Front Page Fridays Week-49
Front Page Fridays Week-49
Welcome to Front Page Fridays Week-49. On Fridays I showcase the first page of a new book.
My Front Page Fridays Week-49 guest is Nicola Kelsall with her brand-new comedy, Fiasco, the latest in her Diary of a Stressed Out Mother series.
Here’s the opening:
PROLOGUE
To describe last year as an ‘annus horribilis’, is possibly the understatement of the century, at least where I’m concerned. It’s a miracle I’m still a fully functioning wife and mother, to be honest. My mental health has taken a proper beating. What with people expiring in suspicious circumstances, dangerous animals on the loose causing mayhem (including my mother’s dodgy boyfriend), villains round every corner, and mysterious and unsavoury goings-on all over the place; most of the events of last year are best banished to the deepest recesses of my poor depleted mind. Andrew’s father’s inexplicable plans to transform next door’s dilapidated old garage into a zany new living space, has caused us many a sleepless night, and I nearly had a nervous breakdown over my mother’s naïve belief that Bogus Barry was the best thing to happen to her since the Kenwood Chef. Hopefully, she’s learned her lesson now and will enjoy her twilight years in peace and tranquillity, tending to her garden, doing what old people are supposed to do in their dotage, and not galivanting about like a besotted teenager. I need to have a word with myself too – I need to learn to say ‘no’ to people who Andrew refers to as ‘sponging parasites’, although I think he’s being a bit harsh. Homeless Harry and Mrs (grumpy) Goodly were really just a couple of life’s unfortunate victims of circumstance. Anyway, ‘new year, new start’, is going to be my mantra. I need to put these gruesome past events firmly behind me and focus on the positives. After all, there are some good things to look forward to; the in-laws are finally moving out, and I have a new business to think about. On a slightly more dubious note, I am suddenly faced with the daunting prospect of becoming a grandma. I’m secretly quite worried about this particular turn of events, but it’s not as if I have a choice, is it? At only eighteen, Flora is far too young to be a mother, and her boyfriend is barely out of short trousers. Andrew is not at all happy about it, but you can’t put the cork back in the bottle, can you? I don’t feel remotely ready to be a grandma – our youngest, Billy, is only seven years old, for heaven’s sake! I never envisaged in a million years that this would happen. It’s all very disconcerting. Still, we have to make the best of it – onwards and upwards, as they say.
About Fiasco
It’s the start of another crazy year for Dora Loveday and her growing family. Fiasco is the fifth book in the series ‘Diary of a Stressed Out Mother’ and things don’t get any easier. The new year brings a heady concoction of delight, disasters, and idiocy in equal measure. Fiasco will give you everything you expect and more, from new beginnings to unexpected surprises, it’s a smorgasbord of life’s highs and lows. Sinister activities and dodgy dealings abound. It’s a wonder no one comes a cropper…(well…only a little…)
Front cover illustrated by Nicola Kelsall
Book Jacket by Little Studio Publishing Co.
U.K.£9.99
How to Purchase
Link to ‘Fiasco’ : https://amzn.to/4r4GMsD
About the Author
Nicola Kelsall is an artist and writer, living in a little village in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, with her own slightly chaotic and noisy family. She has loved being an artist and writer from childhood. She trained at Bath Academy and Edinburgh College of Art, later becoming a freelance artist and illustrator. Over the years, she supported her life as an artist by working in a wide variety of other professions.
Her eclectic assortment of jobs have included; Chambermaid, Barmaid, Driver, Shop Assistant, Hotel Manager, Secretary, House and Pet Sitter, Dresser for the Royal Scottish Ballet, PA, Designer, Singer in a Medieval Banquet, Event and Exhibition Organiser, Teacher, Child Minder and PTA Queen - but most importantly, mother to her own three children and foster carer to many more.
“I used to worry that some of the dead-end jobs I did, represented huge amounts of wasted time. I often felt trapped and frustrated. Now of course, I am grateful for all the interesting experiences and funny characters I’ve met along the way. Having a family and fostering for many years has given me another very different perspective on life and luckily inspired the series, ‘Diary of a Stressed Out Mother’, and my other two romantic comedy novels, ‘With Both Feet’, and ‘Deep Water’. I’ve enjoyed every minute of writing these books and I hope my readers love them too!”
Social Media Links
Website : www.nicolakelsall.com
Facebook Author Page (Little Studio Publishing) :
https://www.facebook.com/people/Little-Studio-Publishing/100054306560030/
Instagram: www.instagram.com@nicola_kelsall
Tiktok : www.tiktok.com/@nicolakelsall.com
Nicola’s Other Titles
Link to ‘Bedlam’ : https://amzn.to/4sfIDf2
Link to ‘Madness’ : https://amzn.to/4sku9e7
Link to ‘Chaos’ : https://amzn.to/4r6T8R4
Link to ‘Mayhem’ : https://amzn.to/4kYhElO
Link to ‘With Both Feet’ : https://amzn.to/4rEnyen
Link to ‘Deep Water’ : https://amzn.to/4l45HeD
I hope you enjoyed reading Front Page Fridays Week-49. Please come back next time when I’ll be featuring a different author and the first page of their book.
And please take a look at books already featured on Front Page Fridays:
1. Blood Ribbons by Lin Le Versha – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-1/
2. Fatal Blow by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-2/
3. Can I Trust You? by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-3 – Rachel Sargeant
4. The Last Bird of Paradise by AJ Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-4 – Rachel Sargeant
5. Never Forgive You by Hilly Barmby – Front Page Fridays Week-5 – Rachel Sargeant
6. The Mists of Pencarrack Moor by Terri Nixon – Front Page Fridays Week-6 - Rachel Sargeant
7. The Thief of Joy by Stacey Murray – Front Page Fridays Week-7 - Rachel Sargeant
8. Edge of the Land by Malcolm Hollingdrake – Front Page Fridays Week-8 - Rachel Sargeant
9. The Mind of a Murderer by Michael Wood - https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-9/
10. The Midnight Man by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-10 - Rachel Sargeant
11. Dark Road Home by Sheila Bugler – Front Page Fridays Week-11 - Rachel Sargeant
12. Her Charming Man by Rachel Sargeant – Front Page Fridays Week-12 - Rachel Sargeant
13. Wedding Bells at the Lakeside Hotel by Linda Huber – Front Page Fridays Week-13 - Rachel Sargeant
14. Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey – Front Page Fridays Week-14 - Rachel Sargeant
15. The Shame by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-15 - Rachel Sargeant
16. Dead Mile by Jo Furniss – Front Page Fridays Week-16 — Rachel Sargeant
17. The Violin and Candlestick by David Jarvis – Front Page Fridays Week-17 — Rachel Sargeant
18. New Memories by S.E. Shepherd – Front Page Fridays Week-18 — Rachel Sargeant
19. Young Blood by Victoria Gemmell – Front Page Fridays Week-19 — Rachel Sargeant
20. Private Investigations by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-20 — Rachel Sargeant
21. The Car Horn revolution by A.J. Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-21 — Rachel Sargeant
22. What Lies Beneath by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-22 — Rachel Sargeant
23. A Safe Place by Stephanie Carty – Front Page Fridays Week-23 — Rachel Sargeant
24. Fatal Image by Brian Price – Front Page Fridays Week-24 — Rachel Sargeant
25. Run For Your Lies by A.A. Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-25 — Rachel Sargeant
26. A Walk in the Park by Natalie Kleinman – Front Page Fridays Week-26 — Rachel Sargeant
27. A Storm in a Teacup by Rachael Gray – Front Page Fridays Week-27 — Rachel Sargeant
28. The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-28
29. A Death in the Afternoon by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-29 — Rachel Sargeant
30. Justice by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-30 — Rachel Sargeant
31. Let Me Out by Amanada Brittany – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-31
32. A Pocketful of Poisons by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/85orb6bc15cs2voyn37yv3jprw0jec
33. Tribute by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-33 — Rachel Sargeant
34. Mistress of the Manor by Cara Clayton – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-34
35. Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Chistensen – Front Page Fridays Week-35 — Rachel Sargeant
36. A French Inheritance by Jennifer Bohnet – Front Page Fridays Week-36
37. Beneath the Same Moon by AS Andrejevic – Front Page Fridays Week-37 — Rachel Sargeant
38. The Fallen by Maureen Myant - Front Page Fridays Week-38 — Rachel Sargeant
39. The Bad Women by Jennie Ensor – Front Page Fridays Week-39 — Rachel Sargeant
40. Lies Between Friends by AA Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-40 — Rachel Sargeant
41. Fatal Shot by Brian Brice – My Front Page Fridays Week-41 — Rachel Sargeant
42. The Alibi by Katharine Johnson – My Front Page Fridays Week-42 — Rachel Sargeant
43. The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-43
44. If I Were You by Helen Matthews – Front Page Fridays Week-44 — Rachel Sargeant
45. (Not Quite) Done With Dating by Bella Osborne – Front Page Fridays Week-45
46. Poison at the Wild Haggis Bookshop by Jackie Baldwin – Front Page Fridays Week-46 — Rachel Sargeant
47. Beattie Cavendish and the Highland Hideaway by Mary-Jane Riley – Front Page Fridays Week-47 — Rachel Sargeant
48. Missing… Rose Malone by Linda Huber – www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-48