It is a year since Russia invaded Ukraine. Can’t understand it. Here’s a poem. !
WAR
Why must humans go to war?
What do they hope to gain?
I think that most of us deplore
That it started again.
Why do the leaders think it’s right
For many folk to die?
And make people resort to flight
And bid their homes goodby?
Two world wars in years long past
Brought much pain and grief.
The numbers dead were so vast
It is beyond belief
That it could all begin again
With Russia entering Ukraine
They say you always remember your first day art school. Well I must be strange as I don’t specifically remember that day.
My first school was nearly a mile from my home. I don’t remember being taken by an adult at all, although I must have been for the first few days at least. What I do remember is walking with a girl a few years older than me. I can’t see this happening now: a slightly older child being allowed to take a 5-year-old to school for nearly a mile!
I remember my first teacher. Her name was Mrs Rose, and she was lovely. She had white hair and was rather plump. At least, that’s the picture I have of her all these decades ago. We all thought she was as old as the hills. She loved her ‘babies’ as she called us.
Then I went up to Mrs Buckley’s class. She was as different as you could imagine from Mrs Rose. She was very strict and ruled her class with a rod of iron (almost literally.) If you got your sums wrong, you got rapped across the knuckles with a ruler.
The desks were double desks with an inkwell in the right hand corner of each half. We weren’t allowed to use ink, though, as we were only just learning to write and would have made a mess. Pencil was the rule. By the way, we were taught how to hold a pencil. I wonder if children are taught to do so today as many of the young people I see hold their pens in a most peculiar way. Not a way where you can have fine control. I’ve tried it.
I don’t think that there was a fixed timetable. It seemed that the teachers taught what they wanted whenever the fancy took them. I say this, because we never knew when we were going to have what was called ‘painting’. It was always in the afternoon. Sometimes we’d go in after lunch and find the desks pushed together so four could sit facing each other. When this happened, we went into the classroom and said ‘Oh good! It’s painting.’ We never knew when this treat was going to happen.
Another thing that we enjoyed, but only happened from time to time, as I remember it was ‘drill’. This would now be called P.E. Drill consisted of going out into the school yard and lining up in rows. It was a bit like you see on films of the 2nd world war when soldiers are training. Marching on the spot, star jumps, arms up, out, forward and back. Things like that. We never played any team games. But we enjoyed our drill. It was outdoors, at least.
Strangely, I don’t remember having any friends at this school, but I did have an enemy. One girl bullied me. She used to hit me if I didn’t do what she said. Some of the other children were sympathetic, but no one would even consider going to a teacher about it.
I will continue with my early school memories in another post.
Do you have any early school memories? Let us know in the comments box.
If you would like to receive an exclusive, free short story by me, called The Haunted Table, simply click the link. This will take you to the page where you can download it. This story cannot be accessed by any other means.
Maria and Tom have bought an antique table for the old cottage they have bought. When they hear strange noises in the night that sound like crying, they worry their house is haunted, but the sounds seem to come from the table.
They set about trying to find what is causing the disturbances. The answer is stranger than either of them had thought.
(Clicking the link will add your email address to my email list, but don’t worry, you can unsubscribe immediately if you wish. Nor will you get any spam. I only send out an email each quarter, or if I have any exciting news–like a new release.)
Some thoughts from Aurora Jane Alexander.
The quote applies to everything, though, not just writing, although Aurora talks specifically about writing.
When I read this quote, I remembered all these people telling me about their plans and dreams to become an author ‘one day’.
When they find out I’m an author, I suddenly hear: “Oh, I ALWAYS wanted to write a book if I only had more time!” My reply usually is: “Well, it needs a bit more than only time to write a book… like a plan, a plot, an outline, character sheets, character voices, character development, knowing the craft, editing, an editor, a cover designer, a publisher, networking… AND TALENT!” The regular reaction to this bravery is generally a more or less polite excuse and the welcome departure of my conversation partner.
But there are a few people I met who dream of becoming an author and have the time but not the courage to write that book. and to them, I’d like to show…
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A Good Teen and YA story.
This book is the second in the Dragon Train series. It begins two years after the events of Dragon Train.
It is an original take on dragons. There was, many years before, a war between dragons and humans. The humans won and enslaved the dragons, treating them badly and making them pull their trains.
The humans–most of them–are unaware that dragons are intelligent and can speak to each other through telepathy.
Jaidon is visited by the Dragon, Skye, whom he rescued from the dragon train along with her mate and three youngsters. She wants his help in freeing the dragons from slavery.
Jaidon goes with her to where the free dragons live–a less than hospitable place, where he is enlisted to help.
I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave it there.
Jaidon is a believable character. He has problems with his father, as many teenagers do, but he is loyal in his determination that the dragons should not be enslaved. He is likeable and brave, too.
The dragons all have different personalities. Skye seems to look on Jaidon as one of her own children and there are occasions when he thinks she is behaving like a mother. Her mate is not quite as certain of Jaidon as Skye, but is willing to trust him, in order to gain dragonkind’s freedom.
And there is one very scary dragon who has never been enslaved. He is a huge blue called Helmut. He has his doubts about Jaidon, but decides that he has to trust him, but only up to a point.
RJ draws a clear picture of the dragons and their situation. He makes us feel sympathy for them. I think there is just enough description of the surroundings for us to be able to envisage it.
He certainly makes Helmut scary!
There were not many typos, although I did notice a few, but the grammar and punctuation were flawless.
Do you enjoy teen stories? I know quite a lot of adults do! Let us know in the comments.
I really love dragons, and have them in most of my fantasy books to date. If you would like to read about my dragons, click on the covers in the sidebar. They are available in all formats and from many platforms.
You can also buy merchandise related to the books by visiting
I have been writing and publishing poetry on my blog for some time, but my Mum also wrote poetry. This is one of hers. I hope it amuses you.
MRS VINE’S SECRET
The postman said to Mrs Vine
“Now who’s sent you a Valentine?”
But Mrs Vine just shook her head.
“I really cannot think,” she said.
“Whatever’s this?” her daughter cried.
“It’s many years since Father died.
You’re much too old to have a beau,
But if you have, I ought to know!”
The next door neighbour seemed quite vexed.
“A Valentine? Whatever next?
You’re a dark horse, Mrs V.
Who can this strange admirer be?”
The story spread from door to door.
“Why didn’t we find out before?
We never had the slightest sign
That someone fancied Mrs Vine.”
Questions echoed down the street.
“What sort of menfolk does she meet?
The butcher? The insurance man?
The lad who drives the grocer’s van?”
The meter-reader seems quite nice…
Some looked at their husbands twice.
Mrs Vine was most amused
To see her neighbours so confused.
And chuckled to herself with glee.
“It was well worth the thirty p.”
I decided to publish my poems and sent them off to my publisher. Above you can see the cover in paperback, on tablet or on phone.
It is available in a number of formats from your favourite store.
There is also a variety of merchandise featuring this cover, including a frosted pint glass, scented candle, playing cards, a unisex t-shirt, 1,000piece jigsaw puzzle, a spiral note pad and a tote bag.
Why not take a look?
Or go to the store where you can buy the book.
I wrote a doggy poem not long ago and Geoff Le Pard commented ‘What next? A Kitty ditty?’
Well, I didn’t want to write one similar to the doggy one, so I wrote this about my daughter’s cat.
Leila.
Someone said, ‘ Does your daughter own a cat?’
I answered, ‘Not at all, but a cat owns her.’
The puss is named Leila, and if on her chair you sat
She sits at your feet and gives a hard stare.
A pretty cat, she has long tabby fur
But is not very sociable, not liking people much.
But on my daughter’s lap you can hear her purr
As she delights in my daughter’s touch.
One day my daughter’s husband sat on her chair.
This annoyed Leila so she got her own back.
She sat on the Sky box, which he thought unfair
As she glared at him with a look so black
.
She runs the whole family with an iron rod
But the rod is set in a velvet paw.
She knows in ancient Egypt she’d have been a god
And that knowledge is enough for her.
I enjoy reading your comments, so please enter them in the comments box.
If you want to buy any of my books, you can do so by clicking on the cover in the side bar. This will take you to where you can choose to buy at the platform of your choice.
If you like to listen to your stories, many of them are also released as audiobooks.
I love Henri the French Cat. Here’s a wonderful piece, courtesy of Bluebird.
This series is well worth a read. Mind you, if you don’t like swearing or some violence, I suggest this probably isn’t the series for you.
In my opinion, it is one of the best series I’ve read in a long time.
The entire Echo series—Echo 1, 2, 3, 4—is FREE on Kindle for three days! (2/1-2/3) #Kindle #KindleUnlimited #writingcommunity #writer #booktok #writerscommunity #writing
Get A Door into Evermoor here: A Door into Evermoor. Get Kor’Thank here: Kor’Thank: Barbarian Valley Girl. Get Echo Vol. 1 on Kindle here: Vol. 1 on Kindle. Vol. 2 on Kindle here: Vol.2 on Kindle Vol. 3 on Kindle here: Vol. 3 on Kindle Vol.4 on Kindle here: Vol. 4 on Kindle Echo Omnibus here: Echo Omnibus Echo Vol. 1 & 2 Combined Edition here: Combined Edition Musings, Volume 1 is available here: Musings, Volume 1 Here’s the miscellaneous gear that I use to try and become an uber-human: Optimization! 
These little cakes are a favourite of Carthinal, in The Wolves of Vimar series.
In The Making of a Mage, a Wolves of Vimar prequel, Carthinal becomes apprenticed to Mabryl, an archmage. He was known to sneak into the kitchen where Lillora, Mabryl’s housekeeper, was making the cakes and sneak one or two (or several).
Here’s a bit about the book.
Carthinal is alone in the world. His parents and grandparents have died. Without money and a place to live, he faces an uncertain future. After joining a street gang, Carthinal begins a life of crime. Soon after, he sees a performing magician, and decides he wants to learn the art of magic. But can he break away from his past and find the path to his true destiny?
You can buy the book from your favourite store, in ebook, hardback or paperback, by clicking on its cover in the side-bar, or here.
It is also available as an audio book.
Here is the US link
And this is the UK link
It is also available from The Independent Bookstore, which is Next Chapter’s online store.
They were actually invented by my son, Richard, when he was about 7 years old. He was very fond of honey!
Shortcrust pastry
125g margarine
125g runny honey
125g flour
2 eggs
Roll out the pastry and cut rounds. Place one pastry round in each hole of a bun tin.
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend on high power until creamy.
Put spoonfuls of the mixture into the pastry cases and bake in the oven at 180C for about 15 minutes.
You can find more recipes in Viv’s Family Recipes, along with some hints and tips garnered from Viv’s family members.
Exciting news.
An illustration of the cover of Jealousy of a Viking is now available as a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.
Get yours from : https://litmatter.com/products/jealousy-of-a-viking-1000-piece-jigsaw-puzzle
And don’t forget you can get a mug
https://litmatter.com/products/jealousy-of-a-viking-white-coffee-mug
And a poster :
https://litmatter.com/products/jealousy-of-a-viking-poster
Why not pop over and have a look at them?
Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author) 