Talking Books

Eugene DeFriest Betit

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COLLECTIVE AMNESIA:

AMERICAN APARTHEID

African Americans’ 400 Years in North America

1619-2019

Dr Eugene DeFriest Betit’s astounding historical book of America’s troubled past with reference to its fractious relationship with black Africa Americans over the past four hundred years is enlightening, informative and quite simply mesmerising. The research behind this book took Dr Betit five years to formulate, but it took him another four years having gathered all the historical facts to bring the book to its full fruition. However, he did write a further three books during those additional years again on a similar vein to Collective Amnesia, so perhaps we might let him off with the length of time it took to complete this masterpiece.  For a white man to delve into and expose the issues that Black African Americans endured was at times hard for him to envisage let alone write about, nevertheless he did so, and the result is this remarkable chronicled publication impeccably written taking you on such an attested journey that for me was simply jaw-dropping.

One of America’s “original sins,” has been its convoluted issue around race relationships.  For more than four hundred years America has struggled with racism, white supremacy and how to co- exist with the black African American community as well as other minority communities. The black African American contention some would say was born from the slave trade that was first seen in Virginia where Black African people were brought over from Africa and sold to rich white supremacists as cheap labour to work the plantations especially the cotton plantations. America today still faces endemic racism and the tensions between the white and black communities very often spill over onto America’s streets as acts of violence. A far cry some would say from President Thomas Jefferson’s pronouncement in the Declaration of Independence that,” all men are created equal.” Surely awareness and education play a major part in tackling racial inequalities something America’s founding forefathers envisaged. How did America find herself in this difficult place? Well let’s look at Dr Eugene DeFreist Betit’s book. Watch our video chat here:

Collective Amnesia takes you right back to the slave trade through the devastation of the Confederacy, followed by Emancipation and Reconstruction, The Freedmen’s Bureau, Race Laws and Segregation, the two world wars and The Great Migration, The Civil Rights movement up to the present-day tensions seen across America. All viewed from a black African American prospective by a white man: Dr Eugene DeFreist Betit

Here are some of the testimonials he has received:

“An important book for all Americans who want to know the whole of American history. Dr Betit chronicles the entire 400-year story of African slaves and their American descendants from colonial time to today. This book primarily focuses on the trials and tribulations of that long journey; a journey that must be learned by each new generation of both blacks and whites. Here in one book, today’s Americans can come to know that story.”

Dennis J. Quinn

Colonel, US Army (RET) and Former Instructor, National War College.

“Gene Betit’s deeply researched book describes various difficulties blacks experienced trying to achieve a place in white society when, even in modern times, acceptance has been grudging. However, the military has proven the black soldier equal to the white, and many of the civilian occupations are starting to open for them. The full integration of the nation, and thus our potential, can only be achieved when perceived ethnic, cultural, religious, and racial differences are subjugated, and that we realise that we are one people.”

Jim Locke

Lieutenant-Colonel, USA (RET)

“Collective Amnesia is both a testament of one people who refused to remain under trodden and a reminder of how quickly others forget. Gene Betit traces this duality throughout our history and concludes that the amnesia is simultaneously convenient and contrived. However, we forget at our peril, as this blindness continues to damn us as a nation. A must-read for those courageous enough to face facts and emerge from the matrix of ignorance.”

Dr Rodney Coates, PhD. Professor Miami University Global and Intercultural Studies Sociology, Gerontology and Social Justice Coordinator of Black World Studies.

Gene Betit sees himself as an author, historian, and military intelligence analyst, go to his website www.genebetit.com to learn more about the man behind this incredible book that has been so masterfully compiled to give you a glimpse into America’s past from a black African American’s prospective. When you go to his website you will see all the other books he has written.

You can get the book from his website www.genebetit.com, Barnes and Noble www.barnesandnoble.com, Books a Million www.booksamillion.com plus Xlibris 1-888-795-427 www.xlibris.com or [email protected] as well as the link below.

I would like to end this introduction with whom the book has been dedicated to.

Dedicated to African Americans,

Freedmen and slave

Who stood by the union in her time of trial

And to their descendants

Who kept the faith

Despite segregation and hate

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THE DEVIL’S DICE

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DEAD MAN’S DAUGHTER

CUT TO THE BONE

Roz Watkins is a crime thriller writer who has a substantial readership following, and her books have been in Amazon’s top selling category. Roz created the character Detective Inspector Meg Dalton and based the crime scenes in the Derbyshire Peak District from where she herself comes from in the UK. Like most author’s the ideas and scenes come into her head as she walks the many trails that criss-cross the Derbyshire Dales a natural beauty spot in the UK. Accompanying her on these rambling ventures as she conjures up the murder plots are a motley crew of exacting animals. 

