Competition Time – Name a Character

 

The Animals are the stars of the Meditteranean Dream Series providing more than a few of the laughs in the 1st installment Flip-flops, Fiesta & Flamenco (did I mention there are only 3 days to go until publication!)

Excited Much!!!! 

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d run a competition. (Drum Roll………) 

Abby will be acquiring some new additions to her ever-increasing menagerie in the next book, High Heels, Hope & Hacienda, and if you would like to name some of the critters the best will be chosen to appear in the book.

There will be extra chickens, a pig, a Shetland Pony and of course more rescue dogs.

Comment below with your suggestions and the winners will not only have the animals they named in the book, they will also receive a goody bag and a mention in the acknowledgments

Only 11 Days until Release Day

Had a busy week, with the usual dog-related emergencies, work and binge-watching Orange is the New Black (I always arrive at the popular box sets, way after the rest of the world)

Anyway, the big news is those fantastic guys at Junction Publishing have created some excellent graphics for my debut novel which is being released on the 20th March 2018 and is available to pre-order right now on Amazon

Flip-Flops, Fiesta & Flamenco

The first book in the Meditteranean Dream series; here is what some people have been saying about it

“I started reading this only a couple of days ago and couldn’t go to sleep last night until I had finished it. It was lighthearted, easy reading, fun. Being into dog rescue myself in Spain and having lived here for 16 years, I can easily see where Donna is coming from. Highly recommended.” (Deb-Spain)

“Absolutely loved this! It’s really funny. It’s quite a bit like Under the Tuscan Sun actually. I can totally see them making a movie out of this.” (Serena-Spain) 

“I loved this book, it tells the story of two forty-something women (I can relate already…) who decide to move to Spain to change their lives. The animals rule this book for me. They are integral to the story and provide much humour. I read it in a couple of days as its very readable and would make an excellent holiday book.” (Bankgirlwhite- Amazon)

 

 

Donkeys get that Friday Feeling too!

• Donkeys have amazing memories? They can remember a place they have been or other donkeys they met up to 25 years ago!
• Did you know Donkeys hate rain
• Donkeys suffer depression when left alone
• They are very intelligent
• Donkeys don’t like dogs
• Unlike horses they are not easy to startle

Love Donkeys? Me too, which is why one of the main animal characters in my novel Flip Flops, Fiesta and Flamenco is Santos a mischievous ass who causes all sorts of mayhem.

Chuckle at the antics of Abby and Lou’s menagerie of waifs and strays when the book is officially released by Junction Publishing in March 2018

Patience

We all know writing isn’t easy, there’s the research, the ploughing through writer’s block, the self-doubt. It takes time and effort to write a book even if you are sitting in your pyjamas with copious cups of coffee and a large plate of cake at your side.

Little did I realise that was the fun part; falling in love with your characters, laughing at their mishaps, travelling by their side until page 246. That, however, was so easy compared to when you finish the dreaded synopsis, hitting the send button to send the manuscript out into the world, like a child on their first day at school.

Yes, yes I realise it takes weeks if not months to hear back from agents and publishers. I’m not stupid, well not much. They are busy people; they have cake too! What I didn’t know was just how stressful the waiting is. Wondering every morning is today the day? Will it be good news; will it be bad?  It took what? 2 weeks before I began checking my emails, casually at first a couple of times a day.  Now it’s all I can think about and yes it does wear you down.

Maybe someone deleted it by mistake? Perhaps I should phone and check? Oh God, it’s so awful they’ve thrown it in the bin and forgotten to tell me. Then again no news is good news or so they say. Who the fuck are “they” anyway?  It’s so frustrating the endless waiting; email checks go up to around 10 times a day around the end of the third week.

Maybe I should stop writing the sequel after all if nobody likes the first one what’s the point? Two short stories, a pitch for a children’s book about Daisy & Drake two adorable baby dragons, fifteen cups of coffee and twenty-six clicks on Gmail later. I am going out of my mind.

A walk that’s the answer, fresh air, clear my head. I reach the end of the street before I start to hyperventilate. What if someone calls while I’m out? Do they even call? There is no 4G, oh mercy I can’t check my emails. Messing about with my mobile, I nearly get taken out by an oncoming Greggs van. This is killing me literally!

There’s nothing I can do, it’s out of my control, frustrating, nerve-wracking as it is I just need to wait for the same as everybody else. Perhaps I could start therapy or maybe download Candy Crush to take my mind off things.

Maybe I should embrace the pain, after all, it can’t be as bad as if they say no. God, I need more cake and…. Wine. First, I think I’ll just go and check my emails.

 

Update

Woohoo! It’s finally happened I have a real publisher, see; dreams can and do come true-watch this space

#LoveReading

“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

In the beginning!

Today is the first day of the rest of my life! I’ve taken the dogs out, had two slices of wholemeal toast (SW friendly) slathered with Marmite, 3 strong cups of Kenco’s finest and I’m ready to bare my soul to the world. No! No! No! I am so not ready!!!!

That’s what you do when you’re a writer though isn’t it? Every word is a tiny insight into the world of madness that lies within, you give up a little piece of your soul with every page, a piece of your heart with every chapter.

I’ve been wanting to write a book since way back when, well forever really but finances (running my own business,) procrastinating, self-doubt and a terrible understanding of grammar, which you will discover (I have an excellent Proof reader/Editor. Big shout out to Wendy!) have conspired to hold me back. Dithering about what to write was another behemoth, I mean my reading taste is so eclectic; Vampires, Serial killers, Dystopia, Vikings, Witches, History, Travel, the only genres I don’t really read are Spy Fiction or Chick Lit Comedy. Oh I know I’ll write a Chick Lit Comedy.

“What madness” I hear you all yell (I don’t even think Monty Python is funny!) This girl is as amusing as getting your toe stuck in the hot tap while in the bath (Something I have never done) Gorgeous Hunky Firemen squashed into your small bathroom snickering, while you desperately try to protect your modesty with a small towel, the words “Babe I’m Wet” emblazoned across it. As yet unshaven legs (After all it is only March) making it appear you are some kind of weird human cactus deformation. Shame burning your face like a blow torch on Crème Brulee. The words “Should have had a fucking shower” screaming in your head, volume on a par with Ozzy Osbourne his nuts caught in a vice. No sir, this has never happened to me!

Anyway I digress. After my Eureka moment I scrapped all my almost finished, half-finished, ten chapters, first page attempts, concentrating on actually finishing my first novel in a series of three, two best friends decide to abandon the cold grey skies of Blighty and sod off to Spain, where their adventures begin. Will their friendship survive? Is there enough Sangria in Andalusia? How do you say “Where is my Donkey” in Spanish? Who will be the first to fall for a greasy Latin Lothario? These questions and more are all answered in the first instalment of my Mediterranean Dream Trilogy – Flip Flops, Fiestas and Flamenco (Did you see what I did there? Alliteration Rocks!)

Well I’m off to make a Slimming world crustless Quiche (oh the culinary delights!) Fantasise about those hunky Firemen (Oops!) and try to achieve my daily word count.

Here is a snippet

            A large thump from her bedroom announced the arrival of her one true love. Chester may

 not have been everyone’s cup of tea as a bedmate. He was a bit on the weighty side, farted like a

 trooper, snored, was a tad smelly, and his face looked as if a bus had hit him head on, but for the

 last seven years she’d adored him. He had her wrapped around his paw. Plodding slowly along the

 hall, he stopped about a foot away for maximum impact, sat down, and proceeded to lick his balls.

 The six-stone British bulldog knew who was boss of the Sinclair household, and it certainly wasn’t

 Abby!