Tuesday 31 May 2011

Dashing Around!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I needed to loose a few kilos and since the publication of my latest novel, Sometimes It Happens... I've been dashing around spreading the word.

Today, you can find me on the following web sites and magazines....phew! Surely all this activity must help me shed those kilos...? It must!

Lanzarote Information talking about my novels.

Strictly Business Magazine, talking about my years living in Lowestoft - you can find me on page 14

Novel Kicks, talking about Indie publishing (self publishing) and the importance of having a professional editor

Sunday 29 May 2011

My Guest Nicole MacDonald

We are so international here on My Guest page these day. This week my gorgeous guest is from New Zealand and is the author of an epic Fantasy trilogy - Birthright.



I've been a daydreamer for as long as I can remember, frequently wrapped up in my own world. Because in my world I got to be the heroine and in my world there were unicorns, and jaguars, and most importantly magic! It did once occur to me when I was around eleven or so, that I could write my world. But as an atrocious speller I lacked the confidence in my writing ability, so I dismissed the idea.

A couple of years ago the idea occurred to me again. I could write a story. No one needed to read it or judge it and it'd be all mine. And of course I wouldn't have to worry about a deadline or such. So I decided to write my story. It was based on meeting your soul mate. I met my soul mate at eighteen, which may sound incredibly romantic but to an independent young woman ready to take on the world, it was a major spanner in my plan. Actually I'd always firmly intended to use boys as I liked, discard them and then live with my close friend Sian as soon as we got to an appropriate 'crazy old cat lady' age… Probably not everyone's plan for the future but I was really looking forward to it. Then along came a spanner called Glenn.

So I centered my story around four close friends who decide on a whim to cast a love spell. Then my imagination got hold of it.

Suddenly the friends were waking in a strange forest wondering where the hell they were and why the locals thought they looked so tasty. The story completely took off leaving me scrambling along in its wake and suddenly realizing I'd gone from maybe writing a novel to publicly announcing I'd written the first in an Epic Fantasy trilogy.

Rather a shock to the system really.

Book One, ARRIVAL of the BirthRight Trilogy introduces the reader to the characters and their new world, Sytas. Here is the blurb

'Four friends in the midst of a man drought cast a love spell on a whim. And land themselves on another planet. Oops.

On a foreign and often hostile world, love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' unexpected gifts. Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize.'

Book Two, AWAKENING is currently being drafted and I hope to release it in December this year.

My blog 'Damsel in a Dirty Dress' follows my writing and all its frustrations as I try to get The Arrival out there. As an indie author it's a very challenging world but out of all the hobbies I've ever tried my hand at, writing is the one I'm most passionate about. I write in the hopes of providing an escape from the everyday world like all books are to me. And if one day this can be my full time job that'd be lovely, but until then it'll be my favorite hobby *grin* How else would I get to soar on a griffons back, fight evil creatures with skills I could only dream of and meet dragons!


Oh, and in case you wondered, Glenn and I will celebrate our ten year anniversary this year.



Buy ARRIVAL Now from Amazon or from Smashwords
 
I'm on GoodReads and BookBlogs
 
 
 
You are most welcome to stroll along to my Blog to say hello Chat with me on Facebook or on Twitter @DmslinaDrtyDrss

Friday 27 May 2011

Double Booked Yikes!



Today, I've defiantly got my roller skates on, I'm at the fabby Talli Rolland's Blog talking about living on Lanzarote and sharing the views from our villa!

AND

I'm also chatting at the vampirish Blog spot of the author of RAVEN, Suzy Turner about my latest book.

So if you can spare a moment, please scoot along to both these superb Blogs and say Hi to all of us!

Thursday 26 May 2011

Good Reads!

What a year this has been, and not just for me. I've been busy with my latest novel and so it seems many other new authors have too. Being a new author means a lot of work, not just writing, but making sure it is read by as many people as possible.

At the back end of last year I bought a Kindle and took the decision to try and read books from new authors and new authors to me. I've not been disappointed.

Here are some of the books I've read.






Damaged By Pamela Callow









Presumed Dead by Shirley Wells










Turning the Tide by Christine Stovell










The Silver Locket by Margaret James








The Haunting by Belinda Kroll











 Starting Over by Sue Moorcroft










The Hating Game by Talli Roland










Black Boxes by Caroline Smailes








Harold The King by Helen Hollick







I hope you've enjoyed my Kindle book collection, I have several more loaded ready to read and I promise to share them with you again soon!

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Redhill & Reigate Life - NEWS!

The Redhill & Reigate Life newspaper printed this on Tuesday 24th May 2011 - click on title to read original article

Former Redhill resident turned novelist Pauline Barclay is back on the bookshelves with her latest work.
Pauline, who used to live with her husband Clive in Cotland Acres, Meadvale, and is now living in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, has just had her third book published.

Called Sometimes It Happens... the novel is about a woman who wins the Lottery.
Pauline said: “Sometimes It Happens... is about deception, lies, love and laughter.”
She said: “Sometimes It Happens... is about a woman who wins the lottery - but being rich is not the same as being posh, as Doreen Wilkinson quickly finds out when she takes her very first holiday with her 17-year-old daughter.”
She added: “But nothing prepared Doreen Wilkinson for the luxury five-star complex of Villas Bonitas - and nothing prepared Villas Bonitas for Doreen Wilkinson.”

Pauline said she hoped she has written the “perfect holiday read” which would have “the reader giggling all the way to the end.”
The novel follows Pauline's debut, Magnolia House, and her second book, Satchfield Hall, a story of power, love, lies and revenge spanning generations of a family, which was published last year.

Magnolia House, published in 2009, was also a tale of family betrayal, hopes and dreams.

Pauline's passion for writing grew after she finished studying for an Open University degree in 1992.
After her second novel was published, she said: “I had the Readers Group from Cotland Acres contact me and we've stayed in touch since.
“We lived there for many years.”
She said also fresh in her memory are her times in the Redhill and Reigate Artistic Roller Skating Club, and in her former job, working in the offices of the oil company Fina.

Sometimes It Happens... is available from Amazon in their Kindle section. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sometimes-It-Happens/dp/B0050K7NVE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306249740&sr=1-2

For more details visit Pauline's website: http://www.paulinebarclay.co.uk/

Monday 23 May 2011

My Guest Maureen A. MIller



On my guest page this week I have the lovely Maureen A. Miller, author of four novels. She's taken time out from her busy schedule to talk about her home state, North Carolina and her latest novel, ENDLESS NIGHT.

Please stroll over to my web site and read about this talented author. www.paulinebarclay.co.uk

Saturday 21 May 2011

Lanzarote Ironman 2011


Today Saturday 21st May is the Lanzarote's Ironman challenge. It is an unrivalled test of strength, character and mind-body excellence. The motto says it all: “Normal limits do not apply”.

To understand how gruelling the course is, you need to understand Lanzarote. Lanzarote is hot, windy, sculptured from volcanoes and surrounded by the ocean. The hills are like mountains and the only areas that are flat are on the coast.


This year there are 1,471 participants who have arrived from all over the world.
The youngest male is 18 and from Argentina
The youngest female is 21 from Denmark
The oldest male is 72 from the UK
The oldest female is 60 from the USA

The challenge starts at 7am in Puerto Del Carmen and ends in Puerto del Carmen at Midnight This is what every participant must complete before midnight in order to receive their much deserved Ironman medal:

3.8km swim in the ocean

180km bike course around the island, many of the roads climbing several hundred metres as the course takes the cyclist through the volcano mountains.

44km marathon - which takes place along the Avenidda in Puerto del Carmen

The atmosphere is electric, the Avenida in Puerto del Carmen is lined with spectator stands which are filled to ram jam full. A festival atmosphere surrounds the entire area as supporters and spectators cheer home the athletes back from the cycle course and through their final stages as they run the marathon.
Helicopters hovver above capturing the race and the front leaders.


As I write we have clouds, sunshine and the temperature in PDC is 24.5c in the shade, it is a cool Ironman this year!





To read all about the famous Lanzarote Ironman event click onto http://www.ironmanlanzarote.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=1

Thursday 19 May 2011

Giggling!



I'm over at the lovely Helen Hollick's Guest Blog today,  we are having a bit of a giggle, so please come along and join in. Corks popped and bubbly flowing....see you there!

Tuesday 17 May 2011

What Numbers Do You Use?

Are you a lottery (Lotto) player and if so, do you use random numbers, the same numbers each time or do you simply go for a scratch card and hope you have the winning one?

When we lived in the UK I belonged to our office syndicate, we had around 20 lines a week, we used the same numbers every week and our winning amounts over the years were so pathetic it was laughable. But what if you really did win, not the odd ten pounds or even a thousand pounds. What if you won millions of pounds, what would you do?

Doreen Wilkinson, cleaner from a council estate won eleven million pounds. As usual she was late for work, but needed to stop off at the corner shop to buy a packet of cigarettes, on impulse she bought a ticket. The numbers she used on her one and only lottery ticket were random and afterwards she could not even remember them. That ticket and those forgotten numbers set in motion changes to her life that no amount of imagination could prepare her for.


Nothing in her wildest dreams had prepared Doreen Wilkinson for something like this. But then, nothing had prepared her for winning the lottery either.
Several million. Several million. Eleven million, three hundred and fifty four thousand, two hundred and ten pounds and nineteen pence to be precise.


She had giggled at the nineteen pence. “Break the bleedin’ bank that will!”


The media had made the comment a headline, “19p to break the bleedin’ bank!” splashed all over the Sun and Daily Mirror accompanied by her smiling face and a fountain spray of champagne. She had thought it a waste shaking that great big bottle and letting it fizz everywhere, but the reporters had told her to do it.

You can read all about Doreen's spectacular win in Sometimes It Happens...
available in Kindle from Amazon

And please let me know if you are a lottery player or not, you never know, it just might happen!

Dice picture from: FreeDigitalPhotos

Saturday 14 May 2011

Publication Day


Yesterday was Publication day for my latest novel, Sometimes It Happens... It was a great day and I received so many wonderful messages of support and congratulations. A huge thank you to everyone for making publication such a special day.

We ended the day drinking champagne and eating out, but now it's back to reality more writing and equally as important, plenty of marketing for my lovely new book.




I received this lovely message from my dear friend and brilliant author Helen Hollick. "Got your suitcase packed? Your sunglasses? Your beachwear? Got your Kindle? Now what about something to get you in the mood for sea, sun and a giggle of a read? Sometimes It Happens... by Pauline Barclay. Guaranteed to be as bubbly as champagne!"



Sometimes It Happens...is available from Amazon

Thursday 12 May 2011

Distraction!

The publication date is imminent for my latest book, Sometimes It Happens... and I confess to be a little excited, though I am sure you all have detected this for some time!

I am busy catching up with things I have not done whilst writing Sometimes It Happens... but even these tasks are not enough to sidetrack me from thinking about the publication date. I'm now sat staring at the screen on my lap tap hoping words will fly from the keyboard for my new novel....they are, but very slowly!



Last night we took our doggies out around 8.30pm, it was still pretty hot then, but as the sun was setting it was more pleasant for them. We wandered along the seafront before dropping down on to the beach, we had it all to ourselves, wonderful. We then stopped off for a glass of wine at one of our favourite bars overlooking the sea and to our surprise, our little doggy wolfed down all the food in the cat dish. The Bar has a lovely cat and they had not long since put food in its dish, it turned out the cat had been fed freshly cooked turkey! No wonder our little doggy was in there....the shame - laugh!

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Congratulations to Suzy Turner!


Today is a very special day for writer, Suzy Turner, whose debut novel, Raven is published today.

Raven is a dark fantasy about a young girl who has to move to Canada after her parents mysteriously disappear. There, she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets...


Raven is available in Kindle at Amazon UK & Amazon COM
 
Congratulations Suzy, wishing you great success!
 
To check out Suzy's website, click here

Monday 9 May 2011

Chilling Really Is Important!

For the first time in four years, we have taken a break, not a long one, just a couple of days away, and we feel so much better!


Our two gorgeous doggies went off to a friend and they had a ball too. Walked and spoilt. So we have all benefited.


We did not travel very far, our beautiful island is where many people come for a holiday and so we decided that we too should enjoy some of the wonderful holiday pleasures on offer.

We booked ourselves in to the fabulous 4 star hotel in Puerto Calero - Iberostar - fully inclusive.


As well as the wonderful food, wine and entertainment, we spent several hours in the thermal pools: Swimming in the salty water, laying on bubble beds, standing under back pummelling jets, soaking in bubbling warm water....and so much more!

Living here in the sunshine, we forget we too need to step away from our daily life and routine and chill out.


Now back home, it is all systems go for me as my latest book, Sometimes It Happens... is due for release in the coming week. A perfect holiday read, right down to the sunshine!