Red Raven Publications

23/08/2023

Hi guys, I am switching focus to my main FB page under Sophie Jackson and I will eventually archive this page. If you would like to continue getting updates and communicating with me please like and follow 😊
https://www.facebook.com/SophieJacksonAuthor

Find out about all my writing projects under my various pen-names and get in touch!

04/05/2023

Its that time of year when I spend a lot of my weekends away in the caravan. That gives me plenty of time for reading, but it also gives me a conundrum - do I go for ebooks or paperbacks?

My caravan has a 'library drawer' which contain the books I have purchased to read over the summer. Often I go to the charity show or the library book sales to pick up new reads.

But, aside from a few beloved series which I keep, most of the books end up either back at the charity shop or binned, which makes me sad. Equally, space has to be considered.

My alternative is either library books (inconvenient due to the difficulties of getting to my local library these days) or using my Kindle. I love my Kindle and have a lot of books on there, but it is not quite the same as an actual, physical book.

And so I vacillate between the two forms of books, sometimes stocking up on paperbacks, other times filling my Kindle. Never quite satisfied with one or the other.

Anyone else as complicated as me when it comes to what format to read a book in?

03/05/2023

The first week of May is National Children's Book Week in America, which began in 1919 and was the brainchild of Franklin K. Matthews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America. He wanted to see children's literature promoted, as it was a neglected genre at the time. He also wanted to see higher standards of writing for children.

Today, almost a third of all books sold in America are children's books.

In the UK we don't have a set Children's Book Week, but rather schools and libraries are encouraged to have one when it best suits their schedule.

All this brings back fond memories of book fairs at school and my favourite children's classics. Many of the books I read were not contemporary to my generation, but were passed to me from my parents and grandparents as books they liked.

One of my favourites was the Animals of Farthing Wood series by Colin Dann (which later became a cartoon on the BBC). These were quite dark and challenging books for a child, raising big issues about the impact of development on the natural world and the often cruel and short lives of animals.

At one school book fair, I bought The Fox Cub Bold, (first published 1983) the next book I needed to read in the series. I remember that book vividly and crying my heart out as Bold dies at the end, having made his way back to his family. I was around 9 or 10.

Children's books can leave a deep imprint on your readers, which is why it is so important they are of good quality and appropriate for the child.

02/05/2023

History podcasts? Yes or no?

I had a copy of BBC History magazine over the weekend and it mentioned their podcasts, so I signed up for them in a free trial. They seem to mostly consist of interviews, which are interesting, but personally I prefer a structured retelling of a piece of history rather than an interview which has the main purpose of buying someone's book.

I have tried a few different history podcasts, but so far I have not found one that appeals enough to me to become addicted to it.

Maybe I need to keep searching? Any suggestions for me?

02/05/2023

Sounds fun! Win some Agatha Christie goodies!

Agatha Christie fans, we have an exciting competition for you today!

We've teamed up with & to offer you a brilliant bundle that includes: Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap 70th Anniversary Edition, The World of Agatha Christie Jigsaw, Bingo AND Playing Cards!

To be in with a chance of winning, simply fill out the form via the link in our bio.

The competition closes on 12th May. Full t&cs apply. Good luck!

29/04/2023

When you are trying to concentrate on your writing, but all you can hear outside is someone pressure washing their drive for two solid hours! 😫

28/04/2023

With another Bank Holiday on the horizon, I found myself wondering where they all began. Turns out Bank Holidays are thanks to Sir John Lubbock an English banker and the 1st Baron Avebury.

He drafted the Bank Holiday Bill in 1871 and when it was made into law he instituted the first Bank Holidays. Initially they were only for banks and financial institutions, but gradually other businesses began adopting them.

Some people even called them St Lubbock's Day in celebration of this extra day of leisure in their hardworking lives.

27/04/2023

I love seeing the cherry blossom out at this time of year. Along with Magnolia flowers, it makes me think of spring. Recently I came across this fascinating book by Japanese author Naoko Abe.

It tells the story of Collingwood Ingram, an Englishman who had a passion for Japanese cherry trees. At the turn of the twentieth century there were countless varieties of cherry trees in Japan, some only found in specific gardens, but by the 1920s the number of varieties had severely reduced.

Appalled by this, Ingram set out to catalogue and preserve as many varieties as he could.

This book provides a real glimpse into the social history of the cherry in Japan, as well as a glimpse into Japanese society at the time.

I suspect, however, the cherry trees local to me and lining one of the new roads are of the modern cultivate species Ingram deplored!

26/04/2023

Well today the hayfever tablets came out. I thought I was doing really well as normally I have to start taking them around March and I had yet to need them. Guess it was the wet weather keeping the pollen down?

Anyway, I use voice to text dictation software for some of my books and today there was a definite creak in the voice! Then I started sneezing - ever seen dictation software try to interpret a sneeze? It is hilarious.

So the hayfever tablets are out and kicking in nicely. Maybe this means spring is finally here?

(Picture is one I took years ago in the garden. I love dandelions and hate seeing them mown over)

25/04/2023

Listening to the news about recent research that poor air quality can affect the cognitive development of children.

That is a pretty scary thing considering we are living in an age when air pollution is a big thing, and couple that with news a week ago about the decreasing numeracy skills in the younger population it starts to paint a worrying picture for the future.

Though they have known for years that children are at most risk from pollution from car exhausts (one of the biggest factors for poor air quality) due to their height or being in pushchairs at a level with car exhausts, and of course, the increase in cars on our roads over the decades, previously it has been linked to healthy concerns, not the development of the brain.

It is a worrying scenario that our children could be permanently impaired by exposure to bad air, not to mention societal consequences such as behavioural problems or mental illness.

We tend to association 'bad air' with Victorian London, the age of Dickens and the smog caused by factories and coal fires, but modern England suffers its own form of pollution, its just much more subtle.

❤️

25/04/2023

The next novel in the Ancestor Gods cycle is going live today!

Read Prologue - The Dying Goddess from the story Dragon Knight - The Ancestor Gods Saga Book 2 by redravenpublications...

18/04/2023

I keep getting adverts popping up on my feed about people making huge amounts of money with AI books. How it speeds up the writing process because basically a computer has done it for them.

It is all about making money, not about the writing. Which to me seems all wrong. I write because I love to tell stories, making money at it is a bonus. I don’t want to shortcut my writing.

Writing is my passion and that is why I do it all myself, not having AI do it for me. What would be the point, anyway?

10/04/2023

I am not sure I would have the courage to own such a precious thing!

The rare manuscript is believed to be one of only 277 known copies of Copernicus' book worldwide.

09/04/2023

Charles Dicken's relationship with his sister-in-law is mired in controversy, but he described her as his truest friend.

History Matters The Wing of Friendship Charles Dickens’ most enduring friendship was with his sister-in-law, who has been remembered as his housekeeper. Christine Skelton | Published in History Today Volume 73 Issue 4 April 2023 Charles Dickens with family and friends on the porch of Gad’s Hill....

08/04/2023

07/04/2023

I came across this little nugget of information while doing research for the Clara Fitzgerald Mysteries. The first book of crosswords was published by Simon and Schuster on 18 April 1924. Though a type of crossword had appeared in an American newspaper in 1913, it looked very different to what we thing of a crossword today.

Simon and Schuster's book of puzzles included an attached pencil and was a huge success.

This interesting tidbit is definitely going to feature in a future Clara!