Tuesday, February 12, 2013

"Cat and the Dreamer"

CAT AND THE DREAMER TOUR STOP!!!


"Cat and the Dreamer" is one of my favorite books. It's the sort of story I will gladly read again. It's the sort of book that if Annalisa Crawford was a really horrid person, I'd still have to say, "Yeah, she's a baby kicking bimbo, but she still wrote a pretty good book."

Fortunately...Annalisa is as nice as she is talented, so when THIS book is available in print, I will happily buy a copy. I already have the spot picked...right between, "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath (suicidal, lovable teens) and "Jonathon Livingston Seagull"  by Richard Bach (they're both novellas). 

What you sort books by alphabet? How odd...

While I try to figure you out, let's turn this white space over to Annalisa!!!



It's been a year since my novella Cat and The Dreamer was published! There have been lots of changes in my own life in that time, and I started to wonder what else had changed...

Thank you Elizabeth for inviting me over today!

My pleasure chick!!! :)

Today's topic: Manchester City winning the Premiership!

I know that won't mean much to a lot of you. Firstly, you have to understand I'm talking about the English football premier league (soccer), and I'm not talking about the red half of the city... pah! So I'll try to put this is terms that you'll understand even if you don't care about the specifics.

Before I was born Manchester City were a big football club, a fantastic club - they won trophies and everything. Then I was born and at the same time they seemed to fall away from the top clubs, bouncing up and down the leagues, but never being much of a threat either in the English leagues or in Europe.

In 2008 the club was bought by a company from Abu Dhabi, and became the richest club in the world. I don't like to boast about this too much - even after everything that's happened in the last year, I think there's far too much money in football. However, the money brought players, the players won the FA Cup in 2011, and they looked like they were heading towards winning the Premier League in 2012... And then they didn't... And then they did again... And then they had a really bad spell... Then they picked up.

The nearest rivals in the league - the only team who could beat us in the last few matches - was also the geographically closest, Manchester United... pah! (Sorry, it's an involuntary response.) They've called City 'the noisy neighbours' for ever - getting in the way, but never really amounting to anything. Hahaha... ahem!

Through sheer fluke/bad luck it came down to the last game of the season. We had to win our game; it would have been helpful if they lost or drew theirs.

We were losing, they were winning. Argh, no... then we came back level, in injury time, United won, we scored another slightly beyond when the whistle should have blown for full-time (commonly known in England as Fergie time). And...

WE WON! WE WON THE GAME AND WE WON THE LEAGUE AFTER 44 YEARS!

Of course, there was a lot more to it than that, it was the most rollercoaster 90 minutes I've ever spent in a pub. In fact, we ended up in two pubs - the first showed the first half of City's game, then switched to the Utd game. We jumped in the car, kids in tow (it was an afternoon game), and found another pub, and luckily everyone was backing City. When the final whistle went cheers rang out, I think I cried. In fact, there's a bit of a tear in my eye now.

We're not doing so well at the moment, Utd ahead of us, again... But at the moment, I don't care - I saw City win when I never imagined I ever would! This clip is the last five minutes of both games, in split screen - if you're eagle-eyed you'll notice how the emotions switch between the left and right screens! Best day ever!


About Cat and The Dreamer
As a teenager, Julia survived a suicide pact, while her best friend Rachel died. Julia’s only escape from her guilt, and her mother’s over-protection, is her imagination. When Adam arrives in the office, Julia’s world takes a startling turn as she realises reality can be much more fun than fantasy. Finally she has someone who can help her make the most of her life. But can she allow herself to be truly happy?

Cat and The Dreamer is available on Kindle UK, Kindle US, Kobo, Nook, iTunes/iBooks, and via Vagabondage Press.

Annalisa Crawford lives and writes in Cornwall with a good supply of beaches and moorland to keep her inspired. She finds endless possibilities in the relationships between people. Several new projects are on the cards for 2013.
Find her on her blog, Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.


36 comments:

  1. I love that you threw (not literally lol) the kids in the car and found a different pub to watch the rest of the match from!Sounds like an awesome day!

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    1. It was an amazing day, and I still get goosebumps whenever I think about it :-)

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  2. Clearly you are very passionate about football, or perhaps just Manchester City. I think its great... ;-)

    Passion drives everything, including writing, its why we all do it, isn't it?

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    1. Yes, I am. And I agree you need to be passionate about writing - there are many far easier things to do with our lives :-)

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  3. You weren't bad luck! Glad you saw them win. We all want to see our teams triumph at least once in our lifetime.

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    1. The way they're playing this season 'once in my lifetime' might be it :-/

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  4. I have really enjoyed reading about your book and seeing it so wonderfully promoted on blogs. All the best to you!

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    1. Thanks Julie. Everyone has been so wonderful in hosting and/or visiting my posts :-)

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  5. Elizabeth, thank you so much for your kind words! My books aren't in alphabetical order either! How cool I've got a place reserved - I hope you won't have to wait too long...

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    1. Thank you for allowing me to be part of the anniversary of a book I really do love.

      And I love the post. I'm a big sports fan (though of the kind of football with helmets and pads...lol), so I totally get the feeling of a big win.

      Actually, we can learn a lot from sports and from athletes. They push themselves- mind, body, and spirit- to accomplish a goal. Hard work and endurance to reach that special moment...even if it is just once in 44 years!

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  6. Happy that your team won! :D

    Cat and the Dreamer looks to be a very insightful look into the mind of someone who copes with trauma. I'm putting it on my "Want to Read" list on goodreads.

    My books aren't in order either. They are sorted by genre, with favorites in the middle of the shelf. :)

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    1. Yay!! Someone else who knows how things should be done!
      Thanks for the follow :)

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  7. I loved this one, too, Elizabeth. :) Great book. I'd love a print copy!
    Annalisa, sorry but all that sports talk is pretty much Greek to me. ;) But I'm glad you got to see your team win. :)

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    1. I tried to make it as un-Greek as possible, but I did get very excited while I was reliving it for this post - whoops :-)

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  8. I've really enjoyed these posts - but I have to admit to glazing over when I found out it was about football! Must scroll back up and make myself read it properly! LOL!

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    1. It really wasn't footbally. More like a story of triumph!

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    2. Ditto what Elizabeth said! To me, this event was THE most important of the year, so it had to be included!

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  9. Are you really Mark Koopman's twin? I saw your comment on Laura Eno.

    Football? *scoffs J/K :))

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  10. Congrats Manchester City! Cat and the Dreamer seems to be very thought provoking.

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  11. Go Manchester City! It's pretty funny how rivalries are like that.

    And I have all of my fiction organized by author (I R Nerd).

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    1. Sport isn't sport without them!

      I don't think my authors are even in the same room, let alone the same shelf!

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  12. My local team is Portsmouth so I'm not going to comment on any football related posts!

    Oh ...

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  13. you brits & your soccer =)

    this premise is chilling & thrilling! nice reviews!

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    1. "chilling and thrilling" is the best compliment I could get - it's what I aim for :-)

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  14. At first when you said football I automatically thought of American football. :) But it is interesting to read about sports from a sports fan's point of view; I don't know much about sports myself, but it's interesting to read more about why people are so passionate about sports.

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    1. I cannot bring myself to use the word 'soccer' - it's football, full stop :-) I tried not to be quite so enthusiastic, but the memories bubbled over!

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  15. That does sound like the best day ever! What an achievement!

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  16. Yay for winning.

    I bookmarked the Amazon page. The story sounds intriguing.

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