Happy Jubilee weekend!

Life News:

Hope everyone's having a really wonderful Diamond Jubilee weekend - it's been pretty amazing here. A big thank you to Elstead Tennis Club who very kindly lent us their marquee, which we all spent a happy couple of hours putting up yesterday afternoon, and which has served us very well indeed today. And today was fantastic - wonderful food, wonderful organisation (many thanks, L, J & K), and really wonderful neighbours. The souvenir stall sold out and the raffle prizes were a big hit.

After we'd celebrated in style, we took the marquee down, and have now rounded off the day with coffee & cake at L&J's. Great stuff, and a big thank you to everyone who joined in and made it such a top-class event. Next stop: the street's Christmas celebrations. Watch this space ...

One of my really important roles this week has been Chief Frog Rescuer. Yesterday, I saved one from the garage and helped it into the stream at the bottom of the garden. And today, I spotted one in the marquee as we were decorating it this morning and rescued that one too. At least I assume it was a different frog, but really who can tell ... The other wildlife excitement we've had today is when we woke up, we looked out of the window and there were two wolves (yes, I do mean that) roaming round the road. They were quite tame, but no collars. The RSPCA wouldn't come, the police weren't interested and the local council could only come out on the next working day (Wednesday). Not much help there then. However the glories of the village Facebook page came into its own, as I put a message up there and the lost huskies (so not wolves then, but pretty damn close) are now reunited with their owners. Hurrah! So I am on Wolfwatch as well as Frogwatch. A woman's work is never done, hey ho. Thank goodness for the Interweb thingy.

Due to the Jubilee excitements I have cheated and made a packet chocolate cake with shop-bought icing. Not bad but the cake's too dry so I think I should have added the whole dessert-spoon of mayonnaise instead of just a half one. I shall remember next time. No complaints from K though.

Also, a couple of very worthwhile causes to draw your attention to: I've just discovered the Out4Marriage site which is working for same sex marriage equality in the UK, so am very pleased to recommend that to you. And, on a more local level, my doctor is cycling across the length of Britain in September to support the British Lung Foundation - and her JustGiving site is here in case you're feeling generous. Thank you.

Book News:

Today's other big celebration is that The Delaneys At Home (Delaneys *5) is published today by Amber Allure Press, and is discounted for the first week, so buy early buy often. The blurb is:

Liam is ready for a whole new life with the dangerous Delaney twins, and dives into it with great enthusiasm. But when the men reveal they know he's not been entirely honest with them about his previous art career, the scene is set for a rather different experience of punishment. Can Liam rise to the occasion this time around?

More than that, Liam's gallery boss appears to be in cahoots with the Delaneys about the talents Liam's convinced he simply doesn't have. Will he find the twins' commitment to his profession rather more than even he can handle?

Happy reading.

Keeping the subject of discounts, as it's Pride Month in June, you can find my literary lesbian titles discounted by 25% direct from Untreed Reads. Again, happy (cheap!) reading to all.

And Where You Hurt The Most gained a review at The Romance Reviews, so many thanks for that, Valentina. Much appreciated indeed.








This week's meditation poem is:




Meditation 663
There is safety
in numbers:
the cool, determinable
logic of shape,
the way they slot
perfectly one against another
in silent agreement
to make a greater truth.

Numbers control
our universe;
from birth to death
they colour our view
with how much, how many,
how few.


The Sunday haiku is:

The blue damselfly
dances over the bright stream
as we dig the earth.


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

Lions, Wolves and Angels

Book News:

I'm interviewed today about Dancing with Lions, so many thanks, Jenna, for that - much appreciated! I also think the whole concept of a 30-second "Drive Thru" interview is utterly grand.

I'm also happy to say that Maloney's Law found itself at No 24 in the Amazon UK Gay Fiction charts, but has slipped down somewhat since then. A brief burst of glory is always nice though. Talking of which, The Delaneys and Me is lurking secretively at No 40 in the Amazon Kindle Gay Books chart, well gosh. People are obviously taking a shine to gay twins and off-beat humour - for which I am very grateful, thank you.

I'm also thrilled that Martin and The Wolf received a lovely review at Jessewave Reviews, so thank you, Jenre - glad you enjoyed the read. Not to be outdone, Angels and Airheads received a 4-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Ami!). Is the paranormal coming into its own? Who can tell ...

Finally, in terms of news in this section, I'm delighted that the lovely Anders at Queer Magazine Online has published my article, entitled Things I've Learnt from my Fictional Gay Men, a subject which actually made me think fairly deeply about the eclectic mix of characters living somewhere in my head, Gawd bless them. If only I could take on board the good things about them all, then surely I might be a better, more together kind of person. I wish, eh.

Anyway, here's a poem about bananas:

Banana Road


One lone banana
waits on an English road
for a banana tree

to rise up
out of English tarmac.


This week's meditations:

Meditation 381
In matters of the heart
it’s true that mothers
may know best

as vengeance
and death
bring their men no rest.

Meditation 382
For a man
soon to be known

as the wisest
in the land

his first acts
are bathed

in blood and fear
proving that God

does indeed work
from the dark.


Meditation 383
You can vanish
in the city,

unnoticed by kings
or killers.

It is only when
the expansive skies

swallow you up
that your hours

are numbered.


Meditation 384
Finally he thinks
of asking
for wisdom –

a gift
willingly granted –
but many deaths

might have been avoided
if he’d only thought
of asking before.


Life News:

Bit of a difficult day today, as people seem to be proving tricky here and there, goddammit. So it's very much a "retire to the nearest cave and wait for the storms to pass" sort of a day, sigh. Still, I had a great time earlier in the week seeing Jane & Ang (hello, both!) for dinner at our local Italian - which was fabulous on all fronts, hurrah! And I've had a lovely time visiting the neighbour today and catching up so that's been nice too. I suppose we all have to hang on to the good bits of the week and let the tricksy bits go hang - sometimes easier said than done though. I just get cross!

Talking of which, I'm very angry and deeply disappointed that once again the Church of England has taken an historic opportunity and trashed it - a story which you can read here. When, oh when will gay people (not to mention women) be seen as equal in the church's eyes? Honestly, surely this injustice and inequality is enough already. It does deeply sadden me that the church leadership fails every time to see things as most of us actual churchgoers do. When will we have leaders who really represent us, or who have the courage simply to stand up for what is right and just and generous? I do feel very let down by this. I'd like to see an openly gay bishop in my lifetime, and a female one too, but I wonder if that's too much to hope for?...

Still, there are some things which remain good nonetheless: I must absolutely refer you to the totally stunning Rock Choir who are well worth your visit and who have produced a rollickingly good first album with some utterly toe-tapping tunes. I know this as I've just listened to the whole thing in the car and it's sing-a-long city! I'm thrilled with this on two counts: first off, my friend Marian from golf and also the lovely lady, Alison, who does my reflexology are both in the choir, so it's their first album - well done to both! And, secondly, if you buy a copy, profits from one of the tracks go to the UK charity, Refuge, which supports victims of domestic violence. A marvellous cause, I'm sure you'll agree, so please do consider buying the album - it's great!

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Rupert’s return and the happy pills

Up early today as Rupert (the car) is at last ready to be collected, hurrah! It’s so nice to have him back, I must say – and the aircon hasn’t been this good for a long long time. Almost tempting not to look for a new car now, but I’m still keen, I must admit. I suspect there might be a bit of a car hunt this weekend. We’ll see how I’m feeling. We’re also attempting to book our September holiday in and around Pompeii, so here’s hoping there’s some good news on that one tonight.

In the meantime, I’m still feeling raw and more than a little overwhelmed from yesterday’s horrendous day – so have taken my supply of happy pills this morning and am hoping from the best … I think I’m having People Overload at the moment. Way too many demands coming from way too many quarters. Oh to be a hermit, eh. There’s a lot to be said for the solitary life – as long as Lord H is in it too.

At work, I’m struggling away with my meetings I’ve arranged for the upcoming year, which appear to have been lost so I suspect I may have to start from scratch. Not much joy there then. Plus I’m trying to avoid getting too stressed out by the traumas of Freshers’ Week planning. I do wish people wouldn’t assume I need a new challenge and the chance to do something different. Actually I don’t. I get plenty of challenges galore in my writing life – I really don’t need them elsewhere. I’d be far happier just doing the old familiar stuff I know and might not get too stressed out by – but that concept appears to be off the menu, alas. UPDATE: Having done something about it myself today (rather than lots of people telling me what I should be doing, as happened yesterday), I feel ever so slightly more in control which is making me feel just a tad better, hurrah. Not a lot though – just a little bit … I do have a hunch that the whole process will be more edgy this year, but we’ll see.

Had a much needed walk round campus at lunchtime, as well as a brief pop into the gallery which has a sculpture exhibition on at the moment – nice stuff but nothing really grabbed me. And I’m also still having fun with my CooleReader, so that’s a relief. Oh and there’s some lovely charity news about Maloney’s Law – some hugely wonderful person actually put a bid in during the last nine minutes of the auction so the shame of being the Most Unpopular Author in the Charity World has just about passed me by, phew. So, thank you a thousand times and a signed copy will be winging its way to you, Kind Person, just as soon as I can get it in the post.

This afternoon, I took the minutes for the Project Welcome Forum and then I’m hoping for a relatively quiet evening, please God. I’m bumbling away on the edits to Hallsfoot’s Battle, and it’s going okay at the moment. I’m trying to take it slowly and not worry about it too much. Hmm, I wonder when the happy pills kick in …

Today’s nice things:

1. Getting Rupert back
2. Thinking about a new car
3. Thinking about a holiday
4. Lunchtime walks
5. Maloney’s Law finding a last-minute friend, hurrah!
6. Editing
7. Happy pills.

Anne Brooke - taking everything slowly as she's unable to go very fast

Disasters and Miracles

Here’s this morning’s meditation:

Meditation 171

Every seventh year
let the words

speak through you:
from the gut

to the throat,
from the mouth

to the air,
releasing strange light

that glistens the skin
of all who hear.


I took the courtesy car into work today and managed to get a 3 day temporary pass for it as I don’t really know when I’ll be seeing Rupert again, sigh. UPDATE - looks like I'll be able to pick it up first thing tomorrow, so that's a relief anyway. Meanwhile at work, I’m messing around with meeting papers and diary maintenance. Feels like a very muddled Monday today really.

Mind you, the nice news is that the upcoming Bible Stories Anthology, Disasters and Miracles, now has its family-friendly cover art. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in anything remotely family-friendly, so that’s a new thing for me. Best not get too used to it though …

Thank goodness for reflexology at lunchtime – such a treat. It set me up for a meeting straight afterwards about Freshers’ Week. I’m running one of the information point tables again this year so best gird my proverbial loins up pretty darn soon. It all starts now. The worst thing is there’s a new regime this year (groan …) and I have to come in the Sunday before Freshers’ Week as well – for six hours!!! Lordy, but I can see it’s going to be even more of a nightmare week than usual, deep deep sighing … The very thought of it is making me feel quite tearful, even now.

Tonight, I will pop into see Gladys on my way home, and then I’m anticipating an evening of quiet editing and maybe a spot of TV. You never know. Oh and there’s been yet another rejection of my comic fantasy short story, Creative Accountancy for Beginners, double sigh. And there's about one hour left (at the time of typing) of the Maloney's Law Diabetes Charity auction bid and the sum total of my bids is zero. Ye gods, that's not something I'll be doing again in the future, I can tell you that now!! So, not a first-class day then, all in all. The fed-up factor is about 10. Out of 5. Is the weekend soon???

Today’s nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Cover art for Disasters and Miracles
3. Reflexology
4. Editing
5. TV.

Anne Brooke - hoping the day will be over soon ...

A 5+ star review for The Bones of Summer!

Well, gosh and double gosh. The lovely Jen at Well Read Books has given me a 5+ star review for The Bones of Summer at Jessewave Reviews, which you can click on there and which I also produce below:

“This is my first full marks review and to be honest I'm a little nervous as to whether what I'm going to write now will actually do this book justice. It was that good. So good, in fact, that I may run out of superlatives. So good, that my mind disappeared into 'book world' and I spent every single spare moment reading. So good, that even when I had to do pesky real life things like cooking I was still thinking about the book, wondering what was going to happen next or mulling over the characters, their merits and their flaws. At the beginning of The Bones of Summer everything is going well for Craig. He's happy with where he lives and is good friends with the two women he shares a house with. He likes his modelling job, even if he's not been able to get on as an actor. Best of all, is that he gets a phone call from a guy he met a couple of months ago, Paul, who wants to get together and maybe start something. Things are on the up for Craig and he's happy to go with it and forget all about the terrible things that happened to him when he ran away from his Devon home seven years before. Unfortunately for Craig, life has a way of kicking you in the teeth when you least expect it. Just after his first date (and night) with Paul, he receives a letter from an old neighbour and friend in Devon telling him that his father is missing. This starts off a chain of events which forces Craig to return to Devon and his past and confront all that he was attempting to forget. Paul is a Private Detective and offers to help Craig investigate his past. This then impacts on their tentative relationship. There are two main themes running through this book. The first, and most obvious theme is that of facing up to your past. Craig ran away from his abusive Father at the age of seventeen and has spent the intervening years trying to avoid thinking of his childhood and the events which led to him leaving. The past, as they say, has a way of catching up with you and I found it admirable in Craig that he faces up to that once he realises that he can't stay in hiding forever. His reaction to going back to Devon was a mixture of heartbreaking and confusing for the reader. Craig himself has large gaps in his memory and often reacts to his surroundings in a very emotional way that even he can't understand, let alone explain to Paul. It takes time and a painful stripping away of the layers before Craig is even able to discover what happened. The reader is taken along with that emotional rollercoaster and I found that I had to be very patient and wait, like Craig does, before I got answers to the many questions that I had as I was reading. Paul too has a past. He has suffered tragedy and betrayal in his life which you would think would make him the ideal person to help Craig through this difficult time. However, things are never that simple which leads to the second theme: That of secrets and lies. Both men have secrets from each other. In one sense this is understandable; they have just met each other and are starting a tentative journey on the road to love. Neither one of them want to share their past with each other yet. Craig doesn't want to scare Paul off and Paul has his own reasons to which we are not privy. It did annoy me that Paul often accuses Craig of lying to him, when, rather hypocritically, he never comes wholly clean about his own past. In fact, I found myself getting cross with Paul quite a lot throughout the book. On one hand he offers to help Craig and even spends a lot of time supporting him through this terrible time; but on the other hand he uses quite brutal methods to force Craig to open up and speak about his past. Methods such as the use of emotional blackmail by withdrawing his approval or acting coldly towards him or blowing hot and cold so that Craig is confused as to where he stands in their relationship. I wasn't sure I liked Paul, but that didn't mean he wasn't a terrific character. He was - as is any character who draws such a response from me. If you are thinking that this sounds like a very angst filled book, then you will be right. Emotions run high throughout the novel. Both men are strong characters who are dealing in their own way with distressing things that have happened to them. Sometimes they break down in tears; sometimes they clash horribly and say dreadful things to each other; sometimes they make love fiercely in order to forget; sometimes they close up and suffer in silence. These were complex men and I was never really sure how they would react at any time. It was this unpredictability that had me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. What a thrilling ride! Having said that, the book wasn't all doom and gloom and what saved it from being too heavy going was the internal voice of Craig. He had a typical British self-depreciating sense of humour and a ready wit, which brought out humour in the direst of circumstances. An example of this was his self-created list of 'rules for gay men'. But he’d better not forget Gay Rule Number One: At least find out a name and a job before you do the business. Craig also has a great optimism about him. He always tries to focus on the good, even if he does worry about the bad things which are happening to him. This idealistic cheerfulness was appealing and coupled with Craig's sarcastic humour often gets him into trouble, but did help to lighten the feel of the book. I've only touched the surface of what was so great about this book. It wasn't just the realistic characterisation that made this book a fantastic read. The settings were so ordinary, so domestic, such as kitchens, bedrooms, an office, a club, and yet terrible things happened in those settings so that their mere ordinariness added to the chill down the spine. The plotting was tight, with each clue, each answer, being revealed slowly until a breathtaking, frantic, thrilling conclusion. Have I waxed lyrical enough about this book? I don't think I can. All I can do is recommend that you read The Bones of Summer. Actually, this goes beyond recommendation to a plea - if you like mystery; if you like character driven books; if you like reading compulsively, unable to part with the story for even a short time; then you must read this book.”

Double gosh and enormous thank yous from me, Jen - I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much! Actually, astonishingly glad, bearing in mind the traumas of the day and the fact that I struggle so hard to get a book published at all! It's so lovely when readers like it. Thank you.

Keeping to literary matters, here's today's meditation:

Meditation 168

A litany of disasters
opens out:
famine, disease, war,

pain, exile, oppression,
murder, cannibalism, death.
But on this day

of quietness and warmth
the voice of the past

seems far away.

This morning, I caught up with yesterday's episode of Torchwood - the shock! the awful revelation! What on earth did Jack think he was doing??!? Words fail me. I can't wait for tonight ... I've also picked up a free courtesy car from the garage as poor Rupert is going to be sick until at least the weekend. The trauma of driving a courtesy car was bad enough (Lord but I hate change), but when I attempted to get it into reverse in order to park it at home, the damn gear stick came off in my hand and the cars queueing up to wait for me to sort myself out had to wait a while longer as I struggled to get the damn thing back in. Really, it doesn't bode well ... Not only that, but I can't work out how to open the windows so when getting and giving back my car park ticket in Guildford this afternoon, I had to leap out of the car, sort out the barrier machine and then leap back into the car and drive through at a rate of knots before the pole came down again. I also had trouble getting into 2nd gear as the pesky thing tends to go straight from 1st to 4th, which makes roundabouts interesting, to say the least. And Guildford has some damn complex roundabouts. Really, it's astonishing I'm alive at all ...

Thank goodness for a girly lunch and a free glass of wine (thank the Lord for food vouchers) with Robin this afternoon. Lovely to see her, and the support while I burbled on for ten minutes from the off about cars and stress and gear sticks is hugely appreciated. Thank you, Robin. After lunch, we wandered around Guildford and I have bought a very nice green summer cardigan with my Viyella voucher - it must be a voucher day indeed.

Back home, I have finally finished typing up my notes for The Gifting and now need to go through them and highlight the things I specially need to bear in mind for the proper Hallsfoot's Battle edit. And, in the meantime and sadly, I am now one of only two authors who have no bids, for Maloney's Law at the Diabetes Charity auction. Ah, the shame is mounting, you know and only four days left, woe is me.

Lastly, you'll be pleased to know that after nearly 24 hours (24 hours!!!), my Cool-er Reader has finally charged itself up and I must now work out how to load ebooks onto it and how to read them. The mystery thickens, Carruthers ...

Today's nice things:

1. A lovely 5+ review for The Bones of Summer, hurrah!
2. Poetry
3. Torchwood
4. Lunch & shopping with Robin
5. Finishing the pre-edits
6. A charged-up Cool-er Reader - at last!

Anne Brooke - having a veritable rollercoaster day

Torchwood Day Three, Diabetes Day Five and a Cool-er Reader

Another good episode of Torchwood yesterday, though not quite as hot and on-the-edge as the first episode, I think. It’s also strange how Jack and Ianto seem to blow hot and cold, and there’s very little consistency in it. In Episode One they appeared to be a normal couple (well, relatively normal, bearing in mind Jack isn’t entirely human …), yet in Episode Two when Jack dies several times and is then rescued by Gwen & Ianto from his cement prison by the means of dropping the whole lot into a quarry so he dies and lives again, neither man appears to be that pleased to see each other. Bizarre really. Perhaps they have evil twins who occasionally take over and that’s another Torchwood secret yet to be revealed? And, while I’m on the subject, Lord H is rather puzzled as to where the Government managed to get hold of such quick drying cement and why can’t they let any of the rest of us have it … The plot thickens indeed, Carruthers, much like the cement.

Still, I’m looking forward to Episode Three which I plan to watch on the i-player tomorrow as I’m out with Jane H for pizza and chat in Godalming tonight, hurrah! (Hello, Jane).

In the meantime, the Diabetes charity auction continues and Maloney’s Law is still up for grabs. It’s a wonderful chance to support a very worthwhile cause and there are only five days left to do so … Says she, sounding only ever so slightly desperate that she’s one of the two authors who’ve received no bids yet. My reputation goes before me, I fear.

At work, we’ve had a briefing meeting for the upcoming open day next week – though I won’t actually be involved in that one, it’s always worth knowing what the plans are, especially as I’ll be organising our office team for a couple of them coming up later in the year. The excitement of the day though was when one of the Students’ Union staff came in and wanted to stamp a letter with a “Received on …” date stamp. However, without the Dean of Students’ office here today, nobody knew how to change the date stamp, and it took four of us and a lot of wasted ink to work our way to that conclusion. In the end, we just used a pen. Ah the old ways are sometimes the best, you know. New-fangled date stamps – bah, we say, bah!

And, horrifyingly, it’s that time of year for our annual review – yikes! I don’t think I’m even halfway towards completing last year’s goals yet. Best get a move on then … Oh and this week’s heroes are the Monty Python team, Ram from Student Advice, Lauren from Mentoring, and Brother Lawrence. Just because they are, really.

Still no news on the car front though – I was hoping to get it back today, but it’s all gone very quiet. Perhaps poor Rupert is beyond all hope now? Sob. Mind you, I might finally get round to looking at a new (well, second-hand new …) car at the weekend, so maybe this is a push in the right direction? Trouble is, all the cars we’ve looked at appear to be silver or black, and I was hoping for a colour this time round. Has the car industry run out of spray paint? UPDATE – sadly the car is worse off than we feared and the aircon, clutch and fanbelt are all very very unhappy. The garage man’s going to ring me again tomorrow with an ultimate price update – deep deep sigh, combined with sobbing …

I’ve now finished reading Chris Cleave’s novel, The Other Hand, which I hope to review for Vulpes Libris later. Hmm and hmm is all I can say, and editors aren’t really what they used to be … Mind you, the great news is that my new Cool-er Reader (in the picture, mine's the violet one) has arrived and I'm now charging it up ready to upload my first eBooks for reading away from my computer, hurrah. I can't wait.

Today’s nice things:

1. Torchwood
2. Charity auction
3. Date stamp fun
4. The week’s heroes
5. Thinking about a new car, maybe
6. The Cool-er Reader
7. Dinner with Jane.

Anne Brooke - bringing her reading into the 21st century at last

Torchwood Day Two, charity books and sad cars

I’m pleased to say that a signed copy of Maloney’s Law is part of an eBay charity auction to support the American Diabetes Association. This is a cause that’s very important to me, no matter what country it’s in, as a large part of my family suffer from diabetes, and both my father and grandmother died from it. So if you do feel able to bid for the book at all, that would be hugely appreciated, and the link is here. Other books in the auction can be found at Meerzoor2’s entry. And it lasts until 13 July. Many thanks indeed.

Meanwhile, the car’s not too happy. Apparently, it’s not the air con but a variety of problems with the fanbelt and adjuster thingy (no, it’s a mystery to me too …), and the garage won’t have it ready until tomorrow, so it looks like I’m going to have to rely on Lord H’s kindness and more reliable car until that point. Here’s hoping it’s not too expensive a repair though …

Oh and I must say I thought yesterday’s episode of Torchwood was fantastic. Edge-of-the-seat stuff and lots of hugely interesting plot lines. With a totally terrific cliffhanger ending. I loved it. Can’t wait for tonight’s second helping. Bring it on.

At work, I fear I might have to help out with a last-minute presentation to new international foundation students, as there’s nobody else around. Groan … How I hate being involved with presentations – it’s a nightmare. I am terrified beyond all terror of public speaking. I might just hold up our PowerPoint slides, point at the relevant phrase and hope for the best. Anything rather than having to speak. I’ll only be really happy when it’s over. UPDATE: Actually the students were really sweet and there weren’t that many of them which suited me and Ram from Student Advice, no problem. It ended up being very informal and I think we did okay – thanks, Ram! But phew, thank goodness it’s over – I’ll never be a natural.

Was thinking about walking into town at lunchtime to look at clothes, but I feel the urge might have passed. It never stays long. So I had a walk around the campus instead and got utterly drenched by the rain. So much so that I am now attempting to dry my socks out on one of the portable heaters so they’ll be dry enough to go home in. Should have brought my wellies really. I also popped into to the campus art gallery, but can’t say the latest exhibition of etchings did much for me – though I did appreciate how dark, sinister and shadowy they were. Maybe it was because it was focused on scenes from Paris, and I’m afraid I don’t much like Paris. Ah well.

Tonight, I’m taking part in a Pride Month Dreamspinner authors event at Beth Wylde’s Yahoo Group, so I’m looking forward to chatting about The Bones of Summer and various GLBT fiction matters. Thanks so much for inviting us, Beth!

And later of course there’s Torchwood Day Two – can’t forget that!

Today’s nice things:

1. Helping support a diabetes charity
2. Torchwood
3. Surviving a presentation (phew!)
4. Pride Month Dreamspinner book event.

Anne Brooke - doing her bit for diabetes support

Worthwhile books, ducks and the mysteries of Twitter

What a bright and Haydn-y morning today. Just to start us off, here’s today’s meditation:

Meditation 127

The dead
do not need
your blood
or the scatterings
of your skin.

Ask instead
where the life is
and follow it.


Thinking of poems, I’m pleased to say that Pens on Fire webzine will be publishing two of my meditation poems in July, hurrah! Naturally enough, the universe hates imbalance so at the same time a piece of flash fiction has been rejected (sigh – the idjits …), so I’ll try to turn that round and get it back out of the virtual door soonest. But the really good literary news for today is that the coffee-table book of photographs and poems/stories in support of The Alzheimer’s Society is now available, and includes one of my own haikus attached to a gorgeous photograph of water. The official press release is as below:

“Photographer Katherine Elizabeth Lewis has collaborated with author Nik Perring and 18 other writers to produce a beautiful limited edition book to raise money for the East Cheshire Branch of the Alzheimer’s Society – and it was put together, from start to finish, in just four weeks! The high quality book features 20 of Katherine’s photographs along with 20 stories, poems and haiku inspired by them. These stories and poems have come from a terrific mix of contributors; you’ll find work from local writers alongside more established ones, including three former Cheshire poet laureates, short story writer Tania Hershman (who received a special mention in this year’s Orange Prize), best-selling novelist Caroline Smailes, and award winning short story writer Vanessa Gebbie. The book is priced at £14 and is available from the photographer and from Nik Perring. And every penny of profit it makes will be donated to the East Cheshire Branch of The Alzheimer’s Society, who support people with any type of dementia, their carers and families. If you have or care for someone with memory problems please get in touch with your local branch, who can be found by clicking here.”

I do feel this is a very worthwhile cause and the book itself is a classy production with some marvellous little vignettes, so worth every penny. Thanks for putting this together, Nik & Katherine, and it’s a pleasure to be included in it indeed.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, I’ve been tweeting the initial extract of Maloney’s Law for a good few weeks now, to which the response has been … um … none. Ah well. Now that Painting from Life is available in paperback and eBook, I’ll start tweeting that instead. It’s so hard to know whether this sort of marketing attempt is worth it or not – probably not, on balance, but hey at least it gives me something to put in that empty slot on the Twitter board.

Meanwhile at work, we’re trying to sort out agendas for a raft of upcoming meetings but the goalposts keep changing. The moment we think we’ve got them sorted, something else comes up. By the time we get there, my agendas will be so long they could probably wallpaper the meeting rooms, sigh.

Oh but we’re all greatly cheered in the office today by this item of charming news about a man in the States saving a brood of ducklings. You absolutely must watch the video – it’s fabulous! Joel Armstrong, Duck-Man Extraordinare, is definitely my Hero of the Month. In fact I was so moved that I wrote a tanka (Japanese-style verse with 31 syllables divided into lines of 5/7/5/7/7 – and yes I did have to look it up too) about them. I quite like tankas. So much so that I then wrote another one about a moorhen (it’s obviously a day with a strong bird focus …). Might even try to write more of them as and when (though I suspect that’s the limit for today) – there’s certainly extra room to breathe compared to a haiku, that’s for sure.

Tonight, I shall pop into see Gladys on the way home, and then I’m planning to watch the poetry programme on television tonight. Even though it has Simon Armitage in it, and really I can’t stand his stuff. Hopefully there won’t be much of it (bitch, bitch ...).

And I’ve very much enjoyed Kate Williams’ biography of Emma Hamilton, entitled England’s Mistress. It’s lively, fascinating and well worth the read. I loved Williams’ very human writing style and she paints an in-depth picture of the woman and the age she lived in. Emma’s like a historical version of Posh, but with a barrel-load of wit and compassion. Great stuff.

In the meantime, if you haven't already donated to my attempt to raise money for Cancer Research, the link is here. And many thanks indeed to those who've already given. Not long now till the race on 6 June!!

Today’s nice things:

1. Poetry, of all shapes and sizes
2. The Alzheimer’s coffee-table book
3. The duck-man
4. Poetry on TV
5. Books.

Anne Brooke - something of a charity case herself
Cancer Research Race for Life - please give generously!