Written by Samantha Henthorn, Alex Cavanagh, Leah Leanne Wood, Shaylah Wilkinson & Claire Kingsley⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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I should firstly like to thank the authors,Samantha Henthorn, Alex Cavanagh, Leah Leanne Wood, Shaylah Wilkinson & Claire Kingsley, for providing me with a free digital copy for my review.
All royalties from the sale of this anthology will go to the Bury Hospice.
I read What We Did During Lockdown during the #20BooksOfSummer20 Reading Challenge hosted by Cathy @746books.com.
All royalties from the sale of this anthology will go to the Bury Hospice.
I read What We Did During Lockdown during the #20BooksOfSummer20 Reading Challenge hosted by Cathy @746books.com.
The blurb:
Twin daughters provide inspiration for one spontaneous poet...
Tuesday morning and Martin has a meltdown watching Piers Morgan... what has Martin been up to during lockdown? And will his wife find out? ....
Inspired by Van Gogh an outsider's artwork gets gritty. Van Gogh would be proud...
Karen's brain is fried by a faint hum that turns into something else. But, she'll be OK (won't you, Karen?) ...
Mimi's search for toilet roll takes her to the other side of town she thinks she knows everything but is finally left speechless.
Written at a time of panic, pandemic and lockdown.
Good things can come out of disaster.
All royalties from this book will be donated to Bury Hospice.
Short Stories
Poetry
Fiction
My thoughts:
This anthology contains one poem and four short stories written during lockdown.A Poem by Alex Cavanagh
This nineteen-line poem is about the importance of friends and family to the poet.
He tells us that his children bring him joy in this world. They will be his legacy when he is dead and gone. While other souls move on after their passing, he intends to remain on this plane; to watch over his loved ones; friends and family.
The Suitcase by Leah Leanne Wood
The Suitcase is a reflection by an unfaithful husband who is tired of his family and contemplating a new, more exciting life with his mistress. The mistress is everything the wife isn't, and he feels more alive in her company. He has packed a suitcase in readiness for leaving his wife and children that day. Is he making the right decision?
The man gets his answer in this thought-provoking short story.
Devil's Artist by Shaylah Wilkinson
In this short dark story we learn how a young man's fascination with a friend's acts of self-harming shapes his future. The young man sets out to teach the friend how valuable life is, and is then inspired to become an artist. Over time he finds many similar muses to inspire him.
This is a chilling tale. Not at all what I was expecting!
Good Vibrations by Claire Kingsley
Karen, a middle-aged woman, discovers that smiling changes her face and makes her feel more positive. She wants to share this newfound knowledge, but is anyone interested.
A story about a woman who thinks she has an insect in her ear. A quirky quick read.
Magic Pound by Samantha Henthorn
A short story about a wealthy woman who can afford anything that money can buy. She finds that some of her usual groceries are not available during the lockdown, but is able to buy suitable replacement items in the supermarket. What she really needs, is something that cannot be purchased.
An uplifting tale of friendships made.
What We Did During Lockdown is an eclectic collection of work, written by five independently published authors living in and around Bury.
Readers will be pleased to know that all royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the Bury Hospice.
Interview with the Authors
~ Samantha Henthorn, Alex Cavanagh, Leah Leanne Wood,
Shaylah Wilkinson & Claire Kingsley ~
Thank you everyone for taking time out to talk about your latest collaborative project What We Did During Lockdown, with special thanks to Samantha for collating the answers and being the spokesperson for the group.
Good luck with the book. And now to the interview:
I'd like to ask you all about how you came to write your book What We Did During Lockdown?
Sam: At the start of Lockdown, there was plenty of creative talk on the internet. People posted that they 'finally had time to read' and so on. The country seemed motivated and ready to embrace life at home with various internet exercise regimes and artistic ventures. My friend Alex started a Facebook group for our group of friends to keep in touch. Many of us posted once a day, and we 'met up' for a weekly Zoom quiz. Feeling inspired, I asked a question… 'Does anyone want to write a short story collection with me?' By the end of the day, I had plenty of responses. Friends who had been meaning to write THAT story for a while.Unfortunately, poor motivation set in during the following few weeks for many of us. Then I received the first submission from Leah (Leah Leanne Wood). Leah is a professional singer usually, providing entertainment in local events or in pubs and parties. Her voice is phenomenal, on Easter Monday she treated us all to a three and a half-hour singing marathon – via Facebook Live of course! Her story about Martin and his suitcase made me smile, it was so wonderful to see my friend's words leaping out at me from the page. Leah really spurred me on to complete the project.
My story 'Magic Pound' was inspired by the end of my creative writing degree's module for this year. Fairy tales and Shakespeare's Tempest were on my mind, so along came two characters. Mimi (instead of Miranda) and Pros (Prospero).
Alex (Alex Cavanagh) wrote a poem about his family, his gorgeous wife Kerry is actually Leah's cousin. Their twin daughters Ellie and Beth provided inspiration, both beautiful and both complete opposite to one another. Alex has a Facebook page where he showcases his poetry.
One morning, I received a text from Claire (Claire Kingsley). She apologized for not adding to the collection, she too had lacked the inclination to write. However, later that same day she sent me her contribution 'Good Vibrations'. Claire changed her mind and wrote this in half a day, it really made me laugh. Claire told me that she wrote her story 'in defence of all middle-aged women. There is a meme going around 'Whatever, Karen' (calling someone a Karen to dismiss their point of view).
The final story came from our friend's daughter, Shaylah. Devil's Artist was a short story she wrote a while ago, unpublished in a drawer somewhere. Amazing how some people don't realize their talent!
After speaking to Leah, we decided to dedicate the book to her mum Sam who sadly passed away just over two years ago. The dedication reads 'This book was written in memory of Sam Hunt, a cherished mother, nana, sister and friend.' Sam was also an auntie, a partner and many things to many people. I have such fond memories of her on days and nights out people seemed to gravitate towards her and her generous smile. She was funny, kind and beautiful inside and out. Sam had four daughters, her greatest creation; they are four remarkable individuals (and my friends, Carla, Janaki, Kamala and Leah). It does feel as though Sam is looking down on her daughters. I remember something that happened on my sister-in-law’s hen do six months after Sam’s passing, involving a tray of free shots… Bury Hospice provided really helpful home care for Sam near the end. That is why they were chosen as our charity.
Now that this little project is complete, I am back to writing. I am currently halfway through the first draft of book five of the Curmudgeon Avenue series. 'The World Does Not Revolve Around Curmudgeon Avenue'.
Thank you, Deborah, for kindly letting us gatecrash your blog, Samantha.
| Author Bios | ||||||||||
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| Social Media Links – Samantha Henthorn | |
| Web site | https://samanthahenthornfindstherightwords.blog |
| https://www.instagram.com/samantha.henthornauthor/ | |
| Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16004689.Samantha_Henthorn |
| Facebook Author Page | https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaHenthornAuthor/ |
| X | https://twitter.com/SamanthaHfinds |
| Newsletter | https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/d0q2h7 |
Thank you so much we really appreciate it xx
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