On the move again!

Life News:

Tomorrow we're on the move again into a lovely and permanent home in Elstead, so we absolutely can't wait. We know the previous owners have now moved out and the mortgage money reached our solicitors today so there's nothing - God willing! - barring a smooth completion and move-in tomorrow. Wish us luck.

In the meantime, my literary legal situation has been satisfactorily resolved so that's good news for all parties. Many thanks to all of you out there for the support you've given me with this one - it's been very much appreciated. But I can't discuss the actual outcome  - as part of the agreement is that I don't mention anything in public, apart from in the most general of terms, as above. Thank you!

For Bank Holiday Monday earlier in the week, K and I spent the day wandering around Loseley Park Gardens, where the gardens were surprisingly colourful compared to others at the moment, and where the cream tea was excellent, and much needed. And, speaking of nature, we harvested our raspberry crop on Monday - all three of them were very good. Hey, it's quality, not quantity that counts, you know ...

One sad thing this week however is that the very lovely Ruth left us today to take up her promotion in the Registry, so I'll really miss her in the office. She's been great to me - a great mentor and fantastic to work with, and there's going to be a real gap. Still it's good news for Ruth whose bid for world domination continues successfully, and for me there's always a catch-up lunch to be had. I'm planning one very soon (run, Ruth, run for the hills ...).

Book News:

I was hugely pleased to see that fantasy novel The Gifting gained a 4-star review at Goodreads - thank you, Danalia. And here's the next line from the book:

He has been searching for an answer to the wars for some week-cycles now that their mind-skills have failed.

And gay crime thriller A Dangerous Man received a lovely review at Queer Magazine Online (thank you, Cas) and was also mentioned in Fred Bubbers' Reading & Writing Daily News site. Many thanks, Fred.

Turning to the short stories, literary romance Dido's Tale became a bestseller at All Romance Ebooks, surreal short story The Secret Thoughts of Leaves was briefly in the Amazon UK Metaphysical and Visionary charts (which astonished me, and at less than 90p really it's a snip ...), and literary lesbian romance A Woman like the Sea received a very pleasing review at Queer Magazine Online (thank you, Victor). Well gosh.

Finally, before the long-for move comes upon me, here's a meditation poem:




Meditation 565
Joshbekashah
is a musical man.
He plays on the cymbal
and harp.

He makes a loud noise
when the worship is due
so always stays eager
and sharp.

His sisters are nameless
and he wonders if he
might give a few letters
as spares

but he has thirteen brothers
and he’s proud of his name
which is oh so much longer
than theirs.


See you after the move!

Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's nice things:

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

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

Birds, butterflies and the gay gene

Managed to watch our video of the John Barrowman programme, "The Making of Me", last night. Which was all to do with trying to find out exactly how gay JB is. Great fun on the whole! And we are now all looking at our finger lengths and working out how many older brothers we have between us in order to see how gay we are. Or did I miss the point somewhat? Anyway, as Lord H and I have a job-lot of five older brothers, plus one younger brother (hello, Lord B-I-L!), then we are probably gayer than the great JB by far. Though Lord H is able to navigate without having to turn the map upside-down, you'll be pleased to hear. That said, we are distinctly not talking about my bent middle finger - per hand. Lord alone knows what that says about me ...

Anyway, after the programme, I told Lord H that next week's should also be interesting as they'll be focusing on Colin Jackson. Lord H, looking puzzled and concentrating on the end of the JB programme, said: Oh. Will they be trying to find out if he's black then? Hmm, I fear we may still be missing the point here in downtown Godalming.

So to today. Lord H and I have spent the whole day out (as it were). We visited Rainham Marshes in Essex, and a very nice place it is too. Great cafe, hurrah! And huge and colourful flocks of butterflies, including two marvellous peacock butterflies, which I haven't seen for a while. Birds spotted included herons and little egrets, and we heard (but sadly never saw) the reed warblers.

