Anne Ullah's Blog, page 3
March 25, 2013
Toffs, Twitter and Tango
Louisa Toff, the heroine of Trouble At Toff Towers, is very popular on Twitter (she goes by the name of @RigidBones should you wish to follow her). She often boasts she has the best following on Twitter and she may well be right. It is actually one of her followers, @quebectango, that I’d like to tell you about. The thing is, @quebectango read the very first review of Trouble At Toff Towers and noticed the negative comment about the cover. The reviewer had indicated he would have expected to see something a little more stylish. I had in fact made the cover myself but, as the reviewer had given me four stars for the book itself, I was hardly going to be offended by his remark. Anyway, @quebectango sent @RigidBones a message, via Twitter, offering to design and create a brand new cover for the book. Of course she (that is, I) accepted his kindness and, after being given the choice of several designs, settled on the one which is now gracing my Amazon page. If only I had the technical skills to include the cover here to show you. You will just have to take a look at the page for yourself if you wish to admire @quebectango’s handiwork…
…the story doesn’t end there. I had a brainwave you see (that tends to happen from time to time). I decided I would like to include an old school photo of Louisa Toff, together with three of her old St Thinnians chums, Bette Noir, Audra Street-Walker and Irene Prawn-Slaughter. However, the images I have of Louisa are in fact proper photos of a real person while the images I have of the three St Thinnians chums are cartoons. So, how to take each individual image and merge them into one, make each character look young, dress them up in school uniform and age the picture in order to make it look like an old school photo? Impossible, right? I thought so but decided I would challenge @quebectango anyway. The photo he came up with is amazing! Again, I don’t have the technical expertise to share it with you here but if you check out the Trouble At Toff Towers Facebook page and look in the album entitled Trouble At Toff Towers – Photo Album you will see exactly what I mean. You can see more of the work of @quebectango on his website: www.q-target.co.uk.
I am currently planning something else in my ongoing publicity campaign for Trouble At Toff Towers. @RigidBones sent out a tweet this morning asking for help with it. A follower responded, is currently sleeping on the matter and says he will have something for her (me) in eighteen hours! Watch this space!
…the story doesn’t end there. I had a brainwave you see (that tends to happen from time to time). I decided I would like to include an old school photo of Louisa Toff, together with three of her old St Thinnians chums, Bette Noir, Audra Street-Walker and Irene Prawn-Slaughter. However, the images I have of Louisa are in fact proper photos of a real person while the images I have of the three St Thinnians chums are cartoons. So, how to take each individual image and merge them into one, make each character look young, dress them up in school uniform and age the picture in order to make it look like an old school photo? Impossible, right? I thought so but decided I would challenge @quebectango anyway. The photo he came up with is amazing! Again, I don’t have the technical expertise to share it with you here but if you check out the Trouble At Toff Towers Facebook page and look in the album entitled Trouble At Toff Towers – Photo Album you will see exactly what I mean. You can see more of the work of @quebectango on his website: www.q-target.co.uk.
I am currently planning something else in my ongoing publicity campaign for Trouble At Toff Towers. @RigidBones sent out a tweet this morning asking for help with it. A follower responded, is currently sleeping on the matter and says he will have something for her (me) in eighteen hours! Watch this space!
February 12, 2013
February 9, 2013
Toffs And Tears
Tears? Yes, tears! Luckily they are tears of happiness! The first two reviews of Trouble At Toff Towers have appeared on Amazon and I couldn't be more delighted:
Review 1: 4 Star!
The Secret Diary Of Miranda Hart
Not so much a spoof of Downton, or a Wodehouse wannabe, this is more an upper class Bridget Jones. Although not particularly suited to me, I found an original voice here. Shame about the cover though, maybe something a bit more stylish.
Review 2: 5 Star!
Made Me Laugh!
I read a lot. And I like a chuckle. Sadly, it's rare that I can combine the two - but this little tale had me sniggering nicely. In fact, there was one particular bit that I found absolutely hilarious. I'm not going to tell you what it is though, as that would spoil the fun. As it's in 'diary' format it's very easy to read in convenient bite-size chunks, and I was actually disappointed when I reached the end. Well worth a download.
Review 1: 4 Star!
The Secret Diary Of Miranda Hart
Not so much a spoof of Downton, or a Wodehouse wannabe, this is more an upper class Bridget Jones. Although not particularly suited to me, I found an original voice here. Shame about the cover though, maybe something a bit more stylish.
Review 2: 5 Star!
Made Me Laugh!
I read a lot. And I like a chuckle. Sadly, it's rare that I can combine the two - but this little tale had me sniggering nicely. In fact, there was one particular bit that I found absolutely hilarious. I'm not going to tell you what it is though, as that would spoil the fun. As it's in 'diary' format it's very easy to read in convenient bite-size chunks, and I was actually disappointed when I reached the end. Well worth a download.
February 4, 2013
Toffs And Tavernas
When I decided to move from Scotland to Cyprus I dreamed of a life in the sunshine and finally feeling some heat on my bones. What I didn’t fully appreciate was the extent of the warmth and kindness of the Cypriot people. Take Gabriel for example, the owner of my favourite taverna. As soon as he found out I had published Trouble At Toff Towers he was determined to tell the world all about it. Or at least the island. Up went my poster, on the taverna wall right next to the bookshelf where he lends out books for €1 each for charity. And not only that. Oh no. He has in fact decided to name a dish after my character, Louisa Toff. Originally this was to be a spicy stuffed sausage but, having given the matter careful thought, he has decided it will be chicken stuffed with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and peppers. Now why didn’t I think of that?
Trouble At Toff Towers
Trouble At Toff Towers
