From Aberdeenshire in the north to Cornwall in the south, take a fanciful journey down the United Kingdom by way of defacement, disinformation and doggerel. Not only a pareidoliac, who sees faces in maps, the Prickly Witch is also a compulsive rhymer and alliterator. This book results from a combination of these afflictions. No offence... Continue Reading →

Recently at one of our workshop meetings, we explored the art of the Acrostic – a poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word and after an exciting round of readings, decided to share them with you all! We hope you enjoy. Strangers in the moonlight Trailing footsteps in the... Continue Reading →

By Susie Field Life begins at 40. How many times have we heard that phrase? Well all I can say is I’m still waiting and it’s been a long time now. I honestly thought once the children were in their teens and off my hands so to speak, life would be much easier, after all... Continue Reading →

by Gareth Clegg It used to be that anyone wanting to get their book published, needed to sell their soul and peddle their wares around town, sending a huge typed manuscript to a horde of seedy agents and the big five publishing houses. After waiting many months, some lucky minority may receive a reply to... Continue Reading →

by Jennifer M According to the American Library Association (ALA), the most banned or challenged book is the Scary Stories series by children’s horror writer Alvin Schwartz (in this context, the ALA treats challenges to full series as a single title). The ALA has been collecting data and receiving reports from the media and various... Continue Reading →

By Sara B    The first memory I have of a book is pretending I was engrossed in one as a small child whilst sitting on a bus with my mother. She was a great role model for reading as she was rarely without one herself, and there were shelves of them all over the... Continue Reading →

by Owen In the age of scrutinising the bookshelves of others on Zoom, there rises a new opportunity for creativity and storytelling. This is an opportunity that those working in libraries and bookshops have already mastered: forming book displays that tell a story through their titles. A famous recent example of such storytelling features Prime... Continue Reading →

Have you ever thought of the many ways in which we use the term ‘book’? We can use it as a noun to refer to a set of pages, bound together in some way, which may or may not have written matter on it. Usually we assume it will have a cover too. Nowadays, we... Continue Reading →

In light of the recent publications from our members, we thought this month would be a good time for some thoughts on Self-publishing. Below you will find the experiences of two of our members, Susie and Nick: Recently, I have finished the process of self-publishing my book of short stories. As the proceeds for the... Continue Reading →

As we promised in a previous article, Susie Field has done it again! A Moment in Time is her follow-up collection to Step into the Unknown, all in support of Leeds Spinal Surgery Research Fund. Step into a world of twists and turns.Tales of the supernatural, love and heartbreak, tears and laughter – all carefully... Continue Reading →