtain and sustain the attention of your child. Televisions are commonplace with a multitude of channels available to tempt anyone away from productive activities. Computers and the internet call out, desperate to tell you about the latest, incredibly important video release. Quite possibly this is concerning sleeping cats or hapless children. Society is gradually moving towards the completely electronic age and books will potentially become a forgotten form of media. This makes it even more important to read to your children for as long as you can hold their attention. If you do not make this attempt many children will never experience the joy of reading or the pleasure of time spent with a parent.

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Reading aloud creates a visionary perspective

Reading aloud allows you to portray the characters in a far superior way to simply reading the book. You are able to paint a picture and enthrall your children with the story. Their imaginations will know no limit as they immerse themselves into the story and become the hero, or even the villain of the piece.

The storyline does not matter when it comes to your child learning from reading. They will listen to you, your pronunciation of the words and the meaning of them and learn this for themselves. Reading aloud to a child is one of the most effective ways to improve their language skills and broaden their vocabulary. Reading aloud to your child will also educate them in using their imagination and compiling these thoughts into a usable chain of events. Equally it will confirm to them that there is always time for reading.

Making the time to read to your kids

It can seem difficult to find time to read aloud to your child but it is not as difficult as you think. If you were to monitor the amount of times in one day you check your phone for an email, message or social media update you would quickly realize that you easily waster more than the twenty minutes of reading time recommended for children. By simply restructuring your day you may well gain more than twenty minutes. You will certainly gain a better relationship with your child.

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Reading skills

Research shows that children who are read to will grow up with a love of books and will want to learn to read, simply to pursue this love. Reading is an excellent way of learning and a vital skill – even if the majority of what you read is on the web. Taking the time to read to your child will ensure they want to learn this skill and they will be grateful for this as they grow older.

As a parent, it should concern you that kids nowadays prefer tablets and Smartphone over books. Start reading to them from an early age, and you may instill a passion for reading. Do it periodically and make sure you read aloud; this way the story will become much more compelling.

By Paul Trevino and LoveReading.co.uk!

 

Teenagers Are Taking Steps To Protect Their Online Privacy

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Earlier today (15 March 2015) I wrote a post entitled “Post In Haste Repent At Leisure”, (http://newauthoronline.com/2015/03/15/post-in-haste-repent-at-leisure/). In that article I drew attention to the dangers of posting content which could come back and bite the poster (for example unsubstantiated allegations have led many a social media user into very hot water).

I was interested to read this article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2995686/Teenagers-tired-sharing-aspect-lives-online-taking-steps-ensure-privacy-social-media-report-reveals.html). The report appears to contradict statements by the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg that people are less concerned about online privacy than was previously the case. It shows that many teenagers have both a private and public Twitter account and will share confidential information with friends using the former. Teenagers are also creating false identities (you could have knocked me down with a feather when I read this snipet of information which, as Basil Fawlty might have remarked is, surely a statement of the “bleding obvious”). The use of false identities has the potential to put a spoke in the wheels of marketers who use online activity to market products, (if they don’t know the identity then how do they target). My heart is sore on behalf of all those poor marketers.

 

Kevin

Post In Haste Repent At Leisure

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I deleted that Facebook post I wrote after having consumed 10 pints of strong beer, the one in which I made unfounded allegations about Ms Y and Mr X. Its no longer showing on my Timeline so it’s all fine now, isn’t it?

Well no, it isn’t! Once something is out there on the internet it is impossible to completely erase it. In the above (fictional) example the post has disappeared from the Facebook user’s timeline. It has, however already been shared many times before the drunken Facebooker had the nouse to delete it. Mr X’s lawyer has already written to Facebook asking that they disclose the poster’s details in order that legal proceedings may be commenced against him. To compound matters Ms Y’s boyfriend knows who the poster is and is on his way round to his home to “have a word”.

In this purely fictional example one may smile at the stupidity of the poster. However such instances of stupidity are commonplace. Take, for example the unfounded allegations regarding certain prominent persons that they where paedophiles. Quite rightly the persons libeled took great exception to the slur on their character and sued.

I feel sorry for young people today. While at university there was no internet so student antics could not be plastered all over the World Wide Web (not that there was anything to plaster in the case of yours truly I hasten to add. I was, of course a model of rectitude …)! However in this age of the internet every unguarded comment made online can come back to haunt the poster. A young teenager, their emotional and mental development still in flux says something on social media which on reaching adulthood they bitterly regret. Sadly it often seems to be wholly irrelevant that the poster now genuinely disavows their youthful comments. The media shows no mercy and they are pilloried for comments which, had they been made in the pre internet age would have been, in all likelyhood long since forgotten.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell introduces Memory Holes. All scrap paper and documents which are no longer relevant or are embarrassing to “The Party” go into these recepticles and are taken to furnaces in the depths of The Ministry Of Truth for destruction. It is never made explicit in the novel but one is left with the strong impression that there are no such furnaces. The Memory Holes are just what it says on the tin – a place where information is stored by the authorities to be used at a later date against the population of Oceania. Virtual Memory Holes are alive and kicking for anyone with the patience and technical expertise to access them. Post in haste repent at leisure.

 

Kevin

Rise Of The New Libertarians

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At university I read history and politics. Then, being a glutton for punishment I went on to do an MA in political theory, hence my interest on coming across this article concerning the rise of libertarianism among young people, (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/rise-new-libertarians-meet-britains-next-political-generation-1469233). According to the piece, young people are turning away from support for the welfare state and embracing classical liberal economics combined with social libertarianism. What is being described in the article is not Conservatism for Conservatives do, on the whole support laws against drugs, prostitution etc. In contrast the libertarianism being described here is opposed to what it perceives as unwarranted restrictions on personal liberty of which (they believe) measures against drugs, prostitution etc are a part. Again, within British Conservatism there exists a school of paternalist or one nation Tories who have accepted or, on occasions promoted social reforms (Benjamin Disraeli for example). This strand of paternalism is foreign to libertarianism of the kind being described here.

Worth a read.

 

Kevin

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Inner City

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A cold space, vast, aisles stretching seemingly forever. Musak plays,with occasional monotone interruptions regarding offers which one simply can not afford to miss.

Outside, an icey wind blows newspapers along streets lined with discount stores. Young men unable to articulate beyond “yeah” wander down urban pavements where “the decent” fear to tread. The inner city. Cold, desolate, dead.