#SundayBlogShare Invitation to My Online Launch Party 26th August Curse of Time – #1 Bloodstone
Hi. I have some awesome news, my e-book The Curse of Time #1 Bloodstone releases on August 26th and you are all cordially invited to my on-line launch party which will be held on Facebook, and here on my blog, etc.
Please share, reblog, tweet this invitation dear friends…..
Summary:
On Amelina Scott’s thirteenth birthday, her father disappears under mysterious circumstances. Saddened by this traumatic event, she pieces together details of a curse that has stricken the heart and soul of her family.
Amelina longs for someone to confide in. Her once carefree mother has become angry and despondent. One day a strange black cat and a young girl, named Esme appear. Immediately, Esme becomes the sister Amelina never had. The only catch is that Esme must remain a prisoner, living within the mirrors of Amelina’s house.
Dreams and a puzzling invitation convince Amelina the answer to her family’s troubles lies within the walls of the illusive Crystal Cottage. Undaunted by her mother’s warnings, Amelina searches for the cottage on an isolated Cambridgeshire pathway where she encounters a charismatic young man, named Ryder. At the right moment, he steps out of the shadows, rescuing her from the unwanted attention of two male troublemakers.
With the help of an enchanted paint set, Amelina meets the eccentric owner of the cottage, Leanne, who instructs her in the art of crystal magic. In time, she earns the right to use three wizard stones. The first awakens her spirit to discover a time of legends, and later, leads her to the Bloodstone, the supreme cleansing crystal which has the power to restore the balance of time. Will Amelina find the power to set her family free?
A YA/middle grade fantasy set in Cambridge, England exploring various themes/aspects: Light, darkness, time, shadows, a curse, magic, deception, crystals, art, poetry, friendships, teen relationships, eating disorders, self-harm, anxiety, depression, family, puzzles, mystery, a black cat, music, a mix of sadness, counterbalanced by a touch of humour.
An Excerpt from my YA Fantasy:
Opportunity,
An unexpected invite,
Such a mystery,
To explore and discover,
A hidden cottage of light.
I found it to be a mystifying situation. An unnatural stillness seemed to linger after many days of storms. Today, the sky reminded me of a painting. It appeared too perfect, too bright, too still, a picture landscape with no beginning or end. Instead, the vault of heaven spread out toward an endless grey forever, as if seeping around the edges of an untamed watercolour bleeding into the rest of the day. Even so, the sight filled my heart with promise, a ray of hope in an otherwise dull morning.
The quietness of my contemplation came to an abrupt end. I heard the sound of an envelope crashing through the mail box. I jumped at the clatter. The letter landed on the floor as the sound of a thousand crystal chandeliers echoed throughout the house. I rushed to retrieve the envelope and turned it this way and that. I couldn’t find an address label and wondered if the note had been hand-delivered. Who could this message be for?
I stood puzzling over this peculiar circumstance when out of nowhere my name: Amelina Scott appeared in bold writing. I watched wide-eyed as the final character of my surname was spelled out in a delicate font. I tore the dispatch open and inside I discovered a card printed on the finest paper with gilt edges and embossed calligraphy. There were few details, just an instruction to visit:
Crystal Cottage, River Walk, Cambridge, and the following added at the bottom as an afterthought: R.S.V.P – Not required. We promise to be welcoming when you arrive. When you’re ready, you’ll discover us…..
I shook my head in disbelief. Nothing good ever happens to the Scott’s so this invitation might look magical, but surely it must be nonsense. Weird messages from unknown sources count as dubious junk mail, the way I look at it.
I grabbed the envelope and attempted to rip it into pieces, but it wouldn’t tear. With a mind of its own the envelope curled its edges in protest. I searched in a drawer until I found scissors and tried to cut the invite. That didn’t work either. My hand ached, but the invitation endured intact as if mocking me.
Frustrated, I tried to cut the invitation again. A sputtered cursing sound filled the room even though I was alone. On my third attempt, I tore into the card with success. (I think it let me.) And once again, I perceived a noise, an angry murmur, and then nothing. Quiet descended in the room, so I threw the torn parts into the bin.
Finally satisfied that the annoying issue with the strange invite would no longer plague me, I brushed my hands together, and picked an apple out of the bowl on the kitchen counter, polished it on my jumper and then took a bite. In no time my hunger had abated, and as I chucked the core towards the bin, I registered a chuckle. I stopped, my feet rooted to the ground as a feeling of certainty filled my soul. I knew what to expect. I have no idea how I did, but I could see the image in my mind, the invitation had reformed. The invitation was playing games with me! I peered in the rubbish, and there I saw the envelope, connected in one perfect, unblemished piece. What the heck?
Enjoy the slideshow of images, and additional poetry – The Curse of Time #1 Bloodstone.
Images –
Ryder – (J English) via Georgina Mallon.
Chronopage and Grasshopper courtesy of Dr John C Taylor OBE.
Shadow the black cat – (Lily,) courtesy of Alex Marlowe via
https://samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com/
Looking forward to you joining me on my very special day.
Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook
Twitter: @curseof_time
Fellow Administrators of our Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC on Facebook, myself, my good friends Colleen Chesebro and Debby Gies. Click on Colleen’s and Debby’s photos to be directed to their awesome blogs. These ladies rock!
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Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 34 – POWER & ALLURE
Colleen’s prompt words this week, power and allure are just up my alley!
So here’s a short extract from my YA fantasy manuscript followed by a haiku.
The Curse of Time: The Bloodstone – excerpt.
Stealing a glance at Ryder I drew in a sharp breath. I had been so absorbed in the drama back at the river that I hadn’t noticed the subtleties flickering like wraiths across his face. I took the time now to note that he had blue-black hair that gleamed in the gloominess of the day. As the rain began to fall, I found myself drawn to his unusual eyes. His inky black eye contrasted with his green eye and had to be his most stunning, and unique, feature. He had long lashes now slicked with raindrops that gleamed in the failing light. Unable to look away, I stared into those captivating eyes as if they were two dark, mysterious pools pulling me into their depths. I imagined myself sinking into oblivion. I felt light-headed as if I’d lost my grip at the top of a high cliff, free-falling, tumbling over and over again, but instead of fighting against this frightening sensation I welcomed it.
© Marjorie Mallon 2017 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
My good friend Colleen Chesebro has taken me under her fairy wings and is working through my manuscript at this very moment…. I can’t thank her enough for all her kindness. She has been such an incredible help….
Just recently, I started a club on Facebook for authors, bloggers and book bloggers – Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club.
Colleen Chesebro, Debby Gies (D.G. Kaye Writer) and I run the club together, we are quite some team. The three of us had such fun recently working on a new header for the club (which you can see at the very bottom of this post.) Guess what? We’ve been looking at rainbows!
During my search I discovered a lovely rainbow fairy, so this one’s for Colleen for all her hard work and help with my manuscript. xxx
To join in with Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge follow the link: Colleen Chesebro’s Poetry Challenge
Bye for now,
My social media hang outs:
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
My New Facebook club : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #145 Beautiful&Curse
The prompt words really attracted me to Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge this week…. (It’s a long time since I’ve joined in as I have been so busy!) as they relate beautifully to my manuscript – The Curse of Time, which I am close to finishing! I’m doing what I hope are the final edits – you never know if it is truly completed until you send it to your betas/editors!
I’ve written two haiku and used Canva to make them visually pleasing. The second one is using my own photograph of a nasty looking shadow!
To join in with Ronovan’s Prompt – I think the deadline is today, hope I haven’t left it too late: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-145-beautifulcurse/
Bye for now,
Have a lovely Sunday.
RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #136 Eye&Fade
I’m in the mood for poetry today! Started off writing two Tanka poems for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday and then realised I hadn’t done anything for Valentine’s. To remedy this faux pas I decided to take a gander at Ronovan’s prompt words this week hoping they were a little valentine related and sure enough Eye and Fade were perfect, so I wrote this haiku…
To join in with Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge follow the link: Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Happy Valentines!!!
Much love,
Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge: Magic And Stars
It has been an age since I have written any haiku. Sigh!
Recently Denis at haiku hound commented on one of my posts, but added – where are your haiku? Good point Denis – his comment prompted me to write this post! Thanks so much for the encouragement. 🙂
Denis is a keen haiku poet, photographer and also has some stunning afghan hounds – do check out his blog: Haiku Hound – Afghan Hounds
I have really missed joining in with Ronovan’s weekly challenge. Unfortunately I have just been so busy job hunting, editing my manuscript, etc, etc.
Good news – I now have a new job… More about that soon. It’s a bit of a secret. Kyrosmagica likes secrets but all will be revealed soon. But one things for certain I doubt that you will guess what my new job is, as it is quite unusual.
