Life is an another name for Adventure. It has to cherished before it fades away with the unstoppable trail of time. There are few people in the world who dares to live their passion against the Real life boundations.
Jilly Ann Dale and her husband are among them who chose to follow the passion of Books as their livelihood and be a part of wonderful adventurous life. Jilly’s life is an inspiration to many book lovers, She lives in a 60ft long x 7ft wide book boat with her husband traveling along the rivers and meeting real book lovers every day from different places. I am feeling overwhelmed in presenting the Adventurous Life of Jilly Ann Dale which will inspire you to the core.
1. Introduce Jilly Ann Dale and important people important in her life to the Readers?
Hi! My name is Jill and my husband and I together run The Book Boat, traveling along the English and Welsh canals and rivers. Our home is a narrowboat, 60ft long x 7ft wide….which means we can fit into all the locks pretty much. We originally moved on board with three springer spaniels, but nowadays we share the “kennel” with two Romanian street dogs which we rescued three years ago.
2. What inspired you towards books?
I have always loved books, ever since I was a little girl, even worked in a book shop for pocket money, I always wanted a bookshop – just never thought about a floating one!
3. What are your favorite books and Authors?
I dip in and out of books dealing with archaeology, the Plantagenets, historical things, but to relax I love a good crime thriller! Val McDermid has to be up there with my top authors, consistently good.
4. Do you write? If Yes, then have you published any of your work or have the desire to do so?
I did self-publish a book some time ago, on how to cruise like we do, we produced it, bound it, added photos etc., all on board, but it is rather time consuming, so have held back on that recently.
5. You said you have a traveling, floating book shop, tell us about that in detail.
We had our boat built 13yrs ago, after we sold the house, sold the contents of the house on eBay, sold the cars and started a new adventure. We had both been self-employed and we never seemed to have time to see each other, we were just ready to step away from our old life and try something new. The boat has all the facilities that the house had – fridge freezer, hob, oven, microwave, central heating, shower and bath, separate full sized bed, TV and internet. A home from home!
6. While traveling with your floating bookshop, it is very obvious that you lived priceless memories, Share all of them with the readers?
We meet all kinds of people on our travels, some flag us down and hand over piles of books, you suddenly meet people you haven’t seen for a year and both then pull over and have a BBQ. We make our own wine from the fruit we pick up on our travels, plus we use some of the fresh spring growth to make marinades for meat etc. We fish for crayfish in the rivers sometimes too. But supermarkets are never that far away!
7. You have been a part of an era in which the Hardcover books were replaced by Kindles, how did you deal with that?
There is obviously room for Kindles in today’s world, I don’t think we will ever see them go away, they are far too handy when on planes and trains…..but we sell loads of books, always pre-loved but in good condition. Almost like new, a lot of them.
We don’t trade in winter, as the days are too short and books don’t like the damp, so when it gets to spring, like now, the boat is fairly chockablock with books! Sometimes they take over…..
8. If you wish to go on a date with one writer of your choice, then who it would be?
An author I would like to meet? Probably, Bill Bryson, I love his take on life and travels.
9. Sum up your current life in one sentence?
To sum up, life is good for this 64yr old, waking up with the water ripples reflecting on the ceiling, listening to woodpeckers and owls, smelling the wild garlic and the bluebell woods, in their own seasons. Who could hope for more?
10. I know, you are not familiar with “Vowelor”, but I want you to define it by a guess and the reflection it leaves on you.
I’ve not had a chance to look at Vowelor, but it sounds intriguing. I guess it’s to do with books and literature!
There are many people you meet throughout the life, but some of them left an everlasting impression of joy. Jilly Ann Dale and her husband are one of them. Life for them is not just a word, it is cherishing the good memories and share happiness along the path of living. At the end, Vowelor is really thankful to Jill for sharing these VALUABLE thoughts. The Book Boat journey will continue to sail to new adventures.
