This little piggy went to America - wee-wee-wee

The American market is such a difficult one to break into, particularly for books written in British English and with a very British sense of humour.

Despite doing very well in the UK, 'Sell the Pig' had done nothing more than land a tentative trotter on the other side of the pond. But thanks to the most amazing marketing help from my new publisher Ant Press, this little piggy has now got all four trotters in the trough Stateside and is the Amazon No 1 bestseller in its Senior Travel category both in US and UK markets.

I had so much help from New York Times bestselling author Victoria Twead. Sell the Pig went on special promotion for the month of October through various outlets but notably through the amazing BookBub who were fantastic to work with and incredibly helpful. It was a nail biting time waiting to see if the sales would start to go up and huge thanks to Victoria for being constantly at the end of a message to reassure me, and to put up with my squeaks of delight as little old Pig started its steady climb up through the rankings.

There are more than 1.5 million books in Amazon's Kindle store and Pig made it up to #No 54 of all of them, a truly remarkable effort for a modest little first instalment memoir in a fairly specialised market. And Pig's spectacular rise has had a great effect on little brother 'Is That Billinge Lump?' which has also reached No 1 in its category on more than one occasion.

So now I suppose I had better get on and write Part III. I promised to start it this winter. As we often get snowed up here, it's good for making me sit down and write as there is not a lot else I can do. They are threatening us with the worst winter in 100 years, so I dread to think what that is going to be like. Just as long as I still have electricity - my hands are getting too bad to hand write a full length book these days!

A welcome break in the Cantal after the launch of Sell the Pig sequel

Giving birth to a book is an exhausting process, I can tell you! Once 'Sell the Pig' sequel 'Is That Billinge Lump' was safely published by Ant Press, I was in need of a break, a bit of R&R. So I headed once more to the beautiful and peaceful Lac des Estives at Montgreleix in the Cantal.

I had an old friend staying so took him with me and once again we were lucky enough to have the pretty and funky yellow chalet I stayed in in July, with its peaceful views of cattle grazing on the summer pastures. My friend was really blown away by the fabulous scenery and the abundance of wildlife.

He also quickly became a convert to the fabulous food in the Auvergne, and was delighted with how friendly and welcoming the people are. On our last evening, we ate at table with the hosts and about a dozen French guests, from various parts of France.

We had a lovely time driving round the beautiful area, seeing all the sights, including watching a short toed eagle hunting. Of course, the dogs, Ci and Fleur came too. Fleur was having a blonde moment and kept wriggling out of camera shot, and even Ci would only show his rear view!

On our way back, we visited the national Maquis memorial and museum  at Mont Mouchet. As my friend said, if it hadn't been for the French resistance stopping the Germans in their tracks in the Massif Central and preventing them from getting to Normandy, some of us would not be here today. His father drove a mine-seeking tank on the beaches.

We also visited the splendid Garabit viaduct, another stunning example of Eiffel engineering.

So the sequel is safely launched and it and Sell the Pig are taking it in turns to hold the No 1 and 2 slots in their category on Amazon.

As soon as the winter nights start drawing in so I can't be tempted to play outside, I promise to make a start on Part 3 of the tale of Tottie's adventures in France.

Living The Good Life, France

Lots of people head to France looking for The Good Life. Some even find it. So I was very pleased when The Good Life, France, gave a favourable review to Sell the Pig, and included an interview with me.

It's a very nice and a favourable review, kindly written by someone who has clearly taken the trouble to read the book in question which, sadly, is not always the case in reviews.

It begins: 'It certainly is an attention grabbing title and author name and you will probably be thinking what does it mean?' and goes on to say: 'Endearing, warm, a good dollop of humour and a lot of honesty have gone into the story of her life with family anecdotes skilfully woven through, Lesley doesn’t hold anything back and is unfailingly upbeat about whatever has befallen her in life.'

It comes at a very good time as the sequel, Sell the Pig, is nearing publication, so if you've not yet read 'Pig', now's a good time to do so, before you embark on the sequel, 'Is That Billinge Lump'.

I notice some other authors interviewed on the same site have their serious or arty authory type pictures. Me being me, I just chucked in one of my favourites of me, standing on top of La Banne d'Ordanche, part of the Massif du Sancy, a favourite place of mine to visit and go camping. 

Must go now, am in the middle of what I sincerely hope will be the final final final edit of the sequel!

