Jo Parfitt » abroad

Writers Abroad radio show 32 – Linda Lodding, children’s author, The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:04:01 +0000

New Yorker, Linda Lodding, talks to Jo Parfitt about how she found a US publisher for her children’s book while living abroad. Find out what you need to know about word counts, working with an editor and illustrator and how she found support while living overseas from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Discover how Linda went about making herself attractive to a publisher (Flashlight Press), and be inspired by her amazing, successful journey.

See Linda’s book trailer, here:

You can listen to the show here.

Interview with brand new author, Wendy Williams, on The Globalisation of Love

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:40:09 +0000

Wendy Williams is the author of the brand new, just released, hot off the press The Globalisation of Love, a book about multicultural romance and marriage. She has lived in six different countries and worked internationally for 18 years. Canadian and with an Austrian husband, she has been married for thirteen years, lives in Vienna, Austria and has one daughter.

See: www.globalisationoflove.com.

www.Facebook.com/globalisationoflove.com

twitter @globalisationoflove

Tell me about your book. What is it about? Can you describe it in just a few sentences?

The Globalisation of Love is about the whirls and twirls, the quirks and perks, the frustrations and the fun of a multicultural relationship. The book is based on dozens of interviews with multicultural couples from around the world. It includes chapters on multicultural weddings, religion, race, food, language and children. It is both humorous and factual and I include personal anecdotes from my own experience in a multicultural family. There is a world of romance happening out there and it is all captured in The Globalisation of Love.

Why did you write it?

Three reasons. Firstly, globalisation has been the buzz word of the past 20 years, yet little attention is given to the most profound influence of globalisation, which is the effect it has on people. People from everywhere are falling in love with people from everywhere else. Secondly, multiculturalism is another term that is bandied about to describe some kind of pesky nuisance to society, yet multicultural couples and families are constantly increasing and becoming a social norm. Thirdly, multicultural couples, what I call GloLo couples, get a lot of negative attention, like they are all destined to fail. In fact, most GloLo couples describe their multicultural relationship and experience as enlightening, enriching and the most amazing journey to take through matrimonial life.

What qualifies you to write this book?

I grew up in a multicultural family – a British-Ukrainian-Canadian family. I have been married to an Austrian for 13 years and have been living and working internationally for 18 years. What really qualifies me to write the book however, is the ability to see humour in the challenges of a GloLo relationship.

Why do you think your book needed to be written? What will it do for other people? How will it help? Did you have any competition?

It needed to be written for two main reasons. Firstly, it is important to recognise that a multicultural relationship is inherently different than a monocultural relationship. Multicultural couples have all the issues that exist in monocultural relationships, as well as whatever colourful combination of culture, language, religion and ethnicity the couple bring into their marriage. Secondly, the book outlines the issues in a multicultural marriage, so it helps GloLo couples to identify hot spots in the relationship that are culturally based. I wanted other GloLo couples to know that they are not alone and that there is a funny side to a GloLo marriage.

Yes, there is competition. There are many wonderful books about multicultural dating and marriage however The Globalisation of Love is the first book that is deliberately written with humour and wit.

Who do you think will read your book? What made you think that there was a market for it? If your book has been out for a while, what proof do you have that you were right?

Multicultural GloLo couples, and their friends and family will be interested in and benefit from reading The Globalisation of Love. Almost every knows someone or is related to someone in a GloLo relationship, therefore the book has a broad appeal. It is a topic that is starting to receive more media attention on multicultural royal weddings and GloLo celebrities, so it is becoming very chic to have an international marriage.

It does not matter how good a book is, or how good your writing is if no one knows about it. What steps have you taken or do you plan to take to promote your book? Are you a speaker or trainer? Do you have a blog? A website? A newsletter? Do you use Facebook, Twitter or other social media tools? What about press releases and sending out review copies and free articles? Have you had any other ideas? Which methods do you think work best and can you give me any examples?

The book is literally ‘hot off the press’ so the media promotional plan is still in the design phase. I haven’t even had time to have a book launch party yet! There is a new website and blog at www.globalisationoflove.com and you can follow The Globalisation of Love on Facebook and Twitter. I will be interviewed for different ezines and radio talk shows. I also look forward to the book signing and reading events. It is nice to be with people and talk about their experience in a GloLo relationship. All the events will be posted on the website calendar.

