Jodie Groom - Ally Aldridge

The Tour

Then we got to have the grand tour! This was a real highlight. Our tour guide referred to it as the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory equivalent for Book lovers and he wasn’t wrong.

It was fascinating watching the machines churning out pages on printers that were bigger than me. The ink cartridge was basically a massive barrel. Huge rolls of paper were loaded into the machine and they fed into the printer, coming out on a roll full of print. The pages were folded and chopped and moved along a conveyor belt to the next part of the production process. Another machine printed the covers to the specification requested. They then entered a machine where pages were bound and matched with the correct cover. The books continued on their conveyor belt until they reached a machine which trimmed the cover to size and sorted the books for distribution. Massive mail bags that would rival Santa’s sacks were bursting as they awaited collection.

My thoughts…

Seeing the books made, filled me with excitement. My inner voice kept squealing, “That could be your book one day!” I wish I could show you pictures or videos of the factory but they made me sign an NDA. Seeing it come to life made me eager to get my manuscript ready for print so my ink and paper creation can go for a ride on their conveyor belt.

If you ever get the opportunity to go on their tour, do it. If you are thinking about self publishing, definitely consider Ingram Spark.

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Fortunately, I have never been in an abusive relationship but wanting to understanding them leaves me fascinated. There is a grip to watching shows or films about it, like a thriller. You know the person is in danger and you on the edge of your seat, wanting them to get out but knowing its not straight forward.

Shows I have enjoyed for this reason are:

Big Little Lies (2017)

I watched this because of the big names in it. The character played by Nicole Kidman is done incredibly well. I believe it was based on a book.

Dirty John (2018)

This series is based on a true story of one of John Meehan’s victims. There is also a documentary about the many victims of John Meehan.

You (2018)

I partly loved this series because it has a writer in it but that’s not what makes it compelling to watch. That would be the tension of the show told from the viewpoint of the stalker, come murdering boyfriend.

Envy by J D Groom

If you loved the above shows, then you are bound to love Envy by J D Groom. It is a a short story available on Amazon for Kindle.

Here is the blurb:

Kate had it all; a job she excelled at, friends, family and an apartment to call her own. Then she fell for her boss.
Finding herself stuck in his web, will she continue to live under his rule and be lost forever? Sometimes help can come from the most unexpected of places.
Blurb from Envy by J D Groom

What is it about?

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the story is about a main character trapped in a toxic relationship. Jodie doesn’t glamorise the situation by making it romantic or dramatise it with extreme scenes. She slowly builds the danger with all the control from the spouse, his sudden mood swings and unpredictability, the repressed freedom where the MC’s every move is tracked.

You get sucked into the dark tension and when the MC, Kate, has an opportunity to escape you feel her fear, her hesitation and you’re right there encouraging her to go but know the odds are stacked against her. Will her plan work, can she reach safety? Well… you’ll have to read to find out.