FREE prize draw - win a signed paperback copy of Sell the Pig

Watch out for another FREE prize draw coming very soon. As usual, an easy to answer question for the chance to go into the draw. You'll find the answer to the question on the Sell the Pig - Tottie Limejuice page on Facebook , often in the photo albums, or if you've read the book already, you'll know it. The prize is a personally signed copy of the paperback version of Sell the Pig. So keep an eye out for the qualifying question, coming SOON.

Sell the Pig is available from most Amazon outlets, including .com and Amazon.fr . If you prefer not to buy from Amazon, you'll find it at The Book Depository with FREE worldwide delivery, and Barnes & Noble

Why not follow the Facebook Page, or follow me on Twitter so you'll be among the first to know when there are FREE prizes up for grabs?

A paperback is born!

Finally, after a long and protracted labour, I have given birth - to a paperback!

Pleased and proud to report that Sell the Pig is now available in paperback from Amazon (.com and most of the Europe channels).

Sell the Pig in paperback

As ever, do please leave a review when you've read it as your feedback is always most welcome and I have finally got Amazon to allow me to leave replies, although it won't let me leave them as Tottie which is seems to think is a rude word - it isn't!

And if you like it, do please tell your friends. Thanks so much.

Sell the Pig - coming soon in paperback!

It's beginning to look a lot like a paperback!

Latest estimate is that Sell the Pig should be out as a real, hold it in your hand paperback book by mid January 2013. It has a brand new cover picture, which I hope you will all like, and there are some  images inside (black and white in this first edition) so you should finally be able to put names to faces.

I do hope you will like this new version, it has some minor changes from the Kindle version. Perhaps if you enjoyed reading it on Kindle, you might be kind enough to suggest the paperback to your friends.

Here's a quick sneak peek at what the new cover looks like:

and yes, for those of you who magnify it enough to read, I know there's a typo there, it will be picked up on the next round :)

I'll keep you all posted here, on Twitter and on Facebook, the Dark Side, when I get final confirmation of the release date.

What your Dog Wants - a must for dog lovers!

Those of you who have kindly read Sell the Pig will know that dogs are a big part of my life. I've had them since my late teens, usually German Shepherds or border collies. Meic, you may recall from the book, was a border collie.

Twitter wasn't around at the time of Sell the Pig, or at least, if it was, I hadn't yet discovered it. Which is a shame as through it I met the wonderful Karen Wild, @WildPaw, who talks so much sense on the subject of training and behaviour in dogs. She has a newly published book out, What Your Dog Wants, and I'm getting my autographed copy.

I'm sure it would have helped me a lot with Meic, and will do wonders with the current canine incumbents who are a pair of border collie hooligans.

I'm pleased to report that Sell the Pig continues to do well, thanks to all you kind people out there, and the many lovely reviews it has received, mostly 5-star. If you've read and liked it, please tell your friends. If you've not yet read it, why not give it a go?

It's available for Kindle from Amazon.co.uk where it's currently in the top 100 for Travel > Continental Europe> France, from Amazon.fr where, at the time of writing it's at no. 30 for Travel > Europe > France and from Amazon.com.

No Kindle? No problem! You can download a very simple FREE app that lets you read it on your computer or posh phone. And believe me, if I've managed to do it, it must be easy.

It will be coming out in paperback soon, I promise, hopefully before the end of the year, and will include some black and white photos.

What would you particularly like to see pictures of?

A kitchen, a cushion and a lot of gingham

Because I couldn't get the blasted photo to swivel itself the right way round, here's a link to the blog of my good friend Fiona Ridley with some lovely photos of said cushion and all about how she made it for me. She's now taking commissions!

Thrilled to say that sales of Sell the Pig are creeping up nicely since the big giveaway last Friday. And it's also nice to see some more reviews coming in and especially reviews from people who are completely unknown to me. When one self-publishes, it's inevitable that the first people to buy and review tend to be family and friends so it's reassuring to hear that it seems to be going down as well with complete strangers as with those who already know, or know of, me.

In that greedy way of authors hungry for praise, would love to see some more so if you've not yet left a review, please do. Thanks.

Life in France after Sell the Pig

Thought it was about time I updated the blog as it seems to have gone very quiet on here lately.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook will know that, some five years after the end of Sell the Pig I'm still happily living in France, though no longer at the Pink House, I plan to stay here, and recently celebrated my 60th birthday here in my own little "grottage".

I enjoy giving as much as receiving on my birthday, so to mark the occasion I gave away copies of Sell the Pig for the first and only time. Some 400+ new readers took advantage of the occasion to get their free copies, so I very much look forward to reading some more reviews.

Since living in France I've discovered the delights of Twitter and Facebook and have made many new friends, some in the flesh, some still as cyber-friends. And it turns out I have some very talented friends, judging by the marvellous presents I received.

Being totally useless at any form of crafts and completely unable to thread a needle or cast on to knitting needles or whatever, I was amazed at the stunning hand-made crochet cushion from my clever friend Fiona Ridley, whose stunning crafty skills you can discover for yourself at her blog KnitKnatKnotUK.

 And another very talented friend who is closer to home is Christine Phillips, who painted a beautiful water colour of my favourite rose, Wild Edric, taking proud centre stage in this photo. Christine runs the wonderful B&B and gite, Les Hirondelles, at Chabanol, barely an hour's drive from here, and you honestly couldn't find a nicer place to stay if you're visiting the Auvergne.

Also in the picture is the gorgeous fan sent to me by my soul sister Kay, back in UK, because while poor old UK has been freezing and drowning, we've been languishing in temperatures well into the 30s.

As usual, I do hope you will take the time to add your comments here and please, if you haven't already done so, do please add your review for Sell the Pig on the Amazon site from which you bought it. Thanks.

Another review of Sell the Pig from Goodreads

When it comes to all things t'internet, I'm a bit slow on the uptake, as you'll have gathered if you've either read Sell the Pig or followed any of my witterings on either Twitter or Facebook. Which is why I've only just discovered that there are some more reviews for Sell the Pig on the Goodreads site, including one which I hadn't yet seen myself.

So for anyone who doesn't have access for that site and who might be interested, I'll post it here. It's a kind 3-star review from Clair whom I don't know, I don't think, but who, like me, made the move from Lincolnshire to France. Clair says:

This is the story of a lady who makes the move from rural Lincolnshire - like myself - to rural France - like myself. Though the similarities between us end there. 
Whereas I came over here as a fresh-faced 22 year-old dragging a couple of suitcases along on a Eurolines coach, Tottie makes the move much later on in life, together with her 90-year old mother, who suffers from vascular dementia, and her brother and his depressed dipsomania. Oh, and we mustn't forget Meic, her epileptic dog. All of them, with a nurse and carer accompanying them for the trip, in a motorhome and an old van.
It's a very touching read that takes us back to Tottie's childhood and around the UK and France, as we learn about her family and her later quest for a new home, somewhere to live her dream and let her mother enjoy one final adventure. Tottie's style is open and honest, raising a smile here and touching a nerve there. 
I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed not to learn more about their actual life in France - this book is really about the search for their new home and how they make their move, but I guess that means that the adventures they experienced once settled in the Auvergne are all to come. Now I've followed them this far on their journey, I do hope that their is a future episode and we get to find out how it all worked out for them.


Thanks for the review, Clair, really appreciate you taking the time to write it, as one Yellowbelly to another, albeit adoptive, one.

Risk assessments - France v England. Vive la difference!

What was I saying about the weather? It's thundering, lightning and chucking it down once more! So time for a few more words on the blog, since there's no way I'm going out in this and the dogs, when asked, said something very impolite in French at the mere suggestion that they should.

Sell the Pig, of course, was the lead up to moving to France and brought us up to 2007. Those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook will know that I am still living in France but no longer at the pink house. I now have my own place and how that all came about will, I hope, form the basis of a sequel to Sell the Pig.

I've now been in France just over 5 years, which means I can start the long and complicated application process to become a French citizen, which I intend to do. When I was interviewed recently for an ex-pat article and asked what I missed most about UK, the only thing I could think of was Thornton's Brazil Nut Toffee!

One of the nice things about France - although, as usual, I can only speak about the little corner where I live, in the Auvergne - is that they have a much more relaxed and common sense attitude to 'Elf and Safety, far removed from the obsessive stuff I had to learn in UK when training in risk assessment and risk management.

Jill and I were struck, on our visit to the region together, by things like going into places to get a coffee and having to climb over trailing cables and vacuum cleaners to get to a table. It struck me as so funny I did a little post about it today on Facebook. So for the benefit of the many of you who are not on there, I thought I'd reproduce it here, just for fun.

And I say again, right at the outset "tongue firmly in cheek, absolutely no disrespect intended to anyone"

English Risk Assessment: in store cleaning during customer footfall.

