Laura Lyndhurst

I was born and grew up in North London, England, but was unable to attend university when young due to family financial circumstances. Instead, I worked at various occupations, including dental nurse, laboratory assistant and shop assistant. I married just before I was 20, and travelled to some interesting places around the world, including Egypt and Cyprus, following my husband’s career. I spent much time reading, a passion, but in order to keep further occupied I took office jobs when these were available to me; I hated the work, but the money was useful.

When we were back in the UK I took evening classes at various times and gained ‘A’ levels in Psychology, Sociology and English, eventually settling in Kent with my husband and becoming a mature student and gaining Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English and Literature before training and working as a teacher.

In 2016 we moved to the peace and quiet of rural Lincolnshire, and my sporadic writing activies became more permanent. I self-published 'Fairytales Don't Come True', my debut novel, in May 2020. In this work, aimed at the Literary Fiction market, I wanted to highlight the growing issue of students (mainly female) funding their studies through arranged sexual relationships with rich, older, men and how they can get in over their heads. Here Mags, who lived such a life, recounts her life story to Dora, a nurse with a very different lifestyle but her own issues.

Since then, I have written and published two books of poetry, 'October Poems' and 'Thanksgiving Poems & Prose Pieces'. I have also just published, in January 2021, a a sequel to 'Fairytales' entitled 'Degenerate, Regenerate'. I have a psychological suspense story, 'You Know What You Did' ready for publication, and a third book in progress to make a trilogy with 'Fairytales' and 'Degenerate'.

I usually go for a long walk each day (weather permitting; I’m a fair-weather walker) in the beautiful countryside around us, and exercise for a couple of hours each morning, including use of a hula-hoop and stepping machine. I love food and drink and have spent half my life battling a weight problem. I managed to lose 5 stone of unfortunately-gained weight two years ago and am determined to NEVER regain it! So every other day is a diet day (for hubby too), but when not being careful we enjoy a good meal with wine; going out to eat is something which I enjoy.

For other leisure activities I have taught myself to play the recorder; badly, but it keeps the brain cells ticking over. I also listen to music of many types; Tracy Chapman is playing while I write this, and will later be replaced by Leonard Cohen or Katie Melua or any one of dozens of other artists, or by some classical music or opera, another passion. And of course there’s reading, something which I have loved since I was a child. I’m just about to subscribe to the Kindle Unlimited programme, because although I love physical books, my bookcases are groaning under the weight and I don’t have room for any more.

Please find Laura’s books, on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Laura%20Lyndhurst...

Please follow Laura on;

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/.../show/20336562.Laura_Lyndhurst

Please read her blog on Goodreads, as above,

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Laura-Lyndhurst-355512115558230/?view_public_for=355512115558230
https://www.facebook.com/laura.lyndhurst.

Donna Fieldhouse‎

Australian writer – 

Donna Fieldhouse – 

I was never a writer as a kid at school but, always lived in an imaginary world. I'd make up elaborate tales in my head pretending to be someone else and would tell myself bedtime stories to fall asleep. From that I think my imagination developed.My first book Chains to Freedom (now on Wattpad) was one of my ‘young woman’ night time head stories.

The trouble was I never got past the first chapter as I always nodded off. One day, (I was a young mum with three little kids who felt inadequate up against other mums who all had wonderful careers), I woke up with a start thinking, *I'm going to write a book!*

From there I wrote down that first chapter of my bedtime story and Chains to Freedom was the result. I had no idea what I was doing. I wrote in one big long line with very little punctuation and bad grammar. I sent the first three chapters to a competition where they gave every entry a critique. They told me I had to learn how to set out a story but, also gave me enough praise to inspire me.

I joined a writer's group, went and did a course, and after twenty years of writing, which includes ten completed novels, I am still learning. I have had short stories published in multiple anthologies by Stringy Bark Publishing. Aus. and as yet haven't gone down the Amazon road.

My favourite genre is Dark Contemporary though I have written multiple genres where my characters strive to overcome their abhorrent circumstances and, in doing so, a lot of my scenes are mature, poignant and graphic.
I want readers to see my character's lives through each of their struggles. They and their backgrounds unfold at a steady pace.

Once I was asked why I write such stories. I want readers to see that not everyone lives an idyllic life. We are not all wrapped up in pretty pink bows. Every person in this world has struggles of one kind or another. There are those who live with physical and mental problems, abuse and drug addiction, either first hand or in their circle of friends or family. This is where my heart lays so these are the stories I want to tell because many of us live them. We do not all drive around in expensive cars, we struggle day to day to meet payments or rise our heads above water.

My settings are all Australian based. The towns are real and I use raw descriptions and language from the world that surrounds me. Within the stories, I promise you will find resolution and love.

My stories and I can be found on:

Wattpad – https://www.wattpad.com/user/donnaf1828

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/fieldhousedonna/

Facebook

Marlene Cheng

I ran barefoot on the Canadian prairies in the dust that settled after 2nd World War. That makes me an octogenarian, an oldie.
Thrust from the infinity of wheat fields into the warp of the Rockies, Selkirk and Purcell mountains, the light that defined a frightful, but interesting, high school life challenged me.
Our neighbours were all Italian—migrants to Canadian mining towns. With his Welsh-born farmers’ busyness, my father found strange their art of dolce far niente—that is, the sweetness of doing nothing. They practised it, “Come in. Come in. Sit down. Taste my homemade vino.” My father adapted.
And the flames of railway trestles burning and women parading nude colored life. Doukhobors (a sect that had fled persecution in Russia) settled in the Kootenays. They protested, having to send their children to public schools.
Wearing a babushka and twirling spaghetti, not only did I survive those years, but, I thrived.
Vancouver, the “big city,” where I discovered traffic lights and city buses, claimed me for medical lab training, and I worked the night shift in the blood bank to put myself through university.
I’ve worked in cancer research, taught at tech schools, become a registered massage therapist, taken up energy schooling in NY., married and raised two kids, and, at 76, published A Many Layered Skirt, a biography about a young Chinese girl trying to keep one frightening step ahead of the soldiers, during the Japanese occupation.
My husband, of 56 years, was Chinese. Our mixed marriage was intriguing, and happiness was ours. Interests in people, cultures and places took us around the world. Many of those adventures find their way into my writing. He passed away, throwing my life into chaos. Now, I’ve picked up the pen, again. I've edited and revamped the Bond Series. It is now titled: Love is Forever Series.
Book One: Temptation and Surrender: A Secret Love Child Romance Novel.
Book Two: The Fallen Sniper Tears: A Sniper Romance Novel. 
Book Three: A Mystical Embrace: A Mystical Romance Novel. 
Book Four: The Madam's Friend: Flawed, Textured, Vulnerable Soul Mates.



https://marlenecheng.com


https://authorcentral.amazon.com/author/marlenecheng 

https://www.goodreads.com/marlenecheng

marlene.cheng@telus.net   

Susanne Bacon

Susanne Bacon was born in Stuttgart, Germany, has a double Master's degree in literature and linguistics, and has been working as a journalist for over 20 years. She lives with her husband in the South Puget Sound region in Washington State. Apart from an early German historical novel translated into English, Susanne has created the Wycliff novels, small-town romances loosely interconnected, with a lot of Western Washington flavor and recipes of her own creation. She also writes non-fiction, such as the essays published under the Title "Home from Home". Reviewers have compared her romance writing to Debbie Macomber, Maeve Binchy, and Hallmark movies.

https://www.amazon.com/Susanne-Bacon/e/B06Y16DNPY?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1558373325&sr=8-1

https://thesubtimes.com/author/susannebacon/

https://www.facebook.com/susannebaconauthor/  

Toni Kief

Toni Kief, from a small Midwestern town and a family of high spirits and laughter. Presently lives in a small town in Washington state, she plans to stay for the view, trees, and friends. Her life story includes decades in Insurance claims as one of the first women outside casualty investigators. A longtime civil rights activist, she shares stories about lunches with politicians, leaders, and artists. Toni didn’t start writing until she was sixty years old as a challenge. She joined a writer’s group that specialized in flash fiction, presently she is writing novels. Toni prefers to write about people of “a certain age.” Finally retired she continues to gathers stories prime for embellishment in extraordinary situations. Toni is a founding director of The Writers Cooperative of the Pacific Northwest and is a driving force it the continued growth.

www.tonikief.com.

https://www.amazon.com/Toni-Kief/e/B01CR8V3RG/ref
 
https://www.facebook.com/tonikief8author/