Tag Archives: #books

Amazon.co.uk link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13GD78Bmo8s

15:35 Hi. I’m Ellen. Glad you made it along today. If time allows, we’ll play a few songs later on tonight. We’ll see how the day goes. True to form, Luke’s running late. While we’re waiting, here’s a little extract from the book about when Taylor and I first bumped into each other.

Three hours later, as Ellen was trying to pull her large suitcase through a crowded station, her mother’s words echoed in her head. Trying to thread her way through the throngs of commuters was a nightmare. Silently, she cursed her own limitations. For the first time she regretted being so stubborn about being able to cope with travelling into the city by rail on her own.

“Get a grip, Ellen,” she muttered to herself.

She paused to check the signage to determine where she was to exit the unfamiliar station. The next moment, she was knocked off balance by a tall, dark haired guy carrying two guitars and a huge backpack. With a squeal, she felt herself start to fall then felt an arm grab her to stop her. She could feel his strong hand on her upper arm, feel the pressure of his fingers burn into her tender skin.

“Sorry,” he apologized hurriedly. “I was too busy looking for the exit. I never saw you stop.”

“No harm done,” replied Ellen shyly.

His hand was still on her arm and part of her was desperate for him to remove it.

“You sure you’re ok?” he checked.

Adjusting her tinted glasses, Ellen forced a smile. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Well, sorry again,” he mumbled. “My mum always did say I should watch where I was going. Guess that’s another thing she was right about.”

“Mums are like that,” she agreed.

“Sorry again,” he apologised. “See you around.”

Without a backwards glance, he disappeared into the crowd. Spotting the sign, she had been searching for, Ellen set off again, heading for the exit.

15:40 Hi. I’m Luke, Luke Court. Apologies for being late. Ellen’s asked me to share my guilty pleasure song with you. Think she’s punishing me for being late. Ok, so my secret guilty pleasure song is Your Song by Elton John.

For a chance to win an e-book copy of Ellen, tell me yours. The winner will be picked at the end of the event.

(credits to the owner via You Tube)

15:45 Hi. I’m Cal, guitarist and sometime Cookie Monster with After Life. Ellen is the fourth book Coral has written. Have you checked out her other books? The Silver Lake series? No? You should take a look. They’re FREE to download for today only. We put in an appearance in book two and again in book three. Oh, and there’s some guy called Jake Power in them that Ellen finds hot!

Ellen: “CAL!” (blushes scarlet)

Amazon.com link

https://www.amazon.com/Coral-McCallum/e/B00VYU1SZ6/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Amazon.co.uk link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coral-McCallum/e/B00VYU1SZ6/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Book Promo shot

15:50 Hi. Coral here. Thanks for coming along today to help launch my new book baby, Ellen. Does anyone have any questions for me about the book, the Silver Lake books or anything in general? #AskMeAnything

15:55 Ellen: Choosing a song to sing for my first After Life rehearsal was a challenge. You only get one chance to make a first impression and I wanted to get off on the right foot with these guys. I chose this one.

For another chance to win an e-book copy of Ellen, what would you have chosen? The winner will be picked at the end of the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

(credits to the owner via You Tube)

16:00 Rocky: I’ve been working hard to get these kids on a stage near you. All publicity is good publicity. Did you know that a few months back Taylor and Luke were interviewed for Coral’s blog? No? Check out what they had to say.

https://coralmccallum.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/a-little-sneaky-peek-into-the-after-life/

16:05 Coral: As you’ve just read, sometimes as a writer you struggle to connect with your characters or to control them. They have a tendency to misbehave.

Luke: “Do not!”

Coral: Oh, you do! On occasion, the story can go off at a tangent. This happened with Taylor…

Luke: “Told you I behaved!”

Coral: Luke, stop interrupting! LOL. And we both know you have your moments in this book! Anyway, here’s a little excerpt of where Taylor wandered off on me.

Voices from further up the beach disturbed their peace and quiet and Taylor turned to see where they were coming from. It was two young teenage boys and they were dragging the surfboard out from the cave.

“Wait here,” instructed Taylor bluntly. “I don’t like the look of this.”

Barefoot, he sprinted up the beach towards the two boys, noting with concern how ineptly they were handling the board.

“Hey, guys, where you going with that?” he asked, his tone firm but non-threatening.

“Taking it out to catch a few waves,” replied one, his tone a bit too cocky for Taylor’s liking.

Glancing back at the calm water, Taylor took a deep breath then said, “Put it back. There’s no waves out there.”

“Told you,” muttered the other boy sourly.

“But there’s breakers further out!”

“Put it back,” repeated Taylor. “You’re not strong enough to handle that board so far out. Fact!”

“I suppose you’re an expert,” spat the boy bitterly.

“Not an expert but I’ve surfed these waters for a long time. Today’s not a good day to head out from here. Wind’s all wrong. Tide’s wrong. Now, put that board back!”

The boy dropped it in the sand at his feet, “How are we ever meant to learn?”

“Pardon?”

“If you are stopping us going out when its calm, how are we meant to learn to surf?”

The hint of exasperation in his voice tugged at Taylor’s conscience.

“How much time have you spent trying?”

“Weeks!”

“Can you stand up on the board?”

“No,” muttered the boy, staring down at his suntanned bare feet.

“What about you?” quizzed Taylor, turning his attention to the other boy.

“A bit. My brother showed me some stuff but he’s gone back to the army. Won’t be back for six months.”

“Tell you what. I’ll teach you both how to balance on the board. How to stand up. That’s a lesson best learned on a calm day,” offered Taylor generously.

“You will?”

Taylor nodded, “Now, bring the board down to the water’s edge.”

He ran back down the beach to where he’d left Ellen waiting. Hurriedly, he explained what was going on and admitted that “surf school” was in session for the next couple of hours.

mawgan-porth-beach

16:10 Jack: (pulling up a chair at the table) Sorry, was just sorting out my drum kit. Split a drum head while I was warming up earlier.

Rocky: Another one!

Jack: Sorry, boss. What have I missed?

Cal: Buying your round!

Jack: In a minute. Did I miss the big book reveal? I did! Damn. Let’s take another look at the cover anyway. Love that cover shot!

16:15 Jen: Hi. I’m Taylor’s sister. Isn’t this amazing? Much as I love to see After Life on stage, I have to confess that my favourite musical moments are when Tailz plays at home for us. I love it too when the band are all here and we have a late-night beach barbeque……. Oh, happy memories.

beach bonfire

16:20 Nana: At my age I can’t be doing with these Kindle things. Give me a real book. I like pages to turn. These kids laugh at me. They roll their eyes when I’m offering up my words of wisdom. Well, we’ll see who’s right in the end….

For a chance to win a paperback version of Ellen, tell me, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve had from your elders? I’ll pick a winner at the end of the event.

20180825_192150

16:25 Taylor: Love that old girl. Don’t know where I would be without her. She plays a mean honky tonk piano. Loves her Scott Joplin. You should hear her play this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAtL7n_-rc

(credits to the owner via You Tube)

16:30 Ellen: Before I slip off to warm up, I want to introduce you to someone. Meet my dad, Tim Lloyd. He’s the one who encouraged me to keep going after what happened. He’s the one that brought me my lyrics journal and has bought me several since. I couldn’t have made it this far without him.

red leather journal

16:35 Tim Lloyd (blushing): I am so proud of her. So proud that Coral chose to feature Ellen and the boys in her new book. Have you bought your copy yet? Here’s the links in case you missed them earlier.

Amazon.com link

Amazon.co.uk link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Horus

16:40 Rocky: I’ll let you in on a little history lesson before we hear the band play. When I was looking for inspiration for Ellen’s stage costume, I dropped into the British Museum to see if I could get any ideas. Well, I was wandering through the Ancient Egyptian section when I spotted exactly what I was looking for. The Eye of Horus. I’ll let you read up about it yourself (see the link) but the Eye of Horus represents sacrifice, healing, restoration and protection. Seemed like a good omen for our little songbird.

Coral liked the idea too and used the symbol as her chapter headings.

193576-004-A34E1D0B

16:45 Taylor: Hope you’ve enjoyed our chat. Before we go, I’ve one last little extract to share from the book. This was the first time Ellen heard me sing.

As Jen and Nana sat down at the table, Jen passed them both a drink.

“You need to earn those,” she teased.

“Just a few songs, Jen,” stated Taylor firmly. “We’re both off duty.”

“You’re never off duty,” retorted his twin. “You have music in your veins instead of blood!”

“Son,” interrupted Nana calmly. “Play me that song your mother loved so much.”

With a nod, Taylor turned to Ellen, “Do you know Everybody’s Talkin’?”

“Sorry. I don’t believe I do,” she confessed, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“No worries. It’s an old song.”

Smiling over at his grandmother, Taylor began to play the classic song from Midnight Cowboy, a film that had been one of his mother’s favourites.

“Everybody’s talking at me. I don’t hear a word they’re saying.”

It was the first time that Ellen had heard her band mate sing. The warmth and emotion in his voice tore at her heart as she saw how hard it was for him to sing his mum’s favourite song. One half of her wished she knew the song so she could help him out; the other half of her was captivated by his raw heartfelt performance.

As the song ended, Ellen saw that his eyes were filled with unshed tears.

“Beautiful, son,” complimented Nana proudly. “Now, missy, what are you going to sing for this old woman?”

acoustic-guitar-against-green-wooden-chair-j045kh

16:50 Coral: Thanks for helping to launch book baby 4 and welcome it into the world. Really appreciate all the love and support. If you want to keep up to date with what is happening in my creative world, the progress on Book Baby 5 (Yes, Jake and Lori will be back late next year – I hope!) or my weekly musings then please check out my blog. Here’s the link

https://coralmccallum.wordpress.com/

16:55 Luke: One last reminder of the links you need to buy your copy of Ellen

Amazon.com link

Amazon.co.uk link

16:58 Rocky: Thank you to all of you for coming along. Time’s caught up with us. The band need to go and get ready to play. Feel free to stay and have another drink or even better, hop onto Amazon and download Coral’s book. Till next time.

thank you collage

(credits to the owners of the images used – sourced from Google)

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #Amazon, #booklaunch, #booklins, #bookpromo, #bookpromoishardwork, #books, #CoralMcCallum, #ebooks, #Ellen, #Kindle, #launchparty, #SilverLakeseries, rockmusic

Book Baby 4- waiting for the stork to arrive

Posted on August 21, 2018 | Leave a comment

Stork 3

I’m fidgety. I’m growing impatient. I’m clock watching. I’m restless. I’m not sleeping well (ok, I seldom sleep well). I can’t concentrate on my writing.

It can only mean one thing….. I’m on the final count down to the arrival of Book Baby 4 aka Ellen.

Ellen final version front cover

Ellen is all set to be released on 1 September and this period feels a bit like the calm before the storm. In reality, there is very little calm about me (“No change there,” I hear my friends cry!)

The hard work is complete. The story has been told. Finally, the spellchecking and editing are done. Several ARC copies have been circulated for review. UPS are due to deliver the final paperback proof copy tomorrow (Please don’t let it get lost!) I’ve sense checked the Kindle edition. Pre-order for the e-book has been set up worldwide on Amazon. I’ve drafted the “script” for the online launch party. I’ve even ordered some promo guitar picks to use as a giveaway item.

What have I forgotten? What have I missed?

While I was stressing about things to a friend earlier, they described me as a “pro”. I fell about laughing.

This may be Book Baby 4 but I don’t feel like a “pro” at anything! A pro at stressing and worrying maybe!

When I’d stopped giggling, I did reflect on the comment. I know I am my own worst critic, not just of my creative efforts but in most aspects of life. One thing I appreciate hough is how incredibly fortunate I have been on this creative journey over the past few years. I may not have sold thousands of books but no one has said that my book babies are “ugly”. All three to date have earned heart-warming reviews and are enjoying 4.5/5 star status on Amazon.co.uk. It’s taken a while, a long while, but I am proud of what I have achieved so far. It totally blows my mind to think that people from all around the globe have downloaded and hopefully read the stories that I have created in the comfort of my kitchen (and the front doorstep).

I may be an “indie author” but I couldn’t have made it so far along this creative journey without the love and support and tolerance of some very special people (You know who you are)

So, all that’s left for me to do is to try to be patient and wait for 1^st September to arrive so that I can introduce you to my new book baby, Ellen.

In the meantime, if you want to show your love and support for this wee anxious indie author, you could perhaps be so kind as to pre-order the Kindle edition of Ellen here:

Amazon.com link

Amazon.co.uk link

https://www.facebook.com/events/1634651586662114/

Or you can accept the open invite to the online launch party

And me?

Well, while I’m waiting I might as well continue work on Book Baby 5, the next instalment in the Silver Lake series,

An indie author’s work is never done!

https://www.facebook.com/events/275183199712870/

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #Amazon, #amblogging, #amwriting, #booklaunch, #bookpromo, #bookreview, #books, #ebook, #ebooks, #Ellen, #IndieAuthor, #Kindle, #preorder

Cover Reveal Event – all welcome

Posted on July 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

Folks,

I’d like to cordially invite you to the online Cover Reveal event being held on 14 July ay 8pm UK time.

Yes, the time is almost upon us to reveal both the cover and the release date of Book Baby 4 aka Ellen ( EEEEKKKKK)

You can attend this one hour event using the link below:

Alternatively, please check out my Facebook author page :

https://www.facebook.com/coralmccallumauthor/

Apart from revealing the cover and the release date, you’ll also be given an insight into some of the characters and a short extract from the book itself.

I look forward to seeing you all there 🙂

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #AfterLife, #book, #bookpromo, #bookpromoevent, #books, #coverreveal, #createspace, #ebook, #Ellen, #IndieAuthor, #Kindle, #newfiction, #releasedate

What’s in a date?……. Quite a lot actually.

Posted on May 8, 2018 | 1 comment

Today, the 8^th May marks five years to the day (well, evening to be more precise) since I took a deep breath, sat down in the early evening sunshine on my front doorstep and began to write the story of Jake and Lori, that became the first book in the Silver Lake series, Stronger Within.

That first evening I wrote about 1750 words. Here they are:

SW2 SW3 SW4

And the finished handwritten manuscript looks like this….

SW 5

I’ve spoken about the reasons for putting pen to paper on here before and I guess it’s quite poignant that I should start out on my Silver Lake journey in the days running up to Mental Health Awareness week. (Here’s the link to the previous blog post about the reasons for those who missed it https://coralmccallum.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/surviving-or-thriving-a-personal-tale/ )

Something I’ve reflected on and noted is that I’m a bit “funny” about dates. I hadn’t really given it much thought until a friend casually commented over coffee recently “What’s with all those dates?” or words to that effect as I talked about the deadline dates I had in mind for Book Baby 4.

It struck me that more often than not I pick dates for deadlines or publication that mean something personal to me.

I’ve published two of my three Book Babies on what would have been my Wee Gran’s birthday (15 April). I adored that little old lady and still miss her every day even though she’s been gone for over thirteen years.

In the spirit of openness and honesty, 8^th May was actually my paternal grandmother’s birthday but that relationship was the polar opposite to the one I enjoyed with my maternal grandmother – enough said. Maybe the choice of date this time was purely co-incidence or perhaps I was sub-consciously proving a point. Who knows!

The dates I’ve picked for two of my author’s note pages mark the birthdays of people who are special to me.

Deadline dates tend to be linked to different types of event. For example, I had hoped to finish the first draft of Book Baby 4 on 31 December 2017 – missed that one. I revised the date to 16^th March 2018- the day before I was due to travel to Birmingham to see Myles Kennedy in concert- I missed that deadline too. For a third time, I set a deadline date to complete this troublesome first draft – 8^th May 2018 – and guess what? Yes, I’m missing this one too- just!

No, I’m not being lazy, I’ve not got writer’s block, although I did struggle a bit with keeping my momentum going about six months ago, I’ve just re-evaluated and amended the timeframe a bit. In reality, Book Baby 4 is now ahead of its revised schedule and the new date for finally completing the first draft is set as 27^th June – my birthday. I promise to meet this one!!

My proposed publication dates are in September and, although I’m not ready to reveal them just yet, they are again birthdays and anniversaries.

But, back to today, the 8^th May…….

The last five years have taken me on an incredible writing journey. It still feels surreal to see my “stories” out there in the big bad world as books and e-books on Amazon. When I look at them sitting there online with their twinkling stars, a huge part of me still can’t quite grasp that the childhood dream has come true and I am a “real” indie author.

book babies 2018

There seems to be only one appropriate way to mark this anniversary. Again numbers play a part in the equation. Five years down the line, the next story to be written will be Book Baby 5 and it will be a Silver Lake tale.

I guess there’s only one thing to do…….

20180508_181122 20180508_183113 20180508_183123 20180508_183242

(calendar image sourced via Google- credits to the owner)

If you want to check out the Silver Lake series, here’s the links:

Amazon.com links –

Stronger Within – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VXDSC1M

Impossible Depths – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C0GS30K

Bonded Souls – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XSQHG71

Amazon.co.uk links –

Stronger Within – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VXDSC1M

Impossible Depths – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01C0GS30K

Bonded Souls – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XSQHG71

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #Amazon, #amwriting, #blogging, #books, #createspace, #date, #ebooks, #IndieAuthor, #Kindle, #mentalhealth, #romaceread, #SilverLakeseries

Happy World Book Day 2018

Posted on March 1, 2018 | Leave a comment

world book day

Happy World Book Day 2018

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me”

CS Lewis

Support an Indie Author – buy a book and settle down today with a big mug of tea/coffee and enjoy escaping into another world.

Happy Reading, folks 🙂

Amazon.com links –

Stronger Within – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VXDSC1M

Impossible Depths – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C0GS30K

Bonded Souls – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XSQHG71

Amazon.co.uk links –

Stronger Within – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VXDSC1M

Impossible Depths – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01C0GS30K

Bonded Souls – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XSQHG71

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #Amazon, #amreading, #books, #ebooks, #IndieAuthor, #Kindle, #paperbackbooks, #reading, #relaxwithabook, #SilverLakeseries, #worldbookday2018

In The Heart Of The Book (1000 word flash fiction)

Posted on August 22, 2017 | 1 comment

bookshop 2

As she opened the latest delivery, she thought again about how lucky she was to be living her dream. In this technology filled world, running and owning her own bookshop had been a dream since childhood. The smell and the feel of actual books had held her captivated for decades. Now, in her late thirties, the books fitted perfectly around family life.

Working in the shop, the tiniest shop in the street, gave her an insight into other peoples’ family lives through the books they brought to her. In exchange for a minimal sum, she welcomed in boxes and bags of literary memories. Sometimes the bags came with a funny story about their previous owner; parents passing on children’s books told tales of babies long grown up; wives told tales on husband’s as they brought in books relating to pastimes that has been a passing phase; widowers brought in their late wife’s romance libraries, wondering how they could have read such “rubbish”. Every book in the shop came with a story.

The box in front of her was a curious mix. It had been handed in late the afternoon before by a young man a few years her junior. There had been something vaguely familiar about him but she hadn’t been able to place him. He had commented that the books had been his father’s and had long since been consigned to a shelf at the back of the garage. Something, a sixth sense perhaps, made her ask if he was sure they were all to be donated. His answer had been, “I guess so. He told me to clear out the garage. Everything. The house has been sold and there’s no room in the new flat for everything as it is.”

The contents of the box proved to be an eclectic mix. She lifted out sports biographies, a few books about classic cars and car maintenance, a handful of John Grisham paperbacks and a couple of Dan Brown’s. In among them she spotted a copy of a book that been one of her own mother’s favourites, The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo.

With a wistful smile, she ran her hands over the familiar cover noting that, like the copy she had that had been her mother’s, this one was well-read. As she reached to put it on the shelf, a folded piece of paper fell out and drifted to the floor, landing at her feet.

Lifting the pale blue sheet of paper, she unfolded it. Finding notes inside books was one of the sneaky pleasures of the job. Over the years, she had found countless shopping lists, Christmas lists, addresses, postcards, bus and train tickets, boarding passes and the occasional more personal letter. This was one of the latter. The blue page had previously been crumpled and parts of it torn off but someone had taken the time to smooth it out and fold it carefully, stowing it safely inside the book.

Her heart skipped a beat at the distinctive flourishes to the handwriting.

The first part of the letter was missing.

“My head knows I shouldn’t feel like this but my heart begs to differ and is leading it astray. The countless unspoken thoughts and conversations in my mind are safest left there…..perhaps.

Who am I kidding here? You know me inside out and well enough to know how I feel without me having to say it out loud.

We both know the risks of that…..

Resting my head against your chest, hearing your heart beat, feeling your arms around me, feeling safe, feeling wanted, feeling loved….”

The rest of the letter was lost. The bottom section of the page torn off.

Shaking the book, she hoped the missing fragments might appear but nothing. Hurriedly, she searched through the box, vainly hoping that one or both of the missing pieces might be there. Nothing.

Opening the book, she prayed she might find another clue. What she found was the possible remains of one. The top corner of the title page had been roughly ripped off but the tails of the letters from the inscription remained. Whatever it had said, it had been written by the same person who had penned the love letter. She would know that handwriting anywhere, even after all this time.

It was her mother’s.

Deciding to err on the side of caution for a while, she re-folded the letter, placed it back in between the pages of the book and put the slim volume safely on the shelf beneath the counter.

A little voice in her soul told her the rightful owner would be back for it as soon as they realised it was missing.

A month went by and the well-loved copy of The Alchemist lay under the counter, gradually being buried by letters and receipts. Occasionally, she would bring it out and read the letter over again, trying to work out who her mother had been writing to. She never mentioned the book to a soul. It was her secret. A final connection to her mother.

Two more weeks passed by.

Late on the Monday afternoon, she was absorbed in the task of re-organising the shelves, perched precariously on the top step of the rickety, wooden stepladders she had brought from home, when the bell above the shop door tinkled. Balancing on one foot and leaning on the shelf, she half turned to see who had entered the shop.

She recognised him immediately, despite the changes caused by the passage of time.

“Hello. Be careful up there,” he said warmly. “I was hoping you’d be able to help me.”

He paused while she climbed down the ladder.

“My son brought a box of books in here about six weeks ago. I’m trying to track down one of the books that got into the box by mistake. It’s of sentimental value.”

“I have it right here,” she replied, smiling at him with a smile so like her mother’s that his heart skipped a beat.

(Image sourced via Google – credits to the owner)

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #1000words, #amwriting, #books, #flashfiction, #shortstory, love

Living In A World Of Books….

Posted on August 9, 2017 | Leave a comment

Books have always been omnipresent in my life. For as long as I can remember books have played their part in the highs and lows and rhythm of my everyday life.

Probably my earliest book related memories are of my mum patiently reading and re-reading and re-reading Henny Penny, Bunny Blue and The Animals’ Train Ride (the latter two I still have and read and re-read and re-read to my own children). My first memories of the local library, apart from the rubbery smell of the stairwell that led up to the children’s section, are of borrowing Joan Drake’s Mr Grimpwinkle books and of my mum reading them to me at bedtime.

Bedtime story time was the highlight of many a night, long after I was old enough to read the books to myself. It was mother/daughter time. Even if I was reading a book of my own, we always had a book set aside for bedtime story….sigh…we never did finish Anne of Green Gables circa October 1979. (We moved house and bedtime story time fizzled out)

Reading and writing began to co-exist in my world as soon as I was old enough to construct a sentence. Countless notebooks pens and pencils were purchased for me to scribble in.

I was always keen to read books aimed at the age group just above my own. I’m probably showing my age here but I remember a colour coding on I believe it was Armada published books, where you graduated from a red to a green boat on the corner of the cover to indicate the intended age range. I was desperate to read the green ones! Countless times my mum would say “That’s a bit too old for you” as we stood either in Rae’s, the local bookshop or John Menzies debating which book I would be allowed to buy. Not to be thwarted by this age discrimination, I bought myself my first proper pocket dictionary when I was eight years old. It had a red tartan cover and I bought it in the village shop in Tarbert, Harris when we went to visit family.

If there were “big” words in the book, I would look them up and learn to read them, understand them and spell them!

Books have also been my friends during the lows in life. When bullying in primary school was at its worst, I would read alone in a quiet corner at intervals and lunchtimes. Occasionally this triggered further bullying as my peers made smart remarks about my choice of reading material. One particular incident has lived with me down the years. It was sparked by me standing reading My Friend Flicka (yes, I went through the obligatory pony phase too). Crude remarks were made about an “alternative” version of the title. The spacing of the lettering on the front cover was a bit tight and said eleven year old obviously thought it was cool to twist it into a “sweary” word and taunt me incessantly. I took it on the chin during the morning interval but when it continued later the same day (I seem to recall it was during the short afternoon interval. I remember it was raining.) I snapped. One of the few occasions in my life when I have resorted to physical violence. As the girl continued to get in my face, I slapped hers. My Friend Flicka has been a tainted tale ever since.

my friend flicka

In high school, as the bullying continued, I lost myself in stories and worlds I wrote about. Curled up in a quiet corner, I filled reporter notebook after reported notebook for over three years. I still have them all. There’s a lot of them! Arguably they amount to the first “book” I ever wrote – a family saga following three generations of women. Bittersweet memories of my teenage years.

Book buying has changed dramatically over the years. Rae’s bookshop is long gone. It’s successor, Book Point, is also long gone. The second-hand bookshop, Westwords, a real Aladdin’s cave, is also a fading memory. John Menzies, my other local source of literature and writing supplies evolved and shrank into WH Smith before finally disappearing from the local town centre a couple of years ago. Amazon became my primary source for book shopping.

Then The Big Green Gummi Bear bought me my first Kindle and the world changed again.

There was a new choice in front of me – e-book or paperback book- EEK!!! To be honest, its swayed me towards e-books but I always have a “real” book on the go too (usually a biography or autobiography type thing.) You can’t beat turning pages over – sorry!

