Lone Wolves

The illustrations for the book have been completed. I'm so proud of the story, it's really come to life, but now I'm doubting myself... the artwork hasn't been done by me and right now I feel that these images are even better than the story! So am I technically a fraud by using someone else's talent to make my own better.

This leads me to think- can anyone truly do something alone? Completely unaided by anyone? Well perhaps not do- but succeed? I tried to think of some scenarios where a sole being is able to accomplish and excel all on their lonesome.

Athletics- that's a lone sport. These people use their own will and strength and determination to push their minds and bodies to extremes. Any medals and accolades they win must surely be their own? Nope. Trainers who teach and motivate, mums and dads who finance running shoes and active wear or even nudge their son or daughter awake at 5am for a training session, employers who lets them have days off to complete, therapists who massage sore damaged muscles. This isn't a lone accomplishment. It's a machine, the cogs that helps the wheel to turn.

How about a business owner? They thought of the business, they made their plan, they implemented the processes to get it off the ground, they found a premise or created their online plane... but then what? No business is going to be successful without staff, without customers, without readers, subscribers, promoters, agents. 

So what does this all mean? What it means that we are all intertwined. No matter how much we credit our own success, and by enlarge this is certainly the biggest part of any fruitful venture, we do always need the help of others.

So don't feel guilty to ask for help, don't fret if you scratch someone's back and they scratch yours. 

As I was once told- Don't Work Harder, Work Smarter.

Joy

Momentum. It's a strange word isn't it? Surely derived from Moment- fleeting and brief. And in this day and age it seems that everyone, including me, wants things in a flash. Now, Immediately. Instantly. What I'm getting at is that success or progress apparently needs to have results straight away, otherwise we just give up and move on.
We see in the media overnight celebrities, Instagram models, TV pop stars, YouTube sensations. What we see of their rise to fame and fortune is instantaneous, seemingly from a nobody to a somebody overnight. And when people don't see this reflected in their own lives they are quick to give up and move on to something else. I'm sure that in reality these same people have been plugging away at their trade for months, years, decades. It can only be a tiny few who stumble into a pot of luck and unfortunately these pots are not easily available.

So what we need to do is keep our own momentum moving, No one else will do it for us, No magic fairy will come along and make us an overnight success. For me momentum means keeping up with this blog, the @haloandflake Instagram and Twitter posts, making connections with people in publishing, press, media and advertising, writing more stories, looking for conventions and meetings... i'm determined that no matter how long it takes the Halo and Flake Adventures will be seen by many.

I recently saw a film called Joy. If you haven't seen it I implore you to give it a chance. Hailed as a comedy I wouldn't necessarily agree that it is funny. However what it is, is inspirational. Jennifer Lawrence plays a housewife, who's life seems at a stalemate, divorced and having her estranged husband and her father living in her basement, her mother living in her lounge, kids and a somewhat mean sister has left her feeling low and unfulfilled. As a child she was exceptionally creative, but this creativity was buried with everyday life and it wasn't until she felt at rock bottom did she decide to finally follow her dreams a create a product and business of her own. Let me tell you, she had every knock back, rejection, failure and mishap. She was cheated, duped, betrayed. Forced into bankruptcy and poorly supported by her family. There was every reason, at every turn to give up. But dedication and belief were certainly traits that she had an abundance of. So if you have a dream, a passion and a goal- and are feeling like every turn is going against you, push a little harder and never give up.

Stay dedicated, it's not going to happen overnight.

 And that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.

Cab Rides and Grooming

So nothing seems to have come of the competition! It's sad, but I wasn't holding my breath. I always think at the back of my mind that nothing worthwhile comes easy. And this would have been far too easy, so I plan to create my own luck and push forward with my plan. To keep writing this blog, keep plugging away at the social media, and get every publisher out there to see my work- oh and not forgetting self publish it on my own.

Which reminds me- go follow on twitter @haloandflake to get updates on the critters everyday activities!

So let me just share a little bit of today with you.

Halo and Flake look pretty dishevelled- they last had a groom in November, but don't let this deceive you. They are bathed fully every week, their low hung bellies are washed after every walk, they are brushed and spritzed daily! So it is with surprise that today we were met with such disdain.

Now normally I drive, but due to some apparent mishaps in the showroom, my car has not been delivered on time. This means mostly walking or taking the tube and bus, but today we needed to get a cab. The groomers we go to used to actually be owned by me. I'm not sure if I told you in a previous post that Halo and Flake have single-pawdedly changed the course of my life and one of these such occasions was starting my own grooming parlour.
I was 21, and in a property career I fell into by accident, but always felt, and still do, that I can achieve great things on my own. Well not totally on my own, but certainly not having to work for someone in the traditional sense. Anyway, a fleeting thought about how expensive it is to groom two curly white dogs, I decide- meh, I can do this myself. So whilst keeping down my regular job, my partner and I researched for some suitable premises- a park was necessary nearby. Then a chance talk with the bank to see if a loan was possible. Some google research about grooming products, equipment, and an job advert or two later we somehow did it. Everything folded together and the shop became ours. It wasn't a walk in the park - excuse the pun- we worked 7 days a week, we had dozens of dogs around us and with us. A huge Alsation lived in our tiny one bed flat for weeks at a time, a slobbering hound followed us step for step and knocked our bins over to eat the remnants, a hyperactive spaniel pee'd on our bed and resulted in a long stint sitting in the laundrette watching the duvet spin round! We had no weekends, no holidays and we even roped my sister into working with us.
Eventually, two years later once we'd established the store, got over 300 clients on the books, and became the best groomers around we decided to sell the shop. I'll tell you now that we didn't give it up easily, it was sad, but with happiness the shop is still thriving, and the new (well not so new any more) owners are doing a phenomenal job!

