Glyndebourne and gardens

Book News:

I've finally given up hope of pesky Eternal Press/Damnation Press ever stirring themselves to give me back the rights to literary gay short story Painting from Life. So I've republished it myself with a lovely new cover (which is far better than their one, bitch bitch ...) on the Kindle.

Here's the blurb:

Painting from Life is a short story about an artist who discovers that his muse is not at all what he expected. Indeed, love is never what you think. When a painter goes beyond the degree of intimacy that provides the connection between him and the older man who is his newly-discovered muse, he is forced to undergo a re-evaluation of the true meaning of love.

There are a couple of reviews about the story you might find interesting:

“This short story is haunting, intense, and unlikely. At just about 15 pages, the author has delivered a stunningly gripping story about an artist and his obsessions ... the artist slowly and inevitably becomes the sole caretaker of an older man, Peter, while using the man as a model for his work that is only now gaining success. The author manages to use just a few words and descriptive phrases to convey intensity and emotion that is clearly felt ... The implications and subtle meaning go far beyond the obvious and continue to resonate well after the short story is done. Crisp, vivid prose works incredibly well with vibrant characters all uninhibited by the short length. For those that enjoy a fabulous short story that truly makes you think and leaves you wondering well after it’s done, I highly suggest Painting from Life. The themes of art, death, obsession, love, selfishness, and need are all played out beautifully in this complex and complicated story.” (Manic Readers)

and

"More emotions are evoked in this short, haunting story than many longer works I’ve read in recent months. It gets classified as a love story, or a GLBT piece in many places I’ve seen it discussed, but I’m reluctant to so easily define it. The relationship between the painter and Peter, the elderly man, isn’t nearly that cut and dry ... Nothing sexual ever occurs, but the narrator finds energy and passion in his work with Peter as he never has before. Peter, in turn, cannot bring himself to characterize their relationship as anything familial ... The give and take between the two satisfies needs in both of them ... The complexity of the relationships is served amazingly well by the lyrical, edgy prose. It offers just the right amount of clear, original detail to paint a picture with words, without getting excessive or too artsy, and intrigues me into pursuing more of the author’s work. Strong, original voices are like gold. This one pays off.” (Book Utopia Reviews)

If you fancy a short intense read, then do feel free to pick up a copy at Amazon UK or Amazon US. Many thanks indeed!

Other nice book news this week is that gay paranormal story Martin and The Wolf gained a review at ARe Cafe, which I'd not noticed before. They say:

"Martin and The Wolf by Anne Brooke is a gracefully written paranormal novelette that takes a fresh perspective on the werewolf legend … The story's appeal lies in those fascinating disconnects where Lucas's aggressive wolf personality causes him to stand out from the camouflage of his courteous but reserved British countrymen. Even better is the first-person narrator Martin's puzzled but unflappable acceptance of Lucas." 

Gay comedy Tommy's Blind Date gained a 4-star review at Goodreads, and another gay comedy, Who Moved My Holepunch?, was reviewed at Top 2 Bottom Reviews, who say:

"Who Moved My Holepunch? is an easy, fast paced story with fun characters and a good story line … Read the book! Recommended."

Many thanks indeed to all readers and reviewers who take the time to publish your comments - I'm very grateful, that's for sure.


Life News:

I've given up with my new village dentist rather, and this week went for a second opinion concerning my recurring toothache (really, my dears, crying at the dining table because eating is just so ruddy painful is not a healthy state of affairs, no matter how many times the first dentist said I needed to "let it settle down", ho hum). The Godalming dentist seems very nice and much more willing to actually take the pain away, rather than give me more, well gosh. Anyway, I'm now on a week's supply of strong antibiotics and I have to say it's truly amazing to have a mouth that's almost pain-free. It's like a minor miracle, I can tell you. I just hope it lasts once the drugs stop on Tuesday ...

This weekend, K and I have done a lot in the garden, planting at the back to fill in the current gaps we have there. So the sunflowers, zinnias, sweet williams, snapdragons, fuchsias, to name but a few, have all gone somewhere, and we've potted on the dahlias as well. There's more to be planted, but we need to wait for the late bluebells to die off before we plant on top of them. I don't want to rip out the bluebells just yet as they're all doing so well. The garden is really starting to come alive with flowers - oh and the early rhododendron is beginning to bloom, and the azalea is all but out, hurrah.

