Book News:
Gosh, indeedy, it appears that the paperback version of romantic comedy Pink Champagne and Apple Juice is experiencing a sudden surge of popularity. I wonder if people are buying it for Christmas? It's been pretty flat (AKA non-existent) on sales for months so it's lovely to have an unexpected change on that front. If you have bought it, then many thanks and I hope you or the person it's intended for enjoy the read. And don't forget the ebook version is also available, so never say I don't try to cater for all tastes.
Speaking of unexpected sales, you'll be pleased to hear that all my Amber Allure Press books currently have a 25% discount, so that's well worth a browse for sure - and with any luck they'll warm your winter up too and put you in a glowing mood for the Big Season. Enjoy!
At the same time, I'm really getting back into writing my gay fantasy novella, The Taming of the Hawk. I'm just getting to the adventure/political struggle sections now so they should be fun. I do so love writing adventure and battle sections - must be my calm and contemplative nature, eh.
Across at Vulpes Libris Reviews, I find I really don't love all in my review of Madeleine Wickham's The Tennis Party, but hey at least the ending was good. All rather disappointing really, as I've definitely enjoyed some of her other work.
Recent meditations are:
Meditation 597
The fields,
woods
and pastures
lie empty.
Only the wind
brushes over
the waiting
soil
and grasses,
setting the
leaves,
the crooked
branches
whispering
of everything
that went
before.
Meditation 598
The larger the
family
the greater the
potential
disaster
as each of them
in their
various
ways
constantly
strives to be
master.
Life News:
This week so far has been a week of health appointments. Yesterday I had my eye test and was greatly relieved that I don't have to buy new glasses - thereby saving huge amounts of money which can be put to very good use elsewhere. And today it's been the dental hygienist, so my teeth are lovely and shiny for Christmas, hurrah.
Yesterday evening was the third in the church's special Advent & Compline quiet services - it was just so very relaxing I could have stayed there for ever. Such a wonderful change from the huge busyness and general gubbins going on elsewhere. Honestly, there should be more times set aside for group quietness. It's a real boon.
Oh and we've opened our first champagne of the season - K had one bottle left over from his bulk-buy for the office Christmas so we've celebrated by drinking it. Lovely. You can never really have too much champagne, to my mind. Bring it on.
And, in the virtual world, some Evil Person from Indonesia (where they obviously have nothing better to do ...) has this week hacked into my FB account for reasons known only to themselves. Luckily, FB seem pretty hot on this sort of stuff, so contacted me at once so I could change my password (thank you, FB). So I think I'm normal now (relatively), but really who can tell?...
Finally, in the wonderful world of TV, K and I are devastated that we've seen the last of Series One of the marvellous comedy crime programme, Death in Paradise. We've thoroughly enjoyed its quirkiness, humanity and downright simplicity and we hope that some wise person will hurry up and make a second series - in spite of the fact that nobody but us seems to have liked it, sigh. Anyway, you can never go wrong with Ben Miller. In anything. He's great.
Anne Brooke
The Origami Nun
ANNE BROOKE BOOKS: Independent writer of modern fiction
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Knickers and queens
Book News:
I'm delighted to discover that The Girl in the Painting sold 90 copies in October alone at Waterstone's even in spite of being given a one-star rating by two people. I'm thrilled my so far only literary lesbian short story is doing so well, and I hope the other 88 readers might have enjoyed it slightly more. You never can tell, eh.
This week's meditations:
Meditation 457
To understand to the full
all the tragedies to come
in a person’s life
is the darkest shadow
of being a prophet
or God.
Meditation 458
Hidden beneath
the kaleidoscope
of things we do wrong
is the slow, sure purpose
of life:
trust it.
Meditation 459
When all there is to a life
is war, injury and sin
it’s best to lie low
and keep the children in.
Life News:
Much to my delight, the Queen appeared on Facebook earlier in the week and, naturally, I'm a fan. Noblesse oblige, eh. Weirdly though, she now seems to have vanished so perhaps it was all too much for one? Or at least she's vanished on my version of FB, so a prize of one palace and an heir apparent to the person who can solve the mystery of the disappearing Queen. The plot thickens indeed ...
Meanwhile, I have been thrilled and strangely heartened by this unexpected prize-winner - scroll down a little to the video of what happened, which is so definitely worth watching. Good for her is what I say! Even more strangely however, K also got the whole phrase from only one letter after I told him the one piece of information the lucky female contestant knew and gave him a very small and subtle clue. Hey, it should have been us on that thar cruise! Assuming of course K would choose me to go with.
This is also the week where I have actually gone out and commenced my Christmas shopping. Groan. How I hate Christmas (bah, humbug, we cry once more as we in fact do each year!). Lordy but I'm sad.
Anyway, the good news is that the tricksy neighbours have actually sent us a cheque for their proportion of the building insurance, put out the bunting and huzzahs galore. So we don't have to resort - yet! - to Plan B, though I am holding fire until I see that it's gone through, call me cynical eh. Still, it's potential good news and I am grateful for it. I do long though to be out of here and in a place of our own, please God soon. Where be our buyers?? Or indeed viewers??? I fear I am rapidly losing faith with Mann Countrywide, so am glad we only signed a 10-week contract with them which takes us up to Christmas. Let's see if they can do something useful by then, but don't hold your breath. Really, it's so disappointing that I can hardly bear to think about it. Our current plan is that, after Christmas, we won't renew with them if they're doing nothing, but will try to see if we can part-exchange the flat for a new house - there do seem to be plenty around in our price range. I suppose we'll have to wait and see.
And tonight, K and I are off the the theatre - wind and rain permitting - to see The Knicker Lady, so hang on to your drawers, girls, as anything could happen.
Anne Brooke
I'm delighted to discover that The Girl in the Painting sold 90 copies in October alone at Waterstone's even in spite of being given a one-star rating by two people. I'm thrilled my so far only literary lesbian short story is doing so well, and I hope the other 88 readers might have enjoyed it slightly more. You never can tell, eh.
This week's meditations:
Meditation 457
To understand to the full
all the tragedies to come
in a person’s life
is the darkest shadow
of being a prophet
or God.
Meditation 458
Hidden beneath
the kaleidoscope
of things we do wrong
is the slow, sure purpose
of life:
trust it.
Meditation 459
When all there is to a life
is war, injury and sin
it’s best to lie low
and keep the children in.
Life News:
Much to my delight, the Queen appeared on Facebook earlier in the week and, naturally, I'm a fan. Noblesse oblige, eh. Weirdly though, she now seems to have vanished so perhaps it was all too much for one? Or at least she's vanished on my version of FB, so a prize of one palace and an heir apparent to the person who can solve the mystery of the disappearing Queen. The plot thickens indeed ...
Meanwhile, I have been thrilled and strangely heartened by this unexpected prize-winner - scroll down a little to the video of what happened, which is so definitely worth watching. Good for her is what I say! Even more strangely however, K also got the whole phrase from only one letter after I told him the one piece of information the lucky female contestant knew and gave him a very small and subtle clue. Hey, it should have been us on that thar cruise! Assuming of course K would choose me to go with.
This is also the week where I have actually gone out and commenced my Christmas shopping. Groan. How I hate Christmas (bah, humbug, we cry once more as we in fact do each year!). Lordy but I'm sad.
Anyway, the good news is that the tricksy neighbours have actually sent us a cheque for their proportion of the building insurance, put out the bunting and huzzahs galore. So we don't have to resort - yet! - to Plan B, though I am holding fire until I see that it's gone through, call me cynical eh. Still, it's potential good news and I am grateful for it. I do long though to be out of here and in a place of our own, please God soon. Where be our buyers?? Or indeed viewers??? I fear I am rapidly losing faith with Mann Countrywide, so am glad we only signed a 10-week contract with them which takes us up to Christmas. Let's see if they can do something useful by then, but don't hold your breath. Really, it's so disappointing that I can hardly bear to think about it. Our current plan is that, after Christmas, we won't renew with them if they're doing nothing, but will try to see if we can part-exchange the flat for a new house - there do seem to be plenty around in our price range. I suppose we'll have to wait and see.
And tonight, K and I are off the the theatre - wind and rain permitting - to see The Knicker Lady, so hang on to your drawers, girls, as anything could happen.
Anne Brooke
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Fan pages, birds and holidays
Was more than slightly puzzled by today's bible reading but here's my tongue-in-cheek take on it:
Meditation 151
Escaped sheep,
tired donkeys, lost clothes
are not to be ignored.
Given time
and enough carelessness
by others
you could probably start
your own noisy, raggle-taggle business
from them.
I've also written a poem about weaponry, scars and healing (as you do), which I like better. I shall have to think about where to send it at some point, and whether it might have any accompanying friends. You never know.
Talking of friends, I have bravely (and possibly foolishly) set up a Facebook Fan Page for ... um ... myself, thus proving beyond all doubt that I am indeed the most self-obsessed of writers. Well, I suppose we already knew that really. Anyway, twelve kindly people have taken pity on me and joined it, and I am hugely grateful to you all. Thank you. Anyone else who wants to join the Crazed World of Anne will of course be more than welcome, and I make a damn good cup of tea too.
