The Origami Nun by Lori Olding

Children's novella The Origami Nun by Lori Olding is now available at Amazon for only 99p!

Seven-year old Ruth can't speak, but that doesn't mean she can't think. She knows her birthday is going to be good as her beloved great-aunt has exciting plans for her. What she doesn't expect is a magical paper nun, an encounter with a bully who may not be what she seems or a school day to remember. Because, before her special day is over, Ruth is in for some very big surprises.

Reviews:

"What a delightfully written book! This is one I plan to share with my daughter at some point because I think she would like it, too! I love the fact that the author featured a mute heroine, and magic is infused in such a wonderful way. In addition to that, it deals with a subject with which our youth are very familiar - bullying! … I connected with the character, the story, and I enjoyed the magical nature of the story … I hope the author writes several sequels!" [From a 5-star review at My Devotional Thoughts]

"I really enjoyed reading this shorter story. The author portrayed the characters well and had a great story line … This is a terrifically inspirational and uplifting story for children and adults alike." [From a review at The Cover Books]

"This is the most touching children's book I have read. I absolutely LOVED it … I highly recommend this book to children in the age range of 8+. However, I think adults would like this book too." [From a 5-star review at Goodreads]

"There is a wonderful life lesson in the story and I have read it to my own grandchildren with great enthusiasm. They adored it!" [From a 5-star review at Goodreads]

"Magic is in the air. Come see how Ruth and others learn the importance of respect for each other even though they are different and that each person has a different story or reason for being different. I recommend this book for ages 6 and up." [From a 4.5 star review at Fire and Ice Reviews]

Lori Olding Children's Author

The Origami Nun: now available for pre-order!

I'm happy to announce that children's book The Origami Nun will be published by Untreed Reads on 8 September and is now available for pre-order at Omnilit Books.

Seven-year old Ruth can't speak, but that doesn't mean she can't think. She knows her birthday is going to be good as her beloved great-aunt has exciting plans for her. What she doesn't expect is a magical paper nun, an encounter with a bully who may not be what she seems or a school day to remember. Because, before her special day is over, Ruth is in for some very big surprises.

Here are some early reviews:

"What a delightfully written book! This is one I plan to share with my daughter at some point because I think she would like it, too! I love the fact that the author featured a mute heroine, and magic is infused in such a wonderful way. In addition to that, it deals with a subject with which our youth are very familiar - bullying! … I connected with the character, the story, and I enjoyed the magical nature of the story … I hope the author writes several sequels!" [From a 5-star review at My Devotional Thoughts]

"I really enjoyed reading this shorter story. The author portrayed the characters well and had a great story line … This is a terrifically inspirational and uplifting story for children and adults alike." [From a review at The Cover Books]

"Magic is in the air. Come see how Ruth and others learn the importance of respect for each other even though they are different and that each person has a different story or reason for being different. I recommend this book for ages 6 and up." [From a 4.5 star review at Fire and Ice Reviews]

All best!

Lori Olding Books

Free Gifts and the Wilde Side

Book News

In order to celebrate my 49th birthday on 21 June, gay spiritual fantasy The Gifting is now available for FREE from Smashwords and Omnilit Books, and will be for the foreseeable future, so do pop along and download a birthday treat from me, with my compliments. Happy reading!

I was also pleased that the book was on the front page of the Kindle Book Review during the week, so that was great.

Over at Mrs Condit Reviews, gay thriller The Bones of Summer gained a 4-star review which was lovely:

"Well, Anne Brooke has done it to me again. I read the first book in the series (Maloney's Law) where Paul Maloney, a broken man, was the main character. At the end of the book, he met Craig Robertson and even though they didn't end up together, they established a connection. This is Craig's story. And what a story it is."

And FREE gay poetry collection Falling Awake gained a 5-star review from On Top Down Under Reviews:

"It has been a very long time since I sat down with a book of poetry … While I may be no expert, I do know what I like and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of twenty individual pieces from Wilde City Press."

Not to be outdone, gay erotic romance The Heart's Greater Silence received a 5-star review at Goodreads, and is described as: "Emotionally raw and intense and beautifully written." 

Gosh, thank you! Meanwhile, don't forget that it's Pride Month (hurrah!) and all my lesbian fiction at Untreed Reads is discounted until 30 June - so do pop along and happy reading.

Carrying on my weekend birthday celebrations, there's an interview with me as part of Wilde City Week at The Novel Approach reviews. I hope you'll have time to pop by - I can promise you a decent slice of cake and a laugh or two. Ideal for a Sunday.

Oh and recently I've had a couple of queries about what is going on in Anne's Book World and what's in the pipeline (thank you for asking, Mother, and yes the cheque's in the post, honest ...), so I've updated my Latest News section on the website if you'd like to keep up to date. Thank you.


Life News:

For those of you who've not been paying attention (perish the thought!) it was my 49th birthday on 21 June (have I said that already?...), and I had a thoroughly good time. A day out at gorgeous Wisley, chocolate and champagne, and my world was perfect, hurrah. We managed to see the sheep-eating cactus plant which only blooms once every ten years or so, which was great. Apparently it entices the sheep towards it with the smell from the flowers, and then the sheep gets trapped on the spikes at the bottom of the cactus, dies slowly and provides the plant with enough fertiliser to carry on. Ah, nature: red of tooth and claw. How I love it!

I've also been enjoying our own garden which is joyfully coming into full bloom with the warmer weather, so here are some pics of alliums near the bench & shrubbery, a sunflower (now sadly blown off in the wind this morning, sob ...), Paris heuchera, a scented peony, a Manhattan Lights lupin (my favourite lupin) and our newest lilies. Enjoy!

And, to end, the Angry Ex-Anglican (as I'm now calling myself) ponders if the House of Bishops would be more accurately described as a veritable Brood of Vipers. You decide...

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
The Gifting: FREE gay spiritual fantasy
Biblical Fiction UK

A kingly caper

Book News:

I'm delighted to be able to announce that gay thriller Maloney's Law will be republished by Amber Allure Press as an ebook on 7 April 2013, and then as a paperback in May 2013. I'm absolutely thrilled about it all as it's been a long dark tunnel of a journey with this particular book, and it's more than wonderful to be out in the light again. I can't wait till April!

I'm also very pleased indeed that out of the Top Bestselling Authors during 2012 at Untreed Reads, I'm at the No 5 position, well gosh. Thank you so much for buying a book last year - I'm very grateful.

Meanwhile, there's a 25% discount on all my books at Amber Allure during February, so if you fancy something to read that will get you through till March, now's the ideal shopping time.

Life News:

A very happy special birthday to my lovely husband for yesterday, and what a grand week we've had. I took him off to London for a birthday treat to see the new Man Ray exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, and we also visited the Courtauld while we were up there. All wonderful stuff.

On Friday, I managed to rustle up a Chocolate Fudge birthday cake, which seems to be going down very well indeed, and in the evening we went for a birthday dinner over at our good friends, R&G, together with L&J. It was fantastic, and thank you very much to all for making a special weekend even better, and for providing an unexpected extra cake & champagne too - what could be nicer?...

K and I have also been continuing to sort out the garden and even plant some spring flowers, and we managed to pop across to Winkworth Arboretum yesterday, in spite of the rain. Great to see their new winter garden over there, and lots of winter daffodils too, hurrah.

Finally, the saga of the rediscovery of Richard III has been causing great excitement - I've always been rather fond of him actually, but anyone who dislikes children always gets my vote, eh ... Shows great sense, to my mind. So fabulous to know the rediscovered king is keen to pick up where he left off. I can't wait!...

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

A day of two halves and roses galore

Book News:

Many thanks to the wonderful KazzaK Book Reviews for commenting on all five books of my gay menage Delaneys series as below (with the straplines in brackets, and in order):

The Delaneys and Me (Small but refreshing and intriguing)
Entertaining the Delaneys (Witty, charming. I love "my" boys)
The Art of The Delaneys (The Delaneys are developing)
Dating the Delaneys (It gets better and better with the Delaneys and Liam)
The Delaneys at Home (My love affair continues)

Gosh, much appreciated, Karen! There'll be one more to go in the series - The Delaneys, My Parents and Me - and then we're done. I have yet to start it though, and it probably won't be till later this year.

The Delaneys at Home (Delaneys *5) also received a 5-star review at Oh My Gigi Reviews, and Where You Hurt The Most gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (many thanks, both!).

Keeping to the gay fiction theme, all my Amber Allure books have a 25% discount until the end of June, and watch out for the Erato Musa GLBT Treasure Hunt starting later on today. Watch this space ...

The Sunday haiku is:

When the dark rain stops
there remains only silence:
a promise of light.

Life News:

As you may recall, it was my 48th birthday on 21 June, and a HUGE thank you to all those lovely people who sent message, cards and emails - it's very much appreciated. It turned out, in the end, to be a day of two halves. K and I spent a wonderful time at Wisley admiring the roses and having lunch, and I received some utterly lovely presents (even from Mother, whose gift buying ability can occasionally be dodgy!...). Then when we returned home, and with such deliciously exquisite timing you couldn't make it up, we received the piece of commercial bad news we'd been waiting for, ah well. I'm sorry I can't say anything useful about this, but there it is. All of which made the rest of the day rather difficult. However, we rallied enough to enjoy our champagne supper later on (hurrah!), and we know that we'll do our best to roll with the punches. And, of course, the best revenge (ha!) is always a happy survival.

That said, a further piece of information turned up the next day (Friday), which made the news somewhat more bearable, at least for a while. Things will, we hope, become clearer throughout the week, not least because we're pretty damn determined to make them clearer in spite of the obstacles thrown in our way. As a good friend of mine said (many thanks, Jane H!) where one door closes, there's another window opening somewhere else. And very true that is too. In the meantime, K and I are indeed very much the better for making our way at last out of the whole Nonsense Area, hurrah and thank the Lord.

Over the weekend, K has very nobly washed my car, mowed the lawn, trimmed the hedge, and created a beautiful pair of rose bowls from the roses in our garden. What a superhero indeed. I have to say the roses smell utterly gorgeous and I love them. They're my favourite flowers.

Yesterday, I also made some funny-face fairy cakes to give ourselves a lift, and very tasty they are too. And we also enjoyed an afternoon out (and more cake & coffee - it's a tough life, but someone's got to do it, eh ...) at the Cleeves Open Garden in Haslemere. Well worth a visit.

Today, we've finally managed to get to church in what seems the first time in ages. I wouldn't be surprised if God had forgotten what we looked like entirely. Some great hymns today, and it was good to get back into the structure of it all. Oh, and for lunch, we've eaten the first crop of our very own potatoes - they were marvellous! Ah, the good life eh ...

Anne Brooke
The Gathandria Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Lori Olding: Children's Fiction

A pre-birthday blog and a fun competition

Life News:

It's my birthday tomorrow, hurrah, so I'm blogging a day early. I'll be 48 years old, and exactly two days younger than the Blessed Boris - so just imagine what life might have been like if I'd been born with fair hair and the ability to ride a bike, hey ho. A lost opportunity or a lucky escape? Who can tell ...

Speaking of birthday, my boss very kindly bought me a very beautiful orchid to celebrate my twilight years, so thank you hugely to him for that. It looks amazing on the living room windowsill, I must say.

Apart from that, I've not done much that isn't book-related, though the office did go out yesterday afternoon for a Happy End of Academic Year party, which was great - I thoroughly enjoyed it. We're gearing up for the next academic year already, as ever.

Book News:

Congratulations to the five winners of yesterday's competition to win a FREE ebook of my children's book The Origami Nun - I hope you all enjoy the read! To celebrate my birthday, I've decided to throw it open for another couple of days to five more lucky people, so anyone leaving a comment on this blog is still in with a chance. The competition will close at 5pm UK time on Friday 22 June, so don't forget to take part, and good luck! To remind you, the blurb is:

Seven-year old Ruth can't speak, but that doesn't mean she can't think. She knows her birthday is going to be good as her beloved great-aunt has exciting plans for her. What she doesn't expect is a magical paper nun, an encounter with a bully who may not be what she seems or a school day to remember. Because, before her special day is over, Ruth is in for some very big surprises.

Meanwhile, Karabeth Publishing have a lovely selection of books for you to choose from at Amazon UK and Amazon US - happy browsing.

There's been a flurry of book reviews etc this week which has been lovely. First off, The Delaneys At Home is now available at both Amazon UK and Amazon US, and was even at No 28 in the Amazon UK gay fiction charts for a while, well gosh. The book also gained a 4-star review at Goodreads - thank you, Marsha.

Not to be outdone, The Hit List received a 4-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Grandmat), and Where You Hurt The Most gained the same (thanks to Page Crusherz for that - wonderful name, btw).

And don't forget that, as part of the continuing focus on Pride Month, Untreed Reads are still offering a 25% discount on my lesbian literary stories - buy early buy often ...

Turning to upcoming books, the GLBTQ UK Meet conference anthology, Lashings of Sauce, can now be found at JMS Books in their "Coming Soon" section. It includes my quirkily erotic BDSM story School for Doms, so watch out for that one. In more ways than one!

On the poetry front, I'm delighted to say that Vulpes Libris have just republished Kirsty's lovely review of my Sunday Haiku collection as part of their Poetry Week. I hope you enjoy revisiting Kirsty's very talented haikus - I know when I'm outclassed!...

This week's meditation poems are:




Meditation 668
The letters you write
reveal nothing truer
than who you are,

each stroke and swirl
of the pen a way
to know yourself again.




Meditation 669
Everyone in the world
has a secret place
where quietness grows
in the colours of grace;

mountain or valley,
garden or sea,
its magic is boundless
and sets our lives free.




Meditation 670
I offer the words
as a sop
to the silence

not yet comfortable
with its slow
and subtle demands.

Something is coming
but it’s not here yet
so what I do

for now is bridge
the unbridgeable gap
with my own small voice.


Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Lori Olding, children's author and baker of cakes

Film Friday and Garden Delights

Book News:

My gay comic romance Angels and Airheads is due to be published on 30 March and is now available for pre-ordering at Musa Publishing. Shop early shop often, as they say! I do so love the cover.

Over at Amazon US, gay thriller A Dangerous Man was my most popular book this week, so that was very heartening. And literary gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Zaa).

Plus there's exciting news about the 5th in the Delaneys series - The Delaneys At Home will be published by Amber Allure Press on 3 June, so I'm looking forward very much to that. Only one more story to go and the series will be done, well gosh.

And don't forget that the majority of my Untreed Reads books are discounted by 30% for the whole of March - enjoy!

Oh, and I thoroughly enjoyed Day Two of my filming experience with Milletti Films - which involved playing golf, going to church, and another interview, amongst other items. Many thanks to Sam, Roxanne, Randy & Christine for making it such great fun, and I hope the project goes very well for you!

On a more serious note, the problem with the new Paypal literary censorship approach is causing me and indeed all writers of erotic fiction grave concerns. You can find out more about the issue and what can be done about it at the Internet Censorship Petition site and the Stop Censorship site. I've signed both petitions, and I hope some of you will also feel moved to do so. Many thanks.

The Sunday Haiku is:

Your car's steady hum.
Tall masts against a grey sky,
the sea drifting by.


Life News:

K and I had a lovely time down in Kent yesterday celebrating the 65th birthday of our good friend, Tony. It was fabulous to catch up with everyone, and the cake was stupendously good. Many thanks indeed to P for arranging it!

The rest of our time has been spent working in and thoroughly enjoying the garden, hurrah. I've kept the weeds down today, and K has mulched the roses. Much to our joy we spotted our first butterfly - a yellow brimstone - in our very own garden, so that was truly magical. Plus the forsythia we didn't know we had at the front is starting to bloom, the apple tree and our dogwood hedge are both in bud, and there are general signs of spring ahead. I can't wait to see what other surprises the garden holds for us.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandria Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

Blog Tour Day Four and a Birthday

Book News:

It's Day 4 of my blog tour, and today you can get to know Mark, my main character in The Heart's Greater Silence, a little better at the Book Wenches Site. Happy reading and don't forget to leave a comment or enter the competition for a chance to win a prize. Good luck!






Life News:

A big Happy Birthday to my lovely husband! We've had a great day today - though it did get off to a strange start when I accidentally gave him his Valentine's Day card instead of his birthday one, groan ... I managed to snatch it back before he'd actually finished reading the verse, but I suspect I may have to get him another one anyway - it's a matter of honour, you know.

And more strangeness at breakfast when Roofer Chappie Number 3 unexpectedly turned up with the scaffolder to take a look at the situation in terms of scaffolding - so while we were enjoying our coffee & porridge, the workmen were measuring the side of the house with a tape measure - how quaint. Always good to watch the servants work while the posh folk eat, dream on eh ... Plus I was rather taken with the older chappie who told me in the tones of an ancient prophet that it would be cold for another month and we'd be lucky to see spring before at least April. We're all doomed, captain, doomed ...

Anyway, after they'd departed, as part of K's present, we both attended the Roses Pruning and Maintenance morning workshop at Wisley - which was fantastic and very useful indeed. We shall set to with our pruning with much more confidence now, thank goodness. We then had lunch at the cafe, a walk through the spectacular butterflies in the glasshouse, and a wander round the really very chilly gardens (I fear my roofer prophet might be right ...), before spending our hard-earned cash in the shop. Mainly on roses equipment and two new climbers for the garden gate. Bliss.

Tonight it's definitely a champagne supper and celebrations all the way to the finale, hurrah!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

The birthday girl and a week of firsts

Book News:

NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.

Anyway, keeping to the publisher theme, I'm very happy indeed with the 2nd quarter royalties from Untreed Reads, so evidently some of my books do sell somewhere. And I've been lucky enough to be asked for an interview by Reasons To Be Beautiful Magazine - many thanks, Stephanie and Madel. The questions certainly made me think!

Meanwhile, at Vulpes Libris, I've reviewed I Love The 80s by Megan Crane, which is very much a book of two halves, but it does warm up, so worth a read.

And here are two recent meditations:




Meditation 539
These hills swallow up
the dead where even the swords
are silent:

all the noise and smell
of battle stilled
by evening air

and the sure approach
of night.




Meditation 540
David destroys
a good many cities

simply in order
to rebuild them again.

It’s a shame
he can’t do likewise

with all the people,
their memories and pain.


Life News:

It was my birthday on 21 June, hurrah! So a big thank you to everyone who sent their good wishes and/or cards as both were very much appreciated. K bought me a lovely jewellery box so I don't have to push my earrings in a tiny drawer where I can't see anything properly, and also a wonderful SatNav system - which I absolutely love and which is my new best friend. I'm hoping this means no more panicking and getting hopelessly lost, but you never know. Anyway, it's nice to have someone else in the car sharing the pain, if only a disembodied voice.

Other birthday amusements were the utter mystery of why my mother had bought me a box of contact lens solution when I don't actually wear contact lenses. Is she going senile at last?? Is it a subtle hint to tell me she's never liked my glasses?... We puzzled over it for some time until the mystery was solved - when I opened the box there was a bottle of my favourite peppermint foot cream. Aha! There's method in the old gal's madness, and Mother is not as strange as we thought she was for a while. Though, possibly, I am. In addition, in the evening, after my first glass of champagne (only one, mind you - honest!), I heard the neighbours outside chatting to the house gardener and so went outside to say hello. K joined me to be sociable and it was then that the wind caught the front door and slammed it shut. Arrggh! Naturally, neither of us had our keys, and so Steve from one of the other flats very sweetly went to see if he had a spare key. Sadly, he had all the keys to all the flats in the known universe, but not ours. There was therefore no option but for K to pick me up, lift me over the thankfully open window in the living room and push. My, how all the neighbours loved that - and are still talking about it ... K appeared at one point to be paying a great deal of attention to my bottom, which was most definitely not stuck in any way, but he maintains he was only trying to help. Hmmm ... Still, I broke in to our own flat successfully and the problem was solved, hurrah. Mind you, K is very happy to claim that in our 18 years of marriage, he has lifted me over the threshold of both the flats we've lived in in some way or other (the first time upon return from our honeymoon, ah bless) and is limbering up to do the same again for our next house. I'd best lay off the chocolate then ...

Plus there's wonderful news on our flat sale - we've exchanged at last, triple hurrahs and put out the bunting, big-time!! Completion date is 1 July. It's so unbelievable that I can hardly believe it myself. I think I might even have cried, goodness me - tell no-one. As a result, we're seriously back on the house hunt again. Today we have 2, possibly 3, houses to see, and another 3 tomorrow. It's all hotting up here in the outback of Woking, I can tell you.

Really, it's been a veritable Week of Firsts. I've shopped online for the first time, and our order was successfully delivered by Tesco on Monday night. They gave me exactly what I asked for - so I have made a mental note that ice cream cartons are larger than I think (we ended up with the miniscule versions) and I don't really need enough cheese to feed the Roman army, should they wish to pop by. K resigning himself to weeks and weeks of cheese sandwich lunches ahead ...

The dishwasher is proving a truly wonderful invention too - though yesterday I spent the whole afternoon puzzling over why it should eat a tupperware pot lid and searching through the kitchen to try and find it. At one point I was even chatting to the dishwasher asking it to give the lid back, but I appreciate that's probably not something I should admit, at least not in normal society. However, that mystery too was solved when K came back home and pointed out the lid was in the cutlery drawer. Goodness knows why, but at least my lunchtime rice is no longer likely to spill everywhere on my way to work. Result.

Last night we went to see The Pitmen Painters at the theatre, which is absolutely marvellous and everyone should see it. The only thing was the ending rather faded out, and K and I think it would have been much better with simply a quiet scene between George and Oliver as they prepare for another day in the mines - it would have been stronger like that, but it's still one you should see. The interesting thing, for me, was that it's set in the North-East where my mother's family come from - and the moment they started talking, I was right back there in my childhood with the menfolk in my family talking about the mines in those glorious accents. The playwright is also spot on with the phrases they use and the ways of saying things, as it could easily have been my uncle/cousins/grandfather speaking. Great stuff.

Anne Brooke

A glimmer of hope somewhere ...

Life News:

There's a glimmer of hope on the house horizon, thank the Lord. The Mayford vendors have accepted our revised, revised offer, so we're on the road to exchange, hurrah. I hope. I'm really hoping this time that we survive the exchange date with some measure of success, bearing in mind the outright disaster of the one we lived through last year (b****y middle neighbours, eh). It would just be soooooo good to get out of this place which is seriously bringing me down now. I simply need to escape.

Meanwhile our strange potential buyer of the flat is still behaving oddly. He's now been to see us three times, once with his parents, once with a builder and, most recently, yesterday with an interior designer. Apart from being hugely frustrating, we're now thinking of charging him rent if he comes a fourth time. Or perhaps he actually does think he lives here now? He's certainly in the place more often than we are. And still no hint of an offer ... Sigh. I really feel I've lost any hope on that one, to be honest. You know what they say with buyers: the longer they are in a place, the less likely it is they'll bite. People make their minds up in thirty seconds. The rest is just filling, ho hum.

Anyway, we have a potential house, hurrah, and a lifetime of poverty to look forward to so it may not be all bad! Plus yesterday was K's birthday so we celebrated with cake, chocolate and champagne. As you do. And there's cake left over too - gosh, however did that happen?...

Today, I was supposed to be going to the Sceptre Reviewers Lunch on behalf of Vulpes Libris, but I found out yesterday that the event was taking a speed-dating format which utterly horrified me, so I have given it a very very wide berth. Lord preserve us! Parties of any kind are bad enough as it is without having to meet lots of self-important (sorry, but we are rather self-important as a breed!...) authors in quick succession without any kind of body armour to defend against the experience. And if anyone's going to be self-important around here, it's going to be me. I'm a genius at it. Besides, two of the authors lined up have both been given negative reviews by me, which you can see here and here, and I didn't want there to be blood on the carpet, my dears.

Tonight, K and I are out spending money we probably can't afford at the theatre seeing The Reluctant Debutante. Here's hoping there are a few laughs and it's better than last week's play, which shouldn't be too difficult then.

Book News:

I've sent the final galley proofs for Entertaining the Delaneys back to Amber Allure Press, and that's due out on 20 February, so not long now. In the meantime you can find bestselling short story The Girl in the Painting at Amazon UK for the first time, and How to Eat Fruit is now also keeping it company, hurrah. The Bones of Summer has also been briefly at No 29 in the Amazon UK charts this week, which was nice.

There have also been several nice reviews this week (see how self-important I am - gosh, I must be an author, ho ho!...):

Maloney's Law gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Dlee)
Painting from Life received a 5-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Ann)
How to Eat Fruit gained a 5-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Sarah).

In addition:

A Woman like the Sea was given a 4.75 star review at Book Wenches (many thanks, Bobby)

and

Brady's Choice gained a 4-star review at Three Dollar Bill Reviews (many thanks, Kassa).

Both of the above were the first "official" reviews for each of these new stories, which I wasn't honestly sure that anyone would like, so that's given me hope too. So perhaps the year might be improving after all? Who can tell ...

Anne Brooke

Dangerous Men and Executioners

There. That's a title to conjure with, on oh so many levels. Never say I don't put some kind of effort into this writing lark, ho ho. Anyway, here's this week's news so far - my first few days of being 46, you know.

Book News:

I'm utterly thrilled with this new cover for A Dangerous Man which has been created by Scot D. Ryersson - what a genius. It's incredible and I really love it. Thank you, Scot. I'm very fond of the original one too, of course, but this seems to be perfectly suited for the times now and, hey, it's always good to have choices. I love it.

In terms of recent reviews, I'm pleased that literary short, Dancing with Lions, has gained a very enthusiastic 5-star review at Goodreads - many thanks for that, Rick. And it's a particular pleasure as it's this story's first review. I was starting to think nobody had much time for a Biblical historical and feminist perspective on King David, so nice to know I was wrong, tee hee. Let the women of the Bible loose is what I say - there's much modern value in them.

I'm also happy that the lovely Stephanie Watson has given The Secret Thoughts of Leaves a 4-star review, and also given a 5-star review to The Girl in the Painting - gosh, thanks, Stephanie! You read at a rate even faster than mine - do you not allow time to breathe?!...

Finally, in the reviews section, Martin and The Wolf and Angels and Airheads both received a very kind mention at Tam's Reads - thank you, Tam! Though I do think that your admission that you appear to be on an "Anne Brooke diet" in terms of reading is scary for you and I believe I know a doctor who can help ... Lord H at least has every sympathy for your predicament.

Keeping to the subject of reviews, my take on Malcolm Pryce's Last Tango in Aberystwyth can be found at Vulpes Libris today. It's the first in my Happy Reads series of reviews for the Book Foxes, and isn't really an auspicious start, I fear. I'm hoping for better things.

In terms of current works, I've sent the final edits for Tuluscan Six and the Time Circle back to Amber Allure Press, and that's due out on 18 July. And, in a truly miraculous feat, I have forced myself back into the game (steady, people, steady ...) in respect of actually writing more of The Executioner's Cane. A bit of a shocker that, as I'd all but forgotten what the hell was going on and what the characters were like. Hmm, still don't know really. It took a while to get into it again this morning (lots of sighing, playing on the computer, mad displacement activity and groaning etc etc, but then again that is usual for me ...) but yes I've done 1000 words. Phew. Ye gods and little fishes, Lord knows what the scribe thinks he's up to now but I suppose it must be something. Probably another month before I hit the dang thing again then at this rate. Hey ho.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Martin and The Wolf is now available at Amazon Kindle, and there's still time to win a free copy (hurrah!) at the Dancing Dove competition - it ends on 25 June (tomorrow) so best to rush!

I'm also delighted to say that I've joined the GLBT Author and Reader Yahoo Group, which looks a great place to be. So if you read or write GLBT fiction, do pop along for a visit. I'm especially pleased with my fun new Fiction Photo Album, which brings together all my gay fiction in one place. Not sure if you can see that unless you join as Yahoo in many respects remains a mystery to me but, believe me, it's worth the 10 seconds it will take to apply for membership, honest! And you get to meet lots of really lovely people who are far, far less scary than me, so what are you waiting for?...

Life News:

I have time for a life?? Well, goodness me, who'd have thought it. I must squeeze it in somehow (as it were) between crazed book work. Anyway, my birthday (I'm 46 now, don't you know - have I mentioned that already?) was fab-u-lous, in all respects, and I received some lovely presents from Lord H, and some totally strange presents from Mother. As usual. Bless. Still, I admit that though, at first, I laughed at her floral open-toed slippers gift (Mother has always bought presents for the lovely, fluffy, girly daughter she really wanted but, sadly, didn't get ...), now in this heat I can't take them off. Even to go outside. I am softening towards them and wearing them even as I'm typing this. Perhaps in the end, Mother will indeed get the daughter of her dreams, and Lord H will hurtle off into the sunset wondering where the off-kilter, kick-ass woman that he married went to ... Um, here's hoping not, please God! On all counts. Anyway, one of Lord H's gifts was a wonderful summery, dark blue dressing gown that is just what I wanted, as all my dressing gowns - Lordy, is that sad that I have several?? - are way, way too wintery. I am wearing it all the time too - with the slippers. Never say I am not stylish.

And it was a good job I had such a fabulous time on Monday, as Wednesday was UTTER crap, I must say. Depression City all round - exhaustion, heat, PMT big-time all came together to create the World's Weepiest Wife all day, dammit and big groan. It was soooo bad that I took 2 St John's Wort pills, 2 calming pills, a herbal sad person's pill and some Rescue Remedy spray. Still didn't work but at least I rattled a lot, so people could tell I was coming and still have time to escape. Weird how today all that crap has gone and I feel fine again. I am indeed a slave to my hormones, sigh. Thank God that's over for another month.

All of which is probably something similar to what those astonishing and surely exhausted Wimbledon players must be feeling after yesterday's game. Ye gods, but it's made tennis interesting again - and you must read the article in the link as it's laugh-out-loud good, even if you're not a tennis fan. Which I'm not any more, but both Lord H and I wonder if the match will ever end as it enters its third day. Gosh! Don't they have homes to go to, and how do those two men keep standing at all? Though let's not go into the mysteries of how the umpire managed to go so many hours without a courtesy break ... scary biscuits indeed.

Here are a couple of meditation poems to keep us all going:

Meditation 371
The ultimately
unfortunate soldier
whose spear has a shaft
as thick as the bar
on a weaver’s loom

probably didn’t reckon
on such a brief mention
in scripture
or on meeting his fate
quite so terribly soon.

Meditation 372
After the battle
comes the poetry

full of glory
and song

but I think
skipping the massacre

and going straight
to the music

wouldn’t entirely
be wrong.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal