Great news.

The 2020 Edition of 40 Memorable Life Experiences is now available on Amazon Kindle.

Download a copy at the launch price of £1.99 / $2.99 here: getbook.at/40MLE.

The paperback version will be published within the next few days.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2019 Authors Showcase and congratulations to those included in this new book.

The 2020 Authors Showcase will start in April and I look forward to publishing more of your excellent stories.
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Summer of '77: Beaches, bars and boogie nights in Ibiza has been selected for a spotlight review by BookViral, a site renowned for top quality reviews since 2002.

A Racy Must Read Memoir!

Well written and immersive, certainly racy at times, this is one memoir you won’t want to put down.

Full review: https://bookviralreviews.com/book-reviews/summer-of-77-beaches-bars-and-boogie-nights-in-ibiza/

Please recommend Summer of '77 for the coveted BookViral Crimson Quill.

Thank you. 
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Summer of '77: Beaches, bars and boogie nights by Robert Fear
Only  99c / 99p until December 18th
getbook.at/Summerof77

A month ago I shared with you the first three beta read reviews for my new memoir - Summer of '77. Three more advance readers have now finished the book and posted their reviews on Goodreads. If you are a Goodreads member you can read the originals here:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48126395-summer-of-77​

Otherwise, you can read copies of the reviews below. 

​I was interested to read this book as I too was addicted to Ibiza and specifically to Es Cana, where this book takes place. Easy to read, honest, and strangely addictive, it is hard to put down once you start reading. As a teenager or young adult of the 70s it will bring back memories, some good, some OMG moments - did I really do that? The lust for travel, for experiences, for leaving the humdrum life of the UK as a young adult are all brought to life. Highly recommended for a few hours reliving the feelings of youth, freedom and recklessness.

​Rich, racy and risqué!

In warm, sunny places like Ibiza, the sexual revolution was purring along in overdrive. If you are an unfortunate like me and missed it, Robert Fear’s intimate memories and confessions will tantalise and tempt you with what might have been, even permit you to enjoy that period vicariously. If you lived those warm summers of sun and seduction, it will bring back warm memories.

Post the twin freedoms that followed the ‘pill’ and Britain’s entry into the Common Market, Mediterranean beaches drew the brave and the beautiful, the lovely and the lusty, the ardent and the adventurous.

Robert Fear takes you there and shows you exactly how it was. Sunshine, work, friends, beers, bars and beaches – and all those nubile and oh-so-beautiful young people pursuing the same mission that has stimulated men and women since Eve offered Adam a nibble on her fragrant little apple.

I’ve read quite a few of Fred’s books now, and this is probably my favourite. Fresh, funny, and extremely well-edited/written, it tells of a summer of love and coming of age which shaped a young man’s future in a way that mirrors my own experience. While Fred was climbing ladders and doing up the Bee Gee’s villa on Es Cana in Ibiza, I was shinning up ladders on an Israeli kibbutz. Also, I managed to do a Club 18 to 30 holiday – of which there is much mention – on Ibiza myself, though the lethal Hierbus aniseed and herb liquor which lays Fred low on one occasion wiped the memory of my whole trip.
I really liked how the author collates his experiences as a bar man on Es Cana for six months alongside letters from home and personal reflections on life in the 70s. Wages were low, but so were prices, and we take so much for granted nowadays. Who remembers the bread strike of 1977? And who remembers Marc Bolan going to the top of the hit parade just after he died?
This is another fascinating time capsule from the pen of Mr Fear, and I would totally recommend it. Written in almost diary format – lots of little chapters with a rotating cast of characters – it benefits from great dialogue (g’wan Fred, turn it into a screenplay!) and fine descriptive passages on the island Fred tours by moped. Speaking of which, I laughed out loud at Jasper Carrot singing ‘Funky Moped’! Though all is not fun and laughter, there are hard knocks too, and Fred has some hard decisions to make…

getbook.at/Summerof77  

Thank you to everyone who took part in the 2019 Authors Showcase, which finished at the end of September.

There were 54 submissions from 24 contributors. You can catch up with them here if you missed any.

Over the next few weeks, I will select the best stories to include in a new book that will be available early in 2020. I will contact chosen contributors before publication.
 
My new memoir, Summer of '77: Beaches, bars and boogie nights in Ibiza, is now published.

The Kindle version is available to pre-order and is due for release on October 27th. Secure your copy here.

I released the Paperback version yesterday, and you can buy your copy here.

If you have time, could you please share this news on social media. The link to use is getbook.at/Summerof77. If you are on Twitter, RT my pinned tweet @fredsdiary1981.

Thanks for your support and enjoy reading the book.
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It gives me great pleasure today to feature a guest blog from multi-talented author Harmony Kent.

I have personally been inspired by her books Jewel in the Mud (Zen Musings) and Slices of Soul.  In addition, her instructional book Polish Your Prose has been a great help to me while writing my new memoir.

Her new book Creative Solutions for the Modern Writer is the subject of her blog today. I have already pre-ordered my copy and am sure it will help generate ideas for my next book.

​You can read Harmony's guest blog here.

With the 2019 Authors Showcase rapidly coming to a close, I am pleased to be able to feature this sixth and final entry from James Robertson.

I am sure James will not mind me sharing the following comment he made regarding this year's showcase. "Just wanted to say that I've had a wonderful time writing these pieces, and it has been a great exercise for me as a writer to undertake. I look forward to the future."

Enjoy James' latest memorable life experience The Cassowary and the Sea Turtle here.

A warm welcome back to Val Vassay with her second contribution in the 2019 Authors Showcase (which closes to submissions at midnight tomorrow UK time).

Enjoy reading Val's memorable life experience WEDDING IN THE CATHEDRAL here.

Val Vassay

I was born and brought up in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, but have been fortunate enough since the age of 19 to spend most of my life in hotter climes. After spending 27 years in Bahrain where I produced two sons and was a secretary for many years before eventually turning my hand to English Language Teaching for Adults, my husband and I retired in December 2005 to beautiful Marbella, Andalucia, Spain. Since then I’ve spent most of my time relaxing by the pool, walking in the unspoilt countryside, reading, and writing with much help from the Writers’ Workshop section of Marbella U3A. So far I’ve had a couple of articles published (and paid for!) – one in the British women’s magazine “My Weekly” and the other in “Scottish Life”, a magazine published in the USA and Canada. I’ve also had several interviews and letters published in various magazines. I’m still writing and I’m hoping to have some of my short stories published soon through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), so watch this space! I also enjoy proofreading and may take this up more seriously at some stage – if it doesn’t seem like too much hard work, so watch this space also!