Tag: Creative Writing

The Halloween Feast

On By ResaIn Halloween, Street Art128 Comments

It’s for you!

Funny how the ring comes after I answer. MAWHAAAAA

Good News! Your rat and mandrake root pizza is ready!

The Mandrake root is specially grown in dead pumpkin graveyards.

It’s an exciting narcotic flavour, with hallucinogenic overtones.

However, we are unable to find grain fed rats anymore.

All rats are now 100% rat fed.

It makes for a tough chew, but with enough pepper on it, it doubles quite nicely for pepperoni.

It would be highly appreciated if you could pick your order up as soon as possible!

My entire family has shown up, and they’ve all got their eye sockets on your pizza.

It’s for Sherrie!

Happy Hallowe’en Birthday!

Our pastry chef has just arrived with his secret ingredients for your birthday cake.

Skullorita said she would bring it by before the party!

She’s bringing a bunch of happy-go-lucky party skulls along with her.

DJ No Way here to spin you tonight!

Call me crazy, but every time I hear this song,I get hungry!

Pics taken by Resa – November 2023 – October 2024

Toronto , Canada

The Artists:

And the Grave Awaits – by: Roberta Eaton Cheadle

On By ResaIn Outside the Box Book Reviews178 Comments

These roses have been drawn. Unlike real roses, their image will never die. They will wait for us, forever.

Curtia Wright

Much is to be gleaned, at the foot of a grave; more than you know. Roberta Eaton Cheadle takes us to more than one place of eternal rest. She has fifteen tales for us to learn from.

Photo courtesy of Timothy Price ©

Be it an icy death, in a cold cruel world of the future,

Sumartist

…. or a legend fraught from old wives’ tales, where tables turn in the wretched pit of a spider’s lair, should we be afraid?

Resa – Robbie, in And the Grave Awaits, Whether you have built a story from an old legend or an actual happening, there is something to be gleaned from each: a moral, life lesson or historical fact.

In other books, IE: Lion Scream, your sublime poetry (accompanied by brilliant photography)is filled with nature’s beauty, although animals and environment might cry out. 

“A Ghost and his Gold” shows the horror and senselessness of war. Yet, reveals a better nature of man, through its riveting story .

All the while you are teaching about the Boer War.

Your children’s books teach about many things, and are a positive energy.

WHAT DRIVES YOU TO DO THE GOOD WORK?

Robbie – Your question is an interesting one. I am a sensitive person and I see a lot of things that make me feel saddened. On the other hand, I am a very positive person and I usually manage to find the silver lining in life. I think both of these aspects of my personality, the seeing and the positivity, come through in my writing.

I love to share information, photographs, and interesting bits and pieces with other people. It promotes conversations and ignites new thought processes and ideas.

Fondant spider made by Robbie

I think this love of sharing knowledge also comes through in my writing.

I especially like to teach children.

They are so eager to learn and discover.

Beehive cake art made by Robbie

Resa – From what age through adult do you think  And the Grave Awaits is cool to read?

Robbie – And the Grave Awaits is for adults, 18 years and upwards. 

Resa – I had to ask because  so many movies that are extremely violent and sexually suggestive are rated 14+ these days. When I was a kid, those same movies would have been restricted to 18+ , and we would have to show ID to get into the theatre.

Video games can be wildly violent, sexually suggestive, and seem to have very little parental oversight. This book seems mild compared to the games and movies I am referencing. I hope you don’t think I’m silly for asking. It occurred to me out of the blue, while working on the post.

Robbie– It is a thought provoking question and one I found a little difficult to answer. I listed this book on Amazon as a ‘normal’ adult book. No explicit sex obviously, and not overly dark compared to other books.

South Africa is still a conservative society, but it’s what I know and what I use as a benchmark. My aim with this book was to make people think about historical events and the reasons behind them. My purpose is to remind people what can happen if we don’t retain the human rights our ancestors fought for. People quickly forget the past and don’t know how easily rights can be undermined to the detriment of the ordinary person. 

I don’t consider it to be a YA book, although teens could read it, because the characters are not teens. My understanding from what I’ve read is its the age of the characters rather than the content per say, that separates YA and adult. 

Resa – I really appreciate your thoughtfulness on this topic. I have read a lot of your books, and have become a huge fan, because of your intrepid stance on what you convey through all of your artistic endeavours.

Following is a selection of street art. As in the first images of this post and in the cake and fondant art of Robbie’s, each image represents a tale in And the Grave Awaits.

  • Shalak Attack
  • Mandy van Leeuwen
  • The Half Decent
  • Nick Sweetman

If you’ve read the book and can’t figure what an image could represent, just ask in comments. If you haven’t read the book, you’ll have to read it to figure them out!

About

Robbie is a prolific writer. You can find her books on Amazon sites around the globe. Just search “Robbie Cheadle” for children and youth books – “Roberta Eaton Cheadle” for adult books.

Some of her books are also available on KOBO.

Visit Robbie on her blogs:

Roberta Writes and Robbies Inspiration

Robbie has a YouTube Channel  filled with African wildlife videos, readings and cooking videos.

On Robbie’s Unsplash Page find African nature & wildlife for free downloads.

Pics of street art © Resa McConaghy

Behind the Song: Suzanne

On By ResaIn Poetry2 Comments
🏒GO JETS 🏒 #WPGWhiteOut

I’m not sure who the singer was the first time I ever heard the song “Suzanne”, but it wasn’t Leonard Cohen. I adored it. A couple of decades passed before I realized Leonard Cohen wrote the song. Later, I found out it had originally been a poem.

Who better than to fill in more of the gaps, than Holly. A brilliant poet in her own right, she has inspired me greatly.

The Sorcerer’s Garden – D. Wallace Peach

On By ResaIn Book Reviews225 Comments

Wow! Fantasy adventure, mystery and reality all rolled into one. Lillian might be looking into a crystal ball, but all else can only see what she, the Dreamer, reveals.

Peach has us looking through that crystal ball revealing window, always. Yet, are we looking into a garden filled with verdant life, or from the garden into a darkness? Perhaps death? In fact, the author takes us to both sides & then a third.

The saga opens in a time long ago. Two brothers, Dustin and Cody, slay a fire breathing dragon. It’s a well planned battle, and the brothers emerge heroes.

Peach quickly takes us to a second revealing window. We are in a different time. Place?  I was compelled to ask the author a few questions.

Peach – Well, I haven’t ever visited a catacomb or a crypt, though I’d like to! I tend to collect images randomly from the internet and use them to gather cool details – like the slant of light or the shape of columns or the pattern of tiles on the floor.

The Sorcerer’s Garden was a little different because it takes place in Portland, Oregon, near where I live. I used the Pittock Mansion, a real place, as Dustin and Cody’s mansion home. To prepare for the book, I took a private tour of the building (now a museum) and got to explore the areas the public doesn’t normally get to visit.

I took tons of notes, and collected photos and floor plans. Lillian’s music room in the book is exactly as it looked in the house. The tour included the basement, which was a little creepy and dusty and made for a perfect catacomb.

It was strange and disorienting going there for another tour after I completed the book. I felt like I’d stepped into the pages. I stood in Cody’s room, leaned on the counter where Pagan made coffee, and sat on Lillian’s sofa, looking out her picture window.

Resa – Quite cool, or in more modern words -that’s sick!

Resa – Our lead character, Madlyn, wears a black gown, the hem trimmed with onyx beads. It’s to a corporate dinner hosted by Dustin, head of the corporation. She is his social co-host. It sounds like a simple classic piece, no frills or poufs. She accessorizes with her mother’s elegant string of pearls.

 When we first see Princess Madlyn, in days of yore and gore, she’s in a black gown, its hem trimmed in onyx. Is she wearing any other jewels? A  different necklace, perhaps? Gloves?

Peach – I love your impressions of her gowns. I always envisioned the gowns as the same, since the story is already starting to overlap with the real world. But I never say that in the book, so her gowns are created by each reader’s imagination.
One of the coolest things about writing is that readers fill in the blanks, not only in clothing but in the general appearance of the characters and the setting. You’re the expert, so let your imagination create. Anything you do will be just right! I might even add some of your details to the book!
Resa – I imagined 2 gowns, as the story proceeded. One is her original black gown, with the addition of shoes and a sweater (scripted). The gown is now torn from horse riding through battles, the sweater disheveled.
Confession! First, I did create a gown that was not scripted. Yet, the era apparent of the story gave me way to come up with this gown. In the end I realize I created a fusion image. The image is Madlyn, The Queen & Lillian the Dreamer, all rolled into one.

So, to the battles. I engage emotionally when I write, so I hold my breath, make faces, grit my teeth, and cry when something bad happens.
My husband used to worry about me sobbing at my laptop, but knows to ignore it now.
I figure I need to immerse myself in a scene emotionally and feel all the feelings, because if I hold back, readers will sense the distance. I don’t feel bad about slaughtering monsters and bad guys, but it does hurt when I bump off characters I’ve grown fond of, and that certainly was the case in the book. The twist at the end changed the story, but in the moment, I was blubbering. I prepare by scheduling big chunks of time for tough scenes. That way I can give in, go where I need to go, process, and finish in one sitting.

Resa – There are some really bad guys in your story. I mean BAD, and not in the cool way.

The bad guys start off mean, greedy and willing to give into the Soul Thief. Once they give into the Soul Thief, they physically evolve into individual images of that evil. Peach, I bumped into this piece of alley art. I thought – OMG, it’s Warson, most of the way though his metamorphosis. His hair is evolving into horns, and he’s not dressed. Gross!

We find ourselves at the third revealing window. You’ll want to peer keenly through this window! It seems like there is a third entity, a spirit perhaps, writing another book. Nonetheless, it’s still this book. This is a brilliance of Peach’s writing. I’ve said lots, yet said nothing. You’ll just have to read the book!

This book deserves  all great reviews and accolades. It is in many ways about the age old struggles: peace and love vs. hate and war, bad vs. good; decency vs. cruelty. It is intense. Although good triumphs, it is not without loss. This is also an ancient reality.

A long-time reader, best-selling author D. Wallace Peach started writing later in life after the kids were grown and a move left her with hours to fill. Years of working in business surrendered to a full-time indulgence in the imaginative world of books, and when she started writing, she was instantly hooked.

In addition to fantasy books, Peach’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of the arts in her local community, organizing and publishing annual anthologies of Oregon prose, poetry, and photography.

Peach lives in a log cabin amongst the tall evergreens and emerald moss of Oregon’s rainforest with her husband, two owls, a horde of bats, and the occasional family of coyotes.

Visit Diana on her blog!

You can buy D. Wallace Peach’s books on:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Kobo

All pics of street art taken by Resa – 2019 – 2022

Toronto, Canada

Artists:

Dragon (manipulated) – from a mural by Allan Bender John Nobrega & Stacey Kinder

All other artists unknown

Dead of Winter – Teagan’s Challenge

On By ResaIn Challenge111 Comments

Teagan from Teagan’s Books has been publishing a serial, “Dead of Winter”. It’s a series of journeys (12 so far). She issued a challenge.

THE CHALLENGE

“Create something using Emlyn’s world as portrayed in Dead of Winter: Journey 1, Forlorn Peak, as your inspiration.  Not a story with my characters, but anything else you please.”

I came up with:

HOW TO KNIT A PONCHO

To take the chill off the fall mornings, when picking apples.

1 – GATHER YOUR YARN AND NEEDLES.

I suggest using a mid weight, natural, unbleached and not dyed yarn so as to not tick off the Brethren of Un’Naf.

2 – LET’S DO A GARTER STITCH. It is the most basic of all, doesn’t curl so won’t need a finish and its boring repetitive nature will please the Brethren of Un’Naf.

(It’s so easy! There are many tutorials online)

3 – MAKE A GAUGE SWATCH.

Cast on 40 stitches and knit 40 rows, then cast off.
Again, many tutorials online.

Block! Use gentle steam, and pat the sample dry.
Make a 1” by 1” square window in the centre of a 4″ by 4″ piece of
cardboard.
Place the window in the centre of the swatch.
Count stitches across. Count rows down.

4 – MAKE A PATTERN.

Using a measuring tape over your shoulder, let it hang from where the
point will be in the back, to where it ends in the front.

Drape the tape from below left elbow, across the back of the neck to
below the right elbow.

For discussion sake – Let’s say you want your poncho to be 60 inches
long (30″ down the front and 30″ down the back.) You need  50 inches at its widest point, 25 ” down each arm from your 7th cervical. (The bone in the centre back of your neck)

Draw a shape! It does not have to be to scale. Here, we have a diamond shape. For a more complicated shape, a full size pattern would be necessary.

For discussion sake, let’s pretend there are 6 stitches & 10 rows in the 1″
window.

Let’s start with rows. If you need to knit 60 inches – and there are 10 rows in an inch – you need to knit 60 x 10 = 600 rows.

However, you will need a neck hole at the halfway point – Row 300.

Okay, so at the 1/2 way point (which is at row 300) you will be at the widest point. In this case – 50 inches.

If 1 inch = 6 stitches, then 50 inches – 50 x 6 = 300 stitches.

I suggest casting on 3 stitches (1/2 inch). Knit 1 row. Consider this your 0 point.

