Danger in sight and the work of the devil

Book News

I've now finished the final edits for upcoming gay thriller A Dangerous Man, due out from Amber Allure on 15 September, and just have the proofs to come this week.

Meanwhile, Christian novella The Prayer Seeker managed to get a 4-star review from a reader who still considered it to be the Work of The Devil (which makes me feel doubly proud indeed!). And it also gained a 1-star review from another reader who dislikes my homosexual agenda, so I'm even prouder than I was before (hurrah!) as I love my homosexual agenda and will flaunt it with huge pride wherever and however I can (see below for further explanation of same).

Just so you know and to avoid further confusion and horror on the part of the Christian traditional evangelical reader: the gift of being GLBTQ is just as great a blessing from God as the gift of being straight, so if you are about to read The Prayer Seeker, which features a bisexual man setting out to seek God, please do bear my Christian beliefs in mind. Thank you.

Continuing with the subject of gay-themed fiction, fantasy novel The Gifting was briefly at No 1 in the Amazon France Foreign Epic Fantasy charts, well double gosh and put out le bunting. I've never been No 1 in anything, apart from the person at work (in my old job, I hasten to add) most likely to turn out to be a serial killer and a member of the Townswomen's Guild - there's a happy combination indeed.

And, joy of joys, fantasy novel The Executioner's Cane gained its first reader review, for which I am very grateful indeed:

"An interesting novel that makes us rethink many of our prejudices and ideas. Reading recommended for its depth and seriousness." (in translation)

The Executioner's Cane also turned up at No 20 in the Omnilit Books Free Fiction chart, so many thanks to those readers downloading the book.

Life News:

Much to my delight, I have found out this week exactly what that mysterious beast, the Homosexual Agenda, actually is (see also above!), which I am frequently accused of having. The placard in the picture sounds marvellous to me and I am happy to offer this agenda to all indeed.

I have at the same time been delighted to discover a new website dedicated to those of us who are Christian and believe (because of, not in spite of, our Christianity) in equal rights for all. It's called Not All Like That - as most of the media seem to believe Christians hate homosexuality and we're frankly fed up with that image - so please do visit and find out what it's all about. You can also find a very helpful Facebook page about it as well.

Which leads me to this totally delightful image, which again says it all. Perfect!

This week, I've had fun at the dentist with a filling (groan), so thank goodness that's over. At least this dentist seems rather more competent than my original one, hurrah - she takes pain away, rather than creating it, so that has to be a step forward. I also squeezed in a visit to the doctor to try to cure my deaf right ear (what's that you say? Sorry, must have missed it ...) and now have some sodium bicarbonate drops which is supposed to solve the problem. I hope this will do the trick.

In the garden, we've been planting out autumn bedding, including violas, pansies and some late chrysanthemums, which has cheered everything up for sure. And we've also visited the Wisley Flower Show, and the Crocus Nursery open day event, where I picked up a few more heucheras to put in our shady areas, and a couple of packets of narcissi for the spring. Oh, and much to our delight, we spotted a Speckled Wood butterfly in the garden today, so that was lovely.

I'm in my Lemon Phase (like Picasso's Blue Period, but sunnier) at the moment as this week's cake is Lemon Sponge, and very tasty it is too. How I do love a recipe where you can just shove everything in, mix and bake. Simplicity is all.

Finally, I've said a sad farewell to my wonderful boss, D, who left the University this week for a new and very exciting job elsewhere. I've worked for him for over 9 years, so I do feel very sad indeed, but we gave him a very good send-off on Thursday afternoon and evening and he seemed to enjoy it all, which was great. And K showed his usual Star Husband Quality by being utterly sympathetic and lovely when I came home (having been really strong and totally together all week!) on Thursday night and wept on his shoulder over ... um ... how much I'll miss another man. Hey ho. Good luck to D in his new career, and a big Gold Star to K.

Happy Sunday to all!

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
Free Fiction
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Biblical Fiction UK