Friday 6 September 2013

The PINK SOFA welcomes Val Poore




Barge dweller, author, blogger, supporter of other writers, kindness personified, caring and all-round totally nice person ... yes, I could only be talking about one special individual: Val Poore. Val lives on a boat on the Rotterdam canal and if you want to sample life afloat without actually being afloat, visit her blog and check out the pictures. The PINK SOFA is overjoyed that she has decided to place her feet upon terra firma for a while, as it is not keen on getting its upholstery wet. To celebrate her visit, there is strawberry cheesecake and freshly brewed dutch coffee on the coffee table. Val .... over to you!


''Yay! I've made it to the PINK SOFA! I must be doing something right. Thank you so much for inviting me, Carol. I must say it feels a lot more stable up here in Hedges Towers than it does on the barge. Ooh - and that strawberry cheesecake looks heavenly. How did you know it's my absolute favourite?

Anyway, to earn my slice, you want me to talk about my book background. Hmm..where to start? Like most of us who end up writing, I was an avid reader as a child. I was the youngest of four and with the older three away at school, I was a bit lonely, so books were my escape and companions. I loved nothing better than lying on my bed with our old cat Tiger for company and reading.

 I read everything on my parents' bookshelves - they never limited my reading, so I had everything from Elizabeth Goudge's Little White Horse and E. Nesbitt's The Railway Children to Dornford Yates' 1920's comedies and the historical novels of Georgette Heyer. Later I got interested in archaeology, so I read books about Roman history. I was a dreadful nerd. Well, we had no TV and my dad (bless him) only played the Third Programme on the radio, so what do you expect?

How did I end up on a barge in Holland? I got there by the scenic route! I lived for twenty years in South Africa before I found my way to Rotterdam, (f anyone's interested, I have written a book about it). I loved it there and would never have left had it not been for my now less than 'significant other' who seemed to be quite significant at the time. The whole barge thing got me hooked very quickly though. We didn't have much water to speak of in Africa (read my book; you know you want to) so I was amazed when I saw all these floating homes. It's a lot of work though, so writing has to take second place to painting. You have to be totally in love with paint to have an old barge like mine. Oh - I also managed to fall in love with a Dutch skipper too.

As I lost my job - I used to write copy and communications stuff for a company in Johannesburg, I had to get my writing fix by writing books. Writing is an addiction, and I've been hooked on it all my life, so it's impossible to break. The African memoir came first, then Watery Ways describing my first year on a barge. After that, a sort of YA novel about the waterways  - I call it kidult, called The Skipper's Child and now my latest offering .... drum roll....... 

How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics. It's a novel about a girl trying to do the self-sufficiency thing in the wilds of rural Dorset. It's got a very special and eccentric cast of characters that includes the girl's mother who drifts around in an old wedding dress half the time. There's lots about a flock of wilful sheep and some lunatic geese as well, but it's all good fun, especially when Maisie (the main character) has to cart her sheep around in the back of a VW Beetle. The background story is of course rooted in fact - somewhere. I've self-published this one through Lulu.com and Amazon Kindle simply because I wanted to. I've had two books published by Sunpenny Publishing, but I really liked the whole process of doing it myself this time.

Anyway, I think I'd better shut up now, or you'll be throwing me off the turrets here at Hedges Towers. Thanks a million for having me, Carol. Can I have my strawberry cheesecake now? I promise I won't spill any on the sofa ... oops ..what did I go and say that for?''

Before you send me off to get the cloth, here's the links to my writing and blogs etc:

Amazon Page: http://tinyurl.com/m9zcth5
Lulu.com: http://tinyurl.com/k4bltn4
Blog: www.wateryways.blogspot.com
Twitter: @vallypee

Val,thank you so much for visiting. The PINK SOFA is now humming: 'The Padstow Lifeboat' and contemplating the slap of the waves and the feel of the wind in its cushions. So while I nail its legs to the floor to stop it escaping yet again, and you enjoy a well-deserved chunk of cheesecake, I'll open things up to everyone. Questions? Comments? Go for it................





22 comments:

  1. Before everyone else goes ya, boo, sucks and throws stuff at me, can I say how absolutely fabulous it's been to be here, Carol. Thank you sooooo much. I'll hang around a bit to field the rotten tomatoes and eggs. You don't want them on your beautiful sofa, do you? Oh and if there's another slice of that cheesecake….? xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the facinating glimpses into a little of your life,Val. I think most writers must start as book nerds - we didn't have a telly either. It's hard to believe now, with so much "entertainment" bombarding us via so many media. Yet books are still unique in depending almost as much on the reader's imagination as those of the writer.
    Love the cover, by the way - sounds like a good read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is amazing how much entertainment we take for granted these days, isn't it? I'm glad I wasn't the only nerdy child without a TV. I don't have one even now :-)

      Delete
  3. Hi Val, I downloaded African Ways a while ago and have just started reading it. It makes me feel so nostalgic for South Africa. I am so enjoying it - you write so sensitively about the South African people and your description of the first thunderstorm of spring is pure magic for a South African living abroad. Such a special smell, noise and feeling - well done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Maryanne! I still feel like a South African living abroad myself. If it weren't for the barge, I'm not sure I would have adapted to being back in Europe. Keep in touch!