This weeks prompt really caught my attention… Magic and stars. Kyrosmagica is all about the magical moments in life whether it’s simply reading a book, walking and observing the beauty all around us or engaging in creative endeavours. Kyrosmagica also tries to reflect on the deeper aspects of life – you can’t have light without a touch of darkness… But today, I’m feeling lighthearted so let’s celebrate love with Ronovan’s beautiful prompt words magic and stars!
My haiku is inspired by my recent visit to Tavira, in the Portugese Algarve. To find out more about Tavira do visit this excellent website: Tavira Uncovered. In this quaint town there is a bridge dedicated to love! All along the bridge padlocks are attached, with the names of partners, husbands, wives, and lovers!
This particularly bright pink padlock caught my eye. I do hope that Stefan and Claudia are still together!
Magical Fireworks Explode
Stars twinkle brightly,
Magical fireworks explode,
When I’m near to you.
Stars padlocked our love,
In magical Tavira,
Love you forever.
The key’s ours alone,
No one else can break the bond,
Magic star of love.
This bridge links our love,
A magical star glistens,
On this pink full heart.
© Marjorie Mallon 2016 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
Tavira is such a lovely quaint place to visit, with an oldie world charm, so with that in mind here are some of my photos to tempt you:
Two views from either side of the lovers!!! bridge ….
My daughter looking tiny amongst the quaint old buildings!
There are some lovely churches in Tavira:
Of course when love hits the mark it’s truly magical, and so is Tavira. If you’d like to see my other Portugal post do visit here: Portugal Missing You
I hope you liked my haiku. Do join in with Ronovan’s challenge.
Here’s the link to find out more: Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge – Magic and Stars
Oh and see if you can guess what my new job is…
Bye for now, much love. Happy Sunday!
Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Challenge
I really feel in the mood for a Haiku Challenge this week. It’s been ages since I’ve joined in Ronovan’s challenge, sigh, I seem to be struggling to keep up with all the things I want to do, such is life. Never mind I’m here now at this present moment ready to write some haiku. Yippee!!
The challenge words this week are rain and lightning. Very fitting.
On one day this week I was on playground duty in the local primary school supervising the kids at lunch time, except it started raining so we had to have wet play… no this isn’t some kind of water fight as the name would suppose … it’s when the kids have to stay inside when it’s raining. Not the most desirable outcome for us adults or the children. Children need to let off steam… Especially, when the Year 6’s have their Sats…So I was really pleased for them and for myself!!! Ha Ha ….that it stopped raining and they were able to go out and play ball and run around a bit.
The first haiku is with the kids in mind:
Puddle Temptation
Enormous puddles
Draw kids near sweet temptation
Lightning burst they run
The above photo is of my hubby getting very wet in Brighton – he’s very fond of thunderstorms so this haiku is for him!!
Rain Cleanses The Soul
Rain cleanses the soul
Lightning palpates heart’s desires,
Thunder struck we yield.
© Marjorie Mallon 2016 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
Hope you enjoyed my haiku.
To finish off here’s a word spiral that I discovered how to do via Vashti – Do pop over to her blog to see her fabulous word heart graphics and haiku from last week: Vashti Vega Haiku and Graphics! and also Ritu did a post too : Ritu – Creating A Spiral Word Graphic
Festisite Text Layout – Spiral
Here’s the link to Ronovan’s Blog to join in the challenge: Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Have a lovely Saturday.
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
My Links:
Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge#87 Class and Firm
Ronovan’s prompt words this week, class and firm seem to be very appropriate judging by my new part-time role working in a primary school.
It’s been quite a week. We’ve had rain, fog, cold days, mishaps, sharing issues, arguments, little fights and then…. one day this week the fire alarm went off during the lunch break and the little ‘uns were very upset. They thought their school was about to burn down, and they wanted their mummies! So I did my best to reassure them that this was not the case and it was just the kitchens getting too hot!! Poor wee mites, when you’re little every drama ends up being a major crisis of disproportionate proportions.
It didn’t help that just before the fire alarm went off one of the little girls hurt her lip, adding even more drama to an already raging inferno!
So the Monkeying Around haiku below is with them in mind…. sometimes, I’d advocate a fair old dousing of over imaginativeitis – only in extreme cases you understand! But if all else fails a big hug from mum is always a good idea:
MONKEYING AROUND
Raging school drama,
Classes monkeying around,
Firm, but fair dousing!
