EbroRose November 27th, 2011

My publisher has been busy so now my new kid’s novel Has Anyone Seen Kelvyn? is out in both eBook/Kindle and print version. May take a while to trickle up on Amazon or other bookstores, but I have print copies if you want one, or you can order them from www.FodenPress.com.

This is the third book in The Chimona Chronicles series and as the cover gives you a hint, involves some travels down the Okanagan Valley in B.C. Canada. We have already heard that adults are enjoying it as much as kids, just like before.

And when they read it to the younger set, they can once again follow along with the illustrations. For the first time, my brother Geoph is the illustrator. He has maintained the style from the earlier books, plus he likes to sneak in little details.. so look carefully at the pictures.

I look forward to finishing book 4 (and maybe even 5) next year, even as I start putting together adult stories too.

Talking of which, my editor Kyra Dawson has put together a great new online writer’s guild called Scriborium – a gathering place for independent writers. Here we are sharing hints and knowledge and publicity and feedback for all the guild members. And on top of all that, she pulled together seven of us to cooperate on writing an anthology of short stories. Since it was her idea, she got to pick the theme and genre this year: Horror or Paranormal, with a Christmas angle.

At first this was a real challenge for me since I really do not like horror stories. But as a professional writer I thought I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Of course my story in the book is very local – and set here in the Ebro valley. Some of you may even know the actual location – and many of the characters are only thinly disguised family members. I hope you enjoy Christmas Reunion at Villa El Figueral. Mine is the third story in A Very Scary Christmas – A Scriborium Short Story Anthology. It is already out in ebook/kindle format, as well as print. See www.fodenpress.com or contact me. But these stories are definitely not for very young children!

P.S. Contact me after Christmas if you have friends or family who would like to stay for a self catering holiday at the newly renovated and enlarged real El Figueral right on the Ebro river itself.

• Expats , Fishing and more fishing , Hobbies , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Uncategorized , Vacation Rentals
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EbroRose February 3rd, 2011

Away from home and don’t have TV satellite to pick up your national or local football matches. Worry not!  The internet has a solution, as always, the lifeline of any Expat .

I found a lovely site where you can watch all the highlights of the exciting Copa del Rey matches

http://football-highlight.com/en/spain/copa-del-rey/2011-02-02-almeria-barcelona.html

2011-02-02 Almeria – Barcelona 0-3

Copa Del Rey: Almeria Barcelona Highlights

However, Expats you can pour over football highlights from around the world. The Germans can see their beloved  Bundesliga. (Deutschland über alles, perhaps). The crazy Brits who think of Football before food or beer (well, maybe?) can argue late into the night about the Champions League and English Premier League (EPL).

There is more. Ladies Football where I’m not sure whether the men will admit it, but I’ve seen the men watching these matches (or the legs) with amusement but also amazement at the little women’s skills.

It seems to covers most countries around the world and loads of South American matches too:- !

2011-02-02 Besiktas – Gaziantep BB 5-0

Turkish Cup: Besiktas Gaziantep BB Highlights

 I didn’t even know that Turkish played football so seriously. I mean what would I know, I am only a woman.

2011-02-02 Rangers Glasgow – Hearts 1-0

Scottish Premier League: Rangers Glasgow Hearts Highlights

Another brilliant feature of this site is they update Live Score every two minutes

http://football-highlight.com/en/live-score

Aside:-

Rosie Reay Catalan Vocab / Phrases: football = futbol; football club = club de futbol;  footballer = futbolista;  football field = camp de futbol;  football game = am partit de futbol; inside football five-a-side = futbol sala; football crazy = futboler(-a)

Do you know some exciting (clean) football expressions to shout during the match or to celebrate or commiserate afterwards with? Please drop me a line .  I’d love to learn them too.

• Expats , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Sport , Uncategorized
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EbroRose January 17th, 2011

Driving through the quieter streets in Ferreries -Tortosa to save time and avoid the slow moving traffic, a signpost caught the corner of my eye, Bar Gravy.

Never!  Who would name a bar after the famous British salsa called gravy?

I had to go around the block again just to make sure I had read it right. Yes, a tiny little bar with a  faded notice above it, in large print announced the drinking hole as Bar Gravy.

I’ve heard of Oxo, Bovril or Bistro spread over the traditional British style Roast Sunday dinner and they have never caused me amusement as this bar signature did.

Do you go in and ask for  a pint of gravy please ?

