Blog Posts

Nonnie Jules

19/3/2020

Welcome to Day 4 of the “NO PEDIGREE” Blog Tour! @nonniejules #RRBC #RWISA @4WillsPub

Today I am honoured to feature a guest blog from Nonnie Jules, who is Founder and President of the Rave Reviews Book Club (RRBC) and Rave Writers - Int'l Society of Authors (RWISA). I am a proud member of both.

This is Day 4 of a blog tour organised by 4WillsPublishing and is a post dedicated to Nonnie's newly released short story 'No Pedigree'.

Hi, and thanks for dropping in on Day 4 of my NO PEDIGREE blog tour!

I’d like to also thank Robert for being kind enough to allow me to share a bit more about NO PEDIGREE.

What “NO PEDIGREE” Is Really About

We live during a time in society where most would like to believe that racism is no more. Lie. NO PEDIGREE is not a book about racism nor is it a book about hate. Yes, both of those subjects are tactfully tackled throughout the book, but, neither are the focal points of the story. NO PEDIGREE is a story about a young woman being courageous enough to stand up for herself, and unapologetically daring to be different when everything around her shouted that she should make herself invisible and be silent.

Bullying, when left unchecked, morphs into unthinkable actions, as was the case in Baylee’s story. Entitlement when bred, leads to unhealthy behavior, most often at the detriment of others. These wounds never heal – no matter how lengthy the healing period.

As parents and guardians, we are our children’s protectors, whether they are 8 months old, or 18 years old (and beyond) … we chose to bring them into this ugly world, thereby entering into an unwritten commitment to always teach them how to be brave, how to be strong and how to speak up and stand up for themselves.

Baylee’s mom modeled bravery and strength and no matter what we tell our children, it is what we show them that they will grow into.

I penned a quote years ago that says, “Nobody ever told me I couldn’t, therefore, in all things I think I can.” This is how all children should be raised. “Tell them they are strong … they will be strong. Tell them they are brave … they will be brave. Show them that you’re a doormat, and the world will walk all over them.”

Although a short story, this was my most favorite read that I have penned to date. As authors, we tire of reading and re-reading our own work but, after about 40 reads, I am still enjoying picking up my Kindle and reading NO PEDIGREE, as if it was the very first time!

If you decide to pick up your own copy, I hope that it will cling to you in the same manner.

Review by Author, John Fioravanti

This is one of the best short stories I've ever read. It is flawless, very well written, and the story holds the reader's attention from start to finish. No Pedigree clearly illustrates the awful price that victims of this crime of racial hate must pay... again and again. Considering the fact that racial hate crimes are on the rise in the United States and many other countries worldwide, Nonnie Jules' timing is as flawless as her writing. It is a shockingly painful story that sports a powerful ending that I never saw coming! As well, I was pleased that all the loose ends of the tale were neatly tied up in the final chapter. I highly recommend this read whether you normally enjoy short stories or not.

Book trailer: https://youtu.be/upjh985NclE

BOOK BLURB…

Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Baylee never quite fit in... anywhere. She was taunted and teased because her clothes had no designer labels, and spit upon because her only pair of shoes had holes in the bottom. The butt of many jokes, she was excluded from all social activities, sneered at by the parents of her peers after school as she waited for the bus, watching them drive away in their fancy cars; assaulted in the most unthinkable fashion.

Having been born to a white father and a black native American mother didn't make things any easier. In fact, that circumstance made her life ten times harder - until the day she made them all stand up, take notice, and regret every ugly word and deed they had inflicted upon her.

Giveaways: (2) e-book copies of NO PEDIGREE, (2) $5 Amazon gift cards & (1) 3-Day Weekend blog tour! Total of 5 Winners! To be entered into the drawing for either of these gifts, you must leave a comment below as well as a comment on the author’s 4WillsPub tour page.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Hi, I’m Nonnie Jules – President & Founder of RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB {RRBC} and RAVE WRITERS – INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHORS {RWISA}. As a writer who values the (polished) written word, it is my mission to help my fellow authors understand that their reputations as writers should be treated as rare treasure, and that the only way to be taken seriously in this business, is to ensure that your writing (no matter the forum) is impeccably written and well edited. If not, you’re just another “Joe” with a pen who was the first to raise his hand when Amazon asked, “Hey, any old Joe out there wanna publish a book? Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be good and there’s absolutely no hard work involved.”

FYI: If you don’t care what you put out into the world, you’re just a laughingstock in the literary community … and your name is “Joe.”

Connect with Nonnie via Twitter: @nonniejules

To purchase your own copy of NO PEDIGREE, https://www.amazon.com/NO-PEDIGREE-Really-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B083SB1RMN/

To learn more about Nonnie and other ways to connect with her, please drop in on her RRBC Author Page!

To follow along with the rest of the NO PEDIGREE blog tour, visit the author’s tour page.

If you’d like to schedule your own 4WillsPub tour to promote your books in similar fashion, click HERE.

16 Comments

Malcolm Welshman

2/3/2020

8 Comments

In our first guest blog of 2020, it is a great honour to be able to feature an interview with well-known author and retired vet Malcolm Welshman.

Malcolm has kindly donated a signed copy of a limited edition of his new release: Pets are a Pleasure, which you can win. Simply add a comment to this blog giving the reason you deserve this generous prize. Your comments should be added before the end of March. Malcolm will then judge the best reply and select the winner.

Enjoy reading his interview.

Malcolm's Interview

Thanks for joining us Malcolm and answering a few questions about you and your life.

How long have you been writing professionally?

I started way back in the seventies when I wrote a feature about a goose I’d been given to fatten up for Christmas. She never did get eaten as she raised the alarm when we had burglars. The article was published in the magazine, My Weekly. That led to me writing for the magazine for fifteen years whilst continuing my veterinary career. Novel writing came much later with my first book, Pets in Prospect, being published in 2008.

Do the humorous situations in your books stem from real life or your imagination?

A mix. Many of the incidents are based on situations that happened to me and I just elaborate on them for comic effect. My book, An Armful of Animals, is a memoir so the stories in it are for real, even though in parts exaggerated.

How many years did you practice as a vet?

I was a vet for over 35 years though not in general practice all the time as in later years I became a consultant specialising in exotic animals.

What are your favourite animals?

I’m more of a dog than a cat person and have had seven rescues over the years. Also had my own African Grey parrot for 23 years so am rather fond of them.

What are your top three favourite books?

Gerald Durrell has always been my mentor as he used to be out in West Africa when I lived in Nigeria so was an avid reader of all his books during that time. My Family and Other Animals is an all-time favourite. I used to love psychological thrillers and those penned by Ruth Rendell as Barbara Vine still rank highly with me. A Fatal Inversion is a good example of her work. And William Boyd’s A Good Man in Africa I can re-read and still enjoy.

Would you ever consider writing in a different genre?

I do have a non-animal themed script – a black comedy that is so way over the top it’s unlikely to ever see the light of day. I’m currently adapting my memoir, An Armful of Animals, into a children’s novel, the stories of my life as a lad in Nigeria being told through the eyes of a twelve-year-old.

Considering most traditionally published authors are now expected to do most of their own book marketing, did this influence your decision to self-publish An Armful of Animals?

Very much so. I did actually have four traditional publishing offers for the book but eventually decided to self -publish. I’m not sure it has been the right decision as I’m finding very difficult to alert the readership of my first three books (which between them got over 400 Amazon reviews) to the fact this memoir exists. A lot depends on recommendation by word of mouth; and here social networking is essential. I’ve joined a Facebook group called We Love Memoirs which has over 5000 members. It’s a very inter-active, vibrant group which passes on reviews and comments about books members have read. I also like to support animal charities through donating signed copies to auctions and raffles: this in turn does help to raise the profile of the book.

What inspires your creativity?

Wish I knew. Then I’d be able to tap into it more frequently and hence be more productive. I’m always needing a nudge – working to deadlines. What all of us writers do know, is that you need to keep constantly writing so perhaps that’s the core element to being creative. However, there is one thing that can help to activate the little grey cells. And that’s doing plenty of reading. Not necessarily books about your own topics. But anything that might give you ideas for story lines or characters. I also read newspapers to glean information on any animal-related subjects; and will cut such features out and file them in an ideas folder. Reading through them, will often spark a new idea or a fresh approach to what I’m trying to write at the time.

Who are your favourite authors?

William Boyd and Patrick Gale.

What differs (apart from the word count) between writing a magazine column and writing a book manuscript?

In feature writing you have to make every word count. With the limitation on the number of words used you can’t afford to ramble off-topic. If it’s a short story or part of a series, characters and background detail can only be lightly sketched in and the story line takes priority. Whereas of course, in a book manuscript, you have the luxury of filling in the characters more deeply, make the background details more descriptive and slowly unravel the story using lesser characters for sub-plots.

Malcolm's Profile

Malcolm Welshman is a retired vet and author. He was the My Weekly vet for 15 years and has written many features for magazines such as She, The Lady, The People’s Friend, Cat World, Yours, and newspapers such as The Sunday Times and the Daily Mail. He is the author of three pet novels, the first of which, Pets in a Pickle, reached number two on Kindle’s bestseller list. His third novel, Pets Aplenty, was a finalist for The People’s Book Prize 2015. His memoir, An Armful of Animals – published September 2018 – was long-listed for the Dorchester Literary Festival’s local author prize. His fourth pet novel, Pets are a Pleasure, was published in 28th Feb 2020. Malcolm is also an international speaker on cruise ships, having completed 50; and he has talked at over 40 WI, Rotary, Probus and retirement associations’ meetings. He is a bi-monthly contributor to a local community radio, Keep 106 in Dorset.

Link to Pets are a Pleasure:
http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B084X81RXF
http://amazon.com/dp/B084X81RXF

Social Media links:
twitter.com/malcolmwelshman
Facebook.com/malcolmwelshman.7

Website:
http://malcolmwelshman.co.uk

Malcolm and Dora