Blogger’s Books: Kevin Morris

I am happy to announce a new book by poet, writer, and blogger, Kevin Morris. Something to help raise a smile, which we can all do with these days.

Kevin has sent me some sample verses.

There Once Was a Policeman Named Warner

There once was a policeman named Warner
Who raided a rather famous old sauna.
He found Miss Hocking
Without shoe or stocking.
And a politician discussing politics with Lorna…

When a Philosophical Young Lady Named Gwen

When a philosophical young lady named Gwen
Climbed to the top of Big Ben
And a policeman called Lyme
Said, “tell me the time”,
“Time has no real existence”, said Gwen!

Swansong

There was an old man named Long
Who wept as he sang his swansong.
They took off their hats
And whacked him with bats.
And so ended that swansong of long!

Here are some links to Kevin’s writing, and also links to buy this latest book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for the UK).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for amazon.com customers).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5KVPS78? (paperback for UK customers).

(paperback for amazon.com customers).
https://kmorrispoet.com/ (author’s blog)
https://twitter.com/drewdog2060_ (Twitter)
https://www.tiktok.com/@kevinmorrispoet (Tiktok)

All Babies Back in the Fold

Stevie has her rights back! And a great offer on one of her popular books too.

Stevie Turner

Back in 2020 my thriller ‘Scam!‘ won first prize in the Electric Eclectic Writing Competition, and the prize was for the book to be published free by Crimson Cloak Publishing.

Three years later Crimson Cloak Publishing have kindly returned to me the rights to ‘Scam!‘, and so I have now put the new edition of this novella on KDP for pre-order. It will be published on May 7th, and until then the pre-order price is just $0.99/£0.99. I now own the rights to all my books, which is good!

There are some great reviews of the book on my website, which you can find on this link: Scam! Reviews (stevie-turner-author.co.uk)

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Bargain Book for Fans of Romantic Suspense

A great offer from fellow blogger and excellent writer, Stevie Turner. You can get one of her books for just 99c/99p on Amazon, and it comes highly recommended from me!

Stevie Turner

A House Without Windows‘ is now just $0.99/£0.99 on AmazonUS and AmazonUK until 31st March.

Back in 2017 an assistant from the Development Department of a New York film company searched for ‘Generational Crime’ (criminals who fathered children), and found my novel. She contacted me for a copy of the manuscript, read it, and loved the story so much that she gave it to her director for consideration of filming. Here’s the email below that I received from her:

‘I finished A house without windows and enjoyed it immensely. I broke it down for our director and recommended it be explored for film consideration. The final decision is not mine, but I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed the book and found it riveting and worthy of further review.’

Unfortunately the director eventually chose a different project with a stronger female lead. However, I was thrilled…

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Working Women In Victorian Britain

These photos are from a book by Michael Hiley. They show Victorian women in their working clothes. We owe many of these fascinating photos, sketches, and detailed descriptions of Victorian working women to Arthur Munby, who interviewed many, and collected their photographs as well as their stories.

Housemaids, early 1860’s. They are dressed in their best for the photographer, but look at their hands. From Victorian Working Women.

South Wales Mine Tip Girls, 1865. From Victorian Working Women.

London Milkwomen in 1864 and 1872. From Victorian Working Women.

Women mine workers in trousers at Wigan, 1860s. From Victorian Working Women.

Yorkshire girls collecting limpets and other fishbait; 1860. From Victorian Working Women. Their skirts and petticoats appear to be tucked up into their belts in back.

Arthur Munby standing beside Ellen Grounds, a “pit wench” at Wigan. 1866. Right, a photo of Ellen Grounds in her “Sunday best.” Munby stood next to Ellen in this photograph to show how tall she was.

A Strange Romance.

The story of Arthur Munby, barrister, Cambridge M.A., civil servant, diarist, poet, friend of many other writers and of the Pre-Raphaelite artists, popular in high society, and obsessed with Victorian working women, is almost incredible. Utterly middle-class, but not wealthy enough to cut loose from the conventions of society, Munby fell in love with a “maid of all work” — about the lowest form of domestic servant — named Hannah Cullwick. They were both in their twenties. After a chaste courtship of almost twenty years, they married in 1873, but — as much by her wish as by his — she continued to pretend to be his servant.
Hannah Cullwick, maid of all work; at right, Hannah “in her dirt.” from Victorian Working Women. She was strong enough to lift her husband off the ground and carry him around. He liked it.

Blogger’s Books: David Styles

David is a blogger who was a licenced Black Cab driver in London for a very long time. It takes years to pass the test to become one, known as The Knowledge, and is not for the faint-hearted. The iconic Black Taxi (also seen in other colours) has been a feature of London’s streets for decades, and remains so to this day.

If you want some insight into the daily life of a licenced taxi driver on the streets of Britain’s capital, you cannot find a better book.

To celebrate the book launch there is a chance to win a free copy, along with an Amazon voucher. Check out today’s post on David’s great blog.

https://cabbieblog.com/2022/10/28/its-publication-day/

You can also buy a copy in paperback or on Kindle. And if you are a Kindle Unlimited member, it is included free.

