Catch up with Tottie Limejuice now aka L M Krier

 

Books by Tottie Limejuice and L M Krier 

Retired journalist, copywriter and copy editor Lesley Tither writes under various pen-names: Tottie Limejuice for travel memoirs and humour, L M Krier for crime fiction and L M Kay for children's fiction.

It's been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog! Not since I started the website tottielimejuice.com in fact. But I thought it was high time I brought you up to speed with all that's been happening to me in the couple of years or so since I last posted on here.

Travel memoirs by Tottie Limejuice

I think back then we were just at the point of the first book in what was always intended to be the Sell the Pig travel memoirs trilogy.  Since then, due to my appalling maths, there are now five little pigs, in order: Sell the Pig, Is That Billinge Lump?, Mother Was It Worth It?, Biff the Useless Mention, and Angling Bumateurs.
For French speakers, book one, Sell the Pig, is also now available in French, as Maman, Vends le Cochon.

Travel memoirs about France written by Lesley Tither writing as Tottie Limejuice

 

Crime fiction by L M Krier

Since the first days of Sell the Pig, I've reinvented myself as a crime thriller writer, L M Krier, author of the DI Ted Darling of British detective/police procedurals set in Stockport, Greater Manchester. There are currently seven books in the series. All the titles are from songs and are, in order: Baby's Got Blue Eyes, Two Little Boys, When I'm Old and Grey, Shut Up and Drive, Only the Lonely, Wild Thing, and Walk On By.

Book 8 in the DI Ted Darling series is scheduled for release in early September 2017, with another in the series planned for the New Year 2018.

Crime fiction, the DI Ted Darling series, written by Lesley Tither as L M Krier

Children's Fiction by L M Kay

I've also branched out into children's fiction with a crime twist. I actually wrote the basic idea for a story many years ago when I lived in Lincolnshire. The story is loosely based on the city of Lincoln. It's been sitting on a very old floppy disc for years, then I eventually dug it out and reworked it. Add in some utterly stunning illustrations by Andrew Campbell-Howes and so was born The Dog with the Golden Eyes.  It's available for Kindle and in paperback and it's well worth the paperback price of £4.99 just to see those amazing pictures full size.

Children's fiction with a crime twist, illustrated by Andrew Campbell-Howes, written by Lesley Tither writing as L M Kay

Humour as Tottie Limejuice

For every book I produce, I work closely behind the scenes with a wonderful team of betareaders who go over everything I write to make sure it is up to standard. One of them, Kate Pill, in Australia, writes such hilarious side notes that I am often sitting crying laughing at my desk here in central France. The exchanges of humour between us get very silly and often lavatorial, but I thought it might be fun to collate them into a short book.

Almost every book emerging at the time seemed to start with 'The Girl' after the success of The Girl on the Train (not a favourite of mine). So just for fun I decided to call the little collection No Girl on this Train.

When I first wrote Sell the Pig, I belonged to an author site called Authonomy where I met a fellow author, Jill Pennington. I loved her book, The Diary of a Single Parent Abroad and we quickly became good friends and kindred spirits via internet.  

Doris, as she is affectionately known, decided this wasn't enough and that we should meet up in the flesh. Not only that but we should write a joint book about our mad adventure. Which we duly did, under the title of Take Three Birds.

Planned  future books

As mentioned earlier, Ted Darling hasn't finished with me yet. There will definitely be more in the series and Book 9 has already started insinuating its way into my brain.

In the face of a lot of pressure from readers, I have now started the dreaded prequel to the Sell the Pig series, even though I dislike the term. And because Doris and I had such fun producing Take Three Birds, I've decided to go and visit her in Italy, travelling by train all the way and writing a short and hopefully humorous piece about the great adventure.

Jill runs a glamping site (glamorous camping) in the Italian Apennines. Via her Facebook site I've been following the incredible saga of how she has constructed a Hobbit House from scratch so I've booked a dog sitter and reserved my train tickets and will be visiting in September. Of course, there will need to be a book about that adventure too.

All of which should keep me out of mischief during the cold winter months.

Author Lesley Tither, alias Tottie Limejuice, L M Krier and L M Kay, enjoying a walk in the French sunshine with her two rescued border colliers, Rosie and Fleur.

Change of location for Tottie's Book Blog

Just to let everyone know, who may be following this blog, that I will in future be blogging from the new website for the Sell the Pig series of books, http://tottielimejuice.com/. It will hopefully be an easier place to interact, so do drop in, say hello and remember to click to follow the blog, so you will be automatically reminded of any updates.

Thanks, and see you soon!

Tottie

Book reviews - the best present you can give any author!

If you have an author in your family or circle of friends and you're wondering what Christmas present to get them, it's simple. There is nothing an author likes better than book reviews. You will certainly have left your glowing 5-star review already, but why not ask your friends to do the same, if they've read the book?

I don't personally celebrate Christmas but do make a humble thing of Yule, with plenty of pagan trappings.

I'm a little unusual, as those who know me will agree, in that I love all reviews, be they 1-star or 5-star. Because whether or not the reader liked your book, they have been moved enough to take the time to leave their comments.

One of my recent favourites was a 1-star with the comment Ehh for Sell the Pig. I had no idea what it meant so I had to look it up in the Urban Dictionary. It seems it's a non-committal sort of word much favoured by Goths. Now I thought Goths were not easily stimulated to do very much, so I was thrilled at the idea that somewhere, in some bedroom, a black-clad teen had gone to all the trouble to log onto Goodreads and leave a comment on my little book.

But of course like any vain author, my favourites are the 5-star reviews and I'm thrilled to say both Sell the Pig and the sequel Is That Billinge Lump have each recently received one from an Amazon Vine reviewer. These people are in the top 1000 reviewers on Amazon. In my case, the lady in question is ranked at 944.

Rhosmynydd Liz had this to say about Sell the Pig: 'By chance, I stumbled upon this incredible book. The title may seem innocuous, but it has a really appropriate meaning to the content. All will be revealed! Not only does "Sell the Pig" by writer, Tottie Limejuice (her inventive pen name), it qualifies the reasons for a removal to France, particularly with an elderly relative and dog in tow (as we are intending to do).It also gives the reader an overview of the planning stages, viewing of properties and various guidelines to dealing with French estate agents, underscoring "buyer beware".

I had previously purchased "retiring to France" and "Living in Rural France" both excellent reference books but no real personality. Tottie Limejuice certainly gives the reader a feel for her own circumstances, many of which we can relate to but also makes a hilarious read out of a serious situation. I even gave the copy to my 91 year old mum-in-law, who will be joining us, and it was great to hear her chuckle and reminisce about her own sister's experiences in a UK residential home - a fate she was terrified of.

No doubts now, as soon as we have sold (when/if) we will be taking a much happier elderly traveller than before. We also picked up on her advice to purchase a RV to travel in comfort for the 1,000 mile trip for not only one mum but two and not one dog, but two!

Even if you are not contemplating crossing the channel, this is a great autobiographical read and please do not forget to buy the sequel of arrival and life in La Belle France. "Is that the Billinge Lump" Is that Billinge Lump?'

And in very short order, the same reviewer read Is That Billinge Lump and had this to say about it: 'Having read Tottie Limejuice's first book about the many reasons why she contemplated and planned a removal to France with brother, elderly mum and elderly dog in tow, I was so anxious to get my hands on the sequel, ordered on the dot of finishing the last page. Thanks to Amazon's Prime delivery system, I did not have long to wait and had my hands on the volume "Is that the Billinge Lump?" the next day and read it that night - I simply could not put it down, it was so good. As we are contemplating a similar venture, complete with mum(s) (yes that is 2!), and dogs (again 2). We are taking Tottie's advice in "Sell the Pig" to purchase an RV to make the 1,000 mile trip in comfort - super advice.

The reasons we are making our move are similar to Tottie's, primarily lack of help with our aging parents and the ensuing medical assistance (or lack of) in the UK. I thought I had done all the preparative reading with the usual culprits advertised in the property mags but found they had missed the real gem. This excellent book not only provides a very personal example of the caring possibilities and medical care in rural France, but also hands on experience and advice. I am now touching base for the necessary medical forms here and know how NOT to behave in confronting the French social services and medical community. These lessons are invaluable. Tottie has her share of problems and I know we will meet some of these so it has put us in good standing to know what to expect. However, the book is so well written, you do not need the excuse of moving to France to read this. It is a stand alone adventure that would make anyone laugh out loud and cry in the chapters recounting her good and bad times. Even if we are lucky enough to sell our smallholding in Wales and make the trip, I will be waiting with baited breath for the next volume.

Both "Sell the Pig" and "Is that the Bllling Lump?" are stand alone novels, while it would be preferable to read both, either novel on its own presents the reader with a completed story. My conscience will not let me reveal the ending but it was so well completed that my hearty congratulations to the author for being able to share with her readers her emotions and the toll they took during her adventures in the UK and France. Sell the Pig (Sell the Pig series) - again, read this and you will weep but laugh and enjoy and like me, seek out the next soon to be published 3rd volume.'

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!

Sell the Pig sequel is officially "awesome"

I promised you some exciting news about the sequel to Sell the Pig, and here it is. I've just received confirmation that the indie publisher Ant Press has agreed to publish it. And as you can see from their website, they only take on "awesome books and awesome authors".

Ant Press is "a small, family-run, dynamic publishing company with a passion for engrossing, well-written books". And furthermore, they state: "Ant Press will only accept books they love and believe in." So I'm even more thrilled that they have agreed to take the sequel.

One of the faces behind Ant Press is New York Times best-selling author Victoria Twead, who wrote Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools,  Two Old Fools - Olé, and Two Old Fools on a Camel. 

The Pig sequel is written, the deal is done, I just now need to trim and tidy up my final draft, send it to Victoria for proof-reading and formatting, then it will be available soon in Kindle format, to be followed by a paperback at a later date.

So there you have it.  Keep watching this space for the publication date!

Royal birth - Sell the Pig reduced to celebrate

As I'm sure you all know, there's a very important royal birth coming up. No, not that one. This will be the birth of Sell the Pig's baby brother (or sister).

So for July only, Sell the Pig is on special offer price for the Kindle edition across the usual Amazon channels. On Amazon UK it will be £2.35. So now's your chance to find out why it has 70 customer reviews,  59 of them 5-star, putting it at No 1 in its Speciality Travel category.

And on Amazon.com Sell the Pig is down to just $3.50.

The sequel is now finished and will be out very shortly, hopefully by autumn. Look out for some very exciting news about a possible new publisher!

You don't absolutely have to read Sell the Pig before the sequel, but at those prices, why not? Sell the Pig is also available in paperback format and you can get FREE worldwide delivery from The Book Depository.

It's a great summer read - why not give it a go?

Sell the Pig - better by design

I was really pleased with the design done for me for the book cover for Sell the Pig in paperback.. The photo perfectly captured the beauty of this region of the Massif Central.

We authors are a vain bunch. I was Google searching randomly on "Sell the Pig - Tottie Limejuice" when I came across this nice blog from Zak Erving, the designer who worked on the cover.

It was the first direct contact I'd had with Zak and I was pleased to tell him how well his cover had been received. I was able to tell him I have had lots of positive feedback for it too from readers, too.

And he in turn was delighted with my feedback to him: "I did in fact work on the cover, and I loved your feedback! I also stole a read at the first chapter and found it very entertaining."

Highest praise yet for Sell the Pig?

Like any writer, I love all the comments I get, good or bad. At least it shows people are reading Sell the Pig. But when the writer of the No 4 ranked booked on the Authonomy website leaves a comment like this, I'm absolutely over the moon.

"As a personal historian, I have worked with some well-known individuals and listened to some amazing stories. Not often do I come across one as entertaining and as down to earth as Sell the Pig. I wish I could have given it 10 stars. Tottie is an incredible writer and has the gift of infusing side bursting humor into some serious writing. She is hilarious as she takes you on a roller-coaster adventure with her family.

In this day of whiny auto/biographies, this book is a breath of fresh air. It is a lesson in accepting and appreciating what life throws at you. I didn't expect her memoir to be as funny, as resonant and as humble. I took my time reading Sell the Pig; I didn't want it to end. Tottie is gutsy and honest. I hope she continues to write.

So what makes this memoir so special? As with fiction, it's all about voice: the fairy dust that brings words to life, gives them a heartbeat. Tottie has a voice many authors would love to call their own.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a shot of reality with plenty of humor to wash it down!"

Jennifer Braun
Wednesday's Child

More praise for Sell the Pig

Like most writers, I am a shameless tart for feedback. I absolutely love reading what people have to say about Sell the Pig on various sites Like Amazon.

But perhaps some of the hardest to come by is that dished out, often very grudgingly, by the ferocious pack of fellow writers on sites such as Authonomy. So it's always nice to get some positive feedback on there, like the latest comment for Sell the Pig from author Bea Sinclair:

"I have now finished reading all of the posted MS and can confidently say that "Sell The Pig" is a well written and very enjoyable memoir. The author's good humour shines through, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Tottie is not afraid to say those things that we often keep to ourselves. Every character is drawn in just the right amount of detail and the story flows from their reactions to the trials that befall them. I wish this book every success and it remains on my shelf."

Authonomy has a complicated ranking system whereby books move up through the ratings according to the number of comments they have, and who has left them, and how many bookshelves they are on. Of several thousand books on the site, little old Sell the Pig is currently sitting at No. 285, having shot up the charts in the very short time it has been there, only since February 2013.

All the more amazing as non-fiction, and memoirs in particular, often performs quite badly there.

So if you've not yet read Sell the Pig why not give it a go? The sequel should be out by the autumn and watch this space for some very exciting news about a change of publisher for the sequel.

Although it's not essential, you'll get more of a feel for the sequel if you read Pig first. It's available from all the usual Amazon outlets as well as from The Book Depository, who offer FREE worldwide delivery. What are you waiting for?

Fame across the pond for Sell the Pig

Little old Sell the Pig is getting more widely known. Spotted a press release about in on this US News website, under Press Releases.

It's a site full of serious topical news stuff, including the asteroid near miss and stuff on Apple shares. So it was really pleasing to see Sell the Pig up there amongst all the others.. Why not check it out?

But after all, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised - after all, there is a coveted blue plaque for me at my old village in Lincolnshire, Stainton le Vale ;)

FREE prize draw coming soon - honestly, it really is!

I know I keep promising you another FREE prize draw to win a signed copy of Sell the Pig. And it really is coming soon.

It's just that I have the chance to link it into an exciting event which should bring in more readers from around the world, and I'm not in charge of the date for that.  So please bear with me, I will launch the prize draw as soon as I can.

As usual, there will be one very simple question, the answer to which you can easily find here amongst the posts on this blog, or on the Sell the Pig - Tottie Limejuice page on Facebook.

And because you've all been very patient in waiting for this month's prize draw, and there can only be one winner, I have a special offer for those of you who don't win.  For one day only, after announcing the name of the winner, I will drop the paperback price, so you can all take advantage of lower price to get your copy.

I can't tell you exactly by how much it will drop - those of you who have read Sell the Pig already or who follow me on Facebook or Twitter will know I'm dyscalculic, can't do numbers, and certainly not percentages. But I will drop it by whatever I can.

So be patient a few more days and in the meantime, have a glance through the posts here on the blog for anything about Tottie Limejuice - whoops, was that a great big clue I just gave you?

So who is Tottie Limejuice?

Everyone always wants to know where I got the name Tottie Limejuice, the pen-name under which I wrote Sell the Pig and which I also use for my Facebook and Twitter names.

Well she's an invention of my late Auntie Ethel, mother's older sister. She was the one who never married, whose role was helping her mother with the large brood. Auntie had a wonderful way of making up words and phrases, like a floper-dopperer, for someone who was a bit foppish, or kneely-knawling down, for when you kneel but also have to scrabble about a bit. Auntie was a dress-maker, seamstress and milliner so when she was pinning up hems, she had to do a lot of kneely-knawling.

Mother with her family. From left to right: younger sister Doris, younger brother John, brother in law Leslie, (the Judge, Doris's husband), mother, and older sister Ethel.

As Auntie got older she got very confused and would accuse glamorous and well-off younger sister of coming to her house and stealing her home-made knickers and swanning around "like Tottie Limejuice". I liked the name so much, I claimed it for my own.

At one of Doris's many luncheon parties at the "Big House": Left to right: Auntie Ethel, Uncle Leslie, Auntie Doris, Uncle John, Mother.




It was Auntie Ethel who encouraged me to buy my grottage in Lincolnshire when it was in such an awful state the surveyor I got to check it over for mortgage purposes described it as "unfit for human habitation!".  She was a frequent visitor, with mother, to my homes wherever I lived, including travelling by coach out to Germany where I lived for four years.


Like mother, she was always interested in gardening so whenever they visited, we always took a trip to a local garden centre or park.

               Mother with her older sister Ethel, the creator of "Tottie Limejuice"

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters

My mother, who was very much the star of Sell the Pig, had two surviving sisters, little Florrie having died in infancy.  Older sister Ethel never married and was always the home-maker, helping her mother look after her three brothers and two sisters, plus all their friends who were always visiting.

Mother used to tell me that at bedtime, her mother would line the whole tribe up and go along the line with a face flannel and would sometimes discover children who weren't her own, obediently lining up with the rest.

Auntie Ethel was forever making up words, and she was the creator of the character of Tottie Limejuice. I liked it so much I borrowed it and it rather stuck.

