My Tanka is Valentine inspired today. I’ve used devotion for affection and for character I chose mould.
My hubby and I are both creative souls, he loves music so, so much! And of course, I love writing… We met many moons ago. Two many moons to tell you! We began our lives as tender, teenage sweethearts and are still going strong. Perhaps it is this creativity and passion within us that is our rock. There is room for a huge amount of love in a relationship, for each other and of course for the things that rock our lives – music and writing! Perhaps, one day we will be able to write and play music full-time, now that would be wonderful.
To join in with Colleen’s challenge follow the link:
I am an author who has been blogging for many moons at my lovely blog home Kyrosmagica. My interests include writing, photography, poetry, and alternative therapies. I write Fantasy YA/Paranormal novels, Horror/Ghost Short stories and micro poetry – haiku and tanka. I love to read and have written over 100 reviews.
My alter ego is MJ – Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love superheroes! I was born on the 17th of November in Lion City: Singapore, (a passionate Scorpio, with the Chinese Zodiac sign a lucky rabbit,) second child and only daughter to my proud parents Paula and Ronald. I grew up in a mountainous court in the Peak District in Hong Kong with my elder brother Donald. My parents dragged me away from my exotic childhood and my much loved dog Topsy to the frozen wastelands of Scotland. In bonnie Edinburgh I mastered Scottish country dancing, and a whole new Och Aye lingo.
As a teenager I travelled to many far-flung destinations to visit my abacus wielding wayfarer dad. It’s rumoured that I now live in the Venice of Cambridge, with my six foot hunk of a Rock God husband, and my two enchanted daughters. After such an upbringing my author’s mind has taken total leave of its senses! When I’m not writing, I eat exotic delicacies while belly dancing, or surf to the far reaches of the moon. To chill out, I practise Tai Chi. If the mood takes me I snorkel with mermaids, or sign up for idyllic holidays with the Chinese Unicorn, whose magnificent voice sings like a thousand wind chimes.
Fifteen-year-old Amelina Scott lives in Cambridge with her dysfunctional family, a mysterious black cat, and an unusual girl who’s imprisoned within the mirrors located in her house. When an unexpected message arrives inviting her to visit the Crystal Cottage, she sets off on a forbidden pathway where she encounters Ryder, a charismatic, but perplexing stranger.
With the help of a magical paint set, and some crystal wizard stones she discovers the truth about a shocking curse that has destroyed her family’s happiness.
Unique Selling Point: Unique, Imaginative, ‘Charming, enchanting and richly layered this is purely delightful.’
“This delightful book will appeal to teens and young adults who love stories filled with magical crystals, dark family curses, and mysteries waiting to be solved around every corner. Each chapter leads you on a journey of discovery where Amelina earns the right to use three wizard stones to reset the balance of time and finally break the curse that holds her family hostage. A captivating tale!” – Colleen M. Chesebro (Editor)
The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone
Blurb:
Fifteen-year-old Amelina Scott lives in Cambridge with her dysfunctional family, a mysterious black cat, and an unusual girl who’s imprisoned within the mirrors located in her house. When an unexpected message arrives inviting her to visit the Crystal Cottage, she sets off on a forbidden pathway where she encounters Ryder, a charismatic, but perplexing stranger.
With the help of a magical paint set, and some crystal wizard stones she discovers the truth about a shocking curse that has destroyed her family’s happiness.
My poetry, prose and photography collection released on February 16th.
Mr. Sagittarius is available in kindle, full colour paperback and free in Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
Blurb:
Who Is Mr. Sagittarius?
And what is his connection to twin brothers, Harold and William?
When Harold dies he leaves a simple memorial request
Will his sister Annette honour it?
Or, will the magic of the garden ensure that she does.
A magical story expressed via poetry and prose with photographic images.
I am a participating author in Dan Alatorre’s anthology: Nightmareland with my story Scrabble Boy.
From the creators of the #1 bestseller The Box Under The Bed horror anthology and its #1 bestseller sequel Dark Visions, comes Nightmareland
A best-selling horror anthology with 23 stories from 14 authors.
I am a participating author in Plaisted Publishing House’s Ghostly Anthology 2019 with my short story Dexter’s Creepy Caverns.
Please note, it is showing as 99p on Amazon, which take a little longer for it to recognise its free elsewhere.
I’m contributing two poems to Plaisted Publishing House Ghostly Writers short story collection. Ghostly Romance Anthology Volume 1 is now FREE on Amazon:
I also contributed to Plaisted Publishing House Ghostly Writes Anthology 2018 with my story Ghostly Goodbye.
Ghostly Goodbye by M J Mallon
Ghostly Goodbye is a paranormal love story about a young woman called Iris who can’t get over her husband’s death. She is mourning him so much that she feels dead inside. Her husband Ed sends her a ghostly message from beyond the grave via an old forgotten garment in her wardrobe. She responds by dragging herself from her tomb-like bed and he draws back the curtain of death to visit her in a most unusual way.
Reviews needed! Please support us.
Available on Amazon, Apple, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, 24S, Playster, Indigo, Angus & Robertson, Mondadori Store: Universal Buying Link
Carolina Russo has created two wonderful portraits of my characters which feature in my paperback. Below is the full colour version, the paperback images are in black and white.
1. I wish I could be wonder woman or MJ from Spiderman 2. I adore crystals, alternative therapies, the unusual and the strange. I’m a qualified Aromatherapist, Reflexologist, (I no longer work as a therapist instead I devote my spare time to reading, writing, blogging and reviewing.) 3. Some say that I am a white witch…my blogging friends confer and have included me in the Sisters of The Fey, a writerly collaboration. 4. My husband can’t remember asking me to marry him and neither can I. He suspects I cast a spell on him! 5. I have travelled to many foreign destinations, including: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Rome, Venice, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Portugal. I would love the funds to travel some more! 6. I used to work as a receptionist for a private sixth form in Cambridge. In quiet moments I observed peoples’ mannerisms, listened to snippets of gossip and dreamt up new story ideas. 7. I love food! Asian food and anything spicy, yum…My mother is Malaysian and my father is Scottish so I grew up with a very varied diet. 8. My motto is to do what you love! Stay true to your heart’s desires, remain young at heart, and inspire others to do so, even if the odds are stacked against you like black-hearted shadows. 9. I studied Communication Studies at University, (marketing, media studies, public relations, etc.) My degree is coming in mighty handy now. 10. I love cats but don’t own one (my husband and daughter are allergic,) so I adopted a virtual black cat called Lily who looks like my black cat character Shadow in my book: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/shadow-welcomes-lily-the-cat-to-kyrosmagica/ 11. I have so many writing projects and so little time! I am a writing butterfly so this pains me greatly! 12. I am an original! I have been to every single Bloggers Bash until now. http://sachablack.co.uk/annual-bloggers-bash/ 13. I have met the inventor of The Corpus Christi Chronophage clock – Dr John C Taylor, OBE who kindly gave me permission to use his images in my book. http://www.johnctaylor.com/the-chronophage/ 14. I enjoy interviewing my fictional characters on my blog. Currently you can meet Shadow: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2017/05/11/my-interview-with-shadow-a-black-cat-character-with-a-past/ Amelina: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/mj-interviews-amelina-the-curse-of-time-bloodstone-sundayblogshare/
Today, I am delighted to share with you my latest collaboration with artist Carolina Russo, who has created a brilliant new portrait of the Creature, Eruterac, in my paperback novel, The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone to be released April 2018.
Below is the full colour portrait of Esme:
Both the Creature and Esme the mirror girl will feature in black and white in my paperback release scheduled for April 2018. At present, the kindle version is NOT ILLUSTRATED.
I am sure you will agree that they are wonderful portraits. Carolina has taken my written words and captured the essence of both characters brilliantly. What an extraordinarily talented lady! I am so thrilled. They will enhance my paperback beautifully. It is fitting that these beautiful illustrations should be included in the soon to be released paperback considering that one of the themes of the novel is art coming alive!
To see more of Carolina’s wonderful work please visit her social media:
Carolina Russo is a contemporary artist, designer and illustrator living in California. Born and raised in Italy where she studied Art and Design. A self-taught watercolour artist, her style of work has developed through an on-going interest in painting, drawing, sketching and exploring mediums. Her work is inspired by her love for nature. Her creative world combines elements of classic art, surrealism and fantasy. Her creativity extends to Digital Art, Jewellery Design, Photography and Poetry.
I am so happy, do comment below and share in my happiness! xx
Since I have been writing and blogging there have been so many cases of serendipity, discovering like-minded souls who share similar interests. My lovely friend Colleen Chesebro, fellow writer, chief sister, (blog originator,) at The Sisters of the Fey, loves crystals, fairies and all things magical. Colleen helped me enormously with my manuscript The Curse of Time. She went way beyond a beta read and I am so indebted to her for her kindness, helping me achieve my dream to publish my first book.
Carolina Russo who blogs at Yesterday After (my illustrator,) also has a crystal connection! She makes crystal jewellery and has created two wonderful pieces of art to illustrate my book, which I will be sharing in a special feature on my next blog post on my main blog – https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com so keep an eye out for that!
And the lovely Samantha Murdoch, who loves cats and crystals kindly emailed me lots of photos of her beautiful black cat Lily to promote my cat character Shadow, as well as an image of the Bloodstone which graces the spine of the paperback.
My friend Wendy Anne Darling had a magical challenge too, to transform Dr John C Taylor’s brilliant images of the Corpus Christi Clock into a magnificent book cover. She did a fantastic job. Do pop over to Wendy’s blog, and check out her book design service.
Oh, and did I mention that Dr John C Taylor, OBE, inventor of the Corpus Christi Chronopage clock is a keen geologist, loves crystals and of course clocks too…
Such is the power of serendipity! Would you believe it?
I truly believe that The Curse of Time and all these wonderful connections were meant to be.
Have you ever had a similar experience, when everything came together in such a magical and mysterious way?
A tried and tested spell from Adele Marie Park, blogging at our writing collaboration, The Sisters of The Fey. Please pop over to our sister blog to see what we are all up to. 🙂
It is such a pleasure to be her blog tour host for today! So exciting!
Book blurb:
Obsessive-compulsive school mum, Skye, is a lonely elite spy, who is running from her past whilst trying to protect the future of her child. She tries hard to fit in with the other parents at her son’s new school, but the only person who accepts her unconventional way of life is new mother, Thea.
Thea is feeling harassed by her sister and bored with her life, but she suspects that there is something strange about the new school mum, Skye. Thea has secrets of her own and, although the two become unlikely friends, she hesitates to tell Skye about the father of her own child.
Zack’s new business is growing faster than he could have dreamed but, suddenly, he finds himself the owner of a crumbling estate on the edge of a pretty village, and a single parent to a very demanding child. Could he make a go of things and give his daughter the life she deserved?
When three lives collide, it appears that only one of them is who they seem to be, and you never know who the person next to you in the school playground really is.
Crooked Cat Books are an international publishing house. The team has years of experience in editing, writing and reviewing and have a number of academic publications between them. They say they look to publish high quality work with exceptional storylines and fascinating characters and want to provide authors with a comfy home to share their stories.
In the last five years they have released over 150 titles. You’ll find them all over Amazon, Barnes and Noble and a number of online stores. Catch their latest books at crookedcatbooks.com
Author Bio:
Lizzie Chantree writes women’s fiction and romance novels packed full of friendship, laughter and laugh out loud storylines. Escape into great love stories, with compelling heroines and beautiful locations.
Award-winning inventor and author, Lizzie Chantree, started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now runs networking hours on social media, where creative businesses, writers, photographers and designers can offer advice and support to each other. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex. Visit her website at www.lizziechantree.com or follow her on Twitter @Lizzie_Chantree
What a delight it has been to be one of Lizzie’s blog tour hosts. Lizzie is such a lovely person, sharing and caring. She made me this lovely twitter graphic –
Hugh’s wonderfully entertaining music and story feature continues with guest Charli Mill’s song choice Betty Davis Eyes – version by Kim Carnes. I was so honoured to be Hugh’s first guest. Pop over to visit all the week’s guests you won’t be disappointed. Hugh is a wonderfully inventive storyteller and a fantastic host.
Please give some love to the Sisters of The Fey. Such a wonderful idea of my dear friend Colleen Chesebro, a collaboration between the sisters, myself, Colleen, Debby Gies, Adele Marie Park, Annette Rochelle Aben, Tina Frisco, Belinda Miller, Wendy Anne Darling to share our love of magic.
An excerpt from my book – The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone:
We had arrived at the front of the restaurant by then, and I strained to recapture control of my drifting mind. Ryder held the door, and as I walked inside, I focused on the restaurant’s interior. Aphrodite’s proposed everything I’d expected and much more. The waiter seated us next to an exquisite painting of the waves crashing against the cliffs of Paphos Bay. We slid into our very own private booth.
A snow white Aphrodite statue stood in the centre of the restaurant as a focal point. Her exotic and mysterious image enthralled me. No wonder she deserved the title of the Goddess of Love. The realistic statue captured my attention. I almost expected her to step towards me and crush me with her stone arms in an over-enthusiastic embrace.
Large elaborate fish tanks lined the walls, housing exotic fish, including corals and ferns. I glanced around at the pictures of white doves which dotted the walls.
My eyes travelled to a painted likeness of the Golden Apple of Great Renown. I remembered the Goddess Eris had written ‘for the fairest’ on the side of an apple. Both Zeus’s wife Hera, and his daughter Athena, including Aphrodite claimed they were the fairest. But the Prince of Troy, Paris, couldn’t choose between them. The rest is history. Paris fell in love with Helen, which led to the Trojan War. I had been paying attention in history class after all. I reflected for a moment on what a bitter-sweet and ultimately destructive force love could be.
Ryder edged closer to me in the booth. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I could feel his breath on my face. A hot, sweet, intoxicating murmur that caressed. ‘You’re so lovely,’ he said, his voice coaxing me to come even closer.
I couldn’t resist his advances and snuggled closer to his side. He cupped my face in his hands, and leaned in towards me, planting a lingering kiss on my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned back allowing his lips to brush my neck. My skin tingled with a strange heat where he’d left a trail of kisses. I longed for more. He ran a finger over the top of my lip. It was such a thrill, I trembled and my breath caught in my throat. I could hardly breathe. Catching my breath at long last, I inhaled him, my lungs filling with his heady aroma…
Our new collaborative blog – The Sisters of the Fey is a blogging collaboration between authors D. G. Kaye, Wendy Anne Darling, Marjorie Mallon, Belinda Miller, Annette Rochelle Aben, Colleen Chesebro, Adele Marie Park, and Tina Frisco to share all things magical.
Carolina Russo is a contemporary artist, designer and illustrator living in California. Born and raised in Italy where she studied Art and Design. A self-taught watercolour artist, her style of work has developed through an on-going interest in painting, drawing, sketching and exploring mediums. Her work is inspired by her love for nature. Her creative world combines elements of classic art, surrealism and fantasy. Her creativity extends to Digital Art, Jewellery Design, Photography and Poetry.
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 