The Beginning of Knowledge

Book News:

My literary gay erotic story The Beginning of Knowledge is now available at Wilde City Press as part of the black-label erotica Charlie Harding Presents line. Here's the blurb:

When University administrator Alan Castleton meets temporary worker and talented pianist Luke Milton, he doesn't expect to become obsessed with the handsome young blond. But soon he is heavily involved in a passionate and angry affair, and exploring the dark shadows of his own personality in a way he's never encountered before.

The more Alan tries to break free from his obsession, the deeper it entangles him. The dangerous split between his reason and his sexual desires threatens his peace of mind and, when the crisis point comes, he must decide once and for all the kind of life he should lead.

Here's what Charlie himself says:

When two people meet for the first time sometimes there are sparks, sometimes irritation and sometimes the connection can't be defined. When personalities collide, restraint can go out the window, with darkest desires and sexual tension forcing us all to do things we never thought we would. This is one of those stories. Be careful, this tale might awaken things inside yourself that you never even knew existed.

Already the book has gained one 5-star review at On Top Down Under Reviews, where the lovely Karen says:

"I want more. The characterisations were terrific, the chemistry, for what it was, perfect, the sex was dark, nasty, erotic as sin … and I LOVED it. The Beginning of Knowledge is the most perfect title … This is one of my favourite Anne Brooke reads. I loved the dark eroticism and the excellent development of the characters. In such a short word count I felt like I knew both men well."

It also has a 4-star review at Goodreads. Many thanks indeed to both reviewers for their comments.

In addition, gay thriller Maloney's Law also gained a 4-star review at MM Good Book Reviews this week. They say:

"Wow, just wow! The more I read Ms. Brooke's books, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that this author picks her characters right from the corner of the street. In this book too, she has made an extremely great job with her protagonists. But it's not just them. Every single character here is unique. I couldn't stop thinking while reading this story that each and every one of them pulses with life. They are true if not real and able to evoke too many emotions from the reader."

Gosh, thank you!

I'm also utterly thrilled to say that, after years and years (aeons, I tell you!) of being out with a variety of small publishers, bisexual thriller Thorn in The Flesh has finally received its first official review from Open Book Reviews, who say:

"The plot twist is off the charts! I can't say more or it would be too obvious. I will say this, Thorn in the Flesh is emotionally stirring, dealing with circumstances that most of us will never understand. I began the story not having much respect for Kate. By the end of the book, I felt as if I'd been to hell and back with her. Despite never having been in Kate's circumstances, the story made me think about my own life and where I am currently. I recommend the book to everyone."

Thank you and thank you again!

And, not to be outdone, my biblical short story collection The Betrayal of Birds was briefly at No 61 in the Amazon US Christian short story charts, so that was all very jolly.

Life News:

The BIG news of this week is that my lovely husband was mentioned by name in the review of the Elstead play performed a couple of weeks ago, in one of our local papers, the Farnham Herald. The lovely Helen Riddy who wrote the review said he gave "a thoughtful, understated and comedic performance." Hurrah! Naturally, I am now the world's biggest and loudest Husband FanGirl Wife and doing a heck of a lot of shrieking, while poor K hides in the garden and tries to ignore me. I'm already planning his world tour, don't you know ...

This week, Spring is continuing to get well and truly settled in. We've seen a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Nuthatch on the bird feeder, along all the other usual visitors, so that was wonderful. Plus we've also seen our first Orange Tip butterfly of the season in the garden, where we've been planting out our foxgloves, poppies and petunias. I'm hoping for a lot of colour this year, that's for sure. And there's still plenty to be done.

Yesterday, I baked a Chocolate Sponge Cake, which has turned out rather well - probably because I had to use my special Husband Food Mixer (and no, that's NOT rude - steady on, people ...), as my electric mixer is still broken. So it's really more him than me, I must say. I could get used to having these helpful kitchen servants, you know ...

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Lori Olding Children's Author

Delaneys and daffodils

Book News:

Gay erotic short story The Delaneys, My Parents and Me is now available at Amazon UK (where it was even briefly in the Top 100 Gay Erotic Fiction charts, well gosh) and Amazon US. You can also find it at All Romance Ebooks.

It's also been getting some positive reviews, including a 4-star review, a 5-star review and another 5-star review, all at Goodreads, and one from On Top Down Under Reviews, which included the following comments:

"This is the last in the six book series/serial of The Delaneys and I'm so very sad to see my lads leave me. Every ebook was a joy to read. Nover long but each one was beautifully written, perfectly edited, and used the English language the way it was meant to be used. Never once did they fail to make me laugh out loud, and there was some incredibly erotic times … It was this series that introduced me to Anne Brooke and it is with great sadness that I say farewell to Liam, Mark and Johnny."

Many thanks for that, Karen! The lads are sorry to leave you too ...

Other exciting news is that gay thriller Maloney's Law, which will be republished on 7 April by Amber Allure Press, has a brand-new cover, and pretty dang wonderful it is too. I love it.

And, much to my delight and astonishment, Leeds Library has bought an ecopy of fantasy novel, The Gifting, so many thanks for that, Leeds, and I hope it gets many borrowers for you.


Life News:

The delights of the dentist this week, so I have survived a rather deep filling, phew. Apparently, if it doesn't work, then I might have to have root canal treatment (oh joy!...) so I'm praying very hard that it works, ho hum.

Mind you, I was pleasantly distracted by the surprise visit from the first butterfly of the season - a red admiral - here on our winter heather. So wonderful. I only hope it survives the snow that's forecast for tomorrow, groan ... I also bought myself some spring daffodils and they've been cheering up our kitchen windowsill no end.

And, keeping to the nature theme, we've done a great job in keeping the weeds down this weekend, and we've even eaten the first of our home-grown potatoes, goodness me. Mind you, if I'm honest, they were actually the potatoes we were trying to grow for Christmas so they're just a tad late, but very tasty nonetheless.

Yesterday, K and I spent a pleasant morning at Nymans, and thoroughly enjoyed their spring walk, in spite of the bleak weather. Whilst there, I treated myself to a new tiarella and have planted it out this morning.

Meanwhile, cake baking has not been neglected and this weekend's offering is Farmhouse Orange Victoria Sponge, which is pretty tasty - though I say it myself and shouldn't. Still, when has that ever stopped me, eh?

And, over at The Angry Anglican, I'm talking about cardinal sins and celibacy, possibly both at the same time, hey ho. Don't say you haven't been warned.

Though, as a final warning, I really can't do better than this cartoon which somehow says it all, at least for me. Really, it's astonishing I'm still allowed to roam free across Surrey, for now ...

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

Gardens and Gifting

Book News:

I've sent back the second round of edits for Where You Hurt The Most to Riptide Publishing now, so I think we're nearly there, hurrah. I'm really pleased with the improvements made, that's for sure.

I'm also happy to say that Angels and Airheads received a nice 4-star review at Goodreads, (thank you, Cole!) and The Heart's Greater Silence has been my bestseller this week at Amazon UK.

Meanwhile, 45 people have so far signed up for a FREE copy of fantasy novel The Gifting. Five copies are available and the offer ends on 29 April, so don't forget to put your name down to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

The Sunday haiku is:

Past a certain age
it strikes me that more nights in
are the new nights out.


Life News:

Exciting news! I have baked my first real cake for a long time - from scratch, without the aid of any cake mixes, well gosh. There was a slight existential crisis with the amount of baking powder the recipe insisted on, but all worked out in the end, phew. So my Victoria sponge which, although not as light and fluffy as I would have liked, is going down a treat. Whatever next? I am indeed the Domestic Goddess of Elstead. Nigella: eat your heart out ... She just can't wear an apron like I can, you know.

There has also been a heck of a lot of gardening going on over the weekend. K has made a good start on his White Garden, and I have planted up some of the pots, added pansies to my Happy Corner, sowed a "quick flower" section for some late spring colour, sprinkled wildflower seeds in places I couldn't think what else to do with, and also sowed my Jubilee sweet peas (i.e. red, white and blue) at the front. Honestly, at this rate, we'll be starting our own TV programme. But, of course, the real question is: will anything grow? We can only hope ... Oh, and our strawberries are growing flowers, so that's a good sign. And I saw my first orange tip butterfly today, so that was wonderful too.

On Friday, I also had a very enjoyable morning with a good friend of mine at the Museum of Kent Life, so great to catch up and admire the donkeys and pigs, as you do.

Finally, we had a moment of drama in the downstairs bathroom today when I heard a fluttering sound, and then realised a starling had somehow worked its way into the loft, then down the disused flue and through the cupboard into the bathroom. Brought back happy memories of my life on the farm, that did - we were always having to sort birds out or send them quickly to the Great Nest in the Sky, depending on how lucky they were. K and I gave the starling every chance by leaving the window wide open and the door shut, but in the end - starlings being just too damn intelligent for their own good - I think it tried to go back the way it came in. So I expect that glorious smell of dead bird to be floating round the downstairs area at some point over the next few days. And how that will bring back those farmhouse memories too. There's just nothing on earth like the smell of dead bird! Ah well.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian 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

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

Parties, interviews and houses

Book News:

Yesterday was an all-day party time as all us Untreed Reads authors celebrated our publisher's one-year anniversary at Coffee Time Romance - and there's still time to join in the fun so please do pop along and say hello. You'll be more than welcome! In terms of my own books, you can pick up a FREE copy of literary romance, How to Eat Fruit, plus discover exactly who is The Girl in the Painting, and have a riotous time in space with Creative Accountancy for Beginners. Not only that but you can enjoy the bittersweet historical romance of Dancing with Lions, and get dangerously close to Nature in The Secret Thoughts of Leaves, and, finally, get in touch with your sensuous side with literary lesbian romance, A Woman like the Sea. And, apart from the FREE copy of How to Eat Fruit, all the others have a 25% discount attached, so that's definitely something to celebrate. Enjoy!

