Tales of Dark and Light by The OxPen Writers

Thank you @ZooloosBT @AnneHamilton7 @MyePublishBook for letting me be part of this tour and reviewing this book. I really enjoyed reading Tales of Dark and light. There are different short stories and poens in the book by different authors. They are all written really well. I did have a few faviourites : The boy who ate all the chocolate by Romy Ritchie, Mars to Earth by Penny Gibson , From the window by Penny Gibson, and Missing by Liz Power The book is 65 pages long and the font was good size for me. All of these stories are written by women and engross you straight away. These stories and poerty you can keep going back to 5 stars. Book Blurb Tales of Dark and Light is the latest collection of short writing from OxPen Writers, a creative writing group that meets at Pentland Community Centre. The title reflects the varying moods of the stories and poems, which came together following a short course on Life Writing and Memoir, kindly funded by the Scottish Book Trust; some remain very close to fact, others are more fictionalised. The only criteria for inclusion in the book, is a desire for our – very varied – voices to be heard. Author Bios Deirdre Duncan Deirdre is a widow, aged 67, who has lived in Edinburgh since 1978. She has two sons on the autistic spectrum (39 and 33). Deirdre volunteers with Oxfam, studies with the Open University, and finds creative writing a sanity saver. Anne Hamilton Anne likes to call herself the longest emerging writer in the history of writing. She is a tutor, editor and author, who lives in Edinburgh with her young son. Irene Livingstone Irene lives on the outskirts of the city, with her husband and son. She needed a distraction and found writing a good way to exorcise those demons. Joan MacDonald I joined the OxPen writing group nine years ago. I feel that my creative writing skills have developed in its friendly, encouraging ambience. I have enjoyed experimenting with different genres and styles without fear of destructive criticism from either the tutor or members of the group. My ambition is to compile a small booklet of family heritage stories for my grandchildren. Flic McCann A Glasgow woman who picked up her pencil later in life. She is passionate about society's marginalised people, writing short stories about racism, domestic abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, and trauma. Liz Power A former local newspaper reporter in Essex and Yorkshire, Liz took up creative writing when she moved to Edinburgh with her family, and she enjoys writing short stories and poetry. Liz is a Community Taskforce Volunteer with Volunteer Edinburgh. She has two adult sons, one of whom is on the autistic spectrum. Romy Ritchie There it was again slap-bang in front of my face as I stood up from sorting my shoe-lace after my kettlebell class. An A6 flyer, ‘Creative Writing…Thursday’. It had to be a sign. It was the umpteenth time the class had come to my attention. What did I have to lose? Busy mum of three boys, well four if you count the husband so, a couple of hours of ‘me time’ attempting to be creative could be just the ticket and good for the sanity too! Many years later I am still inspired to get to my favourite class, catch up with the most interesting people and have a go. Amanda Roy Amanda joined Writers in the summer term of 2017. Self-confessed Crazy Cat Lady and Cats Protection Volunteer, many of her works have a feline theme. She lives with fellow human Robert and rescue moggies Kira and Muffin in Colinton Mains.