Inspiration behind ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time’ Part 2

Today I am sharing part 2 of the Inspiration behind my character Grandfather Time especially for the #WriterFriendsChallenge on Instagram.

Rose English UK

The Clock

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…

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Inspiration behind ‘The Magic of Grandfather Time’ Part 1

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 ~~~<<@

Rose English UK

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…

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#NaNoWriMo 2019 Day 01

Welcome November and Happy NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). So I have decided to take up the challenge. My aim is to mainly concentrate on short stories but let us see where the wind will take us. If you are taking up the challenge I would love to hear from you, maybe we could even become writing buddies? My link is in the image at the top of the page.

Happy Writing

#RubyTubeDay Halloween Teaser Pt. 1

New Teaser from Young Ebenezer

Happy Bank Holiday Monday Book Lovers. Hope you are all having a relaxing extended weekend.  We are  and of course we are also very excited about our new Halloween book, ‘Young Ebenezer ~ Confronts the School Bully’ by Rose English.  Once again we have been playing with graphics and teasers. We hope you like them. Click on the images to open in a new window for ease of reading.

#RubyTubeDay YouTube Teaser

Young Ebenezer Hallowen Teaser Part 01

 I bring you a treat,
a Halloween story
of young Ebenezer
and best friend, young Rory.
I watch over the boys
I am Grandfather Time,
and I will tell you this tale
in rhythm and rhyme.

It is All Hallows Eve
and the kids in the schools
are really excited
to go home, dress as ghouls.
There’ll be vampires and ghosts
and monsters galore,
stepping out on the streets
to knock on your door.

The school bell rings loud
it is the end of the day.
The kids pack up their books,
and are soon on their way.
With his best friend in tow
Eb leaves the school yard,
they run all the way home
with their legs pumping hard.

With their homes now in sight,
the boys sprint to their gates
Rory punches the air
tells Eb “Don’t you be late.”
“I won’t. That’s a promise.”
Eb yells with a smile,
a little bit breathless
after running that mile.

Boing, Boing I chime out,
as Eb reaches our door.
Boing, Boing once again,
as my hands now reach four.
The house it smells yummy,
Mum has made a great feast
and like the Grinch on the film
Dad will carve the roast beast.

School bag and blazer
are thrown without care,
and land in a heap
at the base of the stair.
“Go back. Pick them up.”
is dads’ strict command.
“Or there’ll be no treats,
with neither plea nor demand.”

Eb does as he’s told
so he won’t miss the treats
or his first Halloween,
out with mates on the streets.
Dinner is rushed,
and fills up his tummy.
There is still room for sweets,
and all things that are yummy.

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If you would like to check out the previous Young Eb story ‘A New Christmas Carol’ pop over to Amazon and take a ‘look inside’

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Young Ebenezer Book 2 Coming Soon

Young Ebenezer – Confronts the School Bully

Happy Weekend Book Lovers, sorry I have not been around for a while would you believe I am actually writing. It’s true, I kid you not. So during #CampNaNoWriMo I  worked on my second poetry book ‘Butterflies & Blue Skies ~ Poetry & Prose 2′ but I sadly got off course and picked up on my #Selkie Folklore story.

Today however, I went off on a completely different tangent, but it was very productive. I actually completed the second book in the Young Ebenezer series. This time Young Ebenezer gets to go ‘Trick or Treating’ for the very first time. Sadly Jacob Marley the school bully is out stealing all the candy from the other boys and girls.

With the help of Grandfather Time and Miss Ruby Heart they hope to get Jacob to change his ways.

Young Ebenezer Teaser on YouTube

Young Ebenezer Sample Pages

I am currently checking out images to put in the print version of the book, I have been looking at bright pumpkin edging from Dreamtime or dark bat and pumpkin edging from 123rf . Click the image below, opens in a new tab for ease of reading.

As the book is aimed at younger readers I am favouring the bright page trims at the top of the image. However, I would love to know what your thoughts are? Leave me a little comment in the box below.

Thank you for visiting

Happy Reading

#CampNaNoWinner2019 Day 31

#CampNaNoWinner2019

Well I did not think I was going to make it this time but after a final rush when I got home after work I managed just shy of 1,000 words to enable me to reach my 15,000 word target. OK so it is not in the same league as the NaNoWriMo challenge of 50,000 words but it’s a good way to completing my new folklore story book.

The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry

The image above will open in a new window for ease of reading.

Congratulations to all who took part

I believe we are ALL Winners

A Favourite Selkie Teaser

Click the image to open in a new tab for ease of reading. The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry will hopefully be released in the next few months.

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 30 Part 15 #Selkie

Day 30 Camp NaNoWriMo

Well not long to go until the end of the writing challenge. Today I managed around 1,000 words in note form they simply need typing up. Hopefully I can do this tomorrow so I will be able to do a validation on the work. Fingers crossed.

Here once again is a small teaser.

The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry

Múirne gave birth on a stormy spring night, as the winds battered the door and rattled the windows. She was fearful of the birthing, being closeted alone and unaided in the little cottage. But the actual event was fast. When her eyes lit upon the bairn she discovered Solas had been right it was a boy child. He was beautiful and perfectly formed, yet on closer inspection she noticed the whole of his tiny body was covered in a very fine white fur.

Lifting him to her, he let out a few tiny mewls and she laid him gently upon her chest where he could suckle at her breast. His tiny fist was clenched and as he latched upon the teat tiny fingers unfurled like the petals of a flower blooming, and she saw between each digit, very fine webbing.

‘‘Would she need to isolate this child from the eyes of others who might cast doubt and be afraid?’

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 29 Part 14 #Selkie

Day 14 Camp NaNoWriMo

Too tired and achey to write today and my back is killing me after slipping on wet stones in Bradford. Therefore I am Just sharing a short teaser of 🙂

The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry

The wine had taken its toll and Múirne awoke in her own bed with a throbbing head. Had it all been a dream, was Solas real or just a figment of her loneliness. She spied the conch upon the table of the little cottage and knew beyond doubt that her lover was real.

A memory tapped at the corner of her mind, strong arms carrying her home and laying her upon the bed. Words were hazy but when she sat up suddenly they rushed forward like a wave pushed by a violent storm.

‘Goodbye my love, my fair maid. The tide is turning and I must away.’

He had kissed her forehead and placed his hand gently over her stomach.

‘Grow strong my bonnie wee lad, my son, my little Rònan. This is my final gift to you my beloved Múirne.’

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 28 Part 13 #Selkie

Day 28 CampNaNoWriMo

Oh my goodness I cannot believe the UK Indie Lit Fest FREE Book Event in Bradford is over.  How slowly it came and then was gone my lovely friend Maria Gibbs is  back home in London and I’ finally back home. Well after a little mishap this morning when I slipped and ended up sitting in a couple of inches of rain water. 😦

It was an A~MAZ~ING event, great to catch up with friends both old and new. Plus I managed to bag myself some new reads. Now it will be finding time to finish this challenge and then read. As you can guess NO words written for the challenge this weekend. So I cut my goal down to 15,000 words which I should be able to achieve in the final couple of days. Wish me luck 🙂

The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry

Click the image to enlarge for ease of reading. Opens in a new tab.

 

The conch whispered its hidden lullaby as the sun disappeared and seemed to melt into the salty sea leaving a pink tinged sky in its wake. As the world turned the colour leached away and the stars became visible as white dots in a dull grey sky.

Then before long they were sparkling upon black velvet, the moon climbing high into the atmosphere revealing the silvery path once more upon the water. For a moment she remembered the dream from the previous night. That of a sleek grey seal dipping and diving in the waves.

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day 27 Part 12 #Selkie

Day 27 Camp NaNoWriMo

No #writing spent the day at the UK Indie Lit Fest FREE Book Event at Kala Sangam #Bradford images to follow.

So this was me at the Lit Fest there will be more images to follow and some information on the visiting Indie Authors. Meanwhile here is a teaser for

The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry

An Overwhelming Heat

Suddenly she remembered herself and tried to push away. She was stopped when he gripped her by the shoulders.

‘The village need you, I need you please don’t do that again.’

He released her, and she turned heading once more for the cottage.

Thoughts ran through her mind.

‘What was I thinking; of course the village need me.’

‘Wait did he say, he needs me? Why would he need me, he looks well enough.’

Shyly she turned her head to look back at the stranger, why did she feel so shy what is it about him. He strode a few paces behind. Probably worried she would try to walk into the sea again.

She stopped and turned to face him full on. She had been a timid fool, like a damsel in distress, but no more. She stood firm in the sand with her hands upon her hips.

‘Who are you anyway? I don’t even know your name.’

The man stopped; taken aback by her confident stance, in the past women had always swooned at his feet. Múirne, he had watched over the years she was a strong confident young woman he wanted her. He hated to take advantage of her now she was low after losing her grandmother but it was time.

‘I am Solas, though some call me Sol.’

‘How do you know my name?’

‘I told you last night the villages speak highly of their nurse. They miss Brighde but are happy that you have taken her place.’

‘So you are not from the village, and I have never seen you around. Where are you from?’

Sol smiled at her sudden questioning of him.

‘I live beyond the cliffs, but come over this way for provisions. I fish these waters.’

Múirne pondered these answers and seemed to be satisfied. She turned back once more and resumed walking, heading back home once again.

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