How's the best way to get regret, grief and anger out of your system? Beating up on your partner or kicking the cat can do the trick, but the consequences can be more regret, grief and anger. What i'm talking about here is all the mistakes i've made buying property abroad and enjoying the dream of life under the sun. We've all either had or heard of holiday home nightmares; if you're one of the lucky ones, stop being so smug, and read on, even you might be surprised.
I've bought many properties abroad, thinking each time i'd learnt the pitfalls, and each time finding more. But there's something of a drug about this supposedly carefree life with cocktails from sun-up to sundown. And, i suppose, there have been many good times, which like that one good shot in a bad day's golf, keeps you coming back for more.
Enough of the appetiser. Into the meat. Three years ago i was tempted to write a book, sharing everything i'd learnt about buying and living overseas. But, really, who wants to learn about other peoples misfortune, we've got enough of our own, right? So then the idea hit me. Forget "telling" anyone anything, just set out to entertain them. Give them romance, suspense, humour (and a dollop of hanky panky), make 'em laugh. That's the way to do it. And if, in the process, they get a bit of insight into this holiday home shennanigans, or maybe get the satisfaction that there's someone out there whose made an even bigger hash of it than they have, well that's a bonus.
So, my debut novel is about what happens to a restless and lonely woman who gets caught up in the holiday home dream. It happens to be set in Tuscany, but it could just as equally be Spain, or Turkey, or Dubai, or wherever the dream of a home in the sun is advertised. Here's a bit more about the story:
Restless and neglected, Isobel is suffocating in a stagnant marriage. Suave and charismatic Jay is fighting for survival. An invitation to visit Jay's resort in the hills of Tuscany sparks Isobel to imagine a life of freedom and excitement.
Dismissing her husband’s objections, Isobel pursues Jay to Tuscany on the pretext of searching for a holiday home. After fighting anguished guilt, she abandons herself in a passionate affair, with her controlling lover encouraging Isobel to push beyond her sexual boundaries.
But all is not as it seems in the idyllic Tuscan retreat, and Isobel finds herself trapped in a web of intrigue, deception, and betrayal. She is one player in a dangerous love triangle, unsure whether Jay is her saviour, or her nemesis. As her world falls apart, she must choose between the woman she thought she was, and the woman she has become.
It's heady stuff, i don't mind admitting. And the good news is it's available to read right now from Amazon. Here's the link to the sizzling novel "When the Siren Calls", you can sample it for free, of course.
http://bit.ly/Iy28r7
The even better news is When the SirenCalls is only the first book in a trilogy, there's more to come. If you've got your own amusing anecdote about your experiences as an expat, i'd love to hear it, and may even plagiarise it ! You can contact me, and find out everything else you might want to know from my personal website www.tombarrywrites.com. Hope you will drop in there.