Giveaway competition: gay erotic romance

There are 3 copies of gay erotic romance, Entertaining the Delaneys, on offer in my latest Booklikes competition:

Since his initial encounter with the Delaney twins, Liam has found his thoughts turning back to them time and time again, and he can’t help hoping for another meeting. His chance happens one night when Mark Delaney rings, needing an evening's entertainment.

At the Delaney residence, Liam discovers that a business associate of the twins has agreed a deal with them, and part of that deal is Liam himself. How will the evening end and will Liam be able to handle the challenges thrown at him this time?

Reviews:

“This is a well written humorous small morsel of a story with convincing characters and scorching sex ... Anne Brooke has created an extremely arousing as well as especially enjoyable snippet. I adore the main characters and wish for a much longer version of them together.” [From a 5 star review at Literary Nymphs Reviews]

“What I’ve enjoyed most about both books in this series has been the cheeky humour of the first person narrator, Liam. He seems to have a knack of getting himself into awkward situations, whether it’s accidentally attacking the limo driver or being unable to stop opening his mouth and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. He’s a likeable chap and I found myself cheering him on all the way ... I also enjoyed the fact that Liam is less frightened of the brothers in this book, and more comfortable with perhaps pushing their relationship and going after what he wants. It led to some tense drama amongst the light-hearted narration, but also added a great deal to the story in terms of the connection between the three men.” [From a review at Brief Encounters Reviews]

“This short story is pure erotic fantasy escape but what sets it apart from other similar stories is the overall writing, and in particular the writing of Liam ...Entertaining The Delaneys by Anne Brooke offers up another well written, witty and angst-free erotic romp, with a pinch of relatively light BDSM for spice, and is a good reading escape in particular if pressed for time.” [From a review at Three Dollar Bill Reviews]

So, head on over to Booklikes and good luck in the competition!

Anne Brooke Books
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Trilogy (gay-themed)

Giveaway competition: The Paranormal Detection Agency

Just a quick tip - up to 21 June 2014, you can win a copy of gay erotic romance The Paranormal Detection Agency at the Hearts on Fire Reviews giveaway competition! 

Good luck!

Anne Brooke Books
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy (gay-themed)

Freebies galore and garden delights

Book News:

My epic gay-themed fantasy series The Gathandrian Trilogy now has its own Facebook page, and many thanks to those who've already joined up. All visitors more than welcome, and don't forget all the books are FREE.

The first in the series, The Gifting, can be downloaded for free at a wide variety of online book retailers, the newest of which is Obooko Books and Free Ebooks websites. So far in total (as far as I can tell, or am told), about 200 readers have already downloaded it, so I hope at least some of them are enjoying the read.

Meanwhile the second in the series, Hallsfoot's Battle, is due out in July and will also be a free book. As you can see, the cover art is now chosen and I'm very happy indeed with it. This one concentrates more on the story of Annyeke Hallsfoot, the kick-ass redheaded (hmm, wonder where I get that from, eh ...) new Acting Elder of the Gathandrian city, although the ongoing rollercoaster saga of Simon and Ralph is not overlooked at all. Here's the blurb:

Gelahn the Mind Executioner begins his battle campaign. His powers are unmatched - even without the mind-cane in his possession - and next he will break and possess Ralph Tregannon the Lammas Overlord. Recently appointed Acting Elder and left in sole charge of her people, Annyeke Hallsfoot draws on all her mind-skills and courage as the fight for Gathandria rages. The precious ancient legends are her bedrock and she begins teaching their wisdom to the scribe, Simon Hartstongue, who must quickly learn to work with the mind-cane's strange powers.  But Simon is distracted by his own demons and only fears the artefact, so Annyeke must plot a desperate strategy to defeat the enemy. As the Gathandrians rally behind their new leader, Gelahn strikes at the very heart of the city.

Keeping to the subject of free books, my Christian novella The Prayer Seeker is now FREE at Smashwords and Omnilit Books. So far it's been downloaded about 80 times, which is nice. Here's the blurb:

Michael Woodthorpe hasn’t attended church for many years, not since his time as an evangelical in his early twenties. One winter he decides to take early retirement in order to search for the God he used to know.

As he comes to terms with his new existence, he must face opposition from both his ex-girlfriend, and his ex-wife, whom he hasn’t seen for many years. Meanwhile, he begins a series of religious encounters with a spiritual director and slowly discovers the riches of prayer. When his journey brings him face to face with the mistakes in the past which had made him walk away from God, he must find a way to resolve them if he is to fulfil his God-given potential at all. 

In other book news, I am offering three free ebooks of gay thriller Maloney's Law in a BookLikes giveaway competition, so enter now to avoid disappointment! The competition ends on 5 July. Maloney's Law has just gained two new 4-star reviews at Goodreads, one from Lorraine, and one from Tricia who says:

"A thriller, a mystery, a tragedy, and a romance in only a dark sense. Totally worth the read and impossible to put down. New author for me, I will be looking for more titles from Anne Brooke."

In addition, Maloney's Law gained a 4.5 star review at Top2Bottom Reviews which included the following:

"Once you get into this book it's impossible to put it down. Every time you think you have it figured out, it proves you wrong. In other words it's the perfect detective book! The characters were very strong and the backstory couldn't have been better."

Goodness, many thanks indeed to all these readers and reviewers. Not to be outdone, The Bones of Summer (Maloney *2) is now available as a paperback at Amazon US. It has also this week gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (many thanks again, Lorraine).

Turning to short stories now, gay literary erotic story The Beginning of Knowledge gained a 4-star review at Pants Off Reviews, which included the following:

"Once again Anne Brooke has pulled off an emotional winning read in so few pages. Her talent for capturing human emotions, kink, and flawed characters never ceases to amaze me … The ending is bittersweet but it felt right and I am happy with it (satisfied). If this is the kind of read Wilde City Press is pushing out, then I am so on board. The Beginning of Knowledge is another winner by the queen of shorts, Ms Anne Brooke."

Well gosh, thank you. Gay romantic comedy Who Moved My Holepunch? received a 5-star review at Amazon US, and also free gay poetry anthology Falling Awake was given 5 stars at The Novel Approach Reviews, who say:

"Each piece is but a small window through which the reader is able to catch a glimpse of the authors' creative talents, each piece telling a story - a beginning, middle, and end - in all the rich tones of a free-form and lyrical language …Falling Awake, in some ways, reads like flash fiction that has been structured with a cadence and rhythm all its own."

Life News:

I was more than startled when one of our church ladies rang up this week to say how thrilled she was that I've agreed to join the group set up to read Christian stories to the children at the local school. What??!!?? All my most hated activities in one fell swoop, oh what joy. I told her it was the first I'd heard of it, I hated children and avoided them at all costs and it would be like putting Cruella de Vil in charge of the kennels. She sounded a tad put-out at my response, but certainly not as put-out as I was. Mind you, immediately afterwards, K said I'd missed a golden opportunity to introduce the local Young People to the joys of gay erotic fiction, and I should have said I'd go along and then read them some of my own work. After all, as one of my Facebook friends reminded me, my erotic comedy School for Doms is surely an educational story (it's set in a school at least ...) and would be perfect for the occasion. Hey ho. Maybe I should ring her back? Ah, the temptation ...

This week's cake was a disaster, my dears, a disaster. Though thankfully, the lovely K managed to salvage it with the icing I'd left him to cope with when I went off to help out at the University open day. It's supposed to be White Chocolate Coffee Gateau but I have renamed it (thank you, Karen!) to White Chocolate Coffee Terror Gateau. It surely has one of the most complicated recipes known to humankind - some of which involves heating two different sets of substances at the same time whilst whisking one of them with an electric whisk. Arrgghhh!! Who creates such torture?? They should be stopped at once.

