‘Those Silly Dreams…’ Beneath The Rainbow Review

Photograph by Lisa Shambrook (Please do not use)

The scariest thing about having a book out there in general public land is not knowing what people will think when they read it, or even if they will read it…will anyone ever read it? 

I’m lucky some lovely people have bought and read my book, and they seem to have enjoyed it! My friend, the lovely Sarah Nicholson at re-ravelling, took the plunge and read Beneath the Rainbow and wrote a beautiful Blog post about it at re-ravelling: here. Like I said it’s always scary when people actually read your book, so I was honoured and pleased to discover her enjoyment!

When Sarah told me she was reading it I knew it was near the second anniversary of the death of her husband, and I had no idea if my book about grief and joy would hurt or help…she writes:

‘Some books forever get caught up in real life events of the reader, something the author cannot predict, but in this instance it made my enjoyment of the book even richer helping me process a bit more of my own grief.

For me this is why I thought it was a great first novel and I would recommend it to anyone grieving because it is so beautifully written and thought provoking.’

I teared up when I read her praise and I was significantly humbled.

Something powerful happens in the mind of an author when they write and they always hope that that power, that inspiration, that something will engulf the reader, but they never know if it truly will.

I want to thank those who’ve read Beneath the Rainbow and enjoyed, and especially those who’ve left reviews whether on their Blog, on Goodreads, or on Amazon. You are so very much appreciated!

If you are interested my book is available on Kindle:

www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-the-Rainbow for £1.53

and 

www.amazon.com/Beneath-the-Rainbow for $2.32

(and other Amazon country variants…)

I am ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ with ‘Beneath the Rainbow’…

New parents will understand that feeling when you have to leave your new child for the first time with a…babysitter…the horror of it!
Laughing aside…it’s a scary time, they are the most precious thing you own and you have to leave them in someone else’s care. I’ve felt the same with my book…no, it’s not as precious as my children, but like my offspring…I’ve put hours, weeks, months and years of work in to it and letting go is just as scary as the babysitter knocking on the door!
I imagine it’s like sending your child out into the big wide world to survive on their own…my book is now ‘out there’ available for all and sundry and their opinions…
And that, there, is the scary bit…
What will people think?
You ask those closest to you, as you write, to give their opinions, but if they rave about it, you think they’re raving because they are supposed to…they’re your family and they’re meant to be supportive…so it’s only when the big wide world is allowed its choice of words that you start listening…
So, now I’m listening, with butterflies in my stomach, for the opinions of everyone else…again, you think friends are ‘just being nice’, but when those posts begin coming in from people you don’t know and who don’t know you, you start feeling that maybe, just maybe, it’s okay…that you did something good!

So here we are…I finally feel able to let you know what people think…

Some reviews are from friends, some family, some people I do not know at all…(I’ve protected identities)… but amazingly to me, they have enjoyed the book!

So now, I can ask you all, who haven’t read it…go on, give it a go!

Only £1.71 (great value) from Amazon and Please Remember…you don’t need a Kindle to read my book..you can download a FREE app on my Amazon book page (on the right) and buy the book which will then appear, as if by magic, in your PC, Laptop, iPad, iPod, Android, Blackberry, Smart Phone, etc’s Kindle…Use this link…

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-the-Rainbow-ebook/dp/B005947316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316006629&sr=8-1

‘To me, the greatest pleasure of writing

is not what it’s about, 

but the inner music the words make.’

(Truman Capote)

Let me know if you can see and hear behind the words of 

‘Beneath the Rainbow…

A Childhood Dream…

Caitlin asked me the other day when I first dreamed of being an author… I’ve been drawing and writing ever since I could pick up a pencil, and I used to staple ‘book’ pages together when I was a little girl. I even have a little notebook containing a long story and my own illustrations written at 12 and treasured, though I cringe when I read it now!
Writing has been my life…my escape and my fantasy…I adore words and love exploring my imagination.
Eleven years ago, when Cait was a baby I began reading ‘Harry Potter’ and thought I could do this…so I began putting pen to paper. Within a year I had written my first novel, a dragon filled children’s adventure, my own children listened intently and loved it, four years later and two sequels had been completed.
Then I spent several years getting rejected from publishers and agents. I even paid for a highly recommended critique service to help hone the novel. We worked well and the changes I made were well received, but ultimately they told me most publishers had closed lists and weren’t taking on any new authors, (despite their advertising) and that book reading was taking a downturn…Agents told me the same thing, they loved the book, but couldn’t take anyone on.
It is a completely demoralising process…where the only way to succeed is if the book is sent at the right time, to the right person…and how do you know when that is or who that is?
I’m not blowing my own trumpet…the books may just not be good enough, but I can only rely on the feedback I’ve personally had, and the old adage…don’t give up!

So a couple of years ago I put away my fantasy adventures, (for now) and worked on a new idea…out of it came ‘Beneath the Rainbow’:

‘Death is an inevitable fact of life, indifferent to whether you are seven-years-old, or an old age pensioner who has lived a long fulfilled life. This is the heart-breaking and uplifting tale of Freya. Freya has to come to terms with her own untimely death and the impending death of terminally ill Old Thomas, who has but one dream left to achieve… Freya’s story of grief, hope, ultimate fulfilment and joy.’

The first line of the book invaded my head and I had to go with it… ‘Freya was seven-year-old when she got hit by the car. It was a 4×4 with a bull bar.’ The book goes on to deal with grief and bereavement on both sides of the veil. Freya has to adjust to death and the life she finds after it and her family have to accept and learn how to deal with the loss of their oldest daughter. 

When Freya and members of her family discover Thomas, dying of cancer, they learn that dreams are important, they learn that we must live life to the full and dreams help us do just that…

‘Beneath the Rainbow’ came from my heart and spilled into my life and it was suggested that I try Amazon’s Kindle publishing. 

And remember you don’t need a Kindle to buy and download it…on the right of the Amazon page you can download a free Kindle program to your PC…

So here we are in ebook form…

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-the-Rainbow-ebook/dp/B005947316/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309564032&sr=8-2 

It is, technically, a dream come true to see the book available to purchase…but my greatest wish is for people to enjoy the story, to escape into Freya’s world and share time with her…

I am both elated and terrified to see it in print…I love the book, my husband cried when he read it to the children, but the true test is how it is received by the general public…

So I would love to know what you think of it…and maybe, just maybe, one day it will end up in paper print on a bookshop shelf…

That is my dream…