From a Disillusioned Writer

For anyone who is patiently waiting for a new post from me - may I direct you to my new blog for disillusioned, disappointed and generally fed up writers. You can find it here.

Best wishes,
Ros

Thrilling Read! Review of 'Trouble in Teutonia' by S. P. Moss

It's been a while, but I'm back, with a review of a wonderful book for young teens called Trouble in Teutonia, by S. P. Moss. It comes with a very strong recommendation from me, whatever your age.

    Often when reading books for children and young people I have to perform a semi-deliberate change of gear before (or shortly after) I begin. The gear-shift involves ‘becoming a child again’ – which admittedly in my case is not difficult to do (no, I'm not young, just young-at-heart). But to me one of the hallmarks of the best writing for any age (and any genre) is that I’m aware of no such gear-shift. I start reading as myself and happily continue that way, right through to the end. I’m pleased to report that S. P. Moss’s Trouble in Teutonia is one of those books.

     The story is beautifully written. I make no apologies for starting with this point. It’s important to me as I can’t enjoy a book, irrespective of its intended audience, if it’s not written well. S. P. Moss has a delightful way with words. The story swings along with a perfect rhythm. The plot is gripping – some wonderful moments of suspense and some surprising turnarounds. The dialogue is just right – exactly the right amount of it and perfectly expressed. Grandpop, the 1950s RAF pilot, has the lingo off pat (I know this, because my dad was in the RAF in the forties through to the sixties and Grandpop uses exactly the same expressions and turns of phrase as him). That was a wonderful whiff of nostalgia for me, apart from anything else. My dad would not only have approved of this book; he’d have loved it. Wish I could show it to him. (He’d have especially liked the bit about the View Master. I still have Dad’s View Master among my treasured mementoes of him.)

     The plot – well, I don't like writing plot summaries and am not convinced they are needed in reviews. Very briefly indeed, young Billy from the 21st century (that still sounds like the future to me...) finds himself back in 1957, on an RAF base in the depths of wintry Teutonia (which is loosely based on Germany). It says a lot for the writing that the temporal transitions Billy makes are entirely believable, even to a cynical adult reader like me.  I think this may be due to the sound factual basis of the rest of the story – plus some intriguing scientific references and some very convincing character-drawing. Trouble in Teutonia is nothing like those vague woolly teenage fantasy novels that are so much in vogue. Yet it will appeal to the same audience, or most of it, I believe – and will cast its net far beyond, to include young readers who like their stories to be based in reality. Anyway, Billy has adventures back in 1957 involving some wonderful planes, a spaceship, some very nasty villains and a feisty red-haired American girl who needs Billy’s help to rescue her. And if all that doesn't entice you, nothing will...

     Billy’s character is very well-drawn. The story is written from his point-of-view, and not only did I find myself comfortably ensconced in this boy’s mind, but in his body too. What I mean is that his world was so cleverly described (S. P. Moss is particularly good at capturing smells), that I stopped being a middle-aged female reader and became Billy for the duration of the book – body and soul. Now that’s good writing.

     Billy is convincing, too, in that he’s not perfect. He’s a convincing mix of sudden spurts of courage and of doubt. He revels in adventure but he longs, at times, for home. His attitude towards Kat perfectly captures that of a pre- (or very early-) teen. Irritation. Admiration. Trepidation. All these things and more.

     I have to come back to the language. S. P. Moss is not afraid of a long word or two. I believe that this will challenge her readers, but not enough to put them off. She doesn't patronise them one bit. If they don't understand all the words, they’ll work them out from the context – they may even go and look them up. Moss includes some nuggets of science and maths, too – and hurray! – it's the girl who is the superb mathematician. The code-breaking bits were great.

     Ever since Billy’s first adventure appeared (The Bother in Burmeon by S. P. Moss, Circaidy Gregory Press, 2012), I've been keenly anticipating the next in the series, as I'm sure have many of her readers. I’ve got these two books lined up to give my grandchildren in a few years’ time, by which date I hope there’ll be several more.

     Congratulations to the author, the cover designer and Circaidy Gregory Press for another superb book – please keep them coming!
    
Book Details:
Title: Trouble in Teutonia
Author: S. P. Moss
Publisher: Circaidy Gregory Press
Year of Publication: 2014
Available in paperback here
or as an e-book  here
Or visit http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk/youngfiction.htm


Rosalie Warren, 1/5/14
    
    

A precious gem of a song that will make sunflowers bloom in your heart

Review of Sunflowers and Precious Gems, a song written and performed by Chris Hoskins

I'd like to introduce you to a beautiful song written and performed by Chris Hoskins, a very talented poet, songwriter and performer, who I'm proud to say is one of my dear friends.

So, although in one sense I can't claim that this is an impartial review, let me assure you that it is entirely honest and heartfelt. I already knew that Chris was an outstanding writer, composer and performer, but nevertheless I was astonished and delighted when I first heard the song. That was several weeks ago, when Chris made it available for download from her website. Yesterday, I viewed the accompanying video on YouTube for the first time, and was even more overwhelmed by the beauty of the words, the music and the accompanying imagery, and the way they combine together to produce something out of this world.

I don't usually review music and am hesitant to make comparisons, but Chris's work evokes for me two of my favourite singer-songwriters, one very well known and one a little less so. Her words have Paul Simon's subtlety and poetic precision and her melodies his gentle perfection, while something about the clarity of her voice and the fervour of her performance calls Eddi Reader, the Scottish singer and songwriter, to mind.

Let me give you a bit of the background. Chris wrote the words originally as a poem, submitted to a competition run by Amnesty International in 2005. The poem, unsurprisingly, won first prize. A few months ago, prompted by the shocking rape and murder of a young woman in India and recent terrible events involving young girls in the UK, she decided to set the poem to music and create a song in support of Amnesty International's work to stop violence towards women and girls.

It is, of course, impossible to fully describe or explain any work of art in another medium. So rather than my scrabbling around trying to find words to do justice to Chris's song - here is where to find the song and accompanying video and enjoy it for yourself.


Sunflowers and Precious Gems - song and video

If you decide you love it, you can support Amnesty International by purchasing the song by download from Chris's website:

Sunflowers and Precious Gems - Download here for 99p.

It will only cost you 99p. Half of the proceeds will go to support Amnesty International and the other half will help to cover Chris's costs. Please download it, make the song your own and do your bit to support Amnesty International and help to make sure that violent abuse of women and girls, in the UK and worldwide, becomes a thing of the past.

Happy listening
Ros

An Inspiring School Visit - King Henry VIII School, Coventry

I've now done several author visits to King Henry VIII School, Coventry and I always have a great time there. Last week I spoke to a big group of Year 7s - a wonderful, enthusiastic crowd, many of whom clearly love books and reading. They had lots of well-thought out questions for me, which really made me think. But let me hand over the story of the visit to one of the Year 7s, Onyeari Egbuji, who has done a lovely write-up of my visit.

In Onyeari's words:

ROSALIE WARREN’S VISIT

On Wednesday 8^th May, Rosalie Warren, a local author, visited our school. She did numerous talks to pupils in Year 7, while advertising her latest book: ‘Coping with Chloe’. She told us what it was like to really be an author and how hard it is to have a book published. We learnt about the stress, emotion, frustration and happiness that goes in to writing a book, which includes writing a book, finding a publisher, editing, choosing a cover and actually having it sold in shops. She told us how she was inspired to write ‘Coping with Chloe’ and how she came across the idea of using twins

   She read us a chapter of her amazing book, ‘Coping with Chloe’, making almost everyone want to know what happened next. Then she said whoever came up with the best question would win a free book. We were all trying to think of a great question to ask her. She answered questions such as, ‘What is your favourite book?’ and ’What is your favourite library?’ I asked her, “Out of all the books you have ever written, which one has been the emotional and the hardest to write because it was personal to you?” She said that she cried a few times while writing ‘Coping with Chloe’. We had a lot of fun listening to her answers. Luckily I was the winner, and won a free book. I can’t wait to read it…   

----------

Thank you so much, Onyeari. Your question was a very good one and deserved to win the prize. It really made me think.

Here's a photo of Onyeari and me, with her prize:

 And here's a picture of me with some of the Year 7s:

Thank you all for making me so welcome and to librarian Mrs Kirsty Kinmond for organising my visit. Good luck, all of you, with your reading, writing and everything else. And to all you budding young authors - keep at it!


Best wishes,
Ros

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Coping with Chloe in Clapton! An Amazing Afternoon With Some of my Readers

 I had a wonderful experience recently when I visited Clapton Girls' Academy in London to meet some of my readers and talk about my book Coping with Chloe and the possible sequel.

The girls of 7C and their teacher Miss Feltham gave me a wonderful welcome and were so kind in the things they said about Coping with Chloe. I felt a bit like a celebrity for an afternoon! The girls had all read the book as part of Pop-Up Booklinks, which  is a brilliant project that provides classes with a copy of the book for each student to read and then arranges a visit from the author. This was great as it meant the girls had all read my book and given it lots of thought. They asked me some very good questions, which I did my best to answer. I then read them the first chapter of the sequel and they gave me some useful feedback.

 But the best bit for me was when they showed me the work they had done on Coping with Chloe. Each girl had written a review and the teacher had bound these together in a book with a beautiful cover, for me to take home. The reviews inside were really well written and very good for my morale! The best thing in the world for an author is when you discover that someone has not only enjoyed but 'connected with' your book - it has affected them and made them think. I was overwhelmed to read all these reviews and I will treasure the book always. One of the reviews was even published in the Guardian.

The students had done lots of other things too - including writing some brilliant alternative endings to Chloe and performing two short plays - one of which was my favourite scene from the book (Anna and her Dad going out to lunch and failing to communciate about Chloe). The class could not have known beforehand that it was my favourite scene - so that was a wonderful surprise.

They had also made models, puppets, posters, a powerpoint presentation and lots more. I took home with me all the things I could carry in my bag, but I could not bring everything as I had to get two buses across London to my son's flat and then a train home!

I would really like to thank the Booklinks Project, my publishers Phoenix Yard Books, Miss Feltham and the other members of staff at Clapton Girls' Academy - and especially the wonderful and brilliant girls of 7C for working so hard and giving me such a lovely warm welcome to their class. They are all very intelligent, capable and enthusiastic and I am sure they will go a long way in life. Those who want to be writers - I would say go for it! Don't let anything stop you. But don't rely on writing to earn you a living because however good you are, it probably won't. In the end, the best reason for writing is because you want to (or feel you have to!) do it. But meeting your readers is a truly wonderful experience and I will never forget my visit to your school.

Very best wishes and good luck to all of you
Rosalie xx


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Review of 'Holes' by Louis Sachar - by Heena Pala, aged 13

Hello everyone - and a very belated Happy New Year (it's still January - just!)

As promised, I'll be featuring some more reviews of YA books this year by a young reader, Heena Pala, aged 13. Here is the first of the year - and it's of one of my all-time favourites. It's a great read for adults as well as younger readers: Holes, by Louis Sachar.

 
 “Holes” by Louis Sachar
Reviewed by Heena Pala
 
“Holes” is a book about a young boy of 11 who is accused of stealing a famous baseball player’s sneakers. Not being able to prove he hadn’t taken them, he has to be punished, he is given a choice of jail or a juvenile detention centre called Camp Green Lake. He chooses to go to the camp, where he has to dig a hole a day, five feet deep and five feet across to “build character” or so they say.

Stanley makes a loyal friend, unlike in school where he was continuously bullied for being overweight. One morning, when he finds his friend missing, he decides to go and look for him. After managing to escape from the camp, Stanley finds his friends, but they are both stranded in the desert for a week. Starving and surviving on onions and dirty water, the two boys give in and make their way back to camp, only to discover what the motive for digging holes is.
 
I like this book because it was so in depth that once I picked it up it was glued to my hands! This book at times has made me fill up with tears but burst out with laughter at the same time. It has also made me think about how lucky I am just to have loving friends and family around, which most of the boys in this book haven’t.
 
Please make time to read this book and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


Thank you, Heena, for another great review. Happy reading, everyone.

Best wishes
Ros

Book Details:
Title: Holes
Author: Louis Sachar
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing plc
Publication Date: October 2000