Hampton Court Flowers and a very figgy mystery

Book News:

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

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

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

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

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

Recent meditation poems are:




Meditation 674
Our best joys
must be allowed
to leave us

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




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

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


Life News:

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

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

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

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

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

Blog Tour grand finale: sex, faith and bullying

The final day of my blog tour for The Heart's Greater Silence is here. Today (and indeed yesterday but I couldn't blog about it as I've not been well ...) you can find me at:

Riptide Ripples - where I talk about why Riptide Books and I are a perfect fit.
Bitch Factor 10 - where I reveal the close links between sex and faith in my fiction.
Jeff Erno's Blog - where I discuss my own experiences of bullying and how we can all support the vital anti-bullying campaign. It's a subject very close to my heart indeed, as you can probably tell.

I hope you gain something from these articles, and don't forget that if you leave a comment on any of them today, then you're still in with a chance of winning a variety of book prizes. Tomorrow, the winners will be picked. Good luck, all!

I'm also happy to announce that I now have an author page at QMO Books, so many thanks to the lovely Serena Yates for arranging that for me.

Finally, as above, I'm not terribly well at the moment - the usual nasty cold/catarrh attacks, so I didn't go into work yesterday, and I've not slept much over the last couple of days and certainly haven't been eating anything. However, today I think I'm slowly on the mend (hurrah!) as I've actually managed to have a bath and get dressed and clean my teeth - so jolly good news if anyone happens to call. Though I wouldn't recommend it, to be honest, as I still look like a reject from an old Hollywood horror film or, as a friend of mine once admitted: something that died ten years ago but hasn't yet realised it. Ah, such truthfulness is what friends are for, you know ...

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

Fun Facts about Guildford

The setting of my literary gay short story, The Heart’s Greater Silence, is Guildford, my nearest town, and most of the action takes place in the church at the bottom of the High Street. One of my friends recently created a brand new genre for my story which she calls Hot Clerical Action, or HCA for short, and she’s not far wrong, but you’ll have to read it for yourself to find that one out!

I used the town as I wanted somewhere I thought of as ordinary as a backdrop for the intense and obsessive relationships that my main character, Mark, is involved with. But actually when I started looking more closely, I soon realised that nothing is as “ordinary” as we think it is, when we start investigating. Not even a town … 

I didn’t know, for instance, that Guildford Cathedral was the setting for the 1976 film version of The Omen – there was a brave decision of the church to make, that’s for sure. Sadly though, even in spite of having a cathedral, Guildford still isn’t a city. It last made an application for city status in 2002 but the Queen decided against it. Shame … Though in this Jubilee Year, perhaps she might change her mind (hint, hint)?

If I’m looking for more obvious literary connections, then I find that Ford Prefect from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy claimed to be from Guildford (good man!), and Lewis Carol, the author of Alice in Wonderland, lived and was buried here. Both great classics indeed. 

Turning to other places of worship beyond that visited by Mark and Richard in my story, one of the oldest sites we have in Guildford is a Jewish one, as in 1995 the remains of a 12th century synagogue were discovered in the High Street. In fact it’s believed to be the oldest remains of a synagogue in Europe, so an important religious centre for all indeed.

Naturally, the town is also a centre of sporting excellence, especially with the new Surrey Sports Park just opened nearby, with a special emphasis on this year’s Olympics (well, we’re only 30 minutes from London by train). But as early as 1598, a court case referred to the game of cricket being played in c1550 at the Royal Grammar School. Keeping tradition alive, the School still exists and still has a cricket team though I don’t think any of them remember that first game …

Finally, the two most likely possibilities for the origin of the name Guildford itself are the yellow (Guild = Golden) sand the river runs through, or the yellow marigolds that grow down by the river. Perhaps not as strange as the other facts I’ve unearthed in my investigations, but certainly just as poetic. I shall never look at my home town in quite the same way again, nor assume any setting I use in my fiction is ever really ordinary.

So, what’s the secret life of your home town, and does it have a quirky fact or two of its own? If so I’d love to hear it! And don’t forget if you leave a comment on the blog, then you’re automatically entered in the below competition:

1. Two contests per stop - the first one being a backlist ebook giveaway for one commenter, and the second one being one signed Heart's Greater Silence cover flat and magnet for another commenter.

2a. I also have two cumulative competitions throughout the blog tour, the first one involving answering 3 questions from The Heart's Greater Silence - with the prize being 3 backlist ebooks for one commenter from the tour as a whole. Please send your answers to: albrooke@me.com - thank you! The questions are:

(i) What item of his trade is Richard wearing when Mark sees him in church? 

(ii) When Craig discovers Mark and Richard together, what does he do just before leaving? 

(iii) What action does Mark take at the end of the story?

2b. And the second cumulative competition is for a gift certificate to be drawn at the end of the tour - with this NOT being the winner of Item 2a (see above).

Good luck!

(With grateful thanks to the Guildford Fun Trivia site for the facts!)

Anne Brooke

The Gathandrian Trilogy

Gay Reads UK

Biblical Fiction UK

Blog Tour Day Five and a little quirky romance

Book News:

Here we are at Day Five of my Blog Tour for The Heart's Greater Silence, and today you can find me at:

Ren Thompson's site - where you can find out the 10 worst things I've ever done in church, and add your own too, if you like!
Shannon Leigh's site - to discover the secret superpowers I really wish I had.
Ebook Addict Reviews - where you can read about my all-time favourite song and why I chose it ...

And let's not forget that all the competitions are still open throughout the blog tour so don't forget to leave a comment to enter!

At the same time, today is a very special day, as I'm also the focus of this Friday's Author Spotlight at the Amber Heat Readers Yahoo Group - where I'm posting information and extracts about the Delaneys gay erotic series all day long. If you join the group and leave a comment, then you're in with a chance of winning a FREE ecopy of The Delaneys and Me, AND Entertaining the Delaneys - i.e. the first two books in the series. Good luck to everyone!

Speaking of which, I'm very happy to see The Delaneys and Me gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (thanks, Mickie) and a 5-star review at Amazon US (thank you, Lyne). So a red-letter day for Liam and those twins indeed.

And keeping to the subject of reviews, I was also happy to see that gay thriller A Dangerous Man also gained a 5-star review at Amazon US - so many thanks again to Lyne for that one. It's much appreciated.

Life News:

Not much today apart from books, I have to admit. Though today's snowfall has meant no golf this morning, sadly. Which is a bit of a shame, but I did need the time to get on with book stuff (see above!) so perhaps a blessing in disguise ... Hopefully it'll be all bright and warm next week (ho ho) so we'll be able to get out on the course. You never know.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

Salt, Gold and Sexy Scavengers

I'm pleased to say that the revised version of Salt and Gold is now available from the Lulu store at a very reasonable price, if anyone is so tempted. I'm hoping it will also be available on Amazon at some point, but I'll let you know when that transpires. And if they allow it.



Speaking of which, here's today's poem:

Meditation 230

Sometimes blindness
leads to sight

and palm trees
to iron chariots.

Everything that is
contains its opposite

twin and is as fluid
as the ungraspable air.


Have had a lovely morning today - my first port of call was a glorious back and facial massage with Alice, the Clarins gal. My, how I've needed that this week - the thought of it has been keeping me going through the start of the week for sure. After that I also met Jane H (hello, Jane!) for lunch and a catch-up, which was totally lovely. Really, I should do more of this Lady of Leisure stuff - I think it suits me.

On the way back, I popped into the doctor's to pick up my latest prescriptions, but only one of them was in store - so I have a fresh supply of nasal spray (hurrah! Breathing is sooo useful ...), but have to go back tomorrow for my HRT packages. And it's such a nightmare to park at the surgery at the moment too as they appear to be rebuilding it from scratch. The poor pharmacy lady has to ply her trade from what is little more than a Portaloo.

Anyway, this afternoon, I have been updating my website with the latest poetry news, and creating mini-sites for Salt and Gold - as above - and also for A Stranger's Table. I'm pleased that both my extant poetry collections now have their own separate worlds, however tiny.

I've also been continuing the edit to The Hit List, and am now on page 200, which is about two-thirds through. It's a real slow-burn romance, that one, but I like it and it seems right for the angsts and uncertainties of the two men involved. They'll get there. They're just taking their time.

Tonight, I'm looking forward to It Takes Two, with Claudia, and - are the rumours true? - is Boris Johnson in EastEnders?? Now there's something I really have to watch. But, my goodness, soon we won't be able to tell real life and fantasy life apart at all ...

Finally, and very excitingly, I've been included in the Dark Divas Sexy Scavengers October competition and there are a multitude of book prizes to win (including one of my own books). So do pop along and enter. The deadline is (of course!) Halloween. Good luck!

Today's nice things:

1. The revised Salt and Gold collection
2. Poetry
3. Clarins massage
4. Lunch with Jane
5. Website
6. A Stranger's Table having its own small page
7. Editing The Hit List
8. TV
9. The Sexy Scavengers competition.

Anne Brooke
Sexy Scavengers - the place to be

Various reviews and a pre-holiday scramble

Am thrilled to say that I had two good reviews yesterday evening. First off was a four-star review of Painting from Life on the Goodreads site from Daisiemae – thank you, Daisiemae! And I also had a lovely five star review of A Dangerous Man on Amazon UK from Ms D Ilott which you can read below:

“Anne Brooke's novel of the collision of art and money, ambition and power, grabs you from the start and doesn't let go. What's especially impressive is the way that Brooke's style sets up narrative information - about the business of art, the grinding frustration of hustling cash for ambitions always just out of reach - without letting go the pace or losing purpose. There's always something going on and Brooke is highly skilled at pushing the story forward, even when pausing on her characters' thoughts and motives. The artist Michael draws in monochrome, surely a deliberate parallel with the business of writing, struggling to control the colours beyond the edge of the paper. The metaphor works, as do the London settings; Brooke has the feel for how so much of London seems frosted with dust whatever the weather. But the characters are far from colourless. Believable, fallible people chasing their own ambitions; even the bully Paul has his reasons. Michael's relationship with rich-boy Jack is neatly drawn, recognisable to anyone who knows that people who sleep together do not necessarily get along. And the plot twist is surprising, even on second reading. A shady, chilly story - so much of it seems to take place in half-light - that manages to say something about art (about writing too) without being pretentious and gives an ingenious riff on the dour old truth that the worst that can happen is to get what you want.”

Thanks, Ms Ilott – much appreciated! And here’s today’s poem:

Meditation 221

They wait
in sunlight
and the street’s low murmur

for the shadow
of the man
who once touched goodness

to pass by.
And everywhere
rumours of healing,

echoes of song.


At work, I’m running around attempting to sort out those Sunday early arrivals flyer – ah, the mysteries of reducing maps and getting everything to line up. At least the boss appeared to know what to do which was a relief, hurrah. And thanks only to him, we’ve finally got it all under control. Phew. Astonishing really that in an office with at least three professionally trained secretaries (including me, ho ho), the only person who could work the photocopier properly was the boss. Ah well, thank goodness my review is over for this year …

Managed to nip into town at lunchtime to put a cheque in (well, gosh) and get some last-minute holiday gubbins (suncream and … err … suncream, really). Much to my horror, the sales lady in Boots who took my cash had an absolutely streaming cold, poor thing – I only hope I don’t get it, dammit … Time for some Echinacea, big-time, I feel. This afternoon, I was knee-deep in minuting the thrills and spills of the Student Experience Strategy Project Board. No, I don’t really know what that means either, but I don’t think anyone’s quite found me out yet … Actually, it was a really good meeting, but there’s no chance of getting the minutes written up before I’m off though, so I hope I remember what on earth it was all about by the time I get back.

Tonight, I have the final twenty pages of Hallsfoot’s Battle to edit, so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel at last. And the lovely people at Dark Diva Reviews are having a month-long October competition and are including me in it. More to be revealed in October …

Today’s nice things:

1. Review of Painting from Life
2. Review of A Dangerous Man
3. Poetry
4. Editing Hallsfoot
5. The Dark Diva Reviews competition.

Anne Brooke – surrounded by paperwork but dreaming of Italy …
A Dangerous Man – art and love in all its forms

Reviews, erotic acceptances and e-readers

Goodness, what a literary day it’s turning out to be. First off, here’s this morning’s meditation:

Meditation 148

Whispers in the dusk
lead to questions
at sunrise

but morning mist
vanishes
and you will find

nothing.
Close your lips,
open your eyes

and wait.


I’m pleased with a review of Painting from Life which appeared at the You Gotta Read review site yesterday from Shawn Weisser:

“The book was not what I expected. The main character, an artist, is entranced by the character he sees and feels in another man’s face. Seeing an old man at a distance he notices each line of his face and cannot distance himself. He needs to paint this man. It has a slight feel of a homosexual love but does not break that barrier. Anne Brooke has written an intriguing tale about love between humans and how people give of themselves. I felt that there was more of a story to tell and anticipated a different ending. I would love to see where this relationship goes as I create the scenario in my mind. It is an interesting and thoughtful story.”