Oh and today I came across one of many little cherubs. This one with curly blond hair and the brightest blue eyes, but even little cherubs can be challenging! This little fellow only responds to the words kind hands when he’s been a bit naughty – kind hands involves putting your little hands up in the air and proposing kindness to your fingertips… miraculously it seemed to work, perhaps he is a bit theatrically inclined. I hope when I ask him to do it again his hands oblige!
I mentioned it to my youngest daughter and she laughed and admitted that she was really naughty in reception!!! In fact she was so naughty that she used to have to stay in sometimes as they wouldn’t let her out to play! And I thought she was an angel, us mothers, huh!!! She sounds like a cherub too….
BE KIND
A little cherub,
Not naughty just challenging,
Firm words then kind hands.
Do pop over to Ronovan Writes, to join in with the haiku weekly challenge fun:
Hope you liked my haiku.
Have a lovely weekend, have fun, but remember no monkeying around!
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge No: 86
The prompt words this week from Ronovan are Flash and Dance.
I’ve just started a part-time job in my girls’ old primary school, a bit of a change from my last job working in John Lewis over Christmas! On Monday I was on supervisory duty in the playground mainly keeping an eye on the kids playing on the climbing frame. On my first day there were kids leaping on kids, a boy with two scrapped knees, a girl who got bark in her eye, and a group of year four girls who came and introduced themselves to me and told me all about the play they were in. They were telling me about their parts, how many lines they had or proudly boasting that their part was a baddie! How outrageous! All in all it was quite entertaining… So I said that my two children used to go to their primary school too and I asked them to guess my daughter’s ages. The first one said, ‘ twenty five! ‘ I said, ‘Do I look that old?’ Then of course the next girl said,’forty five,’ but after that the numbers started to come down, thank heavens! Cheeky devils !
It brought back a conversation I had with my youngest daughter recently. I asked her what she liked to do in the playground when she was at primary school, she said skipping, and playing games but she mainly just danced with her best friend! How very theatrical, and artistically inclined, she’s not changed a jot – she still loves to dance. Her friend likewise is still keen on performing, just recently I watched her acting, and singing with The Young Actor’s Company in their sell out performance at Cambridge Junction. Jack Drum’s Entertainment will be playing in Oxford on the 5th of March, and London on 7th March at Bloomsbury Theatre. To find out more about this play being performed by such a talented group of young actors, follow the link:
https://www.facebook.com/JackDrumsEntertainment/
I can’t say that I saw anyone dance in the playground apart from a tiny hint of a dance when one of the year four girls did a little bit of dancing from the show, just before she got called to have her lunch. That was the moment I was waiting for…… but it was gone in a blink of the eye.
So this week’s haiku is inspired by my daughter’s love of dance:
Primary dancers
Playground extravaganza
A duo flashdance
Here’s the link to Ronovan’s blog so you can join in the haiku challenge:
It’s good to know that there are some theatrical types in the playground, but perhaps that’s enough melodrama for now!
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
Haiku Horizons: Monkey
In honour of the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Monkey I thought I’d join in Haiku Horizon’s prompt which happens to be Monkey.
https://haikuhorizons.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/haiku-horizons-prompt-monkey/
I watched a very interesting TV programme last night, Chinese New Year The Biggest Celebration on Earth. I hope to complete a children’s book about Chinese New Year so I was drawn to watching this. It featured the Snub Nosed Monkey, such a charming fellow. These monkeys are an endangered species. They have been hunted to near extinction. That is beyond horrible……. but the good news is there is a rescue operation in hand. A dedicated man looks after these charming fellows and collects their nuggets of poo so it can be analysed to check their health. That must be quite a job, plastic gloves are a prerequisite, but he takes it very seriously. In fact he is so skilled that he can glance at each sample of poo and tell exactly which monkey produced it! Quite an unusual skill.. He must love those monkeys..
Do find out more about the snub-nosed monkey, he seems to be a delightful monkey full of character:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_snub-nosed_monkey
More than one billion people travel from the cities to the countryside at Chinese New Year to be reunited with their families at this all important time. Can you imagine? That is a huge migration of folk, involving all manner of transport: plane, car, motorbike, and police car…. The Hairy Bikers couldn’t rev up in their usual style in China without the necessary documentation so they ended up travelling in the back of a police car! These Hairy fellows learnt how to make Congee, a warming porridge made of pork, rice, and spring onions, served at the roadside to travellers returning to see their families at Chinese New Year.