From there, we attempted to drive to Bough Beech Nature Reserve using the satnav system on Lord H's new iphone. I fear that, being both a woman (by gender) and a gay man (by the number of brothers and the shape of my fingers), my expertise with maps is low, and my expertise with maps that move is entirely beyond hope. I attempted to follow the instructions on the list, which were completely wrong, and by the time I'd worked out that the little blue ball on the image (ie us) was going in the wrong direction we were already whipping down the M25 heading away from it. Groan. Anyway, due to Lord H's instinctive navigational skills, we took the next turning off and made our way back. I then gave up with the instructions and just followed the little blue ball until it eventually landed in the right spot. Actually it's much like one of those games you get in fairgrounds where you have to jiggle the little balls into the holes in order to win. I fully expected that when I finally got us there the iphone would produce fireworks and a big message saying "Well done, Anne - you are a bloody genius!" But sadly, no ... Ah well.

Bough Beech is nice though - we saw loads of gatekeeper butterflies and - result! - two spotted flycatchers. Bliss indeed. The people in the centre were initially scary however but ended up being quite sweet. Perhaps they don't see many offworlders in that part of Kent? I can't say I'm surprised if the satnav has no idea which road they are on. Which just goes to show how modern technology is indeed cutting people off from their neighbours.

Tonight, I'm hoping to do a little more to Hallsfoot's Battle and then generally I'm just chilling.

Today's nice things:

1. Wondering how gay we are
2. Birds
3. Butterflies
4. Conquering the iphone satnav - of sorts.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website

Alternative therapies and the Great Gay Question

Yes, I’m the great alternative therapy user today. Which has to be a good thing as I was up last night feeling really sick. Goodness knows what it is, but it’s not a great way to spend the hours of 3 and 4 in the morning. Not with the plan to get up early and collect my blood form from the surgery when they opened at 8am – as they were kind enough to leave a message on my ansaphone yesterday that it was ready for collection. The doctor must assume I’m still alive then. Good.

And I didn't feel so great the rest of the day actually – I skipped breakfast (a shockingly rare event) and had two mugs of hot, sweet tea at my desk (another shockingly rare event x2). Which helped, though food was a no-no till 3pm. When I ate 3 dried apricots, 2 chocolate finger biscuits and some rice. In that order. Maybe I should have demanded “patient care” rights and an anti-sickness pill when I popped into the surgery to collect the ruddy form, but frankly I felt too sick to put up a fight. That’s the power of the doctor – when you need them the most, you’re too ill to express it. Darn it.

Still, I had my reflexology appointment at or lunchtime, which must have moved some of my apparent toxins through to the outside world. And Emily (reflexologist) also bought a copy of “A Dangerous Man” (http://www.flamebooks.com), which came with a free copy of "A Stranger's Table". And she's such a nice woman too. Hope she continues to do my feet after she's read it ... And talking of which, the Blessed Clayton (now his official title - at http://www.myspace.com/dwbsoho) has emailed me to say he's enjoying Michael and finds him very similar to the boys lurking outside his Soho shop. Hurrah! That's certainly perked me up - thanks again, Clayton (sorry, B.C. for short). Oh, and my boss has read the first ten pages and kept giving me faintly astonished looks. As well as having an interesting conversation about how it feels to be inside the head of someone like M. I can see my work review is going to be a riot.

This afternoon, I was supposed to be giving blood (help! I soon won’t have any left at the rate the buggers are taking it …), but I cried off in the end due to health. Self-pity’s a marvellous thing.

Tonight, Lord H is at the Worship Committee (which he hates with a vengeance, but feels morally obliged to go as the friendly face of finance), and I've just come back from my kinesiologist (http://www.kinesiology4health.com) – who has performed wonders with my Chakras and I am now a New Woman. Still not blonde though, curses. Apparently, I am now aligned with my emotional blueprint and must try to keep in step with it. Weird, I know - but bizarrely I do feel better. So let's not knock the weirdness just yet. And it was fun to do.

At home, I am videoing "Life on Mars" as I have no time to watch it, m'dears. Too busy blogging and such like. And Clare from The Friday Project (http://www.thefridayproject.co.uk) - who read yesterday's blog (if you're reading again, hello, Clare!) has emailed me to say she hasn't got my synopses yet. Oh dear, perhaps the TFP taste monitor took one look at them and held up its hands in horror. I have replied to ask if she would like them sent in another fashion, and await a response. Or the inevitable rejection - argghh!!