      Delete
  4. Carol and Val together on the same blog - very exciting moment! I like to thing you might have been introduced through me but perhaps I'm just flattering myself there and it didn't happen that way round at all - never the less hi to both of you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris, you could be right! I'm not sure exactly when I first made contact with you both, but it was very much around the same time. Thanks for the visit here too!

      Delete
  5. Well Val...I thoroughly enjoyed reading that!!!...I applaud your parents attitude towards reading, as you mentioned.. 'I read everything on my parents' bookshelves - they never limited my reading'...I too am a great advocate of such...I believe that reading should be encouraged no matter what the material...even if all that consists of is scanning the back of a Kellogg packet...it's a good thing that will lead to better things...( and I don't mean Weetabix )...
    I envy your being on the barge...the colours of life that must paint their story upon your heart...it seems so wonderful Val! Thank you very much for giving me an insight into your world...I loved the brief time I had on your beautiful barge...x....( I'm also glad you survived THAT sofa )...:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. A late start this morning... and the first thing I find is a Pink Sofa special featuring the multi-talented V (Important)P. of Oude Haven. When I picked up the link, I knew that this would be a personality special! Yours shines through, as it does through all your writing, Valerie. Loved hearing about what I haven't picked up elsewhere. Thank you both for this lovely Saturday surprise! :) Will plug! (Now I'm not talking about leaky bottoms...)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Val / Carol,
    I always wondered what it would be like to live on a canal barge. Cold in the Winter I imagine.
    Lovely and interesting life you've had (and are still having), Val!
    Cheers
    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  8. Not feeling great today, but then I read the 'Pink Sofa' and there was not one but two of my favourite ladies. Made me feel much better I can tell you. Thank you for that Carol and Val...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I commented on this lovely interview! Suggested that Val was bookish, not a nerd! Did my comment get lost in cyberspace or was it not approved? I'm sure I didn't swear ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jo, I'd forgotten that lovely word. Yes, 'bookish' sounds much better. I'll just slide my glasses down my nose to confirm the image …by the way, I can't imagine you swearing…do you? Ever?

      Delete
    2. Me, swear ... um ... it has been known. Quite often, in fact. But mostly in my kitchen, complaining about politicians, or the weather, or the price of gas.

      Delete
  10. Thanks so much to everyone here for the lovely comments! I am sorry I'm late (I know. I'm always late!) but this time I have an excuse. I've been messing about on the water again. It's World Harbour Days here in Rotterdam and we do a lap of honour every year on the Vereeniging. I'll blog about it tonight, but until I get home, I can't answer your comments individually. I will, though, I promise! And thanks again to all of you and especially to Carol. I'm still savouring the taste of this morning's cheesecake! Yum!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Aged eleven we went on a week long barge trip with school. I think we went as far as Goole. I loved it. Always great to read and learn about an author I have not read before and what a great looking book too :) Thanks Val and Carol great post x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Excellent! Two of my very good mates chatting together. Val, you have certainly had some fascinating twists and turns in your life but I have to say, pink yogurt on the pink sofa! Will the stain ever come out?!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice to meet you, Val, and learn about your work. I don't know how Carol always manages to find such interesting authors to sit on her pink sofa. As it's my personal belief that the world (and England) cannot have too many eccentrics, I'm going to get my copy of HOW TO BREED SHEEP, GEESE, AND ENGLISH ECCENTRICS right now! Carrie

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nikki, Ros and Carrie Ann, thank you so much! Ros…ahem…the pink yoghurt on the pink sofa is a total disaster. I shall have to pay for a professional cleaner...

    ReplyDelete
  15. That is an adorable cover. I love it. Best of luck to Val!

    ReplyDelete
  16. That was lovely to read, Val & CJ!!! I WILL read the book about Africa, I will, I will! I really envy your your lifestyle.... no WAY would I ever get my home-bird husband to consider anything like that for a minute, though!!! My last husband now lives on a narrowboat - but he's a total jerk, so ..... oh dear, sorry, it's not about ME, this, is it???!!!

    Carol, those links for Val's stuff don't appear as links, just text, btw - might want to change???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks to Kelly Hashway for the kind words, and Terry, I nearly lost my teeth laughing at your comment (and no, I don't have falsies either!) Shall we sink your last husband's NB? No, that wouldn't be fair to the NB, would it? Sorry about the links. If anyone else reads this, they can find them on my blog too. Maybe the PS was having a sulk at having engine grease on it and sabotaged the hyperlinks!

      Delete

So here's your chance! Talk to me. Comments will be visible after moderation.