When I tried to Google it, all that came up was the actress Claudia Gravy : es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Gravy

This has flickered across my thought pattern all afternoon. I am just going to have to go and check it out. I will definitely take my camera along with me.

• Languages & Literatures , Uncategorized , Where to go
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EbroRose November 19th, 2010

“Building on all the positive feedback from reviewers around the world, Foden Press today announces the release of their first two kids titles in full print format. Rosie Reay’s delightful voice of The Chimona Chronicles as the critters of Okanagan Lake come alive can now be enjoyed in print worldwide.” 19 November Press release

San Francisco, CA (1888PressRelease) November 19, 2010 – Foden Press today released the first two kids’ novels in The Chimona Chronicles series in print format. Written by Rosie Reay and set in an actual resort on Okanagan Lake in central British Columbia, Canada, these books have already received critical praise from their ebook format. They are ideal for the young reader, parent, or grandparent who love stories of critters that come alive and then have very similar personalities to children everywhere. Younger kids will enjoy the illustrations by Candice McMullan that so delightfully illustrate a few key scenes throughout the book. In addition, a matching website www.Chimona.com helps children and their parents understand the more unusual words and locations, while also providing full character personas for each critter, all of which have interesting names already.

The first book, How Kelvyn Got His Name, shows how the whole community rallies round to find a full proper name for their favorite gopher. Are your kids fascinated by names too? How do they name their pets and furry friends? Since Rosie Reay is a professional namer (see www.BrighterNaming.com) in her daytime profession, she even introduces kids to a simple naming process for selecting interesting names. Parents may also use this as a fun guide for naming their next offspring. In what has now become a trademark in all Rosie Reay books, a full length poem “The Squirrel from Wirral” is weaved into the story too, along with an illustration of the squirrel walking hand in hand with his friend George.

The second book, Salquin to the Rescue continues the exploits of the main Chimona Chronicles plus introduces the reader to some of the First Nations people of Canada. There are actually two mystery stories weaved together here. In the first, children will learn some basics about numbering. In the second, they will learn how to read signs and prints. Once again the Lake Okanagan kids interact as all families do, even as some grow more serious and some new critter characters are introduced, which we are sure to see more of in future novels in this educational travel series.

Written in Rosie’s delightful English voice, these books have been released simultaneously in the USA, Canada, UK and Europe. Rosie currently resides between Barcelona and Valencia in Spain where she also writes a monthly column for the Catalonia Chronicles and maintains a blog The Ebro Voice for English speaking people living in the greater Ebro River delta area. Make friends with Rosie Reay on Facebook to read more about her books and life. Kyra Dawson is the editor of the series, and she works as an editor, writer and copywriter out of Vancouver, Canada. See www.BrighterScribe.com.

Foden Press is an independent publisher of children’s books, as well as business How To Do It business books and ebooks. They are based in Northern California, and may be reached at www.FodenPress.com. Call +1-650-960-0811. Professional reviewers of children’s books are invited to request review copies of any title. How Kelvyn Got His Name (ISBN # 978-0-9710157-0-8) and Salquin to the Rescue (ISBN# 978-0-9710157-1-5) may be ordered directly from Foden Press, plus they are available on request at bookstores nationwide and are distributed by Ingram Micro.

Contacts:
USA: Athol Foden (amfoden ( @ ) fodenpress dot com) 650-960-0811
Europe: Rosie Reay (rosiereay ( @ ) fodenpress dot com) +34-619-772-492
Canada: Kyra Dawson (info ( @ ) brighterscribe dot com) 604-566-1064

http://www.svmarketeer.com

• Bookshelf , Expats , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia
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EbroRose September 26th, 2010

It reads like a tongue twister that I was made to say over and over as child to try and overcome a bad stammer. Though this one is more of a fruity nature of calling  a fig in different languages for Expats. Reading across it goes as: English, Catalan, Spanish , French and then German.

Do note (but not to be preachey) in Spanish the <h> is silent to hear i-g-o.

I did find it amusing when I saw the Catalan have merely added an <a> as a suffix to the English fig. Adam and his fig leaf at the time of first pro-creation. Oh, well never mind I must always tease out the root source in every word being a daft Namiac.

Now I ‘d like to share the following expressions with you:

• figa de moro = prickly pear or a softey
• figaflor =wimp, weed, drip
• figuera = a fig tree
• figura= figure (as a form)
• això són figues d’un altre paner = that’s another story (or kettle of Fish -to us Brits) or that’s a horse of a different colour
• figurar = to imagine, to represent or as in the US slang “go figure”

… and some of my favourites

• figurar-se = ja m’ho figurava! = I thought as much!
• no es figura com em va costar de convèncer-lo = you can’t iamgine how hard it was for me to convince him!

Would love to hear other figgy expresssions used in daily speech in any of the above mentioned languages fromExpats and locals and general readers.

Are there any good poems or lyrics out there where  figs are the centre force, apart from the well healed Christmas carol  of “Figgy pudding”?

Look forward to your comments

• Expats , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Uncategorized
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EbroRose September 26th, 2010

Figs are very topical as we go into harvest festival and our black and green fruit are bursting in their fullness in the autumn sunshine.

But what do you do with all this figgyness ripening all together?

There is only so much fig  jam you can make! Figgy pudding seems to sit well on the stomach at Christmas time. So September is a touch early for stodgey food.

Fresh figs are interesting, so too are figs bottled in a dry white wine and (are ideal for up to three months or more)  served with scoops of Nestlé vanilla ice cream. If you are fortunate or crafty enough to have made drying trays you can dry them in the open air through the day and bring the trays under dry cover on an evening and then packet and freeze them.

But I want something different. I want cake!

Oh Yum Yum and more yum- totally yumtious -go on give them a try!

  Check out the these websites below. Let me know which is your favourite by adding  a comment or share with me yours.

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=fig%20cakes

Ooh look there are more:

http://www.applepiepatispate.com/fruit/pan-de-higo-spanish-fig-cake/  This looks so easy to make too!

Now this is a must for all my gluten free friends (and tempting to others too) to try: – chocolate fig cake

http://glutenfreeday.com/?p=39

Oh yes, madre mia bake me another one!

Now I wonder if there is a recipe out there for fig fridge cake?

• Expats , Hints for settlers , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Uncategorized
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EbroRose April 30th, 2010

Oh I wish I was a child today!

Today is called Children’s Day around the world. In parts of the Spanish or Catalan speaking globe some may even call it “Festival of books” (for children). I just love an excuse to buy books. How much more wonderful that you give your children and other children a book as a celebration of the fiesta / festa!

Teach children to actually read and digest, to query what they are actually reading. Take for example the heading:-

<<El dia del nen. El dia del llibre.>>

No, I haven’t  written in incorrect Spanish. This is Catalan – the dialect spoken in the North-East of Spain, Majorca and a province just inside the French border. This translates as:-

<<Children’s Day / The day of the book>>.

This week I stumbled across a brilliant online shopping site for children’s books in Catalan that covers various themes with exciting illustrations to boost. http://www.editorialmediterrania.cat/. I am considering buying one of the theme sets myself to improve my Catalan. Well, why not? You have to start reading somewhere and it can often be more fun than trawling though boring newspaper about politics – all about nothing!

However, there is no rhyme nor reason why you, the parent or grandparent, can´t choose the books you want to read in order to relive your childhood  through their eyes and ears. How I miss those hours of reading stories after bath time to my sons and later on to grandsons Jordan (Jordí) and Shane (Shimbob)!

Perhaps that is why I feather my nest (and empty nest – as the case maybe,  now the children have flown to spread their wings) and write childrens’ books myself. www.Chimona.com

There are some wonderful famous authors out there doing a sterling job in encouraging children to read through their literary charities. One of my favourite’s James Patterson, himself and his better half, have “Read, kiddo, read” with wonderful suggestions of books for different age groups. www.readkiddoread.com. They have now also created a smart forum. If  the children read themselves they receive bonus points-otherwise the parents must read to them if they are too young.readkiddoread.ning.com

<<Parents, teachers and librarians, you’ve found your way here because you’ve … you the only way to get kids to read was to give them great books, cool books..>>

Let us celebrate today and everyday. Lets teach our children and all children we come into contact with to become ardent bibliophiles. Yes! Along the way they will increase their vocabulary without realising it.

There is so much available on the internet! So when Junior won’t get off the internet trying and direct his / her little cotton socks away from the computer games, to search for book to read online or just to read ! 5 Minutes for Mom Blog Directory.

What is the biggest cultural shock I had when I arrived in 2004 in Catalonia?

There were no English book shops in the Lower Ebro Valley. I always used to watch the W.H.Smith’s new listings and rush for first day release to purchase another treasure. Now we are lucky to pick up a 2nd hand book, that I haven’t read. I still am a voracious reader. So how do I manage? I moan to a brother, another bookworm in California.  Every 3 months I pop down to the local post office in Jesús and pick up a huge parcel of books that he has just read ! Now that is what I call a Result!