This programme continued to fascinate me with its commentary on the Ice City, a massive winter wonderland carved out of massive slabs of ice in Harbin, the largest city of Heilongjiang province, in China. It is so cold in this province of China that the elderly locals are acclimitised to the extreme cold. These hardy pensioners dive into a swimming pool to engage in a spot of …… ice swimming! The thought just sends me into an extreme shiver ……
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbin
My haiku:
The snub nosed monkey,
Forest high flier, cool dude.
Keep him protected.
Hope all you Monkeys out there are having a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. I’m a rabbit in the Chinese zodiac…. I like to hop about and put my feet up with a good book. What about you?
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
Ronovan Writes Haiku Prompt Challenge: Crystal and Hope
![ronovan-writes-haiku-poertry-challenge-image-20161[1]](https://kyrosmagica.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/ronovan-writes-haiku-poertry-challenge-image-201611.png?w=990)
Well with a prompt like that from Ron there is just no way that I wouldn’t join in with the Haiku prompt challenge this week. Who could say no? Not me for sure.
Here’s a link to Ron’s blog if you’d like to join his weekly challenge:
I just love Crystals, and they feature in my writing.
Hope and Crystals kind of go hand in hand don’t they?
But perhaps with light there is always a touch of darkness, so with my haiku I am going to focus on the idea of unrequited love.
We all have at some time in our lives experienced differing degrees of unrequited relationships. In my experience I remember one such case when I was very young, it wasn’t love, it was a touch of infatuation. I fancied this young chap, and to be honest I kind of made it pretty obvious that I liked him. We did go out on a date but it was no fun at all, he just dumped me in the middle of the night in Edinburgh not caring how I got home or if I got home. In his eyes I think it was a bit of a prank to play on me, he must have thought I had been chasing him and perhaps he didn’t even fancy me. Anyway it was very upsetting and the memory of it still remains with me to this day. But it did teach me one thing, anyone that behaves in such an uncaring and unpleasant way can’t be worthy of my attention let alone of a relationship with me. So this curly haired young chap did me a favour in a way, his behaviour made me a little more reticent perhaps in chasing after a boy. I never went out with curly haired boys ever again! Instead I chose dark haired guys with straight hair, played it cool, let the boys do the running and the boys seemed to like that! So girls, take a tip from me, keep an aura of mystique and let the guy do the chasing.
Thereafter nobody broke my heart, not that he did, but he dented my pride. I have been lucky in love, and for that I am very blessed, so the haiku at the end of this blog post ends on a positive note.
So with that in mind let’s return back to Ron’s prompt words Crystal and Hope, by introducing you to a photo that I took of a very special crystal grotto, isn’t it spectacular?
I wrote a post way back about this amazing place called Juniper Artland where I photographed this grotto, “The Light That Pours Out Of Me,” by Anya Gallacio, so perhaps if you’ve been following my blog for a long while you will remember it. If not, then here it is, (it’s always worth a multiple visit, so do click on the link):
https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/06/15/jupiter-artland-the-light-pours-out-of-me/
Juniper Artland is a must see recommendation f you are ever in Scotland, it really is an amazingly inspiring place, here’s some of the other links on my blog in which I feature my response to sculptures at this wonderful Artland (via my photography and poetry) :
https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/my-friday-image-and-poem-the-weeping-girls-laura-ford/
So this is my haiku inspired by Anya Gallacio’s magnificent Crystal grotto:
The Grotto of Unrequited Love
;
His promise ring sits,
Crystal bright on my finger,
Mockery of hope.
In tearful pieces,
Hope’s sweet embrace lost in stone,
Cruel, a clear cut edge.
Pain’s ocean rages,
Knife to fortune’s longing heart,
Hope’s pathway crumbles.
Crystal deep ridges,
Bury far inside my soul,
Desire groaning.
Luminous moment,
Lips lock hope’s tomfoolery,
Final kiss goodbye.
Fool I, to want you,
Curly haired lover,
Hope’s cheeky prankster .
Reverberating,
Darkness fills my soul, echoes,
Past sorrows return.
Transient moments,
Now, forgotten, forgiven,
Replaced by love’s light.
In Crystal Grotto,
Forever, hope, sparkles bright,
Love finds its sweet way.
© Marjorie Mallon 2016 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
Do comment and let me know what you thought of my haikus, and of course the amazing Juniper Artland.
Today I’m off work, so I’m doing a bit of blogging this morning, then off to Tai Chi, later in the day I have lots of chores to catch up on, sigh, if only I could do them like this!
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
