A bullet-point blog today as we're just back from a wonderful weekend away with the totally lovely and utterly glamorous Egypt Group (hello, all!).
Life News:
1. It's been great to catch up with Mike & Miriam (who have a matching pair of very wonderful dogs, btw!), and Mike & Chris. I think we have now, between us, terrified Harrogate into submission. We stayed at the extremely good and very charming Ascot House Hotel. I think we can all recommend it wholeheartedly.
2. Skipton Castle makes for a very good day out.
3. Betty's Tea Rooms, Harrogate are excellent and everyone should go there too, mmmm ....
4. We completed on our flat at 9.10am on Friday, so that burden is gone, hurrah! On the other side of the equation, over the weekend, we lost out on the Woking house, which went to the higher bidder, but the Elstead house is still in play and we should hear something next week.
Book News:
1. The first part of my interview with Reasons To Be Beautiful Magazine is now online here (many thanks, Stephanie & Madel) so I hope you enjoy browsing through that.
2. There's 30% off all my Untreed Reads books until tomorrow (4 July), so do feel free to pick yourself up a bargain.
3. Writing Magazine have asked for a copy of my article so I have sent that off to them.
4. The more helpful UK lawyer has suggested she link me up with their US counterparts next week so I've said yes to that - though I'm not convinced anything entirely helpful will come out of it, it will be good to get the US legal view.
5. The next lines of the prologue of The Gifting are:
Beside him, his sister is dressed only in black. Her fair hair catches the light from the two torches mounted on the wall.
6. And, finally, the Sunday haiku is:
After two hundred
miles, the only reviver:
a Yorkshire cream tea.
Anne Brooke
ANNE BROOKE BOOKS: Independent writer of modern fiction
Showing posts with label flat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flat. Show all posts
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Houses and Bollywood
Book News:
I now have the edit back from the lovely Sarah Abel for Hallsfoot's Battle, which is the second part of The Gathandrian Trilogy and therefore the follow-up to The Gifting. So I'll look forward to going through that next week and afterwards getting it ready for submission to Bluewood Publishing (who I hope might like it), though obviously it'll take a while. I'm also delighted with the blurb that Sarah has provided - she's just soooo much better at blurbs than I am. Here it is:
Good to know someone out there knows what the dang thing is about, as I certainly never do ...
At the same time, I've been working on the edits and proof galleys for upcoming short story, For One Night Only, and have now sent that back to Amber Allure ready for publication on 17 July. I'm also happy to say that comic short story, Rosie By Name, gained a 4-star review at Smashwords - many thanks, Fred, for that!
And - sound those trumpets! - The Gifting has received its first review, which is a 5-star one from Sarah at Goodreads. Many thanks, Sarah - I really appreciate it!
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Here's my most recent meditation poem:
Meditation 541
David’s list of heroes
is really very long,
all of them so noble
and all of them so strong.
I wonder if I dare
to ask about their wives,
to hear the different stories
of how they lived their lives.
For no man is an island
or so the poets say
and it’s when we walk together
that we truly learn the way.
The Sunday haiku is:
Butterfly flutters
by my window, silver wings
sparkling in the sun.
Life News:
I popped into Godalming on Friday and gave our old flat keys back to our estate agent, hurrah! At the same time, I took flowers and biscuits as I think, in the final analysis, Seymours in Godalming have done a bloody good job in somehow (God knows how) keeping our buyer through all the months of agonies from the tricksy neighbours and keeping our confidence above drowning point (just) also. Bloody well done, them. I also gave the lovely Lucy a big hug and would have given Stewart a hug also, if he had been there (sensible Stewart ...). Lucy admitted it's been the most complex case they in Seymours have ever known and they too are amazed they've kept it ticking along, against all the odds. So. Completion date is this Friday, 1 July, and let's hope (please God!...) it's a smoother ride through that process ... But, whatever happens over the next few days, they've still ruddy well deserved those flowers, biccies and hug, to my mind.
Talking of houses, we've viewed several over the weekend, and there are two we particularly like. So, we've put an offer on our favourite - in Woking - yesterday and await to hear what the reaction is. We're also keeping another house as a strong second choice, in Elstead (not so good for K travelling, but it's so lovely, and also next door but one to our friends, Liz & John - run, good people, run for the hills ...), so if the first one seems uncertain, we might well put an offer on that one too, and see what happens. Wish us luck!
Speaking of Liz & John, we popped in for coffee at theirs after the viewing and caught up with the latest from them - and then we were back at theirs for supper in the evening with Robin & Gavin (hello, all!) as Liz's son, Rob Heanley, is an actor and has a role in the recent Bollywood hit, Patiala House. I must say it was an utterly wonderful film and I loved it. I can thoroughly recommend it for its sheer pizzazz and fun, and also Rob is pretty impressive as the hard-line cricket selector too. Well done, Rob!
This morning, K and I ended up at our new church again, and it was something of a surprise as they were having their thrice-yearly healing service as well as the usual communion - which was fine as far as putting my red stone of sin (wonderful concept, and bizarrely similar to a scene I have in The Gifting, which just goes to show there are no new ideas in the world, just new interpretations ...) in the pot of cleansing water, but I really don't like the concept of being prayed over by a team of elders, so we gave that aspect a miss. Probably a fall-out from being a scarred Evangelical church survivor but there you go. It's our history that makes us indeed. Actually, thinking about it afterwards, I would have been happy to go up for the anointing of oil, but I thought that was attached to the prayer bit so didn't do either - but K thinks they were separate after all, so next time I might brave the oil. Just as long as I don't wear anything too smart, eh. Some of these priests can be rather enthusiastic ...
Finally, Naturewatch Woking has good news to impart - the thrushes outside my window are bringing regular supplies of food to their nest so there must be chicks in there somewhere, hurrah! Like expectant parents, the thrushes, K and I are all equally awaiting the sound of squeaking and the sight of hungry beaks. And in all the glorious sunshine of today too. Whatever next?
Anne Brooke
I now have the edit back from the lovely Sarah Abel for Hallsfoot's Battle, which is the second part of The Gathandrian Trilogy and therefore the follow-up to The Gifting. So I'll look forward to going through that next week and afterwards getting it ready for submission to Bluewood Publishing (who I hope might like it), though obviously it'll take a while. I'm also delighted with the blurb that Sarah has provided - she's just soooo much better at blurbs than I am. Here it is:
Gathandria’s enemy is plotting his revenge. Banished to the mountain’s darkness, Gelahn the mind-executioner begins his campaign. His powers are sublime, unmatched – even without the mind-cane in his possession. Using fear and pain he enslaves his victims. Next he will break and possess 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. 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. Supported by Johan and Talus, her young charge, Annyeke plots a desperate strategy to defeat the enemy. As the Gathandrians frantically rally behind their new leader, Gelahn strikes at the heart of the city.
Good to know someone out there knows what the dang thing is about, as I certainly never do ...
At the same time, I've been working on the edits and proof galleys for upcoming short story, For One Night Only, and have now sent that back to Amber Allure ready for publication on 17 July. I'm also happy to say that comic short story, Rosie By Name, gained a 4-star review at Smashwords - many thanks, Fred, for that!
And - sound those trumpets! - The Gifting has received its first review, which is a 5-star one from Sarah at Goodreads. Many thanks, Sarah - I really appreciate it!
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Here's my most recent meditation poem:
Meditation 541
David’s list of heroes
is really very long,
all of them so noble
and all of them so strong.
I wonder if I dare
to ask about their wives,
to hear the different stories
of how they lived their lives.
For no man is an island
or so the poets say
and it’s when we walk together
that we truly learn the way.
The Sunday haiku is:
Butterfly flutters
by my window, silver wings
sparkling in the sun.
Life News:
I popped into Godalming on Friday and gave our old flat keys back to our estate agent, hurrah! At the same time, I took flowers and biscuits as I think, in the final analysis, Seymours in Godalming have done a bloody good job in somehow (God knows how) keeping our buyer through all the months of agonies from the tricksy neighbours and keeping our confidence above drowning point (just) also. Bloody well done, them. I also gave the lovely Lucy a big hug and would have given Stewart a hug also, if he had been there (sensible Stewart ...). Lucy admitted it's been the most complex case they in Seymours have ever known and they too are amazed they've kept it ticking along, against all the odds. So. Completion date is this Friday, 1 July, and let's hope (please God!...) it's a smoother ride through that process ... But, whatever happens over the next few days, they've still ruddy well deserved those flowers, biccies and hug, to my mind.
Talking of houses, we've viewed several over the weekend, and there are two we particularly like. So, we've put an offer on our favourite - in Woking - yesterday and await to hear what the reaction is. We're also keeping another house as a strong second choice, in Elstead (not so good for K travelling, but it's so lovely, and also next door but one to our friends, Liz & John - run, good people, run for the hills ...), so if the first one seems uncertain, we might well put an offer on that one too, and see what happens. Wish us luck!
Speaking of Liz & John, we popped in for coffee at theirs after the viewing and caught up with the latest from them - and then we were back at theirs for supper in the evening with Robin & Gavin (hello, all!) as Liz's son, Rob Heanley, is an actor and has a role in the recent Bollywood hit, Patiala House. I must say it was an utterly wonderful film and I loved it. I can thoroughly recommend it for its sheer pizzazz and fun, and also Rob is pretty impressive as the hard-line cricket selector too. Well done, Rob!
This morning, K and I ended up at our new church again, and it was something of a surprise as they were having their thrice-yearly healing service as well as the usual communion - which was fine as far as putting my red stone of sin (wonderful concept, and bizarrely similar to a scene I have in The Gifting, which just goes to show there are no new ideas in the world, just new interpretations ...) in the pot of cleansing water, but I really don't like the concept of being prayed over by a team of elders, so we gave that aspect a miss. Probably a fall-out from being a scarred Evangelical church survivor but there you go. It's our history that makes us indeed. Actually, thinking about it afterwards, I would have been happy to go up for the anointing of oil, but I thought that was attached to the prayer bit so didn't do either - but K thinks they were separate after all, so next time I might brave the oil. Just as long as I don't wear anything too smart, eh. Some of these priests can be rather enthusiastic ...
Finally, Naturewatch Woking has good news to impart - the thrushes outside my window are bringing regular supplies of food to their nest so there must be chicks in there somewhere, hurrah! Like expectant parents, the thrushes, K and I are all equally awaiting the sound of squeaking and the sight of hungry beaks. And in all the glorious sunshine of today too. Whatever next?
Anne Brooke
Friday, June 24, 2011
The birthday girl and a week of firsts
Book News:
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Anyway, keeping to the publisher theme, I'm very happy indeed with the 2nd quarter royalties from Untreed Reads, so evidently some of my books do sell somewhere. And I've been lucky enough to be asked for an interview by Reasons To Be Beautiful Magazine - many thanks, Stephanie and Madel. The questions certainly made me think!
Meanwhile, at Vulpes Libris, I've reviewed I Love The 80s by Megan Crane, which is very much a book of two halves, but it does warm up, so worth a read.
And here are two recent meditations:
Meditation 539
These hills swallow up
the dead where even the swords
are silent:
all the noise and smell
of battle stilled
by evening air
and the sure approach
of night.
Meditation 540
David destroys
a good many cities
simply in order
to rebuild them again.
It’s a shame
he can’t do likewise
with all the people,
their memories and pain.
Life News:
It was my birthday on 21 June, hurrah! So a big thank you to everyone who sent their good wishes and/or cards as both were very much appreciated. K bought me a lovely jewellery box so I don't have to push my earrings in a tiny drawer where I can't see anything properly, and also a wonderful SatNav system - which I absolutely love and which is my new best friend. I'm hoping this means no more panicking and getting hopelessly lost, but you never know. Anyway, it's nice to have someone else in the car sharing the pain, if only a disembodied voice.
Other birthday amusements were the utter mystery of why my mother had bought me a box of contact lens solution when I don't actually wear contact lenses. Is she going senile at last?? Is it a subtle hint to tell me she's never liked my glasses?... We puzzled over it for some time until the mystery was solved - when I opened the box there was a bottle of my favourite peppermint foot cream. Aha! There's method in the old gal's madness, and Mother is not as strange as we thought she was for a while. Though, possibly, I am. In addition, in the evening, after my first glass of champagne (only one, mind you - honest!), I heard the neighbours outside chatting to the house gardener and so went outside to say hello. K joined me to be sociable and it was then that the wind caught the front door and slammed it shut. Arrggh! Naturally, neither of us had our keys, and so Steve from one of the other flats very sweetly went to see if he had a spare key. Sadly, he had all the keys to all the flats in the known universe, but not ours. There was therefore no option but for K to pick me up, lift me over the thankfully open window in the living room and push. My, how all the neighbours loved that - and are still talking about it ... K appeared at one point to be paying a great deal of attention to my bottom, which was most definitely not stuck in any way, but he maintains he was only trying to help. Hmmm ... Still, I broke in to our own flat successfully and the problem was solved, hurrah. Mind you, K is very happy to claim that in our 18 years of marriage, he has lifted me over the threshold of both the flats we've lived in in some way or other (the first time upon return from our honeymoon, ah bless) and is limbering up to do the same again for our next house. I'd best lay off the chocolate then ...
Plus there's wonderful news on our flat sale - we've exchanged at last, triple hurrahs and put out the bunting, big-time!! Completion date is 1 July. It's so unbelievable that I can hardly believe it myself. I think I might even have cried, goodness me - tell no-one. As a result, we're seriously back on the house hunt again. Today we have 2, possibly 3, houses to see, and another 3 tomorrow. It's all hotting up here in the outback of Woking, I can tell you.
Really, it's been a veritable Week of Firsts. I've shopped online for the first time, and our order was successfully delivered by Tesco on Monday night. They gave me exactly what I asked for - so I have made a mental note that ice cream cartons are larger than I think (we ended up with the miniscule versions) and I don't really need enough cheese to feed the Roman army, should they wish to pop by. K resigning himself to weeks and weeks of cheese sandwich lunches ahead ...
The dishwasher is proving a truly wonderful invention too - though yesterday I spent the whole afternoon puzzling over why it should eat a tupperware pot lid and searching through the kitchen to try and find it. At one point I was even chatting to the dishwasher asking it to give the lid back, but I appreciate that's probably not something I should admit, at least not in normal society. However, that mystery too was solved when K came back home and pointed out the lid was in the cutlery drawer. Goodness knows why, but at least my lunchtime rice is no longer likely to spill everywhere on my way to work. Result.
Last night we went to see The Pitmen Painters at the theatre, which is absolutely marvellous and everyone should see it. The only thing was the ending rather faded out, and K and I think it would have been much better with simply a quiet scene between George and Oliver as they prepare for another day in the mines - it would have been stronger like that, but it's still one you should see. The interesting thing, for me, was that it's set in the North-East where my mother's family come from - and the moment they started talking, I was right back there in my childhood with the menfolk in my family talking about the mines in those glorious accents. The playwright is also spot on with the phrases they use and the ways of saying things, as it could easily have been my uncle/cousins/grandfather speaking. Great stuff.
Anne Brooke
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Anyway, keeping to the publisher theme, I'm very happy indeed with the 2nd quarter royalties from Untreed Reads, so evidently some of my books do sell somewhere. And I've been lucky enough to be asked for an interview by Reasons To Be Beautiful Magazine - many thanks, Stephanie and Madel. The questions certainly made me think!
Meanwhile, at Vulpes Libris, I've reviewed I Love The 80s by Megan Crane, which is very much a book of two halves, but it does warm up, so worth a read.
And here are two recent meditations:
Meditation 539
These hills swallow up
the dead where even the swords
are silent:
all the noise and smell
of battle stilled
by evening air
and the sure approach
of night.
Meditation 540
David destroys
a good many cities
simply in order
to rebuild them again.
It’s a shame
he can’t do likewise
with all the people,
their memories and pain.
Life News:
It was my birthday on 21 June, hurrah! So a big thank you to everyone who sent their good wishes and/or cards as both were very much appreciated. K bought me a lovely jewellery box so I don't have to push my earrings in a tiny drawer where I can't see anything properly, and also a wonderful SatNav system - which I absolutely love and which is my new best friend. I'm hoping this means no more panicking and getting hopelessly lost, but you never know. Anyway, it's nice to have someone else in the car sharing the pain, if only a disembodied voice.
Other birthday amusements were the utter mystery of why my mother had bought me a box of contact lens solution when I don't actually wear contact lenses. Is she going senile at last?? Is it a subtle hint to tell me she's never liked my glasses?... We puzzled over it for some time until the mystery was solved - when I opened the box there was a bottle of my favourite peppermint foot cream. Aha! There's method in the old gal's madness, and Mother is not as strange as we thought she was for a while. Though, possibly, I am. In addition, in the evening, after my first glass of champagne (only one, mind you - honest!), I heard the neighbours outside chatting to the house gardener and so went outside to say hello. K joined me to be sociable and it was then that the wind caught the front door and slammed it shut. Arrggh! Naturally, neither of us had our keys, and so Steve from one of the other flats very sweetly went to see if he had a spare key. Sadly, he had all the keys to all the flats in the known universe, but not ours. There was therefore no option but for K to pick me up, lift me over the thankfully open window in the living room and push. My, how all the neighbours loved that - and are still talking about it ... K appeared at one point to be paying a great deal of attention to my bottom, which was most definitely not stuck in any way, but he maintains he was only trying to help. Hmmm ... Still, I broke in to our own flat successfully and the problem was solved, hurrah. Mind you, K is very happy to claim that in our 18 years of marriage, he has lifted me over the threshold of both the flats we've lived in in some way or other (the first time upon return from our honeymoon, ah bless) and is limbering up to do the same again for our next house. I'd best lay off the chocolate then ...
Plus there's wonderful news on our flat sale - we've exchanged at last, triple hurrahs and put out the bunting, big-time!! Completion date is 1 July. It's so unbelievable that I can hardly believe it myself. I think I might even have cried, goodness me - tell no-one. As a result, we're seriously back on the house hunt again. Today we have 2, possibly 3, houses to see, and another 3 tomorrow. It's all hotting up here in the outback of Woking, I can tell you.
Really, it's been a veritable Week of Firsts. I've shopped online for the first time, and our order was successfully delivered by Tesco on Monday night. They gave me exactly what I asked for - so I have made a mental note that ice cream cartons are larger than I think (we ended up with the miniscule versions) and I don't really need enough cheese to feed the Roman army, should they wish to pop by. K resigning himself to weeks and weeks of cheese sandwich lunches ahead ...
The dishwasher is proving a truly wonderful invention too - though yesterday I spent the whole afternoon puzzling over why it should eat a tupperware pot lid and searching through the kitchen to try and find it. At one point I was even chatting to the dishwasher asking it to give the lid back, but I appreciate that's probably not something I should admit, at least not in normal society. However, that mystery too was solved when K came back home and pointed out the lid was in the cutlery drawer. Goodness knows why, but at least my lunchtime rice is no longer likely to spill everywhere on my way to work. Result.
Last night we went to see The Pitmen Painters at the theatre, which is absolutely marvellous and everyone should see it. The only thing was the ending rather faded out, and K and I think it would have been much better with simply a quiet scene between George and Oliver as they prepare for another day in the mines - it would have been stronger like that, but it's still one you should see. The interesting thing, for me, was that it's set in the North-East where my mother's family come from - and the moment they started talking, I was right back there in my childhood with the menfolk in my family talking about the mines in those glorious accents. The playwright is also spot on with the phrases they use and the ways of saying things, as it could easily have been my uncle/cousins/grandfather speaking. Great stuff.
Anne Brooke
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Conveyancers 'r' Us and the Ups and Downs of Failure
Book News:
Lots of exciting news about The Art of The Delaneys this week which is now available at All Romance Ebooks, and has also received reviews at: Literary Nymph Reviews (4 star); Brief Encounters Reviews; and at Goodreads, a 5 star review and a 4 star review. Many thanks to all for commenting on the story and reviewing it.
In addition, Entertaining the Delaneys was reviewed at Three Dollar Bill Reviews, so many thanks also to Indigene for that one. Also, The Gifting is now available as a paperback from Amazon UK, so that's encouraging.
You'll find my review of Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon at Vulpes Libris today, and I've also managed to squeeze in one meditation poem into the pure mania of this week:
Meditation 531
Maacah is a hard-working woman.
Her husband does not help;
he is too busy
boasting of his many sons
and the cities he has built.
So she scrapes a harsh living
under a harsher sun,
flitting like a small shadow
through her menfolk
and their vigorous lives.
Life News:
What can I say? Nightmare City but with a very very slow edging towards the light. As it were. When it comes to our move into rented accommodation, we've sorted out the contents and car insurance, as well as the redirection of mail and notifying the bank. The rental agent told us yesterday that they need the deposit and first month's rent, plus their fees, cleared into their bank by Tuesday to allow us to move in, so we attempted to do a bank transfer through the Nationwide, where we've banked for years in a variety of ways - but sadly the Nationwide needed us to make an appointment to do this and they didn't have any spare time until next Friday. Hmm, it does not compute. Several moments (if not more) of sheer panic went by (particularly bearing in mind that the bank holiday makes everything slower), but K's lovely company stepped magnificently into the breach this morning and have solved the problem for us - what heroes ...! Naturally we have paid them back, but it's still a life-saver.