                                   Mother and older sister Ethel, the creator of "Tottie Limejuice"

Younger sister Doris was the dizzy blonde who made the not so dizzy marriage to a future judge and enjoyed the lifestyle that went with it, the big house, the endless social whirl of dinner parties and the holidays in Africa and the Far East.

                                            Mother and younger sister Doris

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?

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.

Famous author of Sell the Pig, Tottie Limejuice

Some authors have to wait for years after their demise to get this sort of recognition, but I just had to share what my friends David and Tiger have been up to ;)

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.

Book reviews - have your say about Sell the Pig

I know it can be a real grunt writing reviews on Amazon. I've had some really lovely kind ones for Sell the Pig there myself and I'd really love to reply to them there but incredibly, although I've bought things from the site under my pen name, it won't let me post replies.

It's probably because I haven't bought Sell the Pig from there. I gladly would buy my own book, just so I could personally thank everyone who's taken the time and trouble. But although I have an account (several, in fact) and have downloaded a Kindle app, I somehow can't get Amazon to see the right Kindle for the right account. It's almost certainly my fault because I'm a muppet, but I still haven't found out how to overcome the problem.

So I thought it might be a nice idea to reproduce the reviews here on the blog and invite people to add their comments. It's a much friendlier forum here so if you're a bit shy, this is a great place to have your say. And don't forget, I really need your feedback so I can start working on the first of the sequels or prequels or whatever they turn out to be.

I did mention in Sell the Pig that I had a working title of Biff the Useless Mention, which is still a possibility, although at the moment I'm leaning towards Is That Billinge Lump?

So come on, all you kind and lovely people, what are your thoughts? What would you like to know more about? Which bits did you enjoy most and what were the bits you didn't like? One reviewer thought it was a bit boring in places. Did you? If so, which places? I need you to work with me if I'm going to do better next time!

Meanwhile, here's the first of the promised reviews. I'll reproduce them in the order they appeared on Amazon, and this is from the very lovely @BubblyNatz with whom I chat often on Twitter. It's a 5-star review posted on  20 Feb 2012 and entitled Sell The Pig - bugger!!!:


If you are an avid reader and an avid reader of true stories then you will love Sell the Pig! It is both lighthearted and heartfelt! The author regales you with her tales of her mother and brother, beloved dog and touches on earlier and later parts of her life too! Which all in all leaves you wanting more.Please do give this book a go you won't regret it and like me will be urging the author to write more!


Thanks so much, Natz. So, everyone else, do you agree? Please leave your comments below. Thanks.

Moving to France - first views of the Pink House

If anyone's thinking of moving to France just for the weather, think again! Today is just like the weather we left behind in Wales, only with nicer scenery. It's cold, it keeps raining and hail-stoning, and the sun is nothing but a fleeting visitor.

Time to update the blog and probably high time you saw some pictures of the "pink house" as we saw it first, although it wasn't really pink at all, anywhere other than in the estate agent's online pictures!

"Both on paper and in the flesh, so to speak, this one looked very promising. According to the internet details, it had seven bedrooms and three bathrooms, was on three storeys and had a good-sized garden. We nicknamed it the pink house, as the photo showed the rendering as a pale rose pink, although in reality it was a lot paler and more washed out."

Our first view of "the pink house"

"They do warn house viewers to try to see past existing décor to what the place will look like once you've stamped your own mark on it. Sound advice. The decoration in the pink house was truly hideous. Very nineteen seventies. The sitting room had two very strong contrasting patterned wallpapers, which didn't go together, neither of which was very nice even in isolation and in unison presented a full frontal assault to the senses."

The retro sitting room

"But the layout was practically perfect for what we wanted. On the top floor was a bright, light three-bedroomed apartment with shower room and loo and some open space to create a small cooking and dining area. Ideal to let as B&Bs or a self-contained flat. It had very nice south-facing views, and the possibility to create a sunny roof terrace on top of the roof of the room below, which jutted out in front of it."

View from the top floor flat

And, Just because it's a very cold day today and there's still a lot of snow on the volcanic peaks all around, a view of what this part of France can look like in winter!

Don't forget, kind readers, I'm relying on you to tell me what photos you'd like to see. Hope you will enjoy these, will post some more on the next rainy day, which won't be too long, if the weather forecast is anything to go by! Do leave me your comments here, about the book, or the blog, or France, or Life, the Universe and Everything.

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!