Life for Roz Watkins hasn’t always been about writing, although right from childhood she was a voracious reader devouring books. Newnham College at Cambridge University one of the world’s most prestigious places of learning saw Roz reading engineering, odd you might think when you consider what career path she eventually chose to follow. Patent law was her eventual destination rising to a partner in a firm of patent attorneys in Derby before becoming the author of the DI Meg Dalton crime thriller series.

The series has three books so far and Roz has a contract to write three more. The first book The Devil’s Dice was short listed for the CWA (Crime Writers Association) Debut Dagger Award and has been optioned for TV.

The Devil’s Dice was first published in 2018 and was Roz Watkins’ debut book as she dipped her toe into the world of criminology. An attorney is found dead with lacerations to his face. DI Meg Dalton has been assigned to the case. Right from the onset she believes that this is a cold calculated murder, but what does the reference to the grim reaper and the victim’s initials carved in the cave wall above the body allude to? It appears that the murderer plays games with Meg, staying one step ahead of her. So, the dice is loaded.

Dead Man’s Daughter (2019) the next in the series described by The Times as ‘Absorbingly Impressive,’ sees DI Meg Dalton having to come to terms with her own beliefs about the truths behind this chilling murder case that involves a ten-year-old girl and her memory loss having discovered her father’s body in the family home. As events unfold evidence points to the girl’s own involvement in her father’s demise. This story has so many twists and turns to its plot like every good crime thriller should have, a real page turner. The pressure is on for Meg to get to the bottom of this case before the killer strikes again.

Cut To The Bone (2020) is the third book in the series, Elly Griffiths, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lantern Men, ‘I love Roz Watkins’ books, she’s one of the best crime writers out there.’ For me this atmospheric book was the most absorbing, all about a young media star who goes missing, but who’s behind the disappearance? DI Meg Dalton is up against it to solve the issue before online threats erupt into real-life brutality. This is a testing case for Meg particularly as the media are breathing down her neck for an outcome. Hair and Blood found in a pig trough in a local abattoir raises the game and adds to the pressure Meg finds herself under. Is Violet Armstrong the Internet celebrity alive or dead?

Roz is currently working on a standalone book, The Red House.  

Roz Watkins is published by Harper Collins www.HarperCollins.co.uk you can find her book in all the big book stores in the UK as well as online at Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith’s, for those of you who live outside the UK you can head to your usual source of where you get your books. Amazon.com would probably be a good place to search.

To learn more about Roz Watkins and see where you can get her books from head to her webpage www.rozwatkins.co.uk have a look at the photos on the page to see where the character DI Meg Dalton comes from.

Equally you can get in contact with Roz via her agent.

Agent: Diana Beaumont of Marjacq scripts, R24 Office103 Kingsway.
London, WC2 6QX +44(0) 20 7935 9499

Search Roz Watkins at  

www.waterstones.com

www.whsmith.com

These books are perfect for all crime thriller seekers, especially Ann Cleeves, Susie Steiner and Val McDermid fans.

The post ROZ WATKINS – THE DI MEG DALTON CRIME THRILLERS appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

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My Mother’s Love

-Growing My Life from Zero to Life Success like Dr Jack Tan

(From 1952 to the Present and the Future Generations)

Dr Jack Tan Sok Kuan was born in Singapore. His family origins are rooted in Chinese culture especially on his mother’s side who came from a humble background from a poor area of China. Of course, Singapore today is very different from back then, and so is Dr Tan’s life. As a child balancing a school/work-life ratio was hard, both he and his parents understood the way out of poverty was through a good education, getting that framework right had its difficulties, it ups and downs. After school like his brother and sisters he had to work on the wet markets helping with the family business simply to ensure that basic human amenities could be provided. However, you must add to that equation an illness he faced as a new-born, something that left an indelible mark on his memory right up to this day. What was that illness! Well … read the book.

Promises are sometimes kept, and sometimes not, but Dr Tan kept his words of honour to his parents particularly his mother, those words were ‘to be successful in life and have a different life to what they and she had.’ How he fulfilled that promise mainly to his mother is what this book is all about.

So how did Dr Jack Tan Sok Kuan execute his vow.

Firstly, I need to outline a summary of his academic and corporate background and then I’ll expose the strategy without giving the game away too much, for that would spoil a good read.

Dr Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he then entered National Service for males as a first batch NS male. After National Service he entered the world of finance and corporate banking working for numerous banking organisations in Asia for overseas institutions. He achieved an MBA with distinction from the University of Hull in the UK, followed up with a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Western Australia.

The strategy embedded in Dr Tan’s ideological pathway from zero to success is based on two objectives under-pinned by nine essential principles. These principles he has formalised by looking at the lives of other successful global entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet and adapted them to suit his own approach to success. There are nine chapters in the book, each chapter introduces a principle and goes on to uncover the reasoning behind the ideology with some form of summary/list of achievements showing how that principle has worked for him to achieve his two objectives and the promise he made to his parents particularly his mother at the end.

This is not a book to be read like a fictional novel, for me it’s more an anthology of Dr Tan’s theoretical thinking’s to be coming a successful person to fulfil a vow. Having read Dr Tan’s book I ask myself what success is, for success can be viewed in many ways, and every person sees success differently. The content of this book is focused on financial achievement but is that success. In my interview I’ll touch upon that issue with Dr Tan. Dr Tan is now the CEO of his own Asset Management company.

To discover more about the inner thinking’s of Dr Jack Tan Sok Kuan head to his web page: www.drjacktan.com he can be contacted by email [email protected]

The book can be purchased in hardcover, paperback and eBook from Amazon and from the publishers: [email protected] 

Associated web pages are: www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore 

Enjoy the book, I did.

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Kim Brack lives in the North-East of England, she’s had a long and distinguished career in teaching, something that was dear to her heart. Reading in her eyes opens so many doors, something as a nursery and primary school teacher she instilled into the mindset of the thousands of young students she encountered throughout her professional life.

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Since retiring from school-life Kim has done many things but she still maintaines the view that reading is a quintessential core element of a person’s inner being, and for that reason as well as the joy of writing she has written two books for young children to read and enjoy.

The first book, TRADITIONAL SHORT STORIES FOR CHILDREN is a collection of five short stories aimed at 5–6-year-olds, the stories are about witches, wizards, elves, giants and fairies beautifully told in the world of fantasy, a world that takes young minds into dark spooky woods and beyond.

The stories are:

The Lost Elf

The Foolish Frog

The Giant and the North Wind

The Witch and the Cloak

The Missing Spell Book

The second Book THE BIRTHDAY GIFT is a delightful book about the escapades of Jenny and Michael as they go about buying their father’s birthday present, a present someone else has their eye on. This book is aimed at 7–9-year-olds.

The story is ingeniously told through seven chapters:

The Strange Men

The Kidnapping

The Message

The Treasure Hunt

The Chase

The Rescue

The illustrations in TRADITIONAL SHORT STORIES FOR CHILDREN by Windel Eborias are captivating and enrich the story adding a sense of fun for young children to simply enjoy the tales that lurk between the pages.

These are fun-loving books with delightful, and creative storylines to them.

The books are available in paperback, kindle edition and audiobook formats.

You can order the books from Waterstones, Amazon and directly through her publishers Xlibris- www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk 

These are great fun books for kids.

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Vaughn LeMon has been married to his wife Tara for the last fifteen years and presently lives in North Augusta a small town in South Carolina in the US. He was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania but attended school in Wilmington Delaware where he developed a passion for numeracy.

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Vaughn distinctly remembers sitting feet away from a young US Senator who came to his school, that Senator is now President Joe Biden. Art college ensued, as did the US army, coupled with a three-year stint in various state Police departments. A career in the world of financial services was his ultimate choice leading him to setting up his own business ‘Lord and LeMon Financial & Alpha Mortgage Company Inc, operating in Delaware, Atlanta, and Brooklyn ,New York. Church ministry plays a very important part of his life particularly supporting those he sees as being overlooked to access their finances the way God planned. 

Mentoring young entrepreneurs with motivational speeches delivered through seminars and conferences to bring about their business ideologies and dreams alive is a fundamental core value in Vaughn’s Christian approach to supporting others in the highly competitive corporate world of today. Something he relishes daily.

You might well be forgiven for thinking that Vaughn’s book, ’The Blues in Blue’ is in some way linked to the corporate world he has so cherished to work in for the last twenty odd years. Well let me reassure you it has absolutely nothing to do with the rat race of the financial sector.

It is in fact a personal testimonial of the institutional racism he as a black man faced, endured during his three years as a law enforcement officer in the various state Police departments back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, not by the general public I hasten to add, but by the state Police departments themselves. The prejudices and injustices inflicted upon him by the state Police hierarchy back then left him so traumatised that it is only now he has been able to talk publicly about those dark days and the stain it left on his character for the rest of his life. He believes the systemic racism that existed then and to certain extent today is down to the training police officers were and are given.

The killing of people of colour at the hands of white law enforcement officers on the streets of the USA for matters that could have been addressed differently with the right training, have long been highly contentious, inflammatory issues that have polarised Americans down the decades, cumulating in the George Floyd riots during lockdown in 2020. The slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’ was emblazoned everywhere, something Vaughn as a man of colour himself considers to be a controversial statement; for him ‘All Lives Matter,’ including ‘Blue Lives,” a reference to Police lives. 

The book is an intense insight to three years of Vaughn’s life as a state Police trooper and the institutional racism he faced and had to endure until he left for another life. Jealousy is very much apart of this courageous book.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Vaughn for allowing me to talk to him about his police days and all that he had to suffer, and tolerate.

For more information and a source of getting his book, head to his web page www.vaughnlemon.com

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Natalie Reeves Billing is a British children’s author from Liverpool. She’s a mother, wife, social entrepreneur, TV personality, and one of her many journeys in life is to fire up the imagination of young children’s power of thought, through visually dynamic books, books that are stunningly illustrated with vibrant eye-catching pictures to capture a child’s attention, as well as creatively written. Natalie is passionate about getting young minds to see the world through figmental literature.

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Natalie has published eight books, some of them come under the rubric of her Monstrous Me series which include various titles like ‘My Mummy is a Monster’, or’ My Brother is a Monster’ to name but a few. Other books in her repertoire include ‘Ben and the Bug,’ a book she wrote to ease children’s anxiety about Covid -19.

However, the book I really want to talk about is her latest book Bernie and Boatie, this is a book she has written for children, again vividly illustrated by Lisa Williams and adorably well written. It’s a book that tells the story of two characters Bernie and his boat (Boatie) as they row across the Atlantic Ocean on their own with all the joys, spills, ups and downs, as well as the perils that come with such a sea adventure. 

The book correlates closely to the ‘BoatofHope’ campaign, started by Bernie Hollywood OBE to raise over a million pounds to support two charities Samaritans, and the rowing charity Love Rowing to address depression and mental health issues among young people across the globe. Bernie’s latest challenge is to row single-handed unsupported 3000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in December 2022, one of the toughest and most demanding races a man can face.   

Bernie Hollywood OBE JP over the years has raised over forty-two million pounds for charitable organisations he’s passionately associated with, not just in the UK but globally as well. He’s spoken to community leaders across all divides at both national and local level. Addressing the United Nations in New York about his work, zest to make life better for those who are proned to vulnerability and marginalisation in society was a relished experience.

Have a listen to the video it’s powerful and at times emotional.

For more information and how to support this cause head to the ‘Boat of Hope’ website.  

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This is a powerful book beautifully written and executed, but it’s a book to take note of for at its core is a message and that message revolves around patriarchal society and how that has impacted on the lives of so many, predominately women.

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What does the word patriarchal mean? The dictionary refers to the word as ‘denoting a system of society or government controlled by men.’ Patriarchism has dominated society for thousands of years, probably as far back as Adam and Eve in the bible, but despite the many movements of protestation and to some extent emancipation, throughout history, many people still feel and believe that we’re still living in a society heavily influenced by men and their actions, very often those influences are to the detriment of women, children and the vulnerable in our communities.

Positive changes have taken place, but we still have a long journey ahead of us, for we only have to look at what is going on in the world today and we’ll see rich powerful male mindset jostling to control every aspect of our lives particularly over the bodies and minds of women, who over time have been portrayed as the so-called weaker sex. Such fools.  

