My Personal Facebook Posts While Volunteering In Kos, Greece Helping With The Refugee Crisis | charmainecraig

Source: My Personal Facebook Posts While Volunteering In Kos, Greece Helping With The Refugee Crisis | charmainecraig

Charmaine Craig’s Personal Facebook Posts While Volunteering In Kos, Greece Helping With The Refugee Crisis

Originally posted on JANUARY 28, 2016 ~ CCRAIGBBA

“I wanted to remind myself of my time spent volunteering and was looking back through the maze of all my posts and shares on my Facebook page- Holy Dinah! Weeding through the, let’s say, impressive amount of posts took me a good three hours. And I am a speed reader! I took out all of the shared posts and put together only what I personally posted. So here it is-still long, sorry, spelling mistakes, bad grammar and all–remember I was posting usually after an 18 hour day, in dim light, usually using my cell phone keypad. 😉 “

October 13th – My First Day on Kos

Got here a few hours ahead of the team and went for a walk to acquaint myself with the area and meet some refugees. My very first encounter was with a daddy trying to console his two year old girl. She loves me ❤ I got her to stop crying in less then a second. I am so doing what I am meant to do. My next encounter was with a group that came in Friday on a dingy with 15 family members…I saw in that group my Hailey and Z. The mom, my Dani’s age asked me which country I think is more tolerant Germany or Sweden (I said truly I do not know, I’m from Canada). They are so worried about their future but want a better life for their children. I wish I could bring them home. I didn’t bring much down with me but it sure went fast–there are sooo many in need. I am back at my room now to grab the men’s shoes I brought, I told a refugee with his cut up and bandaged feet I would meet him in the same spot in one hour with shoes and polysporin.

 

What they are crossing in

 

October 14

2 1/2 week old refugee on a dangerous and desperate journey

So tired, can’t stop thinking about those I’ve met and the stories I’ve heard, and it’s been such a short time here. I met today 3 different families with young children, one from Iraq and 2 from Syria with the same story. Please stop and think a moment on what I am going to tell you. You have decided to leave your belongings, your home (if it is still there), your job, your friends and family–you are desperate to get to safety for your children’s sake–you’re all being bloody bombed for Christ’s sake (or Allah, does it matter?–NO) but the journey is hard, extremely difficult, long and expensive (to pay off smugglers, etc) so when forced to make a choice I ask you this…Which child will you leave behind? If your husband and brothers were murdered and you have 4 children but can’t possibly carry or pay for them all, which one do you leave behind? I cannot possibly imagine making that choice. Can you? Then imagine the agony of having made that choice and how much you would worry for those left behind. Our governments all need to step up and work on a safe plan to get these people to safety not just fight over how many refugees they will accept but to actually get them safe transport out. And for those I met today, I sure hope they get settled and able to bring the rest of their families over soon–cut the stupid red tape.

 

1st GoFundMe Post

My name is Charmaine, I’m a 47 year old grandmother of 3 precious darlings. I love to travel and in May of this year I visited Turkey for my second time. Turkey was as lovely as I remembered but with a huge difference to my previous trip. The amount of Syrian refugees we saw living on the streets was staggering! We at home just do not see what is really going on. I came home with an image I just could not get out of my mind of a little boy living on the streets holding his blankie and knew that somehow I must go back to help in some way. While Turkey has allowed the refugees (over 2 million) to come in as “guests” they either get housed in camps (some families have been stuck there since 2011) . Many choose to live on the streets instead of camps and find menial low pay jobs to save to pay the smugglers to get them out. They are only able to bring one backpack with maybe a change of clothes, baby supplies, a disk of their photo memories however most backpacks are lost at sea, the dingys are unsafe, many life jackets are fake (ripped one open myself, horrified by what I found) they lose their shoes and swim for their lives. Once they get here they have to register then wait days for their number to come up at the police station to get processed. Once they are processed they can purchase a ticket for a ferry to the mainland where they have a long journey ahead of them crossing borders and much walking to get to a country where they can claim refugee status. Their need is great, their need for help is immediate, everything from water, food, clothing, shoes, shampoo, diapers, medicines, money for ferry tickets and buses in countries that allow it. Children are not exempt, everyone must purchase a ticket. There are some great charity organizations along their route, but not enough and sadly some are only helping refugees from particular areas. It’s quite odd but it’s happening, very sad. I have joined up with a great team from the UK who have been already helping here over the summer. They are wonderful and help anyone and everyone who needs it. I have self funded for the most part and brought over as much as I could I will easily spend all I’ve got, the need is so great. If any of my fellow Canadians would like to help me help out any little bit is welcomed and much appreciated. All money will be spent on essentials, food, medication, hygiene products, diapers, activities for children, anything at all that a vulnerable refugee would need to relieve their suffering. I can access the funds while here and every penny will go to help. Thank you, love you all.

