IT'S BEEN PUBLISHED!

HAPPY NEW YEAR
At long, long last the third in the Blountmere Street series, There Is a Time, has been published and can be purchased from Amazon Kindle for digital readers. It shouldn't be long - somewhere around four weeks - before you'll be able to purchase it from Amazon CreateSpace, which means you'll be able to buy a paperback version. For those of us in the Antipodes it should provide us with some good holiday reading as well as being the answer to the Christmas present we get the person who has everything.

Already I'm feeling restless without a book underway, and although I promised myself a rest from writing until February, I could well be creeping back to my computer long before February. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. As I wrote at the beginning of the book, even if you've read the previous two books in the trilogy, it would be a good idea to browse through them again to familiarise yourself with the characters. If you haven't read the books at all or only one of them, I strongly suggest you read them first. And when you've read them, will you do me a great favour and write a wee review of them. If you go to the Amazon Kindle sales page you'll see the reviews at the bottom of the page. You don't have to write screeds, nor do you need to be highly literary. Something simple will do. Have a look at the preceding ones.

In the meantime, happy reading and I'll try to be more regular in my blogging in 2015.

I thought I would let you know that I'm offering the second in the trilogy, "The Blountmere Street" series, entitled "The Best In Blountmere Street" as a free read for a short time. I'm putting the finishing touches to the third in the series, "There Is A Time", and it would be a good idea if you haven't read "The Best In Blountmere Street" to take advantage of this offer now.

Happy Reading!

Nearly Finished The Third In The Trilogy

Hoorah! I've almost finished the third novel in my trilogy, The Blountmere Series. I'm calling it, "There's A Time" and it's in keeping with the theme of the book. It's been the hardest book to write out of the five that I've written so far and there have been times when I've come close to giving up, especially when, having finished all 90,000 words I knew it just wasn't working and I pressed the delete key and did away with two thirds of it and began again.  I've now finished a third large edit and at present the book is with When proof readers. I'm hoping it will be on sale for digital publication on Amazon at the end of October/beginning of November. Readers will also be able to buy a hard copy through Createspace on Amazon. I think the price will be US$19.99 + shipping. I'll give you all the details and instructions in a forthcoming blog.

If you were ask me, or, indeed if I ask myself what I've learnt from writing this novel, I would say the following:

* Think carefully before writing a trilogy. Taking your characters through sixty-odd decades presents its problems!
* Make sure you know in which direction you're taking the story.
*Once again, think carefully about writing an entire book in the first person present tense!
* Allow yourself plenty of time
*When people ask how much longer the third novel is going to , smile sweetly and say, It'll take as long as it takes."

So I've still got some tidying up to do and a lot of promotion, but I'm relieved the end is in sight.

And now I can enjoy the lovely spring sunshine we're having here in Christchurch and my husband and I can wander through the daffodils in the Botanical Gardens and finish with a cup of coffee in the wonderful new cafe there, the first one having been badly damaged in the earthquakes.

My New Novel

Well, at last I've finished my novel, The Orchid Keeper's Son.  In my opinion, some books are easier to write than others and need sheer grit to stick with them, while others are easier to write - almost a pleasure, you could say.  This book falls into the 'almost a pleasure' category.

What follows, however, is never a pleasure for me, especially when my books are being published digitally for Kindle readers.  Getting the format converted into an e-publishing format and uploaded on to Amazon for me is a challenge to say the least.  It is, however, wonderful when the process is complete and there it is - cover and all - in the Kindle shop.  It couldn't be more exciting to see it on the shelves of a book shop.  It should be available for purchase on Amazon Kindle or if you subscribe to Kindle Prime, to borrow free of charge in a week or so's time.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Barbara 

Returning from Holiday

It was good to get away to Auckland, to the relative normality of life without earthquakes and liquefaction, but it is good to be going home today. I feel it is a two edged sword, I want to go home to its familiarity, and in some way its routine. But on the other hand, it has been good to be away from the every day stresses and strains of life.  Soon my stay here will be just another memory and all I will be left with are my photos and mind pictures and a suitcase of dirty washing!

Happy Holidays.
Best wishes, Barbara.

My Parent's Wedding

18 January 1941

It was war time, snowing and the church was as cold as an Eskimo's nose! Most wartime brides weren't able to be married in a long white wedding dress because of war shortages and lack of clothing coupons which were needed to buy anything that you wore or to purchase fabric.  However, some how my mother managed to obtain extra coupons and was one of the only brides of that time to wear a long, white velvet wedding dress, rouched at the front  and with silver shoes peeping from it. She even managed pale blue velvet for her bridesmaids. She wasn't quite so lucky in obtaining enough icing sugar for a white iced wedding cake, but somehow did get enough cocoa for a two-tier chocolate wedding cake.  Unfortunately, there wasn't to be too much privacy for my parent's wedding night, when the sirens sounded and all the guests including Mum and Dad made for the underground station shelter for the night! On their return they crept into their bedroom only to find my grandmother curled asleep in their bed oblivious to the air raid warnings!  They hadn't the heart to wake her. So much for a romantic start to their marriage. Had they lived, today would have been their 71st wedding anniversary.

Best wishes
Barbara