A SOLIHULL mum has put pen to paper to tell the ups and downs of single parenting and dating.
Joanne Barker completed The Joy of Jars which she describes as being part rom com, part memoir, part cookbook and will be donating the profits to Gingerbread, a charity which supports single parents.
The Olton resident was inspired to complete her debut book after the opening chapter was shortlisted in a new writers’ competition, run by Trapeze Books and Gingerbread, which asked for 5,000 words of a novel that celebrates single parent life to mark Gingerbread’s centenary year.
The Joy of Jars is said to be a humorous and heartbreaking story about a domestically challenged single mum, who questions her trusted recipe for survival, when the lack of a man in her life – or her bed – becomes the teatime news.
The mum of two said: “I wanted to thank Gingerbread for inspiring me to write this book.
“However, The Joy of Jars is about much more than being a single parent.
“It’s about facing what feels like an insurmountable challenge and how we can all learn to cope with our own difficulties, in our own way, in order to get to the other side
“As well as raising funds for Gingerbread, if I can help one person through this book, it will have done its job. Even if that’s simply by providing easy ideas for tea.”
Joanne’s self published novel is set to be launched on March 2021, UK Single Parents’ Day and one pound for every book sold (up to the first 500) will be donated to Gingerbread.
There will be a fundraising online event at 5pm that day on Sunday which will feature Joanne in conversation with women who talk and write about life’s experiences.
Free tickets for Women Having Words are available at https://bit.ly/3tGP9xp
For more or to purchase the book visit https://amzn.to/3bmvqwA
