25th August 2009

It's been a bit of a quiet summer with the recession and bad weather so imagine my surprise when an email arrived to say that I had won an award! Yes, it's Shannonside/Northernsound again who have started a monthly Arts and Entertainments Award this year, and on the strength of my interview in March, I am now the proud possessor of a lovely crystal trophy!



The final was yesterday in Cavan where all twelve monthly winners were up for the overall prize of €1,000 Euros kindly given by the radio station. It was a "good do" with food and drinks laid on, sadly I didn't get the overall prize but the competition was awe inspiring and the winner truly deserved it.

25th March 2009

Yippee! I went up to Shannonside radio's studios today to do an interview with Roisin Cooper, presenter of The Arts Hour. As usual - I am no stranger to Shannonside - I was treated wonderfully and Roisin - who seems to take life at 100mph - even found time to make me a mug of tea. Just right, too, thanks Roisin!



The interview will be broadcast on Saturday 28th March between 5pm and 6pm GMT and as well as talking about the book "Polly and Friends", listeners will be "treated" to myself reading two poems, one from the book and another which has recently been published in the Carriage Dog Chronicle. Anyone in the world can catch the programme online by going here www.shannonside.ie sadly you can only listen to broadcasts as they happen so if you would like to hear me making a fool of myself, you'll need to tune in at 5pm Saturday.

While I was there I grabbed the opportunity to meet one of my favourite DJs who was in the middle of his afternoon show, but took a few minutes out to say hello! Meet Mr Pete Casey!





18th February 2009

"Polly and Friends" is now on offer at a recession-busting price in three currencies, prices are now €12.99, £11.99 or $15.99 including shipping for a personally signed copy. Unfortunately I can only take online orders in Euros so if you want to pay in Sterling or Dollars, you'll need to use the old-fashioned mail order method. I have detailed this on the "how to order" page, any queries then drop me a line and I'll answer usually the same day.

18th February 2009

After much editing and screaming, both "The Declan Diaries" and "Cascade" are finished and out in the market for consideration. Since the usual wait for an initial verdict is something along the lines of three months I am not holding my breath and the commercial publishing world is highly competitive, but at least I have two very different novels out there and you never know...

26th November

Well - I did it, I won NaNo! See the NaNoWriMo page for more details. I visited the local radio station today and within an hour I was being interviewed live on air! Many thanks to MaryClaire, presenter of "Let's Talk" for being so kind to me and not asking me anything difficult!

6th November 2008

My NaNo project is up and running! An entire novel in 30 days! Well, a first draft anyway. I have created a page just for this project, click on the "Cascade" tab and read all about it.

16th October 2008

Petexpo is running at the RDS this weekend, Friday through Sunday and on FRIDAY I will be in the Breeder's Village, Dalmatian stand signing copies of "Polly and Friends". Half of the profits will go to the fund run by the All Ireland Dalmatian Club to buy a hearing test machine for Ireland as there is no facility currently. Even if you don't want to buy, come and say hello!

14th October 2008

I will be taking part in the world-wide event for Authors, NaNoWriMo, during November. (www.nanowrimo.com) The idea is to write a short novel  - 50,000 words - between 1st and 30th November. I have the title, the plot (mostly!) so I am nearly ready to go. I have contacts in a number of Countries who will be acting as "Buddies" for those long, middle of the night sessions when it all seems like a bad idea. My proposed novel is called "Cascade" and is the story of a woman who wants to get rid of her husband, and devises the perfect murder. Then her brother turns up out of the blue and throws her plans into jeopardy...
Set in the world of cruising yachts and the East of England, "Cascade" should keep you guessing right up to the final page. I hope!
I will be creating a new page for this project shortly.

12th August 2008

Link to my new dog website added.

12th August 2008

Twenty four copies of "Polly and Friends" have been ordered by Alan Hanna's bookshop in Dublin, Irish Library suppliers. Unconfirmed rumours indicate that twenty two copies will stay in Dublin libraries which will bring the book to a wide audience in Ireland.

10th August 2008

This day is the second anniversary of Polly's death. To mark this, "Polly and Friends" will be reduced to HALF PRICE until the end of August. Still with free shipping worldwide!

