About Author

Nikki McArthur

Nikki McArthur
  • Genre:

    Poetry Advice & How To Biographies & Memoirs Parenting
  • Country: France
  • Books: 2
  • Profession: Author, Freelance Editor
  • Born: 31 December
  • Member Since: Apr 2020
  • Profile Views: 11,844
  • Followers: 56
  • VISIT AUTHOR: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon,
BIOGRAPHY

I moved to France in 2004 with my husband and 3 children (at the time… now I have 5). I traded in my life as a lecturer in IT and Hotelier back in Kent, UK, to live the good life in rural South West France.

I'm a mother of five, freelance editor, entrepreneur for our two family businesses; Moulin d'en Bas retreat and learning centre and Kingdom Vegetal Garden centre and landscaping… and in my spare time I love to write about our experiences of living in France as a family.

I’m a dedicated mother, a natural helper and organiser. I enjoy sharing the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in this busy life of mine, which has been the main drive for writing. I try to bring my practical, down to earth approach in life into my work…

Nikki McArthur's Books

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Book
What have we got Toulouse: A family moving to France (A mother in France Book 1)
$7.04 kindle Free with KUeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
What have we got Toulouse: A family moving to France (A mother in France Book 1)by Nikki McArthurPublish: Apr 04, 2020Series: A Mother in FranceAdvice & How To Biographies & Memoirs General Nonfiction Parenting Business
I've got something to say (Women's Voices Book 1)
$4.96 kindleeBook,
I've got something to say (Women's Voices Book 1)by Women's Voices Southwest FrancePublish: Mar 08, 2020Fantasy Poetry Biographies & Memoirs

Nikki McArthur's Series in Order

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  • A Mother in France

    1 What have we got Toulouse: A family moving to France (A mother in France Book 1) - Published on Apr, 2020

Nikki McArthur Interview On 03, Nov 2020

"A freelance editor and an entrepreneur, Nikki McArthur is the author of What have we got Toulouse. Nikki is a natural story-teller. Her writing makes you feel as if you are travelling along with her. On occasions, she writes poetry - when she feels very strongly about something. She dreams of sailing the med one day."
What are some of your favorite childhood moments?

A large part of my childhood was spent growing up in the Kent countryside in the UK. I had a lot of freedom to roam with my friends, making camps in haystacks, scrumping for apples and cycling around the neighbourhood. I was very fortunate to have a very carefree life and a loving family. Christmas was one of my favourite times of the year when grandparents, uncles and aunts would come to us and we'd play lots of card games. I have many happy childhood memories.

Why did you move to France in 2004 with your husband and 3 children?

Life in the UK has changed a lot since I was young. It's no longer possible for children to roam freely. I wanted the childhood I had experienced for my children and this was a large part of why we decided to move to France. In the rural Southwest, we have a much larger house and land than we could ever dream of having in the UK. We went on to have a further 2 children here and they have a wonderful life.

Share one of your experiences of living in France as a family.

It's difficult to pinpoint one, we've experienced so much. One of the highlights of life in a french village though is the fete (or festival). Every village has a weekend in the summer where they have various events organised for the locals. Competitions, music and of course food and drink. For instance in our village there is a petanque tournament (also known as boules and is similar to bowling but with smaller balls) . They have an evening of "Balle Musique" which is old time dancing for the older residents, an evening with a DJ and modern music for the youngsters. It usually finishes off with a big meal outside or in a marquee for everyone and an evening of live music going on until the early hours. Everyone goes, young and old and there is a wonderful atmosphere. There is really nothing quite like this in the UK.

How has been your experience of trading in your life as a lecturer in IT and Hotelier back in Kent, UK?

Life has been very different here in France, although we are using the skills and experience we gained in the UK. I don't teach IT any more, but I use my IT skills for a variety of different businesses. In addition to writing, I work freelance from home as part of an Editorial team for an online medical journal; run a holiday rental business and help my husband with the admin side of his landscaping and garden centre business. Our lives are very full, but we are doing what we enjoy doing. I won't say it's always been easy and running a business here in France is more challenging than in the UK and not only because of the language barrier, but we have now reached a stage where our previous efforts are paying off.

How do you sustain interest in even the most mundane aspects of editing – proofreading, fact-checking, source-checking, etc?

Well as I work as a freelance editor as well as write, I actually enjoy that part of the writing process, so it's not really a chore... I'm very lucky that way. I love researching things and thrive on different aspects of writing. I prefer to do the nitty-gritty editing and proofreading work in the morning when I'm fresh and then I do more creative and fact-finding work in the afternoon and evenings. Variety is the spice of life and my life is never boring.

What is "Moulin d'en Bas retreat and learning centre" about?

Our property "Moulin den Bas" is huge, about 1200m2 on 5 acres of land. One third of the building is our family home and the remainder comprises of three holiday apartments (up to 15 people), a yoga room and an additional large training room, dining room and kitchen which is being refurbished this winter. One third of the land houses our Garden Centre and nursery and the remaining two thirds of the property comprises of a games barn, barbecue area, small lake, wooded riverside walk and natural swimming pool - all available for our guests use. It really is a beautiful place and we enjoy sharing it with others. We let the apartments for holidays but are planning to run retreats and courses in garden design, organic gardening and creating natural swimming pools (which is my husband Gary's speciality). Unfortunately, the current situation with Covid-19 has made things more difficult, but hopefully, it will get easier soon and we can open our doors for the reatreat and learning centre. This summer we mainly let all three gites to group bookings so extended families could meet and spend time together after the long confinement here in France. It's very difficult to plan next year just yet, but we're fortunate we have other businesses to focus on.

