Bestsellers and bargains galore

Book News:

Goodness me, lots going on this week. I'm pleased to say that gay thriller Maloney's Law is now available from Amazon UK, Amazon US and All Romance Ebooks, where it's already one of their bestsellers.

It's also received a couple of reviews, one from Rainbow Reviews, which comments:

"Maloney’s Law by Anne Brooke is a gay romance and mystery. It’s also a dark, deep, and poetic gay romance and mystery. I confess I love novels written in the first person and present tense, but I also know it’s quite difficult to write them well. But not, apparently, for Brooke. Her Maloney’s Law is exceptionally well-written."

And there's another re-released review from Well Read Reviews, so thank you to Jen for that.

Meanwhile, over at Brief Encounter Reviews, The Delaneys, My Parents and Me are also having their turn in the sun, where Jen says:

"If you haven’t started the series yet, and you like m/m/m stories then I would recommend that you read this series, as I’m sure you’ll love the Delaneys and Liam as much as I have."

Not to be outdone, Where You Hurt The Most also had a review from ARe Cafe Reviews which I've only just picked up on. They say:

"I am always glad to snap up the latest fiction from Anne Brooke because the writing is flawless – clean, crisp, minimalist, and elegant – and her insight into the interactions between people is profound. This story fulfills both expectations."

Gosh, that's nice. Thank you!

Over at Amber Allure Press, gay comic romance, Who Moved My Holepunch? appears, alongside The Delaneys, My Parents and Me, in the March bestsellers charts - so it's really lovely to have two in the charts at once. Many thanks to those people buying my books, and I hope you're enjoying them.

This week, my surreal comedy Candy and Catharsis - about the love-life of a dictionary - has also been published by Untreed Reads. Here's the blurb:

"Love is possible even in the most surprising of settings. When dictionary-dweller and word-about-town Catharsis falls madly in love with good-time-gal Candy, it changes everything he ever thought he knew about the literary life.

Helped by his closest word-friends and neighbours, Catharsis sets out, determined to meet the word-woman of his dreams and declare to her his undying passion. However, in a journey beset with difficulties and dangerous detours, will he ever find Candy? And, even if he does, can the course of true love ever really run smooth?"

And, at the moment, if you buy this book, then you get another one FREE. What could be nicer?... Not only that, but if you buy bisexual thriller Thorn in The Flesh direct from Untreed Reads, then you can pick another story up for FREE. Happy reading!

Life News:

During the week, I was sorry to hear about the death of Maggie Thatcher, one of the great women and great politicians of our time. You can read my reactions, written with a literary focus, here. RIP Our Maggie.

Closer to home, K has been involved with the Players of Elstead Theatrical Society, making his debut performance in their very funny farce, An Eye For An Eye, Darling. I went twice, and it was fantastic - a star is born, I'm sure! I can't wait for the next play, later this year. Though I have to admit it's nice to have our living room artwork home - as they were used for the set!

Meanwhile, the barn owl is back (hurrah!) and after five weeks of having the goldfinch food on the bird-feeder with nary a goldfinch, we finally have two goldfinches who are making regular visits, double hurrahs. It's lovely to see them here.

Over at The Angry Anglican, I achieve a full Anger Rating in my response to the Church of England telling me that Equal Marriage is the Work of The Devil, harrumph.

On a far nicer note, this week's baking endeavours were Maple Syrup and Pecan cupcakes which actually worked, and very tasty they are too.

And the dwarf tulips are coming up in the garden and look absolutely stunning. Spring has sprung at last!

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Biblical Fiction UK
Lori Olding Children's Author

The joys of jasmine and the wonder of weeds

Life News:

This weekend saw my second attempt at cake making, and this time it was the turn of chocolate fudge cake. Not too bad an effort, I think, though I did cheat a bit and use shop-bought icing, but the rest of it is real. I do need to find a way to make my actual cake a bit moister however - here we have a really hot oven so I'm going to need to work with shorter timings or the alternative is a teaspoon of mayonnaise, which has worked wonders in the past. So I may well get some of that.

