Hellebores, Haiku and Heart

Book News:

There have been two really lovely 4.5 stars reviews of The Heart's Greater Silence late this week - one at Pants Off Reviews (many thanks, Darien) and one at Between the Covers Reviews (thanks, Alex).

I've also been more than happy to receive a 4.5 star review for Dating the Delaneys at Jessewave Reviews. So many thanks to Raine for that one, and of course apologies that you'll never be able to watch Four Weddings and a Funeral in quite the same way again. Such a great film too, ah well!...

Not only that, but I was pleased to see that Tommy's Blind Date has received two interesting reviews at Goodreads - one from Mandy, and one from Victoria who thought the story was "sweet and spicy". Many thanks to both of you!

Meanwhile I've now had the fully signed contract for upcoming gay short story, Where You Hurt The Most, returned by Riptide Publishing, so that's great. The likely publication date is sometime in May, I gather, but this has yet to be confirmed.

And there's only THREE DAYS left for my Twitter Giveaway - so if you follow me up to and including 25 January, you'll receive a FREE ebook of your choice - happy tweeting!

I've also updated my meditation poetry page so you can find all the latest poems there, but in any case here's Number 614 for you:




Meditation 614
All that secret
wisdom hidden
in the heart
of books
we no longer
understand:

the mysteries
of the sea
waiting deep
beneath the waters
which playfully
kiss the sand.


The Sunday haiku is:

My grandmother's voice
in its electronic soul:
the satnav's secret.


Life News:

Great excitement in the garden this week: we've trimmed the red dogwood stems at the back and brought them in for display in the dining room - and very beautiful they look too. With any luck we'll get new and even more colourful growth this coming year, so something to look forward to indeed. Plus our dogwood front hedge is due for delivery this week so K and I staked out the position of each plant today. They'll be fifty of them and it looks like a pretty good fit to us. The excitement's certainly mounting.

Plus we now have one snowdrop in the back garden, with its friend looking like it will make an appearance very soon (hurrah!), the crocuses at the front are pretty much in bloom, and the hellebores we planted last year are definitely on their way. The miracle of nature - if you plant things, sometimes they actually grow, ye gods and little fishes. Whatever next?

Meanwhile, further miracles abound - yesterday's baking opportunity was blueberry muffins and they're very tasty indeed. However, I must really get a proper muffin tray (as it were) and an apron to avoid potential disasters (blueberries are very ... um ... blue, aren't they?). Perhaps soon it will be time for my new book, Cooking by the Skin of Your Teeth. Any buyers? Hey ho ...

This morning was church, and the greeting of the wedding couples due to get married in Elstead or our sister church in Thursley throughout the year, and very jolly it all was too. Always good to practise those old wedding favourites just to see what they sound like - it's almost as if Spring were here in truth.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Biblical Fiction
Gay Reads UK