https://www.gofundme.com/bekindtorefugees

October 15

I’ve never saved a life before and I am a bit overwhelmed that my first was 45; 35 adults and 10 children–3 of them babies–1 of them 5 days old (his poor mother with many ripped stitches ) Honestly can’t process yet, tell ya later..
so happy they are alive, but I sure am crying.

I have been so busy I haven’t had time to look at the gofundme notifications–I know you’re sharing and I just wanna hug you all, thank you!

my first rescue – has to be the most profound night of my life, I really can’t explain what the memories of that night mean to me 

 

they need our love and kindness

 

For the rest of the article please go to: My Personal Facebook Posts While Volunteering In Kos, Greece Helping With The Refugee Crisis | charmainecraig

#FREE prequel ‘Escaping Psychiatry. Beginnings’ Psychological Thriller. 1st chapter

This is a blog freebie novel by the lovely Olga, the prequel to Escaping Psychiatry, her psychological thriller book, that collects three stories. Mary Miller, the psychiatrist and writer protagonist of the stories gets in all kinds of adventures in the book.

Source: authortranslatorOlga » Blog Archive » #FREEprequel ‘Escaping Psychiatry. Beginnings’ Psychological Thriller. 1st chapter

FREE, Writing samplesAdd comments

 

Here, we see how and when she became involved for the first time in a case. Ah, and the case is about a writer who is being stalked and harassed by a fan/madman, or is it?

Ah, I have a cover now! So consider this a cover reveal too!

Escaping Psychiatry. Beginnings by Olga Núñez Miret. Cover by Ernesto Valdés

And here it is:

1.     The Crisis

“It was terrible! I’m telling you, Phil. Disgraceful! The guy was pouring out his heart and soul and I wasn’t even listening to him! What kind of a psychiatrist am I? Where is my empathy? Caring profession! Ha! Couldn’t care less profession, maybe!”

“Come on, Mary. Don’t beat yourself up. It was the early hours of the morning and you had been working all day.” Phil seized the opportunity when Mary had to stop to breathe, to try and get his point across. He wasn’t a lawyer and the voice of reason for nothing. His friend Mary, usually level-headed and calm, was in a bit of a state. Yes, she had a pretty stressful job, working as a trainee psychiatrist in a busy hospital. But she was quite senior now and not usually given to catastrophizing.

“That wasn’t his fault. Damn, the guy was talking about his life, his girlfriend had left him and he was contemplating suicide and I was… away with the fairies. I haven’t the slightest idea of what he told me.”

“Nothing happened. You gave him good advice and evidently must have heard enough. You probably only switched off for a few seconds. And you gave him what he needed.”

“How so? He wanted somebody to listen. And I wasn’t listening!”

Phil realised that he was likely to inflame the situation, no matter what he said, and decided to allow Mary to vent. She’d run out of steam at some point. Hopefully.

She stopped talking after a few more minutes of lamenting her lack of empathy. Phil decided it might be safe to intervene.

“Why don’t you—”

“It’s a con game,” she interrupted him. “Do you remember that movie, House of Games?”

“The one about the female psychiatrist and the con men? David Mamet’s, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, precisely that one. I’m coming to the conclusion that they had a point. We just put on a performance and as long as we are credible, good actors, and have the appropriate props and jargon, we get away with it.”

“From that point of view, I guess all professions are a con game,” Phil said.

“Perhaps. But most of them don’t take the moral high ground or go around telling people what to do.”

Phil was about to contradict Mary, but realised that she seemed to be calming down and it would be better to try a different tack.

“You must be due a vacation, Mary. Why don’t you come and spend some time with me? You could always accompany me to work. Get a bit of distance and see how it feels to be an insider somewhere else.”