I also had a lovely time as usual at Elstead Writers (hello, all!) and came away inspired, as well as full of leftover Easter chocolate. Thank you, Sue ... Sorry if I ate too much though. Also yesterday, K and I visited Wisley to pick the brains of their weeds experts and work out which weeds we have in the garden. Well, ground elder we knew about (I've beating the damn stuff to a pulp every 5 minutes, I swear it ...) but we also have couch grass, which I didn't realise before. So we've got rid of that today too. Plus  we've got a riot of a wonderful weed known as sticky willy (no, I am not making that up ...), so I've been pulling all that out too, but at least it comes out fairly easily (as it were), and yes, it is highly sticky. Anyway, whilst there, we got a load of more plants, including violas, pansies, a pink carnation, pulmonaria, etc etc, so need to plant those up at some point - between the weeds. Not only that, but we bought a lovely indoor jasmine, which today is making the whole house smell utterly beautiful, so that's pretty amazing. When I got up this morning to fetch tea for K (ah, a woman's work is never done ...), I could smell it at the top of the stairs, even though the door to the dining room where we'd put it was shut. Wonderful.

This morning we've been to church followed by the Annual General Meeting, which wasn't too bad actually. We managed by sheer force of will and pizzazz to avoid ending up on the PCC (thank the Lord!), but I am happy to volunteer for sidesperson duties, so have put my name down for that. Heck, I can do smiling, you know - I just have to practise it first.

Book News:

This week my most popular book on Amazon UK was gay romance Tommy's Blind Date, and on Amazon US it was gay menage story, Dating The Delaneys. So a subtle difference in tastes there really, though there's humour in both. I'm also very happy indeed to showcase the book cover for the upcoming Rentboys Anthology from Riptide Publishing - ain't it grand! Lovely to be in such distinguished company too.

Meanwhile gay comic romance Angels and Airheads gained a 4-star review at Goodreads, so thank you, Rachel, for that.

And don't forget that there's only ONE week left of the LibraryThing giveaway of fantasy novel The Gifting. So far I have 58 people entering the competition, and I'd really love to make it to 60, at least, so if you can sling your hat in the ring, I'd be really eternally thrilled and for ever in your debt - thank you!

A recent meditation poem is:

Meditation 643

So many storehouses

for so much wealth –

a blessing, he says,

from above –

but the only things

the rich man needs

are air and water

and love.

The Sunday haiku is:

Glorious sunshine

sweeps away all memory

of this endless rain.

Anne Brooke

The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy

Gay Reads UK

Biblical Fiction UK

Free Giveaway Competition at my first Author Week!

Book News:

I'm thrilled this week to be the subject of the first ever Author Week at Pants Off Reviews, and I must say I'm having a thoroughly enjoyable time so many thanks to Darien for that. As part of the week, four reviews have been posted so far, including Give and Take, The Delaneys and Me, Entertaining the Delaneys and The Art of the Delaneys. I do hope you enjoy reading Darien's take on my fiction.

Not only that but you can read all about my views on Ferrero Rocher chocolates and French knickers at my site interview, and don't forget to leave a comment to enter a FREE competition to win an ebook from my backlist - make sure you don't miss out on that one! Happy reading.

Other book-related excitements this week are that thriller Thorn in the Flesh was an Amazon UK bestseller during the week, and also up there in the Amazon UK charts was gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence. I hope those who've purchased both books have enjoyed the read.

Meanwhile, after my recent bout of illness has at last subsided, I'm back in the routine of writing again, although it's been a bit tricky this morning now the roofers are in situ (see below ...). I've also managed to get back into my morning meditation poems:


Meditation 624
Balanced between
the city’s vibrant hum
and the wilder grey
of the sea

there’s a cliff-top moment
to remember
how you arrived here
before you cease to be.




Meditation 625
All the battles
and rages of men

silenced by the thorns
and cedars of Lebanon

until the whole earth
is at peace again.




Meditation 626
Forgive my prejudice
but no matter
what a man has done

I can’t help
judging him kindly
if he’s a lover
of farming or wine




Meditation 627
You recall that dark night,
the air possessed
with incense’s sour assault

and the flicker
of the candles’ shadow
against the silent altar.

Most of all you remember
when a thousand failures
in their perfumed breath

overcame the sacred space
to pattern your skin
with slow unforgiven death.


Life News:

K and I have been very excited indeed (steady, people ...) by the arrival of our brand-new recycling bins. They're so new! So shiny! So colourful! Well gosh. We now have a big blue bin where everything can go - instead of the three sets of bins we've been used to where you have to spend hours (hours, my dears, hours!) dividing things out or the Recycling Men will leave a plastic carton or two on your pillow ... As it were. Plus, for the first time ever, we have a food bin which comes in two sizes - the smaller one goes in the kitchen and then fits into the bigger one for when it's collected. Plus we have huge numbers of instructions which I will have to read through before the big change-over day happens. In April apparently, so time is on my side ...

