1660-1680 was the time the longcase clock reached near perfection. It bore a newly designed anchor escapement believed to have been designed by Gulielmus (William) Clement of London in the year 1671, thus giving the clock more accuracy.
Some believe he is also the creator of the longcase that housed the longer pendulum. The real William Clement is also credited with building ‘The Turret Clock’ for Kings College Cambridge in 1671 for which he was handsomely paid £42. The clock is now housed in the Science Museum, London.
Here is an image of the top part of one of the Clement Clocks
This is where the magic was woven from. The story of the Clement family stems fictionally from Gulielmus (William) Clement.
Quote from the book ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time.’
A big brass face, once bright and gleaming, barely shimmers as his long, black hands rotate slow…
This month, over on Instagram we are doing an August Challenge called the #WriterFriendsChallenge A lot of the challenge is to do with your writing motivation and inspiration. My current work in progress (when I can grab a spare five minutes) is Book Three in the ‘Young Ebenezer’ series. However, it all started here with ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time’ back in August 2017. Check it out and Happy Reading Rose English ~~~<<@
During a recent blog interview I was asked about what inspires me to write, and I gave the example of ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time’ which came about after I won 1st prize in a seasonal short story competition with my entry ‘The Magic of Grandfather Christmas’.
Original Inspiration
I was originally inspired to write this story when I became interested in how the ‘Grandfather Clock’ got its name.
In my local library I found a wonderful book and the quote that stands out for me is this:
‘A grandfather clock has a face and a voice. As its name suggests, it is more than a piece of furniture; it is a member of the family’
Richard C.R. Barder 1983
(The book was ‘English Country Grandfather Clocks’)
After a great deal more research both through books and websites I discovered a fascinating song. ‘Grandfather’s Clock’ written by Henry Clay Work…
E-BOOK AND PAPERBACK RELEASE DATE: SATURDAY DECEMBER 19TH 2020
Welcome E.C. Hibbs
We are so happy to welcome the very talented award-winning author, artist and ‘Santa’s’ Little Helper’. To our book blog today.
Emma is often found lost in the woods or in her own imagination. She adores nature, fantasy, and anything to do with winter. She also hosts a YouTube channel, discussing writing tips and the real-world origins of fairy tales. She lives with her family in Cheshire, England.
Emma went to university – not to read English, but to study animal behaviour. She loves nature just as much as creating, and she decided to train in a science so she would have multiple strings to her bow. Emma specialised in marine and polar ethology and ecology, has worked with over 80 species of animals – everything from rabbits to rhinos – and carried on scribbling her stories. Once she finished her degree she jumped a plane to Finland which has become her second home. Her favourite season is winter and she adores snow. One of her nicknames is Lumi: the Finnish word for snow.
GUEST POST
A Heartwarming Tale from Lapland
It’s amazing, how inspiration can sometimes strike twice from the same lightning bolt – or aurora, in this case. A huge chunk of the Foxfires Trilogy comes from the five winters I have spent in Finnish Lapland. While there, alongside experiencing the frozen north in every aspect I could, I worked as a live storyteller, bringing traditional fairy tales and arctic legends to life. Side note: some of the people I performed for included comedian Ed Byrne and actor James McAvoy! But out of all the stories and people, there is one which holds a special place in my heart, because of the circumstances which brought it about.
December, 2015: my first winter in Finland. As I did on any other morning, I got up, left my cabin and went to work. It was a bitterly cold day: there were no clouds to hold in the heat, and the mercury didn’t climb above -20°C. In order to keep warm, everyone dressed in insulated snowsuits, which essentially looked like a cross between a boiler suit and the Michelin Man. As the first coachload of guests arrived, I greeted and played with the kids in the snow, but then I was approached by the guide. He told me that a little girl named Maddie was still on board with her family, but she couldn’t come outside because she didn’t have a suit in her size. I went up to meet them and keep them company.
Maddie looked about nine or ten years old, and as soon as I saw her, I knew she had been through a lot. All her hair was gone as a consequence of treatment, and her skin was heavily marked. When she saw me coming, whether through shyness or embarrassment, she tried to hide her face.
Uh-uh, I said to myself. We can’t have this.
I thought quickly, sat down, and made up a story for her on the spot. I told her that a long time ago, a little fox had been pushed out of his burrow by his siblings, because his fur was white while theirs was red. He wandered all about the forest, looking for anyone who would accept him for who he was. He went to some reindeer, but they thought he was a ghost and ran away. Eventually, he gave up and thought he would be alone forever, until he was approached by a magical being who had been watching. To warm him, they ran a race, and the fox was so overjoyed to have a friend at last, he swept the snow with his tail. It rose above the trees, transformed all different colours, and created the northern lights.
This story came from the same common root as The Foxfires Trilogy. In Finland, legend says that the aurora borealis is created by a magical fox which sweeps snow into the sky; and the modern Finnish word for the northern lights is revontulet, literally meaning fox fires. My larger series was already beginning to form in my mind, but the myth had touched me so deeply that I knew I had to use it a second time. As I told it to Maddie, her eyes lit up and she listened to me in wonder. By the time I was finished, a suit had been brought to her, and she went out to play.
The next evening, I attended a party. All the proceedings paused when it was announced that the northern lights were beginning to appear. Everyone rushed outside, including me, and I cried with happiness. It was the first time I had ever seen the aurora with my own eyes. And as I watched it, I felt a hand tugging on my sleeve. I turned around and found Maddie next to me.
“Is that the fox running?” she asked excitedly.
I nodded. “Yes, it is,” I said.
After the lights had faded, Maddie and her parents sought me out. She gave me a massive hug, and said something to me which broke my heart.
“I just wanted to thank you for the nice story, and wish you a Merry Christmas, because I’m going to be spending next Christmas in heaven.”
To this day, I don’t know how I didn’t crumble. She spoke so nonchalantly, as though heaven was just somewhere down the road. Afterwards, I learned that a couple of months later, Maddie sadly passed away.
In the years since, I’ve performed the fox story thousands of times, to people from all over the world. I even wrote it down, under the title Talvi and the Stars, which went on to win the 2019 Fairytalez Award for Best New Fairy Tale. But to me, it is always simply called Maddie’s Story, and I can still picture her face whenever I tell it live.
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E-BOOK AND PAPERBACK RELEASE DATE: SATURDAY DECEMBER 19TH 2020
E-book pre-order is available NOW, and to celebrate the cover reveal, you can get an early look at the prologue!
Enter a frozen world of brutal beauty, where Spirits roam, nights last for months, and magic is wrought by the beat of a drum…
BLURB:
As the light returns, darkness will fall…
Spring is coming to the Northlands, but even as winter fades, an icy terror spreads. The three Worlds are on the brink of collapse, and ancient monsters rise from the earth, their wicked eyes set firmly on the mages.
Tuomas, still reeling from his defiance of the Great Bear Spirit, must finally face the reality of who he is. Mihka is furious with him, Elin refuses to speak to him, and the people do not trust him. As the villagers drive the reindeer back into the south to safety, he must set out with Lumi one final time to right his wrongs and keep the Worlds from falling apart.
But this quest shall bring the greatest test of all, for it will take him into the Deathlands: a place where no living person has ever stood…
Beginning December 19th (and including pre-orders of The Night River) 10% of royalties from the sale of each book in the Foxfires Trilogy will be donated to Adopt a Reindeer Foundation, to support the indigenous Arctic Sami people and help their traditional way of life to thrive.
“Do not fear for my safety or comfort,” said Lumi. “I will be in no immediate danger unless the Sunlight touches me.”
Tuomas sighed. “That’s another thing which is my fault, isn’t it? I put you in this body in the first place.”
“Yes, you did,” Lumi admitted, a touch of ice at the edge of her voice. “But not this time, and you know that. And I can hardly remain stoic where you are concerned. I thought that would be evident by now.”
“But you won’t fade?”
“No. Though I will ask you to allow me to keep my distance. The people must not know me as you do.”
“Why? Don’t you think it will be good for them, to see they don’t have to be terrified of you?”
“They should respect me.”
“Fear is different to respect,” Tuomas insisted. “Please don’t let pride get the better of you again.”
“Get the better of me?” she repeated pointedly. “We are both guilty of that. It is what we are: to be proud, and powerful. In all my thousands of years of existence, Tuomas, I could count on these fingers you gave me, how often I have terrorised them. The same can even be said for my mother, and for all the Spirits. Nature will be nature. Stories will do what they will with our natures. Do you not remember, when you came to me in the World Above, how the souls held no fear of me?”
Tuomas hesitated. She was right. The way they had danced around her, revelled in her Lights as she swept the aurora through the sky… it was as though they had come home.
“Until recently, when the abilities were cut off, only mages possessed the power to commune with Spirits,” Lumi said. “And out of all the mages who have ever lived, only you know the absolute truth of what we are. The people have spun their own fear and stories by themselves, and I respond in kind. Let it continue, if that is where they may draw their own power. They shall need strength, as much as you will.”
Tuomas swallowed. “I’d never thought of it like that before.”
“Well, you have had other matters to think on since this all began,” said Lumi. “And I dare say there is a limit to what a human mind is able to take, even if it is given life by a Spirit.”
He shrugged. “Fair point.”
Lumi put her hands on his shoulders. It was so light, he barely felt it through the thick fur of his coat.
“Now, go and eat. I will remain out here.”
Tuomas shot her a hopeful glance. “Won’t you come over with me? Please?”
“No.”
With that, she turned around and walked away.
Thank you for visiting. Later we will have a guest post from this talented Author E.C. Hibbs
Back in February ‘Seal Mother ~ A Selkie Tale in Verse’ was chosen as a Saturday Spotlight on Rainne’s Rambling’s I just wanted to share it here with you as on Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th October 2019 the book will be FREE to download to celebrate the release of my original story that sparked the children’s illustrated tale.
Click to read more as the Seal Mother Spotlight is after ‘As Dreams are Made On’ by Maria Gibbs.
I have two short reads for my spotlight this week.
As Dreams Are Made On by Maria Gibbs
Matty Taylor: a beautiful young woman is starting out in her new life with her husband. Plagued by visions that seem all too real she seeks advice from the Gypsy at the local fair.
Donald Taylor: cannot believe his luck when Matty agrees to marry him. A methodical, down to earth, man who requires irrefutable evidence to believe in the existence of anything.
Thomas Trevelyan: Enigmatic and exciting but with an agenda of his own.
Matty is pulled from her life in the 21st Century into a frightening dream world where Thomas Trevelyan rescues her from a crowd of angry peasants and spirits her off to his secluded house in the woods.
Frightened when he cannot wake Matty from her sleep Donald has to start challenging the way he thinks in…
1. Do you write as a full-time author or do you have to squeeze it in around a full-time job or looking after the children? If you don’t write as your main job what are your aims for your writing?
I somehow squeeze my writing in around my full-time job working for the Library Service in Herefordshire. I’m sometimes not sure where I find the extra time but I can be found writing on the bus on my way to work or during my lunchtime. My aims for my writing are to continue working on my current 3 WIP novels. Hoping to get them all out at some point in 2018.
2. What inspires you to write?
I tend to write everyday type of characters who are either experiencing love for the first or second time around. Or equally about them battling their demons, such as abuse or…
It is so important that Book Lovers, Readers & Bloggers help support each other hence sharing the blog below please #SpreadTheWord and share with your Bookish Friends
Thank You Happy Reading Click the link to find out more.
1660-1680 was the time the longcase clock reached near perfection. It bore a newly designed anchor escapement believed to have been designed by Gulielmus (William) Clement of London in the year 1671, thus giving the clock more accuracy.
Some believe he is also the creator of the longcase that housed the longer pendulum. The real William Clement is also credited with building ‘The Turret Clock’ for Kings College Cambridge in 1671 for which he was handsomely paid £42. The clock is now housed in the Science Museum, London.
Here is an image of the top part of one of the Clement Clocks
This is where the magic was woven from. The story of the Clement family stems fictionally from Gulielmus (William) Clement.
Quote from the book ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time.’
A big brass face, once bright and gleaming, barely shimmers as his long, black hands rotate slow, but sure. The intricately carved, flame mahogany long-case, was a warm golden reddish brown a year ago. Now dull, and softly muted by the accumulation of dust, it still wraps protectively around the golden pendulum heart.
If you missed the first part of ‘Inspiration behind ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time’ Click HEREto go check it out.
Part 3 will follow soon, and will give a little insight into the characters from the story.
Matty Taylor: a beautiful young woman is starting out in her new life with her husband. Plagued by visions that seem all too real she seeks advice from the Gypsy at the local fair. 
Rose English UK 