Here's Christine in running mode...
...and sailing mode...
...and just-being-Christine mode.
'New Year, for me, is
always a time for reflection. I began 2019 with a long, hard think
about writing. A novel I'd loved writing, Follow a Star, didn’t kick-start my
fiction career as much as I'd hoped, nor did the novella Moonbeams in a Jar, which came after Follow a Star. I wasn’t short of ideas; a new Little Spitmarsh novel, a house
with secrets novel, even the literary novel I’d started as part of an academic
course - heck, even a novel about a detective with superhuman powers all
beckoned. But what was really holding me back was the thought of all the hours
of hard work I would have to invest in a novel that would probably be priced at
99p on Amazon Kindle and other ebook platforms, leaving me with very little financial return.
'My husband, Tom, had
been urging me for years to "do it myself". So, when my son-in-law Simon bought
me an extra birthday present of a short course on self-publishing, I decided my
New Year's Resolution for 2019 would be to write and publish a book on the subject of something I’m
passionate about; running and its endless capacity to heal. What started as an
exercise opened floodgates of emotion as I recounted the painful circumstances
in which I started running. Words poured from my fingers as I recalled twenty
years of running through bad, sad and truly wonderful times.
'The technical process of uploading my book through Amazon KDP was straightforward and, yes, I was slightly daunted because it was my first time. But, gosh, I was so proud when I received the notification that Running Kind was up and running! An early lesson was realising that it was a false economy not to commission a professional cover. It seems readers of running books like to see a runner on the cover … who knew? So, I got in touch with multi-talented fellow author Rhoda Baxter who designed a smart new cover which readers seem to like, too.
'Writing and self-publishing
Running Kind has been an enjoyable and positive experience, and I’ve
received some wonderful feedback from readers - runners and non-runners alike.
There is one very special woman in my life who never thought she was the
running kind but found the confidence to lace up her trainers after reading my
book, and has almost completed a Couch to 5k programme. Even if I never sell
another book, that one outcome is the greatest reward of all.'
Do give this book a go, readers. I'm not a runner myself, but the wit, humour and honesty of this lovely story engaged me, even though I don't know if I'll ever find the energy to lace up any trainers myself. This is a bit weird because I somehow managed to produce two daughters who both love extreme sports, but that's another story.
Buy Running Kind here:
Get in touch with Christine:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisstovell
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/chrisstovell/
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