About
About Victoria Twead:
Victoria Twead nagged her long-suffering partner, Joe, into moving from England to Spain in 2004. They settled into a tiny mountain village in Andalucía, became reluctant chicken farmers and ended up owning probably the most dangerous cockerel in Spain.
Woven into the chapters are a number of Spanish recipes given to Vicky by the village ladies.
Victoria’s hilarious record of their culture shock and life with the villagers is told in her two books, Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools and Two Old Fools - Olé! These charming, beautifully written books will have you laughing one minute, holding back tears the next, and finally reaching for your saucepan.
Awarded the HarperCollins Authonomy 'Gold Star'.
HarperCollins wrote: ‘laugh-out-loud funny...especially the Spanish women heckling over eggs from “The English”...hilarious...engaging... the interspersion of recipes is charming’.
Karen Wheeler, author of 'Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My Heels For A New Life In France' wrote: “Andalucía as it’s never been done before - a very quirky, funny and enjoyable tale - loved the subtle humour, Olé!”
Justin Aldridge, Eye on Spain, wrote: "I absolutely loved it! Funny, honest and impossible to put down."
Involution-An Odyssey Reconciling Science to God
Description
<p>“<em>We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”(</em>Teilhard de Chardin<em>)</em></p><p><span style="line-height:1.6em;"><em>Involution-An Odyssey Reconciling Science to God </em> is as layered as a French cassoulet, as diverting, satisfying and as rich. Each reader will spoon this book differently. On the surface it seems to be a simple and light-hearted poetic journey through the history of Western thought, dominantly scientific, but enriched with painting and music. Beneath that surface is the sauce of a new evolutionary idea, involution; the informing of all matter by consciousness, encoded and communicating throughout the natural world. A book about the cathedral of consciousness could have used any language to paint it, but science is perhaps most in need of new vision, and its chronology is already familiar.</span></p><p><span style="line-height:1.6em;">The author offers a bold alternative vision of both science and creation: she suggests that science has been incrementally the recovery of memory, the memory of evolution/involution</span><em style="line-height:1.6em;">.</em></p><p>“<em> Involution proposes that humans carry within them the history of the universe, which is (re)discovered by the individual genius when the time is ripe. All is stored within our DNA and awaits revelation. Such piecemeal revelations set our finite lives in an eternal chain of co-creation and these new leaps of discovery are compared to mystical experience</em>” (From a reviewer)</p><p>Each unique contributor served the collective and universal return to holism and unity. Thus the geniuses of the scientific journey, like the spiritual visionaries alongside, have threaded the rosary of science with the beads of inspiration, and through them returned Man to his spiritual nature and origin.</p><p><span style="line-height:1.6em;">The separation between experience and the rational intellect of science has, by modelling memory as theory, separated its understanding from the consciousness of all, and perceives mind and matter as separate, God and Man as distinct. This work is a dance towards their re-unification: Saints and scientists break the same bread.</span></p><p><span style="line-height:1.6em;">All of time and all the disciplines of science are needed for the evidence. Through swift (and sometimes sparring) Cantos of dialogue between Reason and Soul, Philippa Rees takes the reader on a monumental journey through the history of everything – with the evolution of man as one side of the coin and involution the other. The poetic narrative is augmented by learned and extensive footnotes offering background knowledge which in themselves are fascinating. In effect there are two books, offering a right and left brain approach. The twin spirals of a DNA shaped book intertwine external and internal and find, between them, one journey, Man’s recovery of Himself., and (hopefully) the Creation’s recovery of a nobler Man.</span></p><p><span style="line-height:1.6em;">From the same review “</span><em style="line-height:1.6em;">The reader who finishes the book will not be the same as the one who began it. New ideas will expand the mind but more profoundly, the deep, moving power of the verse will affect the heart.</em></p><p><em>(Marianne Rankin: Director of Communications, Alister Hardy Trust)</em></p><p> </p>
Story Behind The Book
I absolutely loved writing Chickens from beginning to end, but by the time I reached the last chapter, I was exhausted. "I don't think I'll write another," I said to Joe.
Although Chickens was such fun to write, I'm the kind of writer who agonises over every comma, and I endured sleepless nights worrying about the structure and content. Would the things we found funny amuse other people? Would the readers like the characters? Would anybody want to read about two old fools anyway? "Wait and see," said Joe.
Well, we did wait and see, and were completely astonished at how well Chickens was received. I never dreamed it would become an Amazon bestseller, nor did I foresee how many friends I would make as a result.
A couple of years ago, I scoffed at Twitter and Facebook, considering them a complete waste of time and 'not real'. I was wrong. Thanks to the Internet (and Twitter and Facebook in particular) I have chatted with literally hundreds of delightful people. Complete strangers who had read Chickens emailed me, some with amusing anecdotes of their own. Many others provided help, encouragement and endless laughs. You all spurred me on to write this sequel to Chickens, and I thank you for that. Although Joe and I live in a tiny village in the Spanish mountains, we feel we are always surrounded by friends from all over the world.
Ole! was just as much fun to write as Chickens, although equally exhausting. Joe and I have a routine: I write a segment, whereupon Joe checks it and makes minor changes or suggestions. I then edit (if I agree with his advice) and carry on writing the next part. At the end, we put the whole manuscript aside for a week or more to 'prove', then print it off. Joe then reads the whole book aloud to me. If he stumbles, we rewrite that part to improve the flow.
Amongst all the praise and fan letters I received, there were, of course, criticisms which I have tried to address in Ole! Some said Chickens was too short, so Olé! is longer. Some said the photographs were too small, so I have increased their size.
But the main criticism came from a handful of American readers who were most affronted by our chickens' names. I am sincerely sorry for that - I never meant to offend. Our American friend, Colton, has since explained to us that the ‘F’ word is far stronger and more offensive in
the States than it is in the UK. Rest assured, the two unfortunately- named chickens are not mentioned in Olé! although they did live to a ripe old age, oblivious to the storm of protest they caused. (RIP B & F)
One more thing. For those unfamiliar with the little stick men I’ve used for scene breaks, they are Indalos, or Rainbow Men, the emblem for this part of Andalucía.
So here it is, my second book. It was a joy to write and, I hope, will be enjoyed by those who are kind enough to read it.
Vicky
October 2011
Reviews
<p class="p1">“Andalucía as it’s never been done before - a very quirky, funny and enjoyable tale - loved the subtle humour, Olé!”</p>
<p class="p1"><em>Karen Wheeler, author of 'Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My Heels For A New Life In France.'</em></p>
<p class="p2"></p>
<p class="p1">"I absolutely loved it! Funny, honest and impossible to put down." <em>Justin Aldridge, Eye on Spain</em></p>