“Won’t your law firm have something to say about that? Client privilege and all that?”

“I’ll vouch for you. And I’m sure I could convince them that having you ‘consulting’ with us could be useful. To give us a different perspective. Especially if you aren’t going to charge them for the service.”

“I’m starting to wonder if you have a case you wanted my opinion on, and my call has just been the perfect excuse,” Mary said, in a more upbeat tone.

“You have a very suspicious mind, dear Mary.”

“When a lawyer says that, it’s time to worry.”

Phil was used to people making jokes and saying not very complimentary things about lawyers. He did some pro-bono work, but had no illusions that he would change society with his profession. But it was interesting nonetheless.

“So, what do you say? Are you coming to spend some time with me?”

Mary was quiet for a few seconds. She finally said:

“Won’t I be in the way?”

“In the way of what?”

“You’re single, well, divorced, and a bloke. Don’t you have a woman in your life at the moment?”

“You know I’m still recovering from my divorce.” Phil made an effort to sound as sincere as possible. Mary had a very finely tuned bullshit detector.

“Ha! That’s funny! I haven’t seen you cry or be sad at all about your failed marriage. I’ve never truly understood why you married Iris.”

“Well… She was hot.”

“Sure, but otherwise… Not up to your intellectual standards, Phil. And you sent her to your mother’s as soon as you went back to Law School, and I’d say you might have seen her a handful of times in the three months your marriage lasted, at a push. I’m sure you saw me more often than your saw her.”

“Well, if you had played your cards right, perhaps you could have become my wife instead.” Phil didn’t know where that had come from. He hoped Mary would take it as a joke. Because that was what it was, right?

“You would run a mile if you thought I had any design on you.”

Phil burst out laughing. “Probably much farther than a mile. Don’t get me wrong. I do love you, but I think we’d probably drive each other insane if we were a couple. We know each other far too well.”

Phil realised he wholeheartedly believed what he’d just said, although he’d never formulated the thought before. Could he be truly open and honest in a relationship? Perhaps that had been the problem all along. He didn’t let anybody get close enough, at least not the people he ended up in a relationship with.

“So you think having secrets from each other is the recipe to a successful relationship. Based on that premise, I’m not surprised you’re still on your own. And yes, no need to remind me I’m also on my own. Relationships are not my priority at the moment. Trying to decide what I want to do with my life is. I don’t need added complications. And of course, I suspect lots of men would think that I’m not hot enough to make good partner material.”

“You talk yourself out of it before you even try, dear Mary. But I’m sure we can chat about that in more detail when you’re here. When will that be?”

“I’ll have to check with my bosses, HR and the other doctors, but there aren’t school holidays coming up or any such things, so we might be lucky. I’ll speak to everybody tomorrow, if I can, and I’ll let you know.”

“Good. I hope it’s soon.”

“Why?” She sounded suspicious.

“Because the firm has just taken up the defence of a writer, and I know you love reading and writing.”

“Oh, I see. Yes, you’re right. And perhaps taking up writing again would be helpful. What’s the case about?”

“You’ll probably hear about it soon enough, but I can’t give you any inside information until I know the firm is OK about your involvement, and you’re actually coming. That would be careless, not to say unethical, on my behalf.”

“Of course. Let’s talk tomorrow, then.”

“Speak to you tomorrow.”

“Phil?”

“What?”

“You’ve done a good job.”

“What are you talking about?”

“First of putting up with the moaning, but more than that, of setting up the hook. I’m intrigued about the case, now.”

He punched the air in silent celebration. ‘Yes!’ he thought. “Just something that suddenly came to mind while we talked.”

“Yes, sure… Night.”

“Good night.”

Mary phoned Phil back the next day and confirmed she would be going to spend a couple of weeks with him. “I’ll arrive on Saturday morning, if that’s OK. But, honestly, let me know if I’m going to be in the way. I can always book myself in somewhere. At a hotel or something.”

“No, no, that will be unnecessary. You can stay here. Ah, and by the way, I did have an informal chat with my boss, and he was interested in your perspective and opinion on the case, both from the psychiatric point of view and from an insider’s.”

“An insider’s?”

