Writers, authors and changes.

I never really appreciated the difference between saying ‘I’m a writer’ and saying ‘I’m an author.’ I assumed an author had a published book to their name and a writer was striving towards that goal. Thinking back, that was rather a narrow-minded view and even Google offers different interpretations, including the transition to being called …

George and Mary

Is it sad when a comedian laughs at his/her own jokes or is it a sign they are actually funny? As you might know by now, as well as my published books, I also write short stories in a variety of genres. Although they are fictional, many of them have a basis in fact as …

Juggling

I’ve been trying to handle so many different things lately, I feel I’ve joined the circus. First up was assisting an elderly friend with some government on-line form filling. Name, address, mobile telephone number all quite straightforward - or so I thought. To confirm identity a code was sent to the mobile number which then …

Changes and More Changes

Being an author involves wearing many different hats, and with future changes afoot I started thinking back to how it all began. Perhaps it was no coincidence my first book was called ‘Changes.’ As a total newcomer to the publishing world, I assumed every author used a pen-name, so a family nickname became my new …

Links and catch-ups

A lot has been happening this week. I was delighted to be featured as a guest on ‘Lost Books of Lockdown.’ It’s the first time I’ve done an online video so it was quite scary but Nikki Vallance was a delightful host, and I enjoyed every minute we were chatting. Shame about the 'lockdown look' …

A week of achievements – Blind Date and Alderslay

Despite everything, including last minute adjustments to both paperback and eBook, ‘Alderslay’ is now available in both formats. https://mybook.to/Alderslay It’s only been out a few days, but there are already some brilliant 5* reviews, with comments such as: ‘One story you do NOT want to miss!’ ‘A story full of everything.’ ‘Absolutely outstanding.’ The genre …

Val’s Tales and Bed of Roses

Here in the UK, we’re still under restrictions but the immunisation roll-out seems to be on target. Fingers crossed an end is in sight. When we started our YouTube channel ‘Val’s Tales’ we recorded various intros for the different stories in a home studio with proper equipment, giving us enough for a few months of …

If anyone asks and Listen to Love

This week's story on our YouTube channel is on the serious subject of bullying.It can take many forms, and doesn’t always include a black eye or a broken arm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRNjbB60QIc You might wonder why the person being bullied doesn’t go to the police, or simply leave. Chip away at someone’s confidence for long enough and …

Val’s Tales – Not fade away

Our overseas competition winner, GB Miller has selected ‘Story of a County Boy’ and a copy is winging its way across the pond. With all the excitement of the prize draw I forgot to mention the storycast for Not Fade away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz-ZkHRJIrs&t=146s Before you follow the link to listen, you might need to have the …

Competition winner

Despite everything the gremlins could throw at us, using modern technology we have a winner for our ‘Val’s Tales’ You Tube subscriber’s competition. Yeah! The winner of the paperback by Val Portelli, selected by a random number generator is Drum roll….. Donna Carroll. Congratulations, Donna. Yes, this is England, and yes it is January, and …