Interestingly, the actual rating given was Average or Less than Average, but I do understand it’s a tricky one to pin down for sure! In any case, I’m very grateful to Shawn for taking the time to write a review – it’s much appreciated. The people at the You Gotta Read site have also invited me to post a guest blog at some point, so I shall look forward to that too.

Keeping on literary matters, I’m also astonished that my first ever lesbian erotic short story, Truth or Dare, has been accepted by Clean Sheets magazine for publication in July. Well, gosh. I wonder if I should write another, or just quit while I’m ahead? One to ponder on perhaps …

I’m also hugely, hugely excited by the new ereader which has been produced by the Cool Readers company in Reading (appropriately enough, I suppose …). I’m definitely putting this (in the lovely pale violet colour) on my birthday list as I’d love to have one – and it appears to be the only ereader that’s compatible with a Mac and works in the UK. Result! I can’t wait to get my hands on it …

Meanwhile, at work, I’m busy writing up yesterday’s minutes and hoping I can get the first draft done before the end of the day – particularly as this is my last day in before our holiday and I’m bound to forget everything by the time we get back. UPDATE: I managed it, hurrah! That’s one less thing on my list to worry about. And that definitely calls for a Starbucks celebration.

Tonight, there’s Springwatch on TV, and I’m also planning to send out some poetry submissions, as I haven’t done any for a while. Can’t have the publishers having an easy life, eh … I might even send a short story into the great ether of the Bridport Prize, never to return. Well, I like to live dangerously, and with no real hope – it’s part of my psyche, don’t you know.

Ooh and Lord H has come home with strawberries and cream provided for him by Reed Accountancy Employment Services - mmm, lovely. But they must really be desperate for him to give someone a job. Anyhow, it will go some way towards easing his continuing shock when I told him in great excitement yesterday that there were "four kingfishers" on Springwatch - his look of astonishment and expressed concern that surely fisherfolk weren't that bad is a definite indicator that the level of my swearing around the flat (you'll probably need to think about it for a while ...!) has perhaps gone a little too far.

Today’s nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Painting from Life review
3. Lesbian short story acceptance
4. An ereader I can use!
5. TV
6. Planned poetry submission
7. Strawberries and cream.

Anne Brooke - where oranges are certainly not the only fruit ...

Back to the battle, a gay solution and a competition prize

Still getting there on the health front today, slowly slowly. A lot of coughing and snorting - in fact I'm thinking of applying for a job as an old horse, should one be up for grabs anywhere. Really, I'd be brilliant. We've also been continuing to laugh a lot at MPs. Such joy to know that the criminals are all safely gathered in one place: Parliament. Ho hum.

We're also smiling at the Church Times which, as always, manages to grab the last word on the religious issue of the day - in response to the recent appalling news about the London conference encouraging homosexual people to be "turned straight" (Lord preserve us from such idiocy, we cry ...), one of their literature-focused columnists suggests that in fact the world would be a lot more pleasant and far more moral if there was a programme to turn us all gay - then Macbeth would have shacked up with Duncan rather than murdering him, Jane Eyre would have managed to talk Mrs Rochester down from the roof and Romeo would have settled down happily in Verona with Mercutio. There's much to be said for it indeed - where do we all sign up??

Meanwhile, I've finally got myself back into writing more of Hallsfoot's Battle and am now at 118,500 words. Mind you, I'm getting hugely twitchy now and I just want to (CAPITALS DELIBERATE) GET THIS DANG FIRST DRAFT FINISHED and have a bloody good lie-down. Please??? I'm sooo nearly at the end of the wretched battle scene, then I have to finish the mopping up, get Simon, Ralph, Johan and Annyeke in the places where they should be and I'm done. Honestly, it's as if I can glimpse the finish line in the distance, but the sweat in my eyes is meaning the whole damn thing's a bit blurred and I'm not sure I'll get there in one piece. Or, more accurately maybe, it's like a piece of classical music Lord H and I were listening to on the radio a few days ago where just as you thought they'd played the final chord, there was another ... and another ... and then another. And only THEN was it over. Writing the end - or trying oh so desperately to write the end - of Hallsfoot is hugely like that. Goddammit. I'm tired, I've had it up to here and I need to start something else. Soon.

But there's more positive literary news too, thank the Lord. The lovely people at First Edition Magazine are offering a complete and signed set of my novels as a competition prize in their June edition - which is out now in WHSmith's, hurrah! My name is even on the front in a big red circle, so that's lovely. I'm just hoping and praying that some kind people out there might actually enter the competition (the answers are easy and can be found either in my interview in the May edition or on my website, hint hint ...) -as the humiliation if nobody enters and they have to ditch the books or (worse!) send them back to me doesn't really bear thinking about. Though of course I am doing nothing else but thinking about that scenario, sigh ...

Tonight, I'm gearing myself up for the joys of Primeval and then we must watch as much of Eurovision as we can bear. The honour of the country, don't you know. Ho ho. It won't be the same without Sir Terry however - and I really don't think much of that dreadful UK entry. I tried to listen to it on YouTube earlier in the week and could only manage about 30 seconds without losing the will to live. So, bearing in mind the undoubted influence of my cultural opinion on the music (or indeed any other) business, that probably means the damn thing will be an outright winner. Lord preserve us once more.

Today's nice things:

1. Church Times articles
2. Limping to the finish with Hallsfoot, slowly
3. Being a competition prize - at last, at last!
4. TV.

Anne Brooke - aiming high at nul points ...
Cancer Research Race for Life - all donations very gratefully received

Church and chilling

Braved the distinctly wintry chill today to go to the 10am service - where it was so darn cold that I kept my woolly hat and fingerless gloves on throughout. Or almost throughout - after all, one doesn't want to get pieces of wafer stuck to one's gloves during communion. But never say I can't do Surrey style, ho ho. Anyway it wasn't a bad service - great hymns and the approachable vicar was there. Plus the coffee warmed us up afterwards and we didn't have to chat too much. Hurrah!

On the way back, we drove to the Surrey Park Clinic as my appointment is on Tuesday, and I'll be panicking too much about everything else without panicking about how I ruddy well get there or find a parking space as well. By now, Lord H is used to my overwhelming need to visit strange places to find out how I get to them, so took it all in his stride as ever.

The rest of the day, I've spent doing my monthly round of poetry competition submissions and catching up on TV missed during the week. I'm also popping pills for Britain in order to keep my cold under control. Wish me luck, eh! But talking of TV, Lord H's nephew, Kevin, was on "Dirty Rotten Cheater" (I think that's right!) on Friday, and won it too - thus proving the quality and honesty of the family I have married into, eh! A chip off the old block indeed ... even more so when you consider Kevin is just finishing his Mathematics degree at Cambridge Uni and would love to be a lawyer. So very similar to Lord H indeed!

Tonight, I'm planning to do some more to the novel and am quite looking forward to it really. Rather than worrying obsessively about it - so that makes a change. And of course it's the results show of "Strictly Come Dancing", so I absolutely can't miss that. Hey, if only they'd vote off that hugely irritating Alesha or Kelly - now that would be grand.

Oh, and one of the lovely gang of people whom Lord H and I met on our Egypt holiday a few years back has emailed to say that his wife would like the full Brooke Collection (which sounds way too grand for me!) for Christmas, minus The Hit List which she already has. Now that's cheered me for sure. I've always liked the idea of making it to stocking filler status! And now at last I have. So thank you, Miriam, and I hope you enjoy the rather eclectic reads.

This week's haiku:

Cold tingles my skin
and morning tiles freeze my feet;
winter closes in.

Today's nice things:

1. Great hymns at church
2. Getting a request for my books - all of them, ye gods!
3. TV.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website

Birds galore and a good review

Had something of a disturbed night last night (women's troubles, so move on quickly if you're a man!) and was up for an hour or so at 3am before I felt able to go back to bed again. I read my copy of the Writers' News competition supplement and was much surprised to see (whilst groaning and clutching a hot-water bottle to my stomach) that I'd been shortlisted in the Betjeman poetry competition. I hadn't even been aware I'd entered it actually. Maybe they just recognise talent when they see it and these days I don't even have to enter in order to get an award?? I ruddy wish, eh!! Anyway, I've queried it with them, so let's see what they say. In the meantime, roll on the menopause ...

Lord H and I have spent most of the day at Arundel Wetlands Centre and a lovely time we had too. We managed to see two kestrels, two nuthatches, a zillion and one greylag geese and a peculiar thing that was halfway between a grouse and a ptarmigan. So Lord alone knows what that was. I was also very brave and took the boat safari, which Lord H was very keen to do. How I hate boats! Mind you, the initial terror was worth it as we saw a kingfisher perched on a branch and - for once - it stayed there for ages so we had an A++ view. Fabulous. Plus there were Little Grebes, so that was definitely worth it too. The woman steering the boat did terrify me at the end though when she admitted that she'd run out of power (and therefore the ability to steer) and would have to rely on the landing stage to stop the darn thing. Okay, it wasn't going very fast, but I at least noticed the jolt ... And squeaked. Dammit.

On the way home, we popped into Pulborough Brooks, and we think we saw a wheatear, but again it was just too far away to be sure. Even with binoculars. I also managed to nearly swear in a bird hide (not the done thing, you know, Carruthers ...) when I accidentally slammed the door. As one of the people already there admitted (with a twinkle in his eye), at least there wasn't anything worth watching that could have been scared away ... So much for the professional birdwatcher!

Getting home, I found a lovely review of A Dangerous Man from L Adlem on the Rainbow Reviews website. It can be read in full below:

“Michael Jones, a young gay artist and part-time prostitute will do anything to stage his first exhibition. When he falls in love with rich financier, Jack Hutchinson, he seems set to achieve his goal. But as Mikey becomes caught between the unforgiving territory of smoky-bar Hackney and the green-garden luxury of upper class London, we witness the intense mindscape of a man obsessed with his dreams as he attempts to free himself of his past. This is a dark and powerful tale. I was drawn into Michael’s life and the all-consuming passion to express his vision in black and white drawings. Ms Brooke has a fluent style and her depiction of both lower and upper class London life is totally convincing. The tension builds and builds until it is impossible to put down the book. Not an easy story, but I heartily recommend this book for a meaty read, thought provoking, disturbing, very well written. Four stars!”

Many thanks, L Adlem - I'm glad you liked it!

This evening, I'm way too exhausted to do anything remotely interesting and am hoping for an early - and pain-free - night. Now that would be nice.

Today's nice things:

1. The review of A Dangerous Man
2. Bird-watching
3. An early night (I hope!)

Anne Brooke
Anne's website

Birds and prize-winning poems

Had a really lovely time at Liz's Last Night of the Proms' party last night - it was great. And memorably lovely too as I happened to mention that I now have all my old record collection (as rediscovered in a cupboard by Mother), but no record player to play them on - and Liz then said that she had two and was planning to get rid of one of them, so I might as well have it. Goodness me, but people can be soooo nice sometimes!! Thanks, Liz - I really appreciate it - and it works too, as we tried it out as soon as we got home. Hurrah! The only problem is that I'm not sure Lord H is all that keen on The Tom Robinson Band, Abba, Fleetwood Mac or Steve Forbert. Bloody hell but that dates me!...

Today, we have spent the day at Titchfield Nature Reserve in Hampshire - and managed to see a green sandpiper, two wheatears, a kestrel, a jay, a shoveler (wonderful beaks!) and a million and one geese, coots, ducks, moorhens etc etc. It was all jolly nice - except that it did take the cafe 40 minutes (40!!! What were they doing? Growing the ruddy vegetables??) to serve us cauliflower cheese & leeks. Sigh ...

Getting home, I discover that I've won third prize in the Writers' News Space Travel poetry competition with my poem, Beyond the Stars. Hurrah! But obviously my warp drive wasn't quite up to gaining first or second prize then. Hmm, must send Scottie down into the engine room again ...

Tonight, Lord H and I are planning to catch up on our video of this week's "Mock the Week", and also maybe a "Lewis" DVD. We'll see.

And thank goodness the McCanns are back home once more. Where they should be really, rather than stretching hope to way way beyond its snapping point in foreign climes. Here's hoping they can now grieve in private, get on with the rest of their lives, and ... um ... in a way that we don't have to read about it. God preserve us from next year's book, Me and Madeleine by Kate McCann - please!!!!! Though if that does happen, remember you heard it here first ... Dammit, if anyone actually buys it, we will have to shoot them. And the ruddy publishers too. For the sake of civilisation and decent folk. Harrumph indeed.

This week's haiku:

This month's "Birding" mag:
spoonbill with a bad hair day.
I know how it feels.


Today's nice things:

1. Getting a record player as a gift
2. Birds
3. Winning third prize in a poetry competition.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website

Counselling, competitions and the curse of the TV

Bit slow this morning, so had to dash to get to my counselling session (http://www.castlestreetclinic.com/). Must say that Kunu had a lovely summer skirt on - I was really impressed, but didn't dare say anything in case she thought I was being more weird than normal. Or maybe she's just used to that by now? Anyway, we had a good session, better than last week, I think. We talked about my weekend of silence, and how Lord H and I communicate differently and want very different things. Well, that's something I've known for a while but it's good to talk about it to someone else.

We also talked about faith, how I felt about possibly going to the Quakers and whether I thought that I might not go anywhere for a while in fact. Again, all subjects I've mulled over myself, but it's great to get them into the open. She asked me what I thought my faith actually was, and I tried to say that really it's what it isn't and what it might be that helps me most. Sometimes it feels as if my beliefs are a huge shadowy thing lurking underneath or to the side which I can occasionally glimpse, but if you try to grasp it or label it, it simply vanishes. It's only by not looking that you sometimes see, I think.

Funnily enough, (and bear with me, because it does make sense in the end ...) I think "Foyle's War" on Sunday was helpful - the police station spent two hours trying to solve a card trick where they had to form a swastika (or fylfot in its original 15th century Christian form, before the Nazis ruined it) with only four cards. They failed. Then Foyle told them to look at the background behind the shape of the cards rather than the cards themselves, and the problem was solved. That's what I feel about faith, I think - it's not the words which count, but what's behind them. I've spent long hours in churches over the years saying the words and doing the actions, but all the time the phrase, "this isn't what I believe or at least how I best express it" is jangling through my head. Trying to express my beliefs in words is like trying to put an elephant into a suit made for a mouse. It's just not bloody possible.

Also, it's similar to what I feel about facts and the truth. For me, the two things are very different, and truth isn't found in whatever facts are flying around at the time. I've tried to explain my opinion on this to people once or twice and always received the brush-off, but I still believe it. The truth of a person, the real truth, isn't found in the facts. People are more important than that. Which is why, I think, that when people - or I - lie about myself or lie in some other area (and I do - don't we all?), the lie may not be the facts, but it might well be the truth. In a deeper sense. We're all bigger than the sum of our parts. That, for me, is what faith is. Anyway, I think Kunu got my meaning, but God knows how she's going to write all that up ...

Back home, and armed with the Radio Times and a fresh wad of much-needed cash, I've been sorting out this month's competition entries, which include my poetry and novel entries for this year's Writers' Conference (http://www.writersconference.co.uk) - the brochure arrived yesterday, and I've had fun choosing my seminars and trying for a couple of one-to-ones with editors also. Ye gods, there's always hope. I'm putting both Thorn in the Flesh and The Gifting into the novel competition, but highly doubt Piatkus Press will be that into either. Way too violent in the former case for them, and way too much gay fantasy in the latter. I fear it's a waste of £7 (£7!!! Those entry fees get higher every year, I swear!). But there you go.

That done, I popped over to see Gladys, who is very frail and confused today, but did at least know who I am. Ye gods, she's one up on me then. We spent a pleasant hour finding the Radio Times (again!) and her trusty calendar to see if we could work out what day it was, and then I showed her how to turn on her television, as she'd forgotten. Can't say I blame her on either count, to be honest. Besides they don't make TVs simple these days. The remote control has way too many buttons on for normal folk. They should make something easier to operate - what is wrong with these companies!?

Tonight, I must try to do some more to The Gifting, as I'm beginning to get that pull. Like a long wire being drawn in from my chest towards my pad of paper. God, maybe I am weird. No wonder nobody (except Julia - thanks, Julia (http://www.myspace.com/juleswalker!) answers my emails. Oh, and there's "Sea of Souls" later on TV, so Lord H and I will have to watch that. He's always so hopeful it will end happily, and always so let down when it doesn't. Ah well.

Today's nice things:

1. Counselling
2. Browsing through the conference brochure
3. Watching TV.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk

Fruitcake and Ver-ses

Following on from yesterday's National Insurance sad person's issues, I must say that when Lord H came home last night after work, I told him the story of my conversation with the Tax Office, and he at once came out with the correct version of not only his own National Insurance number, but mine also. Yes, folks, we are indeed the perfect example of sad Mr Accountant and His Wife. We really ought to get out more ...

And as usual the Church Times arrived with yesterday's post. The top story on Page Two was of a man who has spent three years building a four foot high replica of St Paul's Cathedral. In a fruitcake. With icing. After Lord H and I had finished shrieking with laughter and rolling about on the floor clutching our stomachs, we had to agree the following: (a) it's nice to know that some people are even sadder than ourselves; (b) it may indeed be a cunning plan actually to replace St Paul's with a fruitcake replica, life-size, at some stage, and this is only the working model. This, to my mind, could only be a good thing - as every time in my life I've visited St Paul's I've always been told either to stop talking or to leave. They are not the friendly face of the Church. A fruitcake version may be more socially useful; (c) there is at last proof that the Church does provide an important function towards society, as it's obviously where they put the mad folk. At least the streets of the UK are safe on Sunday mornings.

Oh, and I forgot to say that I finally got round to visiting poor Gladys yesterday. Post the storm, she was very shaky indeed. We spent some time having the same conversation about Christmas that we had before - but, as Lord H says, at least she does know Christmas has happened, which can only be a good thing. And she seemed more deaf than usual, so I was in full shouting mode to ensure she heard me. Unfortunately, the thing with shouting is you grow quickly used to it, so when Gladys' fully hearing neighbour came round to tell us something domestic about the garage, I found I was shouting at her too, and couldn't seem to switch into normal voice levels at all. Still, I suspect the neighbour must be used to this, but she did step back a few paces with the shock to start with; I don't have a quiet voice in the best of circumstances. Ah well.

This morning, I've been reading through my Coping with Change course notes, and embedding some of that very useful stuff in. Or trying to. I've also jotted down a useful reading list for future reference, although already Lord H has nipped out in full marital support mode and bought one of them for me - Susan Jeffers' "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway". What a sweetie he is. And, much to my delight, it seems that one of my poems, "Sundays", has been accepted by the Ver Poets short poetry anthology, which should be out during February, so that's something to look forward to. I've also entered for a couple more poetry competitions today in my usual monthly routine. Which makes me feel that I've achieved something useful in the writing world, even though I haven't actually done any writing.

Had an utterly delicious nap this afternoon - well, submitting stuff to competitions is sooooo exhausting, m'dears ... And tonight Lord H is taking me out for an airing - we've having a meal at one of our local pubs, The Seahorse in Bramley. This is truly exciting as we'll be able to find out if they are likely to have fishcakes (one of Lord H's favourites) on the menu this year - each time we go, they're always "off". Perhaps 2007 will be their year? You never know ...

Today's nice things:

1. Getting a poem in the Ver Poets anthology
2. Thinking through my course notes
3. Dinner out with Lord H.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk

Reflexology and Pink Champagne

Hey, a good day at work today. In the morning, we had the Health Centre Christmas party (which has to be better than doing work!), and the boss sent us a fun Christmas game on the computer, so there was a valid excuse to do no work. Must be the new management approach - and I'm all for it of course. At lunch, I had my regular reflexology session, which was pure bliss - so much so that I dozed off three times and woke myself up by snoring. Can't have been pleasant for the poor therapist ...

This afternoon, I spent minuting a Board meeting for a new project - and everyone was in jolly mood. Even the Professor was joking. And he was early - ye gods! I had to go to rustle up some more water though - and, as the catering staff had all gone home, all I could find to put it in was a teapot. Well, I like to convey a professional image to the powers that be. If only I could work out how.

And some lovely news on the novel front - Sue on Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/suehaywood) has just finished reading "Pink Champagne and Apple Juice", has thoroughly enjoyed it, and hopes to do a full review for her website/blog (http://www.teafriendsandchocolate.com/sue/). That's made my day, Sue - so thank you very much! I'm so glad you liked it.

Tonight, I'm hoping to send off some more writing competition entries (I've been sensible and bought a sheet of large-letter stamps instead of queueing for years at the PO), which I started yesterday evening. Apart from that, a quiet evening - bliss.

Today's nice things:

1. Reflexology
2. Sue's review
3. A quiet evening - again.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk

Competition entry day

A late start to the morning, but eventually got down to doing my monthly competition entries. Have given up on short stories entirely now, but am still keeping up with the poetry round. I seem to do better there, in general. It took me ages to get together a haiku collection for the Snapshot Press competition, but the rest of it was fairly straightforward.

So a late lunch and then I squeezed in some more of "The Gifting" and popped in to see Gladys. This week she's happy but frail. Apparently she'd been thinking of me and then, scarily, I turned up. Good talent - I told her she ought to be thinking of nubile young men and see if it has the same effect. If she could bottle that skill, she'd make a fortune!

Tonight, Lord H and I are out at the theatre in Guildford to see "Orestes". Not many jokes there then. And terrible news about Richard Hammond of "Top Gear" - he's had a dreadful accident and is now seriously ill in hospital. I was really upset when I heard this morning - he's seems a genuinely nice guy. I hope and pray he'll be all right. Life's so bloody fragile.

Today's nice things:

1. The theatre trip
2. Getting my first haiku collection together, funnily enough.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk