Darkness enveloped the staircase ahead of me
Shadows stirred in its inky depths
Slowly I began to climb
Trusting that it was the path I should take
Step by step I climbed
Slowly the darkness fell behind
Grey ghostly mists swirled around
I continued to climb
Trusting that it was the path I should take
Sunlight filtered through
Dispersing the mists
Warmth and hope surrounded me
I continue to climb
Trusting that I am following the path I should take.
(image sourced via Google- credit to the owner)
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #coralmccalllum, #IndieAuthor, #newblog, #poetry, #poetryblog, #poetrycommuniity
For the past seven years my cluttered creative corner of the house has been my beloved writing desk in the corner of the living room
Those who have followed this blog for a long time may remember that I blogged about moving from the kitchen into the living room when that change was forced upon me thanks to a new car and a repositioning of the freezer. (Eviction Notice Served …… | Coral McCallum – in case you missed it)
Over the next two years, I grew to love my creative corner in the living room. The words flowed as freely as they had when my desk was the table in the corner of the kitchen.
Then Covid came along and with it that brought the necessity to work from home. At that point in time The Big Green Gummi Bear was also working from home and had based himself in the study so with no other choice, my creative space became my work space during the day and then returned to being my creative space a night. Like every other scenario we were faced with, I made it work as best as I could.
A few months later The Big Green Gummi Bear fell ill (terminal brain tumour) and for the next three years, I continued to work from home fulltime, working at my desk during the day then switching laptops at the end of the day to restore it as my creative space at night. The study became The Big Green Gummi Bear’s “bat cave” where he whiled away many hours with YouTube videos and films. I made it work as best as I could.
After The Big Green Gummi Bear passed away in late October 2023, when I was ready to return to work I had the choice of where to work when I was working from home. I could go into his “bat cave” or stay where I was in the corner of the living room. Emotionally I knew there was only one option I could cope with. For over nine months, I chose to stay in the living room. This worked for the day job, but it was no longer working for the me creatively in the evenings.
Let’s face it, by this time, I’d spent about sixteen hours a day most days for over four years in the living room. I was sick of the sight of it! It had begun to feel like a prison cell.
Creatively, the words refused to flow and that frustrated me…and scared me a little. Could I still do it?
About a year ago, I finally felt emotionally ready to claim the “bat cave” as my own and moved up there to work during the day. I’ll not lie it took a long while before I was comfortable being in that small room for more than a few minutes at a time. Bereavement does strange things to a person.
My writing desk in the living room became my creative space once again…but the room still felt like a prison cell. The words began to flow a little more freely but overall, it still didn’t feel right.
I persevered then made a decision. It was time for another change.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally had the room re-painted. Gone were the candle soot-stained peach walls, replaced with a fresh clean silvery blue shade called Frost Fairy. New curtains were bought and hung. A new sound system was added as some of the speakers in the old one had long since given up the ghost. I de-cluttered the room. I tidied out my desk and de-cluttered the top if it, only retaining a few of the things that had previously sat there. I added a stunning new crystal sphere (poppy jasper and flower agate – just in case you were curious). Gone was the old uncomfortable chair. I replaced it with a nice new kneeling chair. I’ve always wanted one of those!
I’m viewing this as a much-needed creative re-boot.
The smell of paint still lingers in the air and perhaps it’s a little too soon to be sure, but I feel more confident now that the words that have been desperate to be set free will once again start to flow.
Time will tell….
As soon as I pulled this prompt from the Measly Jar of Motivation, I smiled as a childhood image came flooding back – rosebud sweets!
I haven’t tasted on of those sweets in almost forty years! (Lord, that makes me sound SO old! LOL)
When I was a wee girl, before I was old enough for school and then during the school holidays, I would go to the local post office on a Tuesday with my Wee Gran to collect her pension. The postmaster, Mr Stirling was a character. He was a lovely old man who always had time for a blether and a joke with his customers but equally important, he kept a dish of sweets beside him to give to the children who came into the post office.
The dish was actually the plastic lid off one of the big jars of traditional “old fashioned” sweets that shops used have lined up on shelves behind the counter.
Usually there was a lengthy queue in the post office on pension day. I would stand patiently with my gran as we edged closer to the counter. There were always two people serving – Mr Stirling and a lady called Agnes. She too had a dish of sweets beside her, but she didn’t always offer you one. I don’t think she liked children that much and to be honest, I was a little scared of her.
If Mr Stirling served my gran, before he’d stamp her pension book and count out the cash, he would offer me the dish and say to take a sweetie. Sometimes, when he was passing the pension book and pension back across the counter, he would say to take a second sweet.
Those small pink rose scented fondant sweets were delicious. To this day they are one of the scents and tastes of childhood.
A few years later, Mr Stirling retired, and another postmaster took over. The first time after that when I accompanied my gran to the post office, I was a little bit anxious. Would this new man know that he was supposed to give the children a sweet? Would he think I was too old to get a sweetie?
I needn’t have worried. The dish of rosebud sweets was still there.
Years went by and I grew up and became a teenager, while my wee gran simply grew older. Occasionally when I was in my late teens, I would be trusted to go and collect her pension for her. As I stood in the queue feeling both grown up at being trusted with such an important errand and about sixty or seventy years too young to be in the queue, another thought entered my mind. Was I now too old to be offered a rosebud sweet?
It turns out I wasn’t. I guess you’re never too old to enjoy a rosebud sweet.
Image sourced via Google- credits to the owner (no watermark)
Tiny fingers and tiny toes
It doesn’t seem so long ago….
Now I look at you and smile
Proud of how you’ve grown
But in my heart, you still have
Those tiny fingers and tiny toes
(Image sourced via Google – credits to the owner)
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #CoralMcCallum, #IndieAuthor, #newblog, #newblogpost, #poem, #poetryblog, #poetryisnotdead
And that really is a challenge!
Anyone who knows me personally would most likely tell you that I’m historically not the best at taking “special care” of myself. I am passionate about wellbeing and for the past couple of years have been focused on making sure that my “personal battery” is well cared for and kept charged. Well, I’m trying to focus on that.
Throughout the majority of The Big Green Gummi Bear’s terminal illness, I was running on fumes. It’s only now, when I reflect back, that I can acknowledge that I burned out towards the end of 2021 and then kept going for two more years. Life really didn’t leave me any other choice.
That level of burn out (emotional and physical) takes time to recover from and it’s something that on many levels, I am still healing from.
So, if I had my ideal day to take “special care” of myself, how would I spend it?
There’s an obvious answer – I’d click my flip flops together three times and transport myself to the beach at my happy place.
I’ll resist choosing that option and instead describe a day spent at home.
Let’s imagine that it’s Monday and I have a “rest day” off work and the whole day to do as I want.
My day would start off gently with some yoga, most likely Yin Yoga as I would have the luxury of more time than I do most mornings, followed by a short chakra meditation combined with some crystals and some self-channelled Reiki energy. When I have finished my yoga and meditation, I would journal about the session and set an intention for the day. This is something I do every day, recording it in my gratitude journal. The intention doesn’t need to be complicated. It might be one word or a short phrase like “I will be gentle with myself today” or I will be kind to myself” or “I am worthy”. I would also draw an oracle card for the day from my preferred deck.
The next act of special care on the agenda is a long hot shower followed by breakfast – OJ, black coffee and a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with a few rashers of smoked streaky bacon or pancetta. (I never said that I was necessarily going for the healthiest option here.)
I would then spend the rest of the morning doing something creative, either preparing a blog for posting or working on my current book baby. If the weather was being kind and was warm and sunny, breakfast and this creative time would be spent outside at the picnic table in the garden with my cats milling about.
I’ll assume for the purposes of this blog that it’s a beautiful warm summer day,
Lunch would be a simple affair- caprese salad, yogurt, an apple and a bottle of flavoured water. (I’m a big fan of Waterdrop tablets so who knows what flavour the water might be). I’d read my kindle while I was eating lunch outdoors.
After lunch, I would continue to read my book for a while in sun before setting off for a walk along the coastal road to the beach. This stretch of beach is quite short but it’s just enough to feed my inner “beach bum”. As I walk along the sand I’d scour the beach for sea glass, searching in particular from some blue sea glass. By the time I arrive back home a couple of hours later I could easily have walked five miles.
