New Release! Dogs ‘n’ Dracula – A Road Trip Through Romania

I am delighted to announce the release of my third book in the ‘Adventure Caravanning with Dogs’ series, Dogs ‘n’ Dracula.

It has been a tough book to write.

If you follow my blog, you will know that things have not gone to plan this year. We had to return urgently from our travels to care for Mark’s Mum and brother, who were rushed into hospital on the same day, for different reasons. Their illness also meant that we had to put this year’s travels on hold.

In addition, I managed to trash two laptops with all my files and photos on them… One was destroyed by a Romanian stray, who we adopted on our travels. He got tangled in the wire, panicked, and pulled it to the floor. Then, with epic timing, the replacement got saturated by a pint of beer the day before my book launch. Just when I needed to be on the computer for 25 hours a day to upload everything and publicise!

Thankfully, despite my shortcomings, I have a husband prepared to loan me his laptop. Not only that, a husband who backs up my files, even while lamenting my inability to learn from experience and my ridiculous belief that lightning doesn’t strike twice…

But here’s the biggie. Before we went to Romania, we heard nothing but negativity; so much so that, even as seasoned travellers, we became quite nervous about crossing the border. Yet our trip was so fabulous and Romania such an amazing country, it has felt like a huge responsibility to do it justice. I want this book to tell the world what they are missing!

The Story

We gave up work three years ago, rented out the house and took off in a caravan with our four dogs. With windsurf boards strapped to our roof, this time, we struck south for Spain and Portugal, but decided to turn left…

According to The Spectator, Romania is “Europe’s most overlooked holiday destination”.

According to everyone else, it is somewhere where we would be robbed, scammed, kidnapped by gypsies, eaten by bears or attacked by wild dogs and wolves – if we managed to avoid the floods and riots.

However, what we found was the largest untouched wilderness in Europe; packed with history and a culture that has remained unchanged for millennia. We discovered Romania’s El Dorado, the British Royal Family’s Dracula connections and crossed the Carpathian Mountains via one of the world’s most dangerous roads.

And guided by a satnav haunted by a revenge complex more pathological than Vlad the Impaler’s, we earned our colours as Adventure Caravanners. We truly did ‘Boldly Go Where No Van Has Gone Before’.

With a good few surprises on the way, Dogs ‘n’ Dracula is a tale of adventure, packed with history, humour and the exploration of lesser-known parts of one of Europe’s more obscure destinations.

Reviews

My two previous books, Fur Babies in France and Dog on the Rhine have received five-star reviews on Amazon:

• “Laugh out loud funny and a great travel guide.”
• “Great book, a lovely insight into how you can give up the daily grind and head off into the sunset.”
• “Makes you want to leap out of your armchair/bed/sofa etc and go see the world. I love these informative and funny books.”
• “Lively and galvanic, with excellent reference material for armchair travelers wishing to convert to reality.”

Dog on the Rhine has also been a No 1 Bestseller in both the German Travel and Rhine Travel categories.

Availability

All of my books are available as eBooks and Paperbacks on Amazon.co.uk as well as all other worldwide Amazon stores. The paperbacks are (or will be, if not already) available from Waterstones.com.

Today is Make an Author Happy Day!

Obviously, I will be thrilled if you choose to buy my book, but did you know that you can support authors without spending any money? This is not just for me – any author will be delighted if you take one or more of the following actions, so please spread the love.

1. Review the book on Amazon, Goodreads – or anywhere!
2. If you agree, give a helpful vote to existing good reviews.
3. Follow on Social Media*.
4. Post about the book online.
5. Tell a friend (or 20) about the book.
6. Ask your local library to stock the book.

You might think that I am sitting in luxury counting my royalties, but that is actually Bill Bryson, J.K. Rowling and Stephen King. Most Authors never break even; however, to have even a small shout of becoming successful, all authors do rely on and appreciate reviews!

 

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Social Media

*Click here to find my author page on Facebook or click here for find my author profile on Amazon. 

Hand-drawn map of our route through Romania by Elizabeth Barlow-Hall