Life as a Writer in the Old World
by Frederick Lee Brooke
Some people move to California, where the weather is warm. Some people pick up stakes and move to Texas, where the jobs are. I moved to Europe to teach English. I didn’t have a grand plan. I didn’t know I was going to stay for the next 20 years.
After a few years of teaching in France, Germany and Switzerland, I was promoted to manager of a language school in Basel, Switzerland. I immersed myself in the world of small business, selling language courses, meeting with customers, hiring and training teachers.
The language training business is a very satisfying one. People come in as total beginners, and after a short time they have basic speaking skills. They can use their new language skills to order food in a restaurant, talk to a doctor or dentist, or complain about a phone bill. After a year or more, they have learned enough to get through a job interview in the foreign language, or conduct a meeting.
People often learn a language because of a relationship. So we often have the satisfaction of knowing we are helping people communicate with friends and loved ones as we teach them a language.
But after more than 20 years in the business, despite the satisfaction of knowing we were doing important work, something was missing for me. Day after day there were the same squabbles with customers or staff who didn’t like the rules. Every day there was the same pressure to improve quality while cutting costs. Every year we would add up the numbers and figure out the profit or the loss.
I always wanted to write fiction, and I started writing my first book, Doing Max Vinyl, in 2008, while still working full time running my language school. I wrote mostly on weekends and during vacations, while the family was out skiing. It took two and a half years to write, and I discovered that I was happiest when I was working on my manuscript.
After spending almost a year trying to get an agent interested in Doing Max Vinyl, I discovered the new world of publishing independently on Amazon and Smashwords. It was a great feeling to have finished Doing Max Vinyl. As soon as my first book was available I started writing the sequel, Zombie Candy. In Zombie Candy there is a long sequence that takes place in Tuscany, a part of Italy where I love spending time. Now I’m working on the third book in the series.
I’ve been able to quit my job running the language school in order to devote most of my time to writing. Of course, there has been some belt tightening in our family with this decision. But I think life is too short to stay in the rat race permanently. Instead of adding up the numbers at the end of every week, month and year, now I get to play with language and concoct stories out of my imagination.
It doesn’t matter where you live, as a writer. What matters is where you go in your mind, when you are reading or writing. Now, all the borders and boundaries come down when I start my work every day.
From her gorgeous husband to her acclaimed cooking classes, Candace Roach’s life looks nearly perfect from the outside. Well, appearances can be deceiving. Her husband, Larry, has three unruly addictions that drive her to the brink–zombie movies, cilantro, and having sex with other women. Luckily, her best friend Annie Ogden is back from Iraq and armed with a private investigator’s license and a fierce determination to see Candace happy again.
Together, the women uncover the ridiculous extent of Larry’s infidelity. He needs to be punished,that much is clear. But how can they hit him where it counts? Oh, if only she could find a way to tap into those three little addictions–what a lesson that would be. Italy is calling, as are the zombies in the night, as suburban housewife Candace Roach transforms herself into the ultimate fidelity vigilante, complete with a badass motorcycle, a very small pistol, and the nom de guerre ”Zombie Candy.”
What readers are saying…
Fasten your seat belts for the wild ride provided by this graphic and gritty work full of twists, turns, surprises and gourmet recipes to boot.
I laughed until my sides hurt…. Brooke does a fantastic job of paying homage to the zombie movies we love in this hilarious parody. Annie Ogden fans will not be disappointed.
Zombie Candy is a tasty morsel of revenge, regret, renewal, friendship and love with a zombie invasion that’s as good and fun as a box of Good n Plenty.
Overall ZOMBIE CANDY is an extraordinarily fun ride, but not your cliché roller coaster. No, this ones builds to a crescendo, again walking the reader (and the victim) through the labyrinth of one of the best revenge stories I’ve read in a long while.
Brooke keeps us guessing the whole time, and then leaves you with your mouth hanging open at the end: Did I just read that?!
“The First Wives Club” with zombies and cooking. But without cilantro.
I looked my husband as I was reading the story and said, ‘Some of you men are dogs.’
Everyone should purchase this book, especially if you have a friend who has dealt with a lying, cheating spouse and needs a good laugh and a little vengeful inspiration.
If you’ve ever been in a relationship with a cheater, I think you’ll get a kick out of reading one woman’s story of how she got even.
From the awkward moments of infidelities exposed at dinner parties, botched sexual encounters of an obvious sex addict, to the gruesome “zombie” attacks that will shock and amuse, this book kept me reading well past my bedtime.
This book has all the ingredients of a perfect noir comedy – well formed characters, international locations, a fast moving plot with no brakes, and of course Zombies. Revenge is a dish best served cold – and as a betrayed wife, master chef and cookery instructor, Candace cooks up the perfect recipe for the ultimate gazpacho.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Mystery & Thriller / Horror
Rating – PG13
More details about the author & the book
Website http://www.frederickleebrooke.com/
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