Win A copy of The Quilt Unravelled and Crumbs to Caviar

Lyn Bowring aka Rochelle Carlton spends most of her day keeping 60 acres, five horses, three dogs (sometimes puppies too) and five cats as well as countless chickens in good fettle.
But for an hour or two she escapes to her office to attend to ‘paperwork – not the accounts or tax but still paperwork.
Three years ago the 54 year old mother of two adult children, dog breeder, and two cats shy of being officially labelled a cat lady, began penning her first book.
With a vague outline in mind, Lyn started on her writing regime although she says there were times she felt out of her depth with the size of the emerging novel.
But two years down the track she finally finished The Quilt Unravelled, written under the pen name of Rochelle Carlton – a combination of her children’s middle names.
Having learnt much from her first book, a saga which took two years to complete, it took some time before Lyn felt ready to embark on a second novel.
In hindsight Lyn says The Quilt Unravelled, set in New Zealand, as is second book Crumbs to Caviar, could have been fine-tuned a bit more but, nevertheless, it has received positive comment.
Impressively, Crumbs hit number one for page reads in the same World Literature: Australia and Oceania category as her first book, just two weeks after its October publication.
Lyn adds she has particularly appreciated the mentoring of Beachlands cartoonist and author, Dylan Horrocks and also the talents of graphic arts director, Clare McGillivray who has designed the covers for both books.
While both The Quilt Unravelled and Crumbs to Caviar have, in terms of Amazon’s huge library of books, met with success, Lyn warns that writing, self-publishing and marketing is no walk on a Pohutukawa Coast beach.
While commending the Amazon team for its helpfulness and huge support throughout the whole process, Lyn admits she should have done more research – “I realise now a marketing plan is essential.”
Despite her cautionary words, Lyn is not one to be easily deterred. She clearly recalls a high school English teacher halting her literary aspirations with scathing comments on a piece written by Lyn.
It took the young scribe some time to get over that rejection but in the end self-belief won out over teacher cynicism although Lyn says she still doesn’t truly think of herself as an author.
Eastlife has a copy of both of these books to give away to one lucky reader.
To be in to win, simply complete the form below.
One entry per person/email address; Winner notified by phone or email.
Entries close January 31, 2016.