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Showing posts from May, 2016

Talking of Witches - Guest Post by Leslie Wilson

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Malefice , the novel I for adults that I wrote in the very early nineties and which I have just self-published on the Kindle platform, is the story of a witch who was prosecuted and hanged in the seventeenth century, and my inspiration for it was the simple thought: I want to write a novel about a witch. The reason it's set in the seventeenth century is that the only local witch prosecution I could find out about was in Waltham St Lawrence parish register: "Mabel modwyn widowe abact 68 years old arraigned for witch craft at Redding 29th Feb: and condemned on the 5th of March, 1655. Shee lived at ye south-wist cornr. of lower Innings in ye cornr. next to Binfield" I changed the name of the village, and the witch; I was definitely writing for adults, and Mabel sounded a bit like The Worst Witch . Alice Slade, my witch would be called, and the village would be Whitchurch St Leonard. I did a lot of research; I always do for my novels, and I found out that the

Seven Miles of Steel Thistles: How a blog turned into a book - guest post by Kath Langrish

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It was back in 2009 that I created a blog on all things to do with fantasy, fairy tales, folklore and children’s literature – and named it Seven Miles of Steel Thistles .      The phrase is borrowed from an Irish fairy tale in which the hero gallops his pony over ‘seven miles of hill on fire, and seven miles of steel thistles, and seven miles of sea.’  To some people this seemed a strange name for a literary blog. ‘Shouldn’t the title have something about books or reading in it?’ one friend asked, anxious for my success. But for me, ‘seven miles of steel thistles’ was evocative not only of what sometimes seems the endless struggle of writing a book, but of the trials of everyday life too.  Some Scottish fairy tales have a phrase with a similar lilt which tells how the characters must cross ‘seven bens and seven glens and seven mountain moors’  –  but the imagery isn’t quite so expressive.  Here we go, all of us: dancing the flames, kicking up the black dust on the scorched hills,

If You Missed All The Fun... by Susan Price and Andrew Price

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Goodbye - Susan Price and Andrew Price

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It's been wonderful having you all join me here, folks - but there's been so much happening, it's been hard to keep up.         Let's join our roaming camera for a round-up... Inside the janitor's broom cupboard...  At The Front Entrance... Inside, At The Party... Speeches - The Troll Thanks Everyone... The Goats' 45 minute speech on why everyone should vote Green... Back Outside, At The Door Back Inside, On The Dance-Floor... As the music ends... That's all, folks!             Goodbye!      Bye-bye, darlings!   Goodbye!    Bye-eeee! Goodbye Everyone!  Thank You For Joining Us!  Three Billy Goats Gruff Story Book Three Billy Goats Gruff Colouring-In and Activity Book US Edition (Conforms to American spelling.) The Runaway Chapatti Tinku Tries To Help  

Interview With The Troll - by Susan Price and Andrew Price

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                      Three Billy Goats Gruff Story Book Three Billy Goats Gruff Colouring-In and Activity Book US Edition (Conforms to American spelling.) For Next Episode, Click Here

Well, Hello... - by Susan Price and Andrew Price

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Oh - ha-ha! Nice talking to you guys!       The croc and the tiger, ladies and gentlemen, from The Runaway Chapati. Tinku Tries To Help                                                                  Written and illustrated by Adam Price “In the shadow of the mystical mountains, Deep in the tiger-haunted jungle, Stood a city of flowers and fountains, That was home to the marvellous Mogul. “In his palace of marble and jade, With domes and spires of golden glory, Tinku the elephant lived and played, Now listen as I tell her story.”   This is the most exciting day of Little Tinku's life! The Maharaja is to be married and the whole palace is alive with hustle and bustle. Tinku wants to help to make the day special. There must be something she can do!  Gorgeous pictures inspired by the art and architecture of Northern India, help to tell the heart-warming story of little Tinku's adventures as she tries

Haute Couture - by Susan Price and Andrew Price

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Welcome back! I’m so excited – we can watch the arrival of Little Billy Goat Gruff and his special guest, Tinku live, as it happens! Via our amazing Goat-Cam installed in their limo! Tinku Tries To Help, written and illustrated by Adam Price   And we're back! I'm talking to one of the stars of the Three Billy Goats Gruff , Little Billy Goat Gruff.    Three Billy Goats Gruff Story Book  "Who's trip-tripping across my bridge?" This well-loved traditional tale is here retold by Carnegie Medal-winning author Susan Price, and illustrated in an exuberant slap-stick comic-book style by artist Andrew Price. Children will love it for its suspense and humour as they enjoy chanting out loud the repeated refrains. Adults will appreciate how the repeated words and syllables help children recognise how sounds are reproduced in letters. This book is by a UK author, but the wording of