So on our way here this morning, we needed to get a cab. A certain popular chain of cars was called to collect the three of us bright and early. They rhyme with maddison tree! A grubby, uninterested looking chap was sitting waiting with his hazard lights on. I approached him and confirmed who I was and where I wanted to go. Then he saw them. Halo and Flake. It was like I had two rats on a lead not two cute little pooches.
So he started ranting and raving about how I wasn't allowed to transport dogs in a cab, that no one would come next time! He unceremoniously shoved them into the boot and huffed and puffed his way across London.
How sad I felt, sad that this numpty couldn't accept the creatures. They sat like silent little mice, not even making a peep. They were clean from home. They don't slobber and they don't shed hair. I know people who are far filthier and nastier then these animals. In today's society you'd think people would be a bit more open.  Perhaps if he accepted the love of a creature too he wouldn't be quite so miserable!

So Now You Know

So now that you know how Halo and Flake came into my life, and how they enrich every day and provide wonderful inspiration in getting the stories from my head and onto paper. I thought I'd share the current progress in the actual journey of trying to get these books off to computer screen and into the hands of readers.

Well that might be a slight exaggeration for now, no one actually has a copy of the book, and nor is it even on paper yet but here are the steps I've taken to make my dream a reality... if you or anyone you know has been on a similar journey and has any words of wisdom for me please do share. This is first foray into the publishing world and for now I have no success stories, but you never know, maybe in a years time when we read this blog back things may be different.

1. I've written the book! Yes this may seem obvious but several copies of it live on my computer, cloud drive and various peoples emails.
2. I've written this blog! I don't know if anyone is reading it, or if its of interest to anyone so please leave your feedback and let me know!
3. Social media is currently being implemented.My little protagonists post lovely snaps of themselves sitting on park benches, climbing logs and snoozing on the sofa. But ssshhh don't tell anyone it's actually their mum that uploads it all! Visit it at @haloandflake
4. I'm trying to work my way onto the dreaded twitter and Facebook scenarios! I know this will hep my cause a lot but the dreary reality of never getting off my phone to update these fillls me with dread
5. I've posted various adverts and links on third party sites to this blog! Again if you've stumbled upon this and are thinking What The Hell! or hey she's got an interesting perspective- let me know and leave a comment
6. I've entered a competition to be published on Lorraine! I guess you'd need to live in the UK to know but for those of you that don't this is a early morning news/ chat show and it felt like fate when I saw the little snippet detailing their search for the next big thing in children's literature. I don't normally watch morning TV as you'll find me wondering around the parks of London so this seemed like a God send. I've so far not heard back, but hope is the last to die!
7. Oh of course, I almost forgot, despite the multitude of articles suggesting NOT to get a children's book self illustrated, I have not heeded this advice and asked a phenomenal illustrator to bring the story to life. I just can't imagine how someone could see the vision if all they have is half the dream. So here's hoping my investment will pay off

So that's me for now, slowly edging Halo and Flake's adventures through the digital world. If you have any other advice or ideas let me know!

Holidays

So Halo and Flake came into my life, 7 long (and simultaneously) short years ago. I can't remember ever doing anything different as we walk through the snow, rain, drizzle and damp. I delight myself at the simple pleasures of taking them to the park and sitting on the grass.

But Halo and Flake are like my children. And children need variety, even if they are furry and four legged. There's a certain kind of guilt if I go out and leave the house without them. They must be sad. They must be bored of looking at the four same walls.

So I make it my mission to find new places for them to go, so they can see and smell different sights and sounds. This could be as simple as taking them to a cafe, a restaurant (of which there are disturbingly few in London which are dog friendly), the pet shop for Flake to oogle at hamsters and bunnies and even the odd DIY shop. For me, I think they're having fun, but who can really know, they haven't told me yet!

But I digress, what I'm really getting at is the fact that Halo and Flake have actually had many real life adventures, from the simple everyday excursions mentioned above to the doggy orientated holidays they've had in the UK and abroad. These are the very same adventures that inspired and prompted the books I'm writing!

Now I don't want to come off sounding like a batty dog woman, where all I do is stress out about my pets, but animals and their physical and mental welfare really are at the forefront of my mind. What is the point of owning an animal if you're not going to take ownership? So I do all I can to make sure they are happy, and their happiness is also my happiness. So what better than to go on holiday and take my two fur babies. So off we went, we packed the car with all our essentials and zoomed across the Channel bypassing the north of France, skirting around Paris and made our way to the idyllic sights of Reims.

For those of you who do not know this part of France is the Champagne region, glorious vineyards hug the quaint villages and roads and although I am a seasoned traveller and have been all around the world this region really did strike a cord with me and the boys. This I can be sure of as the French are extremely tolerant of our four legged friends. We went everywhere together, from cute boutique restaurants to Michelin star establishments, vineyards, shops and supermarkets. Oh and the pool. Boy did Flake enjoy watching people splash in the pool. Maybe he thought we were those ducks he loves to chase, maybe he wanted to plunge in too, whatever it was his smile was priceless. And that's what it is- its not money or belongings that make you happy. Its the simple things in life like a smiling dog!