Books
Non-Fiction
How do men navigate life at a time fraught with great uncertainty and rapid change, working and moving country to country, on their own or with a family? Is their path easy, because they’re men, fortuned with greater liberties than women? Or do they encounter a different set of challenges, faced with the complexities of what it means to be a man today? Twenty men from 11 countries, business creatives-cum-entrepreneurial self-starters, some of whom pulled themselves up by the bootstraps, succeeding by their own efforts, share the truth of making different, oftentimes difficult decisions and life choices, eschewing the prescriptive straight and narrow path for the winding road.
Women Who Walk: How 20 Women from 16 Countries Came to Live in Portugal is a collection of 20 interviews with a diverse group of expatriate women. Their personal narratives tell tales of world travel and cultural immersion as a form of higher education, a vehicle for personal growth and expanded awareness of self and others, and an instrument for greater understanding and appreciation of the differences that today too often separate us. Readers will find these shared experiences, communicated honestly and openly, sometimes with humor, sometimes through tears of loss, courageous, uplifting, poignant and inspirational, a reassuring reflection of their own life journey.
Listen to an interview with Louise discussing Women Who Walk on the Thriving Abroad podcast.
Fiction
Baking at Midnight: The Misadventures of Tildy Wilson
Synopsis: Tildy Wilson (Australia’s Bridget Jones) takes on American culture in this fish-out-of-water, tongue-in-cheek, romantic comedy of errors. Out of work, out of love, and reluctantly facing forty, Matilda (Tildy) determines to regain control of her life using astrology, tarot, Oprah, and a personal development coach. She throws herself into a succession of comic misadventures involving flamboyant fashion, bad hair, and very bad boyfriend choices (except for Nikov Niković, the seductive Croatian restaurateur). The eternal optimist, Tildy is further encouraged by her east-coast-transplant best girlfriend, Isa Rubenstein, her Dead Head, tofu-eating neighbor, Sunshine, and Eric, her cross-dressing, artist ex-husband to show up for the next date, employment experiment, and coaching session, hopeful that this time she’s on track. In the frantic information and technology-driven world she inhabits, Tildy Wilson is full of humanity, and true to her character, she does fly.
Tildy is a well-crafted character with a lot of sardonic spunk. Her misadventures will surely entertain her audience, spark much laughter, and yield insights into the terrifying prospect of growing older. Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Reviewer
Breakfast at Tildy’s: The Misadventures Continue
Synopsis: With the Baking at Midnight year behind her, Tildy Wilson is 40 and flying. And now that she is coupled with restaurateur Nikov Niković, the seductive Croatian restaurateur, Tildy has glimpses into her future and wonders if accepting his proposal and working together at his restaurant is what she really wants. With her trademark zest and unabashed humor, Tildy puts into practice her new mantra “Life is all about Yes” while courageously embarking on her biggest adventure to date: traversing her inner landscape while traveling in China with her father, Frank.
Read Breakfast at Tildy’s Part I
Listen to Louise read excerpts from Breakfast at Tildy’s
Tildy Wilson is an audacious, curvaceous Aussie Bridget Jones meets AbFab’s Edie Monsoon – who when confronted with life-altering changes, models the courage to explore all her options in pursuit of her best life. Tildy is the protagonist in Baking at Midnight: The Misadventures of Tildy Wilson, and it’s sequel, Breakfast at Tildy’s: The Misadventures Continue. Both novels present topics and comedic situations perfectly suited to being fleshed out and adapted into 30-minute TV episodes or a feature-length film. As a TV show or film, Tildy’s ironic take on American pop-culture offers wide ranging subject matter that is current, sustainable and marketable to a highly desirable American and international audience. Here is the Tildy TV Concept and the Tildy Feature Film Concept.
Simon the Goose
Roger, and his best friend Simon the goose, fly through the night by the light of the full moon, escaping the cold northern winter en route to the warm southern coast. Inspired by the beautiful naïve paintings of Portuguese abstract oil painter, Maria João Gamito. You can preview the entire book and or purchase it here.