The first fifty paperbacks of the one hundred and fifty initially ordered, were delivered hot off the press to my Pimlico flat on St Patrick’s Day, 17^thMarch – Great Aunt Alice and the Black Camel had finally arrived.  Perfect timing, as it also happened to be Cheltenham Festival week, the pinnacle of the horse racing season, and which this year saw Rachael Blackmore become the first ever lady jockey to win the Champion Hurdle on the Irish trained Honeysuckle – what better omen for my first ever book!  Then Rachael goes on to win the Grand National – could this be an omen for me to kick on with the sequel?

Televised racing behind closed doors provided a fabulous escape from the confines of Lockdown London, and working on the production of my self-published novel was the perfect occupation, transporting me daily, albeit virtually,  to Tunisia. October 2019 was the last time I rode my camel, and my hopes of being reunited with him this year remain unfulfilled. It’s now looking more like Spring 2022 when I can make my pilgrimage to the village of Sabria to be with Zeydoun and my Bedouin friends who look after him.

But George Spender and Konstantinos Vasdekis of Salamander Street Publishing helped to fill the void, proving themselves to be on a parallel with the desert guides, skilfully showing me how to negotiate pages rather than sand dunes.  Just like trekking across the Sahara, it has been a joyful and demanding experience, made all the more so by meeting just the right illustrator for my tale, Mia Buckton, on the No.38 bus. The combined expertise, patience and knowledge of this talented team has resulted in Great Aunt Alice and the Black Camel wending its way on to the Amazon platform where it can now be purchased: £8.99 for the paperback version, £5.99 for the Kindle version  Amazon.co.uk : great aunt alice and the black camel.
And believe it or not, the book has just made an appearance on Amazon Japan! 

Hopefully you will have as much fun reading my story as I did writing it, and for those of you who would like a signed copy, at a cost of £12.67 to include packaging and postage, I can send one from my own supply once I have your contact details.