
I’m going to be limiting my time on social media this year, including posting to this blog. But you can keep up with me via our free monthly Snapshot! newsletter.
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I’m going to be limiting my time on social media this year, including posting to this blog. But you can keep up with me via our free monthly Snapshot! newsletter.
Subscribe here:
I am absolutely delighted to have signed with Podium Audio and to announce that the audiobook of ๐๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ : ๐๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ is now available to purchase on Audible.
The book is a clever blend of fiction and memoir and has been wonderfully narrated by Zara Ramm. Be warned, you will laugh, and you will cry, as she tells Katโs heart-warming and uplifting tale.
I am donating 15% of the profit from the sale of all versions of the book – including the audiobook – to local animal rescue charities:
โThis is the book I was always meant to write. The story of our darling Kat the Dog, the little Spanish water dog who has transformed our lives. My hope is this book will also highlight the brilliant work of rescue charities, and the immense love that is possible between a dog and their owner. And if this book means that even just one more abandoned dog finds a new forever home, then it will have been worth it.โ
As a thank you for subscribing, you will also receive a link to download Alyson’s free
‘My Top 5 Algarve’ Guide:
Discover the best beaches, restaurants, days out, places of interest, places to stay, events and much more inside these pages.
Whether you are on holiday here, travelling, settling down or a long-time resident, I trust you will find this guide useful. Enjoy all that the Algarve has to offer, including some hidden gems, with this free guide.
Exclusive to subscribers – just click the link below:
I am very excited to announce that I will be at the BLiP fair at Portimรฃo arena here in the Algarve this weekend!
You can find me at Stand S02 where I will have a selection of brand-new paintings for sale – all at a special price just for the event…
I will also have signed copies of my Algarve Dream Series of books and signed copies of my latest bestseller, Kat the Dog: The remarkable tale of a rescued Spanish water dog, for sale as well.
Find out more info about the event via the link here – and do come and say hello!
Kat the Dog is available in eBook, Paperback and Hardback versions on Amazon.
Escaping from a wretched existence on a rundown farm, a young Spanish water dog goes on the quest of a lifetime, in search of a family to love her and a place to call home.
Follow Kat the Dog as she tells her heart-warming and uplifting story. The little dog with a big heart who journeyed through fear and starvation to find her forever home.
“Black Beauty for dog lovers. A remarkable book which made me sob and made me jump for joy. But most of all, it made me want to give this courageous little dog a huge hug.”
LISA ROSE WRIGHT, AUTHOR OF THE WRITING HOME SERIES OF TRAVELOGUE MEMOIRS.
“Triumph over adversity. A gripping tale for animal lovers that will capture hearts and imaginations. I couldnโt put it down.”
BETH HASLAM, AUTHOR OF THE FAT DOGS AND FRENCH ESTATES SERIES.
No problem! Just go into any bookstore and show them this barcode and they will be able to order you a paperback copy of Kat the Dog.
You can even go into any library with this barcode and order a copy!
“The most uplifting animal memoir since A Street Cat Named Bob.”
LIZA GRANTHAM, AUTHOR OF THE MAD COW IN GALICIA MEMOIR SERIES.
I am so thrilled with this wonderful review of Kat the Dog!
It all started off with an innocent conversation with a fellow author, Simon Michael Prior. Simon is from the UK but emigrated to live in Australia with his family many years ago. His book, The Coconut Wireless is definitely worth a read! (It’s available from Amazon at www.smarturl.it/thecoconutwireless)
He mentioned that his adoptive parents had honeymooned in the Algarve in the mid 1960s, staying at ‘one of the first hotels in the region’. I immediately said to him, “That must have been The Garbe, which is now the Holiday Inn.”
He said that he didn’t know where they had stayed, but that he had some photos he would send to me. Perhaps with my detective skills I could work out where it was for him?
I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to see the photos. Mom was apparently a keen photographer, even back then, and I was amazed when the photos arrived as they were in excellent shape – and they were fascinating!
I spotted straight away that the hotel in the background was indeed the old Hotel Garbe – and knew that our friend Vicki Good would love to see the photos. She is the Holiday Director at what is now the Holiday Inn Algarve, previously known as the Garbe, and she is a wonderful lady.
Not only was she thrilled to see the photos, she showed them to her husband who said that he could actually name some of the people in the photos! She then went one better for me and spent the weekend travelling around Armaรงรฃo de Pรชra, photographing the same locations as the photos portrayed – giving us a fantastic ‘Then – and – Now’ record of the area.
So here they are – the then and now of Armaรงรฃo de Pรชra – with titles where we can name areas and buildings of interest for you. But first, a little more about the wonderful couple that gave us the original images…
John Miskin Prior and Phyllis Josephine Glasscock were married on 5th December 1966, in Croydon Parish Church.
Their story is a romantic one. They met at church youth club as teenagers, and were โan itemโ until their early twenties.ย Half of the letters that Simon Michael Prior’s book An Englishman in New York contains were exchanged between them during this period. Then John became a parish priest in the rural West Country, and lost contact with Phyllis.
In 1966, aged 40, they bumped into each other at a bus stop in Oxford, a city neither of them lived or worked in; they were both there for one-off engagements. They rekindled the relationship as they were both single, and married later that year.
Their honeymoon in the Algarve would have directly followed the wedding, as was the custom then, in fact the slides Phyllis took are dated 1966, so we can definitively date them to the period between 5th December and Christmas 1966.
Simon’s mother was an enthusiastic slide camerawoman. She always had a camera round her neck, with a matching light meter in its own leather case. She would have taken all the photos herself. In 1985, they returned (with Simon) to the Algarve for the first time to visit his Uncle who had retired to an orange farm near Faro.
“What makes a person decide to move abroad to start a new life? And why do so many people choose the Algarve in Portugal as their dream destination?”
In this compilation of life stories, you can read about a whole range of different people that have made the Algarve their home. Funny moments, heartfelt journeys, and real-life modern adventures are all covered in this new and fascinating anthology.
“Read their stories and be inspired”
You can meet some of the contributors as I celebrate the launch of the book on this special show. I will be joined by Jessica Dunn Clive Jewell Debby Burton and Evanne from the Relish Portugal magazine. My huge thanks must also go to Carl Munson and The Good Morning Portugal Show for hosting this for us.
Come along and help me celebrate – your questions and comments will be most welcome!
The book includes a foreword by the British Ambassador to Portugal, a former guest on the Good Morning Portugal! show.
What makes a person decide to move abroad to start a new life? And why do so many people choose the Algarve in Portugal as their dream destination? In this compilation of life stories, you can read about a whole range of different people who have made the Algarve their home. Read about the families that moved to live in the Algarve in the early 1970s, before tourism was even an idea. Find out more about the people who packed up everything they owned to follow their dreams of a new life in the sun. Funny moments, heartfelt journeys, and real-life modern adventures are all covered in this new and fascinating anthology. Read their stories – and be inspired. Includes a foreword written by the British Ambassador to Portugal. |
Discover the best beaches, restaurants, days out, places of interest, places to stay, events and much more inside these pages.
Whether you are on holiday here, travelling, settling down or a long-time resident, I think you will find this guide useful. Enjoy all that the Algarve has to offer, including some hidden gems, with this free guide.
Ideal for sending to clients, leaving a copy in your rental property for guests, or simply for discovering some new and exciting places in the Algarve to enjoy.
Available exclusively to subscribers of our free monthly newsletter.