Fancy Things Friday: A Fancy Book and a Fancy Lady

Welcome to Fancy Things Friday, where I talk about things on a Friday that I think are fancy!!

It's happened. I have talked about it to the point where people have threatened to throw things at me if I continued, and now it's finally here. This does mean that, after this particular post, I'm going to shut the crap up about it because I appreciate it can be annoying, but I ask that you bear with me for one last day as this is the day I've been yabbering on about for the past month. 

Yes, ladies and gents, my Fancy Thing this week is, once again, something that I have done, because every so often it's nice to be egocentric and shizzle. Not all the time, of course... just once in a while. My Fancy Thing actually is split between two things today, because it's a special day for two reasons. 

Fancy Thing and Reason No 1. 

A World Reborn: Book 2 in the Utopia Series, is now available on Amazon!!

*Screams manically whilst deciding the most hygienic place to throw up*

I've done it. I've actually committed to something for long enough that I've managed to create not one but two books on a particular storyline. This has officially become the most devoted I've ever been to one thing. Yes, my second book is now available to buy on Amazon. Please be aware that, should you stumble on this blog for the first time today and feel inclined to buy this book, it is book 2 in a series, and you do kinda need to read the first one for it to make any sense. However, I have tried to make this as easy as possible for you as, from tomorrow, Book 1 (Utopia) will be available, once again, for free on Amazon!! Huzzah!! You literally have nothing to lose, not even money. All you need is a kindle and an Amazon account. And if you don't have either, you can download the kindle app onto your smartphone/tablet for free and also sign up to Amazon for free. Yes, that's still zero pennies that you will spend. The freeness of Book 1 is only for 5 days, but after that it's only 77p to purchase, so even if you miss the promotion, you are only losing a tiny amount of money but gaining a whole novel about people dying and getting drunk and being sarcastic towards each other... what more can you ask for? 

You might ask for another book on top of that, well why not? I've got one more now! This was released today, it continues on with the story of the survivors in a post-apocalyptic world and has even more sarcasm and excitement and a years worth of my blood, sweat and tears... I know... sounds intriguing, doesn't it? If you enjoyed the characters from the first book, you'll be pleased to know that they are all back for book 2. 

There's: 

Christiana: A slightly awkward, fairly cynical mental health nurse who has a weakness for large amounts of alcohol and cares deeply for those around her. 

Daniela: A young, pretty spoilt, genius who is fiercely loyal, stubborn and knows her mind and what she wants. 

Jason: A sensitive and, frankly, bewildered guy who spends most of his life trying to figure out what the hell is going on with it. 

Adam: The gorgeous and talented movie star who makes mistakes like only a movie star could. 

Duncan: Aaaaah, Duncan. There are no words for Duncan. He's just... Duncan. The most laid back person in the universe...

And guys, there are many more... a whole group of survivors who are thrown together and forced to live in a new version of the world they are used to. Book 1 explores the initial reaction to the end of the world as they know it and how they adapt to it, Book 2 looks at the new world they have created. Book 2 also offers new characters to the storyline, such as Edinburgh, Belfast, Alice and Parker, and how they effect the lives of the original characters. It is a world that has taken over my life and I would love it if you knew about it as well. 

If you have read the books, or choose to read them in future, it would be really amazing if I could hear about what you think of it. I welcome all comments, even if you hated it. Feedback is important to me and I always like to hear what people outside of my brain think of it. If you want to give your opinions, then there's the Amazon page for comments (please do write something on there if you've read it, it helps with other people deciding whether or not to read it), there's the comments section on this blog and also you can email me via the white box in the right hand bar. Alternatively there's twitter and instagram, or you can just try shouting really loudly from the top of a rooftop... you never know, I might hear it. 

So the links bit. Once again, the links to buying the book vary, dependant on the country that you are currently living in. If you are in the UK then you can get your copy by clicking here and it is £6.10. If you are in the USA then you can get your copy by clicking here  and it is $10.30. For all other countries, you can find it by going to your own local Amazon site and typing in Lisa J Harries, which will take you to both books. 

Okay, that's enough about that. Thank you for supporting me in my dream, you make me feel all sorts of slightly inappropriate feelings. 

Fancy Thing and Reason No 2

A very Fancy lady who is missed a hell of a lot.

There was a reason that I wanted to publish my book on this day. You see, it's the anniversary of the day a very good friend of mine died. It happened 4 years ago today, and you may have heard me talk about her at this time of year in previous years. Her name was Tammy. She was awesome. I worked with her about three jobs back, when I lived in Essex and before I started writing on this thing. She was massively inappropriate in everything she had to say and had absolutely no filter between her brain and mouth. She also was the best person to dare to do something, as I never once saw her back down from it. She was this amazing 'larger than life' character that was taken far too young (still in her 20s) by cancer. 

Over the years since her death, I've drawn on her for inspiration. If she wanted something, she wasn't afraid to fight for it. She never apologised for who she was and was never afraid to ask for help when she needed it. Her fight against cancer towards the end was amazing. She was strong, even in her weakest moments, and it sucked that somehow the sodding thing beat her anyway. Whenever I do something big that means something to me, like publishing this book, I'm reminded of her. I wrote a post a year after she had died for this blog, and you are more than welcome to read it here. 

The really sucky thing about it all now however, is that the memories that were once so fresh in my mind have become out of focus and I'm not able to trust the accuracy of them anymore. Although, I will say that her laugh is still as clear in my mind as it was when she was alive... she had the dirtiest laugh of anyone I knew.

Most of my posts on her in the past have been reflective and, quite frankly, sad. However, I wanted this one to be a celebration of who she was. I wanted to take a moment to say on Fancy Things Friday, that she was very Fancy and awesome and everything else in between. She made us all laugh, all the time. She would pull practical jokes and talk about the status of her lady parts to anyone who would want to hear. 

She was this amazing gal, and I wanted to let you all know that she existed. If she had lived up to when I started writing on this thing, no doubt her antics would all be in here. But life sucks sometimes and people are taken away from us for no rhyme or reason. We adapt and move on, but it's so important that we never forget. Luckily for Tams, she had a personality that is forever engraved into the brains of all who knew her, so the likelihood of anyone forgetting her is very small indeed. 

So tonight, when you're out on the town, or sharing a meal with a few people, raise a glass to the beautiful Tammy and everything she represented; strength, humour, confidence and drive. Then go ahead and have a freakin' awesome night, because trust me, that's what she would be doing. 

Have an awesome weekend. 

Peace out my lovelies.