'Hot Cross Mum - Bitesize Slices of Motherhood' is the result of a two year journey of blood, sweat and lots of tears (and the, ahem, occasional G&T!). Regular readers of 'Hot Cross Mum' will know that I'm a self-confessed, frustrated, 'published-author-in-waiting' so I'm very proud to have brought my little corner of cyberspace kicking and screaming into the world of ebooks.
I started ‘Hot Cross Mum’ in March 2009 as a platform for developing a writing career after I was made redundant and decided to become a Stay At Home Mum. I started blogging just at the point when the ‘mummy blogging’ community was exploding in the UK and Ireland and I quickly became part of an influential community of blogging parents. I loved it! The phenomena of blogging and my part in that attracted the interest of Irish press and TV and after being interviewed for ‘The Sunday Times Magazine’ in January 2010 about the transition from corporate to domestic life, the blog was noticed by a literary agent. She enquired whether I’d considered developing a book based on the blog. I hadn’t, but I started to work on it the very next day!
When it was submitted, the book received praise from publishers in Ireland and the UK and was very nearly commissioned for publication by a UK publisher; but unfortunately didn’t make the final hurdle. Having got so close, I was obviously very disappointed, but dusted myself off and continued to write the blog for my personal pleasure and turned my hand to fiction writing and my freelance career. That book has sat on my PC ever since; nagging at me!
As ebooks became more and more popular, I started to think about putting ‘Hot Cross Mum: bitesize slices of motherhood’ out in an ebook format. A friend of mine, Catherine Howard, was starting to see phenomenal success with her ebook ‘MouseTrapped’ and encouraged me to go for it!
It’s probably important to point out that rather than being just a straightforward copy of the blog, the ebook charts the first twelve months of my journey from leaving my corporate career and adjusting to life at home with the children. Obviously, some of my published blog posts are used (it is, after all, those posts which brought readers to my blog in the first place) but I have also added new material and brought it all together into a much more meaningful package with a beginning, middle and hopefully a happy ending! So there’s something in the ebook for existing readers of ‘Hot Cross Mum’, as well as for people who have never seen the blog and discover the ebook first.
Some very lovely and incredibly talented ladies have read the book. Here's what they thought.
“Hazel is a brilliant writer and captures the essence of being thrust into motherhood headfirst. Her writing is hilarious and often cuts close to the bone. She'll have you chuckling at your computer screen for hours.” - Susanna Scott, Founder of British Mummy Bloggers and co-founder of CyberMummy Conferences
"A funny, relevant and wonderfully honest account of motherhood. I laughed out loud and nodded in recognition all the way through." -Sinead Moriarty, bestselling author of ‘The Baby Trail’ and ‘Pieces of My Heart’
“Hazel Gaynor is a funnier version of your best laugh-out-loud, fabulous, friend - the one who can take a mundane or even miserable mom-moment and spin it into pure comedy gold. Her wickedly wonderful“bitesize slices of motherhood” go down easier than the smoothest top-shelf tequila and satisfy on every level.” - Jenna McCarthy, bestselling author of ‘The Parent Trip’ and ‘Cheers to the new mom!’ / ‘Cheers to the new Dad!’.
The book is available to download for Kindle, iPhone, iPad Android or PC through Amazon or for Sony eReader and other devices through directebooks
