April Showers

APRIL SHOWERS PRAISE ON FIELDS OF GRACE

What an extraordinary month April has been for me and more specifically for my book, Fields of Grace.

 

 

 

Fields of Grace was turned down by every publisher and agent I submitted it to over a period of ten years between 2010 and 2020 and now it has been voted best book of April by two independent reviewers.

 

 

 

 

 

The first acknowledgement came from London reviewer Rose Auburn who voted Fields of Grace one of two best reads in April.

 

@RoseAuburnBooks

Available from: https://amzn.to/3gXp4qy

Fields of Grace by Wendy Waters @wa_waters

Girl Tracy by Nerissa Martin  @JustNerissa  

The other reviewer was Peter Donnelly @theReadingDesk Ireland who voted Fields of Grace the best book of April.

The Reading Desk

@TheReadingDesk

The #BOTM choice for April 2021 by #ReadingDesk reviewers is, #FieldsOfGrace by

@wa_waters

http://thereadingdesk.com/fields-of-grac

Two great runners-up: #TheMaidens by @AlexMichaelides
and #Hyde by @TheCraigRussell

And this is the field my book competed against.

Suffice it to say I am reeling with the revelation that my book beat Where the Crawdads Sing, The Maiden, Hamnet and Hyde, books that have been supported by massive marketing campaigns. My book was self-published, unedited and rejected by publishers and agents for almost a decade. Believe me I am still coming to terms with the impact my book has made on two of the most respected reviewers in the UK. 

If there is a a moral to this story, it’s that you should never give up on yourself even though every avenue appears to be closed. Keep believing and keep persevering. Sometimes the world just has to catch up.

Added to this Sarah Sansom @theBookWhiskers voted Fields of Grace her favourite book of 2020!

Sarah was nominated for The Sunshine Bloggers Award.

The Sunshine Book Blogger Award – The Book’s Whiskers (wordpress.com) and this was question one!!

Q1. What was your favourite and least favourite book of 2020?

Gaarrrrghh!  Pulling out the biggest question first!  I’ve read so many brilliant books this year (which is why it’s taking me a long time to pull together my ‘5* reads of 2020’ blog article).  But I clearly have to give an answer so my favourite would be …

Fields of Grace by Wendy Waters

It is very emotionally involving, with a cast of characters so vivid and alive they felt like good friends within the first few chapters.  I adore Wendy’s lyrical style of writing; she’s a musician and this delightful talent flows lusciously into her prose.  If you’ve not read this book, I hugely recommend it … you’re in for a treat. If you want to find out more about Fields of Grace, this link will whizz you over to my review.

I am so grateful to Rose, Sarah and Peter for giving this story wings.

Thank you to my friend Dean Micheal Rochford for an achingly beautiful cover. RIP my friend, gone but not forgotten.