“Pal! It’s our first real Author’s Chair segment! With Robbie Cheadle!”
“Robbie Cheadle? She’s a prolific writer, an’ in many genres. Whatever she shares, it’s sure ta be good. Here she is now.
Howdy Robbie. Welcome ta the Author’s Chair here at the Saddle Up Saloon stage.”
“Hello Pal, hello Kid. It’s good to be here.”
“What’re ya gonna read?”
“Today I’ll be reading Part 1 of Chapter 1 of While the Bombs Fell. I wrote this fictionalised memoir of my mother’s life growing up as a small girl in an English town during World War II. My mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton is a contributing author.”
“I am ready for questions and comments.”
“Thank you Robbie Cheadle!”
“Folks, be sure ta engage in the conversation ’bout Robbie’s readin’. Ya could git yer name drawn and win a book. Congratulations Liz Husebye Hartmann fer bein’ our winner from the last Chair!”
Robbie Cheadle is a South African children’s author and poet with 9 children’s books and 1 poetry book.
The 7 Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.
Robbie has also published 2 books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.
Robbie has 2 adult novels in the paranormal historical and supernatural fantasy genres published under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle. She also has short stories in the horror and paranormal genre and poems included in several anthologies.
Follow Robbie Cheadle at:
Find Robbie’s books:
Wonderful to see Robbie here!
Thank you, Ritu.
Hi Pal and Kid, it’s great to be here at the Saddle Up Saloon. A fantastic way to kick off my new week.
It’s a fantastic kick off to our week as well. Thank you Robbie for taking part in our new Saddle Up Saloon feature, the Author’s Chair.
Reblogged this on Robbie's inspiration and commented:
Thank you to Pal and Kid, D Avery and Charli Mills for hosting me in the Authors Chair at Saddle Up Saloon. If you are not familiar with Carrot Ranch, what are you waiting for? Go over and find out about this wonderfully supportive writing group straightaway.
Robbie, Thank you for introducing me to Carrot Ranch a few years ago. It has brought me friends from around the world, many writing lessons and keeps me writing weekly. It’s a safe, uplifting “place” to spend time with other writers. I enjoyed listening to you read your Mom’s story.
It was wonderful to hear you reading from your book, which I enjoyed about your mom.
Hi Denise, I am glad you enjoyed this reading. My sister urged me to do a recording from this book. I am pleased to have this opportunity to share it here.
Love this reading. Thanks, Robbie, Pal and Kid, D Avery and Charli Mills.
Thank you, Anne, I am delighted to hear that.
Great to see Robbie featured. She is a really supportive blogger, and an accomplished author too.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thank you, Pete, for visiting me here. I appreciate your lovely comment.
Go Robbie! Go Robbie!
Thank you, dear Annette.
I loved hearing you read this excerpt, Robbie. A great first chapter. Toni x
Thank you, Toni, I am delighted to hear that.
It’s great to see Robbie here. I enjoyed her reading.
Thank you, Jill.
It’s lovely to hear you read, Robbie. It’s wonderful that you had your mother collaborate on the writing with you. It makes it so much more authentic. I did enjoy your book when I read it. The war was so difficult for so many people.
Hi Norah, the war was difficult for many people. My mother’s family were fortunate as they had more to eat than many, but they still went to bed hungry very often. My aunt has mentioned this more than once. She is 4 years older than my mom and remembers more of the details.
Yes. They were difficult times.
Reblogged this on Ed;s Site..
Thank you, Ed.
Hello Robbie. Looks like I am the first to pose a question! What were some of the difficulties in writing with your mother? Were there outcomes (other than this fine book) that you didn’t anticipate?
Hi Ms D, on the whole, writing with my mom was rewarding and enjoyable. On a few occasions she made me work on the book the whole day, she was a bit of a slave driver [smile]. She also didn’t understand some of the developmental editing comments and complained about my changing the structure of the book. Small things really, but they required some appeasement on my side as I wanted her to be happy with the book.
I’m glad to hear it was enjoyable. She must be very proud. (of the book and of you)
Wonderful to see Robbie featured!
Thank you, Jennie.
nice to see Robbie here; sounds like a fun day at the saloon…
Thank you, Jim, the saloon is a lovely place to hang out.
🙂
This story is fascinating just knowing it came from a real account of this historic time. I love hearing you read, Robbie! Congrats to you and thank you, Charli for hosting!
Hi Jan, I am glad you appreciated the authenticity of this story. My uncle and aunt pitched in a bit of background information too and they’ve all read the book, which is very nice.
Great story… Loved listening in today!
HI Bette, thank you for listening. I’m glad you enjoyed this reading.
Clever presentation. I enjoyed everything about it.
Hi Jacqui, the saloon does share some great posts. It’s a wonderful hub for writers.
It’s was enjoyable to see Robbie read her book.
Hi John, thank you for listening, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
😊
Since you write different kinds of books, which is your favorite genre to write and why? ~nan
Great question, Nan!
Hi Nan, that is quite a difficult question because I enjoy all the books I write for different reasons. I started out writing for children because I wanted to share my own passion for reading and encourage children to love books and parents to read with their children. My adult writing is largely historical in nature as I believe the an understanding of history and the events that led to wars and conflict are important in preventing future problems. I also find the research for, and writing of, historical books very satisfying.
Thanks for answering, Robbie. I appreciate your candor on the subject. ~nan
Lovely to listen to Robbie read from When the Bombs Fell. I very much enjoyed that book. 🙂 x
Thank you, Debby, for your kind comment and for your support of my book.
Always Robbie 🙂 x
How lucky for me to find this interesting reading! Thank you!
Glad you found it. What a cool thing, for Robbie to work with her mother to tell her story of WWII.
The Author’s Chair will happen every second Monday at the Saloon and is open to anyone willing to share their work and an audio or video recording. The intent is to spark conversation and get the backstory to the story through people’s questions here in the comments.
Thank you, Myrna.
Robbie, it’s a delight to see you hanging out in the new Author’s Chair. Kid and Pal have a good thing going on in the Saloon. Since we are asking you questions, I’m wondering what was it like to write with your Mom? What surprised you most about her experiences as a child in the UK during WWII?
HI Charli, thank you for your question. I don’t think there were any major surprises as I have always been interested in my mother’s life as a girl in the UK. I had heard higher level versions of her stories all my life. I think delving into the details gave me a lot more insight into the war generation of elderly people and why the think the way they do. It also helps explain how the series of post-war events came about and how we arrived at our modern perspective on life. From a personal point of view, it explained some of my mom’s personal horrors like her anxiety about toilets with black lids and her dislike of buttons. I brought these aspects into the book in what I hoped was a considerate way.
I must say, Charli, that you are the person who influenced my writing the most and I am very grateful for all the help you gave me. Carrot Ranch is a wonderful gathering place for authors and a great tribute to your passion for reading and writing.
Delving into the details can be an exciting part of the writing process. You are fortunate to have a mom willing to talk about her experiences and she is fortunate to have a daughter with writing ambitions to preserve that era in literature. I’m happy that we can all find inspiration among one another.
Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
Thank you, Michael.
Thanks for featuring Robbie, and presention another of her wonderful read aloud vidclips. Nothing better than getting a writer live read her/ his opus. Have all a nice week! xx Michael
Hi Michael, I am glad you enjoyed this reading. I am improving with the readings now that I’m not so worried about making mistakes.
Robbie, happy to see you in the Author’s Chair at Carrot Ranch. Cheers!
Thank you, Marian. Carrot Ranch is always a fun place to visit. A great hub for writers.
I remember Old Fiddle-Dee-Dee from the book, which I enjoyed a great deal! I think Robbie is working on a sequel?
Hi Liz, I am working on far to many things. I am 4 chapters in to the sequel. 50,000 words into my cli-fi book, 20,000 words into The Soldier and the Radium Girl and have 15,000 words on my children’s book called The Girl Who Loved Dolls. Charles is urging me to focus on the radium girl book which has grown legs so I’m doing that one first.
I enjoyed your reading so now I can put a voice to the face that has become familiar at Carrot Ranch and on your blog. I can’t imagine potty training a youngster with only an outside toilet. I guess it wasn’t unusual at the time so a mother didn’t think anything of it. We certainly do take for granted our amenities now. Thank you for sharing your Mom’s story.
Hi Sue, I’m glad you enjoyed this reading. I also like watching authors read their work for the same reasons. It’s nice to see the people who form this community and hear their voices. Life was hard for people at this time. I can’t imagine doing washing for 9 people using a washing tub and a wrangle. It took the whole day.
Delightful post. I always enjoy Robbie’s readings. Hugs all around.
Hi Teagan, thank you, it’s always lovely to see you. Hugs back.
such a splendid moment to have a voice and animated face to the writing. And the Suffolk setting appealed greatly when I read this, given I have a house there now as well as memories of my father’s stories form spending several of the war summers in East Anglia.
Given I think this is a fictionalized account of your mother’s girlhood, were there tensions with her when you strayed from her memories for dramatic effect? Did you do that often?
HI Geoff, my apologies for missing your comment. I didn’t stray from my mother’s memories very much at all, Geoff, other than to flesh them out with some of the historical detail and elements. I had to be careful because this isn’t only my mother’s memories, it is also the memories of her three older sisters and three of her brothers (Alan wasn’t yet born at this time. They have all read the book and none of them have complained about its accuracy so I think I did okay.
Phew. I’m glad I waited until after mum died because I can imagine her critiquing her memoir…
Sorry to be late to the party. Robbie, but delightful to hear you reading your work in that lilting Seth Efrican accent. 🙂 So much of the content reminds me of my parents’ descriptions of life in Australia in the Great Depression and my own experiences growing up in a small country house in the 1950’s.
Hi Doug, thank you for listening. I love reading about people’s lives, I’ve always like that type of story.
Hi Robbie – lovely to see you in the Author’s Chair. I really enjoyed When The Bombs Fell and the reading was great. 🙂
Hi Meeks, I am delighted to hear that. Thank you.
😀
Reblogged this on Didi Oviatt -Author and commented:
Must read feature!!
Hi Didi, thank you for sharing. It’s much appreciated.
My pleasure Robbie!