Locked in
This month, we are pleased to be able to publish an exclusive charity ebook edition of a full-length novel, Black Dog Sunday, by debut novelist Carly Tinkler.
All profits from the sale of the ebook will be divided between three UK charities who do vital work with communities: Karma Nirvana, Roshni Birmingham and The Sharan Project.
Carly Tinkler explains her inspiration for Black Dog Sunday, in which a teenager is faced with an agonising decision about whether to stay with her family and do what is considered her duty, or to follow her heart and fight for her freedom to decide her own path in life.
Carly writes:
If you buy a copy of my novel Black Dog Sunday in this exclusive ebook edition, you will be helping to support people who are facing issues similar to those experienced by Samira, the story’s heroine: profits from the sale of this ebook will be split between three lifeline charities and refuges: Karma Nirvana, The Sharan Project and Roshni Birmingham.
These and other organisations were a great inspiration to me along Black Dog Sunday’s journey, which began in 1998 (although it was a very different story back then). Finally completed in 2018, it was almost ready for publication when the COVID-19 crisis struck, so plans were put on hold.
But then we thought, the lockdown must be affecting lots of young women (and men too) who are in Samira’s situation, and that reading it might at least be a good distraction. Karma Nirvana told me that since the UK lockdown started, calls and emails to their helplines have increased by 200%.
Importantly, for me, I will also be fulfilling promises I made many years ago to survivors of honour-based abuse who asked me to write their stories, hoping to get the message out to a wider audience, to help others. Although I’ve lost touch with many of the individuals without whose help this book wouldn’t have been written, if they are reading they will know I’m ‘waving’ at them, through secret messages only they will understand…
I hope you enjoy Black Dog Sunday. I’d be delighted to hear from you – all feedback is welcome.
To find out more about the work these three charities do, or the issues raised in the novel:
https://roshnibirmingham.org.uk/
To purchase a copy of Black Dog Sunday, please click below.
