Wow What a minefield "Self Publishing" turned out to be. In the past few days I've learnt so much about digital and print versions, royalties, adverts, marketing...the list is endless. My lovely daughter had a week off before starting a new job and has been busy proof-reading and setting up a social media campaigne. Her lovely husband has formatted my complete mess of a manuscript and tutted a few times. Its all done now though. The bok is out there for sale. Today's the day it goes live and

I did it. I finished. I typed two little words "The End" Two tiny, one syllable, three letter words that meant so much. After decades of declaring "I want to write a book" I did it...I really, really did it. I'm not sure what to do or how to react, so I cry, just a little. There is no-one at home to tell so I take a picture of the two little words I just typed and send it to my daughter and my friends in Zakynthos. Now what? I've researched the pro's and con's of the self publishing world. I've

Tilly arrived today Tilly was found as a tiny puppy dumped in a bin. After a while she ended up at Sue Deeth's Holistic Heling Paws. The poor little thing then got poorly. Turned out she had Parvovirus. A horrible debilitating virus that is the cause of many deaths. Tilly was strong, she recovered. She is absolutely beautiful though her head doesn't match her body and her body doesn't match her legs! She is a very clever little dog, she asks to go out already. She's just run past me with a tea

I turned fifty today. We celebrated with a KFC. It should have been different but our dog is grieving for her beloved friend. They have never been apart and she just can't cope. I manage to run up the shops and leave her for a few minutes but that's all. She makes this awful howling cry. Its so hard to watch. I know how she's feeling. I've not really written much. A paragraph here, a sentence there. My motivation has gone along with my faithful friend. My friends in Zakynthos have sent me some

Big Fella Foley bounded into our lives in February 2008. Supposedly a Staffie, he wasn't. With his huge head, gigantic paws and weighing far more than a four month old Staffie should. He pounced in, knocked our granddaughter flying and terrified our other, more normal staffie. At ten months old it was obvious something was wrong, he limped and when he ran it was with a strange twisting gait. He had hip dysplasia and congenital ankle deformities which had caused partial tears to his cruciate

Writers Block I Know what I want to write, it's there in my head. Time has got in the way. It's nearly Christmas and so the crazy days and pitfalls of having a large family begins. The annual get together's, gift buying and wrapping, decorating the tree. I'm not cooking this year, for the first time in many years I'm handing over the apron strings and having dinner cooked for me. I guess I will start writing again soon, when? I'm not sure.

The Bucket List So I have a bucket list, I add to it occasionally. Now I don't consider a "Bucket List" to be things to do before I die rather things to do whilst i'm still alive. Mine, so far, consists of: 1: Visit Maldives...did it! January 2015, it was amazing, everything I dreamed of. I doubt we will ever be lucky enough to go again but the memories will last a lifetime. 2: Turn left on a plane...did it...wow, again amazing. Me and hubby dressed all posh for the occasion then felt