Holiday & review

We're back! Had a great time on hols, once we'd finished with the rainy days. And in fact even they weren't bad either.

Holiday highlights included:

1. Lord H's comment that if people simply pressed the "off" button on the wind turbines, then everything would be much calmer. Not sure he's got the hang of what a wind turbine does. (I love 'em, by the way. They're soooo elegant - like giraffes in Prada).

2. Playing on the only hilly golf course in the whole of Norfolk (flat place, Norfolk - err, not where we were, dammit ...).

3. Staying at a hotel where the 1970s were still in vogue. Anyone for prawn cocktail, Black Forest gateau and asking the menfolk if they'd like extra vegetables (but never asking the same of the womenfolk)? Ah, the memories ...

4. Mango icecream - delicious.

5. The hotel counting green beans wrapped in bacon as a vegetable. Bliss.

6. Seeing 101 National Trust properties, plus Sandringham and two other posh houses. At least.

7. Going to Ely, visiting Oliver Cromwell's home and falling in love with him all over again. What a complicated, humane, cruel and fascinating man, and usually all in the same breath too. Love 'im. Bought the latest biography, and will probably buy another shortly. The ultimate East Anglian loser fallen on hard times who made good. Aha! Proving there's surely hope for me yet - just don't put me in the same room as an idiot king.

8. Being followed by mad people around Norwich Cathedral - is it the inbreeding, I ask? (Pause for brickbats from Lady Sister-in-Law, who lives in Norfolk ...)

9. Finding a lovely National Trust windmill on the Norfolk Broads, where we could just sit and stare out at the water. Total relaxation ...

10. Being with Lord H on our own - utter bliss!

So, back to 1001 emails, 1000 of those being Spam (no, I don't want to give extra pleasure to my woman, thank you - even if I had one. I mean, if we lived in Norfolk, she wouldn't have time for that kind of thing anyway, as she'd still be a 1970s cleaning slave ...).

And a lovely review from http://www.myspace.com/book_of_the_moment about Pink Champagne and Apple Juice (http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com), which I reproduce here:

"Pink Champagne and Apple Juice is the story of twenty something Angie Howard, who more than anything in the world, wants to escape her small hometown in England, and make a life for herself in the city. Despite her mother's attempts to keep her home, Angie boards a train and tracks down her estranged Uncle John. At one point Angie had been close with her uncle, but one day after a fight with Angie's mother, John vanished from their lives. Though surprised to see her, John agrees to give Angie a place to stay, neither of them knowing how important a role they will eventually play in each other’s lives. Pink Champagne and Apple Juice is a fast paced amusing story which offers a peek into a world that you won't soon forget. There is a little of everything tossed in: love, scandal, betrayal … and don't forget it all takes place in a transvestite nightclub. The story moves along quickly, and a few times I actually laughed out loud. Angie is a character you can't help but relate to; she's trying her hardest to make her dreams come true and just can't seem to catch a break most days. I think we've all felt that way at some point or another. Aside from being humorous, it’s honest and heartfelt. It flows, and I enjoyed it from the first page. If you're looking for something a little different, look no further."

Many thanks indeed - much appreciated! So glad you enjoyed it, Book of the Moment (Reviewer)!

Ooh, and I've had some lovely comments from the Writewords (http://www.writewords.org.uk) gang on my first couple of pages of The Bones of Summer, which I uploaded on site last weekend - thanks, guys!

Best go and do some unpacking now before "Dr Who" turns up - can't miss that second-parter, after all.

Today's nice things:

1. Holiday
2. Being with Lord H for a whole week uninterrupted - hurrah!
3. The Champers review.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk