2 May 2012

Grandmother from Elstree gets first book published


Borehamwood 
& Elstree  TIMES  (U.K.)
 
1:29pm Monday 30th April 2012 in News By Bruce Thain

Grandmother gets first book published  
A grandmother who has spent years writing her novel says she is pleased it will now be published. 

Francene Stanley, of Elstree Hill North in Elstree, says she has been working day and night on her books for the last five years. They have now been picked up by two publishers in America. 

Her book Wind Over Troubled Waters, which was written with German author Edith Parzefall, is the first in a series of novels about a post-apocalyptic Britain which has been flooded. 

Mrs Stanley, who is partially disabled, said: "I’m really excited about seeing the book when it's published and what I’m most happy about is that people will be able read my books and I can share my ideas with them. 

“I used to read my grandmother’s old sci-fi books when I was a little girl and since then I have always been fascinated by what could happen in the future.” 

The book has been published by Double Dragon Publishing in Canada as an e-book and will soon be available in paperback form in the coming weeks. 

The wordsmiths met online after critiquing each other’s work on a writer’s forum. The pair now have three other books in the pipeline. 

The 70-year-old grandmother will also have her fantasy novel Still Rock Water published by Solstice, in America, over the coming months. 

She said: “I have been working on novels for the last five years and before that I used to write poetry in my spare time. 

“It’s very hard to get published. My husband and I sent out so many letters to publishers, and then one come back saying they would like to publish the story. 

“It really is satisfying when someone comes back to you, because it means someone else believes in your book." 

Both books by Mrs Stanley are currently available as ebooks on Amazon to download.

11 comments:

  1. That is so awesome Francene. Congrats and tons of success! I love hearing these kinds of stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's very sweet of you, Penny. I look forward to joining you as a fellow member at Solstice. Plenty more books to come in the Moonstone series, so I'm set for the long journey.

      Delete
  2. Congratulations on the publications.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations again, Francene. IWW keeps on giving. I respect your collaborative work and achievements as much as I appreciate your editing comments. You are an inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It does feel good to finally get an acceptance letter. I too got a lot of rejections. Congratulations on your well earned success.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations!! How exciting!! and it's a collaboration. Even more interesting. I've often wondered how people write together, especially when you live so far apart. I know what you mean about getting that precious acceptance after many rejections. It's worth far more than the advance cheque!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, congratulations! I'm so glad all your work has paid off for you; it just goes to show that you should never give up when it comes to publishing. Also, it's a shock to see you live in my area. So, from a fellow Borehamwood and Elstree resident, well done!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations, Francene! Your persistence is inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is incredibly cool!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations Francene! It's inspiring to read about your persistence and faith in yourself.

    ReplyDelete

Please tell me what YOU think.