Other nice news is that somehow I managed not one, not two, not even three, but a grand total of four entries in the Amazon UK Kindle charts yesterday, well gosh: Tommy's Blind Date was at No 23; Give and Take at No 22; The Hit List at No 21; and Martin and The Wolf at No 20. So it was lovely to have them all in the Kindle charts for a while, and even lovelier that they were huddling so close together, obviously for warmth ... And coming in on the outside was Pink Champagne and Apple Juice at No 36 (now down to No 88) and A Dangerous Man at No 88 in the US Kindle charts. So a very big thank you to whoever it is who's buying - I'm very grateful.

Meanwhile, Brady's Choice is now available for the first time at Amazon US Kindle, whilst A Woman like the Sea is now available both at Amazon UK Kindle (for the grand total of 79p so a real bargain to be had there) and at Amazon US Kindle.

I've also been interviewed at the 1 Place for Romance blog - so thank you, Valerie & Jay, for arranging that, and I hope you enjoy the read.

And I have some very thrilling news about a hugely talented writing friend of mine, Sarah Ann Watts - Sarah's first stand-alone title, Heart of The Kingdom, is published today and I already have my copy which I can't wait to read, so hurry along and buy this story, and many congratulations, Sarah.

The Sunday haiku is:

Hyacinth petals
soften this vanilla air:
promises of spring.


Life News:

House news is moving along, thank the Lord, though still way too slow for me. We've decided not to worry about selling the flat and simply to concentrate on getting out to somewhere new as soon as we can. With that in mind, we made an offer on a house we liked in Bisley, though that's been rejected. But, at the same time, another house we really like in Mayford may be coming down in price very soon, according to the agent (though as they're all lying toads really, who can tell, eh?...), so we've made an offer on that instead. No response on that one as yet, so I assume they'll deign to ring us up next week to give us an update. If that's a no-go zone, then there's actually yet another house on the outskirts of Guildford that's just come on as well so we may well go and view that and see if we prefer it if nothing else useful happens by Wednesday.

Whilst all that is going on, we did have a second viewing of our flat on Friday - where they appear to have moved everything they could think of to move, including the fridge and washing machine, in order to find out our guilty secrets (which I do think is a bit much for people who haven't put in any kind of offer yet, but there you go ...), but I assume they somehow missed where we've buried the bodies, as there's been no sign of the police as yet. Hey ho.

Nice things that have happened include our trip to Wisley today to see the exotic butterflies in the Glasshouse - this is definitely well worth doing so if you're in the area before the end of February then do go along if you can. I'm sure there's a wider variety of butterflies this year than before too, which is grand. There's also been a recurrent visit of a very fat green woodpecker in the garden and the sudden appearance of snowdrops, both of which have cheered me somewhat.

Mind you, I needed cheering as the new Alan Ayckbourn play at the Guildford Theatre on Thursday was a huge disappointment. Long-winded and dull, The Life of Riley is definitely not one I'd recommend, though the unfortunate actors tackle a very thin script with great courage, I think. Sigh. Perhaps the Great Man really does need to take a break?

This morning, after a good week to ten days when frankly the concept of God has been way too much for me, I did manage to get to church. Which was okay, as long as I didn't think about it too much. The hymns were nice. At the moment anything involving more than the occasional and desperate prayer is out of bounds really, and bible reading has fallen by the wayside (ha!), hence the lack of meditation poems, in case anyone had missed them. I'm not sure I'll be able to get back to them next week either, so the exercise bike (where I do my bible reading and start off the poems, oddly enough) has never had such an easy life. We'll see how it goes, or rather how it doesn't.

Last night, we did have a lovely time having dinner at Marian's though, which was grand. It was great to catch up properly, and she certainly makes a top class custard, which always does it for me. There's something about custard which somehow makes everything worthwhile.

Anne Brooke

From the ashes of disaster ...

Writing News:

Seeing as I am (fairly evidently) not having my week's holiday in Pompeii (ah the irony of it all ...) - of which more later - here's some happy writing news: my gay erotic short story, The Delaneys and Me, is now published by Amber Allure, and you can find out more and purchase a copy here - there's a 35% discount for the first week so it's worthwhile rushing! Plus, for TODAY only, Jessewave Reviews is offering a FREE copy of the story to one lucky winner if you leave a comment at her review site here - good luck to all, and may the best man or woman win. Finally, for your viewing pleasure, don't forget to click onto the book trailer - enjoy!

I'm also very pleased to see that Give and Take is now available in Kindle edition at Amazon US. And that The Bones of Summer received a 5-star rating at Goodreads - many thanks, Tracy.

Other exciting news is that Untreed Reads is having a 25% discount off ALL their books until 22 April, and this includes three of my literary short stories, amongst others - so do pop across and browse their bookshop - but don't forget to use the coupon code FBFRIENDS at checkout. Have fun!