This morning, Lord H and I have taken advantage of the better weather and have walked round Linchmere Common and spotted a pair of woodpeckers, various tit families and the usual scattering of blackcaps. On the way home, we also did the Heath Trail at Thursley Common which was its tranquil and lovely self. Thankfully, without the tiger that strangely appears in the previous link picture on the right. Now that would have been scary. Whilst there we were lucky enough to watch a hobby hunting for insects, and a pair of stonechats. Wonderful. Plus we spotted a brimstone butterfly and huge numbers of dragonflies and damselflies. Thursley really comes into it own during the summer months.
This afternoon, I've been working on my ongoing short story and think I now roughly have an idea how it will end up and what the path might be in getting there, so that's a relief. Double phew and all that. Though it might turn out to be longer than I originally thought. Ah well. And, later on, I really must pack for our holidays as we're off tomorrow, hurrah!
Tonight I might get time to watch yesterday's poetry programme, but it depends on how long it takes me to get my life into a suitcase really (don't wait up then ...). Oh and as I'm out for a few days, here's this week's (rather religious) haiku early:
God sticks to your skin.
You hold his song in your head,
carry him always.
So, as we're going to be here in North Wales and puffin spotting (double hurrah!) until late Thursday, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll catch up with you later.
Today's nice things:
1. Poetry
2. My Facebook fan page
3. Birds
4. Butterflies
5. Short story writing
6. TV
7. Haikus
8. Holidays!
Anne Brooke - looking forward to puffin, rather than nuffin ...
Meditation 151
Escaped sheep,
tired donkeys, lost clothes
are not to be ignored.
Given time
and enough carelessness
by others
you could probably start
your own noisy, raggle-taggle business
from them.
I've also written a poem about weaponry, scars and healing (as you do), which I like better. I shall have to think about where to send it at some point, and whether it might have any accompanying friends. You never know.
Talking of friends, I have bravely (and possibly foolishly) set up a Facebook Fan Page for ... um ... myself, thus proving beyond all doubt that I am indeed the most self-obsessed of writers. Well, I suppose we already knew that really. Anyway, twelve kindly people have taken pity on me and joined it, and I am hugely grateful to you all. Thank you. Anyone else who wants to join the Crazed World of Anne will of course be more than welcome, and I make a damn good cup of tea too.
This morning, Lord H and I have taken advantage of the better weather and have walked round Linchmere Common and spotted a pair of woodpeckers, various tit families and the usual scattering of blackcaps. On the way home, we also did the Heath Trail at Thursley Common which was its tranquil and lovely self. Thankfully, without the tiger that strangely appears in the previous link picture on the right. Now that would have been scary. Whilst there we were lucky enough to watch a hobby hunting for insects, and a pair of stonechats. Wonderful. Plus we spotted a brimstone butterfly and huge numbers of dragonflies and damselflies. Thursley really comes into it own during the summer months.
This afternoon, I've been working on my ongoing short story and think I now roughly have an idea how it will end up and what the path might be in getting there, so that's a relief. Double phew and all that. Though it might turn out to be longer than I originally thought. Ah well. And, later on, I really must pack for our holidays as we're off tomorrow, hurrah!
Tonight I might get time to watch yesterday's poetry programme, but it depends on how long it takes me to get my life into a suitcase really (don't wait up then ...). Oh and as I'm out for a few days, here's this week's (rather religious) haiku early:
God sticks to your skin.
You hold his song in your head,
carry him always.
So, as we're going to be here in North Wales and puffin spotting (double hurrah!) until late Thursday, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll catch up with you later.
Today's nice things:
1. Poetry
2. My Facebook fan page
3. Birds
4. Butterflies
5. Short story writing
6. TV
7. Haikus
8. Holidays!
Anne Brooke - looking forward to puffin, rather than nuffin ...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Bones, Goldenford and the mysteries of chestnut hair
A very quiet day today. We haven't done very much. Good Lord, I haven't even left the flat, though Lord H has done a spot of shopping and brought back lunch and a paper, hurrah. I've been attempting to get to grips more with Facebook, which continues to remain more of a mystery than MySpace is. Perhaps it's an age thing, I don't know, but I do prefer MySpace as a networking tool. Too many applications on FB really.
