Win a $10 GC: Child of the Earth by Susan Crow



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Susan Crow will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Hope For The Patient Planet


The wholesome world of my childhood has become less so in my granny days. I became a grandmother to Araucaria (Auri) in January last year. I knew instantly, the moment I first held her, that I had to write Child Of The Earth. It has been fermenting with me for some time but Auri's birth, and the shaft of love that passed between us, gave the go-ahead for full scale production. Off I went! Collecting and collating material, checking what I was unsure of, researching and then writing.

I didn't know what was happening to this sacred earth in the name of progress – certainly not as a child, not much when I was a teenager, then, slowly, as an adult, I began to worry. I became aware that the world was nowhere near as wholesome as I had believed it to be when I was little. There were greedy men and women who cared nothing for the environment while they made their millions. There were those who simply did not understand the potential disaster in the overuse of plastics and the overheating of the planet. Then there were those who had connected with the environment so sympathetically that they wept when they realised their impotence.

I desperately wanted to be a part of the solution. But what could I do? I couldn't pour money into environmental charities. I couldn't stand up on a stage and tell others how I felt. I am no administrator either. What in the less-than-wholesome world could I do?

I could write!

Having decided that writing was to be my way of communicating my passion for the natural world, my fears - and my hope – I started to wonder if anyone would read my offerings. What would be the point of writing a book if nobody would read it? I could write it for myself and my family.

So I just imagined my book for a while. I thought about how I would put it together, where I should put the emphasis, and I went on to vaguely consider how to reach a readership. This thought process went on for some time. I knew what I had to do but I didn't move forward with it.

Oh the guilt!

I felt ashamed that I was too timid to put the wheels in motion. After all, I am so crazily in love with my world that I feel its pain. If you know the pain of someone you love you cannot help but attempt to soothe it away. This patient planet is one such patient. It is bigger than any other we are familiar with, but it still needs our help. Keeping silent and watching the suffering is a no-brainer.

Then Auri came into my life.

The diaries and journals were spread out, the books were piled up in front of me. I sometimes wrote at my desk but, best of all, I like to be in the sitting room with my laptop on my knee. I made the huge decision that I would be open and honest about my passion. I wouldn't hold anything back. I would infect the reader with my hope and enthusiasm. I want to befriend the reader and I want us to be mutual friends of our patiently suffering planet. The earth needs friends and it needs them in droves.

Here is a nest egg of memories and anecdotes teased from a life uplifted by an appreciation of the natural world.

Memories of childhood in rural England, raising a family in Orkney and Lincolnshire, and retirement in Northern Scotland are threaded together into a broad tapestry of the natural year. These experiences meet with a view of Earth's uncertain future to illustrate the necessity for respect of all lifeforms and shares a passion for the wellbeing of this planet with all generations.

Child of the Earth is a source of inspiration and delight - a literary garland of hope.


Enjoy an Excerpt

The ninth day of January and it is frosty. Smells carry well. Hours earlier, we caught a whiff of cleaning-out-the-byre when we were coming down the hill and, a few moments ago, I went outside to empty the household rubbish and caught the same scent.

January in Caithness is not the same as January in Orkney. It isn't the same as January in Lincolnshire. January in Caithness is completely unpredictable. A couple of years ago, when the year changed, I noticed the plants in the window boxes were suffering from windburn and the pond at Newtonhill Croft was very full due to melting snow and rain. And yet, last year, daisies were flowering, and we had gnats indoors. This week we have had some strange winds which sometimes became aggressive and then suddenly dropped, waved the flag of peace, and left behind an absolute stillness. Last year, same week, one of our number was nervous about walking home from work due to the threat of falling roof tiles.

About the Author:
Susan grew up in the Isle of Axholme, which inspired the Crowvus best-seller, Child of the Isle. She has a deep love of nature which is apparent in all her writing from the poems she has had published in various anthologies, to her 2020 release, Child of the Earth.

Susan released Rosie Jane and the Swodgerump as part of the John O’Groats Book Festival. This story was written and inspired by raising her six children in Orkney. After moving to England for a while, Susan finally returned to North Scotland in 2009, and continues to write her monthly blogs, What’s It Like Up There?

Her latest book, Child of the Earth, is a nature companion, drawn from her own experiences throughout her life. It provides a colourful telling of Susan’s encounters with nature, told with a style which makes it accessible to all readers.

Website ~ Publisher ~ Twitter ~ Blog


Buy the book at Amazon or the publisher.

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Comments

  1. Thanks for hosting. I really enjoyed writing this blog.

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  2. How many books have you written so far? Congrats on the release.

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  3. Bernie, "Child Of The Earth" is the third book to be published. It's the companion to "Child Of The Isle" which is a memoir of growing up in Lincolnshire in the fifties and sixties. The third book is "Rosie Jane And The Swodgerump" which is a children's story in rhyme. It is the first in a series of Rosie Jane stories - originally written for my own children some years ago.

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  4. I liked the excerpt, thank you.

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  5. Your book sounds like a great read and thank you for sharing it with us.

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