Risks Identified: Trailing cables - trip hazard.Measures to implement: Place prominent yellow hazard signs at all possible approaches to the hazard by customers, including overhead in case of abseiling from the ceiling. Signs should be in all languages likely to be spoken by customers to the store, including all the principle languages of the EU. An audio version should be available for the visually impaired, as well as signage in Braille. The warning should also appear in pictogram form for unaccompanied children and in comic sans capitals for those with reading difficulties.

French Risk Assessment: in store cleaning during customer footfall.Risks Identified: None - customers should look where they're going and learn to pick their feet up.

On that little note and on this miserable wet evening, I shall leave you with a picture of what my usual evening view is like, looking across to the Chaine des Puys and the Puy de Dome. As usual, do please leave your comments, about Sell the Pig, about this post, about France, about Life, the Universe and Everything. I always try to reply as promptly as possible.

Not just any other family moving to France

It's a cold, wet, miserable day in the Auvergne.  Yes, we do get them. In fact overall our weather isn't that different to that of the UK, only more extreme - our hot is hotter, our cold is colder.  So I thought I'd go and rummage round in the attic for some more photos for you and I suddenly came over all nostalgic and found some family ones.  Not sure if they are what you want to see, but thought it might help you will picturing the family behind the move to France, before dementia, depressed dipsomania and downright dottiness set in.

As ever, I'm in your hands, dear readers, to know what you would like to see.  Do please let me know.

I thought it would be nice to start with one showing a relatively normal family scene, Mother, Father, Brother and me, with my brother's godfather, Fr Leo Rakale CR on a visit from Bulawayo, where my father had met him during his wartime service there.

"Mother certainly had her share of admirers. In fact she went out with the man Auntie Doris went on to marry, before her younger sister did. I have no idea why she waited so long nor eventually made the choice she did.

Recently, when age and dementia have removed inhibitions, Mother has taken to looking wistfully at her wedding photographs and saying: “That was the day. I wonder if I did the right thing?”. A sentiment I have certainly shared throughout most of my life."

Parents' wedding, April 1947 

"My father's job as a newspaper editor came with a heavy social engagement schedule. There were endless civic receptions, cheese and wine parties, film premiers and other such delights to attend, for which mother would put on her finest gowns. And they did make a handsome couple, it has to be said." 

Wilmslow Civic Ball 1962

"Mother was a real looker, with beautiful blonde hair so long she could sit on it, who surprisingly didn't marry until she was 30. Doris was the dizzy blonde who made the good marriage."  

Mother (left) already well into her 80s, with younger sister Doris

Mother (right) in 2004 with older sister Ethel in the lovely home in St Helens

Right, that's your lot, lovely readers.  Sorry the spacing went a bit funny, think I've now sussed what I did wrong and will do it better next time.  As ever, do please leave me some comments and request any pictures you would like to see.

Another wonderful review of Sell the Pig on The French Village Diaries

I always appreciate everyone who takes the time to leave their comments on Sell the Pig either here, on Amazon (where there are now 21 x 5-star reviews in total) or on their own blog or website. Reader feedback is so helpful in deciding whether it really is worthwhile bashing on with a sequel.

Don't forget to have your say, let me know what you thought about Sell the Pig, what photos you'd like to see here on the blog and what more detail you'd like in a sequel.  I always try to respond to each of you personally, and certainly to post the pictures you ask for - just ask Carl Legge!  He asked for the photos of the Lincolnshire grottage - I've done the befores, here are a few afters.

In the meantime, here's the link to the Sell the Pig review on The French Village Diaries .Thanks so much, Jacqui!

Back garden - after

Kitchen - after

Sitting room - after

My bedroom - after

Don't forget, you're in charge of this blog. Tell me what you'd like to see or to know and I shall post it. Thanks for reading!

Moving to France - why the Auvergne?

For those of you who have read Sell the Pig and wondered why the fascination with the Auvergne, I thought I'd include some illustrations to show its beauty. Surprisingly, my own collection of photos is too poor to do it justice, so I'll include some links to far better pictures than I have taken.

As I explained in the book: "And then there was a song buzzing round in the back of my mind. Those of you who may remember an advert for Dubonnet in, I think, the seventies, with the strapline “Dubonnet - way up there,” will know the one I mean. It was the hauntingly beautiful shepherd's song Bailero, from Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne."

And for those who want to know what my brother looks like, here's a picture to show that he really did overcome his acrophobia and make it to the top of the Puy de Dome.

"We went for a run-out after that, westward to the Monts Dores then back via the Puy de Dôme and finally found the navette (shuttle bus) running, so took the white-knuckle ride to the summit for the incredible views.

The journey up certainly rattled my brother so he decided he couldn't possibly face the return journey on the navette. There is a pedestrian route up the Puy, an old mule track, but it brings you down to a car park a long walk from where we had left the hire car, near to the navette car park.

The direct route down to the navette car park is prohibited to pedestrians. The road is too narrow for more than one vehicle to pass at a time, so the navette drivers use what the French call talkie-walkies to synchronise their departures from either end, so they only meet whether there are designated passing places. And despite the steep gradient and plunging drop to the side, they rattle up and down as if they were in the Monte Carlo rally. Any pedestrian in their way would be toast, in very short order."

And here's an idea of what the Puy de Dome  looks like from the air - it's 1464m to the summit - and a side view. 

Do please let me know what else you would like to see photos of. Perhaps you might like to share which bit of Sell the Pig you find most interesting/amusing and I'll find some photos to go with it. Any and all comments always very gladly received and I always try to reply personally. Thanks for reading!

Guest blog on camping in France

Very occasionally, I do guest blogs for people about life as an ex-pat in France.  Here's one I did earlier. Aquitaine Feature

Have dog, will move to France

As promised, I decided to start this blog to support my book, Sell the Pig. Those of you have read it may like to see photos of the main characters, to put faces to names.  And those who have not yet read it might enjoy reading a few excerpts to see if you might like to.

A very brief recap, it's about the, some would say, bizarre decision for my rather unusual family to up sticks and move to France together. Unusual in that the family consisted of Mother, aged 89, and pleasantly barmy with vascular dementia, Brother, a manic-depressive alcoholic with a double decker bus as a plaything, Meic, my larger than life border collie, and me, a decidedly dotty middle-aged freelance copywriter.

For those of you interested in dogs, here's a bit more about Meic.  For those not interested in dogs, my usual advice - look away now.

"I hadn't exactly intended to get Meic. When I'd left my riding centre in Wales, in the early 90s, to move to Dorset, I had a small black collie cross named Mady. She came from a rescue centre, where she was called Mandy, but she was so definitely not a Mandy, I just dropped the N and she became Mady."

Mady

"She was very happy as an only dog. She was a very easy and biddable dog, though inclined to be a little bit bossy with other dogs. She did on one occasion up-end my friend's lovely Staffie, Camilla, whilst giving away a huge amount of weight in the contest. That's how tough and determined she was."

"I wasn't in the market for another dog. There was no danger at all of my wanting one when Anna-Lou showed me the remaining two puppies. But then I saw Meic. Or Mott, as he was called at that time. And something cracked. To Mady's intense disgust, she found herself sharing the back of the car on the way home with a squeaking, peeing, puking puppy who had not had much experience of car travel."

Meic, aged 5 months

"I'm sure there are those amongst you, if you've read thus far, who will be thinking why not just put him to sleep and move and get a new dog once installed in France? Trouble is, I'm a bit of a softie with my dogs and always apply the Toy Rule – as long as a dog is still quite happy to play with a favourite toy, there's too much life there to extinguish, in my humble opinion."

Meic, demonstrating the Squeaky Toy Rule

So there you have a couple of doggy faces to put to names.  The rest is up to you, dear reader.  Tell me what you would like to see photos of and I shall do my best to post them here for you.

A blog about a book

Well, I've finally done it. After writing many blogs for clients, I've given in to pressure and am starting my own. Those of you who have kindly read Sell the Pig http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sell-the-Pig-ebook/dp/B007AU6NZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332959871&sr=1-1 have all said you would have liked to have seen pictures of the people and places I wrote about, and are looking forward to a sequel.

This blog is the place where I hope to give you some snippets. It's where I also hope people will pop in and feel free to leave their comments, good or bad, about Sell the Pig and to tell me what things in particular you'd like to read about in the sequel.

I'll try and post some pictures but I'm not very techie and it will take me a while to get the hang of this. I'm also not the sort of writer who thinks it's essential to blog every five minutes. So I'll probably only update it about once a week but I promise to try to keep an eye on things and respond as quickly as I can to your comments.

If I don't, just give me a poke on either Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000073567904  or Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/tottielimejuice and I'll come whizzing back to respond.

Those of you who have read Sell the Pig will know that Mother and my dog Meic were two of the most important characters, and central to the whole business of moving to France. So it's only right that my first picture should be of the two of them together, long-suffering Meic in his role of Santa's little helper, visiting Mother in the home in St Helens where she was so well looked after.

Thanks for following me on my little blog and thanks for all your kind interest in both my book and my somewhat unusual family!