Today is the day. I go back to work after being on holidays for a week. Jake goes to the vet to have his ear surgery. Poor wee beggar doesn’t understand why he can’t eat this morning. He’s following us around like we’re pork chops. He’s finally settled on his bed again but for how long?
Jake - Pre-op
You can see in this photo how swollen his right ear flap is. When we took him on Saturday, we were told he’d broken the blood vessels in his ear and it was bleeding internally. There are plenty of blood vessels in there so even though they drained it, they weren’t able to get all of it and by yesterday, it was every bit as engorged with blood as it was before we took him and maybe even worse.
I’ll post another picture of him tonight after I get him home. Hopefully, with the exception of some post-op swelling, his right ear will look like his left.
I can finally say that I got my Christmas tree up and decorated, although things didn’t go quite as planned. I ended up moving all the furniture out of its’ normal position so I could have the tree out far enough I could walk around it as I decorated. This distressed the dog to no end because his bed wasn’t in its usual location and worse still, it was rolled up! I managed to move a few things around a bit more and spread out his bed onto which he promptly settled on. A couple of bruises later, as a result of bumping into things, I had the lights strung and the angel on the top. Phew.
As the tree took shape, after each string of lights, I paused and took a photo. It was on one of these passes across the room that I rubbed against the dog the wrong way and he let out a huge hound yelp. It didn’t take long to discover the reason for his discomfort. The entire flap of his right ear was engorged… with what, we didn’t know. I called the vet and luckily they had an opening. So we made a flying visit there. The poor beast has had chronic ear problems for as long as I can remember. It was explained to us at the vet’s that he’d broken the blood vessels in his ear shaking his head. But with his history, and the size of it, it was going to require surgery. They were very good with him and drained what they could out of his ear, and sent us home with the same pain medication he’ll be on post-op. So tomorrow, I’ll take my poor wee conehead and drop him at the vet’s on my way to work and then pick him up after.
You can really see in the bottom photo how swollen his ear flap is and they’d drained it. Basically, it will continue to swell until they can get in there and repair the damage. Poor boy. The cone they put on him yesterday is clear and he hasn’t tried to pull it off – not once, unlike the opaque one he had after a previous ear surgery.
Thankfully, the pain medication is keeping him comfortable. We gave it to him yesterday afternoon at 5:00 and he won’t get any more until the same time today.
His biggest problem right now is he can’t drink out of his dish with the water bottle. He tried yesterday and knocked the bottle off and we had water all over the place! All is not lost, we keep the bottle filled and on the counter so we just have to make sure his dish has water in it.
What is going to bother him the most is not being allowed to eat in the morning. Nothing after 8:00 tonight. He’s not going to be best pleased so say the least.
After our flying visit to the vet’s, I finally was able to finish decorating the tree. You can view the video I created here.
Bestselling Scottish author Janice Horton launches her latest book ‘Reaching for the Stars’ to Amazon Kindle this week in the wake of her ‘Wish I Was Here’ themed online launch party, when many Bloggers and Tweeters posted a photo or picture of their own perfect escape, in keeping with the theme of Janice’s novel about a celebrity chef who disappears to avoid media frenzy.
Reaching for the Stars is published in e-format to Amazon for Kindle.
Janice, tell us what inspired Reaching for the Stars and what the novel is about?
Hi Melanie – thank you for having me here today – ‘Reaching for the Stars’ was inspired by my own fascination for celebrity chefs. I find the passion displayed by the rock stars of the culinary world to be very appealing indeed and with their sharp knives and skilled moves, I see them as culinary pirates, adventurers of the chrome surfaces, who battle through flames and the intense heat of the kitchen. That kind of dedication to duty is very powerful and so I wanted to create a hero-chef for my novel who was an amalgamation of all the chefs I find attractive. In the writing however, and as the story develops, it becomes apparent that great success can only ultimately bring about the realisation these gastronomic gods are, after all, also just human beings.
Reaching for the Stars is a romantic novel about a disillusioned Scottish celebrity chef called Finn McDuff, whose third wife leaves him just as he wins his third star. The irony of this is lost on no one, except one particular newspaper journalist called Raine Sanderson, who falls in love with the chef’s worn out gorgeousness when she interviews him at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh.
But soon after she writes up her story in The Thistle to expose the man, the myth and the legend behind the chef’s star-studded façade, he decides he’s had enough of all the food campaigns, the TV cookery shows, the constant frenzy surrounding his private life and gives back his accolades, closes his restaurant, and disappears.
With the enfant-terrible of the kitchen missing, two rival newspapers, The Thistle and The City News, having lost their media meal ticket, compete against each other to whip up further public curiosity in the missing chef.
What follows is a media manhunt, a press feeding frenzy, a phone hacking scandal followed by speculation and supposition. Love him or hate him, everyone is out looking for Chef McDuff. Who will find him first? Will it be Raine, or her nemesis at The City News, Ross Campbell?
Buy ‘Reaching for the Stars’ now at the special launch price of just 95p from amazon.co.uk and for $1.30 US from amazon.com
About the author:
Janice lives in Scotland and writes romantic novels with humour which are, for the most part, inspired by the beauty of the heather-filled glens around her country cottage. When Janice is not writing novels, she write lifestyle articles and has had work published in national and international magazines and regional newspapers. She is the bestselling author of humorous romance ‘Bagpipes & Bullshot’.
I’m thrilled here at Celtic Connexions to host debut YA Fantasy novelist, Stephanie Keyes, on her blog tour for her launch of The Star Child.
So, over to you Steph. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Sure Melanie! Let me start off by saying thank you for hosting me on your blog! It’s very exciting to be here. So, let’s see, I am a Corporate Learning and Development employee by day and a wife and mother at night. My husband and I just celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary and we have two little boys, one 4 1/2 and one 2 months. We also have a little cock-a-poo who thinks she rules the house. Actually, I think she does, who am I kidding?
Did you always feel compelled to write? Yes, I’ve always been writing. I wrote my first novel at 14, which was a dedication to Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist Brian Boitano, that detailed a fictional romance between the pair of us. Did I know how to live or what? Needless to say we never got together. However, I moved on to different topics and have spent the time ever since writing – short stories mostly. When my father was diagnosed with Cancer in 2007, I found that I really needed an outlet for all of my emotions. That was when I started the Star Child. It wasn’t even a book in my mind for a while, I just called it “The Project”. However, a book it was.
Who were your favourite authors growing up? My favorite book was “Gone With the Wind”, which I remember reading about fifteen times in the seventh grade. I loved Margaret Mitchell. Aside from that I think I read every book in the Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables series. I also read classical fiction, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Victor Hugo. It really didn’t matter what was put in front of me, I would read it.
What authors do you prefer to read now? Well, because I am writing for a YA audience, I’ve been reading alot of that genre to keep in touch with what that audience is reading. Some of the authors that I’ve really enjoyed are J.K. Rowling, O.R. Melling, Cate Tiernan, Melissa de La Cruz, Carrie Jones, and PC and Kristin Cast.
Do you think they influenced your writing in any way? Absolutely. JK Rowling really intrigues me because she takes figures in history and mythology and gives them a real place in her stories. You think that they’re fictional when you read the books but then you find that they actually existed and they’ve just been placed in a context to suit the story. You’ll see that influence in The Star Child. Although it’s fiction and weaves in quite a bit of Celtic folklore and mythology, I’ve included many figures in the storyline and simply placed them in another context.
Cover design by Cathy Helms, Avalon Graphics
What made you decide on the YA fantasy genre? What really got me hooked on Fantasy is the idea that there could be an entirely different world co-existing with our own. Any story that blends reality and fantasy is interesting to me. The thought of something magical happening in between the day to day activities, for example, Kellen attending his graduation and stepping through a portal into another place, that’s something I would love to have happen to me. Imagine going to pick up milk and you find there’s a gateway to another universe in the dairy section below the sour cream.
