The End... well almost!

I’m excited to tell you that just a few days ago, after finally settling down somewhere long enough to get some work done, I have at long last finished writing my next romantic adventure novel entitled ‘Island in the Sun’.

I’ve now sent it off to my lovely editor for its first round of edits.

If you are not familiar with the publishing process and are wondering what this means exactly, my editor will read through the manuscript at this stage and then get back to me with a full assessment on whether, in her opinion, the story works, if the plot hangs together, and if the characters feel three dimensional and real to her.

She might suggest I rewrite particular scenes and she will look out for plot holes and gaffs and bloopers and the over-use of particular words and for continuity in the storyline. Then, I’ll either take on board what she has said, or not. I’m not obliged to accept her suggestions, but as she has been my editor for many years, I usually find she is absolutely spot on in her observations!

After I’ve read her assessment several times and mulled over her suggestions for improvement, I will work on the novel again.

The final stage of editing is when the the manuscript is checked over line by line to look out for errors and to correct layout and grammar and spelling.

My editor is very good at what she does and, once she has worked her magic, the manuscript will come winging its way back to me looking and reading like a proper novel.

Then and only then is it ready to be seen by you – the reader!

While I’m waiting for the assessment edit I’ll be keeping very busy indeed writing ‘the synopsis’ and ‘the blurb’ for Island In The Sun, which I know I will find very difficult to do.

The synopsis is used as a marketing tool to explain what happens in the book using just one or two pages of writing, while the blurb is the essence of the book in just one or two paragraphs, and is often seen on the back cover of the physical book and used as the book description for Amazon etc. So the words have to be chosen carefully!

I also have a travel feature to write for LLm (Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine) as part of my regular ‘Janice Horton’s – Dream, Explore, Discover… Travel’ which will be published on 11^th December 2016.

This time, I will be writing about Kuala Lumpur, (known otherwise as KL and the gateway to South East Asia). KL is a city that I’m now fortunate to know very well indeed, having been there several times throughout 2016.

I also intend to catch up to date with my lack of blog posts here regarding my travel itinerary. My last travel post was about our amazing trip to Vancouver Canada (which you can read about HERE).

So, my next blog post, will be about how we flew away from Canada (via Houston Texas and Tokyo Japan) to arrive (after twenty five hours in the air) at Kuala Lumpur, where we met up with our middle son James and his lovely wife Sujeong.

A quick stop over in Tokyo before we board our fight for KL

James and Sujeong and our grandson Aaron live in South Korea. We were meeting up with them in KL to help them celebrate their second wedding anniversary. Although, our beautiful grandson wasn’t with them on this occasion, as this was a grown up affair and what a wonderful and fun few days we had, sightseeing and shopping and eating and drinking – and so I warn you now that there will be lots of photos in my next post!

Helping James and Sujeong to celebrate their wedding anniversary in style.

Until next time,

Love, Janice xx

'Snap Gapping' our way to the end of 2014...

I’m sooooo late catching up on November's post because I've been ‘snap gapping’ again – this time to the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf.

Glasgow to Bahrain via Dubai

Trav and I went to Bahrain to visit and stay with a couple of dear friends who live and work over there, so we were in fact, tourists by default. Bahrain is a country that hadn’t actually been on our radar as a holiday destination but it really is a well worth a visit if you have a penchant for fascinating, cosmopolitan, and multi-cultural locations that are as rich in heritage as they are in fun and excitement. It has to be noted there has been and still is some political unrest on the island but at no time did we feel unsafe. On the contrary, we felt at ease everywhere we went by day or by night, as the Bahraini people are so friendly and welcoming.

Our lovely friends Sue and Pete took us out and about for the ten days we were there and what a privilege that was for us – the country is vibrant and booming. Some days we ventured far into the hot white sands of the desert. On other days, we immersed ourselves in the Bahraini café culture and drank Arabian coffee and ate succulent dates (never in equal numbers – you can have one or three, for example, but never two or four). In the evenings, we ventured into the city and to hotels like The Soffitel or The Ritz Carlton for decadent sundowner cocktail and a delicious dinner.

Sundowners over The Persian Gulf

We traveled from Glasgow International to Bahrain via Dubai with Emirate Airlines. You can sign up for an Emirates air miles loyalty card and news of flash sale prices on the Emirates website. As you can see there were heavy grey skies over Glasgow as we left!

Grey skies over Glasgow!

Highlights of our Bahrain Trip: Top of the list! Catching up with our lovely friends Sue and Pete!

Visiting The Tree of Life - in the shimmering white sand of the Bahraini desert stands an isolated and very old mesquite tree. Its girth is broad and its branches are wide and dipped with the effort of holding up its green foliage. Some of the branches are now artificially supported to prevent them snapping. Local lore dates the tree in millenniums but a study was conduced in 1986 in conjunction with by the Smithsonian Natural History Museum of Washington DC, USA, and it was then concluded that the tree had been planted in c1583 AD during the Late Islamic Stage. But the really interesting thing about this tree - is that to this day its source of water remains a mystery. Some believe the tree gets water from an underground spring but that doesn’t explain the complete lack of any other trees or green vegetation in the vicinity. I loved the journey out into the desert, passing working oil rigs and desert settlements and I particularly loved the sight of this lonely old tree on its unique hillside desert setting.

In the desert to see The Tree of Life and count oil wells!

Amwaj – the floating city. The Amwaj Islands project is an artificial island development in Muharraq, Bahrain. Known as The Floating City - it is still partly under construction but has a shopping mall, restaurants, hotels, waterfront villas and chalets and apartments - all intertwined with a series of canals, enabling residents to park their boats by their own back garden. There is also a white sand beach where we paddled while also admiring the skyline of Manama in the distance. The island project is beautiful, ambitious and totally incredible.

Amwaj - the floating city

Here I am at the marina in Amwaj Bahrain

Bridging the International Gap. The King Fahad Causeway links Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and is one of the world’s longest bridges between two countries. You need a visa to enter Saudi Arabia but you can drive to the midpoint on the causeway and enjoying the glorious view across both countries.

The road to Saudi Arabia

Grand Prix International Circuit: Bahrain is famous for its F1 venue. Tens of thousands of visitors attend each April. Here I am standing in the vast sand car park outside the stadium!

At the F1 Grand Prix Circuit in Bahrain - the flags, the grand driveway and the hot sand car park! 

Shopping: There is a certain freedom that exists in Bahrain that attracts many shoppers from neighbouring Gulf States. We (mostly) window shopped in many of the air-conditioned malls which have lots of familiar western outlets like Marks and Spencer. In the Souks, we browsed in and out of exotic perfume shops amongst rich and heavenly fragrances with prices that made your eyes water.

Traditional Arabian clothes and Marks and Spencer!

Sue and I at The Mall

Nights Out! In the evenings, we either socialised with the ex-pat set at the Bahrain Football and Rugby Club or watched incredible sunsets while sipping cocktails on balmy terraces that overlooked the sea. It was fabulous and exotic.

Ladies night at The Ritz Carlton Bahrain

I’ve just written up a full ‘Snap Gap’ travel report on Bahrain for Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine which, if you’d like to read more about Bahrain as a travel destination and more of my recommended sights, you can read it by clicking HERE.

I’ve agreed to write several more of these types of travel reports for LLm throughout 2015 and it was while planning which locations to feature in the magazine that I came to realise that Trav and I have been fortunate to have visited 32 different countries over the years – and some on several occasions. These include: The United Kingdom, The United Arab Emirates, Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bahrain, St. Barths, Bonaire, St.Eustatius and Saba, Curacao, Cyprus, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Spain, France, Grenada, Greece, Honduras, Israel, Italy, South Korea, St. Lucia, Monaco, St. Martin, Martinique, Mauritius, Maldives, Turkey, United States, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, British Virgin Islands.

You can create your own world travel map using this website: http://matadornetwork.com/travel-map

December Update: During December we also ‘Snap Gapped’ from Glasgow Prestwick to Tenerife. We flew with Ryanair and rented an apartment for a week. While Trav was away on a diving course with AmarillaDivers I was working on the edits for ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’. It was wonderful- and at the same time rather strange – to go from 4 degrees C to 24 degrees C in just over four hours of the flight time. From these photos you can see that it wasn't all work! We are back in Scotland just now for Christmas and so I want to wish you a very happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Tenerife in December - sunshine, writing, having fun and catching up with friends

I’ll be back before the year end with a round up of 2014 – the writing and the travelling - and to share with you our hopes and plans for 2015 and to hear about yours. See you then my lovely friends!

Love, Janice xx

May - and back to the Caribbean...

I’ve lots to tell you this month. Trav and I went back to the Caribbean and visited the beautiful Dominican Republic. This was our second trip to this particular island as we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary there last year. This year, we booked on spec just a couple of weeks prior to departure because we saw it at the most amazing price. So amazing in fact that we expected there to be a catch and we were right to be suspicious. It turned out there is  a major construction project going on in the next bay to the resort. We were amazed to see that the idyllic beach filled with palm trees that we had explored the previous year, was now a vast concrete car park and half built cruise ship terminal.

The bay on the left as it was in 2013 and on the right as it is now: a cruise terminal under construction.

The only way to see this in a country heavily reliant on tourism, is positively, for the tourist dollars it will bring into the island. Luckily, there are plenty more idyllic palm filled beaches in the Dom Rep to explore and, call me fickle if you will, but from over the hill at our beach resort location we could only see a single crane that could easily be ignored when focusing on the clear blue ocean, the hot white sand and the beach bar.

 Left: at the beach bar with Trav.   Right: at the main bar with lovely new holiday friends.

 The beach at our resort hotel

 

Trav and I have now visited a total of twelve Caribbean islands. We have been to Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Barths, Tortola, Dominica, St Vincent, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao and Grenada. The Dominican Republic is one of my firm favourites. The weather is tropical of course and the beaches are idyllic. The island is green and lush and filled with amazing rainforest and beautiful waterfalls. It’s famous for its Amber and Larimar. The Amber World Museum is a must-visit and there is a jewellery shop right next door. Trav bought me an unusual and beautiful ring that ‘twists’ showing amber on one side and blue Larimar on the other - see photo. The Brugal rum factory tour is also worth doing as is the 800m cable car trip to the top of Mount Isabel de Torres.

 My lovely and unusual amber and larimar 'twist' anniversary ring

Did you know that the Dom Rep was the location for the Jurassic Park movie? It really does have that prehistoric jungle feel to it. Trav and I ventured through the rainforest and climbed (and jumped from) seven waterfalls - which was an exhilarating experience and fun - once I’d claimed the fear! The Dom Rep is a real gem I and would highly recommend it to you. We stayed at The Riu Hotel Resort, Bahia de Maimon, Puerto Plata.

 Above: the famous Amber Museum and views of Puerto Plata from the cable car

 

 A dive centre on the beach and the prehistoric rainforest island interior

My Hair Braiding Adventure! The heat and humidity in the Caribbean always plays havoc with my thick curly hair, which refuses to behave itself and drives me crazy. So when I was asked by a young Haitian girl on the beach if I wanted hair braids and extensions - I set aside my fear of ending up looking like Medusa and went for it. I have to say that for two whole weeks it was the easiest holiday hair ever. Once home, it did take me many hours to undo the braids but as my real hair seemed non the worse for its ordeal, I wouldn’t hesitate to have it done again given the chance! What do you think?

 Before, during and after the braiding…!

Trav and I are now back in Scotland and back to work. Our tans are covered up in the usual jeans and woolly sweaters as it’s cold and raining. The welcome home however is warm as our wee west highland terrier Polly is glad we are back and it’s so nice to catch up with our sons #1 and #3.

Son #2, who lives in a city called Daegu in South Korea, where he works as an English teacher, is expecting us to visit in a couple of weeks time. We will be flying from Glasgow to Dubai with Emirate Airlines and from Dubai to Seoul on their new double-decker A380 Super Jumbo. From Seoul we will take the KTX bullet train to Daegu. It sounds like an exhausting trip but I can hardly wait!

