Book tours and honey cake

Children's fantasy book The Origami Nun has been on tour this week and there's a giveaway which lasts until 30 September, so there's still lots of time to leave a comment on the tour and be in with a chance of winning. Here is a list of the tour stops for you:

An excerpt at Reading A Little Bit of Everything

A review at The Cover Reviews

A post about Lori's favourite children's authors at Reading Away The Days

A promotion at My Devotional Thoughts

A 5-star review at My Devotional Thoughts

A post about the background story behind the Nun and my own bullying experiences (together with some really lovely and thoughtful comments)

A review at Fire and Ice Reviews


Do feel free to pop in and leave a comment, and I'd like to say a VERY big thank you to the lovely Megan at Reading Away the Days for arranging the blog tour, and to all tour hosts and participants. It's very much appreciated.

Keeping to the subject of giveaways, though of a more adult nature in this case, you have until tomorrow (23 September) to enter the giveaway at Hearts On Fire Reviews. Good luck to all entrants there!

Other items of book news this week include:

Lesbian paranormal story The Girl in The Painting is at No 17 in the Amazon UK Lesbian stories chart.

My Sunday Haiku collection made it to No 8 in the Amazon UK Haiku charts, well gosh.

And gay BDSM story Give and Take gained a lovely review at KazzaK Book Reviews and Therapy (many thanks, Karen).

Meanwhile, over at Vulpes Libris, I revisited that long hot UK summer of 1976 with a review of Judith Allnatt's A Mile of River. A book that was flawed, in my opinion, but with heartening moments of genius. If she could hang on to the genius moments, I'd certainly be interested in reading more.

For the rest of this week, I've been falling asleep in front of the TV more times than I care to remember - though in my defence, I've apparently been working up to the bad cold I currently have (groan) - and which I'm desperately trying to kick into touch before I need to go in to the University tomorrow to help with Move In Weekend. Plus it's Freshers' Week next week and I really do need to be in for that!

Speaking of work, I've managed to take on more hours, which will be great for the household budget, so I'll be working 3.5 days (or 4 shorter days depending on work schedules) from the start of October, rather than the standard 3 days. Many thanks to the boss for letting me do that.

Oh, and I've really enjoyed the latest episode on TV of the documentary Vikings. At last - I've found my people ... I always knew we'd only come across for the shopping and social life. All that pillage stuff is just bad PR, hey ho.

And today I've made Devonshire Honey Cake, and I'm really rather pleased with it. I think that's about as energetic as it gets today as I need to conserve my strength (such as it is) for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Wish me luck.

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

Come to the cabaret, my friends ...

I'm just craftily sneaking in a preview of the glorious cover art for upcoming novel Number Two in the Gathandrian Trilogy, Hallsfoot's Battle. It's courtesy of the supremely talented Penelope Cline, and I love it. I'm on the proofing stage now so we're nearly at lift-off. Am beginning to get rather excited about it too.

Have had a great week - our 19th wedding anniversary was on September 11th, so we really feel grown-up now. Will we have to start being sensible? Heaven forbid! It's astonishing that K hasn't sent me back in despair to the Wife Shop really. Twenty years next year, and we don't feel a day over sixteen. Well, almost sixteen ... Anyway, we started the day with chocolate cake (the healthy breakfast, don't you know ...) and ended it with champagne, so a truly balanced diet all round. Hurrah for us!

It's also been a hugely exciting weekend for me, as I attended the UK GLBTQ Fiction Conference in Brighton as a small part of the presenting team for a couple of sessions ("First 150 words of a novel", and "Ideas - Where Can I Get Some?"), and also as a very enthusiastic participant. We had a wonderful night out on Saturday at a Burlesque cabaret at the Brighton Proud Ballroom, which was marvellous and gloriously cheesy, and I swear I will never see The Ugly Duckling in quite the same way again. Really, it's astonishing what women can do with a power drill and nipple tassels. Perhaps not one to try at home, people ... It was also wonderful to meet people I've only met online before, and catch up with those I've met in "real" life too, and the chance to chat with fellow-writers, readers, publishers and reviewers without having to explain why I write and love gay erotic/non-erotic fiction was really great also. I loved it. Can't wait for next year's meeting in July in Manchester. Bring it on ...

Other book-type news is that Untreed Reads have accepted my comic surreal short story about a dictionary, Candy and Catharsis, for publication next March, so I'm thrilled with that. And the book tour (plus prizes!) for The Origami Nun starts tomorrow, so that should be fun. Hope as many of you out there as possible will come and join me with my Lori Olding hat on - she's a great gal. Honest!...

Meanwhile, over at Vulpes Libris on Thursday, I reviewed the crazy but utterly charming novel, Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo. Definitely worth a read, and a class ending to die for. Great stuff.

Finally, I broke my Star Trek mug last week - oh the trauma. There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, I can tell you. Luckily SuperHusband came to the rescue and ordered me a new one, so has gained at least a thousand Husband Points in one easy move. What class that man has ... I am treating my bright, shiny Star Trek mug with great care, and I'm sure the coffee in it tastes much better. Cosmic almost ...

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

The Gifting Book Tour Final Day: Feisty Redheads 'R' Us

Today is the last day of the book tour for fantasy novel The Gifting, and I'm very happy indeed to be at the Fighting Monkey Press website, interviewing the irrepressible Annyeke Hallsfoot. It's a case of one redhead interviewing another, so absolutely anything could happen, and probably will ...

Don't say I didn't warn you!

While you're there, don't forget that a comment on the post or indeed any of the posts of this book tour, gives you a chance to win my THREE ebook giveaway, and there's also still just about time to enter the competition to win a Kindle ereader.

Good luck, and many thanks for accompanying me on this tour. I've had a great time!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Nine: writing about writers

It had to happen one day, didn't it? When I started writing over twelve years ago now, I promised myself I'd never write about writers, as that was just odd and somehow incestuous, and I've been rather snooty about those who do ... Those of you who've read The Gifting will know that my main character, Simon Hartstongue, is a scribe, so with the Gathandrian Trilogy, I've had to eat my own words, along with a huge slice of humble pie. I'd best keep my big mouth shut and my preconceived ideas to myself next time, eh ...

Anyway, it's Day Nine of my book tour, and if you visit Christine Young's site, you can find out more about why I didn't follow my own writerly advice and exactly how that's changed the way I write. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the free ebook giveaway, and there's a Kindle to be won too. Good luck!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Eight: the artistry of canes

Day Eight of the book tour for The Gifting and you can find me at Long and Short Reviews talking about the quirkiness and art of canes. It may well be just me, but I think walking canes are fascinating and I'm always interested by the type people choose. It definitely says a lot about them - and is no doubt a large part of the reason why I chose a magical cane to be a key aspect of The Gathandrian Trilogy.

There's a walking cane for everyone! So click onto the post and let me know which you'd choose ... And don't forget any comments throughout the whole of the tour means you're automatically entered into the three ebooks giveaway competition - and there's a competition to win a Kindle too.

Happy reading!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Seven: The Thrill of Flight

I've always been fascinated by birds and often dream of flying - which is odd as I really hate air travel. But if I was to have one superpower granted to me, I'd definitely opt for the ability to fly. It must be truly exciting.

So on Day 7 of the book tour for fantasy novel, The Gifting, I'm looking at the thrill of flight and the use of birds - particularly my magical snow-raven - in the first of my trilogy. And you can read an exclusive excerpt to whet your appetite, so pop along to Bunny's Book Reviews and let me know what your superpower might be!

Don't forget a comment gives you entry into a competition to win THREE of my ebook backlist, and you can also try your hand at the Free Kindle contest as well. Good luck!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Six: Gazing at the stars

Today, the book tour for The Gifting is at It's Raining Books and I'm looking at the star signs and astrology system of the people of the Lammas Lands. For someone like me who doesn't even believe in astrology, it's really quite detailed, and you get the added bonus of an excerpt involving a rather scared little boy, a dangerous Horseman and my scribe in reassuring mode ...

While you're there, don't forget to leave a comment in order to enter the three ebooks giveaway, and try your hand at the Win a Kindle competition also.

Happy reading!


Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Four: Secret betrayals ...

Day Four of The Gifting book tour and I'm at the Talisman Books site, discussing the whys and wherefores of secret betrayals. Something we've surely all done, even on a very minor scale, and something my characters in The Gifting know rather too much about ...

So come along and join in - don't forget that every comment during the tour means you're in with a chance to win three books from my backlist, plus there's a competition to win a Kindle ereader - just for you!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Three: a dangerous journey

Today, Simon the Scribe and I are at the Unique Flavors of Life Blog, remembering some rather dangerous journeys we've made. I've had some unfortunate (to say the least ...) experiences in the air and at sea, and it's making me feel ill just thinking about them! I'm definitely not the bravest of folk.

Neither, in all honesty, is Simon, especially as his journeys are far more significant to the people and lands which surround him. He too faces a difficult sea journey, not to mention a heck of a lot of trekking. And, to cap it all, he even has to cross the skies, without a plane. Now, just how on earth is he going to do that?...

While you're at the blog, don't forget to leave a comment in order to be in with a chance of winning THREE of my backlist books. And you can also enter the competition to win a Kindler ereader. Have fun!

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy

The Gifting Book Tour Day Two: The World of My Garden

On Day Two of the book tour for The Gifting, I'm at The World Of Dreams talking about the world of my garden. Do pop by and offer any plant and gardening advice you may have - as I definitely need all the help I can get.

And don't forget to enter the competition to win a Kindle or three books from my backlist while you're there. Good luck!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the picture of my lovely gloxinia flowers in bloom - I'm so happy with them.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy

Why Straight Women Love Gay Romance

It's a question I get asked so often that if I had a pound every time someone asked it, I'd be a rich woman by now: why do straight women read/write/love gay fiction/romance? Well, thanks to a series of very searching and inspirational questions from Geoffrey Knight, you're about to find out.

Because Why Straight Women Love Gay Romance will be published by MLR Press on 7 September, and includes an interview with me, and I'm very proud indeed to be in it. Many thanks to Geoffrey for asking me, and I'm also delighted to say that the book is endorsed by, and includes a foreword from, US bestselling author Suzanne Brockman. Great news indeed for gay romance/gay fiction writers. And, hey, what's not to like about that cover?...

Meanwhile, there are only 4 days left before the anniversary book tour of critically acclaimed fantasy novel The Gifting begins on 27 August. It runs until 7 September and during that time you can win a Kindle ereader in the competition plus a host of other goodies. So don't miss out.