Choosing a book to read has become a nightmare – so many to choose from! My previous book selection method has been destroyed! I always chose books by their front cover first and then read the back cover to find out what the book was about. Amazon shopping makes this more of a challenge. Do I go for the photo of the cover? Do I go for synopsis? Do I go for reviews? Do I go for the number of twinkly stars? Decisions…decisions…decisions….

Then I wrote and published my book babies and the world of books took a whole new turn!

From being the tiny little girl begging for her mum to read Henny Penny, Bunny Blue and The Animals Train Ride, I’ve become the girl with her name on the cover. EEKKKK!!!!

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Today, I received Amazon reviews of my first two book babies that really made me feel quite emotional. Both of them are five stars (thank you!) and both are quite lengthy and straight from the heart (thank you!).

Seeing my three book babies twinkling away on Amazon’s website and seeing the three “real” copies of them on my bookshelf is a million miles from the moment I sat down on my doorstep with my new notepad and pen from WH Smith and began to write a story. It’s taken a long while but I think it’s finally sunk in that I am an author.

Books are and always have been and always will be at the heart of my world.

dream come true

photos of the Silver Lake series and the messy bookshelf are the author’s own

(other images sourced via Google – credits to the owners)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coral-McCallum/e/B00VYU1SZ6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1492694242&sr=8-1

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #amblogging, #amwriting, #author, #BondedSouls, #books, #bookworm, #ebooks, #ImpossibleDepths, #IndieAuthor, #reader, #SilverLakeseries, #StrongerWithin

Book Baby Motherhood – the toddler phase

Posted on April 20, 2017 | 1 comment

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Facebook very kindly shares past memories with us on an almost daily basis. Some days I scoot past these posts, choosing to not to glance backwards over my shoulder but instead to focus my energies on moving forwards. Onwards and upwards…or, in my case, a lot of the time it feels like onwards and sideways!

As I browsed my newsfeed this morning, over coffee and a bagel, one post from two years ago caught my eye. It was a link to a blog post from 20 April 2015 talking about the first few days of Book Baby motherhood. Reading through it, I felt again the rush of emotion and excitement and anxiety that I’d experienced. (here, have a read for yourselves https://coralmccallum.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/the-first-few-days-of-book-baby-motherhood/ )

At the end of the blog post I had drawn up a list of things to work on.

1- Stop feeling so self-conscious and allow myself to feel proud of my achievement

2- Relax and let things take their course with Stronger Within

3- Re-connect with my characters and storylines. The rest of the tale isn’t going to write itself.

4- Learn how to stop blushing.

So, in the past two years have I managed to meet these four objectives?

Well, I’ve tried. Honestly, I’ve tried.

Do I feel less self-conscious? In all honesty, no. Do I feel proud of my achievement? Yes, but in my own quiet way.

Writing for me has always been a means of escape. A recent conversation made me think of it in a slightly different light. It’s a coping mechanism. As a child and a teenager, I wrote to escape into a world away from the school bullies. Lost in my own fantasy world, their cruel words didn’t reach quite so far into my psyche, didn’t leave quite so many scars.

Years later, I picked up my pen again to re-connect with “me”. I needed something that identified me with me and not as someone’s wife or mother (both roles I am proud of). There came a moment in time when I felt the need to reach deep inside and retrieve the person who was “me”. After a lengthy soul search, I found her.

Now, writing is a means of escape from a tough day in the salt mine, the dramas associated with hormonal teenagers and a general escape route from the pressures of day to day life.

So, do I feel less self-conscious about what I write? No. I still get overcome with nerves when I let people read what I’ve written. Over the past couple of years though, I’ve got better at keeping those fears under control. Although the nerves are fluttering as I prepare to post this blog.

Am I proud of my achievements? In my own way, of course, I am. Never in my wildest dreams, did I ever think I would see my name on the spine of a book. Now, it sits proudly on the spine of three. Do I think these are great works of fiction? Of course not! They’re my book babies and it’s my story told my way. I’d never force it upon anyone but the books are out there in this big bad world to be enjoyed by whoever feels the urge to pick one or all three up.

Have I learned to relax? No! It’s not in my nature to be chilled about things. I’ve failed this objective miserably.