So parents, friends and grandparents and siblings please remember one of the greatest gifts you can give to us (young and old and doddery) is a book, another book and still more books. As a child my friends used to write copiously long lists to Father Christmas of  “Please may I have…?” Mine were short and sweet, year in and year out – “Just books would do nicely thank you.”  My request remains the same for any day or any fiesta …I need to read!

• Bookshelf , Expats , Languages & Literatures , Uncategorized
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EbroRose April 23rd, 2010

La Diada de Sant Jordi! Saint George or Sant Jordi in Catalan is a lovable and chivalrous gent who is the patron saint of Catalonia and Saint George in England. Although I am sure today Saint George’s day is celebrated in a far less romantic style in the UK to that of Barcelona’s medieval hero. Barcelona ( and right across Catalonia) celebrates it with roses for the ladies and in turn they exchange them with a book for their sweethearts. This is the Catalan equivalent of St. Valentine’s day

Somehow I would prefer a yellow climbing rose bush and a new book – some chance of that!

Pulling into the car  park at Hospital de la Santa Creu, Jesús, I was amused to see how many ladies were leaving with a single red rose in their hands. Mmmmh…I wonder who gave them their roses? Needless to say mother’s appointment went without any dramas, so we headed off to Eroski.

I enviously looked at all the bookshops who had brought out tables onto the pavements and were displaying a wonderful array of books across them. Some folk just stopped by and browsed, others bought one or two or more. How many admirers do they have? A lady explained. These days you buy a book for every male in your household. My husband has to buy more red roses as there are more women in our home! We shared the joke in laughter and I proceeded on, but still I mused sulkily to myself, I wanted a b-o-o-k!

Pushing the trolley around Eroski, it self-propelled  to the books displayed and aah, right there in the middle of the pile was one of my favourite children’s stories.  I grabbed it and paged avidly through it. The illustrations are just positively delightful.

“Sant Jordi i el drac” – the author is Anna Canyelles and the drawings are by Roser Calafell

Who knows? My next book review may be one of  a Catalan childrens book. Now that would be a novel experience and somewhat of a challenge to me, who is just setting  out on the route of learning Catalan.

• Bookshelf , Expats , Languages & Literatures
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EbroRose April 18th, 2010

Recent overseas tourists were having great fun with pronouncing and mispronouncing Catalan names. We must give them some slack. After all, they hear Latino Spanish  day in, day out along the San Francisco Bay area. Mind you it was interesting to read the log on their slant of the renaming of Sabeco. http://nameawards.com/2010/04/10/i-am-going-simply-hyper-in-cat-country/

Now Mums and Dads with hyper kids this summer may stroll on leisurely down the refurbished and wider aisles of the old Sabeco, with its new name for supermerkat or abbreviated as súper in Catalan. ( Note: when the word is used in full it drops the accent over the “u”).

The marketeers have seen fit to simply call it HiperSimply.

Now “h” in the Catalan alphabet is called hac. Exemples (Examples)= hola, hivern. However, the h is silent. So how would they pronounce it – I -per-sim-pli? Whereas, the Expats Anglo-Saxons would merely say -Hi -pe-sim-plee and not even utter the r in the middle.

It is pleasing to drive pass the car park now and see the vibrant green and yellow and dash of red on their logo. The logo is bright and cheerful. We love it! The green of the agricultural orchards  kissing the banks of the Ebro River, the yellow of the wild flowers and sun-kissed valleys and the red for the setting sun adorning our mountains in teh cool of the evenings  – or is it simply “ketchup red”?

Perfect just perfect!

The cynics utter it is just a tax fiddle! Why? Sabeco and those Sabeco Sambo’s, the old name is tired and what does it mean anyway? Bringing all its branches under the family umbrella of HiperSimpli will be strength and sustainability to its brand. Besides, to the competitors like Carrefour, who seek expansion into a super duper hyper store off the C42, it shouts -”We are still out there in front with you guys!” Eroski have bought into Caprabo and their brand has nowtoo been enhanced with new investment and more experienced European partnership.

Competition is good for everyone.

p.s. Remember to change your old Sabeco bonus point card at the Information desk for a new HiperSimply card.

• Business Enterprises , Expats , Hints for settlers , Languages & Literatures
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EbroRose February 4th, 2010

• Bookshelf , Hints for settlers , Languages & Literatures
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