8th July 2008

The techy boys who run the background to this site have decided to limit online shops to one currency only, despite plans to allow payment in Dollars and Sterling as well as Euro's. If you wish to order but the exchange rate on Euro is not to your liking, send me an email and I will give you the address to send payment in the currency of your choice, within reason. Old fashioned mail order, but it works!

21st February 2008

A huge welcome to our American readers as "Polly and Friends" is the subject of a modest advertising campaign in the American Kennel Club "Family Dog" magazine http://www.akc.org/pubs/familydog/
Yes you will be able to pay in Dollars not Euro - but give me a few days to sort it out on PayPal! Checks accepted but will need to clear before despatch. Details on "how to order" page. There has already been a review of "Polly and Friends" by Carroll Weiss of Florida, which is reproduced in part on the review section of this site.

21st December 2007

The feature in the Longford Leader appeared in the 7th December edition, entitled "Paws for thought with intriguing new book from Granard woman" written by a talented young lady called Ailbhe Gillespie. Ailbhe wrote a great piece on "Polly and Friends" and was kind enough to pose with Deccy after the "official" shots were done. The photographer, Joe MacDonagh, does a mean impression of a cat in battle cry mode which is why Deccy is looking so alert!

I am grateful to the Longford Leader, Ailbhe and Joe for letting me reproduce the pic of Ailbhe with Deccy. What an unfaithful dog he is!!

Photograph of Ailbhe Gillespie and Deccy by Joe MacDonagh, reproduced with kind permission of Longford Leader newspaper. (http://www.longford-leader.ie/)

 

20th November 2007

Gill and "Polly and Friends" will be featured in the Longford Leader newspaper on 7th December, as an article in the Arts section, complete with pics The following day, there will be a book signing in Grafton Court Books in Longford town, the only retail outlet in the Republic. More news on this to follow.

27th October 2007 (updated 20th November)

"Polly and Friends" will be available from the Irish Canine Press/Dog World stand at the IKC General Championship shows until the end of 2007 at least. The book may be purchased for either €20 or £15 and all copies will be signed.

14th September 2007

THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH of "Polly and Friends" has been arranged in conjunction with Pet Expo 2007 at Dublin's RDS, in collaboration with ASH animal sanctuary.  Pet Expo 2007 is Ireland's first ever pet exhibition and will be held between 12th and 14th October in the Shelbourne Hall and surrounding outside area.  There will be full media coverage and Gill will be there - with Deccy - on all three days signing and selling books, with 50% of the profits being donated to ASH. Invitations for the launch will be going out next week so if you have a connection with the media or  dogs/dog rescue, email us for an invitation.
In addition to the launch, Gill will be giving a light hearted and humorous talk on her work and the book as part of the seminar programme, this will be on the Friday (12th) at 1.30. She will be "assisted" by Deccy, of course.... plus there will be a rolling slideshow throughout the talk featuring all the photographs from the book.

5th September 2007

Grafton Court Books, the only retail outlet in the Republic of Ireland, recently sold out of "Polly and Friends" and rang this morning for a further supply! Luckily, we were able to deliver within the hour so problem solved!

4th September 2007

Longford Library has made a purchase of "Polly and Friends" which will be available on loan, initially from the GRANARD branch but it is hoped that this will be extended in due course. Granard has a long history of poets and authors and is my home town.

3rd September 2007

Orders have now been received for "Polly and Friends" from AUSTRALIA and the CZECH REPUBLIC so there are now TEN Countries where there is a copy of the book - somewhere!

16th August 2007
"Polly and Friends" was featured in a live radio broadcast on Thursday 16th August when Gill appeared as a guest on the afternoon show, "Shannonside View" hosted by Anne Norris. (Shown standing in the photo). This was listened to world wide via the internet as well as all across the Ireland border region.
http://www.shannonside.ie/

 

More news on "Polly and Friends" will be posted soon ...............

 

Donations to Dog Charities

The following charities have been nominated by the photographers who contributed to "Polly and Friends":

The Dogs Trust

British Dalmatian Club Welfare

Dogs for the Disabled

NCDL

PDSA

PAT Dogs

Hearing dogs for the Deaf

Wiccaweys

Easterleigh Animal Sanctuary

Bullmastiff Rescue and Adoption UK


Updates to this list, and details of donations made will be announced at a later date.