So my next post here in June will report on our South Korean trip!

On the writing front: I today submitted a quirky travel feature to Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine. ‘Planning for the Snap Gap’ explains how unlike a gap year, a typical snap gap can be a month, six weeks, or a few months long. Are you someone who looks forward to your annual fortnight holiday only to wish it was longer? Are you, like Trav and I, ready to Snap Gap..? If so then do join me and pop over to the http://www.loveahappyending.com/ website to read my feature when it goes live on 19th May.

The latest award winning LLm e-magazine is out now. It’s Issue 4.

 Download your copy now - it’s FREE!

Since the start of the year when we sold our cottage on the hillside and moved to a rented house down by the river, our lives have changed so much. Trav and I have always owned our own home and I thought it would feel strange, even a little scary, not to have a property of our own to call ‘home’. But actually it doesn’t feel scary at all. It feels liberating. I realise that our nesting days are over and our three boys are all grown up and doing their own thing. So this is the time for us to do our own thing too. We are free to explore the world.

So I had a house sign made. It’s a lovely custom driftwood piece made by the lovely Becky at www.driftwoodmagic.co.uk I explained that we wanted a handmade rustic style sign to take with us wherever we went, which we could hang up on a door or a wall, to make anywhere ‘our hoose’ (that’s Scottish for house!) This is the sign. I’m thrilled with it. What do you think…?

 

On the 1st July we are back to the Caribbean again - and this time for three whole months - to an island we have not been to before. Have you guessed where it is yet…?

I promise to tell you all about it next time!

Love,

Janice xx

 

January - packing up and moving on!

I know, I know…. I haven’t posted since wishing you a happy Christmas but I do have a good excuse, honest! 

Just before Christmas we sold our cottage. We’d had it up for sale for almost a year but with the house market being in the doldrums, we hadn’t attracted any serious interest. That all changed very quickly indeed just before Christmas after a lovely couple came to view, loved it, and offered to buy it straight away!

You may wonder why we would want to sell our cottage, which we bought as a derelict shepherd's bothy twenty five years ago and renovated ourselves. Well, with our three lovely sons all grown up and seeing the big wide world as theirs for the taking, Mr JH and I have decided to sell up/downscale and age disgracefully by having some adventures of our own rather than putting our feet up by the fire.

We did manage to have a fabulous last family Christmas at the cottage. But the moment January arrived we were in packing mode. So now we have packed up and moved out - our exciting adventure has begun. We have very luckily managed to find a place to stay temporarily, until we decide where we’d like to base ourselves. We have moved from our cottage in the hills to a lodge house down by the side of the river. The river is one of the best in Scotland for fishing salmon and river trout and I must admit that I do love the sight and sound of the water thundering past us - from a safe distance of course - here on the river bank!

And the writing? Well, I’m just about to start writing a new full length novel for publication later this year and I can do that just about anywhere – same goes for blogging – so if I’m not here as much as you’d like me to be with my news then please do pop over and Like my Page or Follow me on Facebook or Twitter as you’ll find me online there most days and I’d be delighted to chat and share news.

So what’s happening this week…?

Award winning 'Innovative' Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine - for which I am an associate editor – has a fabulous third issue available now to read online or to download. I like to download it to read on my Kindle Fire in full colour. Find out how to get your FREE copy HERE

January 25^th is Burns Night here in Scotland and it is celebrated all over the world. I’m celebrating by offering my bestselling novel Bagpipes and Bullshot at a specially reduced price in paperback. Or you can download to Kindle at £1.90 or $3.00. A wee bargain!

Here’s the links if you’d like to check it out on Amazon UK or Amazon US. Other countries worldwide via Amazon are included in this offer.

You can win a copy of Bagpipes and Bullshot if you are my 5000^th Twitter Follower! I'm close to 5K lovely follower peeps and feeling so excited about reaching such a milestone! A copy of my bestselling novel Bagpipes & Bullshot goes to Follower No.5000!

Be a Tweetheart and Follow me on Twitter! https://twitter.com/JaniceHorton

Until next week then…..

Janice xx