Meanwhile I have not been slack, though sadly rather more unsuccessful. I came back home last night to find a message from our flat estate agents saying how unhappy our buyer is and the deal is seriously in jeopardy if we don't exchange this week, and they desperately need our nice neighbour (called G) to sign the updated lease document for the tricky middle neighbours' solicitors (whom I shall call P). So today I did the following (and I can only really explain it in bullet form, sorry, as it's doing my head in ...):
1. Rang the lovely neighbour who kindly agreed to come round with the lease document herself.
2. Rang our solicitors (who go by the name of L) and told them I planned to take the signed document to P directly so they had it in their hot little hands, and then find out what they needed us to do at that point. I said I would bring it to L in Knaphill (quite a drive but I was beyond caring, frankly) if they needed to see it also. L were unhappy that I was directly contacting P as that is not the "done" legal thing. I said I didn't care about that either and it seemed that the only way of achieving results was for me to become my own private conveyancing service, so I wasn't asking them - I was telling them.
3. Rang P who said, eventually, that would be fine but they would need to discuss it with L. They also said that G would need to give them her passport and a utility bill to prove identity. G was fine with that but at that point needed to go to meet a friend for coffee. I agreed to take the signed lease into P there and then so they could get on with working towards exchange (ah, such optimism ...), and G agreed to meet me at the flat later with the passport and the utility bill for me to take to P in the afternoon.
4. Rang our estate agent (S) to update, and also rang K (remember him, Gawd bless him?) to update.
5. Went to P to give the lease to them. L rang me and said there was an additional identity document G needed to sign and they had already discussed this with P while I was on my way there. L also said that ideally, G should come in to sign another similar identity document with them in Knaphill, although, if P were in agreement, the signed identity document at P's offices would suffice. Had a meeting with P, and was told they shouldn't really be getting G to sign the new identity document at their offices as it was really something she should do with L in Knaphill. However, under the very complex circumstances of the case, they would do this if L had agreed to it, which they had. P also said in that case G needed to bring a passport photo with her for identity purposes as they therefore needed to actually see her in the flesh. P also told me there were two additional documents G needed to sign which hadn't yet been sent to her with the lease document and I said G could do that this afternoon if she was happy to come in with me to see P. P also said that completion would be delayed as they needed to register the new lease with the Land Registry (first I'd heard of that too ...), and with the bank holiday, it was hard to know when this might be done. But it should, in theory, not delay actual exchange, if all the solicitors in all the colours and sizes could agree.
6. After the meeting, I rang G, who was happy to meet me at the flat with the documentation and come in to see P with me. What a heroine - and way way beyond the call of duty ...
7. Went back home and updated everyone on the current situation. K not happy because L has been saying to our buyer for weeks that we're on the point of exchange, which is obviously far from the case, and therefore that is why our buyer has been getting hugely frustrated. I cannot blame him, though we also do wonder what P has been saying to L to make exchange seem imminent. Not sure who's lying, my dears, but someone is ... K writes firm but polite email to L, putting this to them, but no response as yet.
8. G arrives (Gawd bless 'er!), and I take her to Godalming. G gets her passport photos done and I utterly insist on paying, which is frankly the least I can do. G and I have meeting with P to sign documentation (on the way we were utterly drenched in the sudden downpour and had a bout of hysteria, wondering if the day could in fact get any worse ...). P's receptionist very po-faced and obviously not good with hysterical soaked-to-the-skin people who aren't actually clients. Didn't give a fig as to her feelings frankly. At meeting P happy, but when directly questioned, admits there is no chance of exchange today as the tricky neighbours (my phrase, not theirs), their clients, have not signed the necessary documents. In the meeting, I ring L to say what we have done. L still umming and aahing over whether they can accept the identity documentation being signed with another solicitor, even though they have already agreed this with me on the phone. I hand the phone over to P so the two solicitors can actually discuss it on the phone directly. Big surprise to all! - they haven't thought of speaking before ... L tells me that as P has witnessed the identity document, then she doesn't need to see G in Knaphill and all will be fine. At least we seemed to be one small step further forward, ho hum. L and P promise to keep talking once L has updated the buyer's solicitors and seen what they might accept in order to move the situation forward.
9. I take G for lunch. G insists on paying but I bargain for some kind of contribution and she accepts a small donation from me. It should have been more, G!
10. In the carpark in Godalming, L rings me and says they might have to ask G to come to Knaphill after all as they have changed their mind about the identity documentation as they're not sure what P has done. I say that I have just spoken to P in the meeting, rung L, and L spoke to P directly in the meeting also so surely this has already been decided. L says yes but she has tried to ring P once more to confirm (I am obviously not to be trusted ...) but P was not available. I ask G if she would in principle be happy to go to Knaphill with me, and she says yes. I relay this information to L, tell L that I am going home at which point I will ring P again and ask them to contact L to discuss further to confirm whether the Knaphill trip is needed.
11. At home with G, I ring P and tell her that L are having second thoughts and could P please ring them to have a further chat. P agrees to do this. We wait for half an hour. Nobody rings back. I ring K to update him. Both of us by now have lost the will to live. Probably G has too, but is happy about being kidnapped and driven to Knaphill for mysterious legal reasons if necessary. G now a serious contender for Best Neighbour Awards 2011. I ring L back. L says yes, they have spoken to P, and Knaphill is now definitely off the agenda. L has also spoken to the buyer's solicitors and all three sets of solicitors are now "in principle in agreement" that an exchange date can be considered. Well, good-oh, eh. However, it will not be today, but will be whenever the tricky middle neighbours think they can sign the documents.
12. I let G go, after giving her a tray of courgettes. Sounds mean, I know, but I told her in all seriousness that she could have anything in the house that she wanted to have, up to the value of half my kingdom and that is what she chose. To cap it all, G also agreed to ring the tricky middle neighbours, with whom she has a better relationship than I do, to see how long it might take them to sign, and to keep me updated. I promised G I would buy her all the courgettes in England if that was what she wished for.
13. I rang S (our estate agent - remember them?) to tell them all the above in words of one syllable as I don't have the energy for anything longer. S in a state of resignation but slightly more confident that they can keep our buyer as there is some kind of positive news in it all. Really? Ah, the power of positive thought. However, our buyer withdrawing is also a very real option on the agenda at the moment, an opinion with which I could only concur, and we must prepare ourselves for anything. My dears, I have spent the whole damn day preparing myself for anything so one more item isn't going to make a jot of difference.
14. Rang K to update him. Lay down on carpet for extended period of time, trying to work out if it's worth cleaning it or not. Decided not to bother.
Oh, and in the midst of all this, I asked Godalming Museum about a launch date for The Gifting (they will ring back), sorted out a taxi firm for a big do at work which I hadn't been able to finalise yesterday, advised my change of address to the optician, bought and started writing some change of address cards and managed to write a few hundred words on the current novella. God, but I'm good. And then people wonder what I do all day when I'm off ... Hey ho. Is it Friday yet?
Anne Brooke
Lots of exciting news about The Art of The Delaneys this week which is now available at All Romance Ebooks, and has also received reviews at: Literary Nymph Reviews (4 star); Brief Encounters Reviews; and at Goodreads, a 5 star review and a 4 star review. Many thanks to all for commenting on the story and reviewing it.
In addition, Entertaining the Delaneys was reviewed at Three Dollar Bill Reviews, so many thanks also to Indigene for that one. Also, The Gifting is now available as a paperback from Amazon UK, so that's encouraging.
You'll find my review of Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon at Vulpes Libris today, and I've also managed to squeeze in one meditation poem into the pure mania of this week:
Meditation 531
Maacah is a hard-working woman.
Her husband does not help;
he is too busy
boasting of his many sons
and the cities he has built.
So she scrapes a harsh living
under a harsher sun,
flitting like a small shadow
through her menfolk
and their vigorous lives.
Life News:
What can I say? Nightmare City but with a very very slow edging towards the light. As it were. When it comes to our move into rented accommodation, we've sorted out the contents and car insurance, as well as the redirection of mail and notifying the bank. The rental agent told us yesterday that they need the deposit and first month's rent, plus their fees, cleared into their bank by Tuesday to allow us to move in, so we attempted to do a bank transfer through the Nationwide, where we've banked for years in a variety of ways - but sadly the Nationwide needed us to make an appointment to do this and they didn't have any spare time until next Friday. Hmm, it does not compute. Several moments (if not more) of sheer panic went by (particularly bearing in mind that the bank holiday makes everything slower), but K's lovely company stepped magnificently into the breach this morning and have solved the problem for us - what heroes ...! Naturally we have paid them back, but it's still a life-saver.
Meanwhile I have not been slack, though sadly rather more unsuccessful. I came back home last night to find a message from our flat estate agents saying how unhappy our buyer is and the deal is seriously in jeopardy if we don't exchange this week, and they desperately need our nice neighbour (called G) to sign the updated lease document for the tricky middle neighbours' solicitors (whom I shall call P). So today I did the following (and I can only really explain it in bullet form, sorry, as it's doing my head in ...):
1. Rang the lovely neighbour who kindly agreed to come round with the lease document herself.
2. Rang our solicitors (who go by the name of L) and told them I planned to take the signed document to P directly so they had it in their hot little hands, and then find out what they needed us to do at that point. I said I would bring it to L in Knaphill (quite a drive but I was beyond caring, frankly) if they needed to see it also. L were unhappy that I was directly contacting P as that is not the "done" legal thing. I said I didn't care about that either and it seemed that the only way of achieving results was for me to become my own private conveyancing service, so I wasn't asking them - I was telling them.
3. Rang P who said, eventually, that would be fine but they would need to discuss it with L. They also said that G would need to give them her passport and a utility bill to prove identity. G was fine with that but at that point needed to go to meet a friend for coffee. I agreed to take the signed lease into P there and then so they could get on with working towards exchange (ah, such optimism ...), and G agreed to meet me at the flat later with the passport and the utility bill for me to take to P in the afternoon.