“I told Mr Wright that you also write. He was so interested that he even offered to let you stay in one of the firm’s apartments. They have several for clients from out of the city and for newly arrived lawyers. I told him we’d made other arrangements but he was serious.”

“And why is he interested in my psychiatric opinion?”

“We’ll talk about that when you’re here. I’ll be eagerly waiting for you on Saturday morning.”

Thanks so much to all for reading, thanks to Ernesto for the great cover, and well, like, share, comment… and if you want to click… I’ll leave you a link to Escaping Psychiatry, that by the way, it’s only $0.99 at the moment!

Escaping Psychiatry

Saturday Historical Novelist Interview with Cynthia Graham

Today I am pleased to introduce to you Cynthia Graham. Welcome Cynthia! please tell us: What fascinated you about the era you write about?

This particular idea came to me as I contemplated the members of my own family, young men from small towns in rural American who went to war overseas. For the most part, they had never been any further from home than a state fair. I realized how disorienting it must have felt, to be removed from a relatively isolated and sheltered existence and this idea became the catalyst for Hick Blackburn, the young sheriff of Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas.

Tell us about the concept behind your books. How did you get the idea?

At the time I was writing Beneath Still Waters I was examining issues such as war and the notion that any society feels justified in deciding who should be allowed to live. I ran across a very old newspaper story about a baby being found in a slough and that fire my imagination. Since I was already contemplating life and death, and clearly this child was purposefully drowned, this event gave me a starting point to ask and try to answer the questions that were in my mind. 

What is your life like outside of writing?

Outside of writing I love to travel. I think travel is essential, even if it’s only to the next county. In order to understand the world you have to meet people, people who don’t look like you or worship like you or share the same problems and concerns. If you don’t step outside of your own community, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand the problems and concerns of others. The world is very diverse, but if you only see and converse with people just like you, you fail to recognize the amazing variety of cultures that inhabit it.

What song would you pick to go with your book?

The song for this novel is an easy choice – Beneath Still Waters, particularly as recorded by Emmylou Harris. It evokes the precise mood of the story.

What are you working on now?

I feel like I have so many irons in the fire right now. I just completed the edits to Behind Every Door, a sequel coming out this March. I will soon begin on edits to another book I have coming out next summer entitled Beulah’s House of Prayer. Unlike the other two novels, Beulah is not a mystery. It is a depression-era quirky, sort of magical realism story. And, of course, there is always a “work in progress.”

What is your advice to new writers?

My advice to new writers is to know their characters. Know everything about them, even things that will never be in the book. Every character I write has a family tree, they have a history, because people have histories. I am a firm believer that each of us is the culmination of the generations that came before, and if you want your characters to be fleshed out, to be like real people, they must also have a history, even if it is known only to you.

Who are your favourite authors?

I love the old-fashioned writers. I am a huge fan of anyone named Bronte, Jane Austen, Willa Cather, Louisa May Alcott, and Harper Lee.

What is your favourite book?

It is almost impossible to pick one. I believe To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the most important American books ever written. As far as beauty of language, My Antonia by Willa Cather makes me cry every time I read it simply for the pleasure of its imagery.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?

I am currently re-reading Glass by Kate Kort. It is a recent release that I reviewed but am now reading again because I want to take my time and enjoy it.

Cynthia’s social media links are:

@cynthiaa_graham (Twitter),

http://www.cynthiaagraham.com (website), and

you can find the book on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Author Bio:

Cynthia A. Graham has a B.A. in English from the Pierre Laclede Honors College at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. She was the winner of several writing awards during her academic career and her short stories have appeared in both university and national literary publications. Cynthia is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, the Missouri Writer’s Guild, and Sisters In Crime. Beneath Still Waters is her first novel.

 

Review: Running with Crows – The Life and Death of a Black and Tan by D.J. Kelly

Review: Running with Crows – The Life and Death of a Black and Tan by D.J. Kelly

I love it when a book strikes the right balance between factual research and drama, and this is one of those books.

In a solid and confident effort, D.J. Kelly brings to life the story of Constable William Mitchell, a regular man who finds himself on trial for the murder of a magistrate.
Various chapters illustrate the life of Mitchell, from a young age to his life as a soldier. Beautifully fleshed out and spiked with fascinating details and facts, her narrative oozes authority and credibility while the drama provides enough hooks to get drawn in on an emotional level as well.
I knew little about this part of Irish history and feel I come away fromt he novel educated and entertained. Kelly’s writing is eloquent and smooth and makes this a real treat.
Highly recommended.