Amy Croft’s book looks at the issues of a patriarchal society evidenced through her own personal experiences centred around, education, social stigma, religious dogma, judiciary systems, dysfunctional archaic institutions and organisations which didn’t serve the purpose they were intended to back then and they still align themselves with prejudices against large swathes of modern society particularly around equal rights and recognition of women’s role in the world. They just don’t get it! Collectively, women around the world are saying, Enough!

This autobiography has been difficult for Amy to write as she opens up about herself, her fractious cool relationship with her mother as an only child, rape as a teenager, a far from wholesome healthy relationship with the father of her two children who was an acholic, something she believes was in his DNA structure, and the death of her parents before she was twenty-five years old. Many events in her life culminated in a nervous break-down which saw her placed in a psychiatric unit. She lost her two children in a custody battle to another woman- a battle she knew she wouldn’t win, as the male dominated judicial system closed ranks around her, and she was denigrated by her then husband’s family barrister due to her perceived mental health status at the time. She had no one to fight her corner.

The loss of her children was a bitter pill to swallow and left her with an indelible darkness in her life for having little or no contact with them for approximately twenty years. This was devastating, particularly as she spent most of her adult professional life dealing with women’s emotional issues and child protection issues. Today Amy would best describe her relationship with her daughter as a work in progress, and she has no contact with her son who lives in another country where she knows he has good support systems.

Despite the many downs in her life, Amy like the phoenix, has risen from the ashes to become an accomplished woman in her own right.  She has a loving, caring relationship and acquired many close friends who have stuck by her over the years, but her life, to which she alludes to in this book, has been dominated by a patriarchal society. Amy acknowledges that society has progressed in addressing some of the issues she faced as a woman in a male dominated world, but there is more to be done in the quest for Justice for all, and that men should be part of that process. So, it will be very interesting to see what she says in her next book ‘Enough is Enough,’ as she now sees herself as an advocate for championing women, children as well as vulnerable people’s causes, as they strive to bring about a fairer world for all.

The overriding message here is, that there is no room for misogynists and patriarchal practises in our modern societies. They’ve had their day in the sun!

This is a book which older women and younger women alike can associate and identify with. It’s a book where men particularly younger men, might ponder and reflect on how they treat the women and children in their lives, and in their communities. 

Despite the fundamental message it’s a great read. Well done Amy Croft.

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Lorraine Burkey was originally from the state of Iowa where she grew up as a single carefree girl surrounded by a loving close-knit family and friends. She now lives in the state of Missouri with her husband Steven who over the last thirty odd years of marriage has simply been her rock and her stay.

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Like most young people having completed formal education she had a dream of a successful career, seeing her children growing up and enjoying all the things a person can expect in life, but that dream was shattered at the tender age of twenty when Lorraine suffered an atypical stroke which culminated in her being partially sighted in both eyes as well as partial paralysis of her left side. Lorraine had two choices, to give up, or forge another more modified life, thankfully she chose the latter.

This book is a collection of simple but powerful poems of various lengths, some are just a few lines long, others have several stanzas to them, but behind each beautiful poem is a significant, poignant message encompassing life in all its forms, forms that Lorraine has personally faced, experienced.

The poems are diverse they deal with real life, tragedies, struggles as well as triumphs and when you open the book, you’ll see that Lorraine has grouped them under the following headings:

AN INVITATION TO YOUR HEART

LIFE AT LARGE

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CARD POEMS

POEMS OF FAITH

ENDING POEM

In total there are 170 poems, most of them come under the heading Life at Large. But this eclectic bunch of simple and as I said powerful poems reflect not only Lorraine’s life at times but life in general. I personally think many of you when you read them will be able to identify with them in some shape or form. I certainly did.

HAVE A READ, GO ON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

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Born in Kecskemet 1939 in Hungary, to a German mother and Hungarian father Charles Pallaghy PhD grew up in war-torn Hungary and Germany before emigrating to Australia. He can recall arriving in Port Philip Bay Melbourne on his tenth birthday. From there the family was shipped by train to Bonegilla Refugee Camp, where Charles first learnt to speak English. He attended services at the German Lutheran Church as well as the Hungarian Reformed Church. Charles graduated from the universities of Melbourne and Tasmania in Chemistry and Biophysics respectively with a doctorate to follow. While at university he met his Czech born teacher wife Milena who sadly passed away a few months ago. His son Paul and daughter Jennifer have broadly speaking followed in their father’s footsteps into the scientific world. As a child Charles could never understand why no one really challenged him about what he thought of God, and when he reflects on his life, he realises he spent a fair proportion protesting to the academia world against general evolution theory and here he is in this book ‘End Times’ protesting against creationism and church organisations for deliberately concealing important facts in the bible for fear of unnerving their adherents.

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Controversy seems to follow Charles around when he speaks in public re the subject matter of creation-evolution, whether he relishes, courts controversary, or simply attracts it as he strongly debates his view points on creation and evolution well I’ll let you the public be a judge on that matter after you have read his book and delved into his website www.creation6000.com where he reveals more about his life and beliefs. Charles’ viewpoints have on occasions caught the attention of the Australian press, so much so he attracted the attention of one David Frost, later known as Sir David Frost who interviewed him about his creation-evolution thoughts, as he was working in Australia at the time. So, Charles’ one claim to fame is that he was interviewed by the same man who interviewed the late former US President Richard Nixon albeit on a different topic, not Watergate.

The book itself is not a book to be read as a novel, for me it’s more an anthology of biblical research, with personal views and insights surrounding the book of Revelations, not only is it the last book in the New Testament but in the Christian bible as well. Revelations is a complex as well as absorbing book and for me Charles has gone about debating this book diligently, and it’s well executed with poignant cross-referencing to other parts of the bible. The illustrations, time charts and pictures enhance the text. There are two parts to the book the first part Charles concentrates on the revealment of the Lord’s coming is nigh backed up with facts and biblical references, the second part Charles talks about lessons around the Bride of Christ coming, to whom will the Lord appear to? when the end comes what would it look like? and who will be saved and who won’t. 

How do you sum up a person’s life in a few words or a short video especially as that person has led such a deep and fulfilling life in so many ways? The simple answer is with great difficulty as I have found. So read his book ‘End Times’ and head to his website www.creation6000.com to ascertain more about what Charles Pallaghy PhD is talking about and you’ll even discover why his website is aptly named.

Thank you, Charles, for giving me the opportunity to talk to you about your fascinating life and works.   

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Teressa Hill has in my opinion led a unputdownable, beguiling and possibly colourful life so far, a life that started in Oregon in the USA. As a young child she loved the outdoor life riding her horse with her dog close at hand. Her love of animals has continued throughout her whole life hence all the animals in her books. But her love of nature wasn’t the only passion in her existence and like other close members of her family she pursued a sport, her piece de resistance was competitive figure skating which gave her the opportunity to see the world. In quieter times she would write short stories and sketch, and over time she became a cultivated artist in her own right selling many of her paintings.

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As we all know the career of a professional sports person is short lived and it was in the early eighties, she started to train to become a hairstylist, she now works on Hollywood’s film and television sets as a hairstylist working with some of the industries world renowned directors, producers and actors. Her work in this field has given her many opportunities and she is currently short-listed for an Oscar nomination this year.

In 2005 she created the idea of writing a children’s animated series of books which has now developed into The Wildly Whimsical Tales of Gracie and Sniggles.In this podcast we’re going to concentrate on two of the books in the series the first book THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE GOO and the next in the series BOO WHO? Both books have been beautifully illustrated by Teressa’s partner Karine Makartichan.

THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE GOO

This is the story of a little red curly-haired girl call Gracie, and her dog Sniggles who have left the city for the neighbouring outskirts. They embark on a whimsical adventure as they set out to explore their new surroundings. On their journey they meet up with Lucy the purring cat. Ziggy the zinging Squirrel, Bob the crow and Bumble the bee who’s upset because on his adventures away from the hive he’s managed to get himself covered in blue goo, and the Queen Bee won’t let him back in the hive as she only has yellow bees in her hive. The new friends follow the clues to the blue goo and discover how they can return Bumble back to becoming a yellow bee.

This enchanting little story also reminds us of the importance of kindness, acceptance and friendship.

BOO WHO?

This story is a magical adventure of Gracie a clever girl and her menagerie of friends from the previous book. The new friend is Boo Montague a fearful little ghost at the Hocus Pocus Pumpkin Patch. Boo is a cheerful ghost not spiteful and scary as the other ghosts who shun him for being so nice. Gracie invites Boo to the Halloween party. But Sully the snail who delivers the mail arrives with a letter to say that Halloween has been cancelled. With the help of Mr Finklestein, the retired wizard the group of friends set about saving Halloween.

These are magical books which kids aged 4-8 depending on their reading ability are going to love.

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