Now you need to increase from 0 to 300 in 300 rows. This is adding 1 stitch per row. It will be wise, so as not to knit a lopsided diamond shape, to increase 2 stitches every other row. Add one stitch on each side, every other row.

At row 300, you will make a neck hole.

Measure around your head and add 2 inches. I have 24 inches.
Divide this by 2 = 12.

Centre the 12 inches at stitch 150, which is the centre of 300 stitches – 6 inches on each side of centre. 6 inches x 6 stitches = 36 stitches.

We now minus 36 stitches from 150. 150- 36 = 114.
So, at row 300 knit 114 stitches. Then cast off 72 stitches (36 for each side of centre.) Continue to finish knitting that row.

Next row is still 300 stitches. You will knit 114 stitches, then CAST ON 72 stitches. Finish knitting the row.

Knit 1 more row of 300 stitches.

Okay, now we need to get back to to a 1/2″ point.

Do the exact opposite! Decrease 2 stitches every other row, at the sides.
When you get to 3 stitches, knit 1 more row and cast off.
Your poncho is done!

You will need to block the knit into shape by steaming and patting dry, or spritzing with water and patting dry. Use a measuring tape to make sure you are creating a proper shape. (T-pins are used for fancier blocking, but this is a simple shape, so not needed)

In order to please the Brethren of Un’Naf, do not add fringe, tassels, or create a striped colourful pattern by changing colours of yarn every few rows.

Let’s just hope they aren’t annoyed by the fancy point!

✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑✒︎✑

I’ve read the first 3 Journeys. They are excellent. Teagan is a wonderful, entertaining writer. She gifted me, and anyone answering the challenge a book. I got book 4. Unfortunately, I live in Canada, and the Kindle offer is only good in the U.S.A. Thank you, Teagan! I appreciate the thought.

On Saturdays, you can follow the adventure “The Armadillo Files” on her blog.

Click on the cover of Journey 1, above, and go to Teagan’s Amazon page with all of the Journeys. When there, click on her author’s name, and you will find all of her other books.

You can buy Journeys 1, 2 & 3 0n KOBO. (That’s where I bought mine)

Hullaba Lulu & Thistledown Midsummer Bedlam are also available on KOBO.

 

More Than Coffee – by Lauren Scott

On By ResaIn Book Reviews, Creative Writing126 Comments

As a person who enjoys poetry and coffee, the decision to read Lauren’s well written book was a no-brainer. As a matter of fact, I languished over every poem and bit of prose. For 33 mornings, I read one piece with my coffee.

Each day’s reading brought me warm thoughts, stirred feelings and created a desire to be creative. What a great and positive way to start the day.

In this intimate look at her and  her family, nature plays a huge part in stirring memories of irreplaceable experiences, both uplifting and occasionally heartbreaking. All emotions are expressed beautifully in positive light.

I couldn’t resist picking my favourite poem.

This poem is an experience I share with Lauren. She could have been writing about me and my mom. I am deeply moved.

There is no copy and paste from the ebook. I wrote this out, and proofed it many times. It seems the word program likes to correct non-mistakes. In the final proof, much to my amazement I saw the title was in blue. All the titles are in blue. Yet, I believed this title was in red. Lauren, I hope you are okay with me keeping the red!

So, what’s with all the sunflowers? How do they tie in?

The above sunflower was in my last street art post. Lauren left a comment. I responded.

L – “I also love the sunflower which reminds me of my daughter.”

R – Sunflower; apologies if I missed this/don’t remember it in a post, or in your book! Why does the sunflower remind you of your daughter?

L – And no, I don’t think I did a sunflower post, so please don’t worry, Resa. My daughter is 30 and loves sunflowers, but she exudes their sunny disposition, smiles all the time, loves to laugh, and practices optimism more than pessimism. 

She may have been speaking of her daughter, yet I see Lauren in those words. It’s as though I could have just used those words about her book, about herself.

ABOUT LAUREN SCOTT

(Abridged from “About the Author” in “More Than Coffee”)

Lauren is a writer of poetry and short memoirs. She resides in northern California with her husband of 32 years, and their lovable canine, Copper; they have two grown children. She has authored two collections of poetry; New Day Dreams (2013) and Finding a Balance (2015).

Lauren is inspired to write from her love of nature. Lauren marvels at how the world is interconnected and every living thing matters. She hopes her readers will find a little nugget of delight, comfort, or understanding in her poetry and stories – some detail that resonates with them beyond her words.

Find Lauren’s Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B08NCRH4MK?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070

OR “More Than Coffee” on KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/more-than-coffee-1

Lauren’s Blog