Writers Aloud - The Royal Literary Fund

Any desk or table will do -
but is paper and pens really all you need to get started?

Writers' stories are often a help to other writers. They at least demonstrate that other writers have it hard. 

Writing is often the last thing in a person's priorities, as I can tell from the reasons my writing students give me when they ask for extensions to their assignments. First will come their own health, and after that the raft of other pressures on their time; overload from work, problems with children, caring for relatives, and money worries. 

Writing shouldn't cost you much, you'd think – the price of paper and ink. But writers need time, and space, and the equipment to present their work well.

I have just happened upon the website of The Royal Literary Fund for the first time. This is a UK charity that has been helping authors since the 18th century. It provides grants and pensions to writers in financial difficulty; it also places writers in universities to help students develop their writing.  

I discovered its podcast pages, which are full of interest to writers.

Writers Aloud, http://www.rlf.org.uk/showcase-cat/podcasts/?rlf_front=1 I enjoyed listening to other writers tell their stories; Max Adams’ podcast rang particular bells for me as I’ve always believed walking and writing go hand in hand, and famous writers, from Dickens to Byatt, walked themselves into their stories, which is what I do now.

In Focus http://www.rlf.org.uk/showcase-cat/films/?rlf_front=1

is full of video features in which writers talk about their work.

Vox http://www.rlf.org.uk/showcase-cat/audio/?rlf_front=1 is a series of bite-size audio recordings in which RLF Fellows explore topics such as why they write.

Collected http://www.rlf.org.uk/showcase-cat/articles/?rlf_front=1

is a weekly series of articles where writers write about their craft. 

The RLF came into being in 1790 when the founder, the Rev David Williams, was moved by the death of an elderly writer in a debtors’ prison. Although that plight would not befall most authors today, they can still need some financial support if they are to pursue their writing and eat as well. All of the fund's money has come from donations and legacies, and goes towards helping writers in professional difficulties where setbacks have resulted in loss of income, as well as providing pensions for older writers who have seen their earnings decrease. 

Nina Milton at work in her writing space

The Royal Literary Fund is right to be proud of its heritage, but their website proves they are also well up to date and relevant to writers today.

Bookblog for Bookworms: Nina Milton on crime writing

Bookblog for Bookworms: Nina Milton on crime writing: 'The Shaman Mysteries': a trilogy in the making Crime writing is consistently one of the most popular genres in the best-seller li...

Announcing the Third Novel in the Shaman Mysteries: BENEATH THE TOR

I’m proud to announce that the third of the Shaman Mysteries Series is in production, so now I can reveal not only the title of the book, but the cover picture too! 

As a hard-knock kid, Sabbie Dare knew she was different – she saw through the veil that hides other planes of existence. Now she has a shamanic therapy business, she’s still stepping headlong into trouble – when clients unwittingly bring danger with them. 

BENEATH THE TOR

by Nina Milton

On a Midsummer night on Glastonbury Tor, beautiful Alys Hollingberry dies suddenly after dancingaway the night…  

Beneath the Tor continues the dark, atmospheric edge of the previous two books in the series. Sabbie has a mysterious past herself, which she’s only just beginning to unravel, a theme that links the trilogy.

So here, for the first time, is a rundown of the three books in the series:

In the Moors 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shaman-Mystery-Mysteries-Milton-Paperback/dp/B00JYI43KM/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

A body is found buried in the eerie depths of the Somerset Moors. Detective Sergeant Reynard Buckley is sure that shaman Sabbie Dare’s new client, Cliff Houghton—a wounded, broken man—has something to do with the chilling crime, but Sabbie believes Cliff is being set up. Continuing the therapy she'd begun with Cliff, Sabbie uncovers repressed memories hearkening back to a decades-old string of abductions and murders. But after another little boy is abducted, only Sabbie can prove Cliff's innocence . . . and find the real culprit before any more lives are shattered.

Sabbie Dare is the most compelling protagonist I’ve met this year, and Milton’s tale is riveting. Perhaps readers will figure things out before Sabbie does, but the visceral suspense Milton creates is commendable, not to mention terrifying. I like pairing her work with Elly Griffiths’s atmospheric English mysteries; Library Journal

Unraveled Visions 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unraveled-Visions-Mystery-Nina-Milton/dp/0738740055/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8, 

The day after shamanic therapist Sabbie Dare receives a palm reading at the Bridgwater Carnival, she learns that a police detective has been killed and the gypsy fortuneteller has gone missing. Sabbie’s newest client—a scared woman with an angry husband—has also disappeared. Despite warnings from Detective Inspector Rey Buckley to stay away from the investigations, Sabbie can’t ignore the messages of danger she’s received through her shamanic journeys. But as close as she comes to the answers, Sabbie discovers there are people who want to keep the truth buried forever.

It’s impossible to refrain from rooting for such a plucky protagonist…Nina Milton skillfully integrates the shamanistic elements into her mystery making in this sequel to last year’s In the Moors - an absorbing tale. The return of Sabbie Dare is awaited with interest. – Sheila M. Merritt 

Mystery Scene Magazine http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/ 

Beneath the Tor

In production

On a Midsummer night on the Glastonbury Tor, beautiful Alys Hollingberry dies suddenly after dancing away the night. Sabbie Dare and her friends are in shock and when her shamanic guru, Wolfsbane, confesses that Alys may have unwittingly taken drugs during his ritual, Sabbie’s shock turns to horror.  

After receiving sinister, anonymous emails about Alys, her grieving husband,  Brice, approaches Sabbie for help. She turns to the spirit world for guidance, but receives only enigmatic replies. She tries seeking some practical help from her boyfriend Detective Inspector Rey Buckley, but he is embroiled in problems of his own. Sabbie feels isolated, and as she heads closer to the truth about Alys’ death, a deranged killer is also heading towards a final victim, and both are closer to Sabbie than she knows.

Nina Milton has created a unique fictional world in her Shaman Mystery Series,  featuring Sabbie Dare as a young shaman.  They each have a cracking pace and convey the evocative landscapes of Somerset.  Always, the depictions of shamanic journeying are vivid and authentic. Reading them  kept me up at night much later that I wanted, because I could not bear to miss the next bit.

 Ronald Hutton author of ‘The Triumph of the Moon’, ‘Shamans’ and ‘Pagan Brtain’

*Further news and details about Beneath the Tor will be revealed soon. If you're a Shaman Mystery fan, do subscribe to my blogsite so that you can keep up to date with developments.