Book Jacket

 

rank 5445
word count 23092
date submitted 14.06.2011
date updated 14.06.2011
genres: Chick Lit, Harper True Life, Christ...
classification: universal
incomplete

Funnily Enough

Sophie Neville

What happens when life suddenly comes to a halt? And you are left with no option but to sleep or laugh? I chose laughter.

 

A quirky but inspirational story with themes that include working in television and fashion with country life and animals - particularly dogs and otters. It also says something about trust. While it starts and finishes in Africa, Sophie’s tale is set in Gloucestershire with forays to London, Scotland and the Lake District. Although facing various conundrums she never loses the support of her friends and realises her dreams despite the odds. ‘I am being swept along by the narrative, becoming wholly absorbed. It is entertaining and amusing yet in the background there’s an unspoken tension gathering momentum as to how things will all end up... it has me hooked.’ ‘I must tell you I laughed out loud in the tube three times yesterday reading this - I doubled up!!’ ‘Absolutely superb. My wife keeps reading bits out aloud to me.’ ‘I don’t know why but it gave me tremendous hope – it’s also extremely funny. I want to give copies away to a number of people.’ ‘…very readable, thought provoking and funny. Things you’ve always asked yourself and never really answered are addressed with humour and incisiveness.’ ‘I can dip in and out of it - it's a hoot!’

 
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tags

africa, animal stories, christian, depression, dogs, fashion, gloucestershire, horses, humor, humour, otters, parrots, television

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5 comments

 

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Sophie Neville wrote 97 days ago

Dear Kady,

I am so glad you are enjoying 'Funnily Enough'.
Mary-Dieu will be thrilled to here you are a fan!
Do you have a Kindle? You can find it on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funnily-Enough-ebook/dp/B005CRVG2C
~ there are sometimes free downloads but it is not expensive,
or I have a website with extracts http://funnily-enough.blogspot.com

I hadn't heard about fibromyalgia back in 1992 but it seems distressingly common. What is so sad, is how little has progressed in the field of chronic fatigue since I first contracted it 20 years ago.

I love Catherine Marshall's books, which I read in about 1993, a year after I finished this diary.
She is an inspiration.

Many thanks for your kind and encouraging words,

Sophie



Hi Sophie,

This is going to be a good read once you get your hook in place to draw your readers in. I think you should begin with the scene that has your father working in the garden and the garden tiller almost taking out his body parts. That's a funny scene though it's not so funny if you're the one lying on the ground. However, I think that will draw the reader in to keep reading.

Another great scene is where you're trying to explain to your mother about what "being born again" means. Her not wanting anyone to clap in church, etc. That so describes people who are afraid of what the Holy Spirit might do. Some people are so afraid to show any emotion in church and I thought this was funny. I was there once so could feel her "uncomfortable" side. Ha-ha! The first time I saw people raise their hands in church, it made me sooo uncomfortable. Then I began to visit all kinds of different churches that I thought might be Spirit filled. I could totally sympathize with your mother!

So I'm high starring you and backing. I feel this book will be a great memoir when you get it polished with a stronger hook.

By the way, are you still suffering from the fibro? There's a wonderful healing room in Edinburgh - met these people on Facebook. If I ever make it back to Europe, I would want to visit them. They have an incredible testimonial.

If you get a chance, please take a look at Shakespeare's Pink Cadillac and thanks! ~ Kady Colter

Kady Colter wrote 97 days ago

Okay, finished the fourth chapter and it's chronic fatigue - sort of like fibromyalgia - got the two mixed up.

Let me know if you're going to post any more chapters and I'll put it on my list to watch. I'm enjoying
the read and wondering if you're going to get better! I'm loving the horses, the dogs, and the otters, and
of course Mary-Dieu and Daisy and your wonderful eclectic family.

Also, this reminds me in a way of Catherine Marshall's illness. She was married to Peter Marshall and wrote Christy after her husband died. Also, her book "A Man Called Peter" was excellent and he was from Scotland. But it was her book "Something More" that was such a good read. When she was so ill and in her bed one night after two years of suffering from some type of disease like yours, Jesus visited her in her room and told her she would be getting better. And get better she did. This visitation from the Lord, changed her life.

Let me know if you post any more chapters! ~Kady Colter - Shakespeare's Pink Cadillac

Kady Colter wrote 97 days ago

Hi Sophie,

This is going to be a good read once you get your hook in place to draw your readers in. I think you should begin with the scene that has your father working in the garden and the garden tiller almost taking out his body parts. That's a funny scene though it's not so funny if you're the one lying on the ground. However, I think that will draw the reader in to keep reading.

Another great scene is where you're trying to explain to your mother about what "being born again" means. Her not wanting anyone to clap in church, etc. That so describes people who are afraid of what the Holy Spirit might do. Some people are so afraid to show any emotion in church and I thought this was funny. I was there once so could feel her "uncomfortable" side. Ha-ha! The first time I saw people raise their hands in church, it made me sooo uncomfortable. Then I began to visit all kinds of different churches that I thought might be Spirit filled. I could totally sympathize with your mother!

So I'm high starring you and backing. I feel this book will be a great memoir when you get it polished with a stronger hook.

By the way, are you still suffering from the fibro? There's a wonderful healing room in Edinburgh - met these people on Facebook. If I ever make it back to Europe, I would want to visit them. They have an incredible testimonial.

If you get a chance, please take a look at Shakespeare's Pink Cadillac and thanks! ~ Kady Colter

Lisa Scullard wrote 179 days ago

From my Amazon Kindle review:

This is a fantastic book which really delivers what it promises! If you want a true insight on behind-the-scenes family life of the British upper-classes, and their adventures working in film & television on shows that you will have heard of, including Eastenders and Doctor Who - from acting and directing to supplying the frisky animals which appear on wildlife programmes and as TV 'pets' - it provides a funny and heart-warming portrayal which will have you smiling on every page, even through the toughest and most bizarre of times.

And on the subject matter of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E), an illness that doctors were only just starting to grasp at the time, it provides a journey with the author Sophie's experience through the recovery period, encounters with a menagerie of alternative therapies, and those dark moments when it seemed only God could be paying attention.

Down-to-Earth, uplifting and funny - exactly what it says on the cover! And the illustrations by Sophie are cute and quirky, reminiscent of Quentin Blake.

Highly recommended.

Storybook wrote 279 days ago

Intersting formatting - is it a novel, is it diary entries?
One critique: Your first sentence wasn't a grabber, nor was the first chapter.
There wasn't anything that pulled me into the next chapter. I wanted to feel tension, or have concern for the MC, or be drawn in by some sort of dilemma. Something to pull me in.
Still I am curious and have placed it on my WL for further reads.
Smiles - Linda

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