Will's DIY Dictionary - Press Extracts

Press Extracts about “Will’s DIY Dictionary – FROM SEWAGE TO SHOCKING PINK” – available from bookshops ISBN number: 978-0-9561782-0-6

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A DIY DICTIONARY WITH A DIFFERENCE – by Chris Peregrine.

THERE has always been a bit of wanderlust about Will Rees. A keen sailor, he is no stranger to the high seas and has undertaken voyages on tall ships to places like the Canary Islands and the Azores. But one country close to his heart — besides his native Wales — is France. The former Evening Post Welsh columnist lived there for five years at the beginning of the decade and featured in an S4C documentary on his life there. The cameras followed him in a demanding job he had at the time, contributing to a gourmet guide, Charming Restaurant Guides — France. And even though he has been in Carmarthen for the last three years, a bit of him has never left that Gallic land, which provided with him with some literary inspiration. As a writer, he was looking for a new projec and decided to pen a dictionary with a difference. The title suggests that immediately — From Sewage to Shocking Pink. It is what he calls Will's DIY Dictionary, a wordbook of useful terms for English-speaking property holders in France. It is both a specialist book and one of general interest. Sensible and quirky, useful and entertaining at the same time. And all for the price of one. It is always good to have a snappy title when you are trying to get attention and Will's choice was a chance affair. "That designation fell off the page by chance when the selection of words falling between the two terms filled a page and provided the 'owl's ears' that typify a dictionary's page," he said. Will hopes it will be a handy tool for anyone taking the plunge and making their life in France. It is what he did from 2000. And when he got there he was faced with the job of renovating a house, a problem at any time but perhaps a bigger one in a foreign country. Not that he didn't have experience in the field. He was joint owner of the much-acclaimed Plas Glansevin Hotel at Llangadog in the 1970s and 1980s and on arrival there he supervised the complete rebuilding of a wing dating back to the 17th century and other associated major works. A Georgian property in nearby Llandeilo had the same treatment. In the 1990s he was landlord of the Queen's Hotel in Swansea Marina, but it was at the turn of the Millennium that he upped sticks for France. Will headed for La Grimaudiere, a village north of Poitiers. There a big task faced him when he arrived at his new home. "I had to renovate this house I had bought," he said. "We took the paper off the wall and found French newspapers on the surface. I looked at the date of the newspapers and they were from the early 1950s. The place had not been effectively decorated for 50 years. This is when I got the idea for the book." Faced with the prospect of major work, he set about acquiring the materials needed."I wouldn't say my French is brilliant now, but at that time it was not that good," said Will. "I was going to DIY stores to get items. I found myself waving my hands around from one direction to another." The language barrier was proving an obstacle — or rather the specialist language barrier was. But he muddled through and did a good job of the work. Will lived in the house for two-and-a-half years before moving on to Tours in the Loire Valley, where he continued writing projects. The idea of the working dictionary stuck with him and was one he returned to every now and again. "It was on and off," he said. "I had the idea of trying to get it sponsored by a French DIY chain. I wrote to a few and one of them was going to sponsor it. But in the end there was a communication breakdown and it never materialised." The irony of that was not lost on him. But once you have a good idea you do not want to let it drop. By now Will was living in Carmarthen and set about his self-appointed task. "I decided to do it," he said. "I got a big French dictionary and trawled through it and any other sources." And the upshot is a collection of more than 4,500 terms and phrases useful for Anglophone property-holders in France. "It aims to cover all aspects of establishing and developing a home in that country," he said. "It contains a host of specialist expressions that will not be found in general purpose dictionaries." "I hope it is of interest and is useful," he said. "It is a good tool for Britons going to live in France. But it is not just Britons. When I was in France I saw many Americans, Australians and New Zealanders there. And there are plenty of people from other countries there whose second language is English." Will's DIY Dictionary — From Sewage to Shocking Pink is available through all good bookshops – ISBN Number: 978-0-9561782-0-6. Signed or sepecially dedicated copies are also available direct from the Editor / Publisher. For full details see the “Will’s DIY Dictionary” Département Page on this web-site.