I understand the idea for The Star Child came to you in the shower. Can you elaborate? Definitely. I was getting into the shower in the smallest bathroom in the world (smiles) when I looked out the window and saw a single star. Two words popped into my head: star & child. I got into the shower and started to think about a young woman who lights the stars every night. I didn’t know her name and I hadn’t even made a connection to Celtic mythology yet. However, I knew there would be a girl. Calienta and her immediate family, with the exception of Lugh, her father, are all fictional – they don’t even appear in legend.
In addition to your blog tour, what other methods of self-promotion have you employed? I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In. but I also have my own blog on Blogger, Stephanie Keyes and my website Stephanie Keyes. This month, the trailer for The Star Child came out on You Tube. I am also a featured author on loveahappyending.com and there will be a promotion there. Finally, I’ll be targeting local bookstores and book clubs.
Where can we buy The Star Child? The Star Child is available in paperback and ebook format on Amazon, Barnes and Noble Nook, and Smashwords.
Thank you, Stephanie, for dropping by Celtic Connexions today. You are very welcome! I appreciate the invitation and good luck on the release of your own novel next summer!
Stephanie says she got the idea for The Star Child in the shower. What’s the strangest place you’ve been when a brilliant idea struck you? Use the comments section below and you could win a Starbucks gift card! Then use it to buy your coffee to accompany your read of The Star Child! Only comments posted on December 15th are eligible.
This is the area of Scotland where my father was born and lived until he and four of his nine siblings were admitted to The Orphan Homes of Scotland. I’ve visited here many times and have made some very good friends in the area. Wish I was there now.
You don’t suppose that’s where Finn McDuff disappears to, do you? To find out where his self imposed exile is, you can purchase the book from amazon.co.ukfor £0.95 or from amazon.com for $1.30.
Slapper. Slut. Adulteress. These are hardly words that Sophie Penhalligan would normally use to describe herself. And yet this is exactly how she is behaving, all things considered, even if she isn’t quite married to Tim yet. Aged nineteen, she travelled halfway across the country to honour an invitation by her favourite rock band, Tusk, to join them for the last gig of their tour. And now her past is coming to tempt her… How could Tim ever stand a chance against Dan, the charming, handsome lead-singer? How could she?
Sophie, now twenty-eight and a budding newspaper journalist, is happily embroiled in a relationship with Tim, her boyfriend of two years. Until recently, she was confident that Tim would eventually propose—probably as soon as he could get his act together. But just as Tim’s persistent inaction is beginning to cast a cloud over their relationship, Dan’s sudden reappearance turns Sophie’s world upside down. Thus unfolds a roller-coaster of events including an ill-fated trip to Paris with Tim, a night of unfulfilled romance with Dan, Sophie and Tim’s engagement party gate-crashed by Dan, and Sophie’s professional secondment to accompany Dan’s band on their revival tour—at Dan’s special request and very much against her will.
And then, one fine day in Paris, Sophie suddenly finds herself engaged to Dan while her erstwhile fiancé Tim is… well, doing whatever it is Tim does back in London. What is she to do now? Who wouldn’t give anything to meet their favourite star, let alone marry him?
Find out how Sophie gets into this impossible situation, and how she turns it around, in Sophie’s Turn, the charming, funny and sometimes bittersweet story of one woman’s entanglement with a rock star.
Here’s what the readers think of Sophie’s Turn:
“Absolutely loved it and want a sequel.” — Kristin Durham
“The attraction between Sophie and Dan is sizzling…. you can feel the heat coming off the pages!” — Shaz Goodwin
“I loved the British charm that was evident on every page, as well as the plot that kept me reading well past my bedtime.” — Jonita Fex
“Nicky Wells spins her story with a delicate hand that will have readers cheering Sophie on throughout the entire book. I felt Sophie’s confusion, her hesitance to spark up anything with Dan, her dismay at her betrayal to Tim. This was such a real book, with a real woman in a very confusing situation” — Samantha Robey
“Not only does the story bounce along breezily, her writing style is beautifully observant – she paints an emotional picture in prose that is very believable and develops a range of central characters that are easy to relate to.” — Andy Fraser
“The outcome, well what a great ending – not what I expected but totally satisfying.” — Sue Fortin
“…excellent debut novel… I love her style of writing, and this book was an absolute pleasure to read.” — Kim Nash
“Packed full of heated highs but also some very sad lows that might have you reaching for a tissue. (Loved the ending) Nicky has written a perfect ChickLit book that easily stands up against the others available today in the shops.” — Lou Graham
“I found there were also some lovely humorous touches in this novel which were not predictable” — Rea Sinfield
You can buy Sophie’s Turn from amazon.co.uk here, amazon.com here, amazon.de (Germany) here and amazon.fr (France)here.
Today, Celtic Connexions welcomes Harry Leslie Smith, author of 1923: A Memoir, Hamburg 1947, and The Barley Hole Chronicles.
Those who have read your first book, 1923: A Memoir, will know your background. For the benefit of those who haven’t can you tell us a bit about yourself?
First of all I’d like to thank you for interviewing me on your blog. I was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire in 1923 to a family who was making a rapid descent into poverty and hunger. Our plunge to the bottom was assisted by bad luck and the global depression which washed away a great many people poor, middle class and even the wealthy in the 1930’s. So my youth was not fortuitous. When the Second World War came, I was glad to get out of my surroundings which I think was par for the course with a great many young men of my generation. I enlisted with the RAF and was a wireless operator. I had what you use to be called a “good war.” I didn’t experience many horrors until after the Germans surrendered and I was part of the occupation forces in Hamburg, Germany. It was there I met my wife and eventually we moved back to Britain. After some years living in Halifax, Yorkshire, we eventually emigrated to Canada where I worked in the Oriental Carpet trade.
What was your motivation behind writing your memoirs?
I think I have had several motivations behind writing my memoirs. The first was to purge myself of unpleasant memories of my childhood and honestly explore my relationship with my parents and my past. I also wanted to leave a testament to my children, my grand children which would give them a greater sense of who I am as a man and where their history begins. There was also the need to preserve the social history of those times. Many have written about the great depression, the war and our post war existence in Europe but few have done it from street level. I wanted to write memoirs which capture the journey of an everyday man through some of the most tumultuous times in the 20th century.
Prior to your self-publishing journey, had you done any writing… articles, short stories etc?
Yes, I actually did some writing in the RAF and was published in some magazines for poetry and prose. I also did a lot of writing for trade magazines in the oriental carpet business.
Your books are available in e-book, paperback and hardcover. What made you decide to publish in all three formats?
I wanted to make sure that I covered every base for potential readers. I hope one day that my books will also be available as audio books.
If I’m not mistaken the Barley Hole Chronicles are 1923: A Memoir and Hamburg 1947 under one cover. Why did you decide to do that when they are both available as standalones?
Although 1923 and Hamburg 1947 are standalones, they form a story arc of my life and I thought that it might be beneficial for the reader to have both titles under one cover. It is also more economical for the reader if they buy Barley Hole Chronicles rather than each book. They save around 50% on both the traditional book price and the same goes for the e-book.
You launched The Barley Hole Chronicles and Hamburg 1947 on Black Friday. Do you feel it was a success?
At 88, launching two books at once is a success whatever the outcome. The books are doing well and it is only because of my many friends and readers that assist in getting the word out. There is so much selection now for readers that it takes a lot of effort to be heard over the clamour of each new book being released. I am pleased with the outcome and feel that my works will survive longer than me and my story will not die upon my departure.
Are you working on any more projects? If so, can you tell us about them?
Yes, I am working on the third installment of my memoirs The Empress of Australia which will complete my memoir trilogy. It should be out in late 2012. I am also working on a book about the descendants of Benjamin Smith my great grandfather who was born in 1812. It will be about how far the generations have separated and grown in 200 years.
