Turkish delight and novel battles

Was quite chuffed this morning to see that Maloney's Law was Number 65 in the gay fiction Amazon UK charts (though now it's Number 92 and rising into obscurity once more). Goodness me, someone must have bought a copy - a huge and heartfelt thank you to whoever you are, and I do hope you enjoy the read. Sadly, some don't ... but hey we don't talk about those strange people, do we? There must be something wrong with them, say I ...

Today has been a day of literary struggles. I'm not sure I've got anywhere near the heart of this morning's meditation or what I really wanted to say but I got to the point where I just had to stop or explode, so here it is anyway:

Meditation 88

Skin white as snow,
like something born dead,
its flesh half-eaten
and seven days’ exile
still to face.

Odd how
when both Aaron and Miriam
dare to question,
it’s only the woman
who suffers.


I've also tugged every bloody word kicking and screaming out of my rapidly diminishing inspiration pot (is that a metaphor too far, I wonder?) for Hallsfoot's Battle, but have finally after seemingly hours of trudging got nicely into the 98,000 word mark. Ye gods, by the time I reach the magic 100,000 marker I'll be way too exhausted to appreciate it. Lordy knows what's happening to the First Elder and how he's going to warn Annyeke, but I suppose something will come up. One hopes.

Oh, and I've had a lovely chat with the neighbour's granddaughter (hello, Gisela!) over apple tea and Turkish Delight, so that was highly civilised, I must say. Give us another ten minutes and we could have solved all the troubles of the world too.

Talking of which, horrible to see there's been yet another school shooting, this time in Germany. This sort of terrible event almost seems beyond imagining. Another community destroyed, or at least achingly damaged, then. My sympathies are with the victims and their families and friends, of course, but I also feel for the perpetrator. And his family too. I can't begin to think how you move on from there. Not really.

Anyway, turning to slightly brighter things (almost), I've written a poem about ways to forecast death, but it's much quirkier than it sounds. Honest! Must be one of those kind of days, I suppose.

Tonight, the TV desert continues, so I shall probably succumb to the call of my puzzle book. I've bought a nice fresh one and it's crying out for my confused scribbles across its pristine pages. At least I think that's the sound I'm hearing. Or maybe I should go back on the pills again?...

Today's nice things:

1. Maloney's Law being (briefly) placed in the Amazon charts
2. Poetry
3. Getting to a point with Hallsfoot where I'm able to stop
4. Turkish Delight, tea and chat
5. Puzzles.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website - relying on Turkish delight to get her through the day