Oh, and Lord H had a good time at the homosexuality and poverty session at theology class last night. It was as has been obvious for many, many years: the laity really don’t give two hoots about who people sleep with, and it’s only the church leadership (and the media) which makes such a fuss about it. All the course attenders agreed that the sexuality issue is completely irrelevant as God’s got way more important issues to deal with – an agreement which apparently surprised the course leaders (again, another obvious fact: the church leadership never ever listen to the wisdom of their flock. Well, hey, tell us something we didn’t know …). Interestingly (and very sadly) though, two people in the group did say that, even though they had no problems with gay or lesbian people being part of their church, they would in fact advise any who turned up that they might be better placed elsewhere as their own local leadership was likely to make things difficult for them. Lord preserve us indeed. This issue always makes me soooo cross. I get quite tearful thinking about it. Why can’t people stop persecuting other people just because they have different desires from them? Aren’t we all human in the end? Pause for enraged yelling at the narrow-mindedness and stupidity of our so-called church leaders: Argghhh. Well, even though I’ve got (other) problems with church, at least anyone will be welcome at St Peter’s – as Lord H said, we’re 90% gay there anyway. Even the straight folk. Indeed, that’s been the High Church way for centuries …

Oh, and Jackie (http://jackieluben.blogspot.com) and Jennifer (wo-)manned a Goldenford (http://www.goldenford.co.uk) stall at the Farmers' Market in Guildford today, and sold copies of all our books, hurrah! Including one copy of "Pink Champagne and Apple Juice" to Julia from UniSWriters - thanks, Julia. Hope you like it!

Today’s nice things:

1. Reflexology
2. Finding my blueprint(!)
3. Clayton's email.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com

Lunch with Julia and gay fiction writing

Quite a nice day at work today. For a Monday. Managed to look like a professional for most of the time and even get a few emails sorted. The good news is that I won’t have to come in on Friday after all, as the meeting scheduled for then has been postponed till after Christmas. Hurrah. Suits me, sir. And I looked like a young, cool person by taking in my new iPod and dropping it into the conversation every five minutes. Any conversation. At last! - I have a gadget that nobody else in the office has got. The sad thing of course is that any vestiges of coolness I might have been able to snatch at are washed away by the sort of music I actually downloaded onto the damn thing: um, that will be The Seekers, Tony Christie, the Monkees and a bit of Mozart. Ah well, I never was a rock chick. Even when young … Anyone want to know the way to Amarillo?

Lunch with Julia was grand, although Chancellor’s was packed with exam-demob happy students, so we were crushed into a corner on the bar facing the crowds. I had the same food I always have, but h. there’s a comfort in familiarity, you know. Actually, it’s been one wild social whirl this afternoon – I also popped into the Advice Centre’s Christmas do for a mince pie and a coke. Last of the great party animals, eh? In spite of being a social coward, I had a good conversation with the Deputy Dean of Students about writing and novels, and how the h. one does it all. I think I’m more of an organic writer than a high-powered planner to be honest; when I’m at the top of a page, I never know quite what’s going to happen at the end of it. What a contrast to my usual timetabled-to-the-point-of-obsession daily life indeed …

I’ve also been thinking today about why I write gay fiction – it’s a question posed by Clayton on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com) and it’s certainly a good one. I can’t give a logical reason (sorry, Clayton …) but it’s simply where I feel most at home. I don’t actually know what girls think (query: did I miss that lesson at school?...) but the man in my head (ah hello, Michael – I wondered where you’d got to) knows what he thinks all the time, and why, and I feel most fully alive when I’m plugged into him and his concerns. I suppose that, once again, it’s something organic and instinctual. I’ve been asked many a time why I don’t write from the point of view of a straight girl – and I’ve tried to fit in with what people seem to want (believe me, I’ve tried!) – but I’m never really happy with it for myself, although “Pink Champagne and Apple Juice” has been well received in the small circles it’s found itself in. But, hell, even there I gave that novel a strong secondary gay male character to make myself happier. I just don’t feel comfortable doing “straight” as a genre; it’s simply not “me”. I hope that makes some kind of weird sense. And, yes, I do realise (I’ve been told often enough!) that the fact that in my everyday life I’m a straight female makes it almost impossible to sell the books I produce. But, in the end I’m writing for me first and foremost, and for self-expression, and the rest of the game will have to play itself out as it may. Brave words, eh?...

Tonight (back to the mundane here), it’s shopping at Tesco, and a TV slump. Thank goodness for a night in.

Today’s nice things:

1. Lunch with Julia
2. Thinking more deeply about why I write
3. Showing off my iPod!

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