If time allowed, I’d relax with another drink of water, a handful of plain Pringles and my kindle until it was time to cook dinner. I enjoy cooking so making a meal isn’t a chore.
After dinner I’d feed my creative soul and spend time working on my current book baby. As this is my ideal day, the words would flow effortlessly onto the page…if only!
Around 9pm I would put down my pen and spend an hour or so relaxing by watching TV with the Boy Child. This may also involve a glass of white wine and a few more plain Pringles (I’ll admit to a weakness for plain Pringles)
Before bed, I would write my gratitude journal for the day- best moment of the day, three things I’m grateful for and three things I’m looking forward to. I would also write my diary. (I’ve kept a daily diary for over 40 years) then read a few more pages of my book before turning out the light and enjoying eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Oh well, a girl can dream!
That would be a good day though.
How would you spend a day taking “special care” of yourself?
Part of the beauty of visiting Rehoboth Beach, DE, where my Silver Lake series is largely set, is visiting places that appear in the books.
I was fortunate enough last summer to visit several of them and to revisit many of those again this year but a dull day that threatened the area with rain gave me the opportunity to visit one about 12 miles out of town.
For those of you who have read the entire series, you may recall Jethro taking Jake for a nature trail walk in Shattered Hearts, book 4 in the series.
For those who haven’t read the books, here’s an extract that mentions my destination for the day –
He barely registered what direction they were travelling in and only realised that the car had stopped when Jethro declared. “We’re here. Let’s walk.”
“Where are we?” asked Jake, gazing round as he climbed out of the car.
“Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge,” replied Jethro as he locked the car. “Lots of nice peaceful trails to walk. A good place to walk and talk without interruptions.”
“Don’t think I’ve ever been out here,” mused Jake. “Might have been here on a field trip as a kid.”
“Follow the signs for the Pine Grove Trail,” instructed Jethro, pointing to a path that led into the trees.
Nodding, Jake stuffed his hands in his pockets and set off along the trail. With dry crisp leaves crunching beneath their feet, they walked in silence for a few minutes. Around them, they could hear birds in the trees. Giving nature’s magic time to relax Jake a little, Jethro bided his time before saying, “If the story Jim and Grey told me is accurate, when we get back to the studio, we are calling the police, son.”
Jake merely shrugged his shoulders.
Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge is a 10 000-acre sanctuary for migratory birds. It was established in 1963 by President John F Kennedy and contains a wide variety of natural habitats including freshwater and salt marshes. There’s woodlands and grasslands and ponds that among them are home to around 270 species of birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals… and insects that bite!
It’s a vast site and to do it justice you really would need several hours to explore.
In Shattered Hearts, I mentioned on specific area –
They walked on towards Fleetwood Pond in silence. As the still pond came into sight, Jake said, “The day that hornet stung me, she was out at JJL.”
By sheer luck, we parked at the spot that natural routed to Fleetwood Pond!
I didn’t have the luxury of a whole day to explore sadly. Instead, I had a couple of hours to walk the trails, keeping my eyes peeled for wildlife. Like my trip to Gordon’s Pond last year, I encountered a problem. Most of the seabirds seemed to be MIA. I did see an osprey soaring overhead, quietly surveying its territory. There were numerous dragonflies flitting about. In the bushes beside the pond, small birds were singing. In the woodland areas, there were deer quietly going about their day.
It really was the perfect location to meander and to think.
I could almost hear Jake and Jethro ahead of me on the trail.
There was one essential item that I forgot to take with me. Bug spray!
Let’s just say that the mosquitos at Prime Hook fed well on Scottish blood that day!
For more info on Prime Hook please see link below-
Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
If you’ve not caught up with the Silver Lake series yet, the books can be ordered worldwide using the links below
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
Shattered Hearts – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZY8ZSDM
Long Shadows – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RR1FGLG
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
Shattered Hearts – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZY8ZSDM
Long Shadows – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RR1FGLG
Oh good question! Being settled at my writing desk after dinner with my favourite playlist on definitely helps. Thinking through what I plan to write while I’m out walking also helps. If I’m not in the mood to work on my current book baby, I’ll write something else but I try to always write something daily
Music, the beach, love….
These are the themes at the heart of all my book babies so far along with believable characters for you to fall in love with.
Oh this is a cruel question.
In all honesty, I’m happy at having written my own. I’m me so why would I want to have written anyone else’s? I might only earn pennies in royalties most months but I’m proud to have written my own books and to have told my stories
A friend shared the photo below on their Facebook feed as I was starting my writing journey 12 years ago and it struck a chord. It’s been my mantra ever since.
I think the answer to this depends on where you consider to be unusual. I’ve written at work in my lunchbreak, on trains and planes, in the airport, on the beach and in cafes too. All felt normal to me.
to be continued….
Disregarding the risks, the dark angel landed lightly in front of her mausoleum. The previous enchantment that had held her captive there had long since been lifted but she still scanned the area for magical wards as a precautionary measure.
“Careless, Son of Perran,” she muttered under her breath. “Very careless.”
Once inside the tomb, Anna wove a seal around the entrance to keep her safe from prying eyes. With a click of her fingers, she lit the wall sconces, the flames instantly creating some flickering light and dancing shadows. Looking round, she saw that all of her hiding places had been discovered and most of her possessions taken, with the exception of the few things strewn across the floor.
With a sigh that reeked of melancholy, the dark angel sat down on the stone bench seat and drew her cloak around her. After the events of the past few months, she needed time and peace to think. She had fed before returning to her home but knew that the remnants of her meal would soon be discovered, limiting her time for contemplation. It had been a tempting thought to make her victim a vampire to give her some company, but she lacked the energy to nurture a fledgling and the patience to train one. Instead, she had left the fisherman’s body floating face down in the small, isolated loch. His passing resemblance to Jem was what had attracted her to him, his blood satisfying her thirst.
Reaching into the folds of her cloak, Anna pulled out a purple leatherbound book and smiled to herself. She had hidden her grimoire inside herself when she had first been captured. One swift spell had prevented it from falling into Meryn’s meddlesome hands. Over the years, she had worked hard to enhance the spells that were recorded in her mother’s grimoire, creating her own strain of dark magic. Now though, she had no one to pass that knowledge on to… except for Luna.
Gifting the baby her mother’s spell book had been a risk, a necessary risk. Eventually little Luna would grow up and inherit Meryn’s grimoire, Trine’s if she had one plus her own. Assuming the little girl worked on her own grimoire too, it would make Luna the most powerful vampire with magic powers that the world had ever seen.
Now all she needed to do was figure out a way to be involved in the little girl’s education.
On the eve of the summer solstice, Meryn prepared to take her leave. She had stayed on at the beach hut after Michael had departed to help Trine and Jem reinforce the enchantments around their home. The three vampires had combined their powers and created wards in the surrounding area that would trigger if a vampire or any creature capable of magic came near. They had even gone as far as creating protective wards out in the river. As a result, the beach hut was as impenetrable as Stefan’s castle.
“Do you need to go?” asked Trine quietly. “We’ve room. You could stay here for the summer with us.”
“And who would keep an eye on your father if I stayed?” laughed Meryn, reaching out to hug the younger woman. “We already agree that you would all winter with me. Come for Samhain. There are some lessons for you to learn that will help you to teach Luna the arts.”
“You are not teaching our daughter magic,” stated Jem firmly. He was holding Luna balanced on his hip and the baby was reaching out to pull at his wings.
“Jeremiah,” began his mother just as firmly. “Your daughter has magic flowing through her veins. She needs to be taught how to master it before it controls her. Both you and Trine need to be taught how to teach her.”
“And if we refuse, mother?” he challenged.
“Then the little girl you are holding in your arms could grow up to be more dangerous and out of control than Anna.”
“But she’s a baby,” protested Trine.
“How do you think that doll fell off the shelf onto the floor yesterday? Or how did those soft play cubes find their way into her cot?” countered Meryn. “Luna is a natural witch and a natural vampire. The Cinque Famiglia bloodline is powerful. She’s already testing her powers. She can’t help it. Its instinctive to her.”
Both Jem and Trine turned to star at each other, both terrified by what they were hearing.
“I’ll see you in time for Samhain,” continued Meryn as she opened the door. “If you need me before then, send for me.”
Before either of them could reply, the older vampiress stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
A huge crow sat in the trees to the east of the beach hut. It was perched high up in the branches out of sight as it watched Meryn disappear into the night.
Dear Meta Gods
I am writing to you today to express my displeasure at the anti-social behaviour of your bots and algorithms.
I should perhaps backtrack and thank you for your early Christmas gift that you presented me with on Christmas Even 2024 when you shut down my page, The Myles Kennedy Fan Page, for impersonation. You never even left a right of appeal open to me. The clue to the page’s purpose was in the name. The page had been running for well over a decade with 68000 plus followers without any issues or complaints. How can a clearly labelled, long standing page suddenly be shut down for impersonation? Oh…because you said so.
I sought support from your Help Center, but it should be renamed the UnHelpful Center as it there was no help to be found there.
I reported the problem via your Feedback options within the tools available to me daily for five months in an attempt to find some help and again found no help there. Report A Problem should perhaps be renamed Pretend the Problem Isn’t There.
While the original page remained suspended, in an attempt to still provide updates to the Myles Kennedy fans and to show support for the man himself, I began to rebuild. I created a new page, called MKFP v2 and clearly labelled it as a music fan page. In the “about” section I clearly stated that this was not an attempt to impersonate Myles.
Last week I surrendered and gave up trying to raise the dead in an attempt to get help for the original suspension issue.
I amended the name of MKFP V2 to Myles Kennedy FanPage V2 and your spy bots didn’t object or reject the name as they had when I initially set the page up. The name change was allowed. Again, the clue to the purpose of the page is in the name yet within 48 hrs, you shut it down again for impersonation. I had one chance to ask for the decision to be reviewed. I chose the most appropriate option you presented me with, “my page has been misunderstood” but you rejected this and again removed all right to appeal the decision.
Something I find strange though is that the dozens of fake profiles and fraudsters who attempt to impersonate celebrities or lure fans to third party sites to extort information and money from them appear to comply with your Community Standards as you seldom remove them when they are reported to you.
You should perhaps consider renaming your social media platform as an anti-social media platform.
So, I’ll end this by thanking you for destroying more than a decade of love and support for an outstanding musician and for depriving thousands of loyal fans from receiving updates and tour information and from sharing their memories of shows or their love of the songs.
Yours
A Disillusioned Page Owner and Admin
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #bloogerlife, #CoralMcCallum, #newblog, #pageadmin, #rant, #rightofappeal, #socialmedia
For the third year in succession, I recently took part in Beth Kempton’s Meet the Writer online challenge. Fifteen prompts/questions over fifteen days that will hopefully give you a bit of an insight into my creative world. As before I’ll split this across three blogs.
I love creating and developing my characters and getting to know them. I love creating their world. In my current work in progress, I’ve enjoyed losing myself in my fictitious view of the San Bernadino mountains. It gives me somewhere to escape to as I write and takes me away from my day-to-day mundane world. I hope in time my readers will enjoy escaping into the mountains too.
Much as I love to sit outdoors and write, this is my usual cluttered creative corner. My traditional writing desk sits in the corner of my living room. I upgraded to this a few years back. Before that I sat at my kitchen table to work.
Evenings have evolved to become my writing time. I endeavour to carve out a couple of hours a night during the week and take what I can manage at the weekends. I journal daily and keep a diary so there’s some form of writing involved in every single day
I love writing in any season but as the days grow warmer and the nights are lighter, I love being able to write outdoors.
If I’m writing a novel I need 5 identical notebooks so that the first draft is all in books the same. I like turquoise, pink or purple ink to write with unless I’m writing my Silently Watching vampire angel tale. I’m that case the notebooks and ink should be green. Poems and blogs I tend to write in pencil. I also need Alexa or some source of music nearby
to be continued….
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #BethKempton, #CoralMcCallum, #IndieAuthor, #Indieauthorsrock, #insights, #meetthewriter, #newblog, #newblogpost, #wrtinglife
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Coral McCallum 