4. Rang our estate agent (S) to update, and also rang K (remember him, Gawd bless him?) to update.
5. Went to P to give the lease to them. L rang me and said there was an additional identity document G needed to sign and they had already discussed this with P while I was on my way there. L also said that ideally, G should come in to sign another similar identity document with them in Knaphill, although, if P were in agreement, the signed identity document at P's offices would suffice. Had a meeting with P, and was told they shouldn't really be getting G to sign the new identity document at their offices as it was really something she should do with L in Knaphill. However, under the very complex circumstances of the case, they would do this if L had agreed to it, which they had. P also said in that case G needed to bring a passport photo with her for identity purposes as they therefore needed to actually see her in the flesh. P also told me there were two additional documents G needed to sign which hadn't yet been sent to her with the lease document and I said G could do that this afternoon if she was happy to come in with me to see P. P also said that completion would be delayed as they needed to register the new lease with the Land Registry (first I'd heard of that too ...), and with the bank holiday, it was hard to know when this might be done. But it should, in theory, not delay actual exchange, if all the solicitors in all the colours and sizes could agree.
6. After the meeting, I rang G, who was happy to meet me at the flat with the documentation and come in to see P with me. What a heroine - and way way beyond the call of duty ...
7. Went back home and updated everyone on the current situation. K not happy because L has been saying to our buyer for weeks that we're on the point of exchange, which is obviously far from the case, and therefore that is why our buyer has been getting hugely frustrated. I cannot blame him, though we also do wonder what P has been saying to L to make exchange seem imminent. Not sure who's lying, my dears, but someone is ... K writes firm but polite email to L, putting this to them, but no response as yet.
8. G arrives (Gawd bless 'er!), and I take her to Godalming. G gets her passport photos done and I utterly insist on paying, which is frankly the least I can do. G and I have meeting with P to sign documentation (on the way we were utterly drenched in the sudden downpour and had a bout of hysteria, wondering if the day could in fact get any worse ...). P's receptionist very po-faced and obviously not good with hysterical soaked-to-the-skin people who aren't actually clients. Didn't give a fig as to her feelings frankly. At meeting P happy, but when directly questioned, admits there is no chance of exchange today as the tricky neighbours (my phrase, not theirs), their clients, have not signed the necessary documents. In the meeting, I ring L to say what we have done. L still umming and aahing over whether they can accept the identity documentation being signed with another solicitor, even though they have already agreed this with me on the phone. I hand the phone over to P so the two solicitors can actually discuss it on the phone directly. Big surprise to all! - they haven't thought of speaking before ... L tells me that as P has witnessed the identity document, then she doesn't need to see G in Knaphill and all will be fine. At least we seemed to be one small step further forward, ho hum. L and P promise to keep talking once L has updated the buyer's solicitors and seen what they might accept in order to move the situation forward.
9. I take G for lunch. G insists on paying but I bargain for some kind of contribution and she accepts a small donation from me. It should have been more, G!
10. In the carpark in Godalming, L rings me and says they might have to ask G to come to Knaphill after all as they have changed their mind about the identity documentation as they're not sure what P has done. I say that I have just spoken to P in the meeting, rung L, and L spoke to P directly in the meeting also so surely this has already been decided. L says yes but she has tried to ring P once more to confirm (I am obviously not to be trusted ...) but P was not available. I ask G if she would in principle be happy to go to Knaphill with me, and she says yes. I relay this information to L, tell L that I am going home at which point I will ring P again and ask them to contact L to discuss further to confirm whether the Knaphill trip is needed.
11. At home with G, I ring P and tell her that L are having second thoughts and could P please ring them to have a further chat. P agrees to do this. We wait for half an hour. Nobody rings back. I ring K to update him. Both of us by now have lost the will to live. Probably G has too, but is happy about being kidnapped and driven to Knaphill for mysterious legal reasons if necessary. G now a serious contender for Best Neighbour Awards 2011. I ring L back. L says yes, they have spoken to P, and Knaphill is now definitely off the agenda. L has also spoken to the buyer's solicitors and all three sets of solicitors are now "in principle in agreement" that an exchange date can be considered. Well, good-oh, eh. However, it will not be today, but will be whenever the tricky middle neighbours think they can sign the documents.
12. I let G go, after giving her a tray of courgettes. Sounds mean, I know, but I told her in all seriousness that she could have anything in the house that she wanted to have, up to the value of half my kingdom and that is what she chose. To cap it all, G also agreed to ring the tricky middle neighbours, with whom she has a better relationship than I do, to see how long it might take them to sign, and to keep me updated. I promised G I would buy her all the courgettes in England if that was what she wished for.
13. I rang S (our estate agent - remember them?) to tell them all the above in words of one syllable as I don't have the energy for anything longer. S in a state of resignation but slightly more confident that they can keep our buyer as there is some kind of positive news in it all. Really? Ah, the power of positive thought. However, our buyer withdrawing is also a very real option on the agenda at the moment, an opinion with which I could only concur, and we must prepare ourselves for anything. My dears, I have spent the whole damn day preparing myself for anything so one more item isn't going to make a jot of difference.
14. Rang K to update him. Lay down on carpet for extended period of time, trying to work out if it's worth cleaning it or not. Decided not to bother.
Oh, and in the midst of all this, I asked Godalming Museum about a launch date for The Gifting (they will ring back), sorted out a taxi firm for a big do at work which I hadn't been able to finalise yesterday, advised my change of address to the optician, bought and started writing some change of address cards and managed to write a few hundred words on the current novella. God, but I'm good. And then people wonder what I do all day when I'm off ... Hey ho. Is it Friday yet?
Anne Brooke
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Tigers and snowglobes
Book News:
The Gifting is now available, both as a eBook and paperback, at Bluewood Publishing, and you can also find it, in paperback, at Amazon US, and in Kindle version, at Amazon US and Amazon UK. I gather some people have already bought copies, so thank you and I hope you enjoy the read. Mind you, if you're local and you know me (those brave few!...) - don't forget the launch is in July so you'll need to wait till then or I'll have no more buyers left, alas. It's also been a pleasure getting the boxes of author/launch copies delivered this week and I think I might stop stroking them now but don't hold your breath ... It is quite something when the book one has spent so many months and months giving birth to is finally ... um ... born. A scary and exhilarating feeling, I can tell you. I'm also compiling a list of potential reviewers so need to start working my way through that once I've liaised with Bluewood. Always good to be busy.
Meanwhile, The Art of the Delaneys gained its first 5-star review at Goodreads, so thank you, Marsha, for that. Much appreciated.
Here's a recent meditation (ah the joys and pains of being the youngest child - how well I know it!):
Meditation 530
The youngest child
carries the sins
and joys of all
who came first.
They store memories
like dust or shadows:
moon-maddened,
blood-cursed.
Watch them.
The Sunday haiku is:
In sunlight and dust
I pack up my memories
for another day.
Life News:
It's all change! As you may be able to tell from the haiku ... We had a phone call on Friday morning to say all the signed documents for selling our flat were now completed (gosh, the tricky neighbours have come through then, thank the good Lord for it ...) and our buyer wanted to complete and move in as soon as possible. So, I spent most of Friday and some of Saturday (not necessarily in this order) (a) driving to the removal firm in Cranleigh to redo our removal quote to include storage and sign it off there and then; (b) agreeing with our rental flat agent when we can move in; (c) filling in the documentation the rental agent sent us; (d) contacting the gas, water, electricity, credit card, pension and other financial people etc etc while K when home did the telephone and council tax people etc etc. My, what fun - especially when we find out that BT will not be able to connect us to the phone or internet in our new rented flat until 17 June, so it looks like we will be on radio silence, as they say, until then. Then again, it may do us good and we can rediscover the roses once more, hey ho.
So the upshot is that we will be moving on Tuesday 31 May, so a week on Tuesday we will be out of here, hurrah! And I will, after all my moaning and groaning, get to have my birthday somewhere else, so another reason to thank God of a Sunday (though, speaking of holy matters, surely He's got it wrong in that K and I are still here and haven't been Raptured?... I demand a recount ...). Anyway double hurrahs for all sorts of reasons and put out the bunting. And, for a woman moving in just over a week, I am startlingly calm. Must be the pills.
Anyway, in the midst of all this, I spent a pleasant morning yesterday seeing a friend in Maidstone (hello, Pauline!) whilst K looked at a very posh house that everyone appears to want, but thank goodness he didn't like it so we don't have to compete. Plus he thought the tenants were bitter and dodgy (much like us, then) and couldn't bear the thought of having to deal with them, so we're best off out of that one, to be sure.
Other good news of the weekend is that (sound the trumpets) K and I have actually managed to grow our first ever flower, well gosh. Everything else we've been trying out lately in our preparation to be gardeners has died and we've had to throw it out - but our rose bush which we pruned earlier on in the year in its little pot has produced one flower. This may not be much to you expert gardeners out there, but it is a huge achievement for us and we are rightly chuffed. In addition, whilst watching (a rather better than normal) Dr Who last night, I was thrilled to see the great man use a snowglobe as a scientific method of observing the universe. Ha! All these years I've collected snowglobes and everyone has laughed at me - but now I am proved right and they will laugh no more. I promise you that my catholic collection of snowglobes (including the old pope, the Holy Family, Noah's Ark, Pompeii, Dubai, Madeira and a host of other places I've been or people I like) is the only thing standing between us and the Rapture. Be thankful that I'm still here ...
So, to today. We have attended church and said our goodbyes to the people there - as we're unlikely to find time to go next Sunday and then we're off to Woking - though we didn't manage to catch up with the main vicar so will have to email him during the week. I'll miss them, and the intermittent bible study groups which were always great fun, but it's time to go and start again, if only temporarily, elsewhere. Also on our journeys this morning, we dropped into the parish's smaller sister church as that was the one we originally started going to until it suffered a very bad fire about two or three years ago. We didn't expect to be able to get in as it's not re-opening till next month and we knew building works were still ongoing - but actually another parishioner was showing his family round so we managed to get inside for a few minutes. It was nice to be able to say goodbye properly in that respect, as it's a beautiful and very peaceful building and they've done a magnificent repair job. We hope to drop in at some point once it's possible, but for now it felt like closure.
Finally, I am delighted to announce that I have at last found my ideal career - toy tiger marksman - as is now a possibility locally as you can see from this news item. Though, as K said, didn't they feel suspicious when the helicopter couldn't pick the ravening beast up on the thermal sensors? Perhaps they thought it might be a vampire tiger. Indeed, the end of the world is nigh ...
Anne Brooke
The Gifting is now available, both as a eBook and paperback, at Bluewood Publishing, and you can also find it, in paperback, at Amazon US, and in Kindle version, at Amazon US and Amazon UK. I gather some people have already bought copies, so thank you and I hope you enjoy the read. Mind you, if you're local and you know me (those brave few!...) - don't forget the launch is in July so you'll need to wait till then or I'll have no more buyers left, alas. It's also been a pleasure getting the boxes of author/launch copies delivered this week and I think I might stop stroking them now but don't hold your breath ... It is quite something when the book one has spent so many months and months giving birth to is finally ... um ... born. A scary and exhilarating feeling, I can tell you. I'm also compiling a list of potential reviewers so need to start working my way through that once I've liaised with Bluewood. Always good to be busy.
Meanwhile, The Art of the Delaneys gained its first 5-star review at Goodreads, so thank you, Marsha, for that. Much appreciated.
Here's a recent meditation (ah the joys and pains of being the youngest child - how well I know it!):
Meditation 530
The youngest child
carries the sins
and joys of all
who came first.
They store memories
like dust or shadows:
moon-maddened,
blood-cursed.
Watch them.
The Sunday haiku is:
In sunlight and dust
I pack up my memories
for another day.
Life News:
It's all change! As you may be able to tell from the haiku ... We had a phone call on Friday morning to say all the signed documents for selling our flat were now completed (gosh, the tricky neighbours have come through then, thank the good Lord for it ...) and our buyer wanted to complete and move in as soon as possible. So, I spent most of Friday and some of Saturday (not necessarily in this order) (a) driving to the removal firm in Cranleigh to redo our removal quote to include storage and sign it off there and then; (b) agreeing with our rental flat agent when we can move in; (c) filling in the documentation the rental agent sent us; (d) contacting the gas, water, electricity, credit card, pension and other financial people etc etc while K when home did the telephone and council tax people etc etc. My, what fun - especially when we find out that BT will not be able to connect us to the phone or internet in our new rented flat until 17 June, so it looks like we will be on radio silence, as they say, until then. Then again, it may do us good and we can rediscover the roses once more, hey ho.
So the upshot is that we will be moving on Tuesday 31 May, so a week on Tuesday we will be out of here, hurrah! And I will, after all my moaning and groaning, get to have my birthday somewhere else, so another reason to thank God of a Sunday (though, speaking of holy matters, surely He's got it wrong in that K and I are still here and haven't been Raptured?... I demand a recount ...). Anyway double hurrahs for all sorts of reasons and put out the bunting. And, for a woman moving in just over a week, I am startlingly calm. Must be the pills.
Anyway, in the midst of all this, I spent a pleasant morning yesterday seeing a friend in Maidstone (hello, Pauline!) whilst K looked at a very posh house that everyone appears to want, but thank goodness he didn't like it so we don't have to compete. Plus he thought the tenants were bitter and dodgy (much like us, then) and couldn't bear the thought of having to deal with them, so we're best off out of that one, to be sure.
Other good news of the weekend is that (sound the trumpets) K and I have actually managed to grow our first ever flower, well gosh. Everything else we've been trying out lately in our preparation to be gardeners has died and we've had to throw it out - but our rose bush which we pruned earlier on in the year in its little pot has produced one flower. This may not be much to you expert gardeners out there, but it is a huge achievement for us and we are rightly chuffed. In addition, whilst watching (a rather better than normal) Dr Who last night, I was thrilled to see the great man use a snowglobe as a scientific method of observing the universe. Ha! All these years I've collected snowglobes and everyone has laughed at me - but now I am proved right and they will laugh no more. I promise you that my catholic collection of snowglobes (including the old pope, the Holy Family, Noah's Ark, Pompeii, Dubai, Madeira and a host of other places I've been or people I like) is the only thing standing between us and the Rapture. Be thankful that I'm still here ...
So, to today. We have attended church and said our goodbyes to the people there - as we're unlikely to find time to go next Sunday and then we're off to Woking - though we didn't manage to catch up with the main vicar so will have to email him during the week. I'll miss them, and the intermittent bible study groups which were always great fun, but it's time to go and start again, if only temporarily, elsewhere. Also on our journeys this morning, we dropped into the parish's smaller sister church as that was the one we originally started going to until it suffered a very bad fire about two or three years ago. We didn't expect to be able to get in as it's not re-opening till next month and we knew building works were still ongoing - but actually another parishioner was showing his family round so we managed to get inside for a few minutes. It was nice to be able to say goodbye properly in that respect, as it's a beautiful and very peaceful building and they've done a magnificent repair job. We hope to drop in at some point once it's possible, but for now it felt like closure.
Finally, I am delighted to announce that I have at last found my ideal career - toy tiger marksman - as is now a possibility locally as you can see from this news item. Though, as K said, didn't they feel suspicious when the helicopter couldn't pick the ravening beast up on the thermal sensors? Perhaps they thought it might be a vampire tiger. Indeed, the end of the world is nigh ...
Anne Brooke
Thursday, May 19, 2011
A wobbly week
Life News:
It's been a bit of a wobbly week, being back at work this week, I must say, and I don't think I've been my usual jolly self (ho ho). My head is so full of vast quantities of stuff that it's proving really tricky to sort it all out so I haven't really been trying. Office tasks seemed very long and complex when they probably shouldn't have been, plus I'm worrying (well, it's after Lent so I'm allowed to) about when our flat exchange date might be, if our buyer is going to hang on or give up, if we'll still be able to go to the rental property we like if we do suddenly have to move or if we'll be homeless, and whether our removal firm can fit us in even though I'm unable to explain anything useful to them at all. On top of all that, we're now seriously looking at other houses again if we can fit viewings in as nothing's moving on the house we've "bought" and it's been three months now and still no sniff of an exchange date, and the vendors' solicitors are being as unhelpful as ever, sigh. I honestly can't now remember what we liked about it, and neither can K really. It feels like a purchase someone other than us has made.
Anyway, today we've seen two other houses, one in Knaphill which we did like but K thinks it might be the "safe choice" and there's nothing that individual about it even though it's well within our price range, so I'm probably keener than he is. The other one in Pyrford was okay but way too near the main road, and therefore too noisy, which we both hate. On Saturday K is going to see another house in Woking that he's really keen on but I can't go as I'm seeing a friend in Kent. The plus points for that one are it's quiet, in a nice area, and there's no chain (though I understand the tenants are rather tricky, so that's a bit worrying), but it's over our budget and I'm a bit worried by that. Well, we'll see, eh.
It's rather disheartening as K and I promised ourselves last September that we'd be out of this flat by my birthday for sure - but as that's only a month and two days away now, I fear there's not much hope. In that case I suspect a tear or two will be shed when I reach that great milestone, birthday or no birthday, ah well. On the other hand, when we get to September and we're still here (goddammit), I suppose I can bake a one-year-house-hunt-failure celebration cake. What joy.
This week, I've also had my regular appointment with the doctor to see how the anti-depressants are working. Well, what could I say? I just told her I was having a wobbly week due to being back at work and period etc (sorry, too much information, probably ...) and decided to leave the rest of it unsaid as I couldn't think of the words. No doubt the wonder pills are making things better on a personal level than they otherwise would be, so thank God for small mercies.
Book News:
Sometime this or next week, The Gifting should, I hope, be published, so I'm busy preparing a launch party for, I think, sometime early July. I'm hoping to hold that at Godalming Museum but obviously it depends on schedules etc. I've got a list of about 40 people I'd like to invite, so with a bit of luck I should get 25 or so coming at least. I've just got to think of something to say and which passage to read. Best get my thinking cap on then.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 526
The only ones mentioned
are the leaders
and the fighters.
Nobody thinks
of the cooks, the plumbers,
the gardeners or the writers.
Meditation 527
Shaharaim divorced
two wives
granting them shame
but also their lives.
Meditation 528
The fewer the words
the greater the thought
for it is in the spaces
that wisdom is caught.
Meditation 529
Long-forgotten names
are like stars:
a distant glitter
at the edge of your eye,
a strange coldness
patterning the sky.
Anne Brooke
It's been a bit of a wobbly week, being back at work this week, I must say, and I don't think I've been my usual jolly self (ho ho). My head is so full of vast quantities of stuff that it's proving really tricky to sort it all out so I haven't really been trying. Office tasks seemed very long and complex when they probably shouldn't have been, plus I'm worrying (well, it's after Lent so I'm allowed to) about when our flat exchange date might be, if our buyer is going to hang on or give up, if we'll still be able to go to the rental property we like if we do suddenly have to move or if we'll be homeless, and whether our removal firm can fit us in even though I'm unable to explain anything useful to them at all. On top of all that, we're now seriously looking at other houses again if we can fit viewings in as nothing's moving on the house we've "bought" and it's been three months now and still no sniff of an exchange date, and the vendors' solicitors are being as unhelpful as ever, sigh. I honestly can't now remember what we liked about it, and neither can K really. It feels like a purchase someone other than us has made.
Anyway, today we've seen two other houses, one in Knaphill which we did like but K thinks it might be the "safe choice" and there's nothing that individual about it even though it's well within our price range, so I'm probably keener than he is. The other one in Pyrford was okay but way too near the main road, and therefore too noisy, which we both hate. On Saturday K is going to see another house in Woking that he's really keen on but I can't go as I'm seeing a friend in Kent. The plus points for that one are it's quiet, in a nice area, and there's no chain (though I understand the tenants are rather tricky, so that's a bit worrying), but it's over our budget and I'm a bit worried by that. Well, we'll see, eh.
It's rather disheartening as K and I promised ourselves last September that we'd be out of this flat by my birthday for sure - but as that's only a month and two days away now, I fear there's not much hope. In that case I suspect a tear or two will be shed when I reach that great milestone, birthday or no birthday, ah well. On the other hand, when we get to September and we're still here (goddammit), I suppose I can bake a one-year-house-hunt-failure celebration cake. What joy.
This week, I've also had my regular appointment with the doctor to see how the anti-depressants are working. Well, what could I say? I just told her I was having a wobbly week due to being back at work and period etc (sorry, too much information, probably ...) and decided to leave the rest of it unsaid as I couldn't think of the words. No doubt the wonder pills are making things better on a personal level than they otherwise would be, so thank God for small mercies.
Book News:
Sometime this or next week, The Gifting should, I hope, be published, so I'm busy preparing a launch party for, I think, sometime early July. I'm hoping to hold that at Godalming Museum but obviously it depends on schedules etc. I've got a list of about 40 people I'd like to invite, so with a bit of luck I should get 25 or so coming at least. I've just got to think of something to say and which passage to read. Best get my thinking cap on then.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 526
The only ones mentioned
are the leaders
and the fighters.
Nobody thinks
of the cooks, the plumbers,
the gardeners or the writers.
Meditation 527
Shaharaim divorced
two wives
granting them shame
but also their lives.
Meditation 528
The fewer the words
the greater the thought
for it is in the spaces
that wisdom is caught.
Meditation 529
Long-forgotten names
are like stars:
a distant glitter
at the edge of your eye,
a strange coldness
patterning the sky.
Anne Brooke
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Holidays, Gifting and Art
Life News:
Just back yesterday from an utterly fabulous holiday in (fairly ancient) Italy - the guide was grand, the hotel very good indeed and the history fascinating. Really, what more can you want? Major highlights for me were (a) the marvels of commercial Pompeii, where we were lucky enough to spend over 7 hours exploring and taking it all in, hurrah; (b) the smaller but better preserved seaside town of Herculaneum - which actually I preferred to Pompeii and which was somehow more moving. The inhabitants were basically smothered by a wall of volcanic mud travelling at c250 to 300 miles per hour, and those who'd previously rushed to the harbour to escape by boat couldn't as the winds were against them so all died on the shore. Horrific to think of it really. Apparently (look away if you're squeamish), the method of death was the moment the vastly boiling mud touched the skin, the brain couldn't take it and basically exploded. It was fascinating to see the great wall of volcanic material which still covers half of the town ... Oh, and (c) was the surprisingly well-preserved Greek temples of Paestum, whilst (d) was actually climbing to the top of Mount Vesuvius where the whole story began and looking at the hundreds of swallows flying over the top. Amazing. Plus a special mention for (e) the guide reading out the letters of Pliny the Younger who (as a man who usually wrote incredibly long and dull administrative letters to the Emperor) somehow reached very affecting levels of poetry in his description of the eruption and the consequent death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder, during it. Hearing this eye-witness account made the whole thing come alive. So, if all this enthusiasm has made you curious, here's the tour we went on - expensive, yes, but frankly worth every penny and more.
Anyway, back down to earth now and the flat is full of more washing than I'm sure I've ever seen, groan - how I'm looking forward to that ironing pile. Um, not. Talking of the flat, there's no real news about anyone moving (sigh) and we certainly haven't exchanged this week, as the solicitor was hoping. Hey ho. The one good(ish) thing is that the new lease requested by the tricky neighbours has been finalised and all we have to do is sign it, which we're happy to do, and hope that all goes through smoothly from now on. Dream on, eh!
Today, we've tried to extend the holiday feeling by lunching at Wisley - the roses are beginning to appear and should be great over the next few weeks or so. But I must say that after the glorious Italian weather, it does seem a tad chilly here in the mother country ...
Book News:
I'm thrilled to say that The Art of The Delaneys, the third in my erotic Delaneys series, is now available at Amber Allure at a discount price for its first week, so buy early buy often, as they say. Keeping to the subject of erotic short stories, my stand-alone (as it were) story, For One Night Only, will be published by Amber Allure on 24 July, so the summer should, I hope, get hotter.
Meanwhile, the first of my fantasy trilogy, The Gifting, now has its own page at Bluewood Publishing, which looks very snazzy indeed, and is due out in the next couple of weeks, well gosh! Honestly, I can't wait for this one as it seems I've spent years beating that trilogy into some sort of shape and now the first one is nearly here. I do hope at least some people might like it.
Finally, here are two Sunday haikus for you:
In my deep blue haze
waiting for the rain to pass,
I dream in sunshine.
Sun carves out the day
and I taste only the sea
shimmering in heat.
Anne Brooke
Just back yesterday from an utterly fabulous holiday in (fairly ancient) Italy - the guide was grand, the hotel very good indeed and the history fascinating. Really, what more can you want? Major highlights for me were (a) the marvels of commercial Pompeii, where we were lucky enough to spend over 7 hours exploring and taking it all in, hurrah; (b) the smaller but better preserved seaside town of Herculaneum - which actually I preferred to Pompeii and which was somehow more moving. The inhabitants were basically smothered by a wall of volcanic mud travelling at c250 to 300 miles per hour, and those who'd previously rushed to the harbour to escape by boat couldn't as the winds were against them so all died on the shore. Horrific to think of it really. Apparently (look away if you're squeamish), the method of death was the moment the vastly boiling mud touched the skin, the brain couldn't take it and basically exploded. It was fascinating to see the great wall of volcanic material which still covers half of the town ... Oh, and (c) was the surprisingly well-preserved Greek temples of Paestum, whilst (d) was actually climbing to the top of Mount Vesuvius where the whole story began and looking at the hundreds of swallows flying over the top. Amazing. Plus a special mention for (e) the guide reading out the letters of Pliny the Younger who (as a man who usually wrote incredibly long and dull administrative letters to the Emperor) somehow reached very affecting levels of poetry in his description of the eruption and the consequent death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder, during it. Hearing this eye-witness account made the whole thing come alive. So, if all this enthusiasm has made you curious, here's the tour we went on - expensive, yes, but frankly worth every penny and more.
Anyway, back down to earth now and the flat is full of more washing than I'm sure I've ever seen, groan - how I'm looking forward to that ironing pile. Um, not. Talking of the flat, there's no real news about anyone moving (sigh) and we certainly haven't exchanged this week, as the solicitor was hoping. Hey ho. The one good(ish) thing is that the new lease requested by the tricky neighbours has been finalised and all we have to do is sign it, which we're happy to do, and hope that all goes through smoothly from now on. Dream on, eh!
Today, we've tried to extend the holiday feeling by lunching at Wisley - the roses are beginning to appear and should be great over the next few weeks or so. But I must say that after the glorious Italian weather, it does seem a tad chilly here in the mother country ...
Book News:
I'm thrilled to say that The Art of The Delaneys, the third in my erotic Delaneys series, is now available at Amber Allure at a discount price for its first week, so buy early buy often, as they say. Keeping to the subject of erotic short stories, my stand-alone (as it were) story, For One Night Only, will be published by Amber Allure on 24 July, so the summer should, I hope, get hotter.
Meanwhile, the first of my fantasy trilogy, The Gifting, now has its own page at Bluewood Publishing, which looks very snazzy indeed, and is due out in the next couple of weeks, well gosh! Honestly, I can't wait for this one as it seems I've spent years beating that trilogy into some sort of shape and now the first one is nearly here. I do hope at least some people might like it.
Finally, here are two Sunday haikus for you:
In my deep blue haze
waiting for the rain to pass,
I dream in sunshine.
Sun carves out the day
and I taste only the sea
shimmering in heat.
Anne Brooke
Friday, May 06, 2011
Holidays, houses and hope
Life News:
We had a lovely bank holiday Monday visiting Hinton Ampner and also met up with Colin & Cathy from work (hello, C & C!) which was an unexpected treat - hope you've both recovered from the shock by now ...
This week I've been back at work and managed, somehow, to deal with the 150 emails that awaited me. I'm just so incredibly popular, don't you know. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I feared after having been away for such a long time - though the easing-back-in process was definitely improved by Andrea & Monica bringing in chocolate, hurrah. What stars.
Wednesday night, I was up in London seeing Jane W (hello, Jane!) for drinks, food and chat, which was great as, honestly, what with everything that's been going on, it seems to have been ages since we met. Anyway it was wonderful to catch up, as always, though I fear Waterloo Station is not what it was. All the shops have gone, shock horror, as they apparently have a huge project to make a big shopping centre out of it at a mezzanine level. Ah, I feel that the spirit of Waterloo Station simply doesn't fit that scenario ...
Yesterday, K and I were out at the theatre to see Ayckbourn's Communicating Doors, which, as a comedy thriller, is something of a departure for him but well worth seeing. We loved it. A complex and very satisfying time travel/crime plot and some really scary moments, as well as his inevitable and very appreciated witty one-liners. If it comes your way, do go and see it if you can.
This morning, I have filled the car up with petrol and then attempted to get into the wrong car after I'd paid - oh the embarrassment of it all! All I can say in my defence was the car was quite similar to mine and I wasn't really paying attention, hey ho. The real owner was very sweet about it though - so I don't have to spend the night in Godalming police station, hurrah.
Mind you, you can't blame me as there's suddenly a hell of a lot going on again. Our house purchase is trundling on in the background. But, in terms of our flat sale, one of our tricky neighbours has actually signed the transfer, huzzah and put out the bunting! Mind you, the other one hasn't, yet, and they're now in addition wanting the lease to be changed, but that's at their expense, so we're holding our breath and hoping. Our solicitor even thinks that, if the wind's in the right direction, we might exchange with our buyer by the end of next week - even though we're on holiday then (see below) - but I think that will be rather over-optimistic myself. In the meantime, today - which is our last day in the UK for a week - I'm trying to (a) keep both sets of estate agents updated on a rolling basis, (b) agree to take the next step on the rental property we saw last week, with maybe a date for moving into it (ho hum), (c) keep in contact with K at work while all this is going on so various mutual decisions can be made, (d) keep our buyer happy by trying to give him a proposed completion date by close of play today (ha - that's three hours then!), (e) if (d) goes through, book our removal firm, and (f) pack my suitcase for the holiday. All this whilst the ruddy email here isn't working properly so I can't send anything out so nobody's getting any of my messages and I have to do it all via phone. Lordy indeed. It's astonishing I'm still calm ... Must be the fact that I managed to fit in a session of reflexology at work this week - bliss.
Anyway, I'll have no option but to forget it all next week and face the possibility of homelessness and our worldly goods on the street outside when we get back from sunny Italy, which is where we'll be for the next seven days. Having missed out at the last minute on Pompeii last year due to that pesky and very ironic ash cloud (ho hum), I'm determined to get there this year and enjoy every last moment of it. And, hell, we definitely need the break - another one!
Book News:
At Vulpes Libris you can find my review of Anne Tyler's Noah's Compass, which is a great read but rather bleaker than I'm used to with this author, I must say.
Other book news is that Untreed Reads have accepted my literary short story, A Little Death, for publication, so that's grand. And the ebook of The Bones of Summer can be purchased directly from the publisher at a 20% discount throughout the whole of May.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Anne Brooke
We had a lovely bank holiday Monday visiting Hinton Ampner and also met up with Colin & Cathy from work (hello, C & C!) which was an unexpected treat - hope you've both recovered from the shock by now ...
This week I've been back at work and managed, somehow, to deal with the 150 emails that awaited me. I'm just so incredibly popular, don't you know. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I feared after having been away for such a long time - though the easing-back-in process was definitely improved by Andrea & Monica bringing in chocolate, hurrah. What stars.
Wednesday night, I was up in London seeing Jane W (hello, Jane!) for drinks, food and chat, which was great as, honestly, what with everything that's been going on, it seems to have been ages since we met. Anyway it was wonderful to catch up, as always, though I fear Waterloo Station is not what it was. All the shops have gone, shock horror, as they apparently have a huge project to make a big shopping centre out of it at a mezzanine level. Ah, I feel that the spirit of Waterloo Station simply doesn't fit that scenario ...
Yesterday, K and I were out at the theatre to see Ayckbourn's Communicating Doors, which, as a comedy thriller, is something of a departure for him but well worth seeing. We loved it. A complex and very satisfying time travel/crime plot and some really scary moments, as well as his inevitable and very appreciated witty one-liners. If it comes your way, do go and see it if you can.
This morning, I have filled the car up with petrol and then attempted to get into the wrong car after I'd paid - oh the embarrassment of it all! All I can say in my defence was the car was quite similar to mine and I wasn't really paying attention, hey ho. The real owner was very sweet about it though - so I don't have to spend the night in Godalming police station, hurrah.
Mind you, you can't blame me as there's suddenly a hell of a lot going on again. Our house purchase is trundling on in the background. But, in terms of our flat sale, one of our tricky neighbours has actually signed the transfer, huzzah and put out the bunting! Mind you, the other one hasn't, yet, and they're now in addition wanting the lease to be changed, but that's at their expense, so we're holding our breath and hoping. Our solicitor even thinks that, if the wind's in the right direction, we might exchange with our buyer by the end of next week - even though we're on holiday then (see below) - but I think that will be rather over-optimistic myself. In the meantime, today - which is our last day in the UK for a week - I'm trying to (a) keep both sets of estate agents updated on a rolling basis, (b) agree to take the next step on the rental property we saw last week, with maybe a date for moving into it (ho hum), (c) keep in contact with K at work while all this is going on so various mutual decisions can be made, (d) keep our buyer happy by trying to give him a proposed completion date by close of play today (ha - that's three hours then!), (e) if (d) goes through, book our removal firm, and (f) pack my suitcase for the holiday. All this whilst the ruddy email here isn't working properly so I can't send anything out so nobody's getting any of my messages and I have to do it all via phone. Lordy indeed. It's astonishing I'm still calm ... Must be the fact that I managed to fit in a session of reflexology at work this week - bliss.
Anyway, I'll have no option but to forget it all next week and face the possibility of homelessness and our worldly goods on the street outside when we get back from sunny Italy, which is where we'll be for the next seven days. Having missed out at the last minute on Pompeii last year due to that pesky and very ironic ash cloud (ho hum), I'm determined to get there this year and enjoy every last moment of it. And, hell, we definitely need the break - another one!
Book News:
At Vulpes Libris you can find my review of Anne Tyler's Noah's Compass, which is a great read but rather bleaker than I'm used to with this author, I must say.
Other book news is that Untreed Reads have accepted my literary short story, A Little Death, for publication, so that's grand. And the ebook of The Bones of Summer can be purchased directly from the publisher at a 20% discount throughout the whole of May.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Anne Brooke
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Meditations, mascara and Royal Weddings
Book News:
Not much news this week on the writing front really. I'm continuing on with my gay erotic short story, For One Night Only, and, with only a couple of scenes left to do, should get the first draft finished over the next few days.
In the meantime, here are some meditation poems:
Meditation 522
So many sons
and not one daughter
which categorically
fails to demonstrate
a vision of life
as it oughta.
Meditation 523
Hushim has no siblings.
He stands alone,
shadowed in the evening light
and waits for the wind
to breathe over his skin
whispering of silence
and all that lies within.
Meditation 524
The Aramean concubine
had no name
but her sons
founded a dynasty
and in that there’s no shame.
Life News:
How a few days changes everything on the house-buying front, sigh. Earlier this week we were rushing round trying to find rental properties to move into as our buyer wanted to move in on the week commencing 16 May. We found a lovely one in Woking on Monday and were all set to give the go-ahead on Tuesday when our solicitor tells us that our tricky middle neighbours have just lost both their buyer and their solicitor all in one swoop. Lord only knows what's really gone on there!... I must admit I couldn't help but laugh but of course that (rather long) moment of schadenfreude has turned round to bite me. Because they no longer have a buyer, all our own flat transfer documents etc etc have to be redone with the nasty middle neighbours' details on it rather than the new middle neighbour (as really should have happened in the first place, but they would insist ...) - and of course now we have no legal hold over them with our possession of their transfer document, then they have no real reason why they should agree to our sale at all. Deep groan. We're waiting for our solicitor to let us know what (if any) response she gets when she writes to the middle neighbours, but I strongly suspect we're going nowhere on the week commencing 16 May, and may well lose our buyer if more delays occur. We also suspect we're possibly moving into a situation where neither of our flats will be able to sell as neither of us will be prepared to sign the necessary documents for the other. Though, on the other hand, it may be that the middle neighbours are so desperate to get rid of us (one can only hope!) that they'll do anything. We'll have to wait and see, eh. Honestly, you couldn't make this up.
In the meantime, and while our purchase of the Woking house goes on - and on and on - we're still viewing other houses, which has led to the point that one of the local estate agents who is apparently in the middle of helping our vendors buy a house has found out we're still looking, and is terribly anxious in case we drop out of our original purchase and therefore he in turn can't sell his house to our vendor. Ha! Really, I have little sympathy and at least it'll put more pressure on that agent to get the vendor out more speedily. Again, one can only hope ... However, if we can't sell our flat (see above ...), money's going to be tight though we can - just - do it, and we may have to think about renting it out instead. At the same time, we'll need to do it up, I suspect, before any lettings agent will take it on, and that takes money, which we'll have to watch etc etc. Goodness, what fun 2011 is turning out to be, hey ho ...
However, it's not all misery and moaning here in the shires - well, not quite anyway. The lettings agents of the flat in Woking we were intending to rent come mid-May is being an absolute star (thank you, Jennifer of Martin & Co) and says this sort of thing happens all the time and if anyone else expresses interest in the flat, she'll let us know. Above and beyond the call of duty, I feel, and very much appreciated. What a nice woman.
Not only that but I've had the whole of this week off as the University is closed until next Tuesday - and really, I've needed the break, and I can well see what bliss retirement is set to be. Dream on, sigh ... Whilst I've been away from work, TV has been good - loads of stuff on about the Royal Wedding which I have been lapping up, my dears, being a big softie at heart, and also I am getting seriously hooked on the zany but occasionally rather moving Campus. I can't bear to miss it now and I do hope there'll be another series. Some of those one-liners are seriously fantastic and the developing relationships are grand. Lovely. Oh, and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher was a top-class factual drama with a very classy main character and if you were unfortunate enough to miss it, do try to catch it online if you can. It's definitely worth it.
Plus, today, I have nipped into Godalming and bought my first lipstick and mascara for a whole four years - so the anti-depressants must indeed be working, Gawd bless 'em. I've even put them on and look somewhat more defined in the mirror than I usually am. Though whether that's a good or a bad thing is anyone's guess.
Finally, tomorrow from 8am I intend to be glued to the Event of the Year and I wish the happy couple, and indeed everyone else celebrating tomorrow, every joy in the occasion. Must rush and dust off my wedding hat ...
Anne Brooke
Not much news this week on the writing front really. I'm continuing on with my gay erotic short story, For One Night Only, and, with only a couple of scenes left to do, should get the first draft finished over the next few days.
In the meantime, here are some meditation poems:
Meditation 522
So many sons
and not one daughter
which categorically
fails to demonstrate
a vision of life
as it oughta.
Meditation 523
Hushim has no siblings.
He stands alone,
shadowed in the evening light
and waits for the wind
to breathe over his skin
whispering of silence
and all that lies within.
Meditation 524
The Aramean concubine
had no name
but her sons
founded a dynasty
and in that there’s no shame.
Life News:
How a few days changes everything on the house-buying front, sigh. Earlier this week we were rushing round trying to find rental properties to move into as our buyer wanted to move in on the week commencing 16 May. We found a lovely one in Woking on Monday and were all set to give the go-ahead on Tuesday when our solicitor tells us that our tricky middle neighbours have just lost both their buyer and their solicitor all in one swoop. Lord only knows what's really gone on there!... I must admit I couldn't help but laugh but of course that (rather long) moment of schadenfreude has turned round to bite me. Because they no longer have a buyer, all our own flat transfer documents etc etc have to be redone with the nasty middle neighbours' details on it rather than the new middle neighbour (as really should have happened in the first place, but they would insist ...) - and of course now we have no legal hold over them with our possession of their transfer document, then they have no real reason why they should agree to our sale at all. Deep groan. We're waiting for our solicitor to let us know what (if any) response she gets when she writes to the middle neighbours, but I strongly suspect we're going nowhere on the week commencing 16 May, and may well lose our buyer if more delays occur. We also suspect we're possibly moving into a situation where neither of our flats will be able to sell as neither of us will be prepared to sign the necessary documents for the other. Though, on the other hand, it may be that the middle neighbours are so desperate to get rid of us (one can only hope!) that they'll do anything. We'll have to wait and see, eh. Honestly, you couldn't make this up.
In the meantime, and while our purchase of the Woking house goes on - and on and on - we're still viewing other houses, which has led to the point that one of the local estate agents who is apparently in the middle of helping our vendors buy a house has found out we're still looking, and is terribly anxious in case we drop out of our original purchase and therefore he in turn can't sell his house to our vendor. Ha! Really, I have little sympathy and at least it'll put more pressure on that agent to get the vendor out more speedily. Again, one can only hope ... However, if we can't sell our flat (see above ...), money's going to be tight though we can - just - do it, and we may have to think about renting it out instead. At the same time, we'll need to do it up, I suspect, before any lettings agent will take it on, and that takes money, which we'll have to watch etc etc. Goodness, what fun 2011 is turning out to be, hey ho ...
However, it's not all misery and moaning here in the shires - well, not quite anyway. The lettings agents of the flat in Woking we were intending to rent come mid-May is being an absolute star (thank you, Jennifer of Martin & Co) and says this sort of thing happens all the time and if anyone else expresses interest in the flat, she'll let us know. Above and beyond the call of duty, I feel, and very much appreciated. What a nice woman.
Not only that but I've had the whole of this week off as the University is closed until next Tuesday - and really, I've needed the break, and I can well see what bliss retirement is set to be. Dream on, sigh ... Whilst I've been away from work, TV has been good - loads of stuff on about the Royal Wedding which I have been lapping up, my dears, being a big softie at heart, and also I am getting seriously hooked on the zany but occasionally rather moving Campus. I can't bear to miss it now and I do hope there'll be another series. Some of those one-liners are seriously fantastic and the developing relationships are grand. Lovely. Oh, and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher was a top-class factual drama with a very classy main character and if you were unfortunate enough to miss it, do try to catch it online if you can. It's definitely worth it.
Plus, today, I have nipped into Godalming and bought my first lipstick and mascara for a whole four years - so the anti-depressants must indeed be working, Gawd bless 'em. I've even put them on and look somewhat more defined in the mirror than I usually am. Though whether that's a good or a bad thing is anyone's guess.
Finally, tomorrow from 8am I intend to be glued to the Event of the Year and I wish the happy couple, and indeed everyone else celebrating tomorrow, every joy in the occasion. Must rush and dust off my wedding hat ...
Anne Brooke
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Happy Easter!
Had a great time at the work conference in Nottingham Monday to Wednesday with David & Carol from the office - it's certainly much better going with people you know, though it was also nice to catch up with those I've met before from other universities. It was even nice travelling up the M1 on Monday morning as when I joined it at Junction 6 it was gloriously empty, what with it being shut from Junctions 1 to 4. I've never seen such a clear road ...
So, the weather was marvellous and the seminars and live debate sessions almost equally so. Heck, I even said something in all my seminars (brave me!) though I'd never dare to in any of the plenary sessions. Mind you, for some reason, I had a room on Nottingham campus the size of a button - and had to move the bin and the fridge (a fridge, in a room - heck, the students don't know they've been born!) in order to sit on the chair, ah well. I also woke up in the middle of the night on the first night wondering why my stomach was so terribly gurgly even though I felt fine, and then realised it was the fridge, not me. Phew ...
Meanwhile, while I've been away, our house situation has moved on rapidly in one area at least - our buyer would like to move into our flat in mid-May so it's now all systems go to try to find somewhere in the area to rent on a short-term basis (two or three months, I would guess) some time over the next two weeks - which is basically all the time we have, as we're on holiday the week commencing 7 May and then back at the beginning of potential completion week. Heck, if it wasn't Lent I might be panicking, but I am trying to remain calm & logical, hey ho ...
Today, I've also viewed, as a buying option, a house in Bisley, and tomorrow K and I will view another in Knaphill. We're still keeping the Woking house option open as that slowly trundles through, but really we can't be bothered to chase any more. It's too exhausting. If something else comes up that we prefer, so be it, but if we do manage to get somewhere to rent, at least that gives us a breathing space. Come what may, it will be fantastic to be out of the flat ...
Whilst waiting for the estate agent to turn up at Bisley, I also heard my first cuckoo of spring, which was great. Everything's just so early this year, it seems. I hope summer doesn't end up being over by June! And I've had my last haircut with Lynda, who's cut my hair for 18 years but who doesn't travel as far north as Woking to do business. So I do indeed look lovely (trust me on that one) but will have to look for another hairdresser at some point - though of course it's not top of my To Do List right now.
Oh, and I thought last night's episode of Midsomer Murders was something of an improvement, at least in the realms of the relationships between characters - though the bitchy Barnaby definitely needs to treat poor Sergeant Jones a damn sight better before I'm any way near convinced ...
Finally I'm pleased to say that A Woman like the Sea gained a 5-star review at Goodreads - thanks, Jesse.
Happy Easter - hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Anne Brooke
So, the weather was marvellous and the seminars and live debate sessions almost equally so. Heck, I even said something in all my seminars (brave me!) though I'd never dare to in any of the plenary sessions. Mind you, for some reason, I had a room on Nottingham campus the size of a button - and had to move the bin and the fridge (a fridge, in a room - heck, the students don't know they've been born!) in order to sit on the chair, ah well. I also woke up in the middle of the night on the first night wondering why my stomach was so terribly gurgly even though I felt fine, and then realised it was the fridge, not me. Phew ...
Meanwhile, while I've been away, our house situation has moved on rapidly in one area at least - our buyer would like to move into our flat in mid-May so it's now all systems go to try to find somewhere in the area to rent on a short-term basis (two or three months, I would guess) some time over the next two weeks - which is basically all the time we have, as we're on holiday the week commencing 7 May and then back at the beginning of potential completion week. Heck, if it wasn't Lent I might be panicking, but I am trying to remain calm & logical, hey ho ...
Today, I've also viewed, as a buying option, a house in Bisley, and tomorrow K and I will view another in Knaphill. We're still keeping the Woking house option open as that slowly trundles through, but really we can't be bothered to chase any more. It's too exhausting. If something else comes up that we prefer, so be it, but if we do manage to get somewhere to rent, at least that gives us a breathing space. Come what may, it will be fantastic to be out of the flat ...
Whilst waiting for the estate agent to turn up at Bisley, I also heard my first cuckoo of spring, which was great. Everything's just so early this year, it seems. I hope summer doesn't end up being over by June! And I've had my last haircut with Lynda, who's cut my hair for 18 years but who doesn't travel as far north as Woking to do business. So I do indeed look lovely (trust me on that one) but will have to look for another hairdresser at some point - though of course it's not top of my To Do List right now.
Oh, and I thought last night's episode of Midsomer Murders was something of an improvement, at least in the realms of the relationships between characters - though the bitchy Barnaby definitely needs to treat poor Sergeant Jones a damn sight better before I'm any way near convinced ...
Finally I'm pleased to say that A Woman like the Sea gained a 5-star review at Goodreads - thanks, Jesse.
Happy Easter - hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Anne Brooke
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Publishers, proofs and paintings
Book News:
I'm happily going through the final proofs for The Gifting and should have those ready to send back to Bluewood Publishing sometime over the next few days, I hope. It's nice to key into the beginning of the trilogy once more and to get back in touch with how things are in Gathandria and Lammas. Some things I honestly can't remember writing at all, but hey somebody must have done. But, in my defence, I did write it quite a while ago.
Other positive book news is that Butterfly Girl, my lesbian erotic short story, is now available for free at Oysters and Chocolate webzine, and has been read about 620 times, which is heartening. Continuing the lesbian theme (though not the erotic one), I'm happy to note that The Girl in the Painting was briefly at No 78 in the Amazon UK charts, so that was nice too.
Other less positive book news is that one of my publishers has, rather dramatically I feel, threatened me with legal action for attempting (wisely, to my mind, since they haven't yet paid me the royalties from 2010, let alone 2011, Gawd bless 'em, and their dealings with me have been sooooo slow as to be virtually non-existent) to extricate myself from their grip. Somehow I can't help but be wryly amused by this, hey ho. I may yet end up in a foreign jail, who knows! However, I've had several offers of cakes by post with files in them, so you may not have heard the last of me yet ... However, if this blog goes suddenly silent, you know where I am! There's a story in there somewhere, my dears - maybe even a movie ...
Today at Vulpes Libris, you can read my review of Robert Goddard's Long Time Coming - in which the end is really way too long in coming. It was an exhausting read - not quality Goddard at all, sadly.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 518
It seems a shame
seeing he was so evil
the Lord killed him
that the unfortunate Er
couldn’t be granted
a longer name.
Meditation 519
Women from Carmel
are tall and dark-haired.
Their beauty is legendary.
They float like a ship
through the air’s mysterious tides.
They say little
and when they do speak
their words are full of wisdom
whilst their breath
smells of honey and spices.
They make deceitful friends
but true wives
as they walk through the world
in their secretive lives.
Life News:
Whilst selling our flat seems to have ground to a (hopefully temporary!) halt due to our buyer's mortgage not being quite there yet, the news on our house purchase is rather more interesting. It looks like (praise be ...) our vendors' solicitors have finally delivered all the necessary information to our solicitors and it may be that one day in recordable time the issue of an exchange date might be discussed. Watch this space, eh ... In the meantime, we have also booked to see a very nice house in West End Village on Saturday so our options remain, as always, open.
But there is more positively good news, hurrah. In spite of potentially being a known literary criminal of no fixed abode, my doctor tells me that my anxiety levels are officially down a little whilst my depression levels have halved. Hurrah indeed! Keep those little happy pills coming, is what I say.
Anne Brooke
I'm happily going through the final proofs for The Gifting and should have those ready to send back to Bluewood Publishing sometime over the next few days, I hope. It's nice to key into the beginning of the trilogy once more and to get back in touch with how things are in Gathandria and Lammas. Some things I honestly can't remember writing at all, but hey somebody must have done. But, in my defence, I did write it quite a while ago.
Other positive book news is that Butterfly Girl, my lesbian erotic short story, is now available for free at Oysters and Chocolate webzine, and has been read about 620 times, which is heartening. Continuing the lesbian theme (though not the erotic one), I'm happy to note that The Girl in the Painting was briefly at No 78 in the Amazon UK charts, so that was nice too.
Other less positive book news is that one of my publishers has, rather dramatically I feel, threatened me with legal action for attempting (wisely, to my mind, since they haven't yet paid me the royalties from 2010, let alone 2011, Gawd bless 'em, and their dealings with me have been sooooo slow as to be virtually non-existent) to extricate myself from their grip. Somehow I can't help but be wryly amused by this, hey ho. I may yet end up in a foreign jail, who knows! However, I've had several offers of cakes by post with files in them, so you may not have heard the last of me yet ... However, if this blog goes suddenly silent, you know where I am! There's a story in there somewhere, my dears - maybe even a movie ...
Today at Vulpes Libris, you can read my review of Robert Goddard's Long Time Coming - in which the end is really way too long in coming. It was an exhausting read - not quality Goddard at all, sadly.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 518
It seems a shame
seeing he was so evil
the Lord killed him
that the unfortunate Er
couldn’t be granted
a longer name.
Meditation 519
Women from Carmel
are tall and dark-haired.
Their beauty is legendary.
They float like a ship
through the air’s mysterious tides.
They say little
and when they do speak
their words are full of wisdom
whilst their breath
smells of honey and spices.
They make deceitful friends
but true wives
as they walk through the world
in their secretive lives.
Life News:
Whilst selling our flat seems to have ground to a (hopefully temporary!) halt due to our buyer's mortgage not being quite there yet, the news on our house purchase is rather more interesting. It looks like (praise be ...) our vendors' solicitors have finally delivered all the necessary information to our solicitors and it may be that one day in recordable time the issue of an exchange date might be discussed. Watch this space, eh ... In the meantime, we have also booked to see a very nice house in West End Village on Saturday so our options remain, as always, open.
But there is more positively good news, hurrah. In spite of potentially being a known literary criminal of no fixed abode, my doctor tells me that my anxiety levels are officially down a little whilst my depression levels have halved. Hurrah indeed! Keep those little happy pills coming, is what I say.
Anne Brooke
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