It's also not long before the UK GLBTQ Fiction conference in Brighton in September, so I'm very much looking forward to that. You can find out more about it, and some of the participants including myself, at Jessewave Reviews. I really can't wait! We're off to a cabaret on the Saturday night too, so that will be great.

And I'm looking forward to publishing my two Bible stories, Little Bird and A Small Betrayal, on Kindle under the title The Betrayal of Birds. The cover's really shaping up beautifully so I can't wait to reveal it. Other book news is that literary lesbian short story The Girl in The Painting was briefly at No 71 in the Amazon UK gay & lesbian charts, plus gay thriller A Dangerous Man gained a 5-star review at Goodreads (many thanks, Ayanna) and Where You Hurt The Most gained 4 stars (thank you, Silkeeeeee - I hope I'm getting the number of Es right there!).

Turning to more erudite matters (well, sort of ...), it's good to discover that Prince Harry (ah, you can always rely on a redhead) occasionally takes his clothes off and sometimes in a room with another person in it, hey ho. Mind you, I did enjoy the fact that the online US picture (no, really, you can Google it yourself if you wish to - my loyalty as a British subject naturally prevents me from aiding and abetting you ...) helpfully puts a red star over the prince's bottom so we can be spared the experience of the royal ... um ... passageway. How very thoughtful of them. Or perhaps, as K pondered earlier today, the big red star on the behind is how you recognise the rich folks. It could well be the case.

Speaking of husbands, K has gained a HUGE raft of Husband Points this week by (a) clearing out the garage so it now looks wonderfully ordered and neat; and (b) mending my computer chair. However, I gain equally HUGE numbers of Negative Wife Points as he mended my chair on Tuesday and I only just noticed it today (Thursday) - even though I'd been sitting on it since Tuesday evening ... Ah well, I never pretended to be the most observant of women.

The weekend's cake was Carrot Cake with Mascarpone Frosting, and I have to say it was really incredibly tasty. Mmmm, will definitely be making this one again. I particularly enjoyed the addition of walnuts and banana to it. Lovely!

I'm very happy with my Russian Giant sunflowers, as there are now two of them and very glorious they look as well. My indoor gloxinia is also beginning to come into flower, and I'll be taking a photo of that as soon as it's completely out.

Finally, a big thank you to my sister-in-law and her family, D, B & H, who came for lunch on Sunday and we had a fantastic time. Lunch at The Woolpack was wonderful too and that chocolate dessert was to die for. Bliss indeed.

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

Creeping back slowly

Sorry I've not been around for a while. After having been ill, I thought I'd take a little break from blogging, and maybe just dip in when I was in the mood. This morning seems to be one of those moments, so here I am, albeit briefly.

I've fully recovered from the nasty illness that just kept on giving for those two weeks, and am feeling (relatively) normal again, hurrah.

Am making my way slowly through the Olympic zone - and trying to avoid it as I'm not a fan of any sport other than golf. It did occur to me at one point that it would be the ultimate in style for the UK not to win any gold medals at all during the games, but sadly that lifestyle statement has been dashed yesterday by our double win. Ah well.

The garden's looking lovely and my Russian sunflowers are now taller than the gate they're next to, and nearly as tall as the canes they're attached to as well. They might even have the beginnings of flowers. You never know. That would be amazing, as they're the ones I planted as seeds. Anyway, here are some garden pics to keep you going. The one with the tall gate is the back garden, with the sunflowers when they were smaller. The bench one is part of the front garden, with the sweet peas in the pot on the right. They're now in flower and smell amazing. The last one is our unexpected hibiscus flower. I love it!

In terms of my book world, I'm busy writing up interviews and a blog post for Riptide Publishing's one-year anniversary later this year, and also have just sorted out my giveaways for the upcoming UK GLBTQ Conference in September. I'm also working away on a short story for Amber Allure, and am giving some small time to a new Lori Olding children's story, Queen of the Fluffy Pens. Talking of Lori, The Origami Nun will be free at Amazon US and Amazon UK from tomorrow (Friday) until Monday, so a good chance to sample the nun's magic, if you've a mind to.

As a result, work on my gay fantasy novella The Taming of The Hawk has slowed down to virtually nothing, but I hope I can pick it up later on. Also I'm very pleased that my upcoming anniversary blog tour for fantasy novel The Gifting only has two empty slots left to fill - result!

Hope you have a great weekend, and I'll pop in again at some point.

Anne

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

Hampton Court Flowers and a very figgy mystery

Book News:

I'm pleased to say that, having been rather let down by my previous blog tour promotional company, my new one, Goddess Fish Promotions, does at least understand the need to communicate with me on a regular basis (hurrah!!) and have an actual tour schedule for fantasy novel The Gifting. This will now take place from 27 August to 7 September, and the grand prize will be a free Kindle, with consolation prizes of ebooks. So it will definitely be worth entering, just as long as I get a few dates in the spaces currently there, hey ho ...

Meanwhile, literary horror story The Gift of The Snow has just been purchased by the South Carolina Low Country library, so many thanks to them and I hope some lovely person might borrow it soon.

I'm also now included as my children's writer alter-ego Lori Olding at the Karabeth Publishing website, so that's nice to see.

In terms of recent competitions, the winners of the Erato GLBT Pride Month Giveaway were Avalie, Jennifer and Trix. Many congratulations to them, and a big thank you to all who took part.  Along the same lines, the recent Independence Day bloghop was great fun and my three winners were MFierydrgn, Marissa and Adila. Congratulations to all!

Plus, for those of you keeping count, there are only five months to go before the rights to my gay crime novel Maloney's Law return to me, so I'm very much looking forward to that.

Recent meditation poems are:




Meditation 674
Our best joys
must be allowed
to leave us

or the dance of life
will become a cloud
to grieve us.




Meditation 675
The true mystery
is how history
works out somehow
to bring us to now

and all we can do,
no matter where or who,
friend or foe,
is join in the show.


Life News:

Yesterday, K and I had an absolutely fantastic day out at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, which was totally stunning and we spent six glorious hours in a veritable Flower Heaven. We bought, and have today planted, oxalis, osteospermum (which is rapidly becoming my "go to" plant for reliability and colour), dianthus, ladybird poppies (one of which has already flowered) and white flowering euphorbia. Plus I added to my heuchera city names collection with Shanghai. Next on my heuchera list are Vienna and Hollywood. Watch this space ...

And, much to our joy, just as we arrived at the Show, K and I passed right next to Monty Don (who is Gardening Totty Extraordinaire, to my mind) and Rachel de Thame (whom K is ... um ... quite partial to also), and I came over all Fan Girl, though didn't quite have the courage to talk to them. My gardening heroes - what could be nicer!

Another gardening excitement is that our crocosmia lucifer is now in flower, and gloriously fiery it's beginning to look too. Plus the gardening mystery of the week is the fact that when I left for work on Tuesday morning, my poor dead fig tree was looking terribly sad and bare in its pot but when I returned on Tuesday evening, it was gloriously bushy, with lots of fruit and (interesting this one ...) a much thicker stem ... Hmm, K assures me with an Expression of Total Innocence that this is nothing to do with him, but just goes to show what a brilliant gardener I am. It's a mystery indeed, if I can believe him ...

Finally, it may be just me but I really can't get that thrilled about the whole Higgs Boson thing. Scientists have found something incredibly small. Um, gosh. Give it another 45 years or so and they'll probably find something even smaller. I do wonder if they'd be better off making it easier on themselves by looking for something larger, but I do understand that's a minority view, hey ho ...

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

A mystery tour and the royal garden

Book News:

Fantasy novel The Gifting is now showcased at the Awesome Indies website - the mark of a quality read, so I'm delighted to be up there.

And the anniversary book tour for The Gifting should be taking place from 11 to 22 June, but I'm afraid I can't give you any details, as I don't know any yet. Yikes and help! If anyone out there knows anything, then don't hesitate to let me in on the mystery as I'd love to be part of the celebration ...

If you do happen to stumble over the tour, I am offering a FREE Kindle worth £89 to one lucky competition winner, plus a runner-up prize, so it's worth seeking it out if you can. If I find out any information, I'll let you know, ho hum.

Turning to other less mysterious book news, my children's book publisher, Karabeth Publishing, has a lovely selection of new banners for their website, which I'm delighted to reveal for you here. Very nice indeed, I think. The Origami Nun will be coming out from them under my children's fiction pseudonym Lori Olding (watch for Lori's website coming soon!) later in the year.

The Pride Month 25% discount continues on my lesbian literary fiction at Untreed Reads, and recent reviews have included a 5-star rating for gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence at Goodreads, plus a review of For One Night Only, also at Goodreads. Many thanks indeed to both readers for those.





A recent meditation poem is:


Meditation 665
Listen for the sorrow
beneath the laughter
and music.

It is there
in an indrawn breath
or the brief silence

between notes:
in the midst of dancing
we are in death.


The Sunday haiku is:

Sun drifts me to sleep
in the warm poppy garden
and I dream of you.


Life News:

Had my six-monthly trip to the dentist on Friday which was all very jolly as they're such a lovely surgery. But the bad news is I have to have a filling updated (groan) so will be back there again next week - which probably won't be quite so jolly, ah well. However I consoled myself by making a really scrummy coffee & walnut cake yesterday (probably not what the lovely dentist wants to hear ...), but very tasty it is too. Though I say it myself and most certainly shouldn't. Will be making that one again at some point.

Apart from that, it's been a Garden Extravaganza weekend, hurrah. K has created a new bed in the front garden so it all looks a lot tidier, plus he's put edging down which is fantastic. And yesterday, we rushed to the Crocus Nursery Open Day and gorged ourselves on all manner of amazing plants, including those from the Jubilee Royal Barge (created by Crocus), so we have a small part of history in our garden, well gosh. Our newly-named Royal Garden includes an allium, lots of camomile and a salvia. The Queen may well have touched them, you know ... I will be charging a very reasonable price for tours at some point, ho ho, but you will have to wear your tiaras. Other plants in the Royal Garden (I have to keep saying it, you see ... noblesse oblige) include six dahlias in two different versions, three red-hot pokers, a myrtle in a pot, and three very tall poppies. It all looks wonderfully dramatic and I utterly love it.

Today, we have popped to Secretts Garden Centre and added in a gorgeous dark orange lily, a tall pink carnation and two stripy plants to the front mix. Bliss. Oh, and we have harvested our first strawberry (singular deliberate) crop - it was delicious, and yes K and I shared it. I hope its friends ripen soon.

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

Seeking Pleasure and an Unexpected Gift

Book News:

Much to my delight, fantasy novel The Gifting (featuring gay scribe Simon Hartstongue) received a lovely review at Goodreads from Tahlia Newland (many thanks, Tahlia). She comments:

"The character development is exemplarity. It’s rare that you see characters grow so deeply and well supported by the action ... I recommend it for anyone who likes something different and especially if they like a bit of psychological depth in their reading."

All this for only £1.91 at Amazon UK, and also available at Amazon US. Naturally it also comes as a paperback, so the choice is yours. In the very near future, the book will also be featured on the Awesome Indies website, so watch this space. In the meantime, if you buy now and pay very special attention to Chapters Four, Six and the Third Gathandrian Interlude, then you could be in with a chance of winning a brand-new Kindle when the anniversary book tour starts next week! Further details to follow very shortly ...

Turning to my gay erotic fiction, The Delaneys at Home (Delaneys *5) received a review today from Brief Encounters, so thank you to Jen for that one. Over at Goodreads, it's also gained two 5-star reviews, one from Judianna and one from Kazza, and a 4-star review from Sandra. Many thanks to all for reading and commenting. There's one more book in the series left: The Delaneys, My Parents and Me, and I hope to start writing that one at some point later this year.

In addition, Where You Hurt The Most has just been reviewed at QMO Books, so thank you, Serena, for that.

Today, I'm also officially blogging at two other locations: my review of Richard Mason's wonderful rush-out-and-buy-it-right-now novel History of a Pleasure Seeker is now up at Vulpes Libris; plus you can find out just how big a step living with someone actually is over at the Amber Quill Press blog. Happy reading!

I'm also very pleased to say that new British Gay Romance website is now up and running, and you can even find me there, amongst other authors who also write UK-based gay fiction. Come over and browse, and you're guaranteed to find something to your liking - all visitors welcome.

The most recent meditation poem is:


Meditation 664
In returning
to what we did not know
was lost

we grasp
our inheritance
no matter the cost.


Life News:

Happy work anniversary to me! Today, I've been at the University for 8 years, which is the longest I've worked anywhere, to be honest. I'm quietly pleased and hoping they keep me on for a little while yet. Really, it's the most fun I've had in a job since I went to work in the first place.

K and I have had a good couple of bank holiday days earlier this week - we love the Jubilee! We spent a happy morning at The Savill Garden (where else on such a royal weekend?...), then moved on to a local garden centre followed by an afternoon's planting in the garden. We've discovered a new love of alliums (so alien and so beautiful), and plan to get more, definitely. Apparently, as an added bonus, deer hate them so I don't have to worry about spraying the Brut deodorant on them as a deterrent, hurrah.

This morning, I have had the first session on my brand-new exercise bike (the pedal fell off the old one - no, please don't comment on that ...), and honestly it's so quiet even I don't know I'm using it. Though, as always, the seat needs a towel or two before the essential comfort is achieved, deep sigh. Plus the car has had its MOT and service at Chandlers the local garage - who were very good indeed. Thank you, Caroline, for being so efficient and so lovely. I do so love a garage I can actually walk to, and now the car is acceptable for another year - I hope!

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

The Gift of the Snow and last chance blogs

Book News:

Don't forget that the Blog Hop Against Homophobia is still running until tonight, and you can find my blog about it here. All comments are entered into a competition to win something from my ebook backlist so don't miss out!

In addition, the last stop of my blog tour for Where You Hurt The Most was at Amara's Place, and there's still time (just!) to enter that ebook competition also, but you'll have to hurray. This week, the story has received a 4-star review at Goodreads, so many thanks, Sadonna, for that.

And I'm happy to say that my literary paranormal short story The Gift of The Snow has now been published by Untreed Reads, and was briefly at No 67 in the Amazon UK horror charts (though more literary than horror, to my mind), so thank you to those of you who've bought it and I hope you enjoy the read.

Life News:

I've come somewhat under fire once more this week for being a Christian who fully supports same-sex marriage and GLBTQ inclusion in the church. People are very happy to tell me in detail how wrong and unChristian I am, which is interesting as I don't feel I have to take other people to task for believing in a different way to me. Actually it makes me even more determined to stand up for what I see as reasonable equality and to make it known as much as I can that Christianity is - or should be - as much for the GLBTQ community as it is for the straight one. In fact there should be no difference. We're all human and all fully equal in God's sight, and I'm more than happy to keep shouting that joyful fact. It's good news indeed. For this reason I can thoroughly recommend Changing Attitude who work in the UK helping to encourage churches to be more inclusive of GLBTQ people. Well done to them!

This weekend has been hugely busy. We had the meeting of the Jubilee Street Party Committee yesterday, and I think we're now on track to sorting out the final details of what we're all doing. Only two weeks to go now, goodness me. Also yesterday I made a pretty fine carrot cake with orange frosting which not only tastes good but also looks almost exactly as it does in the book. Golly gosh, that's a first for me, eh ...

And Saturday just wouldn't have been the same without the Elstead Rubber Duck races at lunchtime. So wonderfully English and strangely gripping, we loved it - though sadly our ducks Troilus and Cressida weren't anywhere to be seen in the winning heats. Maybe next year then.

It's also been a plant-filled weekend, which has been great. We bought a lilac phlox, a hebe, 4 cosmos and one broccoli at the church plant sale, plus a purple osteospermum and another sunflower from the village florist. Today, we've visited Rake Garden Centre, where we bought a huge trolley-load of flowers, including nine French marigolds, six salvias, an impatiens, six chrysanthemums, four large fuchsias, two lupins and a veronica. And a partridge in a pear tree (that last one's untrue, btw ...). All now safely planted up in back and front gardens, and very good they look too, hurrah!

Oh, and our azalea and one of the three rhododendrons are now doing pretty well too, as you can see ...

On the way back we also popped in to see Lowder Mill which was open today as part of the National Gardens Scheme. A totally amazing place and if you get a chance to go, I can really recommend it. Beautiful grounds, and so very quirky and peaceful, at the same time. Plus the cakes were magnificent. What could be nicer?

Here's this week's haiku:

On this soft morning
the garden dances in pink
while small birds flutter.


Anne Brooke
Hop Against Homophobia
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Biblical Fiction UK

Sunflowers, sales and snow

Book News:

I'm happy to say that Where You Hurt The Most is still doing okay in reviews, which is lovely. It's recently received a review rated A- at Brief Encounter Reviews, one at the Well Read Book Blog, plus a 5-star review at Goodreads, and a 4-star review also at Goodreads, this latter from a reader who usually doesn't read contemporary fiction. Many thanks to all for picking up and reviewing the book.

Meanwhile my blog tour continues, with Day 5 taking place at the Book Wenches site where you can find out why I write m/m fiction. And let's not forget you can also enter the competition to win 3 ebooks from my backlist - good luck.

This week, you can also buy any of my books at All Romance Ebooks in their sale - so buy early buy often. After all, who can resist a bargain ... And at the same time, all my books at Dreamspinner Press have a 30% discount right now, so do feel free to have a browse in both of these stores and pick up anything that takes your fancy. As it were. Happy reading!

I've also sent back the proofed copy of my literary paranormal short story The Gift of The Snow to Untreed Reads, so watch this space in terms of a publication date for that one ...

Here's my most recent meditation poem:




Meditation 654
One fact people
so easily forget
is how much
God loves to laugh

for otherwise
He would have created
a far duller world
by half.


The Sunday haiku is:

In this summer hush
a barn owl floats through the trees:
messenger of dusk.


Life News:

We had a great night out on Friday, having dinner and chat with R&G, along with L&J, so many thanks to all for a wonderful time. The food was excellent too, and I had second helpings of everything available. Bad me ...

Yesterday's cake effort was the Swiss Roll - all went fairly well until it got to the rolling up stage, which was something of a nightmare. However I now have lots of great advice from Facebook friends (many thanks, all), and the joy of it all is it tastes pretty damn good, even though it looks rather weird. Phew ...

Last night was also the grand reopening of The Woolpack in Elstead, so we went along with J (L up in London) for our free buffet and champers. All very nice, and we'll definitely be back. The focus is going to be slightly more Italian, which is more than fine as far as I'm concerned. Apparently the coffee's going to be grand, so I can't wait to try it out. Strangely they'll also be open for breakfast from 6am, but that's rather too early even for me, I fear.

This weekend the weather has been glorious, my dears, glorious. So we've been out whenever possible mowing the lawn, finishing off our second gate (why make do with only one?...), getting more bedding plants in and, most importantly of all, getting our sunflower seeds planted. The big problem there was trying to find somewhere the Russian Giant (ooh err, missus) which can get to 4-5 metres tall would be happy, but hurrah that's where the second gate comes into its own. We hope. To encourage appropriate growth, I also bought a lovely sunflower plant from our local flower shop, Teasels, and that looks wonderful. You can't go wrong with a sunflower really.

And, talking of weather, I've been very impressed with Prince Charles' weather forecasting moment, which still makes me laugh even though I've watched it several times. I tell you, he's a natural ...

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

Book Tour Extravaganza and the Grateful Author

Book News:

Well, gosh. This week has certainly been astonishing. Literary gay short story Where You Hurt The Most was published on Monday, and since then the party hasn't stopped. I've never had so many people buy so many copies of one of my books and be so generally very enthusiastic about it. Thank you very much indeed - I'm utterly gobsmacked by it all, and very appreciative. I'm so glad you seem to be enjoying the read.

To put all this amazement and gratitude into some kind of order, I'd like to acknowledge the following with a great deal of thanks:

Seven official reviews have been received, including:

4.5 stars from Joyfully Jay Reviews
4 stars from Hearts on Fire
4 stars from Pants Off Reviews
4 stars at Amara's Place
5 stars from The Novel Approach
A-/B+ from Words of Wisdom Reviews
5 stars from Top 2 Bottom Reviews

Not only that but the book has also gained the following:

* 26 reviews/ratings at Goodreads, mostly 4 or 5 star

* Reviews at Amazon US where it reached No 48 in the charts, and at Amazon UK where it reached the dizzy heights of No 20 in the charts.

* Additionally, it's already a bestseller at All Romance Ebooks and even has a rating there too, goodness me.

Honestly, I swear it must be something in the water as never, at any time in my writing life, have I had a book be so popular in so short a space of time, if indeed at all. The only thing I can say is thank you hugely.

Meanwhile, the book tour for Where You Hurt The Most is in full swing, with a competition at each stop for you to win THREE ebooks of your choice from my backlist, so definitely worth having a go. Here are the stops and themes so far:

1. An interview with high-class escort Adrian at All I Want And More blog
2. An article about the pleasures of art at Words of Wisdom
3. An interview about my writing life at Long and Short Reviews
4. An interview and extract at Top 2 Bottom Reviews
5. A feature on the Meet An Author Tuesday slot at Pembroke Sinclair's blog
6. An article on change and how to survive it at Tracy's Place
7. An interview with facially disfigured Dan at Pants Off Reviews
8. An article about the healing power of parks at Joyfully Jay Reviews.

So there should be something there for everyone and I hope you enjoy the reads, and don't forget to enter the competition! Good luck.

Other writing news this week is as follows (goodness, there's been more? What fun!...):

* Lesbian paranormal short story The Girl in The Painting reached No 7 in the Amazon UK charts which, after two years of being on the market, is pretty damn amazing. Again, I hope people are enjoying the book.

* Gay romantic comedy The Hit List is still on sale at a 25% discount direct from Amber Allure Press

* Lesbian paranormal short story The Gift of The Snow has just been accepted by Untreed Reads and should be published sometime this month. Further news to follow ...

* At Vulpes Libris, my review of Madeleine Wickham's wonderful romantic comedy Sleeping Arrangements is now available - definitely a book I can recommend to you, and perfect summer holiday reading.

This week's meditation poems are:




Meditation 652
Some discoveries
lie waiting
for years until
we turn and see them

for in the richness
of our secret life
we must be strong enough
to free them.




Meditation 653
Words spoken aloud
change the shape
of the air
into something
rich and rare

for the fact
of them lasts forever
carved in your skin
in the silent place
where your memories begin.


Life News:

On Bank Holiday Monday, K and I braved the metropolis of Kingston (no, it's not improved much in the years since we've been, and if anything I think it's got worse ...) for the joys of John Lewis. They're quite magnificent and how I wish they had an outlet in Guildford, sigh ... Anyway, we ordered a double futon for the Reading Room, and if that works out we'll get one for the Music Room as well. Hey ho, there's a pretentious sentence if ever I wrote one, but what the heck, eh. Live dangerously. We also bought a tea-strainer, a jumper (him), a cardigan (me) and a swiss roll tin in preparation for this weekend's cake. How very suburban we are.

Back home, one of our three rhododendrons is suddenly and delightfully coming into flower and it's going to be a wonderful rich dark pink. Bliss. Perhaps its two friends will follow suit soon. We can but hope. K and I were also thrilled to see a barn owl on the hunt earlier in the week - our first sighting of one at Elstead, and in full view of the house too.

Meanwhile, I'm delighted to see that Barack Obama has come out on a personal level in full support of same-sex marriage. Good for him, and let's hope it can become law as soon as possible in as many countries as possible. It's a matter of justice and equality, after all, so please do consider signing the Thank You form if you're able to. I have. With this in mind, I'm also very happy to say I'm now a member of the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement. Because, to my mind, there should be no divide at all between being GLBTQ and being Christian if you want to be. God includes everyone (and occasionally even straight redheads with a mouthy attitude, if my luck's in and the wind's in the right direction ...), and so should we.

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

Blog tours and a GLBT-friendly faith

Book News

Whilst it's not officially published till tomorrow, I'm happy to say you can now buy my latest gay literary short story Where You Hurt The Most at Riptide Publishing. Apparently pre-sales numbers have been strong (hurrah!) and I even have my first review from Tracy's Place. Many thanks, Tracy. Don't forget the blog tour for the book starts tomorrow, and doesn't end till 18 March, so there's plenty of time to enter the free giveaways competition. Good luck!

I'm also happy to say that gay thriller The Bones of Summer gained a 4-star review at Goodreads - many thanks, Stephanie. And, not to be outdone, biblical short story Dancing with Lions received a 5-star review at Amazon US - thank you, Melissa.

My most recent meditation poem is:




Meditation 651
Where time perfects the gift
life’s best offerings
cannot be hurried:

see how the hills
breathe out their fullest shape
over centuries

and the rivers
carve their quiet path
to the seas.


The Sunday haiku is:

Goldfinches flutter
and glow amongst the grasses:
our only sunshine.


Life News:

This wonderful image which I found on Facebook really sums up my approach to faith and homosexuality, and is especially apposite as it's a question I've been asked at point blank range this week. For anyone who's still wondering what my Christian stance is on gay and lesbian relationships (and who evidently hasn't been paying close attention to my blog or FB/Twitter posts), I'd like to reiterate that I don't worship a God who hates gay and lesbian relationships, or indeed transgender or transexual ones, and neither could I agree to worship a God who holds those views. Occasionally, God also even quite likes heterosexual people, though we do tend to act as cultural bullies more often, which does irritate Him hugely. Just so you know. Here I stand, as they say, and I can do no more.

Managed to get out on Friday and play some golf, which was a good laugh, partly because my game was such rubbish. I think they must be making the holes smaller or the balls bigger (um, as it were) - as my ability to sink the wretched little white beast was minimal, to say the least. Sigh.

Neighbours L, KM and I have also formed the Jubilee Street Party Committee for our road, and all systems are go for having a great celebratory lunch on the Sunday of Jubilee weekend, hurrah. We've got about 40 people coming so far, so all we need is to coordinate the food and pray very hard for the right weather. Wish us luck. I'm threatening to wear a tiara (ah, if only I had one ...) but I fear it might be a tad too much bling for Surrey. Though really, as an Essex girl, I don't actually think there could ever be too much bling ...

Yesterday's cake attempt was Boston Cream Pie, which was disastrous, my dears, disastrous. It took me about an hour to get the filling right and I was weeping like a crazy woman over the simmering pot - yes, you do have to heat it up whilst beating it. Heck, that sounds bad. In the end I thought it would never thicken up so I added a ton of cornflour to the pesky thing, and now it just tastes of cornflour. In addition, the chocolate topping didn't really harden up but eventually it was thick enough to pour onto the cake, and has just about stayed on it. Luckily, the taste of the chocolate overpowers everything else, but I will not be making this again. Life really is too short.

I was so fragile in the afternoon that K kindly took me to a garden centre, where I bought another wallflower, a senetti, some carnations, three dwarf dahlias and a foxglove. Have now planted or potted all these up, so the garden is once more brimming with colour.

This morning, K and I went along to church, where we twice had the angelic accompaniment of a mobile phone. Being English, we all carefully ignored it and carried on regardless. Which, if God was desperately trying to get his message across by phone, might of course have been a mistake. Ah well. There were also far too many chorus-type songs (bah, we say, bah!) for me, though really one would still be far too many. Give me a hymn and I'm happy.

And this afternoon, L & J from down the road have accompanied K and me to the Chandlers Open Garden event in Elstead. Where we also met S & K from the road as well, so all had a jolly nice tea and cake in the garden. This may all sound just too 1950s for words, but that's just the way things happen here, and very pleasant it was too.

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

Book tours and happy pills

Book News:

The next month or two are going to be excitingly busy. The book tour for gay short story Where You Hurt The Most starts on Monday 7 May, and includes a competition giveaway for three of my backlist ebooks. So make a note of the date and do pop in - you'll be most welcome. You can also read an extract of the book now up at the Riptide Publishing website.

Then from 11 to 22 June, the anniversary book tour for fantasy novel The Gifting will take place, and you'll have a chance to win a FREE Kindle ereader, as well as other prizes, if you take part in the competition! Further details to follow, but do mark that date in your diaries too. It's going to be fun.

I'm also pleased to say that comic sci-fi story Creative Accountancy for Beginners has been purchased by Reading Library in Pennsylvania, so I hope borrowers there enjoy the read.

Meanwhile gay comic romance Angels and Airheads received a very lovely 4-star review at TWLIB Reviews - thanks for that, Nicci. And, not to be outdone, another gay romantic comedy The Hit List is now available at a 25% discount direct from Amber Allure Press. So the ideal moment to add this one to your shopping cart - thank you!

Over at Vulpes Libris Reviews, you can read all about Megan Taylor's rich and poetic novel The Lives of Ghosts. Another stormingly good book from Taylor and definitely one I can recommend.

My biggest excitement of the week though has been receiving my first piece of fan mail for 2012, well gosh - it really started off my day with a big smile this morning, and huge thanks to the couple who sent it. It's much appreciated.

Here are this week's meditation poems:




Meditation 648
Hidden in the stream
the white stone
calls to me

sings for me –
a voice for me alone
in my dancing dream.




Meditation 649
In our beginning
we know the echoes
of our end –

the flower
already blooming
from the smallest seed

and the bird’s flight
written on the sky’s
clear creed.




Meditation 650
Even the distant glimmer
of the furthest star
travels this far
to reach us

so the smallest hope
we cannot believe
can still weave
a pattern to warm us.


Life News:

This week is the week I move off my 20mg Citalopram happy pills and down to my 10mg ones. I've taken the last of the old stock this morning, so tomorrow I begin my new regime. I know it's good to be slowly coming off them after eighteen months or so, but I can't help being rather worried about how it will affect my state of mind. Honestly, things have been brilliant since I've been on them and I seriously don't want to go back to the horrible mental and emotional state I was in before. Ghastly for everyone really. Anyone, a heartfelt thank you for all the advice I've been receiving today - it's made a big difference. And yes the plan is to come off them slowly so the side-effects are kept to a minimum. I hope!

Anyway, earlier this week K and I actually had a moment or two after work when the sun was out (the sun?! What's that?...) and we could sit in the garden and have a mug of tea. Bliss. Sadly, it's not happened again, but we'll always have the memories, eh. Also, today I have had a lovely lunch with G, and it was great to catch up with her news, especially as we don't seem to have seen each other for ages. Where on earth is this year going?

Oh, and I must say how much we've enjoyed the latest series of Scott and Bailey (or Bott and Scaly as we call them, as it took us an age to work out which one was which, sad to say) - but must there be quite so much domestic trauma? Surely there are some nice men in Manchester ...? Anyway, it was all so traumatic on Monday that K and I had to work our way through a bag of giant chocolate buttons just in order to have the courage to keep watching. Really we need something jollier for a Monday night. I hope the TV schedulers are listening.

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