I am pleased to announce that my new book ‘Rainbow Adventures with Doodle & Dolly’ is in stores now! On Sunday, my partner Lee, Alfie Doodle and I jumped in the Landy. We were armed with a pile of my new books and headed out to visit potential stockists.
Local Stockists in north Wales
I felt quite nervous taking my new book out to the stockists as I have put a lot of time, effort and love into the book. There is always a moment of self-doubt as to what other people might think.
Snowdonia Nurseries
First stop was the family run business of Snowdonia Nurseries in Glan Conwy. I was warmly greeted by Hannah, who identified the perfect little spot for my book to be displayed. They have a beautiful, colourful back-to-school area so my book sits perfectly amongst the other items.
Snowdonia Nurseries has some fabulous indoor and outdoor plants, gifts and a brilliant greetings card section. They also have a lovely cafe area, the food of which I can vouch for! Mum and I had a delicious afternoon tea there not long ago. Lee and I also got a sneak peak at their Christmas area, which is currently being put together. It takes 6 weeks to build their winter wonderland from scratch so it will be all hands to the deck.
L’s Coffee & Bookshop
We then drove to Conwy and up the High Street, which is home to the very dog-friendly L’s Coffee and Bookshop. Lisa and Gaz run this brilliant, popular cafe, which serves fantastic coffee, generous portions of breakfast, lunch and yummy cake! Lisa kindly let me put my book in a prime spot right in the window.
As far as I’m concerned, L’s do the best fish finger buttie in town! I devoured that with a bowl of sweet potato fries whilst Lee opted for a tuna melt toastie with chips. We have eaten here over the past few years and the food is consistently good. You can always be sure of a warm welcome and efficient, friendly service.
Haulfre Tearooms
I only discovered this area of the Great Orme when I met Lee 10 years ago. Haulfre Tearooms is tucked away in a gorgeous gardens, which is in a sheltered area of the Orme. It is really popular with locals and tourists alike. There are some lovely walks right on the doorstep with magnificent views. The owner Dee has always done really well with my other two books. She told me that my ‘Alfie’ books are really popular with Grandma’s who buy them for their Grandchildren. Dee was happy for me to put my new story in the tearooms, which was great news!
The only problem with where most of my books are is that they all sell food. If food is involved, I can never resist! It was an easy decision to have a piece of homemade coffee and walnut cake as a reward for another successful book drop.
Providero Tea & Coffee House
Our final stop for the day was Providero in Llandudno or ‘Big Prov’ as the locals call it (there is a smaller Providero in Llandudno Junction). This place does ridiculously good coffee including a very tasty decaf option alongside big tin jars of herbal and fruity teas. Their food is also excellent, most of it has either a vegetarian or vegan twist. I can highly recommend their ‘pimped up porridge’. Anyway back to the books (!), Prov is dog-friendly and was happy to let me put my new book on their shelves. They also have local artist’s prints, cards, stained glass decorations and Heartland coffee for sale.
We’d eaten our way round the stockists, so decided to finish our trip with a coffee from Prov. Lee is a creature of habit and had his ‘usual’ a Latte in a takeout cup (side note, Prov’s cups are 100% recyclable). I decided to have a skinny one-shot decaf Cappuccino!
Waterstones coming soon…
My book will also be heading to the local Waterstones in Llandudno. I am just waiting for it to load onto the relevant system so that they are able to place their order. So please watch this space for its arrival into Waterstones. There will be a book signing event there too.
A big thank you!
I’d like to just use this opportunity to say a huge thank you to the above stockists, all of whom have supported me from day one. It means the world to me to be able to have my book in your brilliantly run, successful, independent shops, so thank you, thank you, thank you! I am very grateful to each of you for helping me get my book and stories out there.