Rukia Publishing presents the book showcase for
Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands
On the brink of retirement, John and his wife Sally are determined to end a life at the grindstone in grimy and wet Lancashire. Together with their beloved Jack Russell/Staffie cross, Freddie, a rescue dog from the local RSPCA, they embark on the journey of a lifetime and relocate to the island of Tenerife. Selling up, they make the move to the north of Tenerife, a part almost unknown to the casual tourist, their very own hidden paradise, a world away from the 'tourist trap' that is the south of the island. Relaxed and surrounded by stunning coastal views, life in their new home, set amidst orange groves and banana plantations, is very different indeed! The weather is fantastic, the temperature idyllic, the people so friendly and the cost of living outrageously low...what more could they ask for? Adjusting to life abroad, and all of the costs that come with it, are explained in the book, from buying a new home and sorting out living taxes, to integrating into the local community and taking the dreaded Spanish driving test. Follow John and Sally as they learn a new language and take on a couple of new hobbies, while Freddie takes off on some unbelievable (but true!) exploits with his new canine friends. With a colourful collection of characters, travelling anecdotes that stretch from the English Midlands and all the way through mainland Spain in an old classic car, and some not so perfect moments that bring us back down to earth from time to time, this is a series of adventures that you will not want to miss. Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands is an ideal read for those contemplating retirement, moving to the Canary Islands or an extended trip through Spain. The book will also appeal to any dog lovers and holidaymakers who enjoy an interesting story.
Don't miss the behind the scenes feature at the end of this page!
A reader review on Amazon 5*****
WONDERFUL. I enjoyed it so much., 4 July 2014
By
Julie Haigh "Julie Haigh"
This review is from: Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands: A new life in hidden Tenerife (Kindle Edition)
I love reading memoirs about people making the move to live in foreign climes and this is a fine example. John tells of his, his wife Sally and their lovely little dog Freddie's move to an unspoiled and idyllic new home in Northern Tenerife. I really like the presentation, the book has a wonderful colourful cover and a blue font for the headings in the book-all really well done. John's brother-in-law designed the front cover of the book with a few suggestions from John as to how he wanted it-it's an amazing and colourful creation! There's even engaging reading at the acknowledgements chapter! Easy flow, humorous remarks-eg. a refreshing new way of saying 'sunburn', some very good similes, good descriptive writing of the lush green surroundings, it easily kept my interest. Lovely writing, John tells us some of the background about Puerto de la Cruz. Their home was originally intended to be a holiday home/rental property however Sally furnished it lovingly and couldn't bear to rent it out to anyone else. It's good to know they are still content here more than eight years later. I enjoyed the many amusing anecdotes about their friend Peter, his Standard Poodles, their trips out etc. A wonderful chapter. So many examples of John's gift for travel writing-I do hope he writes a travel guide sometime. Humorous remarks and different, not all done-to-death jokes-lots of light humorous remarks, gently funny, not trying too hard, you can't help but chuckle when you read this, so amusing are John's tales. Great Yorkshire Show hey? Up my way! The people of Yorkshire? That would be Yorkshire folk!-that's the correct term for us! I like this because it's all around where I live, places I have visited and can relate to: Harrogate, Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds so this was a pleasant surprise that he did talk about here as well as his new destination. Quite a way with words, a good new, refreshing way of saying it rains a lot! Blackpool-another place I know well. John and Sally's plan was to be a five year plan. It wasn't all plain sailing, some things not as they thought. I liked the book's structure. It was all very well organised, chapters not too long or too brief, just right. Interesting, amusing remarks inserted as well. Freddie had been abandoned at a few weeks old, they got him from the RSPCA. Again, such a refreshing way of putting things, perfect timing, slipping a little chuckle at the end of the comment when you're least expecting it. Heart warming to see evidence of such animal loving. You really get a good idea from the writing of the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the locality and a bit of it's history. John makes it sound so peaceful and beautiful and all is content with life. You see, this is what I like, different choice of words rather than repetition, for instance:dog walk-then it's called morning constitutional another time. Lovely quaint and different little expressions. Good job. Much of this chapter rather like a travel guide and an excellent one at that. Plenty of scenic detail, wonderful and tempting descriptions of the varied foods available. John has made a name for himself as a restaurant reviewer and includes some examples of his reviews for places they visit. There aren't too many of these and they do enhance the book. A lovely style to his reviews. As they appear in a local newspaper, I personally would like to see these extracts appear as newspaper columns, again for variety and realism. Now, very interesting, I love people delving into their family tree! Many more different and refreshing choices of words-really quite charming how John 'speaks'- glad to see John hasn't lost his very English expressions. He has a wonderful way with words. When Sally's old faithful handbag bust, I loved the term-getting an 'interim replacement'! So many smiles in this particular chapter-I was at the hairdressers at the time and I was laughing while reading this! Their friends George and Eta who came to stay with them are from Oberammergau of the Passion Play fame and John and Sally go to their home for an exchange visit. Oberau brought back memories for me-I went there skiing years ago-I loved it there. There are some charming cameos about Freddie. So much material, varied content to hold your interest. Unexpected adventures on the flight to Munich. Funny about the food and the post it notes from Peter! Ha ha, the poodles' funny, faddy ways. So funny, and just describing an incident about a new household item! Many smiles here. Good conclusions. Wonderful, enjoyed it SO much. I do hope John writes more of his adventures in Tenerife, I would love to read more. This is a very accurate and polished offering. If I have one criticism, it's just that he used some of his expressions quite a few times and, charming as they are, perhaps select another word/phrase if you're going to say it a few times rather than too much repetition-eg. there are many examples of 'hither and thither' and 'trundled'. A wonderful, wonderful book.
By
Julie Haigh "Julie Haigh"
This review is from: Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands: A new life in hidden Tenerife (Kindle Edition)
I love reading memoirs about people making the move to live in foreign climes and this is a fine example. John tells of his, his wife Sally and their lovely little dog Freddie's move to an unspoiled and idyllic new home in Northern Tenerife. I really like the presentation, the book has a wonderful colourful cover and a blue font for the headings in the book-all really well done. John's brother-in-law designed the front cover of the book with a few suggestions from John as to how he wanted it-it's an amazing and colourful creation! There's even engaging reading at the acknowledgements chapter! Easy flow, humorous remarks-eg. a refreshing new way of saying 'sunburn', some very good similes, good descriptive writing of the lush green surroundings, it easily kept my interest. Lovely writing, John tells us some of the background about Puerto de la Cruz. Their home was originally intended to be a holiday home/rental property however Sally furnished it lovingly and couldn't bear to rent it out to anyone else. It's good to know they are still content here more than eight years later. I enjoyed the many amusing anecdotes about their friend Peter, his Standard Poodles, their trips out etc. A wonderful chapter. So many examples of John's gift for travel writing-I do hope he writes a travel guide sometime. Humorous remarks and different, not all done-to-death jokes-lots of light humorous remarks, gently funny, not trying too hard, you can't help but chuckle when you read this, so amusing are John's tales. Great Yorkshire Show hey? Up my way! The people of Yorkshire? That would be Yorkshire folk!-that's the correct term for us! I like this because it's all around where I live, places I have visited and can relate to: Harrogate, Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds so this was a pleasant surprise that he did talk about here as well as his new destination. Quite a way with words, a good new, refreshing way of saying it rains a lot! Blackpool-another place I know well. John and Sally's plan was to be a five year plan. It wasn't all plain sailing, some things not as they thought. I liked the book's structure. It was all very well organised, chapters not too long or too brief, just right. Interesting, amusing remarks inserted as well. Freddie had been abandoned at a few weeks old, they got him from the RSPCA. Again, such a refreshing way of putting things, perfect timing, slipping a little chuckle at the end of the comment when you're least expecting it. Heart warming to see evidence of such animal loving. You really get a good idea from the writing of the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the locality and a bit of it's history. John makes it sound so peaceful and beautiful and all is content with life. You see, this is what I like, different choice of words rather than repetition, for instance:dog walk-then it's called morning constitutional another time. Lovely quaint and different little expressions. Good job. Much of this chapter rather like a travel guide and an excellent one at that. Plenty of scenic detail, wonderful and tempting descriptions of the varied foods available. John has made a name for himself as a restaurant reviewer and includes some examples of his reviews for places they visit. There aren't too many of these and they do enhance the book. A lovely style to his reviews. As they appear in a local newspaper, I personally would like to see these extracts appear as newspaper columns, again for variety and realism. Now, very interesting, I love people delving into their family tree! Many more different and refreshing choices of words-really quite charming how John 'speaks'- glad to see John hasn't lost his very English expressions. He has a wonderful way with words. When Sally's old faithful handbag bust, I loved the term-getting an 'interim replacement'! So many smiles in this particular chapter-I was at the hairdressers at the time and I was laughing while reading this! Their friends George and Eta who came to stay with them are from Oberammergau of the Passion Play fame and John and Sally go to their home for an exchange visit. Oberau brought back memories for me-I went there skiing years ago-I loved it there. There are some charming cameos about Freddie. So much material, varied content to hold your interest. Unexpected adventures on the flight to Munich. Funny about the food and the post it notes from Peter! Ha ha, the poodles' funny, faddy ways. So funny, and just describing an incident about a new household item! Many smiles here. Good conclusions. Wonderful, enjoyed it SO much. I do hope John writes more of his adventures in Tenerife, I would love to read more. This is a very accurate and polished offering. If I have one criticism, it's just that he used some of his expressions quite a few times and, charming as they are, perhaps select another word/phrase if you're going to say it a few times rather than too much repetition-eg. there are many examples of 'hither and thither' and 'trundled'. A wonderful, wonderful book.
To find out more or to connect with author John Searancke here are all the links you need:
Website: www.johnsearancke.com
Meet the Author at Rukia Publishing: http://www.rukiapublishing.com/meet-the-author-john-searancke.html
John Searancke Pinterest profile page: https://www.pinterest.com/johnsearancke/
Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/sjbutfield/featured-book-dog-days-in-the-fortunate-islands/
Prunes for Breakfast Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/sjbutfield/featured-book-prunes-for-breakfast-by-john-searanc/
John Searancke Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/john.searancke.1
Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-Days-in-The-Fortunate-Islands/867368390009475
Prunes for Breakfast Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PrunesForBreakfast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnsearancke
Troubador Publishing:
Meet the Author at Rukia Publishing: http://www.rukiapublishing.com/meet-the-author-john-searancke.html
John Searancke Pinterest profile page: https://www.pinterest.com/johnsearancke/
Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/sjbutfield/featured-book-dog-days-in-the-fortunate-islands/
Prunes for Breakfast Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/sjbutfield/featured-book-prunes-for-breakfast-by-john-searanc/
John Searancke Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/john.searancke.1
Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-Days-in-The-Fortunate-Islands/867368390009475
Prunes for Breakfast Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PrunesForBreakfast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnsearancke
Troubador Publishing:
Behind the scenes of Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands by John Searancke
Part 1
After we retired to northern Tenerife, and a new life in the sun, we bought an old Mercedes 300SL and drove it down from the English Midlands all the way to the Canary Islands. The highs and lows of this extended journey are charted in Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands. Now 25 years old, it is in fine form after annual running repairs – such is the life of an old classic car!
Part 1
After we retired to northern Tenerife, and a new life in the sun, we bought an old Mercedes 300SL and drove it down from the English Midlands all the way to the Canary Islands. The highs and lows of this extended journey are charted in Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands. Now 25 years old, it is in fine form after annual running repairs – such is the life of an old classic car!
Behind the scenes of Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands by John Searancke
Part 2:
Meet Freddie! Moving lock stock and barrel from England to northern Tenerife; the story of one family and their dog. Doggy tales, fun and tribulations in equal measure. Follow Freddie and John on Pinterest
Part 2:
Meet Freddie! Moving lock stock and barrel from England to northern Tenerife; the story of one family and their dog. Doggy tales, fun and tribulations in equal measure. Follow Freddie and John on Pinterest
Behind the scenes of Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands
Part 3
View from the terrace:
"The weather is fantastic, the temperature idyllic, the people so friendly and the cost of living outrageously low...what more could they ask for? Adjusting to life abroad, and all of the costs that come with it, are explained in the book, from buying a new home and sorting out living taxes, to integrating into the local community and taking the dreaded Spanish driving test."
Part 3
View from the terrace:
"The weather is fantastic, the temperature idyllic, the people so friendly and the cost of living outrageously low...what more could they ask for? Adjusting to life abroad, and all of the costs that come with it, are explained in the book, from buying a new home and sorting out living taxes, to integrating into the local community and taking the dreaded Spanish driving test."
