About

Sandra Danby 10-12-15

Bienvenidos!
Living in a secret Spanish valley in the heart of the campo is a daily feast of nature, wildlife and food. We are surrounded by wild land, olive groves, forests of encima oak trees grazed by Iberian black pigs, and arable farm land which grows wheat one season and sunflowers the next.

This award-winning blog shares our daily experiences, achievements, failures and laughter as we live deep in the Spanish-speaking countryside side-by-side with the locals. The secret valley changes from day to day from one season to the next. I hope you read this blog and grow to love rural Andalucía as much as we do.

I am an author and journalist. Read my fiction, my thoughts and ideas on the process of writing, and reviews of new and classic fiction at SandraDanby. My first novel, Ignoring Gravity, about two pairs of sisters linked by a generation of secrets, is available from Amazon. I am currently writing the sequel, ‘Connectedness’.

Enjoy!
Sandra Danby

105 thoughts on “About”

  3. roseroberta 'Bobbi'

    Is the photo as is? Thanks for looking at my blog. I am actually thinking about going somewhere to write for a few years where I can live for less than a grand a year…..what’s the cost of living around there?

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    1. susanissima

      Hi Bobbi. My husband and I were recently in Casares and Gaucín, in Andalucía, writing and painting. It was gorgeous. Writing in either of those two pueblos blancos would be perfect. We found the quietude and people inspiring.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. roseroberta 'Bobbi'

        I have been in a Masters Program in Creative Writing that I am finishing up this year, and I am just getting back to using my blog again. When I am finished, I want to go places and travel and write. How are things with you?

        Like

  6. Tanya Stevens

    Hi came across your blog. We are planning to move to Spain at the end of this year. Either Andalusia or Extremedura, We want to live in an rural area, grow veg and have chooks etc. I look forward to reading more about your life in Spain

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Sophie Nussle

    I live on the Granada coast, just outside a small(ish) pueblo. How lovely to have found your blog! A definite follow 🙂

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  9. Sophie Nussle

    thanks for the link, I’ll look it up!

    What’s it about… I did this exercise the other day, trying to define it in one sentence. Here’s what I came up with: “In rural France, an Englishman goes seeking for his missing daughter, meets a mysterious woman and finds himself pulled into events dating back to the Nazi Occupation of France.”

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    1. sandradan1 Post author

      Mmm, one sentence? “Controversial artist confronts the truth of her past when she asks a journalist to find her lost baby.” That’s a good exercise, have you tried the MsLexia ones on writing a synopsis? Very helpful.

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  10. Sharon Bonin-Pratt

    Hi Sandra,
    I found you because you found me, at WordPress, via a post I wrote for Today’s Author. I’ve also just started my own blog, (Sharon Bonin-Pratt’s Ink Flare)
    I love your site, such lovely photos, such tempting recipes, and the serene descriptions of this hidden place in Spain. Will visit your writer’s blog as well.

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  18. Garrulous Gwendoline

    Hola Sandra – Thank you for the like on my post ‘Reflections on the tapestry of life’. It’s curious that you found it, as I posted it some months back just before jetting off on a three month European saga. So it is much more reflective than any other posts that followed. Glad you enjoyed it. I am home just now and able to allocate more time to reading, so will be following yours with interest. Also working on refining my first manuscript – which has nothing to do with travel. Wish me luck~ GG

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  21. Zubaria

    Whoa! Sandra, u’ve got a prettty blog ^_^
    one word for ur blog>> FRESH! 😀
    Thanks for stopping by ^_^
    See ya around 😉
    HAPPY BLOGGING 🙂

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  23. alexander johnny

    Very intimate blog you have here Sandra. Happy to know you ended up on my blog though we are such a great distance apart. Thanks for checking it out. Loving the Spanish countryside in your photos. So atmospheric and natural. Thanks for keeping us updated on the adventures. How did you end up over there?

    Looking forward to hearing back soon.

    Alexander

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  26. Olga Kapustina

    Hello Sandra,

    I was wondering if you have any stock video footage of Barcelona?
    I am working on a music video for an original song dedicated to this city. I am in love with Barcelona and am trying to make a video collage about it.

    Here is the link to a tumblr blog with more details: http://shareyourbarcelona.tumblr.com/

    Otherwise, I’ll be happy to answer any questions about the project,

    Thank you,

    Olga

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  31. farfetchedfriends

    Great blog! I love the Spanish words at the end of the post.
    Living in Phoenix, AZ, one would think I’d know more Spanish. Oh well.
    But hey! I guess that’s what following your blog will help me with.
    Great recipes, too!

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  38. robert87004

    I adored Andalucia when I was there for the fall of 1990. I spent most of my time on the coast (Chipiona) but did get back into the mountains a little bit. I have some half-made plans to return for a visit in the next few years as well. I’m pretty pleased that you happened to find my blog and I’ll definitely be reading yours.

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  42. StoryTeller

    Thanks for your kind comments and ‘Likes’ on my blog. I love the part of the world in which you live, having had the privilege of visiting friends there in the past. I look forward to seeing more of your adventures. Cheers. 🙂

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  43. Bette A. Stevens

    Such a lovely place, Sandra. We live in rural Maine, USA (Cold winters,, but glorious summers). We grow our own fruits and vegetables and enjoy the country lifestyle. I’m glad that we’ve met! 🙂

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  45. Grace @ Cultural Life

    Thanks for liking a post on my blog. I found your writing blog and then from that, I found this one. The photo in your header is gorgeous! Spain is a wonderful country. I am studying Spanish at university at the moment and this coming October, I will be spending the academic year teaching English in Cataluña. I am excited! 🙂

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      1. Grace @ Cultural Life

        I’m not sure whereabouts I’ll be yet. I’m waiting for an email to tell me my exact location but I chose a “small/medium town” on the application form, so it won’t be Barcelona. I hope I will be near Barcelona though. I would like to explore the city without actually living in it. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  47. lawlor1968

    Sandra, It’s wonderful to find your blog. I too live in an Andalusian valley (although we’re located on a mountainside over the valley). Will be happy to see your posts and photos of the campo. We can only be at our place 3 months at a time, so I spend half the year missing it! Hope to change this situation soon. I’ll look at your literary site too, with great interest. (I’m a writer too and have a novel coming out in the near future, I hope. It’s set in Andalucía and dramatizes life as a foreigner there.)

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    1. sandradan1 Post author

      Good luck with your book. Yes, the countryside here is really inspiring. I can’t believe the weather at the moment, beautiful for Semana Santa. SD

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  48. navasolanature

    Lovely to come across your blog. We are in a wooded valley to the west of Seville in the Sierra Aracena. I love the photos as they really capture aspects of life here and find your 5 words to remember very memorable.

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    1. sandradan1 Post author

      Thanks for your message, Georgina. I too spent many years in England going to Spanish conversation classes, but I found nothing replaces talking with the locals. Our neighbours are very generous, the dialect here is very strong and it took us a few years to attune our ears 🙂 SD

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Barry O'Leary

        Good luck with that. I’m writing a contemporary romance novel set in Seville, it’s all done. Just contemplating getting a professional proofread or going alone, any advice?

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      3. Barry O'Leary

        Yeah a lot of people have said that. Have you got any recommendations for proofreading? Just been looking on fiverr, not sure how reliable it is. Good luck with second draft. Thanks for advice.

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      5. sandradan1 Post author

        No, no critique. But the m/s was read many times by writing friends, before going to FF for the final copy edit. Do you have friends who can help proofread? Anyone who reads a lot or has a job where they write reports can proofread. I used Fiverr for an illustration and it turned out more like £100 rather than £5 so be careful. SD

        Liked by 1 person

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