And yesterday, K and I attended the first of the church's Lent meetings, which will look at how to have an adult faith. I suspect they're not using the word "adult" in the way that I would do so, however, so absolutely no need to write to the papers. One hopes. Last night we looked at God, and decided he's maybe not as bad as everyone thinks - though being the die-hard traditionalist that I have apparently now become - I kept alive the small flame which offers the thought that God is mystery and ultimately unknowable. Though we catch glimpses of who he really is now and again. Much like people then, hey ho.

Today, the four roofers have arrived and will be with us for the next two-and-a-half weeks. Most of the scaffolding went up yesterday, though more has joined it today, so there's another couple of men to add to the teas/coffees/cake list. Really, it's all very grand and we're beginning to look like a cathedral. We're thinking of draping a trompe l'oeil with a castle scene across the frontage and claiming independence. You heard it first here. Anyway they've all been very lovely and have been happily hammering away, and occasionally chatting about who has the best work trousers. I think the jury's still out on that one.

Plus, as they all arrived and went to work at 7.30am, I suspect I will have to get up earlier tomorrow - if only to avoid opening the door in my dressing gown. Yes, yes, I know - my dressing gown doesn't have a door, but I just couldn't resist typing it. I think I might have to get more cake too, and maybe some biscuits. I don't want anyone to faint with hunger and fall off the scaffold ...

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

Mice, machines and mischief

Book News:

Much to my astonishment (well, I haven't been there for a while ...), gay erotic story For One Night Only was a July bestseller for Amber Allure. Thank you hugely to everyone who purchased it and got me in the list, and I hope you enjoyed the read. To add to the huzzahs, this week it became available at All Romance Ebooks (where people don't seem to like it much ...), Amazon US and Amazon UK - where people haven't yet expressed an opinion but do at least seem to be buying it. Heck, it was even, very briefly, in the Amazon UK charts, so that was nice. Thank you.

Not to be outdone, and on a completely different literary note, biblical story Dancing with Lions has just become an All Romance Ebooks bestseller - so many thanks to readers for that also.

I've also signed my first Kindlegraph for gay psychological thriller The Bones of Summer so many thanks, Karin Wollina, for asking, and don't forget other books are also available for signature!

This week, I've also been utterly bamboozled when I was sitting by the lake at the University yesterday in that lovely sunshine (remember that?...) and discovered that just as I was seriously getting into Madeleine Wickham's lovely romantic comedy Cocktails for Three, the binding went straight from Page 208 to Page 257 without me even noticing the join! Arrgghh!! I did wonder how the heck we suddenly went from Roxanne's traumatic breakdown on the plane to Maggie's loved-up getaway with her husband. What?!? I now feel hugely frustrated and I have rushed online to order another copy as I am totally desperate to know what happens next, especially to Roxanne. They promise delivery on Saturday and if I don't get it then I may have to chew the postman in desperation. I've also checked to see if the other two Wickham novels I bought at the time have all their pages, and I think they do. My dears, I can't go through another literary trauma like this one ... It's just too much.

Here's another few lines from fantasy novel The Gifting for you:

Even the name Gathandria stands against them: in the old language, it means the place where peace dwells.

There are two meditation poems this week:




Meditation 553
There is always joy.
Even in the middle
of the greyest
and bleakest of days

its treasured gold
lies waiting
to be tasted
by patient hearts:

the shimmering silence
before the music starts.




Meditation 554
In this field of blessings
lies the forgotten man,
his name abandoned
since the celebrations began.

He’s only a whisper
caught as you turn away,
a memory relived
at the end of the day.

A throwaway clause:
nothing to make you pause.


Life News:

There is news on the Elstead house!!! Goodness me, I think I need to repeat that - there is news on the house, well gosh. After nearly a year of searching and two traumatic near-misses, we are now once again and for the third time almost at the point of exchange. Heck. The vendor has answered all our questions quite happily (unlike the wretched people in House Number 2 ...) and we now have to confirm our mortgage insurance, return the signed copy of the contract and then exchange and completion dates can be agreed. Please God let it all work out this time, as I'm not sure I could bear a fourth attempt. Watch this space then, or you might just hear the screams ...

In terms of my long-running battles with machinery, I'm pleased to say that my car is now mended and the garage even cleaned it inside and out for me for no charge so that was a delight. It seems to be running well so far and there've been no more further disasters with the engine coolant, hurrah. In addition, we have had our replacement washing-machine delivered today - by a couple of very sweet men who were incredibly relieved that we live on the ground floor. They installed it in record time and took the old one away, double hurrahs - and I am now just waiting for K to come home so we can find out about the new arrival together. I don't want to spoil his fun, after all. But, hey, no more hand-washing will be good.

I have also done a Terrible Thing with my remote mouse batteries. They said they were low last week so I replaced them and threw the old ones away (yes, I'm sorry - no battery recycling facilities here, as far as I'm aware ...). Come Sunday night and K asks if I'm enjoying the lovely new rechargeable batteries he secretly put in for me at the beginning of the week as a surprise. Cue fixed grins and frantic backing away to the door in order to rummage through the rubbish - but alas the binmen have already been and gone, and I have just thrown away some rather expensive renewable batteries, thinking they were the same as the other ones. Hey ho. This is indeed a lesson for the Vital Importance of Marital Communication. I will take a jolly good look at them next time ...

At work, I've had my appraisal and actually enjoyed it. Maybe I'm feeling more confident these days? Must be the drugs, you know ... I'm even getting into thinking about what I might like to get involved in over the next five/ten years, and how to develop the role - so perhaps I've been swopped for my better twin after all? About time then.

Finally, I'd very much like to draw your attention to the fundraising a colleague of mine is doing on behalf of the Marie Curie Cancer Fund - which is a very worthwhile cause, and well done, Jon, on taking part. If you are able to spare a few coppers at all, I'm sure the charity will be very grateful, though I fear Jon himself (according to the photo on site!) will be best advised to buy a new pair of trainers before taking part ...

Anne Brooke

Butterflies, Brits and bestsellers

Book News:

Sad to say, this weekend sees the end of British Fortnight at Brief Encounter Reviews, and what a fantastic fortnight it's been. I've learnt a heck of a lot about my fellow UK gay fiction writers and, if you missed my slot (as it were), you can find it on 22 March. Many thanks, Tam & Jen, for arranging it all, and thank you to everyone who took part.

Good news this week is that I've broken the 120,000 word marker in The Executioner's Cane, with only the last chapter to go, plus the epilogue. Lordy, but it's been a mammoth task and I was beginning to think I'd never reach this point. Once I've finally written "The End", I shall collapse for a month and not write a thing, and certainly not another trilogy, please God no. Though, hell, but I'm going to miss Simon and the Gathandrians, not to mention the mind-cane - they've been part of my ruddy life for so damn long, I can't think what I shall do without them ...

Also today, you can find an interview with me at The Accidental Author, where I discuss art, handbags and the vital importance of coffee. Many thanks to Jesse for arranging it and asking such great questions. Meanwhile, I'm happy to say that The Girl in the Painting is once more in the Untreed Reads bestsellers' list - for March it came in at Number 3, so I'm very pleased with that. I have no idea why that particular story continues to be quite so popular, but I'm glad it is! Thank you to everyone who's bought a copy, and I hope you enjoyed it.

At Amber Allure Press, all my books can be found at a 25% discount during April, so don't forget to treat yourself to a scintillating shopping experience for spring. You know you want to ...

Recent meditation poems are:




Meditation 512
The last thing he sees
is the royal garden

wrapped in night-time quiet,
the scent of daylight flowers

still hinted on the faint breeze
that lifts his hair

as the distant stars look down,
majestic and unaware.




Meditation 513
It’s a history
not of kings
or people
but of objects:

bronze columns and carts,
tanks, shovels, lamps,
sacrificial bowls and coals
and incense.

All the paraphernalia
of rich and poor
who in this, their story,
live no more.


The Sunday haiku is:

The duck stalks my bench:
expectation on her beak,
water off my back.


Life News:

The middle neighbours seem to be playing silly devils again, sigh, and this time not with us. They've apparently laid claim to both sheds and their contents in the garden, even though only one of them belongs to them, and the other one is the ground floor neighbours'. Also it appears that the new middle neighbour might (if he ever arrives ...) consider (from what he's been told by them) that all the garden belongs to him, when in fact he only has the rear section of the back garden and nothing whatsoever of the front. Another deep sigh, eh. The upshot is that I've advised the tenants of the ground floor to let the ground floor owners know this is happening, and of course we're prepared to help them hang onto what is theirs if we need to! Lordy, when will it all end? I do so wish I was out of here ...