That said, I have started up a Goldenford page on Facebook which you can find here. It's very lonely being the only fan of a publisher which produces the best books in the south, so if you are a Facebooker at all, please do come and join me. I promise not to bite. Well, not for the first few days anyway. I've even set up an event for our forthcoming Goldenford talk on Writing from our Roots on Wednesday 14 May at 2.30pm in the Guildford Institute in North Street, to which one person has already suggested they might come (thank you, Julia!). Gosh! Indeed I am so modern. Ho ho.
In the middle of all that virtual excitement, I've also managed to add another 1,000 words to The Bones of Summer, which brings it up to just over 70,000 words. Double gosh. Almost a novel-ful then. I also have Craig discovering the bitter truth about his past, so the aftermath of that is going to be fun to write, I can tell you. Suspect I'll leave it to another day though - he needs to mull it over for a bit first. As do I.
And, responding to the Golden Girls' suggestions, I have tweaked the Goldenford website in one or two places, so I at least feel that my new title of Webmistress Extraordinaire is not a courtesy one.
Tonight, I'm planning to watch "Dr Who" and hope that it's better than last week's clunker of an episode, and then it's the great decision of whether to watch (a) the golf; (b) "Pushing up Daisies"; or (c) "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". And once that's decided, I can then work out what to video. Ah decisions, decisions.
Ooh, and I am officially Shocked of Godalming. The latest discussions on the Vulpes Libris review site have strayed into the area of whether chestnut hair only actually exists in fiction. Well! Really! Rosy B, what can I say?!? One look here will indicate all too well that chestnut hair is alive and kicking and living in sunny Godalming, m'dears! As if the question even needed to be asked!
Today's nice things:
1. Writing more to Bones
2. Creating a Goldenford Facebook page
3. Validating the existence of my hair colour!
Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers
That said, I have started up a Goldenford page on Facebook which you can find here. It's very lonely being the only fan of a publisher which produces the best books in the south, so if you are a Facebooker at all, please do come and join me. I promise not to bite. Well, not for the first few days anyway. I've even set up an event for our forthcoming Goldenford talk on Writing from our Roots on Wednesday 14 May at 2.30pm in the Guildford Institute in North Street, to which one person has already suggested they might come (thank you, Julia!). Gosh! Indeed I am so modern. Ho ho.
In the middle of all that virtual excitement, I've also managed to add another 1,000 words to The Bones of Summer, which brings it up to just over 70,000 words. Double gosh. Almost a novel-ful then. I also have Craig discovering the bitter truth about his past, so the aftermath of that is going to be fun to write, I can tell you. Suspect I'll leave it to another day though - he needs to mull it over for a bit first. As do I.
And, responding to the Golden Girls' suggestions, I have tweaked the Goldenford website in one or two places, so I at least feel that my new title of Webmistress Extraordinaire is not a courtesy one.
Tonight, I'm planning to watch "Dr Who" and hope that it's better than last week's clunker of an episode, and then it's the great decision of whether to watch (a) the golf; (b) "Pushing up Daisies"; or (c) "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". And once that's decided, I can then work out what to video. Ah decisions, decisions.
Ooh, and I am officially Shocked of Godalming. The latest discussions on the Vulpes Libris review site have strayed into the area of whether chestnut hair only actually exists in fiction. Well! Really! Rosy B, what can I say?!? One look here will indicate all too well that chestnut hair is alive and kicking and living in sunny Godalming, m'dears! As if the question even needed to be asked!
Today's nice things:
1. Writing more to Bones
2. Creating a Goldenford Facebook page
3. Validating the existence of my hair colour!
Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Facebook, golf and time travel
Am feeling very modern today - have finally set up an account on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) last night, so have at last entered the modern world. Mind you, I don't have many friends on it yet - 3 so far to be precise - so if anyone out there is on Facebook and prepared to take pity on me, please do. I'd be very grateful.
Meant to be very literary this morning, but have done sod all - sorry. Might do some writing later on, but will have to see how it goes. I did do a little more to The Bones of Summer last night, so am feeling more enthused about it now, thank God. I was beginning to think I'd run out of steam. But I have started Chapter Two, and even typed the words, "Chapter Three", so there's hope for it yet. I think Craig is going to be like Simon in The Gifting - subtle and someone who matures with time, or rather typing. There are so many ideas about it running through my head, it will be interesting to see which of them turns up on the page. Sometimes, I do wish I could be one of these sensible writers, who plans to the enth degree and knows what's going to happen before I type it, but I'm just not. I guess I have to live with that. At least it's never dull, eh?
Golf with Marian & Siegi this afternoon - we had a great time, though our golf was crap and it pissed it down during four of the holes. How I hate the rain when I'm golfing! I just can't concentrate when my golf gloves are wet through and the rain is dripping off my cap. But lunch at Marian's was fab - spaghetti bolognese and loads of really good chat, so that cheered me. We'd nipped home to change before going to Marian's - as we were soaked through - and I decided to wear a light green top I don't wear very often (I am, as you know, the Queen of dark clothes which hide me from the world ...) - and Marian was very impressed. She asked me why I didn't wear that kind of thing more often, and when I told her, expressed surprise that someone with my strong personality and opinions would want to hide away at all. Strong personality and opinions??? And there was I thinking I was such a sweet young thing ... Ho ho. Shows what I know then. Marian did ask again about church though - so I just said we weren't going for a while, and were seeing how we felt over the summer. When I do go to church again - and I feel I will, in time - I'm definitely not going to get involved with it. That way madness lies - as Lear would say ... I simply want to be pew fodder and leave the commitment stuff behind. It's just too damaging otherwise.
Anyway, we spent ages at Marian's, but managed to get back in time for "Dr Who", which was fantastic!! How I wish I could time-travel - it would be so great. And would mean you could get away from people you didn't want to see or talk to, or meetings you didn't want to be in at work. Wonderful. And it was also a delight to see The Master back again. I was sooooo in love with him when I was younger. Which of course may explain why I write the books I do - I do so love the evil, dark side of life. I would probably have got on very well with Macbeth (nice bloke - knows his own mind. What more could you want in a man?...). And if someone could tell me who the glorious (younger) bloke was who played the regenerated Master in "Dr Who", I'd be very grateful - he was seriously hot.
For the rest of tonight, I will try and do some more writing, but I'm hoping for a relatively early night too, as I'm absolutely knackered. Too many late nights during this week, and my eyes have their own suitcase. Each.
Today's nice things:
1. Golf
2. Lunch
3. TV
Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk
Meant to be very literary this morning, but have done sod all - sorry. Might do some writing later on, but will have to see how it goes. I did do a little more to The Bones of Summer last night, so am feeling more enthused about it now, thank God. I was beginning to think I'd run out of steam. But I have started Chapter Two, and even typed the words, "Chapter Three", so there's hope for it yet. I think Craig is going to be like Simon in The Gifting - subtle and someone who matures with time, or rather typing. There are so many ideas about it running through my head, it will be interesting to see which of them turns up on the page. Sometimes, I do wish I could be one of these sensible writers, who plans to the enth degree and knows what's going to happen before I type it, but I'm just not. I guess I have to live with that. At least it's never dull, eh?
Golf with Marian & Siegi this afternoon - we had a great time, though our golf was crap and it pissed it down during four of the holes. How I hate the rain when I'm golfing! I just can't concentrate when my golf gloves are wet through and the rain is dripping off my cap. But lunch at Marian's was fab - spaghetti bolognese and loads of really good chat, so that cheered me. We'd nipped home to change before going to Marian's - as we were soaked through - and I decided to wear a light green top I don't wear very often (I am, as you know, the Queen of dark clothes which hide me from the world ...) - and Marian was very impressed. She asked me why I didn't wear that kind of thing more often, and when I told her, expressed surprise that someone with my strong personality and opinions would want to hide away at all. Strong personality and opinions??? And there was I thinking I was such a sweet young thing ... Ho ho. Shows what I know then. Marian did ask again about church though - so I just said we weren't going for a while, and were seeing how we felt over the summer. When I do go to church again - and I feel I will, in time - I'm definitely not going to get involved with it. That way madness lies - as Lear would say ... I simply want to be pew fodder and leave the commitment stuff behind. It's just too damaging otherwise.
Anyway, we spent ages at Marian's, but managed to get back in time for "Dr Who", which was fantastic!! How I wish I could time-travel - it would be so great. And would mean you could get away from people you didn't want to see or talk to, or meetings you didn't want to be in at work. Wonderful. And it was also a delight to see The Master back again. I was sooooo in love with him when I was younger. Which of course may explain why I write the books I do - I do so love the evil, dark side of life. I would probably have got on very well with Macbeth (nice bloke - knows his own mind. What more could you want in a man?...). And if someone could tell me who the glorious (younger) bloke was who played the regenerated Master in "Dr Who", I'd be very grateful - he was seriously hot.
For the rest of tonight, I will try and do some more writing, but I'm hoping for a relatively early night too, as I'm absolutely knackered. Too many late nights during this week, and my eyes have their own suitcase. Each.
Today's nice things:
1. Golf
2. Lunch
3. TV
Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk
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