Did I re-connect with my characters after Book Baby 1 aka Stronger Within? Yes, I did. They grew in strength in Impossible Depths and more recently in Bonded Souls. New characters wove their wave into the story while others drifted off. Can I re-connect with them again further down the line? I hope so. For now, they’ve been placed carefully back into their box but I’ve a feeling they won’t rest there for long.

Have I learned how to stop blushing? NO! If anything, I’ve got worse over the past two years! I’ve turned 50 Shades of Red many, many times. I’m a totally lost cause on the blushing front. Give whole new meaning to the phrase “scarlet woman!” ha ha

The past two years of Book Baby motherhood have flown by and have been extremely kind to me. I don’t mean financially kind. Any writer who has travelled this road understands that the pennies are hard won and you need to be exceptionally lucky to make a living from selling novels. The past two years have been emotionally kind to me. No one, at least not to my face, has said a bad word about my babies. I’ve received such heartfelt reviews of all three books. Even at only five days old, Bonded Souls has earned five 5* reviews on Amazon.co.uk. Each of these kind words and twinkling stars makes all the hours of work worthwhile. If I’ve entertained someone and provided them with an escape from their real world then I’ve succeeded. If I’ve initiated an emotional response with my words then I’ve more than succeeded. (Apologies though to anyone I’ve made cry…. )

This journey isn’t one that I’ve made alone. Without the love and encouragement of a few very special people (you know who you are) I’d never have made it this far along the literary trail. Writing can be a very lonely experience but I’m very fortunate in that that these guys are right beside me every word of the way.

OK, before I get too mushy here, what’s next?

I set myself a new goal at the start of 2017 and that was to write the first draft of a new book baby by the end of the year.

Well, to continue the baby/pregnancy analogy that I’ve used all along, there’s another baby on the way. It’s very early days. (I’m about ten thousand words in) Being the superstitious soul that I am, I don’t want to say much more and jinx my progress.

Now, I’m looking forward to a summer of long, warm, sunny evenings where I can escape from the pressures of the day into my creative world for an hour or two and get to know my new imaginary friends. I think you’re going to like them.

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Just in case you’ve missed any of the links to my book babies –

UK link

rest of the world link

https://www.amazon.com/Coral-McCallum/e/B00VYU1SZ6/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged #amblogging, #amwriting, #author, #BondedSouls, #books, #ImpossibleDepths, #SilverLakeseries, #StrongerWithin, writing

Sun Has Stopped Play….well writing

Posted on June 9, 2016 | 1 comment

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For the past few weeks the sun has shone down on the Clyde coast. The weather has been fabulous but it’s had a dreadful effect on my creative productivity.

I cannot resist the lure of the evening sun during the week or any sun at the weekends and have been regularly spotted sitting outdoors with my nose buried in my Kindle.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spent hour after hour in the sun. It’s no secret that I adore warm sunny weather. Lunchtimes have been spent walking along the River Clyde near to the salt mine. Where possible, meetings for work have taken place outdoors. We’ve even had “weetings” – walking meetings! (Every step has been counting towards my team’s GCC target- 10000 steps each a day for a 100 days) Evenings have been spent sitting on the front doorstep until the sun sinks behind the roofs across the street.

I have the suntan to prove it!

Book Baby 3 has suffered a little neglect ….I’m a bad book baby mummy. I have written some of it outdoors in recent days but the part that I’m working on doesn’t lend itself to outdoor creativity. (No- you’re not getting any storyline hints!)

What I have been doing is devouring books! My Kindle has definitely been well used of late.

So, what have I been reading?

It’s been an eclectic mix. Here’s some of the highlights of my summer booklist to date-

Rock My World by Julie Shackman – a paranormal rock star romance tale. 7/10

His Perfect Imperfection by Natasza Waters – a contemporary love story 7/10

Flight To Coorah Creek by Janet Glover – an outback/flying doctors contemporary romance 8/10

The Vampire’s Human Companion by Cecil Wilde – beyond description and blessedly short – 3/10

Perfect Daughter (No Greater Courage) by Amanda Prowse – a powerful and emotional family drama 8/10

Me Before You – Jojo Moyes – a powerful love story that is one of the few books to make me sob – loved it! 10/10

Behind Closed Doors – B A Paris- a very gripping thriller. Absolutely loved the ending! 10/10

And now I’m currently reading The Physician by Noah Gordon and am totally immersed in 11^th Century Persia! (Thanks, Iris!)

Fans of the Silver Lake series will be pleased to hear that this spell of glorious weather is due to break any day so normal creative productivity will resume with the rain!