How did you begin writing the A mother in France series?

When we were in the process of moving here I read lots of books about living in France, but none covered what it was like as a family with young children and earning a living. So, I vowed to myself I'd write the book I would have loved to have read. In 2011, seven years after moving I started writing about our experiences. We were also going through a really tough time and writing really helped me through. I largely wrote the first book during that winter and I also started a blog "A Mother in France". However, some big life events took over and the book was shelved for some time... I'd go back to it every so often but didn't get it finished and published until earlier this year..

What are the challenges of writing a memoir?

It's always a challenge to know what to include and what not to. I tend to just write everything down and then hard edit afterwards. It's really tough cutting out large chunks of your life, but I always have to leave a bit of time after writing before I go back to it. I have to ask myself is it interesting, is it important to our story or for others to know? If I can't answer yes to any of these questions, then it has to go.

I know for some remembering events can be a challenge, but I luckily have quite a good memory and also have a habit of writing things down - even before I started compiling the books and blogging. I have always written lists and notes to myself and often little snippets of thoughts and feelings. I keep everything too - old letters, newspaper clippings plus a plethora of papers relating to our various businesses, the children's schools and our medical records.

How was your experience of writing in the collection of short stories and poems, "I've got something to say "?

In September 2018 I joined a newly formed writing group in my area called Women's Voices. I'd never been part of a writing group before, but it was Sally Palmer's brain child - she has a holiday home in a neighbouring department. Sally had the wonderful idea of local women writers joining together to print an anthology to be launched on International Women's day in March 2020. I thought it would be a great way to meet other budding writers and get motivated to finish my book. I very quickly got involved in the organising of the group and actually prepared, formatted and uploaded the book to Amazon. It was this process that gave me the incentive and confidence to get my own book published.

I have to say, coming back to your original question, that it has been truly a life-changing experience. I've met some wonderfully supportive and inspiring women and have learnt so much. The group has grown now and we currently have 4 subgroups meeting monthly and are planning to publish our second anthology in 2022.

What were the key challenges you faced when writing your first book?

For me, one of the biggest challenges was how to structure it. I wanted it to be a handbook for those wishing to live in France, but also interesting to people who like reading memoirs. I started writing in themes but a lot of them were huge topics such as the health system, education system, running a business, it was difficult to decide how to fit these all in and keep some continuity with our back story. In the end I had to split the book more chronologically, but with themes within the time zone. The first book "What have we got Toulouse? A family moving to France" covers why we decided to move, how we did it and what it was like in the early years.

How do you feel about the shift of readers from physical books to digital ones?

I think it's great. It's made books much more easily available. I do love a physical book, but my kindle is so light and easy to carry around with me and I have a library of books available to read in my handbag.

Which is your favorite poem in the book, I've got something to say?

Oh that's difficult. But I think it has to be Spring Moves by Anne Dickens

What was the best advice you've ever received related to writing and could you share it with us?

A fellow writer who beta read one of my early versions of my first book advised me to write a timeline and fit the themed chapters around this and add in any relevant missing details. This help enormously with the continuity of the book and I have used this tool to help structure my subsequent books.

What are some book ideas that you've got bouncing around in your head? When can we expect the next publication?

I have lots on the go. I'm in the process of recording the audiobook version of "What have we got Toulouse" and that should be available by the end of November and one of my son's is translating it into French which will be released in a few months. The 2nd in the series is entitled "No time Toulouse, a family living in France" is due to be published early in 2021 and covers more of our experiences with schools, running our various businesses and how we got involved with the refugee crisis. The 3rd in the series is also underway and is entitled "Refusing Toulouse, a family surviving in France" and is largely about overcoming some life or death situations we have had to cope with as a family. It will be adapted from a private facebook group diary where I have documented a particularly challenging time for us when one of our sons was struck with liver failure. In addition, I am nearing completion of a pocket guide to Education in France which is a detailed explanation of the system here and I plan to do a pocket guide to starting and running a small business. I have also written a book on finding happiness and contentment in life which I plan to release early next year too.

On occasions I write poetry - when I feel very strongly about something... Sometimes they're political such as my poem entitled "The B word" which is about Brexit and is included in the "I've got something to say" anthology. I've also written several poems on the current pandemic and the refugee crisis. Othertimes I feel inspired to write poetry about my family, people close to me and personal growth. I plan to collate my poetry and publish them one day...

I have recently also started dabbling in fiction and written a couple of short stories... This is something I'd like to develop in the future.

What has your AllAuthor experience been like so far? What are some highlights?

Allauthor offers some great tools for authors and I love the banners. The cover competition was really fun and I was very pleased to get 9th place for my beautiful cover designed be kiki Wood, especially as I'm a debut author just building my author following. Hopefully I can go even further with my next release.

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