Pensioners Behaving Badly! Book Tour
Cover Blurb
Time really does fly is an overused saying, but it’s true. One minute you are young and carefree with your plans focusing on what you're going to be doing next weekend, and the next minute you are planning your pension! You are dreading turning 40 and then you blink and you’re 60... seriously!
In this book I offer golden nuggets of advice for all, with fun anecdotes and true stories. It’s literally packed with information, which I have garnered from many different people and places as I wanted to give other over 60's a voice too, to also have their say. This book is a satirical look at getting older as we attempt to remove the invisibility cloak of age, which we most definitely haven’t asked for, so we can stand up and say, ‘We are still here, we are still useful, we still have a lot to say, perhaps even more so!'
This book will make you laugh and it will give you pause for thought. It will also light a fire inside you, inspiring you to be rebellious too!
Other Titles By the Author
Janet Gilson
Author Bio
Janet Gilson is in her sixties and loving life! Based in Malta, although originally from the UK, she lives with her husband, and is both a mother and grandmother. Janet believes that life is what you make it. As such, she is making her own story one of adventure and joy. After taking early retirement, she now uses her time doing something she loves – writing. When she’s not writing, you will find her spending time with her family, who are the most important thing in her life. Her other passion is travel believing that nothing broadens your mind more than this. Janet supports several charities and wants to make a difference, wherever she can. She is the author of three books to date - Behind the Smile, Letters to Ian and Pensioners Behaving Badly! All of which can be found at The Book Dragon, of course.
The Book Tour
Day 1 - Favourite Quotes
Day 2 - Character Summaries
Retirement is not the End! This piece rang a bell with me. Being myself in my early sixties, I too have ‘retired’, but like some of the people mentioned in this piece, I now have the opportunity of following my dread and became at author. Reading this piece was like being reminded that my life is now my own. (Carol Kerry-Green)
Entry 30 in Confessions and Guilty Pleasures about the bees! I intend to become a beekeeper myself one day, so I loved reading this. (Eryn McConnell)
Day 3 - Favourite Excerpts
Happiness isn’t something that occurs when conditions are more or less perfect in your life. You have to make a conscious choice to be happy! Always, always be kind, without exception! (Phoebe Wilby)
I found myself smiling and laughing along with them, forgetting for a moment the weight of my own worries and concerns. It was then that I realised that perhaps the greatest lesson I could teach them wasn’t about recycling after all; it was about resilience, optimism and the power of hope to transform even the trickiest situations. (Yvonne Marrs)
I learnt to love myself and finally started putting myself first! If you want to get as much as possible out of life, focus on the little things. Find joy in the small moments and events that occur every day! Discover happiness everywhere. When you wake up, declare that today will be an awesome day, that only good things will happen, and that whatever comes your way you will have the ability and energy to deal with it! (Carol Kerry-Green)
I became an Apiarist, a beekeeper, which is something that I’d always wanted to do! Bees are an essential part of the biodiversity on which we all depend for survival. One of my favourite things though is the ancient custom of telling the bees. Telling the bees is a Western European tradition in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household. If the custom was omitted or forgotten and the bees were not "put into mourning" then it was believed a penalty would be 108 paid, such as the bees leaving their hive, stopping the production of honey or dying. It is said that after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Beekeeper, John Chapple, informed the bees of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House of her passing and the ascension of King Charles III. He described the practice as knocking on each hive and saying, “The mistress is dead, but don’t you go. Your master will be a good master to you.” (Eryn McConnell)
Day 4 - Video Interview
Day 5 - Reviews
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars. Compiled by Janet Gilson, Pensioners Behaving Badly! is a collection of stories, poems, anecdotes and quotes from, about or to people who are either in or approaching their twilight years. Those of us who are either there or just about there can relate to the experiences of the many authors who have lent their wisdom and insight into the aging process. Overall, the book has a positive message, for example, you are responsible for your own happiness, retirement from work doesn’t mean retiring from life, and in fact, can be a time of great fulfilment. Gilson gives us plenty of examples of the over-sixties achieving more since hitting that landmark than before. On the whole, I enjoyed the book. One thing I thought could have made it better would be to organise it into topics and themes, rather than in the mostly random way these have been presented. However, there is much wisdom to be found within these pages. This book is not just for the over 60s, but for anyone who wants a sneaky peek into what might be going on behind the wrinkles and cloudy eyes of our senior citizens, or as a vision of a possible future, in the case of the younger ones among us. (Phoebe Wilby)
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars. This is a sweet compilation of short stories, poetry and advice from people over 60. Since these are individual pieces put together in this anthology there are multiple author voices, but all of them are strong and distinct. Most of the stories and poems stand out and have great messages for people of all ages. The unique voices and styles are wonderful. The structure for the most part made sense; though some stories seemed a bit repetitive or backtracked to points brought up in other tales. I was expecting to see more outrageous tales and stories, but this collection was sweet and fairly tame, and it works. It’s a heart-warming read with straightforward wisdom. (Sophie Jupillat Posey)
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars. Janet Gilson’s ‘Pensioners Behaving Badly’ while littered with general random advice that works for many persons, is an entertaining read. Smooth free flowing format to the stories makes them easily absorbed - and thought about. For a book on reflection of the human condition of getting old, it allows the reader time to ponder and reflect also. The writer has produced a work that is steady overall in pace, and easy to read in virtually any situation. (Yvonne Marrs)
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars. This collection is full of snippets of advice, poetry and anecdotes on the theme of becoming older. It gives some sound advice about enjoying your later years and some snippets of what people have been able to indulge in now they don’t have to follow the nine-to-five on an ordinary job. Really recommended as a book to dip into when you’re feeling a bit blue. Poetry such as The Chapters of Life by Helen Borg and Not My Age remind us all that time passes and though some things might chance, we remain ourselves. (Carol Kerry-Green)
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars. I really like the combination here of poetry, self-help mantras, art and short stories. The poetry is nicely structured, light and rhymey. The mantras are pithy and apt. I loved the artwork that popped up to break everything up. The stories are upbeat and easy to immerse yourself in. (Eryn McConnell)
Book Tour Reviewers