Cabbieblog is also worth reading for a wealth of London trivia, quizzes about London, and David’s opinions on just about anything. Please give him some encouragement with the new book, and enjoy his writing. I already have my Kindle copy, added to a long list of others waiting to be read.

https://cabbieblog.com/

Mystery Book Donor

This morning, I received a book in the post. It was sent by World of Books, and contained no note or reference. I had neither ordered nor paid for it, so its arrival was a mystery.

I can only presume that someone sent it to me as a gift. If that was you, thank you. I will hopefully get around to reading it one of these days.

above water.

A strong recommendation from Beth for a book that may appeal to many of you.

I have my glasses on....

i first crossed paths

with this brave and amazing future author (trish kearney)

years ago on her blog:

“my thoughts on a page”

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/8642668

where she wrote about

her family, her careers, her loves and losses, her daily life in ireland

when i later traveled to ireland

we met in person

(even though her children warned her i might really be a male serial killer)

we spent a great afternoon at an outdoor pub

near the water on a beautiful day

getting to know each other

i had no idea what her whole story was

until she began writing posts about her childhood

 floating the idea of writing her memoir

including painful buried trauma she had endured

as a young championship swimmer

over time she gained confidence

decided to tell her story

to find personal peace

to hold her tormentor responsible

to no longer be a victim

to help others…

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Book Review: Sisters Of Shiloh

Some years ago, I bought a used hardback copy of this book. It is set during the American Civil War, a period that interests me. I decided to keep it in the car, something to read when waiting for things. Things like hospital appointments, a wife on a shopping trip, or being too early when arriving at the Doctor or the Vet.

It took some time to get even one third of the book read in that way. Not that there was anything bad about it, I just wanted to keep it handy in the car. Last week, a four-hour wait for my brakes to be replaced on the car provided the perfect opportunity, and I finally finished reading it.

This is the story of two sisters, as the title suggests. Beginning with their teenage years in Virginia, we see the younger sister Libby fall in love with Arden, much to the annoyance of Josephine, who doesn’t like the man at all, and is going to miss her now married sister. One month after the wedding, the civil war begins, and Arden joins the Confederate Army, assigned to Stonewall Jackson’s brigade.

As the fighting intensifies, they hear of a battle in nearby Maryland. Jackson’s brigade has been involved, and the talk is the fighting was bad, with heavy casualties. The sisters travel to Sharpsburg, (also known as the Battle of Antietam) the scene of the battle. On the grisly battlefield, Josephine fnds Arden terribly wounded, and by the time Libby joins her, he has died. In a rage, Libby cuts off her hair, and vows to join the army, to kill Yankees in revenge for her husbands death.

Fearing for her sister’s safety, Josephine does the same, and they volunteer for Jackson’s brigade, pretending to be young boys who are cousins. They call themselves Thomas and Joseph, and are readily accepted as recruits, due to the need to replace all those recently killed in battle.
(This may sound like a stretch, but it is worth noting that there are many contemporary examples of this happening, on both sides.)

The writing excels in the small details. The problems the girls face in concealing their gender from the rest of the troops in their unit. The harsh weather conditions of extreme heat and cold, with poorly-clothed and underfed soldiers having to undertake long marches then go straight into battle. The day-to-day routine and boredom of life in camp between campaigns, followed by the edge of the seat tension as the sisters find themselves on the firing line in the midst of some of the biggest battles of the civil war.

Along the way, one sister finds love, the other still searches for revenge and peace of mind. They argue, they make up again, and most of all, they display that unbreakable bond of family love, and specifically the unselfish love between the sisters Libby and Josephine that sees them through the worst times imaginable.

This is more than a war story, and much more than a love story. It is a great read, and highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction.

My Writing, In A Book!

I am very happy to have received a copy of a book today. A book containing a short article that was originally published on this blog.

Eating Out After Lockdown

Australian writer, poet, and blogger, Carolyn Cordon, compiled an anthology of poetry and prose from writers all around the world, chronicling individual responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. I was happy when she asked me if she could include my blog post.

She has now self-published the book, and kindly sent me a copy.

I have previously been published in magazines and on online review sites, but this is a first for me, to be included in a printed book, along with a short bio at the back too.

You can find out more about Carolyn, using this link.

https://carolyncordonwriter.wordpress.com

To buy a copy, please contact her at this email address.
(After covering her costs, Carolyn is using the book sales to raise money for a Multiple Sclerosis charity.)

kittycordo@gmail.com

Bloggers Books: Chaya Ubhayakar

I am very pleased to announce that Chaya has had her first book published. It is a nicely-illustrated book for chidren, ‘Different and Similar’.

This story is about the friendship between Missy, a Golden Retriever, and Billu, a cat, and their love for Jai, a ten-year-old boy.

Children will discover how Missy and Billu show love and kindness to each other by respecting their differences and appreciating their similarities.

Illustrated by Andrea Benko, the book explores how in a world where everyone is unique, similarities can always be found.
This is a tale of Jai and his dog Missy welcoming a new friend, Billu the cat. Follow how Missy and Billu discover the differences and similarities between each other.

Here is an Amazon link where you can find out more, and buy a very reasonably priced Kindle copy.

This is a link to Chaya’s blog, where you can read more about her and her work.
https://chayasheela.wordpress.com/