As you will have read in my recent blogs Jo Wilde and I are in our third year of organising the local Memory Walk to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society and this year we also teamed up with six other authors, one children’s editor, one illustrator and one designer to create Little Kitty, a children’s book. We all gave our time freely and all royalties will go to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
I invited Jo to come along and talk about her support for two charities close to her heart, Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK (two different charities). Jo told me …
There’s so much going on at the moment, and life is getting very busy, what with all the writing and editing and publishing and fundraising.
I’ve just been involved in a really exciting project – writing a book to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, a great charity that is working hard to find a treatment for dementia. It’s the first time I’ve written anything that’s made it as far as publication – and seeing it out there in print is fantastic! I’m so excited, and sharing it with everybody! I signed my first copy today, that’s when I realised that I’m now an author…and I just want to keep writing.
I can’t remember how I first got involved with the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk, but I suspect it was because Suzan asked me, and she’s not an easy person to say no to. Besides, I’ve always done various sorts of voluntary work, which I had less and less time for when my paid working hours got ridiculously long, so it was nice to get a chance to do something that didn’t take up as much time, but was equally valuable to the community.
For the past couple of years, we’ve done all the organising locally, with some help from the local Alzheimer’s Society branch, but this year for the first time we registered as a community walk which meant we had involvement from regional and national offices.
We’re trying to grow the walk, to enable more people to participate, and raise more money so that more people can benefit. This year for the first time, we had a whole committee to help organise, which has been great – there have been other people to do some of the work, and to bounce ideas off. I’ve met new people and reconnected with old friends, and altogether had a blast.
I love organising things like this, and seeing the whole community come together to support a common cause. As the day gets closer there’s more and more to do…and we all get busier and busier until the day. Our walk on Sunday 27th September was bigger than we expected. Would you like to join us next year? https://www.facebook.com/Lowestoft-Memory-Walk-25th-Sept-2016-1070431756308752/timeline/
My first book and my first book signing, Little Kitty – the Cat Burglar
Amazon UK http://goo.gl/m84FTe
Amazon USA http://goo.gl/AAYYfR
Let’s find out about the authors who took:
Jo Wilde
Jo was born in Yorkshire, many more years ago than she cares to remember. She works in a theatre and a library, and fills up the rest of her time reading, writing, editing, proofreading, event organising, eating chocolate and drinking wine.
To find out more about Jo, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.scaryjojo.wordpress.com
Ann Bowyer
Ann is a retired Business Studies teacher. She has two sons and six grandchildren, and lives in Norfolk. After writing factual articles for magazines, Ann published her first fictional book in 2013. A Token of Love, which is based on the true story of her grandparents’ lives, has sold all around the world. She was featured in an article in the Hindu, India’s national paper, and, following numerous requests, is due to publish a sequel, Lost in a Homeland.
To find out more about Ann, or to follow her on social media, visit: http://www.annbowyer.com
Suzan Collins
Suzan is an internationally selling author who writes in various genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Her non-fiction includes textbooks pertaining to her work as consultant and trainer in Social Care and Management. Suzan also writes fiction – naughty, spicy and otherwise – under the pen name Zina Adams.
Finalist – People’s Book Prize, 2014 Shortlisted for Best Achievement Award – People’s Book Prize, 2014
To find out more about Suzan, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.suzancollins.com
Tottie Limejuice
Tottie Limejuice is one of the pen names of former journalist and copywriter Lesley Tottie. Lesley lives in France and now writes full-time. Her travel memoirs are published under the name Tottie Limejuice, and she also writes crime novels as L M Krier and children’s books as L M Kay. Her interests include organic gardening, camping and walking with her two rescued border collies.
To find out more about Tottie, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.tottielimejuice.com
Ros Lyons
Ros is interested in writing both fiction and memoirs. Her two cats provide much inspiration for creating stories. She belongs to two writing groups, where authors share their work and learn from each other. She enters the occasional writing competition and has had some success. As well as writing, Ros enjoys walking, the theatre and playing social bridge.
Lucille Rayner
Lucille is a Support Worker and assists and supports older people. She loves holidays in the sunshine, family get-togethers and walking in the Suffolk countryside. Lucille enjoys writing in her spare time and is currently writing a children’s book.
To find out more about Lucille, or to follow her on social media, visit:
www.facebook.com/pages/Lucille-Rayner/362171100645432?fref=ts
Tracy Terry
A Geordie lass, rumoured to have been born with a paperback in her hand, Tracy spends her days reading and reviewing books on her blog Pen and Paper. A lover of hedgehogs as well as cats, she also enjoys writing and receiving letters and is quite the movie buff. Her taste in films is almost as eclectic as her taste in novels!
To find out more about Tracy, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk
About the Artists
Catie Atkinson
Catie is an illustrator and designer based in Leeds. When she’s not drawing, she enjoys reading, cooking, acting, singing in the choir and attempting to play various instruments – although not all at the same time! She also loves crime thrillers and is convinced that in another life she would have made a great detective!
To find out more about Catie, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.catieatkinsonart.co.uk
Rachel Lawston
Rachel is a book designer who has worked with Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Walker Books, to name a few. Rising to the challenge of designing books and commissioning artwork for amazing authors like Terry Pratchett, John Boyne and Malorie Blackman are some of her biggest accomplishments. She is a huge tortoise enthusiast, and is
secretly hoping that at least one of the fantastic authors who took part in this project might base their next book on
her two naughty Hermann’s tortoises, Daenerys and Om . . .
To find out more about Rachel, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.lawstondesign.com
About the Editor:
Jaine Keskeys
Jaine is a Senior Editor who has worked in Children’s publishing for over ten years. She has written and edited projects for many fantastic publishers, including Penguin Random House, Egmont, Parragon Books and Titan. She spends her spare time reading and writing, and hopes to one day have her own picture books – perhaps even a novel! – published.
To find out more about Jaine, or to follow her on social media, visit: www.editorjaine.com
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