On the up side, I enjoyed golf on Friday with Marian, and she beat me by one shot on the last hole, oh the shame of it! Still we were neck and neck up to that point so the crowds (should there ever be any) were going wild with excitement, hey ho. And The Mentalist was great in the evening so rounded off the week quite well. Not only that but I've started wearing earrings again - when I'm depressed I just can't bring myself to care enough to change them (I think I've actually worn the same fall-back pair for about two or three years now, which should really have told me something, if I'd bothered to listen ...), but yesterday and today I have put different pairs in. Maybe the anti-depressants are working? I do think they might be and I hope it continues, hurrah.

Yesterday, K and I had a lovely lunch out at and a walk round Wisley. The orchid display in the Greenhouse was particularly stunning and is well worth a visit if you have time - it last until the end of April. We also loved the sense of spring coming to the garden - with the camellias, rhododendrons and daffodils out in all their splendour, and huge amounts of butterflies. We saw in one half-hour a brimstone, an orange-tip, a tortoiseshell and a peacock butterfly. So many out so early in the year - it was astonishing really. Wisley also have a brand-new bird-hide and, though we didn't see many birds there, we did see a grass snake about two foot long (enormous!) swimming along the river. I've never seen any snake swim so that was a first for me. It stayed quite a time too which was wonderful. The yellow collar behind the head was very obvious.

Today, of course, it's Mothers Day - and Mother (Gawd bless 'er!) woke us at 8.45am when we were enjoying a much-needed lie-in to thank us for our presents. Still, I only have myself to blame for being a lazy stop-in-bed - as a farmer's daughter I should be ashamed of myself as my inheritance is that I should be up at 6am daily and working out in the fields. Dream on!... Anyway, Mother is off to London with her theatre group for a concert and I hope she has a fabulous day. Tonight, it's the joys of Lewis on TV, and I can't wait. It's got to be better than the new Midsomer Murders, that's for sure.

Anne Brooke

The Importance of Fruit and the welcoming touch

Book News:

It is a matter for general astonishment on all sides that during February when it was offered as a free story, How to Eat Fruit was actually downloaded 4,800 times. Ye gods and little fishes, that's more than a 1,000 times a week! I know at least a couple of those who took the punt didn't enjoy it, but I hope some of the others did. Now, just imagine how big a smile I'd have if it hadn't been free! But in any case it's lovely to think of 4,800 readers, or potentially so - therefore a BIG thank you to all who clicked on that button! Well gosh.

A Woman Like The Sea now has its earlier review up at Queer Magazine Online, so thank you to Victor and Anders for that. In addition, if during March you buy A Woman Like The Sea, than you can get any other of my Untreed Reads books with a 40% discount - so there's another good offer to whet your reading appetite. Keeping with Untreed Reads, I was pleased to see that The Girl in the Painting was No 3 on their international bestseller list for February, gosh again.

Reviews this week so far have been as follows:

The Delaneys and Me gained a 4.5 star review at MichelenJeff Reviews.
At the same review site, Entertaining the Delaneys gained a 5 star review.
And Brady's Choice received a 5+ star review, so that was thrilling, I can tell you. Gosh indeed! And thank you to Jeff for reviewing all those so kindly.

Not to be outdone, Sunday Haiku was briefly at No 68 in the Amazon UK Kindle chart, and I even managed to reach the 110,000 word marker in The Executioner's Cane, huzzahs galore and put out the bunting. Heck, I might even finish the trilogy one day - who knows.

This week I've reviewed Ron Butlin's Vivaldi and the Number 3 for Vulpes Libris, which is a musically surreal short story collection that it's wisest not to consume all at once. And recent meditations are:




Meditation 494
The shadow from the sun
retraces the silent step

for a paste of figs
and bitter tears

so one man’s grief
exceeds the worth

of the truth carved out
through all the years.






Meditation 495
Do not trust
the messengers of Babylonia,
do not let them in:

they’ll admire
everything you own then take it
when they leave again.

So do not trust
the messengers of Babylonia,
my friend:

they come
with gifts and smiles but they’ll only hurt you
in the end.






Meditation 496
To be remembered for water
is how to begin

so still the tongue
and let the brightness in.


