FREE Halloween Weekend Book Downloads!!

Halloween is upon us- and I love a good monster book! To celebrate the launch of The Unhealthy Ghost- I have teamed up with some lovely authors to do a Halloween Weekend Promo!

Download the following books for FREE at Amazon- and please any reviews help :) 

1. The Unhealthy Ghost

2. The Monster Treaty of In-betweeny

3. Little Monster's Book of Feelings

4. Hermit Finds a New Home

 

Also, check out Diana Ho-Huynh's Give Away below: 

Happy Reading!

Laurelle Lewis

5 Great Rhyming Books

1. Written by Zoe Michal and illustrated by Nejla Shojaie, this gorgeous book reminds me of old Golden Book vibes from my childhood. Teaching kids about animals, and also reinforcing the value of maternal love, this book gave me the warm and fuzzies. 

2. Written by Ciara L. Hill and illustrated by Christian Krabbe, 'Soulful Holidays' was just such a joy to read. I love holiday books, as there is always something magical and special about holidays. I loved that this book featured different cultural aspects to what I'm used to, and talked about holidays such as Kwanzaa, something we don't hear much about in Australia. The pictures are funky and bright, and the rhyming is very strong. It was a joy to read!

3. Written and illustrated by Katie Weaver, I'd been wanting to read this book for a while. I love the title, and the cover makes it look very dramatic. I wasn't sure what to expect as I turned the pages. I was pleasantly surprised as the book went from a story about a storm, to a funny, fantastical journey about a little boy searching for what makes the sky roar. In the end, he discovers that's it's dinosaurs having tea parties in the clouds! I loved the magical, imaginative ending- and it was not what I expected at all!

4. Written by Clay Anderson and illustrated by Natalie Merheb, this book was a delight to watch (I watched it on Youtube-video by Swing High Children's Books ) The rhyme is strong, and the illustrations are beautiful.  This book is about how much God loves us, and no matter what happens, Jesus/God is always there for us through the storms and threw the rainbows. Obviously, this book is aimed at a Christian audience, and would not appeal to everyone, but is a beautiful book, that would be a hit in any Sunday school or Christian book shop. 

5. I loved the creativity of this story, and I love a good monster book! The parents in this story decide to take matters into their own hands when their children can't sleep, because they are scared of monsters. The parents watch and wait, until a monster appears, then they follow it to Monsterland. Here they discover, the monsters' aren't really trying to scare anyone, they are just curious, and have been slipping through the door of In-Between to explore our world. Together they make a treaty- and after this, no child was scared again! 

This book plays into the classic fear of the monster under the bed/in the cupboard that most children have at some point in their lives. This book is very clever and unique, and the rhyme is a fun to read, as the words roll off the tongue when read aloud. 

Happy Reading! 

Laurelle Lewis

Author Interview with Charlotte Selbi

Where are you from?

I am from London, England but now live in southern Germany.

What do you do with yourself beside writing?

I am a mum to 3 kids, have 2 dogs and run a German restaurant with my 1 husband JJJ.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I have always loved reading but never ever thought that I could ever write anything myself. My youngest daughter never showed much interest in books so as a birthday present one year, I decided to write a story and turn it into a book all about her and our dogs, Charlie and Molly. She loved the fact that the illustrations in the book looked so much like our dogs and this worked out very well because since then she has shown a much greater interest in reading. So I really only discovered, for myself, a love for writing about 5 or 6 years ago.

What is your favourite book?

This is such a hard question. There are so many great books that I can think of but there is one book that I really enjoyed and I read many times over and that is ‘Die weiße Massai’ (German version) by Corinne Hofmann.

What is the first book that made you cry?

Not only can I remember what book it was, I can remember where I was when I started crying and it wasn’t that long ago! Haha! It was the book ‘Philomena’ and I was sitting in my local library waiting for my daughter to come out of school.

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

I started by writing books about my dogs. I wrote these in English and since publishing them, I have also translated them in German so there are both languages (English and German) on each page. These books belong in their own series. The books that I have written based on stories about my daughter belong in their own series too. But each book can be read alone without having to be read in any particular order.

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

Finding and hiring a really good editor!

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I have a whole folder full of ideas, written pages, poems and at least 6 children’s stories that I may or may not continue with in the future. But I like the thought that they are there, sitting in my folder just waiting for me.

What’s the best way to market your books?

This is something that I am still learning and I would love to know the answer to myself! Everyday I watch these amazing children’s authors who I follow online and I am in total awe of them. So many wonderful authors, marketing their amazing books, making videos, doing books readings, connecting with other authors etc. A lot can be learned from them – and I am still in the process of learning.

How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?

I am still a part-time writer. I think it would be amazing to be able to one day call myself a ‘full-time children’s book author’. Maybe when my kids are a little older and I have more time to devote to my ideas and stories and of course, the marketing that goes into selling books, then I could look into doing this full time. How amazing would that be! Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, I visited primary school classes with Charlie, (one of my dogs) and I would read my books to the children who were learning English as a second language. I loved that! Charlie loved that! The school kids loved that! It was so much fun. That is something that I could imagine doing full-time.

What is your favourite childhood book? Definitely ‘The Island of Adventure’ by Enid Blyton. As an adult I re-read the adventure series – amazing, amazing books! I still love them, even now.

Does your family support your career as a writer?

100%. My husband has encouraged me all the way and I just love it when I overhear him telling people that I have written children’s books. I love hearing the pride in his voice. My Father-in-Law is also a wonderful encouragement. He used to be a teacher before he retired so anything that gets children reading and motivated to read books gets his backing. My youngest daughter likes my books a lot but has asked me to wait for her to leave school before I go and visit and read in her English class! Haha!

How long on average does it take you to write a book? The story or rhyme can come to me quite quickly. I’ll have an idea, then jot it down and build from there. The process of tidying it up and editing, then discussing and producing illustrations of course takes longer. For me personally, it can take up to a year or more for my idea to end up as a finished book.

Charlotte is also the author of Greedy Grace, Impatient Grace and Tooth Fairies and What Makes my Dad Special?

Available @ Amazon

Happy Reading! 

Laurelle Lewis

Interview-Erin'Louise Rickman

Where are you from?

The UK, specifically, Brighton!

What do you do with yourself beside writing?

I am a teacher and I’m studying a MSc by Research in Reptile Behaviour and Welfare!

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Since I was younger, I used to have Wattpad, and accumulated over 1 million reads, now I’m just hoping for the same luck!

What is your favourite book? Ooh, hard one. I don’t have books, but I have series! The Witcher, Song of Ice and Fire and of course Lord of The Rings. I just love fantasy, and as I’ve gotten older, dark and grimdark fantasy are what I’ve really taken a liking too!

What is the first book that made you cry? Paperhouses, by John Greene! Still gets me today!

Does writing energize or exhaust you? Ooh, this is a good one. Writing, energizes me, editing exhaust me haha!

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Not realising how much work goes into writing! I thought writing the book was all the work, I was wrong. Writing is 35% editing, formatting ect 45% and then marketing is another 20%!

Where are you from?

The UK, specifically, Brighton!

What do you do with yourself beside writing?

I am a teacher and I’m studying a MSc by Research in Reptile Behaviour and Welfare!

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Since I was younger, I used to have Wattpad, and accumulated over 1 million reads, now I’m just hoping for the same luck!

What is your favourite book? Ooh, hard one. I don’t have books, but I have series! The Witcher, Song of Ice and Fire and of course Lord of The Rings. I just love fantasy, and as I’ve gotten older, dark and grimdark fantasy are what I’ve really taken a liking too!

What is the first book that made you cry? Paperhouses, by John Greene! Still gets me today!

Does writing energize or exhaust you? Ooh, this is a good one. Writing, energizes me, editing exhaust me haha!

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Not realising how much work goes into writing! I thought writing the book was all the work, I was wrong. Writing is 35% editing, formatting ect 45% and then marketing is another 20%!

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? Yes, I think so. I am not an emotional person. I find romance and sadness very hard to write. That’s why I’ve swapped to writing dark fantasy writing, you don’t need to worry about it as much there. It’s all about the descriptions and the shock factor! I don’t want my writers to fall in love, I want them to grimace and have an amazing adventure!

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Lois Jackman, my best friend, is also an author and she helps me so much with editing and writers block. I honestly believe my stories would not be as good if it wasn’t for her!

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? Network! In fantasy, world building is EVERYTHING! So I don’t want to world build just for a stand alone book!

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? It made me swap genres, tenses, improved my spelling and grammar. I was thinking about this the other day. Now, I don’t dislike my first book and series, but I am not in love with it anymore because it is just not me now!

What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?

Tolkien! As a young adult, I could never ever understand the hype, but now he is one of my biggest inspirations.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I actually will research little things, but with world building not so much. So, for example I got into a wormhole the other day on 1600’s houses in the UK. I also research a lot about the dos and don’t of world building, religion building so on so forth, but I don’t overly get caught up in things like ‘when was this invented’ because I’m in a fantasy world it doesn’t matter! I can bend the rules a bit!

How do you select the names of your characters? Now, this is an interesting trick. As I write about fantasy creatures, I just make the names up by looking around the room and combining objects, some of my favourite are Cofice (Coffee and ice) and Dackett (Deodorant and Jacket).

Happy Reading! 

Laurelle Lewis