Finally in this section, amidst yesterday's holiday disappointments, I was delighted to receive a proof copy of Clare Morrall's latest novel, The Man Who Disappeared, from the lovely Carole at Sceptre Press - I'd chatted for ages with Carole at the recent Sceptre event and said how much I love Morrall's work, and so I was thrilled to receive this surprise package in the post - thanks, Carole! It's much appreciated, and I can't wait to get my reading teeth into that one ...

Other News:

Yes, well, what can I say? The delicious irony of not being able to go on my longed-for week's holiday to Pompeii & Naples because of volcanic ash has indeed not escaped me. But I really can't recommend the existential pain of unpacking when you ... um ... haven't actually been anywhere yet. Don't do it, folks! It's not pleasant. Though it does save a hell of a lot of washing and ironing, so I suppose there's always a silver lining to every volcanic cloud. Page & Moy promise us that refunds will be sorted on Monday, as we can't reschedule as this coming week was the only week we could do, Lord H's and my schedules being hugely tricky to juggle, alas. Ah well. Maybe Pompeii next year? Who can tell?

So we have spent the weekend having a mini-holiday and drinking champagne to give ourselves an essential lift - where planes could not perform that task. Yesterday, we had a lovely day out at Knole House in Sevenoaks and managed to spot two new birds for this year: a redstart and a willow warbler, hurrah! We also treated ourselves to a truly scrumptious holiday cream tea and admired the gorgeous butterflies, which this weekend have included several orange tips and a light scattering of brimstones. Bliss. Plus we just managed to get back in time for Dr Who, which was thankfully a whole lot better than last week's disastrous episode, hurrah! Phew, as I was starting to lose the faith a little, perish the thought ...

Today, our mini-non holiday continued with a day spent at Wisley Gardens - more butterflies and a riot of colour in the flowers, but way too many people wandering around the arts & crafts fair. We had to eat in the cafe, shock, horror! And they ran out of salad to serve with our pizza so it looked very lonely on the plate, sigh. Mind you, I argued successfully at the tills that we should have had the salad as it was part of the meal, and they took £2 off, so I am indeed the Bargaining Queen of Wisley, ha!

However, Wisley had its revenge in the end, as halfway round our afternoon stroll, I came over all peculiar and had to take a stomach pill in order to make it back to the car at all. I am a slave to my stomach pains, sadly. Anyway, I'd just been admiring the tee-shirt on a small boy which said: Zero to Naughty in Six Seconds, so after a few moments of sitting on a bench, groaning and wondering if I was going to be sick or worse (thankfully I was neither), I told Lord H that I should have a tee-shirt that said Zero to Sick in Three Seconds. However, Lord H reassures me that such a talent is merely an expression of my particular Super-Power, and I am saving many other people from being sick by taking it all on myself. Now, there's a thought. Though, like Lord H, I'd really rather have the ability to fly or be invisible. Ah well.

So, back to work tomorrow (sigh), but here's this week's haiku, inspired by events near Heathrow Airport, where apparently they can hear the skylarks for the first time in living memory:

All the planes are stilled.
Instead the song of skylarks
laces the bright sky.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Birds, butterflies and bars

Writing News:

I'm pleased to say that my gay erotic short story, The Delaneys and Me, is now up at Amber Allure Press although it's not published until Sunday 18 April. I'm noting it now as I'll be away on holiday at that point so won't be blogging until I get back.

I'm also happy to say that Give and Take received a very positive review at Tam's Reads - you'll need to scroll down a little to see it. Many thanks, Tam!

And I've uploaded the final part of Chapter Ten of The Prayer Seeker's Journal where Michael is still dealing with the ex-wife.

Finally in this section, there are two haikus this week, which I hope you enjoy:

Grey heron flying,
painted across the bright sky:
harbinger of spring.


The peace of water
sinks into my skin: sunlight,
air and deep silence.

Other News:

I had a very enjoyable time representing Vulpes Libris at the Sceptre Press Book Bloggers party at the Hospital Club Bellini Bar in London on Friday afternoon. Thankfully I don't think they quite realised which Bookfox I actually am, or they very politely ignored it, and we all had a very good time talking with passion and commitment about books. We stayed so long that they had to throw us out in the end. Plus we all got a book goody bag, hurrah - thank you to the lovely Polly et all for that. It was nice also to meet some of their newer authors and fellow-bloggers too. I was on my best behaviour and said nothing about my thoughts concerning their new and distinctly dodgy marketing approach, but I was on the other hand (sorry, in-joke!) happy to say that I was very much enjoying the proof book they sent me, hurrah! I hope we can all do it again sometime, and that other publishers might take the proverbial leaf from Sceptre's party book. Speaking with my failing-would-be-mainstream-writer hat on though (ah how well it fits me), it was really incredibly refreshing to have any kind of conversation at all with a mainstream publisher that doesn't involve them either ignoring me, laughing at me or insulting me in suitably bitchy fashion, ho ho. And, yes, all that has happened in the past. Thank goodness I've now found publishers to whom my work is far more suited, eh. Saves all the pain really.

Yesterday, Lord H and I did a quick recce to find out how to get to Kingston Hospital - as I have to go to see my nice gynae woman there on Wednesday and I've been hyperventilating for days about the terrors of having to find somewhere new. Having done the journey once though, it looks fairly straightforward and the only real problem (apart from the inevitable traffic) is going to be finding someplace to park when I'm there, groan. Wish me luck ...

We then went on to spend a very pleasant day at Barnes Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, where we managed to spot sand martins, a little ringed plover, a great black-backed gull and lots of great crested grebes - all new for this year. I was also thrilled to see my second butterfly of the year - a common white. We spotted a beautiful peacock butterfly on the neighbour's chimney earlier in the week ... Plus Barnes actually had chicks, including some gorgeously bizarre moorhen chicks - and yes they really do look like that. Amazing.

Meanwhile, we've suffered the appalling disaster of yesterday's disappointing Dr Who episode - it felt like a nine-year old had been allowed to write it with no supervision and was, frankly, laughable. We trust the writer has been cast into the mouth of the beast, and that next week's offering will have at least more class. I can only admire the actors for not running screaming from the set, sigh ... Mind you, there is one good thing that came out of it - Lord H thought the idea of casting naughty schoolchildren into the Mouth of Hell where they are never seen again was a brilliant idea and all schools should take it up at once. That'll teach the little beggars not to learn their sums, eh ...

Talking of which, we have survived the traumas of being responsible for coffees at today's Family Service!! Pause for applause - go on, you know you want to. We practised our polite religious smiles before we went and they seem to have done the trick. It was, to be honest, less problematic than I'd feared, though we did have to sing a wretched Graham Kendrick song. Deep sigh. He must be the only songwriter around who's utterly unable to put the right number of words in a tune, and it's all so relentlessly glittery and bland. I did find myself turning to the song again to see when he was born (1950, if you're asking) and therefore when he might retire from the fray, but then thought that was probably way too bitchy even for me. Surely not! I am indeed the soul of loving kindness and warmth. Well, in my dreams anyway ...

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Holidays and publishing news

Italy was kind of fun, I must say - the best thing was just getting away and not having to think about all the other stuff, to be honest. Such a treat. I wouldn't say it was our favourite ever holiday, probably not by a long chalk, but there were some great (and some not so great ...) highlights, including:

1. Assisi. It's fabulous - I really loved it, far more than I thought I would. I'd go back tomorrow if asked.
2. Spotting a Common Redstart - a lifetime first, hurrah!
3. Spotting hosts of glorious Swallowtail butterflies on a walk through an olive tree grove, double hurrah.
4. My digital camera refusing to function, so I had to borrow Lord H's if I saw something I liked.
5. And guess what? Yes, you're right, my replacement CoolReader broke on the 2nd day, in the same way as it did before. No, I won't be getting another. I'll replace it myself with a Sony Reader (of which more later). I do feel we should have at least some of Lord H's CoolReader money back though, but I suspect the company aren't going to make it easy for us, deep deep sigh ... Either way, the CoolReader has not in any way covered itself with glory.

Meanwhile at home, the following has occurred, some good and some bad:

1. Meditation Poem 13 is now published here.
2. Toes do furnish a man (another poem) is also published here.
3. My short story, Two Christmases, has been accepted for Dreamspinner Press's upcoming anthology, Mistletoe Madness.
4. Despite sending the final version of Hallsfoot's Battle to the agent before I went on holiday, there's been no acknowledgement. Of any sort. Is he dead or terribly terribly sick, we ask??...
5. The Gifting has now been rejected by every single publisher, both large and small, in the known universe and possibly some in the Delta Quadrant also (but I haven't had their emails yet). So I am planning to self-publish it either later this year or early 2010. Sod the lot of the ruddy publishing world, I say. I am really seriously fed up with them - except of course those lovely small publishers who have seen some kind of merit in what I have previously written, Gawd bless 'em.
6. I have therefore asked my agent to bring our business relationship to an end, as there's no point having a fantasy novel agent if I'm going to self-publish the whole trilogy on my own without bothering the crumbling ivory towers of the so-called mainstream (and not so mainstream) fantasy press - I don't want them to get their hands dirty with good literature, eh, do I, ho ho. As I've had no response to that message from the agent either, I've gone ahead and started the process of getting an independent editor/proofreader for The Gifting anyway. After all, what's the point of waiting for answers that never appear? Plus I've made initial enquiries with a suitable self-publishing company. So, watch this space for a rollicking good adventure read to come ...
7. Lord H has bought me a Sony Reader - which I hope will last longer than the rather more than feeble Coolreader - and I am busy charging it up right now. Again, watch this space.
8. We've spent a very pleasant day at Pulborough Brooks and spotted a wood sandpiper (another lifetime first!), two buzzards, a kestrel and a chiff-chaff, amongst the usual suspects. It's been a relief to get away from the pains of my stumbling literary career (ho ho).
9. I have thoroughly depressed myself by looking at my work emails, of which there are many, most of which are urgent and I will have to do the moment I return to work on Monday. Honestly, I swear that one of the main reasons for me trying to become a successful (pause for rampant laughter) novelist was the stalking fear of being swallowed up whole by meaningless administration, but I see it is likely to happen anyway. Really, work is sometimes so overwhelmingly depressing, and the business of writing is sometimes so shot through with inevitable failure that I just feel like bursting into tears and running away onto a desert island as far away as possible from both of them. With Lord H of course (well, he doesn't like work either). If only one were allowed to be successful in the career one actually wants to have, then life would be so much less dark, I feel. As it is, I am only relatively successful in a field that means almost nothing to me, so it's all something of a bugger really. Ah well. Only another ten years to go and I might be allowed to think about retirement, eh.
10. Sorry about the moaning, but going on holiday only makes things a thousand times worse when you come back. I think that, as I get older, it also gets harder to settle down into the daily round again. I'm dreading Monday already, double sigh.

Anne Brooke - she tried to be a novelist once, you know ...
The Gifting - the novel nobody wants: coming soon to an online provider near you (but don't wait up)

Glass bubbles, birds and ah that jaw ...

I've uploaded my review of Vanessa Gebbie's Words from a Glass Bubble to Vulpes Libris today. Certainly a mixed bag but a very interesting writer for sure.

The rest of my day has been spent in totally glorious sunshine with Lord H, searching for birds. We visited Burton Mill Pond and the ever reliable Pulborough Brooks. The only new bird for this year was a female marsh harrier hunting over the fields, which is really luckier than we expect to get during the summer months. We also enjoyed seeing a couple of green sandpipers, a ruff, a young great crested grebe with that wonderfully striped face that young cresteds have, and Lord H saw a kingfisher, but I was just too late, dammit!

Also the amount and variety of butterflies out today were utterly glorious. We managed painted ladies, peacocks, a common blue, gatekeepers and speckled woods, and Lord H saw a tortoiseshell too - though once again, I was just that few seconds too late. Story of my life, eh. Ah well. My one big butterfly ambition (surely everyone has a butterfly ambition?) is to see a swallowtail. They're amazing. Here's one:



Isn't that just fantastic? Happy sigh ...

Meanwhile, I think the jaw situation might have taken a turn for the better, hurrah and put out the bunting. A small turn but a significant one nonetheless. I woke up in excruciating pain at 3.30am this morning, staggered out of the bedroom groaning quietly so as not to wake Lord H and then in the living room remembered (aha!) that I still have the really really strong kick-ass pain killers plus the anti-inflammatories the doctor gave me last year for the pesky frozen shoulder and trapped nerve fortnight. Luckily, they're still in date (till 2011, no less), so I took the pain killers last night, and the anti-inflammatories this morning and at lunchtime. Entirely due to that, I managed to eat breakfast (with a teaspoon, I admit, but hey I did eat something) and when I brushed my teeth I wasn't actually moaning with pain. So double phew and let's keep it up until the jaw is itself again. I even managed the bread which came with my soup at lunchtime by means of squashing it flat and pushing it in - which might not have looked particularly pleasant but I've never gained compliments for my dining etiquette, so why start now?

Also, many thanks to kind online friends who've offered support and sympathy - it's very much appreciated. And a special thank you to LitLove who has suggested a jaw exercise which I am already doing. Well, not whilst typing, but in pauses - thank you!

Tonight, there's a scrummage (is that actually a word?) of comic TV on, but I can't make head or tail of it till I get there. No brain power, you see. I suspect we'll end up watching whatever is on the first channel we turn to.

Today's nice things:

1. Vulpes Libris review
2. Sunshine!
3. Birds
4. Butterflies
5. Pulborough Brooks
6. Less pain in the jaw
7. Jaw exercises & support!
8. TV.

Anne Brooke - Ms Lockjaw has a day in the country ...
Vulpes Libris: putting glass bubbles under the microscope

Fan pages, birds and holidays

Was more than slightly puzzled by today's bible reading but here's my tongue-in-cheek take on it:

Meditation 151

Escaped sheep,
tired donkeys, lost clothes
are not to be ignored.

Given time
and enough carelessness
by others

you could probably start
your own noisy, raggle-taggle business
from them.

I've also written a poem about weaponry, scars and healing (as you do), which I like better. I shall have to think about where to send it at some point, and whether it might have any accompanying friends. You never know.

Talking of friends, I have bravely (and possibly foolishly) set up a Facebook Fan Page for ... um ... myself, thus proving beyond all doubt that I am indeed the most self-obsessed of writers. Well, I suppose we already knew that really. Anyway, twelve kindly people have taken pity on me and joined it, and I am hugely grateful to you all. Thank you. Anyone else who wants to join the Crazed World of Anne will of course be more than welcome, and I make a damn good cup of tea too.

This morning, Lord H and I have taken advantage of the better weather and have walked round Linchmere Common and spotted a pair of woodpeckers, various tit families and the usual scattering of blackcaps. On the way home, we also did the Heath Trail at Thursley Common which was its tranquil and lovely self. Thankfully, without the tiger that strangely appears in the previous link picture on the right. Now that would have been scary. Whilst there we were lucky enough to watch a hobby hunting for insects, and a pair of stonechats. Wonderful. Plus we spotted a brimstone butterfly and huge numbers of dragonflies and damselflies. Thursley really comes into it own during the summer months.

This afternoon, I've been working on my ongoing short story and think I now roughly have an idea how it will end up and what the path might be in getting there, so that's a relief. Double phew and all that. Though it might turn out to be longer than I originally thought. Ah well. And, later on, I really must pack for our holidays as we're off tomorrow, hurrah!

Tonight I might get time to watch yesterday's poetry programme, but it depends on how long it takes me to get my life into a suitcase really (don't wait up then ...). Oh and as I'm out for a few days, here's this week's (rather religious) haiku early:

God sticks to your skin.
You hold his song in your head,
carry him always.

So, as we're going to be here in North Wales and puffin spotting (double hurrah!) until late Thursday, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll catch up with you later.

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. My Facebook fan page
3. Birds
4. Butterflies
5. Short story writing
6. TV
7. Haikus
8. Holidays!

Anne Brooke - looking forward to puffin, rather than nuffin ...

Blackcaps, butterflies and Bones

In spite of the calls of today's glorious weather, I did linger long enough in the flat to get my meditation poem written:

Meditation 137

The world is framed
by judgement, stone
and water.

You have lived
with the scent of it
so long

that change
is a strange friend,
a darker shadow

at your shoulder.
Think about
when the water stirs –

if you want
to taste it at all.


The seriously exciting literary news of today though is that I have the galley proofs for The Bones of Summer from Dreamspinner Press so have spent a lot of the day going through those. There are some problems with how italics seem on my Mac, but I've raised that so I hope it should be fine. Only 22 days to go to the publication date, hurrah!

I've also been taking part in the Dreamspinner Authors' Chat day at the Love Romances Yahoo Group, and I'm been hugely encouraged by the very positive reaction to my Chapter One excerpt of The Bones of Summer. They also liked the cover, which was very pleasing too, and in case you've forgotten that, here it is as a reminder:



Ah, religion, death and a budding gay relationship - what could be nicer?

Lord H and I have also gone birdspotting on St Martha's Hill, near Guildford - it was incredibly peaceful and, though we didn't manage to see many birds (but the blackcap was grand!), we had fun spotting a painted lady and a brimstone butterfly. Fabulous. Also lovely to be able to wear my sunhat for the first time in a while, hurrah.

And I've also had the Alexander Technique lesson I had to miss yesterday as the tutor was away - so my back is smiling once more. For a while at least.

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Bones galley proofs
3. Authors' Yahoo chats
4. The Bones cover - I still love it!
5. Blackcaps
6. Butterflies
7. Alexander Technique.

Anne Brooke - so nearly stylish in a sunhat ...
Cancer Research Race for Life - one week to go before the big day!

Butterflies, birds and Basildon Park

Another day in the country today, though a different part of it, hurrah - but I did manage to get today's meditation poem squeezed in before we set off:

Meditation 121

Beyond the river
everything crystallises
into the possibility
of truth.

Flesh and bone
solidify dreams
and what is written once
will be written again

in fire.

Then it was a quick turn-round and an equally quick coffee and chat with the downstairs neighbour's daughter (hello, Gisela!) before making our way to Dinton Pastures Country Park in Berkshire. Which took rather longer than it should as we, somewhat foolishly, decided that the quickest route would be through Reading. Hmm. My advice is if you ever at any point in your life think that the quickest route to anywhere (apart from Reading itself) is through Reading, then think again. The signs are crap and the roads are worse and, thanks to my less than top-notch navigational skills, we actually ended up in Oxfordshire. In the Chilterns. Ho hum. However, the plus point is that, due to my complex set of detours, we did spot a red kite, which is our first one for this year, hurrah! So every cloud, etc etc ... And when we finally got to Dinton Pastures itself, it was a grand place indeed. With loos, which is always vital, I feel. Rather too many dogs for my liking though (I don't mind dogs - well, no, actually, I don't like them at all, but that doesn't fit in with my next phrase - but I couldn't eat a whole one) but still a very pleasant walk. We spotted some sandmartins and common terns (both new for this year in this country, though we did spot terns in Istanbul earlier in the year), and several orange tip butterflies. I love orange tip butterflies. Small and white and it looks as if their wingtips have been dipped into marmalade. Wonderful.

We then drove (with roughly equal amounts of confusion) to Basildon Park. Lunch was fabulous - full-on roast turkey followed by treacle tart and custard at very reasonable prices, though we did seem to enter the restaurant via the back passage (as it were), which confused everyone. Especially us. We then did a quick tour around the house - the Octagon Room is amazing and the Library is very cosy indeed. Though Lord H did point out that they didn't have as many books as we do - which may indeed be true but theirs are more neatly filed at least. He also stood in front of a picture showing a Classical soldier holding his headgear and opined: "Ah, the typical portrait of a soldier admiring his helmet ..." - which forced me to exit quickly from the room in question before hysteria set in. Thankfully, the rest of the folks around us seemed to take it seriously and nodded in agreement, but I fear that once word gets round, we may have our National Trust membership forcibly removed. I'm already known as the Woman Who Laughs at Jelly Moulds (found in every NT house across the land, sigh ...), so we may indeed be in injury time. Honestly, I can't take Lord H anywhere twice. I daren't ...

Anyway, moving rapidly on, and suitably fortified by essential English stodge (where would we be as a nation without it?), we set out on the full Park walk. Hmm, I wish now I'd taken the more genteel Park Walk. All I'll say is that was a bloody long four miles, Carruthers ... I was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing civilisation again, though at least the bluebells were good (though not quite as stunning as Mother's Essex bluebell wood offering). My feet are now utterly exhausted, dahlings. Still, I'm sure it's good for me. Isn't that my exercise ration for the month?? Oh and the joy about Basildon Park is they have a really, really good second hand book room where you can pick up whatever you like for £1. Wonderful. I purchased two books I've been meaning to read for a while, so that's saved me some money at least.

Tonight, I might do some more to Hallsfoot's Battle, but I'm not going to stress out about it too much. If it happens, it happens, eh. And here's this week's haiku:

At the division
of the paths, the wind blows through.
Hedges, fields, hills, sky.

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Birds
3. Butterflies
4. Sunday lunch at Basildon
5. Books
6. Hallsfoot - if I get to it
7. Haiku.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website - taking the slow road, whether she likes it or not
Race for Life - help support people with cancer

Birds, butterflies and the gay gene

Managed to watch our video of the John Barrowman programme, "The Making of Me", last night. Which was all to do with trying to find out exactly how gay JB is. Great fun on the whole! And we are now all looking at our finger lengths and working out how many older brothers we have between us in order to see how gay we are. Or did I miss the point somewhat? Anyway, as Lord H and I have a job-lot of five older brothers, plus one younger brother (hello, Lord B-I-L!), then we are probably gayer than the great JB by far. Though Lord H is able to navigate without having to turn the map upside-down, you'll be pleased to hear. That said, we are distinctly not talking about my bent middle finger - per hand. Lord alone knows what that says about me ...

Anyway, after the programme, I told Lord H that next week's should also be interesting as they'll be focusing on Colin Jackson. Lord H, looking puzzled and concentrating on the end of the JB programme, said: Oh. Will they be trying to find out if he's black then? Hmm, I fear we may still be missing the point here in downtown Godalming.

So to today. Lord H and I have spent the whole day out (as it were). We visited Rainham Marshes in Essex, and a very nice place it is too. Great cafe, hurrah! And huge and colourful flocks of butterflies, including two marvellous peacock butterflies, which I haven't seen for a while. Birds spotted included herons and little egrets, and we heard (but sadly never saw) the reed warblers.

From there, we attempted to drive to Bough Beech Nature Reserve using the satnav system on Lord H's new iphone. I fear that, being both a woman (by gender) and a gay man (by the number of brothers and the shape of my fingers), my expertise with maps is low, and my expertise with maps that move is entirely beyond hope. I attempted to follow the instructions on the list, which were completely wrong, and by the time I'd worked out that the little blue ball on the image (ie us) was going in the wrong direction we were already whipping down the M25 heading away from it. Groan. Anyway, due to Lord H's instinctive navigational skills, we took the next turning off and made our way back. I then gave up with the instructions and just followed the little blue ball until it eventually landed in the right spot. Actually it's much like one of those games you get in fairgrounds where you have to jiggle the little balls into the holes in order to win. I fully expected that when I finally got us there the iphone would produce fireworks and a big message saying "Well done, Anne - you are a bloody genius!" But sadly, no ... Ah well.

Bough Beech is nice though - we saw loads of gatekeeper butterflies and - result! - two spotted flycatchers. Bliss indeed. The people in the centre were initially scary however but ended up being quite sweet. Perhaps they don't see many offworlders in that part of Kent? I can't say I'm surprised if the satnav has no idea which road they are on. Which just goes to show how modern technology is indeed cutting people off from their neighbours.

Tonight, I'm hoping to do a little more to Hallsfoot's Battle and then generally I'm just chilling.

Today's nice things:

1. Wondering how gay we are
2. Birds
3. Butterflies
4. Conquering the iphone satnav - of sorts.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website