Dear Friends. You can find Me, Mark, the Guardian, and Mawson (the furrier one) all over this bright world including, of course, right here at WordPress.
‘Mawson Bear awakes and ponders on the art of creative napping. Scotland The Brave imagines doing great deeds. Professors Caddy and Bree hold the highest hopes for their visionary inventions. Samantha sees wondrous things all round her. The Seekers journey all the way to the edge of the world, being sure to return, of course, by bedtime.
On Amazon UK you can get the soft cover for only ONE THIRD the usual price! Plonk a paw on this link thingy here!
And you can watch a Caravan all about it on Woo Hoo (Whispered conference with friends). Ummm, no it seems that it is a ‘Trailer’ not a caravan and its on You Tube. Here it is:
Flop down and relax awhile with Mawson and his drowsy friends. Refresh the soul in the tranquility of simple joys and innocent dreams.
Dreamy Days and Random Naps celebrates taking time out for yourself, slowing down, enjoying the moment, allowing your daydreams to surface, and of course slipping into a nap for a while, or for even longer. It will delight all who enjoy daydreaming and napping. Could this be you?
‘I enjoyed Dreamy Days and Random Naps for its ability to show the young and old that it is good to use your imagination. This was another delightful read from Mawson Bear.’ Jolenes Book Corner.
‘The images in the Mawson Bear books are so charming and endearing you can’t help but smile at them.’ Review by Adele on GoodReads
Mawson Bears books for cheering up frazzled grownups. Kids like them too!
You can also see all about Mawson on Amazon Page. (This writer-bear is all over the book world.) And be sure to plonk a paw down on the ‘FOLLOW‘ buttons on this page.
She Ran Away From Love, Mawson’s second book, features his nervous little friend Frilly who sets off on a quest to find herself. Read more about Frilly and her quiet, determined quest here. It’s marked down to only three pounds on Amazon UK. A grand bargain for British friends to look at. Also on Kindle
Frilly sets out on a quest for answers to big questions in She Ran Away From Love
‘A magical little grand tour into the meaning of happiness’. Review on Amazon by Sharrie Williams, author of The Maybelline Story.
‘I fell in love with this book the instant I started reading it’. Review on Amazon by K. Blade.
‘Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.’ Lady Bracknell on Amazon.
‘This little story made me well up. A lovely, poignant story with delightful illustrations.’ Jackie Law, Amazon Top 500 reviewer.
KINDLE: She Ran Away From Love is also on Kindle Unlimited. for only around $US3 or 3 Pounds in UK. All the books are in soft cover copies that you can look at whenever your world seems to become a bit too baffling. Or give them as random gifts of kindness to your friends.
FOLLOW US on Amazon UK and on Amazon USA and on GoodReads. The latest prices will show up there. And of course, do plonk a paw down on the ‘FOLLOW’ buttons on this Web Site page. WE are also on Instagram, Tiktok, Anchor and Mastodon (link is @mawsonbear@mastodon.au. )
You are at Mark’s blog called Baffled Bear Books. Mark is a dark coffee tragic, bibliophile and Guardian of Mawson Bear, a Ponderer of Baffling Things and one of this bright world’s few published bears.
Did you know, Fellow Baffled Ones and Gentlebears, that you can leave reviews of books? You don’t have to be a formal reviewer, oh no. You can just plonk down what you think about a book. You can say a lot about it or say only a little. It would be so wonderful if you do some reviews. For every writer-bear.
You can do reviews for Mawson and his books, if you like. Just ask, and we’ll send you a PDF version to look at. OR, look for the books. Two of them are FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited.
Each review is wanted, Each review is good, Your review is welcome In a writer’s neighbourhood.
Why your help matters: In these days of (shudder) Algorithms all forms of recognition for a book matter. They are all noted. They all add up. All the Likes, the Shares, the Mentions, the Clicks on buttons that say ‘Helpful’- they all get taken into account by these (shudder) Algorithms. But the most helpful thing of all is a REVIEW.
YOUR review matters so much that I would send every reviewer a block of chocolate* if I could, smudged by tears of gratitude. Your review not only tells other purchasers of Grand Books about (cough) Mawson’s, but they also jump up the rankings of the book and the visibility of it and all that sort of thing.
It’s easy, really it is: Some reviews kindly given for It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost Inhave been only a line. Two lines. A few more lines. Click here to see examples, real reviews on Amazon dot Com.
Scotty plonks on the key board to do a few brief reviews of books.
It’s fun to have a bash: If you are stuck for something to say, simply bash away on the star ratings. They all get counted by those (shudder) algorithms. Here, our Sir Scotland The Brave shows how to stab most valiantly at the star ratings.
Click ‘Like’: While you are at these websites, you can also run your eye down the page to the reviews left by other fine people, and click on the ‘Helpful’ or ‘Like’ buttons beneath them. (This all helps with those pesky algorithms.
The awesome power of ‘playing’ on your device: So, every Share, Like and Mention on your social media helps; yes, the (shudder) algorithms note it all. Keep them coming and Mawson’s books( and the books of all writers who are not bears to) can keep bravely going out into the wide bright world.
The Problem: You look for a book on a book retail website. You send your order to the “Shopping Cart”. But what’s this? A delivery charge rises up on your screen like monster looming over the horizon. And the size of the thing!
‘Bother!’ You say. (You might say other words entirely and at some length, but this is a bear-friendly web-den.) And you change your mind about buying that book in print because the delivery cost has trampled over all your hopes. Is there another way? Why, yes. Read on.
Our Post Bear, Scottie, goes postal over particular postage problems of his own
BOOK SHOPS. Beating dinosaur sized postal costs Tip One: Visit your friendly local book shop. The book might be in stock, and if not the staff can order it in for you. This is good for everyone: you get your book, the book shop people take note that readers want this book and they consider getting more in, they stay in business, and in turn that means you can return there to book-bathe whenever you want to.
(‘Book-bathe’? you ask. Well, you’ve heard of how nature-bathing is good for the soul? So is book-bathing. You simply wander around places with lots of books and you start to feel better right away. That is also why staff in a bookshop are friendly and helpful: they get to book-bathe all day long … But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, Tip Two.)
LIBRARIES. Beating Godzilla sized postal costs Tip Two. Visit your local library (where the staff are friendly because of all their book bathing). Reasons this is good: If you can borrow the book, you pay for neither the book nor postage; in Australia and some other countries the author still gets a fee for each borrowing (very small, but still a fee); and if book is not there, you can ask the staff to consider adding it to their stock. That is good for you, the library, the publisher and the author. Also, just by going to your library you are participating in your local community. All sorts of activities happen there. Maybe you’ll get involved in some.
SHOP AROUND. Beating road train sized postal costs Tip Three: Shop around with OTHER on-line retailers! Don’t stick with, for instance, ‘A-Far-Too-Powerful-Retailer-Named-After-A-River’ if it is gouging you more than it is serving you. There are other retailers, some listed at the end of this post. Several supply the book you want with free postage so long as it is within your particular country or region. One retailer does not charge ‘shipping’ or postage costs at all. Consider BookDepository.
Our Scotland the Brave shops shops around.
SPEND MORE. Beating fuel tanker sized postal costs Tip Four: This tip requires you to exercise restraint to a degree you did not know you had. You have to wait, yes, wait until three or four books of the books you want become available at a fair price. Then, you send them to the ‘Shopping Cart’ together. This often, but not always, gains you a waiver on the postage costs. Good things about this: you get more than one book and you save on postage. Not-good things about this: You have to spend more money than you probably meant to. And when the books do arrive, the To-Be-Read-Pile of books in your room gets so high that it topples over and buries you under hundreds of stories and your family doesn’t find your body for days because they just assumed you were reading your way through them all.
EBOOKS.Beating mammoth sized postal costs Tip Five. Go digital. Sadly, this means you will miss out on the pleasures of holding the book itself, enjoying its particular weight and texture, slipping your battered old book marks between the pages, shelving it in your favourite way (by colour, by height, by author, by subject, oh the possibilities), ostentatiously opening it up to read on the public transport, lending it to a good friend, seriously wondering about the ‘goodness’ of that friend when the book is not returned … But I digress. The thing is, there are no postage costs with them.
Your Challenge: Beat the postage monsters. You can do this, really you can.
Each review is wanted, Each review is good, Your review is welcome In a writer’s neighbourhood.
Mawson Bear’s Guardian Mark speaks: As you know, our Mawson is a Writer-Bear. His brand new book is called Dreamy Days and Random Naps. It’s about slowing down, indulging in big dreams of a grand world, and resting on cushions. Just perfect for all the tired daydream-believers who want to give themselves permission to relax for little while – or even longer. Could this be you?
I’m sure many frazzled grownups would enjoy escaping for a peaceful half hour into this cosy world – If only they knew about it. And this is the same for every writer: if only readers knew about their books!
Writers need your help. Yes, YOUR help: When you are quiet sort of writer (or a quiet writer-bear) it is not easy to be heard out there in the wide world. Only YOU, the all-powerful reader, can help. You can post your own review about a book on one of the book-retailer websites. Now don’t be alarmed by the word ‘review’. An essay is not required or wanted, rather just a few words about what you think of the book and what you liked.
How to do it: Go to your chosen book retailer. Search for the book title, or author name, or ISBN number. Here are some retailers: Amazon and Good Reads, Barnes and Noble (USA), and Booktopia (Australia) and Library Thing . (There are more listed below.) After you find the book, scroll down to the field headed ‘Leave A Review’, or ‘Write Your Own Review’. If you haven’t before used that book retailer you need to register to do so. This does take a couple of minutes of bother, I know, but then comes the fun.
Smiting at the Star Ratings. With all the power of your mighty keyboard, bash at the ratings. If you are an excitable sort of person, or if you love the book, keep on smiting. Smite Thrice!!! Smite Fourfold!!!! And, yea even unto Five times!!!!!
Our Scotland the Brave charges at the ratings and smites for all he is worth.
You can post your review on other sites too: Having tasted your awesome power, why stop there? You can copy and paste your review to any other on-line retailer, as many as you like, depending on how mighty waxeth your smiting arm that day.
Other ways to help writers that cost nothing: Look at the reviews left by other readers and click the “helpful” or “like’ buttons. Share the links about that book all over the place. You can look at the writer’s other titles too and if you are not able to buy one just now, add to a ‘Wish List.’ On GoodReads add it to “Want to read’ list. These small actions tell the websites’ algorithms that people are taking notice of the book. It all adds up. And up. And UP. And it means lots of people will fall in love with our Dreamy Days and Random Naps (and the other books you review, of course) just like you. All writers will be grateful for these things which you can do in a jiffy.
Can you help with Mawson’s Dreamy Days and Random Naps?
Please let me know if you would like to do a review for Dreamy Days and Random Naps. I can send you a PDF version. Short remarks are fine. It is, after all, a little book. Or just bash away at those star ratings.
Elisabeth Foster, author of the wonderful booksEsme’s Wishand Esme’s Gift kindly interviewed Mawson Bear on her website about his picture books for grownups. Here is the start of Elisabeth’s interview.
‘It’s easy to feel lost and alone in this fast-moving world, and comfort can come from unexpected places. In Mawson Bear’s picture book for adults we meet a wise old bear who offers simple advice that goes straight to the heart. The following interview is with Mawson himself. I have never interviewed a bear before and I was rather nervous but Mawson soon put me at ease, just the way he does for readers in It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In.
Can you tell us what inspired you, Mawson, to go on this Bear adventure?
We bears feel, deep down in our stuffing, that when all the naps are snoozed and the words are said, everything is still grand. That’s why we are such a comfort. But so many people forget this. Many people go down, down, into doubts and worry. They even forget all about us bears. So I pondered one day, between naps, that it would be grand to sort of say comforting things in little books for people.
Mawson’s first book is called It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In: You can plonk your paw here to read it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited in some Amazon regions. And you can buy the Kindle at a 75% discount! Find the print edition there too or see it at Book Depository (free shipping all over the world).
Mawson’ second book is called She Ran Away From Love: Plonk paws here to read it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited at some Amazon regions. The Kindle to buy is marked down 75%! It is also at Book Depository (with free shipping all over the world).
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’.
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 forThe Tales of Tarya.
You are at Mark’s blog called Baffled Bear Books. Mark is a bibliophile, dark coffee tragic, and the guardian and blundering typist for Mawson Bear, one of this bright world’s few published bears.
Baffled Bear Books 