reading
Books for reluctant readers

Books for reluctant readers

Did your child come home with a recommended reading list for the summer holidays? Mine did and it's always met with a rather large sigh, already too much for her to cope with just by looking at it. For some children, reading is a challenge and because of that, they...

It’s been a creative kind of week

It’s been a creative kind of week

It’s been another glorious week of sunshine and down in our little corner of the UK, we even escaped the thunder storms predicted for yesterday. How has your week been? Mine started with a run (literally), which is rare because I never usually pick up a speed much...

Book review, Here We Lie, Sophie McKenzie

Book review, Here We Lie, Sophie McKenzie

I spent last week in Italy and that meant plenty of relaxing and reading time. My holiday book of choice was Here We Lie, by Sophie McKenzie. It's a murder mystery that I would thoroughly recommend as it kept me guessing right until the end. This is one of those...

Book Review – The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant

Book Review – The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant

If you like action thrillers or mysteries, The Boston Girl isn't the book for you, but for an easy read and a feel good tale, you will definitely find that with this story. Telling the story of her life, is octogenarian Addie Baum and it's a tale of growing up in the...

Encouraging your children to read

Encouraging your children to read

Juggling work and the school holidays has thrown me and I haven't kept up to my usual Friday Fiction post. Apologies for that. What I did want to get around to writing about though, was an article I read in the Times about getting children to read. This article struck...

It’s the Final Countdown

It’s the Final Countdown

My week, summed up in #littleloves style, shows how varied your week can be. We've been one child down, with the eldest being at my mum's house as she already finished school. The other two have been slogging on, becoming slightly more irritable with each other as the...

A Few Wardrobe Nightmares and Cooking up a Frenzie

A Few Wardrobe Nightmares and Cooking up a Frenzie

Another week goes by in a blur of school runs and pick ups, work, sports days and general running around. It's called LIFE and I wish I could say that it was more exciting and I didn't live it mostly through my kids, but sadly that's not true and hey, we wouldn't...

Friday Fiction – How Do You Measure Author Success?

Friday Fiction – How Do You Measure Author Success?

Friday Fiction is here and as it's the first Friday of the month it's link up time! Join me by linking up and sharing your own fiction works and book reviews. Have a read of what others are sharing and don't forget to leave a comment to let them know. All you need to...

Children’s Picture Books and Moving On

Children’s Picture Books and Moving On

We met children's book illustrator and author, Katherine McEwan at my writing group last week. What a lovely lady she is and such beautiful work too. People might think it's easy to write picture books when in fact the opposite is true. The word count is limited and...

Inspirational Writing

Inspirational Writing

I’ve been a closet writer for the last few years and it wasn’t until I did NaNoWriMo last November, that I actually plucked up the courage to socialise with other writers. I surprised myself by making such a bold step and I haven’t looked back since. Now I’ve gone...

What Does It Take To Write A Good Book?

What Does It Take To Write A Good Book?

The answer to this question is not so straightforward. Fiction covers a wide variety of genres and so there are books to cater for all needs. I like easy-to-read and light-hearted novels, with the odd mystery story thrown in. I read at night, by which time I am...

Is Reading Just As Important As Writing?

Is Reading Just As Important As Writing?

I've been a bookworm for as long as I can remember and it comes as no surprise that my love of books and reading is what inspired me to want to be a writer myself. Reading is important if you are a writer. You can find ideas and inspiration from other books. You can...

This Month I Read…

This Month I Read…

Here is my monthly review of the books I've read. I'm linking up with muttering mummy's blog as usual. If you would like some suggestions of what to read I recommend you check it out. The One Dollar Horse - Lauren St. John Casey Blue's prospects in life aren't great....

This Month I Read

This Month I Read

I'm linking up with mutteringmummy's blog once again with a round up of what I have been reading in May. Take Me Home - Daniela Sacerdoti At the start of this book we learn that Scottish girl, Inary, has the gift of sight, which enables her to see spirits, but at the...

This Month I read…

This Month I read…

My monthly round up of the books that I've read for mutteringmummy's blog  is a bit thin on the ground for April.  I went on holiday and had three books uploaded on my Kindle, but I only managed to read one of them.  Prior to that, I finished a book I had been taking...

This Month I Read…

This Month I Read…

Over on mutteringmummy's blog, there is a monthly round up of books that people have been reading. It's a great way to share what you have read and get ideas for books you might like to try. Here's my selection for March: The Guardian - Nicholas Sparks I've read a lot...

World Book Day is here again!

World Book Day is here again!

I've had an email to say that my order of a Camp Half Blood t-shirt has been despatched and now I'm holding my breath. Is it really possible that it will arrive in time for Thursday and that for once, I will have managed to organise World Book Day costumes with...

Fiction Writing Link Up

Fiction Writing Link Up

Do you write fiction? Are you one of those people who writes stories and then files them away? Or are you a writer who's perfecting his/her craft? What do you think to the idea of sharing your work with like-minded people? What about reading? Do you like to write...