“But…but…but…THAT”S not YOUR name as the Author!” I hear you declare indignantly…

That’s TRUE – I’M not the AUTHOR, my Mother is, but unfortunately she is not alive to publish it herself, (she died in 2000), so I’ve published it in her name.

Today would have been Mum’s 90th birthday if she’d still been alive, so my sister and I felt that this book would be a nice way to celebrate Mum’s life and memory.

What’s it about?

As stated in the book description:

We all have dreams, loves and hopes; but what if you are a girl growing up in 20th century Northern Ireland before, during and after the ‘Troubles’?
From the poetic thoughts of our Mother, we get a sense of what it was like, ranging from humour, sadness, wistful thinking and sometimes just downright nonsensical, these are the words of one such girl.

Each poem tells a story.

My sister Lorna had kept and compiled all Mum’s poems she could find and always dreamed of having them published so others could enjoy them as well.

Enter Big Brother from stage left – NO, not the Orwellian one, or the Governmental one – I mean ME…

Since I’ve been blogging, dealing and rubbing virtual shoulders with over 500 talented giants of self-published literature for the past 3 years, my sister requested me (read threatened to tickle me until I gave in or fell out of my tree, whichever came first) to have Mum’s poems checked by a Professional Editor, make a cover for the resulting book and publish it.

WELL – EVERY Editor I knew qualified with Honours!

However, without hesitation, I immediately contacted Author Jo Robinson who recently started up her Indie Authors Support Services business as an Editor / Illustrator / Book Cover Maker / Book Formatter.

I have absolutely no regrets in selecting Jo – she has been professional (and patient) at all times, making all necessary editorial comments, offering advice, explaining things in a way even I could understand (no mean feat!) at every stage of the book editing, preparation, formatting, etc, then guiding me through the (well out of my comfort zone) joys of uploading to Amazon, making the Author’s Pages and doing the same for CreateSpace.

Now I’ve experienced the trauma of publishing a book, I’ve gained profound empathy and sympathy for every self-published author who has ever gone through this process – especially those who are non-USA citizens.

SO without further ado, I present Mum’s book to you as follows: