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.
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 Awaitsis 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!
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.
In a dark second floor bedroom is this fabulous face.
The room was so dark and the colours of the painting so dark that some of the pics came out almost black.
It was quite the shock to my senses,
When I turned 180 degrees around, and saw this.
View of when you come out of the room, to go down the stairs. The black w/ green motif doorway on the right,
….. is a bathroom.
Pics taken by Resa – August 11, 2024
Toronto, Canada
Artists:
LIZ
I told you I had a surprise for you on my stop of your Simple Pleasures book tour. All I had to do was pick 1 Bryan Ferry song. This turned out to be most difficult, overwhelming. Better late than never!
fading light, moonrise day and night come together our past, our future
Welcome to the final stop of the Simple Pleasures blog tour!
Liz –Thank you, Resa, for hosting me for the final day of my blog tour for Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right!
Resa – My pleasure, Liz!
Florida Vacation
Liz -Today, I’m taking your readers to Cold Hollow Sculpture Park in Enosburg, Vermont. The park features dozens of sculptor David Stromeyer’s large-scale abstract metal sculptures spread over 45 acres of hay field.
Resa – I am thrilled about getting to feature David Stromeyer’s art, with your book of images with Haiku. I’ve chosen to use all of the options you sent. FYI readers – the names of the sculpture is below its photo.
Ngozi
Cold Hollow Sculpture Park
Liz – I first visited the park site with my dad in the early 1970s, when he was counseling someone who lived in the area. I remember that the sculptor lived on the property in a barn that had seen better days, which I found the epitome of counterculture cool.
Lost in the Roundabout
At that time, Stromeyer had two, maybe three, sculptures completed and displayed. I vividly remember the one he’d created out of the tank of a smashed milk truck. The sculpture made such an impression on me that twenty years later, I included it in a short story.
Rock-in Sphere
Slice Rock
Banded Rock
Jumoke
Primavera
Da-jo-jo
Ensemble-4+2
Resa – Liz, I thoroughly enjoyed your book, and have selected my 2 fave Haiku for this post.
Elizabeth Gauffreau writes fiction and poetry with a strong connection to family and place. Her work has been widely published in literary magazines, as well as several themed anthologies. Her short story “Henrietta’s Saving Grace” was awarded the 2022 Ben Nyberg prize for fiction by Choeofpleirn Press.
She has published a novel, Telling Sonny, and a collection of photopoetry, Grief Songs: Poems of Love & Remembrance. She is currently working on a novel, The Weight of Snow and Regret, based on the closing of the last poor farm in Vermont in 1968.
Liz’s professional background is in nontraditional higher education, including academic advising, classroom and online teaching, curriculum development, and program administration. She received the Granite State College Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018. Liz lives in Nottingham, New Hampshire with her husband. Visit Liz on her blog!
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