As the fifth month of our 2021 Authors Showcase draws to a close, it is a real pleasure to feature this third contribution from Carolyn Muir Helfenstein.

Enjoy reading her story Travelling in Switzerland was a Scream by clicking here.

The latest contribution to the 2021 Authors Showcase is from another newcomer to our writing features, Jennifer Rae. A warm welcome to Fred's Blog Jennifer.

You can read Jennifer's life-changing story A Chance Encounter by clicking here.

Jennifer Rae was born in Scotland but has lived most of her life working and living elsewhere, in Europe and England, where she taught  and lectured in Art and Design for many years.

Although her training is in the visual arts, she has always put pen to paper to record observations about the characters she has worked with or come across while travelling. These scribblings have very often supplemented portraiture and caricature work in clay modelling and drawing.

Now that she is supposed to be retired, she has decided to write about the many people, places and incidents that loom large in her memory.

It is always fantastic to welcome newcomers to the writing features here on Fred's Blog. That is especially true of Chris Calder, who has contributed an inspirational life-changing experience to the 2021 Authors Showcase.

In Chris's introductory e-mail he explained, "If you are fortunate to live long enough, you could have had a hatful of life-changing experiences. Now in my dotage, (my ninth decade!) that is certainly the case for me."

So, a huge thank you to Chris Calder for sharing his story HOW BEATING CANCER MADE ME A NOVELIST. You can read it by clicking here.

Chris Calder was born and educated in India during the so-called British Raj period. A long time ago.
 
Following a lifetime making a living by exploiting his two engineering patents, Chris retired with his long-suffering wife to live in France. Now, after ten happy years there, he is back in England.
 
He came late to writing novels, penning his first whilst incarcerated in a French hospital after cancer surgery. At the time he spoke little French. Unable to communicate effectively with the staff, he spent his time fleshing out his first novel. Four more have followed; light thrillers leavened with humour.
 
Chris knows that readers of fiction expect to be diverted and entertained. He loves feedback and believes passionately that taking on board readers’ views improves what he does.
 
Now in his cheerful dotage, he is no longer retired; he says that he has simply changed professions.
 
You can find him at: https//www.chriscalder.com.

For our latest contribution to the 2021 Authors Showcase, it is a real pleasure to welcome the wonderful Valerie Poore.

I was especially thrilled to receive Val's contribution about a life-changing experience from her time in South Africa, as I enjoyed reading all three of her memoirs about the 20 years she spent there. 

You can read her story Domoina: the power of unleashed nature by clicking here.

If you want to grab a bargain, all three of Val's African Ways series are just 99c/99p each on a Kindle Countdown this week and FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited:
https://amazon.com/dp/B095BQ9FXN
 

Valerie Poore

Val is an English language teacher by day and a writer during her free time. Born in the UK, she spent 20 years in South Africa and has since spent another 20 living on a historic barge in the Netherlands, a lifestyle she adores despite the hard work it involves.
 
These diverse worlds have given her some wonderful experiences, and she enjoys sharing her stories in her books and on her blog, which she started in 2006.
 
To date, Val has written nine memoirs and two novels, but she also writes barge-related articles for the women’s sailing magazine, Sistership. 

I am really pleased to welcome back Mike Cavanagh, a long-time supporter of this blog, with his first contribution in the 2021 Authors Showcase.

Read and enjoy his excellent story  A Google What, Now? by clicking here.

Mike Cavanagh is now in his sixties and has no idea how that happened. He lives with his wife, Julie, adult son, Dan, and two black cats in Bateman’s Bay, Australia. Apart from writing memoires and poetry, Mike plays guitar, composes music, is doing research on rock-wallabies, and spends way too much time playing computer games. He thought he knew who he was until a diagnosis of high-functioning autism in his sixties gave him pause to rethink who he thought he was, and how he got here. So he wrote a memoir; or two. As you do.

Mike has written three memoirs; ‘One of its Legs are Both the Same’ and the two part ‘A Pocket Full of Days’.

‘Legs’ is Mike’s memoir of being, as his mum would say, different. It concerns the years of his life during the late 1960s and 1970s when Mike was drifting reluctantly to adulthood. An intriguing and carefree tale of the ‘hippie’ era, featuring murderous rats, painfully low door lintels, angry spiders and a rabid duck. Oh, and a lot of no sex.
‘A Pocket Full’ is a two part memoir that loosely follows after the events of ‘Legs’. It tells the story of Mike’s relationship with Jo, a young woman he had an on and off relationship over twenty five years. A story about Hansel and Gretel misfits and a classic tale of ‘can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em’.

Amazon link to ‘Legs’:
https://www.amazon.com/One-its-Legs-Both-Same-ebook/dp/B01KSNDK32

Amazon link to Pocket Full, Part 1:
https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Full-Days-Part-ebook/dp/B07FLLZGGT

and Part 2:
https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Full-Days-Part-ebook/dp/B08PDJNWH9

It is my privilege today to feature the fifth contribution in this year's Authors Showcase from our most loyal supporter, Ronald Mackay.

Read and enjoy Ronald's latest life-changing story, Damian Provided the Answer!, by clicking here.

Ronald Mackay

For a decade, Ronald and his Peruvian wife, Viviana, grew grapes in Argentina and marketed their wine as CALEDONIA the Scottish Tradition in Argentina in both the domestic and overseas markets. Initially, their business faced challenges from an authoritarian government, uncivil civil servants, and a private sector where ‘viveza criolla’ was widely practised. A fortuitous introduction to Italian immigrant and master-winemaker Damian Vinci, profoundly changed the fortunes and conduct of their business. From Damian they learned how to overcome arbitrarily created hurdles while maintaining respectful relationships with public servants and private entrepreneurs alike.

A warm welcome back to Roger Knight with his third contribution in this year's Authors Showcase.

​Enjoy Roger's latest life-changing experience, Boarding school breakout, by clicking here.

Roger Knight

I continue to write prose and short stories mostly based on my experiences of having lived and worked in around 15 countries and 30 cities. I have had some of my work published in magazines such as the Writers and Readers publication and the Bermudian, as well as Robert Fear’s annual travel stories and highlights and memorable life experiences publications.

I have recently completed an anthology, “A circuitous journey taken”, which is a picaresque memoir that I hope may eventually find a publisher.  

Entries for the 2021 Authors Showcase have been steady over the first four months, and the quality of the contributions has been excellent. We are looking for more of the same during the last two months of this annual writing feature.
 
Have you got a life-changing event to share? It can be about you or someone you know. It can be from recent times or the long-lost past. It can be happy or sad. The most important thing is that it is an experience that will inspire and motivate the reader.
 
If you have been holding back on submitting your contribution, then now is the time to polish off your story and get it featured on Fred’s Blog. You might also be included in the 2022 anthology that I plan to publish in December.
 
Contributions for this year’s showcase can be anywhere from 800 to 3000 words, so there is plenty of scope to get your thoughts down in writing.

For details of the entry criteria, please click here.

You can catch up with the 21 stories entered to date here.
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