S.C Newland - Writer

It's time to hail the leprechauns and enjoy a jig or too, it's St Patrick's Day in Ireland. To add to the celebrations here's a list of 10 great writers from the home of Guinness: James Joyce – Renowned for groundbreaking works like Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man . W.B. Yeats – A Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright, known for works such as The Tower and The Wild Swans at Coole . Oscar Wilde – Famous for his wit, plays like The Importance of Being Earnest , and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray . Samuel Beckett – A master of absurdist theatre and literature, known for Waiting for Godot and Endgame . Seamus Heaney – Another Nobel laureate, celebrated for his poetry collections like Death of a Naturalist . Jonathan Swift – The satirist behind Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal . Edna O'Brien – Acclaimed for her novels such as The Country Girls trilogy. Roddy Doyle – Known for contemporary works like The Commitments and Pa...

Today is International Womens Day, to celebrate women writers I have chosen a few of my favourites over the years, in no particular order, here's a little list. Debbie Macomber - incredibly prolific American author, almost a key mover in the Romance and Women Friendship novels market. Although dyslexic she was determined to succeed. A success that brought to the world Cedar Cove and the Mrs Miracle Christmas stories. Mary Norton - The author of 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' and the Borrowers stories. Her first novel The Magic Bed Knob was written in New York during World War 2 and published in 1944. I still enjoy B and B to this day. She passed away in 1992 and was buried in Hartland, Devon.  Edith Nesbitt - was an English writer who popularised fantasy stories for children, notably: The Phoenix and the Carpet. Although, probably her best known novel is The Railway Children. She also wrote several adult 'ghost' stories, one of which Man-Sized Marble was adapted by th...

Today is World Book Day in the UK. A day to celebrate reading books with children and family. Began thinking about the children's stories I enjoyed as a kid and thought of Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. This mixes a couple of genres - fantasy and science-fiction with quirky animals and mystery and adventure.  The plot is: about Mrs. Frisby, a brave field mouse, and how she seeks help from super-intelligent, escaped lab rats to save her home and ill son. Together, they confront dangerous obstacles, revealing the rats' complex past and paving the way for a daring rescue. Loved the story as a child especially the idea that the rats had electricity. Always preferred it to Watership Down. The author Robert C. O'Brien passed away in 1973, two years after the book was published. His daughter Jane Leslie Conly later wrote two sequels:    Racso and the Rats of NIMH  (1986) and  n  R-T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH  (1990). An anima...

C.S. Lewis's classic novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is 75 years old today. The classic childrens novel features four siblings in WWII England who discover a magical wardrobe leading to Narnia. They meet Aslan the lion, battle the White Witch, and fulfil an ancient prophecy. C.S. Lewis, an Irish-born author and scholar, is best known for his Chronicles of Narnia series. He was a Christian apologist, literary critic, and close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien Picture AI generation Nightcafe

Bouncing around the superhighway (remember that buzz-word for the internet, back in the day?) I came across The Writing District website. There you will find information for online classes, an informative blog, a current competition and paid-for services like proof-reading and critiques. Worth a gander.

Valentine's Day is the day for romance, and a chance to show your partner your feelings of love. This can be via cards, flowers, chocolates, and dining out, all designed for reciprocal feelings of the heart. Writing messages in cards is a great way to use the craft to express your feelings for the one you love. One of the earliest rhymes is still one of the best:  The rose is red, the violet's blue, The honey's sweet, and so are you. Romance writing is still very much alive, a recent list of a possible Top Ten of romance classics listed the following: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Of the above, I read Jane Eyre at school. My memories of it are more got...