Making A Start

Aaaargh! The weather has continued to be awful and the long lazy days I’d planned in my garden with Jack have been postponed. So what to do? I know, I’ll write another book!

I’ve started. I’ve mapped a vague plotline out, organised a working title (which may or may not survive) and started writing the first chapter.

All well and good, but it’s very, very slow going. I’ve been stuck and distracted and haven’t got any further for the last fortnight.

Where’s my mojo? I think it’s got up and left me. I remember being so excited to write the early chapters of Jack Chi, but this book is taking a little longer to get off the ground.

Still, writing my first book taught me it’s a process, perhaps it’s just a bit longer this time? I do like the story line, I just need a bit of focus to bring it to life.

Jack himself, of course, has no idea what all the fuss is about. As long as he has my knee to snuggle up on and as large a collection of teddies as he can get away with, then all’s well in his world.

Birdwatching

Jack stands in front of bird motif statues

We went for a little visit to a nature reserve this week. The weather was March-like (chilly) so both Jack and I were well wrapped up.

The nature reserve is still relatively young, having been acquired by a local wildlife trust after years of gravel extraction had left deep holes in the landscape. After work involving relandscaping the lakes and planting reed beds, the area is starting to look less stark and encouraging birds to visit.

We parked up in the small car park and followed the walking trail around the site. The reserve has two lakes and is bordered by a road, a rail line and the river Trent. The paths are surfaced and from the trail you can see out over the lakes and watch the birds swooping across the water.

We walked up to the rail line, past a bird hide and the amazing wooden bird sculptures, enjoying our bracing walk. Jack was very good when a couple of fast passenger trains and a noisy clanking freight train went past. I thought he might panic as he hates loud noises, but he simply stood with me and watched as they went past.

I’m not very good at identifying birds but we watched a large black bird swoop across the lake which I did manage to recognise as a cormorant.

Pleased with our walk, we returned to the car park (the gates close at 5pm), drove home and poor Jack was sick just as I pulled onto the driveway.

Oh well! Back to more local walks perhaps.

Another Day Out

Pictures of Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire

It’s that time of year yet again! Yes, it was the National Lottery Open Week last week, where for the price of a lottery ticket, you could gain entry to a National Trust property. Full details of the offer are here https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/open-week

Followers may remember my visit last year to Shugborough, written about on my blog here.

Last week’s visit went well. As before, Jack Chi had to stay home because of car sickness, but he had a walk before I left and plenty of teddies to play with.

The weather was cold and dry, but we’d been warned to take stout footwear due to muddy ground conditions. I went with a friend, parked up the car and received great instructions from a friendly volunteer on attractions to see during our visit.

The hall itself was rather grand with a lovely pillared hall as its centrepiece. We wandered over the house and spent a bit too long in the library marvelling at all the old books. The church behind the house was restful with beautiful stained glass windows to admire and we also popped into the second hand bookshop in the stableyard.

It was a bit muddy to do much walking, but the estate grounds and parkland are beautiful and will be nicer once spring is more underway.

Visit done, we managed to get lost in the lanes then find a gorgeous little garden centre and tea shop for some well earned coffee and cake.

Overall, an enjoyable day out, frugal and very interesting.

Blanket Time

Jack is wrapped in a red fleece blanket

Jack often comes for a walk with me to the local coffee shop. It’s very welcoming to dogs there, he can sit in the warm and is offered his own dog biscuit to crunch whilst I enjoy my coffee and watch the world go by.

The ladies at the coffee shop always look after my little pal. This week it’s been cold and wet so they offered to wrap him up in a nice warm blanket for me.

What a lovely idea I thought. Jack was unimpressed, he’d rather have sat on my knee and eaten one of my biscuits.

Dogs hey? Love him to bits as usual, need some warmer, dryer weather though.

Tell Me More

Jack stares directly into the camera

Toby slunk back into the ranks of the other dogs and sat down, wiping his sore, bleeding nose with his front paw until his sleek, golden fur turned a blood red.  Elsie who was next to him moved closer, not making any big movements that could be detected by the Bigs, but enough so that he could feel her body heat, warming him up and soothing his trembling and shaking. He kept his eyes to the front but relaxed his body towards hers, soaking up the warmth of a friend.

Jack Chi ©️ May Conway

Jack wants me to tell him more stories. He’s very insistent!

So, to continue the tale of the dog hoarder’s house, poor Toby the Spaniel has just been attacked by the cats. It’s part of the plot by the big dogs to control the house and Toby has found himself in trouble for going outside.

Elsie is the Dachshund who comes to help him with her warmth, empathy and endless good sense.

Tomorrow is Valentines day and Jack and I are simply celebrating love in all its guises, be that romantic love or the love of friendship.

Are on your own this Valentines day?  How about buying yourself or a loved one a copy of my book and reading a little more about the tiny dog who is forced to rescue his friends from the dog hoarder’s house. Follow Jack this February as he finds love again, details of how to buy are on Jack’s page here.

Watch Out Squirrels!

Jack sits beside a furry tree trunk stuffed with squeaky squirrels

Jack’s been enjoying playing with his Christmas presents.  As usual, a variety of small squeaky toys were hand delivered by Santa, but one large and squidgy package grabbed our attention.

I helped Jack rip the wrapping paper off to reveal an Outward Hound Hide a Squirrel plush toy!  It’s a furry tree trunk, complete with six squeaky squirrels.  You can buy more from Amazon here if you fancy treating your dog.

Jack took a bit of time to work out how to extract all the squirrels from the tree trunk but he’s got the hang of it now.  We’ve had endless fun with me tidying up various squeaky, furry beasties back into the tree trunk and then Jack getting them all back out again.

It’s a far cry from the dog hoarder’s house where Jack and his friends were locked up in cages for hours and toys were non-existent.  In my book, toys are even called dangerous! See my blog post Toys Are Dangerous.

So, these long winter nights are going to fly by!  That’s if I don’t break my neck tripping over all these pesky squirrels.

What great presents did Santa bring you and are you still enjoying them in January?

Jack Markets My Book

Jack sits on the settee next to an open laptop

Jack’s been helping me to market my book during the past few weeks.

My little Jack Chi holds a special place in my heart, steadfast in his love and adoration, helping me to write and critiquing my work. His little furry presence alone always brings a smile to my face. So, of course, I wanted to include him in my marketing strategy. He’s my secret weapon!

I published Jack’s story in November and I’ve been busy spreading the word and encouraging people to take a look.

I’ve made it available as an ebook on Amazon – either buy it whole or, if you are a Kindle unlimited subscriber, you can download it for free as part of your regular subscriptions.

Either way, you can also use the “look inside” feature to read the first couple of chapters and see if you’d like to read more. Take a look here (UK) or here (US) and let me know what you think.

As the weather has been truly awful – lashing rain and storms aplenty – we’ve cosied up on the settee with the laptop. Jack has not only been marketer-in-chief, he’s also been helping me by keeping an eye on my book sales.