How did you publish your book? Did you find an agent, a publisher or did you publish it yourself? Please describe your process and tell us how you found the experience. Is there anything you would definitely do again or never do again?

I took a middle road between self-publishing and traditional publishing and hired a book mentor and publisher. It was the right route for me to take because I had a ‘book coach’ to help me ‘find my voice’, develop a consistent writing style and create a format for the book and then to deal with the administrative side of publishing by listing the book on Amazon and writing the press release. Writing a book takes a long time and it is also a ‘personal journey’. Having a coach along the way was a great help!

What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?

The biggest challenge for me is that writing a book is a lonely path to go in life. I loved conducting the interviews with GloLo couples from all over the world but I spent most of my time writing, re-writing and re-writing some more. I overcame the lonely factor by taking my ‘office’ to the Vienna coffee shops, hotel lobbies and even Starbucks. It’s a book about people and I liked having people in the background while I worked.

Now you have written this book, what has writing it done for you, your family, your self-esteem or your business?

The most noticeable difference for me and my family is that since I finished writing the book, I now take weekends off!

If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a book, what would be your number one tip?

Write about something that you are passionate about and like to talk about or read about all day long.

And finally, how can people buy your book, in what formats, and what does it cost? Please include any links if you have them.

The Globalisation of Love is available on Amazon and via www.expatbookshop.com for €19,99. An ebook will be available soon too.

Writers Abroad radio show 26 – Foreign Flavours anthology

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:00:48 +0000

I spoke to Angela Williams, who writes as Susan Carey not only about the Writers Abroad online writers’ circle to which she belongs, but also about their newest anthology of fine writings, called Foreign Flavours. The organisation provides support and inspiration for a group of writers all over the world and this is their second anthology, published by Lulu. It has a foody theme, which suits me fine, and there are lots of really great recipes in the book too, for unusual delights such as Indian idli and a Turkish pear and quince dessert. My chat with Angela, who lives in Amsterdam will whet your appetite. In addition, you get a sneak preview into her own novel, which will be about one of my other favourite topics (apart from food) – bellydancing.

Listen to her interview here

Writers Abroad radio show 24, Wendy Williams, author of The Globalisation of Love

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:36:09 +0000

Canadian, Wendy Williams, has been married to an Austrian for 13 years and lives in Vienna. Her new book is published on her wedding anniversary, 13th November. In this interview we discover how she created a new term to apply to those in a multicultural marriage – GloLo – and how Williams cleverly chose to include the wisdom of intercultural and relationship experts in order to ensure her book was well-researched and had the authority it needed. This is a book, rather like Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, in that it is written to be used and enjoyed by real people and not by academics. It is also very, very funny.

You can listen to the show here.

Writers Abroad Radio Show 22 with Nick Snelling, expat laptop entrepreneur and writer

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:43:42 +0000

Fascinating, informative, inspiring interview with Nick Snelling of the highly successful blog www.culturespain.com about how he makes a living writing while living abroad in Spain with his family. Nick is the author of four books – Taking the Heat, How to Sell Your Spanish Property in a Crisis, How to Buy Spanish Property and Move to Spain – Safely and his next book, for November release – Laptop Entrepreneur. Nick’s next book shares how anyone can get to grips with the internet and can create a lucrative career from home anywhere in the world. This interview is crammed with tips and takeaways. Don’t miss it.

Listen to the show here

Writers Abroad radio show – 15 -Melody Biringer of the CRAVE books

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:28:36 +0000

Melody Biringer is a self-confessed startup junkie and among her list of 20 businesses that she has started in the last 30+ years is a publishing empire called CRAVE. CRAVE guides have now been published in countless cities all over America and are now moving into Europe, with Amsterdam its first guide. Melody wanted to create a business that would let her work and live anywhere (while people queued up to give her money). A career based on schmoozing. This she has achieved big time. And now, to add to her impressive list of titles comes a book crammed with secrets, tips and downright honesty about how she has done it. Craving Success: a startup junkie’s path from passion to profits is quite simply, brilliant. I read it from cover to cover on a Sunday – yes it is THAT good. Melody is knee-tremblingly frank not only about her successes but also about her failures. Believe me, you need to listen to this interview and to check out her blog at www.startupjunkie.com

Listen to her inspiring interview here

Author to author interview with Sue Walker of Retiring the Ole Way

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:54:51 +0000

They say you should write about what you know, right? So, when Sue Walker retired to Spain in 2008 and spotted an advert for a writing competition she decided to give it a go. Now, she has a website EyeOnSpain to accompany her book Retiring the Ole Way. As a child Sue Walker lived in Canada, Norfolk and Lincolnshire, and she has enjoyed moving house ever since. Her most recent and most problematic movewas from London to Spain in 2008. She is now enjoying her new life in Jumilla, a traditional Spanish town in the north-east of Murcia, far from the typical expat urbanisations.

Tell me about your book. What is it about? Can you describe it in just a few sentences? To show that a book has focus it is vital that it can be described briefly and succinctly.

This book chronicles my adventures with my husband John as we set about to enjoy an active retirement in south-east Spain. Although we researched their move, things didn’t quite go to plan, however we are now enjoying our new life in Spain and have few regrets.

Why did you write it?

I had enjoyed writing since I was at school, and had a couple of articles published in local papers, but my dream was always to have a book published. I saw the writing competition on the NativeSpain website, so decided to have a go!

Why do you think your book needed to be written? What will your book do for other people?

Although there have been many books written about people’s experiences living in Spain, and also books about the practical aspects of moving abroad, I felt there wasn’t a book giving a personal view of all the problems to be faced and issues to consider before making such an important lifestyle choice. I hope the book will prevent people making the same mistakes we made, but also that it will inspire people to follow in our footsteps.

Who do you think will read your book? What made you think that there was a market for it? If your book has been out for a while, what proof do you have that you were right?

I think that anybody considering moving to Spain, and wanting to know the negative aspects as well as the many positive things, should read my book so that they are aware of the potential pitfalls. Debs Jenkins was the person who felt I should focus on the “young retirees” market, so I rewrote my original book with that in mind! To be honest, I don’t know what expectations Debs had for my book! It seems to be selling slowly but steadily, which I think is a good thing, but it doesn’t look like a best-seller!

Debs and Joe did some promotion when my book was first published and they sent out press releases etc.

I have made contributions to several expat websites as detailed below, plus I post regularly on Eye on Spain, which allows me to put a link to my book on Amazon, plus a link to my blog, in my signature. http://www.eyeonspain.com

I completed a questionnaire for ExpatFocus, and they then published my experiences: http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-spain-experiences-sue-john-walker

I also contributed to Expatica: http://www.expatica.com/es/life-in-spain/expat_voices/Expat-Voices_-Sue-Walker-on-living-in-Algorfa_14635.html?ppager=0 (I don’t know why the link shows Algorfa rather than Jumilla!)

Debs and Joe helped me set up my own website: http://spainuncovered.com/. One of the reasons behind this was to explore a couple of ideas that I had for a follow-up book, as I had enjoyed writing “Retiring the Olé Way” so much.

The first idea was the “Ups and downs of living in Spain”, however I am not sure whether that hasn’t been done too many times by other expats!

The second idea was “Spain on a Budget”, with money-saving tips from our visits to several cities in Spain. My thinking is that there could be more of a market for this, because not only students, but also families and pensioners are all interested in visiting different places without having to spend a fortune.

I started writing articles for several publications, some of them being online as well as having print versions. I wasn’t paid, however I was allowed to have a link to Amazon and/or my website. These included: Mar Menor Focus; Over 65 magazine; Costa Brava magazine. I was interviewed on Talk Radio Europe, not long after my book was published. More recently, I was interviewed by a writer for Moneywise magazine, who are using me as a case study, and they have promised to mention my book. I also send articles about forthcoming events in Jumilla to Simply Networking, a website for people living in Murcia region. They don’t pay me, but they provide a link to my blog.

I was approached by AngloInfo in September last year and asked if I would like to write a blog for them about our life in Jumilla. On the page “About this blog”, there is a link to my book as well as a link to my website. http://blogs.angloinfo.com/jumilla-journal. The editor of the Costa Calida/Costa Blanca section told me that my blog had 3,400 hits in February, second only to the Sat TV man! My only concern is that my dog Lisa, who occasionally writes a dog-blog seems to be a lot more popular than I am!

I use twitter and facebook, as advised by my son Mark who works for Quadrille! I make sure that I provide links there for any updates to my website or AngloInfo blog, plus published articles.

How did you publish your book? Did you find an agent, a publisher or did you publish it yourself? Please describe your process and tell us how you found the experience.

See answer above. I saw the competition on Native Spain and entered it. Debs offered me a book contract.

Self-belief can be a big problem for writers. How did you manage to stay confident in your ability and remember that you were good enough to write your book? How did you cope with the days when you thought you could not do it and that it was rubbish?

I have always enjoyed writing, and in the past belonged to Newcastle Writers Circle as well as groups in London. I was encouraged by fellow writers and by the fact that I had a couple of acceptances: I read short pieces on Radio Newcastle, plus I had articles published in my local newspaper in Welwyn Garden City. I found it easy enough to write articles, but admit the thought of a book was daunting. I decided to write different chapters on different topics and looked upon each chapter as an article in its own right. The hardest task was when Debs asked me to rewrite it, telling my own story and also aiming it at young retirees!

It’s easy to procrastinate, to blame writers’ block and to put off finishing your project. How did you keep yourself motivated? And how long did it take you to write it? What was your routine?

Oh dear, I’m not sure that I can remember now! Initially, there was a deadline for the competition, so that kept me motivated as I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to have a book published! I think, though I’m not sure, that it took me about 6 months to rewrite, as I had to get case studies, plus internet access wasn’t great at the time. My routine was to sit down at the PC and complete a chapter at a time, if at all possible.

What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?

The initial writing was a challenge, but fun. It was the rewrite that was harder, especially as I had to write about a difficult period in my life when my Mum and my youngest brother both died within a couple of months of each other. I didn’t need to write about that in the original version, but I couldn’t miss it out of the more personal story.

If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a book, what would be your number one tip?

Enjoy it, and write the book as if you were talking to your best friend.

Writers Abroad radio show 13 – Kath Smith of Parents on the Move and Beyond Broken Families

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:57:51 +0000

Kathleen is an example of someone who has taken her 30 years of personal and professional experience and turned that into two useful, engaging and deeply inspiring books.

Kathleen is an American, married a Brit and had two children. Then she moved to England. After seeing many families struggle with international moves she decided to do what she could and learn what she could to help them. First she created Childtrack International, but later Marc, her son, got cancer and she got divorced and her focus shifted. With the backing of Destiny Image, a huge Christian publisher, Kath went on to write a startling book, Parents on the Move and later, with Marc in remission and herself remarried, but her mother in the US ill and likely to die, a book close to heart – Beyond Broken Families.

That Kathleen is a committed Christian may be incidental for her books speak to anyone regardless of faith. Her words will help and inspire all. In this interview she talks about how she turned her knowledge into a book and also shares her theories on the seven levels of moving – words that will give you a taste of the incredible inspiration that is Kath Smith.

You can listen to the interview here.

Writers Abroad Radio Show 11 – Yolanda Solo Expat Survival – Spain

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:27:20 +0000

What a joy it was to speak to Yolanda Solo. She is a writer who is definitely on the same page as me. Writing anything, spotting opportunities, going for it and making a pretty job of it too. Now based in Spain, this How To Book – Spain, the Expat Survival Guide – was born out of her own relocation problems.

Always with a laugh up her sleeve and a positive outlook, listen to this if you need to believe you too can make it as a writer overseas.

Yolanda can be found at www.yolandasolo.com

Listen to the interview here.

Writers Abroad radio show 9 – Carolyn Vines of Black and Abroad

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:34:08 +0000

A few years ago, Carolyn Vines was writing her memoir about being a black woman living overseas when she woke up one morning with the title Black and Abroad in her head. Later, this became the name of her blog too, and her website, even her Twitter name. In the beginning this happened by accident, but then, with the book due to be published, she contacted a book marketeer called Don McCaulay and discovered she had got many things absolutely right. Her work with Don led her to fine tune her marketing strategically with Don’s help. Later she went on to discover her book had become a business too. This fascinating interview will inspire any author to think about the Three Bs from the outset – blog, brand and business – and not simply the book.

You can listen to my interview with her here