Posted on 22 Comments

“Footnotes”: My Gower Walks Book

Paintings of Gower Book

I am delighted to announce the publication of my latest book “Footnotes, An Artist’s Journey Around the Gower Coast” which is based on my walks and blogs of 2018.

Medieval History book Emma Cownie
My book on Medieval History

Many years ago I turned my Ph.D. on Medieval History into an academic book. That was jammed packed with footnotes and had almost no pictures (except for the front cover) but it did have some maps hand-drawn by me. I felt quite odd when that was published. I suffered terribly from imposture syndrome, then as now, and it almost felt like someone else had written it when I looked at the words on the book. Don’t get me wrong, I had written every last bit of it, the text, the footnotes, the index but it didn’t feel like it had much of “me” in it, except maybe in my dedications. I think my parents and Seamas, who was my boyfriend back then, appreciated being thanked for their support.

This book is quite different. Ironically, despite the name, the only “footnote” in it is the title. It’s a bit of a joke, I guess! This book has a lot more of “me” in it. Yes, there still some local history and stories about Gower, but its mostly about the walk and dealing with my anxieties.

I had spent weeks editing it and sort of ran out of steam when I reached the part where I had to upload it to the Kindle website. Thankfully, my husband, Seamas, came to rescue and was midwife to the whole venture. He did the final editing and proof-reading and it uploaded to the website. Which sort of sums up our relationship, he’s always there to help me over the “humps”, not just as a cheerleader but as technical support and he also provides so much inspiration. So thank you, Seamas.

I also want to thank my parents who have always supported whatever I have done. My mother is a fervent “liker” on Facebook. Their house has many of my paintings hanging on their walls, which is a compliment in its self as superfluous objects are either returned to the donor or end up in the local Charity shops. I also want to thank supporters on Instagram who tell me that they have downloaded from Kindle or bought the physical book.

I hope that people enjoy it as much for the walks and stories about Gower, as for my paintings!

UK- See the book on Amazon.co.uk by clicking here

USA – See the book on Amazon.com by clicking here 

Paintings of Gower Book
My Gower Book

22 thoughts on ““Footnotes”: My Gower Walks Book

  1. Congratulations Emma! It is on my Amazon wishlist! Such an achievement to have published one book, but even more satisfying to publish a book that is a real passion and reflects your personality.

    1. Thank you, Ali.It didn’t seem real until I had hold of a hard copy.

  2. Great :0 Congratulations 🙂

    1. Thank you Cecile!

  3. Congratulations! You may want to include a link to Amazon for the US also.

    1. Good point, Hein. Thank you. I don’t think I can edit from where I am right now. I’ll do it when I am back in Swansea!

  4. Congratulations. I’d be interested in how you went about getting it published as I am considering the sane thing for my photography.
    Also, an Amazon Canada link would be lovely.

  5. Congrats! And gorgeous cover. 👌

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly.

  6. Congratulations and the cover is stunning!

    1. My husband designed the cover, although it’s one of my paintings.

  7. It looks fantastic Emma! Well done! It is also now on my wish list, and I am so glad you have hard copies too.

  8. another feather in your hat Emma! I hope you sell so many you have to do a second run!

  9. Thank you, Wayne.

  10. Thanks for including the link for US buyers. I enjoy reading your blog and stories of your walks and I love your paintings. So I will be buying this one in paperback form. Can’t wait to scour the pages! Congrats Emma on this achievement! Best of luck with sales as well. I will promote it where I can.

    1. Thank you so much, Pam.

  11. Congratulations! I’m excited to purchase your book. I have it on my wishlist.

  12. Thank you, Alexis!

  13. Your book arrived yesterday from Amazon and I am so enjoying it. Thank you for taking the time to synthesize your blog and paintings into this terrific book!

    1. I so am delighted that you are enjoying it, Sarah. It would help me a lot if you also could leave a nice review on Amazon! Thank you for taking the time to get in touch, Emma

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