Suffice it to say that K appeared in the kitchen at exactly the right time to point out that I was managing to melt the electric lead in the gas flame and some of the bits were dripping into the mixture. Oh hell. It's astonishing we're all still alive and in one piece really. Though I like to think the wiring added extra protein to the cake. I also think I baked it too long (well, I was frightened to bring it out in case it turned against me, my dears) and it has basically turned into biscuit wrapped in custard (ie that icing). But what the hell - we're English and we'll eat the dang thing if it kills us. It's the Empire spirit, don't you know.

Anyway, thank goodness for the garden to make everything calm again and the joys - today - of coffee, juice, croissants and pain au chocolat on the patio for breakfast. True bliss.

So here are sweetpeas fresh from the garden, clematis, lilies, the petunia and pansy bed, the rose garden, the trellis roses and the lychnis.

Happy Sunday!

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Trilogy: free fantasy series
Biblical Fiction UK

Anger and animals

Book News:

I'm currently taking part in a Christmas Blog Hop, and if you leave a comment on the blog below this one, you're in with a chance of winning a FREE ecopy of gay romance Two Christmases - which is of course suitably seasonal. The competition lasts until tomorrow (17 December) so there's still time to enter ...

In the meantime, surreal comedy Not a Shred of Evidence was briefly at No 79 in the Amazon UK Business Humour Charts (hurrah!) and the lovely Karen gave a great review to gay erotic short story The Heart's Greater Silence over at On Top Down Under Reviews. Many thanks, Karen.

Life News:

This week, K and I attended the Elstead Theatre Group Christmas Revue and party, which was great. I particularly enjoyed the Old Hookers' Lament, which proved beyond doubt what fine legs our local menfolk do indeed have. Say no more ...

I also had great fun at the Elstead Writers' celebratory lunch yesterday at which there was some gorgeous soup and a veritable plethora of chocolate cake, one of them made by my good self. We also has some fantastic pieces of writing to comment on, so a suitable end to our writing year.

Not only that but I have blogged about the local Guildford response to the women bishops' crisis over at The Angry Anglican, with a whistle-stop tour through the gay marriage debate also. My anger rating is currently 9 out of 10, hey ho.

I've also managed to upset the local RSPCA who for some reason known only to them came round during the week on a door-to-door visit asking for support. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Opens door, says "hello".

RSPCA Man: "My, you look lovely and cosy there."

Me: Thinks how rude and personal this idiot of a man is. Says (with my usual courtesy to unwanted callers), "what do you want then?"

RSPCA Man: "Do you like animals?"

Me: (truthfully) "No, not really."

RSPCA Man: "But you wouldn't hurt one, would you?"

Me: "If one was badly hurt, I'd kill it. It's the kindest thing."

RSPCA Man: Backs off and disappears without further comment, thank the Lord ...

Hmm, I doubt he'll be back, though I suspect the RSPCA might be keeping a close eye on me from now on.

And today, K and I have made our official Christmas visit to Mother and exchanged the required amount of gifts. Phew.

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

Christmas Blog Hop 14-17 December

Christmas Blog Hop

A happy Christmas to all! From today until 17 December, I'm taking part in the Christmas Blog Hop along with a range of other authors, and there are prizes galore to be won.

To keep in line with the season, I'm offering a FREE ecopy of gay romance Two Christmases to one lucky commenter on this post. The blurb is:

Danny Brigson makes a serious mistake when he sleeps with Marty, an old boyfriend, one Christmas. He tries to cover it up, but Marty tells all, and the love of Danny's life, Jake, throws him out.

Over the next year, Danny tries to sort his life out with the hopes that when the next Christmas comes around, Jake will give him the chance to put things right ...

Here's an extract of the scene where Danny first meets Jake at a business party he's helping to arrange. Hope it gets you in the mood!

I’d only just finished sorting out the crisis when the first of the guests started arriving, all management, out and ready to party. Couldn’t say I blamed them. A day’s worth of high‐maintenance team building would be a day’s worth too long for me. I clocked Jake at once, appreciating his long lithe body and that swept‐back hair. Eyes to sink into as well, I remember thinking, if I ever got close enough. I allowed myself the privilege of a few more glances on my way out and, to my surprise, at the last of them his eyes caught mine and he gave me a slight but unmissable smile. The heat flared in my skin and my heart beat faster. I didn’t pursue it though, not in front of a roomful of strangers and when attempting to look professional in front of a client. The boss would have killed me otherwise.

At the door though, my luck proved to be in. One of the waiters came racing toward me, his bow‐tie askew and his hair looking like it would need a good comb before the evening was out.

“Danny? Danny Brigson?”

“Yeah? That’s me. What’s up?”

“Chef says we’re still short of staff. Would you mind giving the barman a hand with the drinks? We’ve got two parties in tonight. We’ll pay you.”

I nodded. Frankly I could do with the cash and, even then, the chance to see a little more of Jake had brought the smile to my face.

I worked like a dog that evening. The crowd were eager to celebrate, and the empty glasses kept on coming back. And back. Every now and again, I saw Jake and, once, our hands touched when I refreshed his wine. A good Pinot Noir, which made me smile. He didn’t strike me as a Chardonnay man.

It was way past midnight when he finally gave me the eye. God knew I’d been making what I wanted obvious enough—serving him first when I could, even though that was a real no‐no in the secret Barman’s Code. Anyway, at a quarter past midnight, I looked across at my fellow barman, a bloke called Arnie who seemed like he’d been around the block a few times. And some.

“Is it okay if I...?”

He grinned. “Sure. It’s easing off now. I think I can cope. Besides, it looks as if you’ve got business to attend to.

I smiled back. “Yeah, if I’m lucky, but for God’s sake, keep it quiet.”

“My lips are sealed. Not my bag, but live and let live, eh?”

I made my way out of the bar, only needing to glance back once to make sure Jake was following. I wondered how long it would take him to talk to me and what he might do or say, whether I would need to take charge to get things moving.

I needn’t have worried.

In the corridor between the hall and the Gents’, I found myself being pushed back against the wall, and then warm fingers on my face, and Jake’s tongue in my mouth. He tasted of wine and lemons. I kissed him back. No, I did more. I pulled his shirt free and ran my hand up his spine, desperately seeking skin. I groaned into his mouth as if I’d been waiting for this for a lifetime and had almost given up hope it would ever happen, even though I’d only seen him for the first time tonight. I pulled his body toward mine and pressed my straining dick against his legs, feeling his answering hardness against my own.

I swear it was the best kiss I’d ever had up until that point. Better than any sex I’d had or even dreamed of. It lasted forever. It was way too short.

When we finally pulled apart, we were both gasping. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. While I wiped my mouth, my fingers trembling, still relishing the taste of him on my lips, he recovered enough to speak.

“Jesus,” he said, and his voice was shaking too. 

Don't forget - leave a comment here between now and December 17th and you're in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

Meanwhile, there are lots of other prizes to be won in the rest of the blog hop. Happy reading!

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK

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 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 Five: the joys of Thomas Covenant

The latest stop on my book tour for The Gifting find me reliving happy memories of reading Stephen Donaldson's marvellous Earth Wars series, starring the wonderful leper and embittered writer Thomas Covenant. These books utterly gripped me through my teenage years, and were a very strong influence in my creation of murderous scribe Simon Hartstongue in the Gathandrian Trilogy.

So come along and pay a visit to the Fantasy Friday blog (albeit a little late) and see if you agree with me! Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway and to try your luck in the free Kindle competition.

Have a great and bookish weekend and the book tour recommences on Monday!

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

Treasure Hunts, Nuns and getting rid of the baggage

Book News:

I'm delighted to say that my children's book The Origami Nun has received its first review at Goodreads and it's a 5-star one. Many thanks, Bonnie! So glad your grandchildren enjoyed the read.

Turning to slightly different literary matters, the Erato GLBT Treasure Hunt is now taking place, and you can win some lovely prizes, so don't forget to take part! The event ends on 2 July, so there's still time.

In addition, you can find a revisited interview with me at Joo's Interviews - I hope you enjoy the read this time round. And at Vulpes Libris, you can find my review of Karin Altenberg's Island of Wings. An interesting book, but it doesn't quite work as a novel, in my view. Have a read and see what you think ...

Recent meditations are:




Meditation 671
The sense of satisfaction
when a task is over
or a job done well

is worth that roller coaster ride
you took to get here
with the tales you have to tell.




Meditation 672
The silence between
words and thought
is filled with riches
not easily bought

and the way you take
through the shadowy lane
is laced with singing
beneath the rain.




Meditation 673
It only takes
one person
in the right place
at the right time
to change the world

and it only takes
one moment
for us to consent
with a clear heart
to live our lives unfurled.


Life News:

Well, after ten days of tricky discussions, during which we have gained new insights into the meaning of the words "malicious" and "posturing" (and some amusement from them...), I'm very happy to say that we're about to be rid of one of the nastiest people in our lives at the moment, double huzzahs and put out the bunting! It's such a relief - even more than we imagined it would be, which is definitely the best way round. Can't say anything more at the moment (except HUGE thanks to the lovely Superstar Duo for today - you know who you are ...!), but we're looking forward to a very relaxing summer, where though we'll be poorer we'll definitely be happier. As they say, it's always good to get rid of the excess baggage. Phew. Bring it on.

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

A pre-birthday blog and a fun competition

Life News:

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

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

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

Book News:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week's meditation poems are:




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

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




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

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




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

not yet comfortable
with its slow
and subtle demands.

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

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


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

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

Blog Tour Day 7

Yes, it's already Day 7 of my blog tour and I'm in two places at once today, so hope you'll be able to join me at one or other of them, or maybe even both: first off, I'm looking more closely at the short story format at Brief Encounter Reviews; and then I'm revealing how I started writing The Heart's Greater Silence at Jadette Paige's site.

And don't forget if you leave a comment on any of the blog tour posts, then you're in with a chance of winning a plethora of prizes!

I'm also thrilled to announce that from 23 February to 3 March I will be Author of the Week at Pants Off Reviews - and this will also include a fun competition so mark the date in your diaries to avoid disappointment. I'm very much looking forward to that one.

The Sunday haiku is:

The silence of snow
rises through my cloudy breath
in this frosted prayer.


I'm very much having a chill-out day today, as I'm back at work tomorrow so it's going to be hugely busy for a while. Can't wait for my afternoon nap - bring it on ... Hope you all have a lovely rest of Sunday, and happy snoozing.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

Blog Tour Day 6 and the winter garden

Book News:

Here we are at Day 6 of my blog tour, and I'm at Brief Encounter Reviews for the weekend. Today's post is their review of The Heart's Greater Silence, which is an interesting mixed response, so many thanks to PP for raising some fascinating points.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Amara who was the winner of my Amber Allure Spotlight competition yesterday, and so wins The Delaneys and Me, and Entertaining the Delaneys. Happy reading, Amara!

And for the whole of FEBRUARY you can get 25% discount off ALL my Amber Allure titles, so keep yourself warm and cosy throughout the Valentine month - happy shopping.

In addition, literary romance A Woman Like The Sea is currently selling at a 30% discount directly from Untreed Reads, so I hope you give that one a try too. Thank you!

Life News:

In spite of the chill in the weather, K and I have spent a lovely day at The Savill Garden, wandering around and admiring the hellebores, the camellias and the general covering of snow. Thank goodness for the Wellington boot, eh. Lunch in the cafe was greatly appreciated too, especially as they have cappuccino and cupcakes to die for. Mmmmm ....

On the way back, we popped into a couple of garden centres (as you do) and have bought a lot of lavender in the sale, and some Christmas box - which smells utterly glorious. Oh, and I invested in a lavender-scented candle too, so spring in all its splendour is surely in the air. We hope.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy - still curiously unpopular but it might just grow on you ...
Gay Reads UK - more literary than one would expect
Biblical Fiction UK - where God isn't as odd as he's made out to be, possibly

Hearts, webs and daffodils

Book News:

I now have the dates and stops for my upcoming book blog tour for literary gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence, which takes place from 6 to 16 February. Hope to see as many of you there as possible - there will be loads of competitions, goodies, giveaways and some big prizes so well worth putting it in your diary! So far this week, I've completed and sent off a couple of interviews for it, and the questions have been very searching indeed - so watch this space.

Meanwhile, on the first day of the new year, I sold a copy of fantasy novel The Gifting, which is very heartening news indeed - as sadly it's not one of my best-selling works, I fear, ah well. So if anyone would like to double this quarter's numbers and make it 2, I'll be your friend for life! Scary thought there ... Mind you, I'm thrilled that The Gifting has won free advertising on the Kindle UK Users' Forum in February, so perhaps I might persuade a few others to take the plunge too. You never know.

In other book news, I now have a website purely for my gay and lesbian fiction which I hope will enable readers and visitors to find what they're looking for more easily. So now, I have a gay fiction site, a Biblical fiction and poetry site (which includes my latest meditation poetry) and a fantasy site for The Gathandrian Trilogy. I'm thinking about a literary fiction site as well, but I'll have to see how things go for that.

Over at Untreed Reads, lesbian short story The Girl in the Painting was their no 3 International bestseller for last month and also reached No 22 in the Amazon UK charts earlier this week, which was nice. Surreal short story The Secret Thoughts of Leaves was purchased by a Canadian library, and literary short How To Eat Fruit gained a 4-star review.

Not to be outdone, literary short story Painting from Life also received a 4-star review, as did erotic gay romance Dating the Delaneys. Many thanks to you all for your comments. And over at Preditors & Editors, you can vote for romantic comedy Rosie By Name in the Short Stories (Other genres) category and historical fiction Dido's Tale in the Romantic Short Stories category. Many thanks indeed if you do!

During the week I've also found this wonderful website which combines internet book shopping with support for your local independent bookstores so I've ordered a couple of books and am looking forward to seeing how it works. Well done indeed to the Hive Network.

Here's this week's meditation poems:


Meditation 604
The whisper of silver
and glittering gold

is a siren song
to make men bold

but the gentler whisper
of God’s redemption

is never a thing
they like to mention.


Meditation 605
The understanding
that God sees all

is both a promise
and a threat;

it makes our good deeds
just a little better

and our bad ones
a far greater debt.


Meditation 606
At the end of life
the only mementos

are the shadow
of the deep encroaching rock

and the whisper
of spices.


Finally in this section, I'm delighted to announce that if you follow me on Twitter up to and including 25 January, then you win a free ebook of your choice from my backlist. Happy New Year to you!

Life News:

This week, I've been back at work for a couple of days and I must say it's rather satisfying to get back into my familiar routine - what a creature of habit I am, eh. It's also been very useful to catch up before the students return next week, as now I feel I'm prepared for them, hurrah. So nice to get in and get acclimatised again before the rush - always a wise move.

We've also finally bought the curtains we wanted and have put them up in the reading room (as we like to call it). They look amazing and cosy up the place no end. Lovely. Now we're planning to get matching cushion covers (how very Surrey!...) and then at last we'll be a really grown-up couple ...

Today, I've also done battle over the phone with Tesco Bank, groan. All I wanted to do was change my address, but I had to go through a whole rigmarole of personal questions, including a list of former jobs I've had etc etc, before they'd accept I was who I said I was, sigh. They then said that as I wasn't on telephone banking and didn't have a pin number it wouldn't be official, and please could I set up telephone banking and get a pin number in order to make it so. Deep sigh. Call me old-fashioned, but I actually don't want to - on the grounds that by the time I've gone through the list of questions to make telephone banking work, then I might as well have got into the car, driven into Guildford and spoken to my main bank directly. It would at least be quicker. Hmm, I don't think they took kindly to my saying that, nor to the moment I reassured the call-handler that I knew we were both nothing more than pawns in the capitalist system but could he please just update my address before we both imploded? Oh well, who knows where my next Tesco letter will end up? If you find it, just pass it along, will you? Many thanks ...

The day was however considerably lightened in its existential suffering quota when I saw there were actually daffodils in bloom on the Research Park. Gosh indeed! Is it Spring already? What fun.

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads
The Gathandrian Trilogy

Hearts and minds

Book News:

Heck, it's been busy over the Christmas period, but great fun too. First off there's good news about my literary gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence which is now being sent off to reviewers prior to publication, so I'm looking forward to seeing what people think. You can read a short extract from the beginning at Riptide Publishing's site. Don't forget that if you pre-order, you're also in with a chance of winning a year's supply of Riptide books, so order early to avoid disappointment.

Meanwhile, I've also developed a website devoted to my fantasy series The Gathandrian Trilogy. There you can find out everything you need to know about The Gifting, Hallsfoot's Battle and The Executioner's Cane, as well as getting to discover the ins and outs of the characters in the story, including feisty red-haired women, magical mind-canes and mysterious snow-ravens. There are also extracts from The Gifting and Hallsfoot's Battle, so you can try before you buy. Have fun exploring!

Until tomorrow, you can also win a copy of gay erotic short story Dating the Delaneys at Brief Encounter Reviews. Ideal for keeping you extra warm at New Year. Failing that, you can still get 20% off all my books at Rainbow Ebooks, so don't miss out.

And a BIG thank you to everyone at Amber Allure Press and also Riptide Publishing for the lovely Christmas cards I received from them both. It's really very much appreciated!

Life News:

Christmas has been great this year - really lovely and quiet. Just me and my loved one, which is how I like it, hurrah. Talking of which, K bought me a new Kindle and therefore takes possession of my old one. Plus he was kind enough to buy me the whole of the first series of Blake's 7 on DVD so I can drool over the glorious Avon whenever I like. Mmm, bliss ... Other joys of Christmas were the Christmas Day service at church where the vicar asked the children in the congregation what presents they'd received. Cue one small boy: "I got a toothbrush, and toothpaste!" Well, there's nothing you can say to that really, except to rejoice in how delighted the little chap sounded. Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen is obviously the way to go, though even I do hope he received rather more than that!

It's also been a time to sort things out in the garden. Together K and I have radically pruned the roses, put up some more trellis (which is looking fantastic, I must say) and sanded down the gate ready for repainting. Having fun outdoors has kept my mind well away from the utter disaster of attempting to change from my MobileMe account to the new so-called improved iCloud. Lordy, it's the worst ever IT change we've had to try (and we must do it as otherwise all our emails and websites disappear next summer without a trace) and I think Apple have done exceedingly badly in making up such a hugely complex set of steps to go through. It actually took us three whole days, one and off, and we're not done yet. The extra pain is that all my MobileMe websites have to find other hosts as iCloud doesn't do websites. Stupid iCloud, eh. I am distinctly not impressed with the whole palaver, deep sigh. And apparently I'm not the only one complaining either.

Still, we've had a couple of great trips out, one to Wisley where I bought a lovely apple-shaped doorstop which can now replace the piece of cardboard which has been holding the living-room door open for three months, phew. Plus we had a fantastic day out at The Hillier Gardens, which has the largest winter garden in Europe. It's amazing, I must say, and the food is to die for too, so we'll definitely be back.

Anne Brooke

The Gathandria Trilogy: for the best in fantasy fiction