Category: Blogs and Bloggers

You Can’t Go It Alone, by Jessie Cahalin: life in a Welsh Village

Jessie Cahalin’s delightful read gives us the ‘ordinary’ worry-wracked decisions and moments of joy in the everyday lives in the village of Delfryn. Each character tries hard to convince themselves they can handle their problems, but none seem able to really go it alone. Then, can any of us?

Cover of book, You can't go it alone

Jim is haunted by the loss of his son and wife. Could the visits by sunflower loving Daisy from next door spark new life in him? Daisy’s mother Ruby fears to reveal her illiteracy to her husband Dan. He conceals from her the troubles of his business. Sophie and Jack, new arrivals in Delfryn, are desperately trying to conceive but unwilling to discuss the strain of the IVF procedures with Jack’s parents nor even with each other. And why have those parents visited them in a manner completely out of character? The owners of the village cafe, Rosa and Matteo, at first seem an adoring couple but there seem to be tensions there.

As these people’s lives cross and connect they see where they can help one another and, as importantly, they learn how to accept it themselves.

In this story there occour: no explosions, no murders, no car chases – apart from the camper van that hurtles toward a school bus. There are no vampires lurking in the woods or undead in the hills or villians plotting for world domination. We are treated instead, as the line on the cover says, to ‘Love, laughter, music and secrets’. I loved it all. This is the first in a projected series and I am certainly going to buy the next one.

Where to find You Can’t Go It Alone: Amazon.

Jessie Cahalin’s fun website is called Books In My Handbag Blog, a must for everyone who loves reviews of books (and photos of handbags).

Some of the best philosophers are bears

Here is some of the text of an interview by Rachel Nightingale, author of The Tales of Tarya, of Mark, Mawson Bear’s Guardian.

‘Mawson is the proud author of It’s a bright world to feel lost in, published by Publisher Obscura. This is a beautiful philosophical book in the vein of The blue day book by Bradley Trevor Grieve. It is the perfect sort of book to buy as a stocking stuffer or Kris Kringle for someone who likes to muse about life, and who hasn’t lost their sense of whimsy. Mawson ‘s second book is She Ran Away From Love.’

Which writer or writers opened your eyes to the magic of storytelling and why?

‘When young I devoured books by many authors but when it comes to the magic they brought me, I will list those by C.S Lewis (Narnia), Issac Asimov (Sci Fi), and Rosemary Sutcliffe (historical fiction).’

Like most readers, what I sought was to be transported from this world.  With these writers I could be in Norman England winning back a castle during a school break, in the woods of Narnia on a rainy Sunday, or fleeing rogue robots during a long car ride.

What is your greatest magical power as a writer?

‘Shyly he says, ‘I listen to the bears’.

Poets, actors, composers, painters, ‘artistic people’, all speak reluctantly about the heart of creativity. They proffer vague expressions like ‘feeling inspired’, ‘being guided’, ‘trusting the muse’, ‘entering into the role’. What does this mean? I think it’s about listening for ‘something’. Now, this ‘something’ cannot not be analysed or modelled on a flow chart. It’s very shy, and it needs to trust you to respect it. I think the greatest magical power of a writer is to gently –don’t startle it –gently reach out for this ‘something’, gain it’s trust; and then to let characters and story flow on from there.

I listen to my bears. I never know when I’ll hear in a voice as quiet as can be imagined the best ponders framed in the best words; and these are ideas and words that I myself did not have in mind, really I didn’t. When I don’t listen but just grind on, my writing is not right: the voice feels wrong, the images don’t flow, and it is not satisfying’.

For the rest of the interview please visit Rachel Nightingale’s website.

While you are there be sure to read more about the books by this novelist, playright, performer and thespian. Rachel ponders much about the power of story and fantasy in our lives. At her website you can learn more about the Commedia dell’Arte, an inspiration for The Tales of Tarya.

My review of The Harlequins Riddle, the first of those tales, is right here. Columbine’s Tale, Book two of the series, and Book Three, Pierrots’ Song are also out now, published by  Odyssey Books.

The Tales of Tarya is now available at Amazon as a complete Kindle Set!

PLEASE FOLLOW US At Baffled Bear Books .
Simply plonk your paw on the FOLLOW buttons on this very page.
You can also follow on Amazon and on GoodReads. We are also on Instagram, and Tiktok, and Anchor/ Spotify and Mastodon (link is @mawsonbear@mastodon.au. )

Where to find Mawson’s Guardian

Dear Friends. To rely on any one platform/service/outlet run by moguls/barons/billionaires is unwise. We have not put all our bears in one basket, oh no. You can find Me, Mark, the Guardian, and Mawson (he’s the furry one) all over this bright world including, of course, right here at WordPress.

Mawson’s own Web Den on WordPress called www.mawsonbear.wordpress.com .

Our publisher is Odyssey Books, where you can find beautiful pictorial books, poetry, fantasy epics, memoirs, and great fiction.

All the books by Mawson Bear, the baffled writer-bear for our befuddled times

Amazon in all regions: This link here is to Amazon dot com.

Mawson on Instagram: @MawsonBear

Mawson on Twitter: See @mawsonbear

Mawson Bear and Mark the Guardian
Mawson (the furrier one) and Mark

Mawson’s Guardian, Mark, on Twitter: See @Mawsonsguardian

Mawson’s Guardian at Good Reads

Mawson’s Guardian at Pinterest.

OR use a Search Engine eg DuckDuckGo (or Google if you must) to look for ‘Mawson Bear‘ and you will find four pages of links (beams proudly.)

Mawson Bear is the top hit on search engines for himself.
We looked for Mawson Bear, Mawson, and we found you!

Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Look also at Bookshop Org (supporting local bookshops), at Amazon everywhere, at Barnes and Noble, at Dymocks, at Booktopia, at Walmart, at AbeBooks, Mighty Ape (New Zealand), Google Books, at Booklubben and more. 

Your host, Mark, is Mawson Bear’s Guardian, photographer, editor, blundering typist, chocolates fetcher and cushions re-arranger. Baffled Bear Books ABN: 4787910119.