Life News:

A difficult week, health-wise, but also positive really. Without the HRT, I've been all over the place so I finally bit the proverbial damn bullet and went to the doctor this week about my mood (low, if you're asking). I did the mercifully short (as I didn't have my reading glasses) test she gave me and we discovered I'm 9/21 for anxiety and 8/21 for depression. Which apparently makes me moderately, but not severely, depressed. So it's not all bad news and gloom really! Lord knows it could be worse ... Anyway, the upshot is I'm now on my first medically-prescribed anti-depressant (ah, welcome to mid-forties womanhood indeed ..) which is called Cipramil. Yes, of course I looked up the list of side effects on the NHS site but it was so long I thought I'd stop reading before I jumped out of the nearest window. Ha! Anyway, I'm now on Day 2 of the new Happy Pills and am feeling surprisingly perky. Which must be psychosomatic as they're not supposed to kick in for at least 2 weeks. I can't take the St John's Wort with these, alas, so they're on their own, the pesky little devils. We will see, eh ...

On a happier note, I have decided, along with the lovely Kirsty at Vulpes Libris, to give up worrying for Lent. I was toying with giving up chocolate, but hell I could do without the pressure right now, so an attempted lack of worrying seems like a better idea. I've also enjoyed finishing off the story of Joseph and his brothers at bible study this week. Now there's a disfunctional family if ever I saw one. Too much favouritism is never anything but a dangerous game, my dears ...

I also spent a lovely lunchtime at Wisley yesterday, though I'm afraid there were no cupcakes and the cappuccino just isn't as good as at The Savill Garden, but nonetheless the camellias were out, alongside some gloriously scented daphne sprigs and irises, amongst others. It was all very relaxing which was just what I needed really. And I've popped in to see my former neighbour in Woking today, so that was good to catch up.

I'm hoping all this positive input will help me through the no doubt agonising final episode of the increasingly grim South Riding on TV - I am still traumatised by last Sunday so who knows what I'll be like after the weekend. Someone get me some happy TV to watch, soon!

Finally, I am beyond thrilled to announce that it's now official: UK students have voted our University as the most welcoming in Britain, and my boss gets to have a few words in the article too, hurrah! Good for Student Care is what I say - we all put a heck of a lot of work into Welcome Week arrangements and changes (which takes up a good portion of our year and takes me a month to recover from afterwards!) and it's lovely to think that the students do get something out of our efforts. Well done to them and us, and here's to this year's Welcome Week also - the champagne's on me ...

Anne Brooke

A Woman like the Sea

Book News:

I'm happy to announce that my literary lesbian romance story, A Woman like the Sea, is published today and available at Untreed Reads (at a 25% discount), and at All Romance Ebooks, amongst other outlets. I'm also pleased to say that you can find all my Untreed Read books at discount prices at 1 Place for Romance bookshop - enjoy!

Other book news is that The Girl in the Painting was the 3rd highest bestseller at Untreed Reads during January, so that was a boost at the end of what has been a rather difficult month. Many thanks to those of you who've bought that one. And, in a brief (very brief) blaze of late glory, Pink Champagne and Apple Juice found itself at No 83 in the Amazon UK Kindle charts, well gosh.

Meanwhile, at Vulpes Libris, we have not been slack; on Monday, Moira was in conversation with Tim Bentinck who plays David Archer in The Archers, and today, you can take a closer look at my nasty and nice sides (ha!) in my review of Philippa Gregory's The Other Queen. Suffice it to say I was not greatly impressed with that one ...

Life News:

Life's still not that good, really, to be honest. Am feeling rather debilitated, to say the least, by last week's meltdown, but am busy taking a regular supply of happy pills in all shapes and sizes in order to attempt to keep things on some kind of even keel. Double ha, eh. If you shake me, I'll rattle.

Mind you, K and I were rather amused (after being really quite angry) with yesterday's estate agent who booked us in for three viewings of properties today when we'd only asked for one. We weren't interested in the other two, but the wretched man booked us for them without being asked. When he rang back to tell us, K sacked him on the spot and said we wouldn't bother viewing the one we actually wanted to see unless someone else from the agency escorted us round, and then put the phone down. That'll show 'em, eh. Sure enough five minutes later, another agent from the same firm rang up, apologised profusely and said he'd be showing us round said house, instead of the pushy agent. Fair enough, though I did rather worry that when we turned up this afternoon, he might actually have signed the contract for us and we'd be moving in tomorrow. It did give me some considerable pleasure that we didn't like the house anyway. Triple ha!

In any case, we have actually seen a house we like very much in Bisley though, which is hopeful, especially as we can afford it without having to sell this place, so that gives me much hope that I'll be able to leave the pesky flat and Godalming before I do indeed run mad. That said, we have a second viewing here tomorrow, so I think we'd like to see if that results in someone making an offer for our flat before we make any final decisions. Though I don't want to miss out on anything good ...

I'm also very excited by the advent of this England & Wales crime statistics site, where you can have great fun finding out where all the crime is, and where the dubious and not-so-dubious parts of your town are. All very jolly, and an excellent tool for house-hunting. I'm pleased to report there is absolutely no crime in our street so this flat is even more desirable as a purchase for someone indeed.

Other cheery news which put a more Schadenfreude-shaped smile on my face today was that earlier in the week the downstairs neighbours accidentally smoked out the nasty middle neighbours when they put their fire on, as the chimney was faulty, and said middle neighbours had to turn up and spend several hours cleaning up. My, how I laughed. I apologise for the huge meanness of this paragraph, but that's how I feel about things right now. I have good reason, but sorry. I used to be so nice when I was younger too. Ah well.

Last night, K and I were glued to the television watching the last ever episode of Midsomer Murders with Tom and Joyce Barnaby in it. A good farewell to a great series, I thought, though I will miss Tom and Joyce and the body count they inspired, sob. However, I'm pleased to see that Neil Dudgeon will be taking over the police office role as cousin John Barnaby, so I look forward to more Midsomer madness in the future, hurrah.

Finally, a big hello to Jane H whom I met for coffee in Godalming today, or rather hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, if I'm honest - but we had the semi-skimmed milk so it was the healthy option, ho ho. Lovely to catch up with all the news and, really, we must do it again soon.

Anne Brooke

Bitchy women and difficult men

Book News:

Angels and Airheads is now available for sale at All Romance Ebooks and, talking of sales, Untreed Reads are offering a 29% discount on ALL their titles for today only if you put HAPPYBIRTHDAYPC in as a discount code at checkout, so click here for a fabulous shopping experience.

I'm happy to note that Creative Accountancy for Beginners is No 10 on the Omnilit ebooks bestseller charts, well gosh, so a big thank you to those of you who've bought that one. Speaking of chart placings, The Delaneys and Me is back, after a brief holiday, into the Amazon Gay Fiction charts and is currently lying at No 59. I'm also thrilled to say that Martin and The Wolf has been chosen as one of the Recommended July Reads at Jessewave Reviews, so thank you, Wave, for that!

Also, to my surprise as at heart I'm a glass-half-empty sort of person, The Girl in the Painting appears to be selling well in the UK, so that's lovely to know. Another thank you to those readers out there. And yet another thank you, this time to Charles for his mention of Sunday Haiku at the ever-popular and very classy Ink Sweat & Tears webzine. (Apologies if that last link doesn't work, as Blogger doesn't seem to like it no matter what I do, sigh, but it is there, honest!...)

In addition, I've finished the first draft of my online novella, The Prayer Seeker's Journal, which has come in at about 45,000 words. So I'll start editing that when we're back from our holiday. Weirdly, I've started writing a story with a child who can't speak as a main character, so Lord alone knows where that's going. I'm calling it The Origami Nun - a title inspired by Ruth G at work. I can see the whole story in my head right now, which never happens. Is it my age? Or am I being switched with my far nicer twin after all these years?? Who can tell ...

Meanwhile at Vulpes Libris, my review of Suzannah Dunn's The Confession of Katherine Howard takes a look at bitchy women and difficult men, Tudor-style. I am of course an expert in the former (from self-knowledge, naturally) and have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of the latter, ho ho.

This week's meditations are:

Meditation 403
All the cedar,
pine and gold
in the world

cannot ease the bitterness
of counting everything
as evil.


Meditation 404
The great temple
was built
not just by Solomon’s
godly obedience

but by the blood
and sweat
of the men he forced
to die for it.


Life News:

Work's been really tricky this week and, once again, I seem to have been at odds with the world, alas. So yes it probably is me. I am naturally angry all the time, sigh. Anyway, I ended up yesterday evening at home sobbing like a baby about it all whilst Lord K attempted to provide sustenance and support, bless him. Surely the change in my HRT regime can't have kicked in quite so soon?? Lord preserve us. Soon I will be wailing and screaming at least once a day while I wait for the menopause to arrive. Hey ho. Again.

Mind you, I think I've been leading up to another bout of nasty catarrh illness as I'm as sick as the proverbial today, a state made rather worse by being able to grab only a couple of hours' sleep last night. Why can't the TV channels have nice light comedies on during the very early mornings when we sick people of Britain actually need them? I'm thinking of writing a letter of complaint along these lines as I don't want politics, news, rampant naughtiness or murders when I'm feeling that delicate. I really don't understand why the programmers can't see that ...

What with all that, I looked like a zombie that had seen better days a long long time ago by the time the real morning was here - so thank goodness Lord K was on hand to deal with the mortgage surveyor who arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 8.30am to give his verdict on the flat below. So I think we've done everything that we need to do to ease the buying process along and all we have to do now is wait for the various reports to arrive, and take stock at that point.

So far today then, I have been enjoying a diet of Lucozade, Lemsips, Sudafed, Vitamin C pills and allergy relief pills, together with lots of castor oil rubbed on to my neck to ease the breathing process - so never say I don't know how to enjoy myself. I ought to have some food later on, really, but with this old familiar monster (catarrh, not me - oh, on second thoughts, maybe me too ...) there's no point rushing it as it's over only when it says it is.

I have managed to do some packing though, trailing my boxes of tissues with me - as tomorrow Lord K and I are off to see the Egypt Group of friends (ie friends we met in Egypt - how good at titles I am!) oop north for the weekend and then we're spending a few days in Northumbria. I hope I don't spread too much disease along with southern largesse and style (if I had any), but I would advise avoiding any of the service stations on the A1 tomorrow as you are likely to meet me doing something unspeakable with castor oil on the way and looking unbearably slimy. What joy for you!

However, to take our minds off that frightening picture, Lord K has now put pictures of the Seville festival on his website, so enjoy the colour and true spectacle that only Spanish senoritas can provide.

See you next week - hope you all have a good (and healthy) one!

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Independence Day news!

First of all, a very happy Independence Day to all US readers, and anyone else who's celebrating today too - I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I've certainly got some treats in store for you! As they say.

My erotic short story, The Boilerman and The Bride, is published today at Amber Heat Press, and you can also read extracts at both those links. Enjoy!

I also have a wide variety of sale opportunities for you: Dancing with Lions is in the Amazon Kindle sale on a limited basis, so now's a very good time to buy this one. In addition, all books from Untreed Reads, including my own, are in the Coffee Time Romance sale this weekend ONLY. You can also get 30% discount for this weekend directly from Untreed Reads, plus if you use the code Untreed30 you can get 30% discount from All Romance eBooks. Neither does the good news stop there: the sale continues over at Smashwords where you need to use the coupon code SWS25. Happy shopping!

I'm also very happy to announce that I have a brand-new cover and indeed a brand-new webpage for upcoming comic short story, Rosie By Name. This is to be published by Bluewood Publishing at a date to be decided, but ain't that cover marvellous. I love it! And it's perfect for my heroine.

In terms of ratings and reviews, The Delaneys and Me found itself briefly but proudly at No 62 in the Amazon Kindle Gay Fiction chart, and The Secret Thoughts of Leaves reached the dizzy heights of No 30 in the Amazon Kindle Surrealism charts for a while.

Martin and The Wolf received a very nice review from Literary Nymph Reviews and even managed to get to No 4 in the Amber Allure June bestseller lists - well, gosh, I've never been that high in those listings before, so thank you to everyone who's been buying the book and I really hope you enjoy it.

I've also been delighted that (in some way) my "poor relation" book, The Hit List, gained a really thorough and totally lovely 5-star review at Goodreads - many thanks indeed for that, Holly! I particularly enjoyed this quote from the review: "Jamie is the most wonderful character. I love him to death. He can be mean and hurtful and generous and inarticulate and dreamy. I want to shake him when he's being exasperating and hug him because he's got sad, difficult times ahead. I wish books didn't have to end. This isn't really a love story. And I would have liked to know more of the secondary characters. But I'm putting Anne Brooke on my list of favorite authors." Gosh, and thank you again!

Not to be outdone, The Delaneys and Me received a 5-Angel review at Fallen Angel Reviews, and (keeping the angel theme - aha!), Angels and Airheads received two 4-star reviews at Goodreads, which you can read here and here - many thanks to Serena and Andy for both those.

And my Hot Fiction Tip for July can now be found at Queer Magazine Online - don't let the dreadful title and cover put you off, as it's a fascinating, humane and very deep read!

Finally, here's this week's poetry:

Meditation 378
Sometimes all you can do
when the storm sweeps over

is cling to the altar
of God and wait

for the mercy of men.


Meditation 379
On his deathbed
he’s not concerned

with the hereafter
but with the mercies

and vengeances
he leaves behind:

an inheritance
of shadows.


Meditation 380
A quiet death
brings its own beauty
to the earth:

stars, moon
and silence.


This week's haiku:

A sudden rainfall
washes clean the parched garden:
air-bright, glittering.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal