Mar 4, 2025 | A House In Italy, A Rosie Moment, Book Updates, RE# Your Life
If you have read my book ‘A Rosie Life In Italy’ you may remember that back in 2013, I was living in the cheapest house in Ireland with a colander for a roof, rats scrabbling above my bedroom ceiling, and not enough money to pay for my kids’ school bus fare. Life was, to put it bluntly, a bit of a shit show.
I was 40 years old, and the previous ten years had felt like a relentless game of emotional Whac-A-Mole; Miscarriages. Losing my big sister. My partner battling and then rehabbing from chronic alcoholism. The collapse of my business and income. Our dream of moving to Spain—gone. Every time I thought things might turn a corner, life threw another curveball, and I was exhausted. The chaos in my life was attracting more chaos.
I needed something to shift the trajectory of my life. I wanted to step away from the chaos. I wanted an instruction manual, a step-by-step guide to get out of the rut, to stop spinning in the same downward cycle. But I couldn’t find one.
So, I decided I would create my own.
I knew I wanted to follow my dreams and live life to the full. More importantly, I wanted other women who were feeling the same—trapped, stuck, waiting—to rise with me and grab life by the goolies. Because let’s be honest, we know by now there is no knight in shining armour coming to rescue us. If we want to shake things up, we have to do it ourselves.
Grab It By the Goolies Academy
I knew how to build a website, so I started Life Is Short Magazine. It was an online magazine filled with interviews of inspirational women who had followed their dreams, despite life’s challenges. I wanted their stories to give me and others hope and inspiration and to be proof that it was possible to change course, no matter what life had thrown at you.
I wanted to develop a community of women so we could encourage and learn from each other so alongside it I launched—Grab It By the Goolies Academy—an online space to encourage people to take tangible steps toward their dreams. And, because I don’t do things in halves and I believe in the power of a good book, I decided to write a non-fiction book to kick off the academy and website, called; How To Have A Fabulous Midlife Crisis: A User’s Guide to Dusting Off Your Dreams and Making Them Happen.
Then something I always wanted to happen happened.
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Jun 10, 2024 | Book Updates
I’m very excited that the new edition of A Rosie Life In Italy (Book 1: new edition) is now available for pre-order from Barnes and Noble! There is bonus ‘stuff’ in the back of the new edition, and it has a beautiful new cover so it will look great on your book shelf… have I convinced you enough to buy it yet??
Sep 26, 2023 | Book Updates
I’m not going to lie… putting book 5 out into the world is scaring the hell out of me.
I write what I call ‘living memoir’. I write ‘humour’ for the most part. Someone, and I wish I could remember who, said the ‘Rosie Life’ series is like ‘reality TV in book form’. I also read a writer say: ‘When you write you are very vulnerable. You stand on a stage and say this is how I feel does anyone else feel the same?’ … Book 5 is making me feel very vulnerable.
I knew what was going to be in Book 1 and 2 of ‘A Rosie Life In Italy’ as I already lived it before the books were published. I wrote Book 3 while it happened and I had book 4 up for pre-order at the end of Book 3. I had no idea what was going to happen in Book 4. It turned into a book about my mother’s experience of Italy.
Book 5 was the same. I put it up for pre-order at the end of Book 4 knowing certain things: I was grieving for my Dad and someone I loved dearly had been told they had incurable cancer.
But incurable is a very general word. After all life is incurable! We are all going to die and none of us know if we have 40 years, 5 years or a bus could run us over tomorrow.
When I put Book 5 up for pre-order I knew I was going to be going through emotional unchartered territory and to have to write about it scared me. I knew this book had to have an ending and I didn’t know what it was going to be… I knew the ending I didn’t want it to have.
Putting Book 5 out into the world of my lovely readers scares me. Some of my beta readers have said it is the best book I have written yet, but that does not give me comfort. I am scared it will go against my readers’ expectations. Book 5 includes lots about Italy as I got to know it more, and lots about its bureaucracy and navigating the Italian health system. There is some renovation but not as much as the other books, so that is why it might disappoint and that is why it scares me—Book 5 includes more of my personal life than the other books.
These books are my living memoirs. I don’t know what is going to happen. And I didn’t know what was going to happen in Book 5. It is a little different than the rest but I do hope you will enjoy Book 5 as much as the rest of the series. I will be anxiously waiting on your review to hear what you think of it.
Three days to go!
Mar 15, 2023 | Book Updates
I’m delighted to announce A Rosie Life In Italy 2 is now available on Audible (available through Amazon). I have to admit I was laughing out loud listening to it as there was some things I had forgotten I had written about.
Jan 30, 2023 | Book Updates
Life continues to be eventful here in Italy providing me with lots of material for ‘A Rosie Life In Italy 5’ – which I now hope to get finished by the summer! Talking of summer, after the success of last year, I am running another Writer’s Retreat at La Dogana from 12-18 June 2023. We do a couple of hours writing per day and then I take you to explore some of my favourite towns. We also have a picnic in the Tuscan hills, wine tasting, a cooking class and lots more. Last year was lots of fun with friends made for life and lots of inspiration had for future writing projects. You don’t have to be a published author to attend, just bring a writing project you would like to work on, a sense of adventure and a sense of humour! So if you would like to hang out with me and Lucia for a week, here’s the link: Rosie’s Writers Retreat in Italy
Dec 30, 2022 | Book Updates
THE CHRISTMAS WINNING NUMBERS ARE:
33, 66, 3, 9, 5, 4, 6, 1, 48, 18,49
69, 59, 68, 63, 26, 19, 50, 22, 47
If the number you chose is above, you can choose which prize you would like in order of preference. There are 5 of each item so they will be assigned on a first come first served basis.
- A Rosie Life In Italy (Audio)
- A Brush With Death (Ebook)
- A Rosie Life In Italy (Ebook)
- The Cosmo Club (Ebook)
If all five have been used up of your first choice then I will award you your second choice, etc.
Email me (rosie@rosiemeleady.com) your choices by the 6th January and the email address you would like the prize sent to. (You can choose to have your prize sent on to a friend if you wish).
Congratulations if you choose a lucky number! xx Rosie