Find the book on Amazon UK and Amazon US 

About D.J. Kelly:

Manchester-born author DJ Kelly took early retirement in 2010 from a career which had enabled her to work and play in 20+ countries across 4 continents and to learn a number of European languages. She writes novels (historical fiction/docu-fiction), short stories and articles. She was commissioned by an award winning theatre company to adapt one of her novels – ‘Running with Crows – The Life and Death of a Black and Tan’ – to a 3 act play which is to be performed in spring 2015. She is married and she and her husband live in the Chilterns.

Having occasionally strutted the stage, including a brief and happy time as a member of RATS (Rawalpindi Amateur Theatrical Society), and having variously been a member of The Creative Writers Network of Northern Ireland and Metroland Poets, she founded and co-ordinates Chalfont Writers’Circle, a support network for authors in South Buckinghamshire. She also has a lot of fun these days with Chesham Scribblers.

Her skills and interests lie in research (historical and family history) and investigation (if there’s a skeleton in the closet, the odds are she’ll find it!) and she enjoys reading, singing, swimming and travelling.

Review: Shadow Over Avalon by C.N. Lesley

Today I’m introducing you to a very original and fascinating re-telling of Arthurian legends

Shadow Over Avalon
by C.N. Lesley:

I’m using this excellent Book Review
Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers’ Favorite, even though I have read and enjoyed the book myself. Ray nails it.

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/shadow-over-avalon

Shadow over Avalon by C.N. Lesley is a well written and original retelling of the Arthurian legend. This book brings freshness to the well-known and often told story by placing it in the far future. The King Arthur story has a multitude of fans and some of us will buy any version of the story we come across. It is a great surprise and reward when a writer I am not familiar with gives me an exciting and totally new version of the story. C.N. Lesley’s story has many of the familiar characters we have grown to know and love. Characters like Merlin, Uther, and Arthur himself are in this book and easily recognized, but because the writer has created a well thought out and interesting future world with a complex and dynamic culture and society, everything about the characters and story is new and exciting. In medieval England a lot of conflict revolved around heirs and ancestors and this book opens with Arthur determined to find his parentage, while at the same time refusing to donate his own DNA for some purpose he is not completely sure of.

I enjoyed Shadow over Avalon immensely. In my opinion C.N. Lesley balances all aspects of the novel perfectly. The characters are complex and well developed. The same can be said of the world they inhabit. There is conflict and relationship tension throughout the story to such an extent that I couldn’t wait to turn the page to see what would happen next.

Welsh Wednesdays Interview with Judith Arnopp

Today I have the special pleasure of introducing Judith Arnopp to you, who dressed up especially for the occasion. She will also be participating at the Llandeilo Book Fair in April, which I might have mentioned previously…
Welcome to Welsh Wednesdays and thank you for participating.

Thank you for having me Christoph, I read your interviews regularly. You are doing writers a great service.

Thank you. I’m glad there are enough talented writers in Wales to fill the spaces. So first up, please tell us about your connection to Wales.

Contrary to what many people believe I am not native but I have been living here, in Ceredigion, for twenty years and am firmly rooted. As a child I came to Wales for holidays and it was then I decided it was the place I wanted to live one day. When the children were small my husband and I decided the time was right, and we sold up and bought a smallholding just outside Lampeter. Our new life was never easy but so much better than it had been living north of London. We had fresh air, plenty of space, and best of all, no manic crowds. The first fifteen years were spent raising the children, looking after our goats, ponies and poultry and growing our own veg. I love Wales, my children are fluent Welsh speakers. I tried and failed to learn but do have a smattering and can understand far more than I can speak. Much to my family in England’s disgust I give vigorous support to the Welsh rugby team.

When my youngest was ten and I had more spare time on my hands I enrolled as a mature student at Lampeter university where I studied English and Creative writing. After graduation I stayed on to do a Masters in Medieval History.

Tell us a little about yourself as writer and as person.

I have always been interested in history. A class project in the (drops her voice to a whisper) 1970s was about the way history has maligned Richard the Third; so I was on to that topic well  before they dug him up and the hysteria began.

