Edits, Entertainment and an Honorable Mention

Book News:

I'm very happy to say that I have the first round of edits back for The Gifting from Bluewood Publishing so I am happily getting on with those. I'm now on Page 100 of c470 pages so am doing okay, I think. Onward and upward, as they say.

I've also got a new webpage for the second in the Delaneys series, Entertaining the Delaneys, and this will be published by Amber Allure Press on 20 February 2011. I'm planning a series of four or five to this one, so there's more to come.

Other thrilling news is that The Hit List gained an Honorable Mention is this year's Rainbow Awards for Gay Contemporary Romance Fiction, so it's been really lovely to be in that ... um ... list also (sorry, couldn't resist it!). Not to be outdone, A Dangerous Man gained a very nice 5-star review at Goodreads from CAS (thanks, CAS) who called it "One of the most incredible stories I have read in a long, long time" - I hope in a good way! And Maloney's Law was, briefly, at No 19 in the Amazon UK charts, which was very nice indeed.


This week at Vulpes Libris I've also reviewed Kate Fenton's romantic novel, Picking Up - which I have to say is definitely not one of her best, and I'm a die-hard Kate Fenton fan. My advice is don't start here - but get any of her glorious earlier novels I've mentioned in my review - if you can ...


The meditation for this week is:




Meditation 474
The sharpness of thorn
and the clarity
of cedar


are a bitter memory
on the distant hills
of Lebanon.




The Sunday haiku is:


The soft snow settles
into the corners of life.
It outlasts the thaw.




Life News:


I've had my six-monthly dental appointment (hello, Margaret!) and have to have a filling redone, sob - can't fit it in until January but hey it's always good to have something to look forward to in the post-Christmas zone, eh. Besides, the dentist and her glamorous assistant are always a joy to visit, so what could be nicer, tee hee? And at least I still have all my own teeth - thus far.


Yesterday, K and I spent the day at Mother's doing the early Christmas thing. I think it was okay and neither of us murdered the other (Mother and me, not K and me ...) so that can only be a positive outcome indeed. And, say what you will, but the old matriarch does make a damn good fairy cake. Chocolate too, mmm. Not entirely sure what the ritualistic tapping of the jam pot lid meant though, but you can't have everything. Perhaps she was releasing the Genie of the Jam? Who can tell ... And, while we were out in the family (yikes!) zone, the new tenants moved in to the ground floor flat, so I hope they're settling in well. It will be nice to have someone else in the house other than us, I must say. They have a young child too (gosh!) so that's certainly a new thing. We kept up the House Tradition  of leaving champagne and chocolate biscuits on their front doorstep before we left to see Mother, along with a card of welcome - so I hope they don't think we're too scary. Also, seeing as this means there is another woman in the place for the first time in 17 years plus plus, I left the obligatory note For Her Eyes Only about the Victorian pipes and what that means in real terms in case she may not know that. It surprises me how few people do, but then again I was brought up in the country with no mains sewage so one learnt on one's mother's knee never ever to put anything down the toilet that the Victorians wouldn't have expected to be there. Say no more, eh ... Otherwise, we're all in our Wellington boots down in the cellar having a ... um ... high time, and you don't really want to go there.


This morning, we put in an appearance at church for the first time in ages, so God, and the vicar, were duly startled. I was astonished anyone remembered our names, really. It was also the Family Service, which was scary, but we coped. Though, during the talk, when the speaker asked us all what preparations we were putting in place for Christmas, I'm not sure my answer of "having the family row in order to get it over with" was exactly what the vicar was expecting. I suspect I'm probably banned from the Family service for life now.


Finally, and on a rather worried note, I am getting concerned about my right arm. It's distinctly painful today and I'm having trouble making it do anything useful, like getting dressed, having a bath etc etc. I've taken a pill to stop the pain, and later this afternoon, I think I'll use my pain relief machine - but I'm really really hoping it's not the onset of another bout of frozen shoulder. I can't bear that, as it was agonising enough the first time round! And I don't have time for it either. If it's any worse tomorrow though, maybe I should go to the doctor. I'll see.


Anne Brooke