Eregendal

24/06/2024

One day to go!

Do you believe in the power of words?

Join us for

Relax and enjoy words in a variety of forms with

Deborah & Mark Fall in Green
Sue from Elizabeth's Group
Maggie from Eregendal
Sheila from Crewe and District Writers Circle
Helen Kay from Poetry Open Mic Whitchurch
Jules from Mid Pennine Arts
Elizabeth from Englesea Brook Chapel & Museum

Come and join us for a range of songs, readings and poetry, a relaxing evening for you and your friends. Be inspired by the power of words.

Tickets are only £7 - come and join us at Crewe Heritage Centre

Send us a message to book.

21/06/2024

Maggie's Journey, part 4 - Marriage, Addiction & Depression 1973-1977

Maggie and Bob struggled with addiction throughout their marriage.
Maggie drank heavily and relied on prescription medication. In an era where doctors prescribed antidepressants as a sort of ‘magic bullet’, Maggie found herself addicted to Va**um, amongst other things.

That and their heavy drinking led to the breakdown of their relationship, which eventually came to an end in 1977.

Throughout this period of time, and beyond, Maggie found solace and relief through writing and composing. This creative outlet was cathartic for her, and she found that it helped with her depression, particularly at the lowest and darkest moments.

Part 5 of Maggie's journey coming soon - you can read the full Journey of Maggie now, over on her website, link in bio.

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

19/06/2024

🧸 Book number 3 Coming soon!!!!🧸

Both first and second books are available to purchase from my website/Amazon/Lulu and I’m very excited to announce that I will be launching the third book in the series at the end of this month!

I cant wait to share it with you.

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

15/06/2024

I’ll be here on Tuesday 25th June!!


We have a great line up for our
Deborah & Mark Fall in Green
Sue from Elizabeth’s Group
Maggie from
Sheila from Crewe and District Writers Circle
Helen Kay from Poetry Open Mic Whitchurch
Jules from Mid Pennine Arts
Elizabeth from Englesea Brook Chapel & Museum

Come and join us for a range of songs, readings and poetry, a relaxing evening for you and your friends and be inspired by the power of words.

Tickets are only £7 - come and join us at Crewe Heritage Centre

13/06/2024

✍️ NEW BLOG - Writing Process - Creating a children’s picture book

More Tales from the Teddies of Rosehill Cottage is a picture book sequel, the second collection of five short stories in the series The Teddies of Rosehill Cottage.

Like the stories in the first of series, the five tales are all loosely based on what happened to some of the teddies and toys in our household collection.

These toys really do sit together on a 1970s Ercol trolley in our hall, but the house around them is quite different to the picturesque black and white cottage in the stories. A thatched cottage in rural Cheshire makes a much more striking cover image than a house on a 1970s suburban estate.

When creating a book for young children....
Head to my website to read the full blog or click the link below: https://www.eregendal.com/the-writing-process-creating-a-childrens-picture-book/

🐻 Each copy sold of the Teddies books donates £1 to Hopes and Beams charity 💜
Keep a look out for book 3 launching at the end of this month!

Happy reading!
🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

11/06/2024

⭐ Top Tips for Editing Your Book - Part 2 by Maggie Shaw at Eregendal

Editing is a must if you want to appear in print.

🔹Editing software takes a lot of grief out of the process of preparing your writing for publication.

🔹Don’t have blind faith in your editing software: it follows rules, not artistic expression.

🔹An independent beta reader will help you find correctable flaws better than your Auntie Flo – unless she is also a beta reader.

🔹Can’t afford a copy or proof editor? Invest in a grammar program like ProWritingAid or Grammarly, and use it at each stage.

🔹While MS Word is still the main go to for a lot of writers, other programs are available which may make book layout creation easier for you, such as Vellum and Atticus.

🔹Is your first draft all action? Add some quieter reflective scenes.
Is it all introspection? Add some action to make the reader want to turn the page.

🔹Avoid direct song quotes in your work as you may incur hefty licensing fees from the copyright holder.

🔹Avoid naming any real brands, companies, or famous people in your work unless they have become a household term, such as hoover and marmite, to avoid litigation.

🔹Check your proofs carefully. Include indexes, page numbers and page formatting.

🔹No matter how many times you check your proof copies, you will always find another typo later on.

Happy editing!

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

07/06/2024

Where we record our audio books and song tracks.
Chris is a great guy with a lot of experience in the music business.

Arena Recording Studio: Professional Recording Studio, Guitar & Singing Lessons. Guitar Repairs. Crewe, Cheshire.

07/06/2024

As I’ve had lots of new followers since the start of this year, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself again 👋

What’s my story?
I have been living a life shaped by a recovery program for forty years, and those experiences naturally find expression in the stories I tell and write.
Since the start of this year, each month I have been focusing on one of my own books, from a collection of 12.

I have also a chosen ‘book of the month’ that I read and talk about, recommend for something that you may find of interest too.

I also love to write blogs through the months, and these can all be read over on my website, where you can dip in and out of at any time.

As always I would love to hear your thoughts, have discussions on the books or even feedback that we can share with each other.

Having collected so much helpful information through the years when it come to writing and publishing, I have collated those tips together for you which I have posted over the months (see Author Tips) and I hope that they have/will been of use to anyone wanting to delve into the world of becoming an author.

You may have also noticed the posts about ‘Maggie’s Journey’ which is my own personal journey from when I was born in 1955, and the journey continues each month until 2018 when Eregendal is born!

You can either read a part of the story each month as I post them or for the full collection you can head to my website and look for the ‘About Maggie’ section.

I have lots to share with you still, and we haven’t even touched on my music as yet!

Thank you for being part of this journey too, whether its on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Maggie 🦋
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

05/06/2024

My book at Eregendal for June is ‘More Tales from The Teddies of Rosehill Cottage’.

This is second book of tales and adventures with a family of teddies who live at the cottage, and it comprises of five short stories of the family and their friends which will charm and delight people of all ages!

Each story is illustrated with photos of the teddies and toys who inspired the original stories.

With every copy of this book purchased, at least £1 is donated to the wonderful Hopes & Beams charity based in Crewe, Cheshire.
The charity works to improve the lives of children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs.

It really is a lovely read!

Both first and second books are available to purchase from my website/Amazon/Lulu and I'm very excited to announce that I will be launching the third book in the series at the end of this month!

I cant wait to share it with you.

Happy reading,

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

30/05/2024

Maggie's Journey, part 3 - Maggie meets Bob, 1972

What did Bob deliver?
Head over to my website to find out!
https://www.eregendal.com/about-maggie-shaw/

Part 4 of Maggie's journey coming soon...

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

28/05/2024

📚 For May’s Book of the Month, I have chosen The Great Divorce by C S Lewis (1898-1963).

First published in 1946 and less familiar than his more famous works, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters.

Lewis was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian who held academic positions at Oxford University from 1925-1954 and Cambridge University from 1954 to his death.

He served in the First World War, experiencing action in The Somme Valley in France which informed his later descriptions of battle and strengthened his atheism. However, he returned to the Christian faith in 1931, strongly influenced by his fellow academic J R R Tolkein, a fellow member of The Inklings authors discussion group which met in Oxford.

The Great Divorce is an allegorical novella describing heaven, hell and purgatory in terms of a day-trip bus journey.

At the start of the story, a bus stops to pick up people from the rainy suburban gloom of hell...

So there is a little teaser for you, you can read my full blog about it over on my website.

❓ What is your 'must read' book?
I would love to hear your suggestions for me in the comments below 👇

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

25/05/2024

⭐ Top Tips for Editing Your Book - Part 1 by Maggie Shaw

🔹Share your new writing with someone who will be both honest and kind. A good writers’ group can provide this.

🔹Leave your newly completed writing for at least 2 days if not a month before you read and edit. For some, leaving it for several years works.

🔹A good way to edit your first draft is to look at the content of each chapter and remove everything that doesn’t add to the plot. Red herrings and brief descriptions are a part of the plot and should stay.

🔹A piece of advice most writers have been given, is to murder your darlings - especially those purple passages that send others reaching for the sick bag.

🔹Make sure you really know the meanings of all the words you use: hirsute is not the same as bespoke.

🔹Make all your character names distinctive. Readers will get confused between Adam, Alan, Anna, Amy, Alex, Abel and Adelle.

🔹Make sure your important characters have distinctive characteristics – unless they are Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

🔹Add variety into your scenes. People reading novels for pleasure and escapism will give up on an endless round of same old same old.

🔹Beware of using variations of the words said and ask, which readers tend to pass over. An occasional alternative to indicate mood such as shouted or cried can add to a scene but too many distract.

Happy editing and enjoy the bank holiday weekend!

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

22/05/2024

NEW BLOG

Self Publishing Blog: A Picture Says a Thousand Words

The Last Thursday Ritual in Little Piddlington
One of the fun parts about self-publishing is designing the cover of a book. The cover is the flagship launching your precious opus out into the wilds of the internet and beyond in the hunt for readers. The design needs to be eye-catching, informative, and distinctive even when reduced to a website thumbnail....

You can read the full blog over on my website along with the three cover concepts I had.

Happy reading and self-publishing.

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

14/05/2024

🔔NEW BLOG! - Converting a Drama into a Book – not as easy as it sounds! 🔔

The Last Thursday Ritual in Little Piddlington started life as a radio play.
The whole story, including all the action, was told through sound effects and speech.
An absurdist comedy, it owed a big debt to the comedy masters who had gone before: The Goons, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the Ealing Comedies and the Carry On films.

One of the joys of working through pure audio, is that the writer can take the audience to places and events which would be challenging or impossible to create through other media.

The printed word, in comparison, needs to be much more precise. A scene which could be depicted in a few audio seconds by some folk music and a bleating sheep, will take a paragraph or two to describe in text, slowing down the action and pace....

For the full blog, head over to my website or click the link: https://www.eregendal.com/the-writing-process-converting-a-drama-into-a-book/

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

10/05/2024

Maggie's Journey, part 2 - Maggie Runs Away to London, 1970

At the age of 15, Maggie made the decision to run away from home. At school, she had wanted to study biology and chemistry, as she dreamed of being a biochemist. But this was made impossible by the school and her parents. Instead, she was told to take biology and art, with no thought of a career for her to aim for.

Also about this time her grandmother died, three years after her grandfather, and the family's regular visits to their Cumbrian farm and her freedom to roam the fells stopped. She felt unsupported and unloved, and her relationship with her parents was severely strained.

Part 3 of Maggie's journey coming soon...

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

08/05/2024

☀️I hope you all had a lovely bank holiday weekend!

For a bit of fun, here is my 'interview' with Mike, one of the characters from The Last Thursday Ritual in Little Piddlington

Q: What’s your name?
A: Michelle ‘Mike’ Smith.

Q: How old are you?
A: 19 years old.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself…
A: I’ve been unemployed since I left school three years ago, so I still live at home with me Mam and Dad. I ride a bike to get around, and I do all my own maintenance, so I sometimes make a bob or two repairing other people’s bikes to top up my benefits. My favourite outfit is black leathers, platform boots and a white silk shirt.

Q: What’s the best bit about living in Little Piddlington?
A: Everyone knows everyone else. We’re all kind-hearted but inside, we’re each a bit of a rogue, so we always cut each other a bit of slack.

Q: What do you care about most?
A: Hiding the fact I’m only 5 feet 2 inches tall. That’s why I wear the platform boots.

Q: What are you obsessed with?
A: Keeping fit enough to better the men in the village when I want to.

Q: What’s the best thing that ever happened to you?
A: Discovering alcohol.

Q: Tell us about your most embarrassing moment…
A: Getting caught forging references on my job application to join the police force.

Q: What are the 3 words that best describe you?
A: Wily, loyal, realist.

Q: Finally, what do you like to do in your spare time?
A: Go for a drink in the Queen’s Legs with all me mates!

You can purchase The Last Thursday Ritual in Little Piddlington here:

https://www.eregendal.com/shop/books/paperbacks/the-last-thursday-ritual-in-little-piddlington/

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

04/05/2024

Studio all set up for the Teddies 3 photo shoot, with Jubbly Teddy from Hopes and Beams waiting for a lighting check.

02/05/2024

💎 Sometimes, spending time on social media can uncover a gem!

That’s how I discovered April’s Book of the Month: New Hart’s Rules – The Oxford Style Guide (OUP, 2014). This book is the editing guide I didn’t know I needed when I set out in self-publishing in 2018.

New Hart’s Rules is not a book to read through, although I find the contents so interesting, I am trying to do so. Because it is a reference book, it repeats some information in several sections, which is helpful when you look up something specific, because the text doesn’t direct you elsewhere halfway through an explanation.

📖✒The book contains everything you need to know about editing and preparing a book for publication. Sections include: the parts of a book, preparing copy, punctuation, abbreviations, numbers and dates, languages, lists and tables, indexing, and copyright and other publishing responsibilities. This is not an exhaustive list of all that is covered.

If you are a self-published author, this book would be very useful to you as a guide to making your published works look as professional as possible. If you use editors, this is the sort of book you would hope your editor keeps by their desk as a reference work.

So there we have it, April’s Book of the Month!
Be sure to check back in May when I’ll be revealing another must read.

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

30/04/2024

📖 May's book at Eregendal is of the story of The Last Thursday Ritual in Little Piddlington, which was published in May 2021.

This comedy of errors by Maggie Shaw will have you laughing all the way to the Post Office!

Chuckle at the antics of characters like the publican who does John Wayne impressions, the WI ladies who fly a helicopter using a 'Teach Yourself Book', and the disaffected housekeeper who leads the vicar into sin - not that he takes much leading.

Have you already read it?
I would love to know what you thought!

More on this book will be posted soon.

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

28/04/2024

⭐ Useful Resources for Authors - Part 2
Maggie Shaw of Eregendal

This is not an exhaustive list: it is just intended to get you started.
As you develop your craft and your goals, you will find many more.

Information Sources
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
Society of Authors: https://www2.societyofauthors.org/
Writers and Artists Yearbook: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/
Reedsy: https://reedsy.com/
Bryan Cohen’s free Amazon Advertising course: https://learn.bestpageforward.net/jul23/

Printers and Publishers
Amazon KDP: https://kdp.amazon.com/
Apple Books for Authors: https://authors.apple.com/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Bookbaby: https://www.bookbaby.com/
Draft2Digital: https://www.draft2digital.com/
Ingram Spark: https://www.ingramspark.com/
Lulu Publishing: https://www.lulu.com/
University of Chester Press: Managing Editor Sarah Griffiths:
[email protected]

Social Media
There are many author groups on social media whose experience can help you develop. Here are some Facebook groups to start you off.
Don’t forget to look on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn too.

ARC Group for Readers and Authors: - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1623950861238483
We love indie authors: https://www.facebook.com/groups/817644758281128
Wide for the Win: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wideforthewin
Chester Writers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChesterWriters
Alessandra Torre Inkers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/torreink
Newsletter Ninja Author Think Tank: https://www.facebook.com/groups/newsletterninja

If you are seeing this post on Instagram, head to my page where the links should be clickable.

Happy Writing!

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

24/04/2024

🦋 Maggie has led in incredible journey so far, and we are lucky to be able to delve into her story in a series of posts created for you over the coming weeks...

Maggie's Journey - The Story Begins, 1955

Maggie Shaw was born on an unusually snowy day in Surrey in March 1955.
Her father came from a farming background. But at the time of Maggie’s birth, he had moved on in his career to work for the Post Office, and would later join the Inland Revenue where he rose to the level of Inspector of Foreign Dividends.

Maggie’s mother was a teacher who began her career as a nursery teacher, swiftly climbing the ladder to become a Nursery Headteacher and at retirement a local authority Inspector of Nursery Schools. Maggie’s brother was born 6 and a half years earlier. The family was based in Northern Surrey for much of Maggie’s childhood.

Part 2 of Maggie's journey coming soon...

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

18/04/2024

Did you know that I also have an Instagram page?

Both my Facebook and Instagram accounts have the same username which makes it even easier for you to find me 🙌

Please give me a follow 🦋


You can also find me on LinkedIn and YouTube

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

16/04/2024

❓ Writing Process Blog: How long does it take to write a book?
(The Vision and Beyond)

This is a question often asked of me during talks I give about self-publishing.
People ask it at business networking sessions too. While it usually comes from a budding author who has started writing their first novel, it can also be raised by a consultant who would like to showcase their skills to a wider public.

My reply is usually, ‘As long as it takes.’

It took me about six years to complete the hand-written first draft of The Vision and Beyond. I wrote the first fifty pages in a month. After penning the vision that is Part 1 of the book, I had no idea how the story could then progress....

To read the full blog, head to the Eregendal website:
https://www.eregendal.com/the-writing-process-how-long-does-it-take-to-write-a-book/

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

11/04/2024

⭐ Useful Resources for Authors - Part 1
Maggie Shaw of Eregendal

This is not an exhaustive list: it is just intended to get you started.
As you develop your craft and your goals, you will find many more.

Grammar and Editing Programs
ProWritingAid: https://prowritingaid.com/
Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/

Artwork and Design
Canva: https://canva.co.uk/
Adobe Creative Cloud: https://www.adobe.com/uk/
Istock photos: https://www.istockphoto.com/
Shutterstock images: https://www.shutterstock.com/

AI cover designers
Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/
Stable Diffusion: https://stablediffusionweb.com/

Word Processing and Layout
Word: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365
Libre Office: https://www.libreoffice.org/
WPS Office: https://www.wps.com/
Vellum (for Macs): https://vellum.pub/
Atticus (for Windows): https://www.atticus.io/

ISBNS
Free with some publishers such as KDP, Lulu and others.
Nielsen ISBN store: https://www.nielsenisbnstore.com/
Nielsen Title Editor: https://www.nielsentitleeditor.com/titleeditor/

If you are seeing this post on Instagram, head to my page where the links should be clickable.

Happy Writing!

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

09/04/2024

Eregendal’s featured book for April is my novel The Vision and Beyond – the book that started Eregendal’s journey into publishing.

❓Who is the captive, released after nearly 3 years in a foreign jail?

❓What happened to her homeland while she was away?

❓Who is the enigmatic John Smith, charged with finding her true identity?

This supernatural Christian mystic quest novel explores the themes of guilt, healing and identity in a post Cold War world.

Head to my website to purchase book from the collection on my website, which is in paperback, kindle and ePub
https://www.eregendal.com/shop/books/paperbacks/the-vision-and-beyond/

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my full range of books on my website I Amazon I Lulu

04/04/2024

❓ So many questions, and so many answers to find! 🕵️‍♂️

The Vision and Beyond is a mystical story, in the style of the novels of Charles Williams. Its Cold War setting adds to the atmosphere of foreboding which permeates the work. The literary device that no landmark is named is deliberate.

The story explores betrayal, healing, faith and identity as it unravels two mysteries. The first is to discover the real name of the woman at the centre of the story. The second is to find out what happened to the world during the woman’s three-year imprisonment.

The book was inspired by a chance comment from a friend in the late 1970s about neutron bombs destroying people but not property. It has developed over the years since, thanks in no small part to the wisdom and advice of many people, including Rev. Angus Logan, Rev. John Woolcock, and Rev. Edward Robertson. I would also like to thank Tonya Chirgwin, Lynn Rose and Roy Butler for their assistance with the manuscript, and Helen Lamb for her help with the artwork and cover design. Any faults in the work are my own alone.

You can purchase this book from the collection on my website, which is in paperback, kindle and ePub
https://www.eregendal.com/shop/books/paperbacks/the-vision-and-beyond/

🦋 Maggie Shaw
eregendal.com

Author & publisher of fiction and poetry
You can purchase my full range of books on my website I Amazon I Lulu