When I was little I wrote stories and read them to my dolls; as a teenager I poured my angst onto paper, and when I was a young mother I wrote stories with my children as protagonists. So I think I was born to write, I’ve done it my whole life and there is nothing else I would consider doing; it is an instinct and if I haven’t written for a week or so I become very grumpy.

After I graduated writing historical fiction seemed the natural choice. I don’t think it was a decision but more of a progression. I began my first (and never to be published) novel at university. When I finished it I was astounded that I had actually done it. At the time I didn’t realise the hard work was only just beginning. I am on my ninth historical novel now and, although I doubt I will ever be a household name, I am doing very nicely, with a steadily growing fan base. 

When I write it isn’t a matter of dates or records. I am interested in perspective, how it felt to be in a certain situation. There are many books about Anne Boleyn but when I wrote The Kiss of the Concubine I climbed inside Anne’s head and wrote from her perspective, exploring possible reasons behind some of her actions.

A Song of Sixpence is the story of Elizabeth of York and a fictional representation of Perkin Warbeck. Again, my fascination with perspective comes to the fore when I explore the political situation from the point of view of two very different people; the queen, and her brother and rival claimant to her husband’s throne. Imagining Elizabeth’s possible dilemma, forced to choose between her brother and son was fascinating. Of course, just because I wrote the story doesn’t mean I believe Perkin Warbeck was indeed Richard of York, I am simply exploring the possibility.

I am very careful to be as accurate as possible and look at things from all angles. My readers seem to like that aspect of my work – I don’t just recount events but try to explain why they happened. 

What is your life like outside of writing? What makes you laugh, what makes you cry?

I am not the type to weep at movies or sad books but current politics makes me cry, the present government (and the one before that). There is so much ate around just now, and it doesn’t have to be like this. I despair at the state of the environment, our failure to see what we are doing and the bleak future we are committing our children to. All those things make me very sad.

My ten-month-old grandson makes me laugh. I never thought I’d be a doting grandmother but he is the cutest, cuddliest human being on the planet. I spend as much time as I can with him and hope that as he grows older, that time will increase.

I am at my happiest when I am in casual clothes, out walking the cliff path or the beach, paddling and checking the tide line for treasures or lying in the grass looking at the sky. I do my best thinking then, and take the opportunity to absorb aspects of the world that haven’t altered since the setting of my books; the hue of the sky, the feel of the wind on my face, the salty tang of the sea.

I fill the long dark winter evenings with crafts, like needlework and crochet. I make Anne Boleyn style French hoods, and enjoy making small black-worked items, such as medieval coifs and partlets.

Which Welsh person would you like to invite for dinner and what would you serve?

Can I have the entire Welsh rugby team? Is that allowed? J

I think it should be allowed… can we go halves, though?
What is the best thing about Wales, beyond the Rugby talent?

Aside from the diverse landscape, the people, and the deep, dark history, it is the feel of the place. If we’ve been away for any reason, the moment we cross the Severn Bridge and see the familiar soft contours of the hills, I relax. I am home. I guess that is it in a nutshell: Hiraeth – the feeling of home. 

What are you working on now? 

I have just finished The Beaufort Bride, book one of a Trilogy called The Beaufort Chronicles. It follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. She was married at an extraordinarily young age to Edmund Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, and spent the first years of her marriage in Wales.

The Beaufort Bride takes place at fabulous Welsh locations like Caldicot Castle, Lamphey Palace, Carmarthen and of course, Pembroke where Henry was born. I always make sure I visit the locations prior to writing so I can get a feel of the place and perhaps a glimpse of how my characters might have lived there.

What are the best and the worst aspects of writing?

I love to lose myself in the past, take on a different personality and travel back in time, visit dangerous times and have perilous adventures from the comfort of my chair. During the day when my husband is at work, I live quite a solitary life so writing prevents me from becoming too lonely. It also provides an excellent excuse for not going outside when the weather is bad. The downside of that is when it is sunny I am often at my desk instead of outside enjoying the good weather.

The downside is the solitary nature of writing; before I lived here I could go for days without setting eyes on anyone but my husband. Now I have moved to the seaside of town of Aberporth people pass my window every day and even if I don’t speak to them, at least I know the outside world is there if I want it.

I love the research, and setting the first draft on paper, letting the story pour from me and being as self-indulgent as I please. I am less enthusiastic about the tidying up and editing process but, although I don’t favour this aspect of writing, I am very thorough. Then it goes off to my editor and comes back ready to edit again!
How do you balance marketing one book and writing the next?

The best way for me is to get on with the next book. Of course, I do some online promotion but I have found that word of mouth is the best marketing and costs nothing. I have a facebook page for my books where I post news and I also have a rather neglected blog.

The English Historical Fiction Authors blog is one that I try to post on regularly; it is such a wonderfully supportive group with a very wide American audience and if I find time to write an article for them I often find my book sales jump a little. Recently we published a couple of anthologies of our articles. You can see it here.

Aside from blogging and posting on my Historical Fiction by Judith Arnopp facebook page I do very little – I am usually too busy writing or researching the next book.

How have you found the experience of self-publishing? What were your highs and lows?

Self-publishing is a steep learning curve. To begin with I made the usual mistakes but slowly I’ve learned to find a way to make it work for me. Readers can be tough on indie authors; we are castigated for things that go unremarked in traditionally published books (typo’s, formatting errors etc.) I haven’t received any really damaging reviews but I know people who have. I no longer read my own reviews but my husband does and usually reads them to me while I cringe with my fingers in my ears. I take the comments on board, decide if they are justified or not and if they are, I jolly well put it right. If the review is good, of course, I smile from ear to ear all day long.

Early on in my career I had an agent and while I was with her everything seemed to be on hold! Every little thing took so long and she wanted to change the way I write and make me what she called, ‘more marketable’, which to my mind translates as ‘more bland.’ I have no wish to be like anyone else so, after much thought, I dispensed with her services. I now write from the heart for the people who matter. My readers appreciate it, plus I get to keep all my earnings for myself (and the tax man).

What is your advice to new writers?

Write. Being an author is about getting words on a page and crafting them into perfection. Don’t waste time on social media, don’t worry about writing like other authors. Find your voice, join a class, polish your skills and write, write, write. If you don’t do that you aren’t a writer but just a wannabe.

Judith Arnopp’s first Tudor novel, The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII is still her best seller while The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn; Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr, and A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth or York and Perkin Warbeck also sell well and receive excellent reviews.

Judith is currently working on a trilogy tracing the life of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII. Book One of The Beaufort Chronicles will be called The Beaufort Bride will be available later on in 2016.

For more information about Judith’s work click on the links below.

www.juditharnopp.com

http://author.to/juditharnoppbooks

Also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Historical-fiction-by-Judith-Arnopp–124828370880823/

And Twitter: @juditharnopp

 

URGENT REQUEST FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS IN LESVOS

URGENT REQUEST FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS IN LESVOS

Have you seen people’s posts about them helping refugees or watched documentaries on tv, thinking I would like to give it a go, but have no idea who to contact or where to start?

Well you can join Fred Morlet and his team in Lesvos! Help is needed NOW! Winter conditions are making survival of the refugees more difficult every step of their way and people are needed to get the arrivals dry and warm, direct them to the camps and tidy up the beaches. Please consider helping or sponsoring those who do.

This is his Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/766258680184146?view=permalink&id=778678102275537

*****

Best quote from my friend and relentless volunteer Rando Wagner this week: “Everybody needs to (re)read Anne Frank’s Diary or just her biography in Wikipedia, the family wasn’t granted asylum in the UK…”

Click here to support his gofundme campaign https://www.gofundme.com/humansasone

Rando was in Lesbos for the last few weeks. Due to weather conditions access to the North Coast severely restricted, so it was toilet cleaning at Pipka Camp instead. It’s amazing what the human spirit will do for other people.

Another thanks to Rando’s donors for helping to buy 2 tons of fire wood for Moria Camp and Better days for Moria, Elena Moustaka, is doing an amazing job trying to improve conditions there! Fixed running costs are €40.000!!!! Without the cost of providing food! Also some new West Ham fans very happy with the scarves we handed out!

Find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quartznews/?fref=ts

Sign up for their free newsletter: qz.com/daily-brief/
Email hi@qz.com
Website http://qz.com

*****

My Monday guest, Christoph Fischer, author of historical novels and contemporary family dramas

My Monday guest, Christoph Fischer, author of historical novels and contemporary family dramas
Posted on January 25, 2016
I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Christoph Fischer today. Christoph was born in Germany, near the Austrian border, the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers, he developed an ambiguous sense of belonging at home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few years he moved on to the UK where he now lives in a small town in West Wales. He and his partner have three Labradoodles to complete their family.

Christoph worked for the British Film Institute, in Libraries, Museums and for an airline.

How would you describe yourself as a colour, Christoph?

Warm but dark blue canvass oil. I like the idea of a solid consistency as opposite to runny water but I like that oil can have light or darker shades.

Are you a morning person, or a midnight candle burner?

Definitely a morning person – much to the joy of the dogs and to the annoyance of my midnight candle burning partner.

Ah! Tell me something you would like your readers to know about you.

I’m currently organising a local Book Fair in Llandeilo. It is being held on April 30th and I would like all your Welsh followers and readers to come and visit.

Marred by @SueColetta1 # Thriller #Suspense Reviewed for #RBRT #SundayBlogShare

Acclaim for Sue Coletta’s new book
Marred by @SueColetta1 # Thriller #Suspense Reviewed for #RBRT #SundayBlogShare

Promotion Results for Ludwika

Last week I used the five ‘free days’ in the KDP Select programme to allow free kindle downloads of Ludwika.
It is a double edged sword as it can attract verified troll reviews, but it helps to spread the word about yourself as an author and about the stories you write. I was lucky to secure a space in BookBub at my first attempt and I naturally jumped at the opportunity to get more publicity for the book (even though the good news reached me on holiday in San Francisco and I had to prepare everything from a borrowed laptop).

The result was phenomenal though: 63,380 downloads worldwide, which is the best of all my BookBub and other promotions to date. I topped the free download charts for 36 hours on Amazon US, UK and stayed in the Top Ten in Australia, Canada and India for the same amount of time.

My author ranking went head to head with that of Michael Punke (writer of Oscar nominated “The Revenant”) and is currently still at #67 in historical fiction.

Thanks to everyone who downlaoded, shared and spread the word about the giveaway.

This is particularly important as the cover is that of Ludwika Gierz, a real person, whose past still holds a few secrets and whose descendants in the UK are still separated from their family in Poland. Every piece of publicity might help them to connect.

But to those of you who have asked how I did the promotion, here is the story of this giveaway:

My BookBub advert went out on the Tuesday, which means the book needs to be free at 8am UK time / midnight Pacific Time.

Quite often this doesn’t happen smoothly and so I scheduled my promotion quietly for the Monday. A little late, the book showed free at last on Amazon Monday morning and I began to tweet and blog about the promo.
I shared the blog posts on all media, especially dedicated Facebook Groups for Free Books.
Examples are ‘Free Books R Us’, ‘Free on Kindle Today and Beyond’ etc. Just search on Facebook for keywords such as free, kindle, and promotion to find more groups of that type. Make sure you read the group guidelines before joining and posting.
I used a schedule of posting in each group once during busy times and once during quiet time, so I would catch the main stream and also have chance of standing out. I also made sure not to post too often to avoid becoming a spammer.

There are also some other tools and publications to advertise your free book. BookGorilla, The Fussy Librarian, Read Cheaply etc. are all similar to BookBub, although not as far reaching at this moment in time. I advise you to google for free book adverts and then google also for customer / writers’ feedback. Some publications are said to attract more troll attention than downloads. There are also some tools that do the work for you: For $15 they will load your book info into 30-80 promotional sites. Whether they are massively effective I couldn’t say, but it is worth a shot if you have the money. Best of luck!

Blurb: It’s World War II and Ludwika Gierz, a young Polish woman, is forced to leave her family and go to Nazi Germany to work for an SS officer. There, she must walk a tightrope, learning to live as a second-class citizen in a world where one wrong word could spell disaster and every day could be her last. Based on real events, this is a story of hope amid despair, of love amid loss . . . ultimately, it’s one woman’s story of survival.
Get the book at your Amazon store:   http://bookShow.me/1519539118
Find it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LudwikaNovel/
and on Goodreads   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28111001-ludwika