If you live in the UK, you can buy Harry’s books from these links: 1923: A MemoirKindle edition for £0.86, Paperback for £14.38 and Hardcover for £20.94.
US residents can order paperback and hardcover formats from amazon.com at these links. 1923: A MemoirPaperback for $14.95 and Hardcover for $24.28. Hamburg 1947: A Place for the Heart to KipPaperback for $12.92 and Hardcover for $21.24 and The Barley Hole ChroniclesPaperback edition for $18.95.
Canadian residents can purchase paperback and hardcover formats from amazon.ca at these links. 1923: A MemoirPaperback for $15.70 and Hardcover for $19.71. Hamburg 1947: A Place for the Heart to KipPaperback for $18.53 and Hardcover for $28.85.
At this time, The Barley Hole Chronicles isn’t listed on amazon.ca.
About the Author Harry makes his home in Toronto but also spends time in Great Britain and Portugal. He’s the father to 3 children and 2 grandchildren. When he’s not writing, he enjoys spending time with my family and friends, brisk walks, travel, good conversation, watching first rate movies, a glass of sherry and reading.
It’s hard to believe the book drive has been going on for 10 years and this is the first I’ve heard of it. What a great cause to get books into the hands of children who wouldn’t otherwise have this opportunity.
You can read about this wonderful cause and how to do more on Dallas Woodburn’s blog here.
Every child deserves to experience the joy of the written word.
Astral Travelling, The Avatar And Me by Richard Holmes
In 2000 my life hit rock bottom. I was totally spent and didn’t see any way out of the mire that I found myself in. This book tells the story how (with a little help) I managed to turn my life around.
Miraculously at the onset of the new millenium I started to embark on a series of truly amazing out of body adventures, and as the years have gone by I have learned to pass through solid objects, propel myself in whatever direction I wish to travel, and unbelievably, “will” myself back into my body when I became bored with the journey.
As if that wasn’t incredible enough, I have also been blessed by the Avatar of the age himself, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who first entered my life in 2001. Since then I have had a series of truly wonderous experiences with Baba. The highlights of which were being held in his arms during an out of body experience in 2006 and seeing him in physical form at his ashram, Prasanthi Nilayam (abode of the highest peace) in Puttaparthi, Southern India in October 2009.
* See Richard’s full range of booklets also available via his website and Amazon
Richard has recently put together a video which can be viewed on You Tube here.
Richard also has a range of meditation CDs, including a free online meditation to enjoy, on his website.
Review for Astral Travelling, The Avatar and Me:-
This is a true story you will want to read from cover to cover in one sitting, because you will find it hard to put down. Having been to see Richard on two occasions and having taken part in one of his Vedic Chanting and Meditation Workshops, I was truly amazed by this gentle man and the outcome of each visit for me personally. In reading this story I feel privileged to have been able to ‘share’ his very personal journey. What comes across so strongly is the way in which he embraces everything that comes his way and his appreciation for the lessons he has learnt from the negative things life often presents. It is a story with immense heart to it and I feel reading it has changed me in some way, inspired me to open up to something I’ve only recently (and tentatively) started to explore. The account of his trip to Southern India was fascinating and is told with an honestly that is refreshing. This isn’t a book that ‘preaches’ but a book that chronicles one man’s special journey from being ‘lost’ to being ‘found’. A truly inspiring read. (cheerfulchic, Gloucester)
Taylor Hamilton, dissatisfied with a life designed by her parents, attends a friend’s fall wedding and finds small town life agrees with her. The problem is, her wealth doesn’t agree with the man she falls for. Is their love strong enough to find a bridge of trust where money isn’t an issue?
Healing Love by Laurie Ryan
“In Sickness and in Health”
Nicole Milbourne’s single-minded focus on a medical research career is thrown for a loop when charismatic Dr. Damien Reed shows her there’s more to life than studying diseases. Will an unexpected Christmas fill Nicole’s lonely heart and show her the healing power of love?
Priceless Love by Lavada Dee & Laurie Ryan