Pen & Ink Designs

12/03/2024

B093 WRITING SHOULD BE FUN, FUN, FUN.
One thing I stress when dealing with any writer is that writing should and must be fun. And yet often I discover writers who feel stressed about the various aspects of the process. Either because they can't get started, have suddenly some to a full stop some 30,000 words in or, are wondering how to finish their novel. My answer is to stop worrying. Let go and start to have fun with your writing. Today's podcast is all about why writing should be fun and how have some with your writing process.

One thing I stress when dealing with any writer is that writing should and must be fun. And yet often I discover writers who feel stressed about the various aspects of the process. Either because they can't get started, have suddenly some to a full stop some 30,000 words in or, are wondering how to....

12/03/2024

P116 VIVIDLY DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTERS
Making sure you have characters that are realistic means describing them vividly. It is your job as the writer to ensure that your reader can envisage the characters in their mind when reading about them. Todays podcast gives you some insight into how to do this.

Making sure you have characters that are realistic means describing them vividly. It is your job as the writer to ensure that your reader can envisage the characters in their mind when reading about them. Todays podcast gives you some insight into how to do this.

12/03/2024

B092 MY WRITING TIPS
In this podcast I wanted to share with you a few writing tips that I think may help you when it comes to writing your story. Remember, most stories have already been told just not in the way you will tell it. And that is what writing is all about. By using your imagination, emotions, experiences etc and by thinking outside the box you should be able to produce a great masterpiece.

In this podcast I wanted to share with you a few writing tips that I think may help you when it comes to writing your story. Remember, most stories have already been told just not in the way you will tell it. And that is what writing is all about. By using your imagination, emotions, experiences etc...

12/03/2024

P115 SUGGESTIONS FOR ENGAGING YOUR READERS:
We all know that reviews are good but remember not all are relevant or genuine, and if a bad one is given it's hard to remove it. Today we discuss the various ways you can attract readers to follow and interact with you, other than just by leaving reviews.

We all know that reviews are good but remember not all are relevant or genuine, and if a bad one is given it's hard to remove it. Today we discuss the various ways you can attract readers to follow and interact with you, other than just by leaving reviews.

12/03/2024

B091 BEING A GHOST WRITER: Being a ghost writer can be both easy and hard. The easy part is that you are taking someone else's ideas and helping them create a story or writing about their life. But it can also be hard especially if writing a memoir. In this case you must remember to ensure you write as if the person in the memoir but also are able to do it without losing your own writing style. In this podcast we explain more.

Mentoring Writers Resource Box podcasts offer new and developing authors assistance as they travel their writing journey (whether self- or traditionally published). We mentor adult writers of all ages worldwide while mentoring under 18's through our sister organisation Kids4Kids.org.uk. With over th...

26/01/2024

Understanding the use of ISBN's. In todays podcast we briefly explain the history of ISBN's, why they are needed, where you get them from, and their uses.

We have all probably heard about quick writing authors. Those writers who appear to churn out a new book as easily as if baking a cake. You are may be one of those authors or perhaps one of the many hundreds of other writers who sit and wonder how do they do it. In this podcast we will look at what....

26/01/2024

Understanding the use of ISBN's. In todays podcast we briefly explain the history of ISBN's, why they are needed, where you get them from, and their uses.

Becoming an Indie Publisher for the first time can be daunting. One of the things you really need to understand is why and how we use ISBN numbers. In todays podcast we briefly explain the history of ISBN's, why they are needed, where you get them from, and their use.

09/01/2024

The latest podcast from Mentoring Writers is live. Titled, How to Express Themes in Writing' we explain why themes are important and which ones are relevant to most writing. listen now.

Writers fall into differing categories having varied genres and styles. Even though a writer may have the idea for a good book without the right characters and themes the story could fall flat on it's face. Today we look at some famous stories covering the differing elements of theme and examine how...

16/12/2023

I was delighted the week before last to interview the five ladies of The Ten Penners. An Australian writing group which is a part of the Gold Coast Writers Organisation down under. I have known at least 3 of the current members for some years now through membership of SCBWI and through my visiting my family in Aus.

The interview went well and was a delight and a joy to do. There are two versions. A podcast version which is available on the Mentoring Writers Resource Box Podcast Show and a video version available on my YouTube Channel. Check what the ladies have been up to and the fun we had recording the interview.

Podcast link: https://sites.libsyn.com/273518/site
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9n9leagFqg

The Ten Penners is an off-shoot Group of the Gold Coast Writers organisation in Australia. Recently they launched their latest anthology. Today I talk with t...

07/11/2023

Date for the diary: www.rhonddabookfair.weebly.com is the link for the best Christmas event of 2023. A free literature festival with all kinds of authors with all kinds of books. The SOAR Centre in Penygraig R.C.T. CF40 1JZ is the place to be on Saturday, December 2nd from 10 am to 4 pm - admission FREE!!! Tea, coffee and cake will be available to purchase while you enjoy the FREE talks and peruse the theatre of the SOAR Centre. It's the Rhondda Book Fair 2023 "A Festival of Authors".
I will be there with a selection of books and ready for a chat or two.

31/10/2023

Hooray... they are live. The two books I was working on are now up and running and heading for the bookshelves. Both books are charming, delightful and fun reads.
The Enchanted Island of Mythynys by Sebastian leads us on an adventure with fairies, mermaids and mystical creatures across the island of Mythynys.
While the delightful, full colour illustrations of Mostyn & The Dragon from Sean Alan Edwards takes us on a poetic journey to Porthcawl in South Wales where we discover that the 'King' is still very much alive.
Join us now on our journeys. Books available in bookshsops, Amazon and www.bookreviewers.co.uk

24/10/2023

And the second book being published by Pen & Ink Designs Publishing this month is a revised edition of Sebastian Stumbelbum's delightful and charming story book The Enchanted Island of Mythynys. This is a story full of mermaids, fairies, butterflies and other wonderful mystical and magical creatures. A chapter book that will delight with a selection of black and white images inside.

22/10/2023

First of two new books being launched later this month. Mostyn & The Dragon is a delightful children's picture book written in poetic format. The story centres on a trapped Dragon who is rescued by Mostyn the sheep. As Mostyn helps the dragon to become a singing superstar their friendship also develops. The book is complimented by some wonderful full colour illustrations that will delight all ages.

18/10/2023

I have to say the Mentoring Writers Workshop I am running online down in Oz is certainly going well. My 'students' (lovely people) have really got in to the spirit of things and are sending me some fabulous results from the exercises. I think I might try another one in the New Year. It's been a lot of fun.

08/10/2023

Attended the National Education Exhibition yesterday. I really like visiting the show as I discover what is new in education support. Called on the Jigsaw stand. Great resources available for anyone working with youngsters. The picture shows me the best sentence of the day! PSHE PSHE Community

05/10/2023

Now launched 'Changing History' - the anthology of short stories written in prose and poetic format by the entrants of the Mentoring Writers 2023 Writing Competition.
Available at bookshops, Amazon and www.bookreviewers.co.uk

29/09/2023

We are delighted to announce the launch of A Year of Poetry 2 - 2023-2023 from Lis' Poetry Place Poetry Group. This is the second anthology of poems written by members of Lis' Poetry Place Group.

10/09/2023

12/08/2023

Do you want a simple Contact Me form for your website that is confidential. I have been using Paperform Contact Forms for a few years now and find them very easy to set and useful, especially if I want to offer a variety of different styles of contact forms for different websites.
If you want more details you can use this link to check out what they have to offer as a service to you.

Easily create forms as beautiful as you.

05/08/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : P109 WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROTAGONIST

No matter what genre or style you write your story in, whether for book, stage or screen, you always need to make sure you have a good, no a great protagonist. In this podcast we discuss what makes a good hero/heroine and we offer samples from a couple of popular films to help you get the feel of ou...

29/07/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : B085 WHY A COPYRIGHT PAGE & ISBN ON EBOOKS

In light of the confusion over AI and it's effects on writers, today we are discussing why you should consider having both a copyright page and an ISBN for your ebooks. We will doing further podcasts about how AI, plagiarism, copyright and how it could affect your work in the future.

22/07/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : P108 WHICH MARKETING METHODS SUIT YOU

Marketing is probably every authors nightmare. I often stress that authors are a business and you are, which means you need all the help you can when its comes to getting your work out there. In this podcast, I want to look at digital marketing and how you could utilise it to help your promotions an...

15/07/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : IX1 THE PROS & CONS OF 'THREADS'

Following the release of the new app 'Threads' we offer you some quick buttlet points which give you the pros and cons of what Threads is all about. We will report more about this new addition to the Facebook/Instagram/WhatApp family as we discover it.

10/07/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : I008 IN CONVERSATION WITH - MK JONES - AUTHOR

Today I am 'In Conversation With'... Welsh Author MK Jones. Mary has written who series of books using her geneology background as inspiration. She shares with us details of her latest books and the forthcoming ones she is currently working on. Mary also shares some usefult tips for all new and deve...

03/07/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : P107 EXPLAINING BLEED IN PRINTING

If you are including any illustrations in your written work, including your cover, and are publishing the book yourself then it is important to understand the need for good bleed. Today we talk about the need for the exacting measurements needed to produce a perfect copy of your book. Thanks go to O...

26/06/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : B084 WORRIED ABOUT TIKTOK

Should you be worried about TikTok? We talk today about what has been happening and is still happening across the world over the app TikTok. Also why and how Governments, military organisations and even businesses are reacting to having the app on corporate devices.

19/06/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : P106 UNDERSTANDING PLOT HOLES

Every good story needs a good plot. But what happens if along the way you forget or omit something from your plot? Or maybe you end up going of at a tangent by introducing another plot? In this podcast I talk about understanding plot holes and how to mend them.

13/06/2023

Copyright Infringement continues. Being on a roll I followed Twitter up by attacking SoundCloud after I discovered that there was some person on there offering an audio recoding of my book Dear Friends Letters from Abroad. Yet again the organisation reacted quickly and they have taken her down for doing this. Well done SoundCloud.
Just to let you all know I do this copyright infringement search every 3 or 4 months as you never know when someone is making money of your hard work or when things can go wrong with the way your books are being shown online.
So having done the one above and Twitter I finished with Waterstones who were advertising 4 of my kids books by a publisher who had no right to them. Complicated story but easily resolved by the lovely people at Neilson Title Editor. So people out there if you are publishing your own books make sure you keep your Neilson Title Editor details up to date and if you don't have an account - get one now.

13/06/2023

I've already had one moan so here is another. This one is about copyright infrignement. And boy oh boy did I get a purler of one this week. It appears that there is a young lady who goes by the name of Mildred J. Feliciano who has been offering PDF copies of books - including mine. I suppose I shouldn't as I have been in some good company while she's been doing this. However, I digress. So on twitter she has been advertising these pdf's and using the book covers to advertise them. Having caught her out I contacted Twitter and complained. Now being honest I am not a big fan if Elon Musk so didn't expect a positive reaction. However, Twitter shocked me and whoa and behold within two hours they had taken the offending post down off Twitter and it looks like they have stopped her selling the pdf's completely. Well done Twitter.

05/06/2023

Mentoring Writers Resource Box : P105 OUR TIPS FOR ENDING ANY STORY

If there is one thing all fiction books need, no matter what genre, it is a solid ending. Although you make have decided how your story is to end actually creating the right format for your story is crucial. Therefore, in today's podcast we are offering you some tips to ensure the ending of any stor...