I’ve just had an email from one of our learners, Millie, who is out in Greece and helped us put together a couple of trial lessons for Greek a while back…
And she’s gone on to start writing for children - and to try and make sure that there are bits of Welsh in her books, so that hearing/seeing Welsh gets a bit more normalised for children reading in English - which I think is a great idea. Here’s what she says about it:
'It is aimed at children from 8-12 years, and is set in Wales, partly in an unnamed village, partly in Blaenau Ffestiniog. All the chapter headings are in Welsh, and some of the characters are Welsh speakers, with a few Welsh phrases and expressions throughout the book, although of course it is written predominantly in English. The aim is to make Welsh completely normal, just a language that is used and spoken on the one hand, and on the other make it intriguing and interesting, so that children will want to learn it.
It is nominally the second book in a series (the second one is along similar lines in Greece), but the story is also standalone and works perfectly well by itself.’
You can pick it up for a couple of quid on Kindle here:
…and if you’d be kind enough to leave a review, that would be a huge help for Millie in terms of increasing her visibility in Kindle…
[I haven’t read it yet, but I’ll be leaving my review when I do]
Wps, sorry, I have apparently linked to the wrong one there! That’s a different story, with a taster for the Welsh one - the Welsh one isn’t live on Kindle yet.
But I have no doubt that Millie would be very grateful for reviews of this first one in the meantime, hint hint…
It does indeed take a lot to get noticed on Amazon!
Thankyou to anyone who has supported my book. I am planning another book set in Wales and I would appreciate any feedback you may have. I have written about Christmas in Greece, with its various traditions, and I am thinking that it would be a nice idea to do a Welsh Christmas story too, with Welsh traditions, perhaps the words to a carol in Welsh and so on. Any thoughts welcome!
Here is the correct link to the Kindle version of my mystery story set in Wales
Thankyou again, and especial thanks for any reviews!!
Welcome on the forum @Millie. I’ve already searched if you’re on here and was sad to find out you didn’t join yet so I’m even more happy to see you here. .
I’ve just put your into the list to purchease it a bit later.
I used to post on the old forum occasionally, but the shift to this one coincided with me being made redundant and taking up writing to keep myself busy. So busy, in fact, that I didn’t get round to registering on the new forum!
I came to post you the link, but I see that Tatjana has beaten me to it. Thankyou Tatjana! It is available in either print or Kindle editions - my other books are too.
To both Tatjana and Millie: (And it doesn’t matter to me at all who answers my queries… I’m just delighted to get such quick answers!!)… thanks, diolch, I have ordered the book!!!
Oh ME!!! Any children I had would be old enough to have grandchildren themselves by now!! I like reading children’s books and watching children’s TV as a way to learn/relearn Cymraeg!!!
I am really looking forward to reading Dragon’s Rock, and will certainly add a review on Amazon when I do. I would love to read one about Christmas in Wales. I took a look at your other books available on Amazon, and have already passed along the link to the one that takes place in Germany. I very much enjoyed the few pages I was able to read online, and hope to read the whole series! Thank you for this great way of sharing words and customs from various countries.
Thankyou so much, Bronwyn. I hope you enjoy my books!
My Christmas in Greece book was well received, and I would really love to do something similar in Wales. My first port of call has been to ask relatives in Wales to make some notes on what they remember. So far, suggestions have been carols at the chapel, plygain, mari llwyd. I don’t know much about either plygain or mari llwyd, so I will have to research it, but as for carols, I thought it would be a lovely idea to put a couple of verses in Welsh, with an English translation afterwards.
Some recipes could be worked into the story too, with people making them, talking about it as they make it, etc.
Any suggestions welcome! I will get started on the project very soon, to give me time to research and write and have it ready by Christmas. Or at least, I hope so!
I have lots of relatives in Wales (I live in the United States). I’ll ask them if they have suggestions for your book about Christmas in Wales, and will let you know.
Dear Millie, Your book arrived yesterday & I have read some of it. Enjoying it a lot. You do not ‘write for children’, i.e. I feel as if it is addressed to me not some 12 year old!! I haven’t finished it yet, but one thought did occur: When I lived on Gower, there were very few places with any mobile phone reception and boardband was pie in the sky!! Now it may be that up north it is better, it may be that there are no ‘not spots’ left in Cymru, or it may be that Blaenau & district have especially good reception, but I was surprised that Lucy could use her smartphone so easily!! Comments?
