It’s a dog’s life ~ Check out the 'Bertie and Winnie' book series… as two authors, who have never physically met,
come up with this enchanting creation. Dylan H. Beckett represents the Woking
half of the duo.
Read on to find out more...
About the books…
One unlikely friendship, many
transatlantic letters, and just as many adventures later, Bertie and Winnie
return in this latest book with nothing to lose and the world to see!
In the latest book in the series, 'The Journeys of Bertie and Winnie', adventure
abounds as Bertie and Winnie, their long-lost romance rekindled, embark on a
grand tour of Europe—but little goes quite as planned. And change is afoot in
America, prompting a restless Winnie and her friend Lottie to escape to the UK
on holiday. Both pairs make new friends and stumble into some tricky
situations, whilst solving a historic mystery and discovering a hidden past.
Bertie & Winnie reminds us that detours may be just as
meaningful as destinations, and that love and friendship will weather all
storms along the way.
"There are snippets of things related to Woking, given I’ve
lived here a long time," writes co-author, Dylan. "A reference to St John’s albeit in London (book 1),
where there is a real park named that. Many of the places in MA are real too,
the whisper bench on the coast, for example, these references are generally in
all books. We had great fun researching the real places and adding them to
the books. There are numerous references, which have been annotated and we
liked to add in little hints to things that happened at later dates. The books
are set in 1978-79 and the letters show more specific dates. For example,
Bertie was watching TV in his flat in Dolphin Square, London and up popped a
funny little character called Morph, I added a line that Bertie said that Morph
could do with a friend to banter with, Chas, who hadn't appeared on the show
yet, or the incident with the VW badge in Germany when one fell off Bertie's
van when he was searching for the filler cap. He ended up putting a chain on it
and giving it to a young pup who wore it around his neck, in reference to the
Beastie Boys phenomena."
More about the authors…
Britt L. Gourley hails from
Swampscott, MA, in the USA and Dylan H. Beckett is from Woking, England. Both authors write
using pseudonyms. Britt has a Master’s degree in English Literature and Dylan is a designer. They met online during
the first UK lockdown of 2020 and have collaborated on three books in the
Bertie & Winnie series. Their work has helped sustain them through the
challenges of the global pandemic and by having a common aim of publishing a
book they got to know each other better. Their hope is that the stories will
give their readers something to smile about.
All titles are available from Lulu.com HERE
A brief interview with Dylan…
When did you start writing your new book?
December 2020
What was the inspiration behind the book?
We were exchanging snippets of family lore and sharing stories of our own and
other people’s pets when we hit upon the notion of transatlantic tales
incorporating these ideas. The Journeys of Bertie & Winnie is the third
book in the series that was thus inspired.
Can you describe your route to publication from concept to completed novel?
Lots of talking via What’s App, lots of brainstorming, and an abundance of
positivity, along with plenty of multicoloured text in various Google docs as
we added, suggested, commented, and edited.
What ideas do you have for any future books?
We are already working on a fourth book, which is going to contain a number of
short stories, with some of the familiar characters from the Bertie &
Winnie series making cameo appearances. It’s full of humour and hijinks.
Which publishing services (if any) would you recommend?
Lulu, self-publishing. There was a learning curve in getting the book artwork
and content in the correct format and some teething problems with the system,
but overall, it is a useful free service to use.
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