Death, dinners and silence

Book News:

For the first time ever in my writing life, I actually have a book you can pre-order, well gosh. I'm delighted to say that literary gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence can now be pre-ordered from Riptide Publishing (and if you do so, then you also enter their giveaway competition!) and is also up at Goodreads. The cover's pretty classy too and it's due out on 6 February.

Here's the blurb:

Mark isn't sure he believes in love, especially when he's torn between two very different men: his reliable boyfriend, Craig, and his illicit lover and priest, Richard. Mark knows what he should do, but he can't bring himself to give Richard up. The sex with Richard is unlike anything he's ever known with Craig, and he hungers for it as much as - if not more than - the truer intimacy he finds in his boyfriend's arms. When Craig discovers his betrayal, Mark is forced to look at his life more closely, but the path to self-knowledge is never an easy one. Richard seeks the way back to God, but Mark finds no solace there. Can he ever discover the truth of his own soul, or is he too afraid of what he will - or won't - find inside his heart?


Keeping with Riptide Publishing, I'm also happy to say that another literary gay story, Where You Hurt the Most, has just been accepted by them, so I'm looking forward to working with them on that one also. You can also visit my author page with Riptide here.

Meanwhile, I've just sent back the final proofs for biblical short story A Little Death to Untreed Reads, so that should be available soon. Watch this space ...

Don't forget my newsletter competition is still running, so enter soon to be in with a chance of winning something from my backlist! And a big thank you to Elstead Writers' Group and the lovely Sue who hosts it for a wonderful Saturday morning talking about writing. Fabulous.

This week's meditations are:


Meditation 599
Whatever we may say
or secretly think
about God

He’s more merciful
a leader
than any mere man.


Meditation 600
A lifetime remembered
for the increase of power
and a passion
for all that is wrong

does not in the end
whatever we say
make for a very
meaningful song.


The Sunday haiku is:

Each ripe red berry
plucked one by one from my hedge
like vanishing stars.


Life News:

It's been an odd week this week, what with working on Thursday and Friday, and having Tuesday and Wednesday at home instead. Most disorientating. Still, we had the office Christmas lunch on Thursday, at All Bar One in Guildford, which was great as I could actually hear what people were saying (hurrah!) and the food was wonderful. We had a lovely time. On Friday we had the Managers' Away Day which was very worthwhile indeed, in spite of the fact that we saw our first snow of the season (yikes!). Thank goodness it didn't settle. How I hate snow ... And in the evening, K and I were at Marian's for dinner, during which - for some strange reason - we were nearly visited by the local youth group's Santa sledge, but he somehow escaped so we never actually saw him. Probably too busy trying to find where the good children are, ho hum.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon gardening and in the evening we were at Liz's two doors down for her pre-Christmas dinner - great company, great food, including a home-made Yule log to die for, and possibly rather too much wine than was good for us. Hey ho, it's Christmas after all.

And today, we've spent a lovely day (though a chilly one!) with Peter and Sue at The Vyne, catching up and exchanging presents. Unfortunately, I seem to have bought poor Peter something he already has, but there are other gifts too, so all is - probably - not lost. I hope ...!

Anne Brooke
The Origami Nun