This week's cake is the one held over from last weekend when I was too ill to bake. So it's an Orange and Almond cake, and very nice it is too.

Last night, K and I attended the first night of Glyndebourne and had a very good time indeed. Ariadne auf Naxos was very well done, though it's an opera I suspect you only really need to see once, and was about ten minutes to long in reaching the very nice and well thought-out ending. Still, a good time was certainly had by all, as they say. Plus I have to say how utterly stunning the Glyndebourne tulips are looking. I don't recall ever seeing them before as they've usually been over by the time the opera season starts, but honestly they're just amazing. I particularly loved the raspberry-ripple type tulips, and the beds of yellow and dark mauve ones, as well as the combinations of pink and white mixtures. A feast for the eyes indeed.

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

Children's fiction, cake and art

Book News:

The new website for Lori Olding, that ... um ... lesser-known children's fiction author, is now up and running, and on it you can find out all about The Origami Nun, the secrets of origami and how to stop bullying.

At the other end of the book spectrum, gay short story Give and Take received a review at Goodreads, courtesy of Darien - many thanks indeed!

Meanwhile, I'm busy editing a gay short story set in an office which I'm hoping to submit to Riptide Publishing before July. It's rather off-the-wall and has no title as yet (dammit), but I think it's getting there, slowly ...

My most recent meditation poem is:


Meditation 667
It is not clarity
but puzzle
that charms us:

the truth as slippery
as a snake
in tall grasses

hissing a half-known tune
which tingles our ear
as it passes.


The Sunday haiku is:

My pink peony
holds the sun within its heart
to welcome the day.


Life News:

M and I decided to visit Rosemary Miller's art gallery as part of the Surrey Open Arts Weekend instead of golfing - and very enjoyable it was too. I loved her pictures, and bought a beautiful one of a sunflower. Gorgeous. It made up for the rather agonising session I had in the dentist's chair in the afternoon getting a filling redone. Nothing too problematic, to be honest, but for some reason I felt really rather ill and woozy afterwards, and then spent most of the rest of the afternoon sleeping. Very odd indeed. Thankfully I feel better now, hurrah.

Saturday morning's cake attempt was Lemon Drizzle cake, and very scrummy it's turned out to be too. Also surprisingly easy to make so will definitely be doing that one again.

In the evening, K and I had our first trip to Glyndebourne this year to see Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. Great scenery and wonderful concepts, but no plot to speak of really, and I'm usually a huge fan of Janacek. However, dinner was grand and the champagne wonderful, though for the first time ever I couldn't finish my glass. Shock! Horror! Must be my encroaching age ...

Much to our delight, our orange striped gazania is now in bloom in the front garden and is utterly beautiful in every way. We've got a pink one too, but that's not out yet. Watch this space!...








Anne Brooke
Lori Olding
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK

Four days to go ...

Life News:

Only 4 days to go now until we finally move to a permanent home, hurrah! I really can't wait. The drip in the ceiling in the rented flat had a bit of a surge yesterday with the torrential rain, but it's calmed down now. Sunshine is indeed our friend, or at the very least dry weather. Still, it does give our collection of buckets a purpose, which has to be a good thing.

Thursday night found us at the local theatre watching an adaptation of Wilkie Collin's The Woman in White. Hmmm, not convinced it's persuaded me to read the book. I appreciate it was originally a serial, but having no fewer than thirty-five scenes in a play doesn't really help the audience connect to anything. Also, the actors were startlingly melodramatic and a couple of times I got an attack of the giggles and felt like I might be heading into the twilight zone. Again. Still, K and I had fun trying to guess the evil baronet's (the most fully rounded person on stage) guilty secret. We thought he might be a Morris Dancer (ah the shame ...!), but in the end it turned out to be nothing more interesting than a marriage certificate problem. Sigh. Also, it did annoy us that the mad Woman in White kept rushing onto stage, telling everyone how much she hated the baronet and would do anything to destroy him, but never got round to telling everyone his secret (which she knew). Ridiculous! If she'd said something at the start, we could easily have cut thirty-two scenes, at least. However, the ice cream in the first interval (of two ...) was very nice - salted caramel. Mmm. Am definitely having that one again.

Have also had a lovely lunch and catch-up with G, my ex-neighbour's daughter, so that was great. And a nice break from houses and moving, etc. Hello, G! Yesterday, K and I visited Waddesdon Manor for the day - fantastic house and well worth a visit (you'll need to book before you go ...), but the gardens are seriously dull. They look like they've been done by someone trained in designing municipal parks - not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just doesn't enhance such a gorgeous house on any level, sadly. Indeed, when we drove through the town nearby, the colour schemes and plantings were almost exactly the same - perhaps the Council does the Manor gardens on the cheap? It wouldn't surprise me.

This afternoon, K and I are off to see The Turn of The Screw at Glyndebourne - which is their last opera of the year, sob. It's a great production and we've seen it before, but honestly it's utterly worth seeing again, multiple times, I think. Haunting and compelling stuff.

Book News:

Gay short story Tommy's Blind Date gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (thanks, Dlee!), which was very pleasing indeed. And the comments thread there also discussed my gay crime novels The Bones of Summer and A Dangerous Man, so that was nice too. Thank you, all.

Here's the next small section from fantasy novel, The Gifting:

It is Johan himself who has proposed this solution to Gathandria's troubles. Even now, he can't quite believe it.

The latest meditation poem is:




Meditation 564
The last thing I want
is a long list of Levites
but that’s exactly
what I get

which just proves the point
that following God
is always
a challenging bet.


The Sunday haiku is:

After this dark rain
the day begins with silence
under brighter skies.


Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner

Hallsfoot, Hit List and free giveaway!

Book News:

In case any of you out there are confused by the amount of information that's gone missing on my recent posts, it's not the gremlins (whoever they may be!), but, as part of the continuing legal negotiations with my US publisher, my lawyer has asked me to remove sections mentioning their name and in the interests of working towards an amicable agreement I have been happy so to do. As they say. Just so you know then ... But a heartfelt thank you to all those of you out there who have been and continue to be so supportive throughout, and indeed those of you who've challenged me - I really appreciate it.

Turning to more straightforward literary matters, I'm happy to say that I've finished the final read-through of Hallsfoot's Battle (the second in the Gathandrian Trilogy) and that artist Penelope Cline has agreed to draft a book cover for it. Once that's sorted, then I'm planning to submit Book Two to Bluewood Publishing, and I really hope they like it ...

Meanwhile, The Hit List continues to have a 25% discount direct from the publisher during July - so buy early while there's still time. And I'm equally happy to announce that from Monday 25 to Friday 29 July, I'm giving away 5 copies of The Gifting at Goodreads - so if you'd like to win a copy of this cutting-edge fantasy novel (if I can say it myself at all ..), then please do enter, and best of luck to you all.

As a taster, here's The Gifting's next couple of lines:

They have all failed; it is not simply himself. At least, he prays it is not.

Not to be outdone, For One Night Only gained a review at Brief Encounter Reviews and was also mentioned at the I Love Books Blogspot - many thanks, both! And, equally not to be forgotten, though possibly rather unseasonal, Two Christmases gained a 4-star review at Goodreads - thank you, Lucy.

The Sunday haiku is:

When I sweep the floor
a history not my own
rises with the dust.


Life News:

After building my new website on Sandvox, you can now find out more of the whys and wherefores behind that at the Sandvox site - they're really very nice people, you know.

As you know, I've been having trouble with my car - and we've now worked out that my coolant container is gradually leaking, dammit. So I'm carrying round several bottles of water and coolant in the car just in case of more disasters and I've booked an appointment at the garage next Friday for them to sort it out. Here's hoping I can make it relatively unscathed through the week till then, hey ho.

During the week we also watched The Only Gay on The Estate - well, I watched it while K kept me company and played on the iPad. He must have been paying some kind of attention though as at the end he snorted and complained that Michael, the film-maker and subject of the short documentary, was really not a very nice man at all, but was somehow surrounded by incredibly nice and forgiving friends, boyfriend and family who could, to a man (or woman), do a lot better than Michael. Indeed, I could only agree - Michael's boyfriend was being hugely tolerant and also had some very wise words to say about whether his man's search into his past wasn't about making it right for others, but was only making it right for himself (not a great reason to go digging about in the past, to my mind). And I have to say that the very lovely girlfriend Michael messed around with for 5 years before ditching and fleeing to a gay life in London was a damn sight nicer about it than I would ever be in such circumstances (though her mother, understandably, looked as if she might grab Michael's hand-held camera at any moment and shove it where the sun don't shine ...) and could certainly do a whole lot better for herself. Hell, I'd snap her up in a second myself, if I was that way inclined - though it would have surely been a perfect ending if Michael's current boyfriend decided he wasn't quite so gay after all and went off with her. Or perhaps with the charming and very cute bloke Michael was so incredibly nasty to at school. Either would do. Sigh.

However, I cast aside all irritations on Friday and thoroughly enjoyed a game of golf with Marian - it's ages since we've played due to illness (mine) and holiday (hers), and it was great to get out in the sunshine. Sunshine, my dears - whatever next! I even made a stonkingly good putt at the eighth which I aimed away from the hole to take some kind advantage of the sharp incline it was at the bottom of, and the bloody thing actually went in!! Professional golfers treat this kind of gift from the golfing gods with a nonchalant shrug and a half-smile. I screamed, waved my putter in the air and danced (carefully - you don't want to ruin the grass) around the green, yelling yes, yes yes! Goodness, I am just so classy. And I didn't even win the overall game and I was still smiling when K came home.

Anyway, yesterday K and I went from the ridiculous to the sublime at a thoroughly enjoyable and utterly magical performance of Rusalka at Glyndebourne - it's the second time we've seen it and it's even more perfect and magical than before. A definite recommendation there. Not only that, but whilst in the restaurant, we were treated to a visit by their new chef, the very wonderful Albert Roux, who actually spoke to us at our table, well gosh. Honestly, I went all giggly and girly and gurgled on about how wonderful his starter of veal sweetbreads had been (which it was, totally) - although I was so busy being starstruck and gushy (much to K's shame) that I said sweetmeats instead of sweetbreads - which is of course an entirely different concept. Ah, the humiliation - I shall never be able to look M. Roux in the face again, although no doubt he just thinks it nothing more than the strange food combinations endured by unfortunate British women, poor man. Ah well.

Today, we have popped in to church to pay our respects to the Almighty - some great hymns and ah the incense. You can never go wrong with incense and processions - it's what the CofE does best. Much to my joy there was a cake sale after the service (heaven indeed) and I bought four brownies for tea. Can't wait really until tea-time rolls round. Rather delightfully, the vicar also invited us round for tea and scones in the vicarage next Sunday afternoon (which is very civilised and somehow so very Midsomer ...) so we're looking forward to that, whilst wondering if any murders will actually take place. We'll have to wait and see ...

Anne Brooke

For One Night Only ...

Book News:

My gay erotic short story, For One Night Only is now published at Amber Allure Press - here's the blurb:

Jake Morrison's position as Dom has been deeply shaken by his unwitting role in the recent death of his sub. When he's allowed back into Langley's Pleasure House after a six-month ban, he longs to make amends in any way possible. Club-owner Langley's surprising request for an unexpected encounter, however, tests Jake's sense of purpose to the core. He's willing to learn, but the lesson might not be one he expects... 

Enjoy!

Other nice writing news is that I've had two or three very positive responses from people who've read or are in the middle of reading my first fantasy novel, The Gifting, so that's lovely. I don't usually get quite so many responses of any kind quite so soon. Plus it's especially nice to hear with this particular novel as every fantasy publisher in the UK and US utterly ignored it, my ex-agent and me, not even bothering to grace us with a rejection letter or two during the two years we waited, and ... um ... waited. So you can imagine how downhearted I've felt about it ever since, despite the brave facade (ho ho). Lordy, in this business, I'm always astonished anyone keeps going at all ... It can be exceptionally confidence-destroying.

Anyway here's the next line from The Gifting: 

Over two moon cycles since the death of her lover and still he hears her weeping in the morning.

Ah, but what's the real story behind Isabella's tears - that's the mystery ...

NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.

So, watch this space, and we'll see what happens next week. Hey ho.

Oh, and I have a lovely new website, made with the help of a wonderful website app called Sandvox. I love it - the people are just sooo helpful and it's just soooo easy - instead of fiddling about on Dreamweaver with HTML coding and getting really confused, I just drag & drop. Bliss, my dears, bliss. And it's easy to publish onto the web too - I just press a publish button instead of fiddling about with Filezilla apps. Wonderful.

This week's haiku is:

The shadowed fox waits,

eyes glistening with intent.

Somewhere a dog barks.

Life News:

Yesterday, I have indulged in another spot of Tesco online food shopping and am seriously beginning to love it. Anything that saves me from hours of actually trawling round Tesco gets my vote. I can even go back afterwards and add things in that I've forgotten, hurrah! All that set us up nicely for a lovely high tea and opera at Glyndebourne where we saw the simply magnificent and life-enhancing L'Elisir d'Amore. Really, you can't go wrong with a Donizetti opera. Bliss again.

Speaking of music, we watched the final section of the First Night of the Proms late last week and I was reminded again just how wonderful Janacek is. The Glagolitic Mass is an astonishing work - just how all masses should be, really.

And today, we've had a relaxing lunch at Wisley, wandered around in the rain admiring the roses and bought an assortment of plants for the garden. How wonderfully suburban we are here in the rural idyll of Woking.

Anne Brooke

Sickness, singing and searching for intelligent life

Book News:

NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.

I'm also happy to say that Writers News Magazine has accepted my article for publication, and I had a nice chat with one of the editors there on Saturday. They asked to be kept updated on what happens next, so I'll certainly be doing that.

Meanwhile you can find my comic short story, Creative Accountancy for Beginners, for sale at Untreed Reads for only 99 cents so now's the ideal time to buy.

The next line from The Gifting is:

‎"There is no need for us to be here, Johan. Every moment that passes means another Gathandrian dead."

Though seeing as it's Isabella speaking, who knows if she actually means it or not, eh ...

The Sunday haiku is:

Morning eases in:

the soft promise of sunlight

for my darkest thought.

Finally, in this section, I've been unable to update my writing website since we moved as Dreamweaver doesn't seem to work properly with the Dongle (as it were) so I'm really getting behind there. I'm thinking of rebuilding it from scratch on a system I can actually use, so if anyone out there has any good tips for website providers that are simple and idiot-proof, please do let me know. Thanks!

Life News:

Since the launch of The Gifting, I've fallen rather sick, alas. The usual heavy cold/catarrh thing (dammit) which has meant 2 nights of mainly sleeplessness on the living room sofa. I'm treating it with Sudafed, lemsips and Lucozade, as ever. I did manage actually to go to bed on Friday night, but in the end that just gave me something of a relapse, sigh. As a result, I had to miss my day at Hampton Court Flower Show on Friday, though we did manage to get to Glyndebourne yesterday to see Handel's Rinaldo. Gorgeous music & singing, naturally (well, it's Handel, after all), but the production was rubbish and occasionally embarrassingly laughable in the wrong places, oh dear. I can't really recommend it as a result.

Also sadly, there's bad news on the thrush nest outside the spare room window. The young foxes got them sometime during the night late last week so nature is indeed red of tooth and claw. I really miss those birds. Ah well.

Oh, and as a result of spending most of my time, day and night, on the sofa, I'm getting through a hell of a lot of puzzles. K is helping with some of the answers too by giving essential clues as to what the answers are as he's much better at them than I am, much to my shame (aren't I supposed to be good with words and he's good with numbers?!?...). This morning, he was just soooo irritatingly good that I said, with a noble sigh, that it must be so difficult for him coming as he does from an alien planet where they're all so clever with crosswords. K's answer: ah yes, how true, though we're still looking for signs of intelligent life in other races, you know ... That's me told then, ha!...

More excitement from a publisher

Book News:

NB THIS RATHER LONG SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.

Other, and more positive, book news is I've sent out eight review requests for The Gifting, so am hoping one or two reviewers might show interest from that.

The most recent meditation poem is:




Meditation 538
Somewhere in this long list
of names and histories –
Abdon, Gedor, Pithon, Zimri –

God is hiding.
I just can’t quite
see him yet.


The Sunday haiku is:

The song-thrush flutters
past my window, her bright eye
intent on her nest.


Life News:

After a dodgy houses week, the rumour has it that our tricky neighbours might (just might, mind you) have sent back some documentation which may possibly arrive at their solicitors on Monday. Who knows, really, and I'm not believing it until I see it ... Watch this space - you'll hear the screams (either for good or bad). Oh and if Seymours in Woking ask me one more time what our house buying budget is, I swear I will not be responsible for my actions - don't these people ever listen??!? Words fail me - which will be a first, I can tell you. Arrgghh!

Anyway, Marian and I had a very wet and very enjoyable game of golf on Friday - it's amazing how much nicer it all is (even with the rain) when, because "rain stopped play", the competitive menfolk aren't breathing down our necks because we're too slow - and yes, we do always let them through nonetheless. I can be nice, well, occasionally ...

And yesterday was my pre-birthday opera treat at Glyndebourne - we saw Wagner's Meistersinger which was fascinating but I wouldn't really want to go again. Typical of Wagner, parts of it were extraordinarily long drawn-out but, heck, he does know how to nail an ending. The man playing Hans Sachs was great too, which made the second half - where things actually happen, good Lord - very enjoyable indeed.

Oh, and the champagne was glorious, hurrah!

Anne Brooke

Teas and twins

Book News:

The Delaneys and Me has had a good week, with being back in the Amazon charts at No 56, though it's dropped a little now. At Goodreads, it also gained a 4-star review from Lily (thanks, Lily), and a 5-star review from Ken (thanks, Ken).

I've also finished editing The Prayer Seeker and have added an extract to its new webpage. I'm now going to get it professionally edited as usual and see what happens from there. As a result, that particular online journal has now been removed. In its place are The Bemused Gardener journals where the plot (ho ho) thickens as we struggle to identify our mystery tree ...

This week's meditations are:

Meditation 407
When finding an excuse
for abandoning God

foreigners and women
get the blame.

Odd how today
when things go wrong

our choice of scapegoat
is just the same.


Meditation 408
A passing impression
of burying the dead
he helped to kill

then a cloud of words,
a hint of evil
and the air is still.


This week's haiku is:

Beyond the dark clouds
of midnight and silent skies,
the stars still glimmer.

Life News:

We had great fun at Glyndebourne last night and thoroughly enjoyed our revisiting of The Rake's Progress - the black-and-white sepia scene was stunning, and Anne Trulove was very very good indeed. This time we had a proper tea first and then wandered round the garden for ideas during the long interval instead of eating then, but I must say that the tea was fabulous. They're using a new local tea company called Pure Fresh Tea and the choices were great. Lord K had Black Lavender (a palatable version of Earl Grey that even I liked) and I revelled in Golden Flowers (peppermint, chamomile and marigold) - will definitely be buying some of that in the very near future. Oh look, I've ordered already! Really, I have no control, but hey you knew that.

Thinking of our potential garden (see above), we've measured it more thoroughly today and it's 52' wide and 40' long, which is larger than we anticipated really, well gosh.

Anne Brooke
The Bemused Gardener

Royalties, rifles and reviews

Book news:

I'm frankly astonished to find out that my royalties this quarter from Amber Allure Press are one-third up on what they were last quarter, well gosh. Perhaps I'm not doing quite so badly after all, then. Does this justify raising my status from Z-list author to Y-list author? Who can tell ...

Not only that but sales of The Bones of Summer in paperback have actually risen since last quarter also, though ebook sales are alas down. It's all something of a mystery, much like the book itself. Meanwhile, The Delaneys and Me reached No 12 in the Amazon Gay Fiction charts, a fact that caused me to have to lie down in a darkened room whilst hyperventilating for a while, though it's fallen somewhat now.

Speaking of Amazon, new in the Kindle this week is The Boilerman and The Bride, and good grief but some kind soul must have bought a copy as it actually has a rating - thank you, kind buyer! Also new at Kindle is Tuluscan Six and The Time Circle, and this also now appears at All Romance Ebooks. I'm also very pleased to say that The Girl in the Painting is on sale at Rainbow eBooks, and that Creative Accountancy for Beginners is mentioned at Spalding's Racket - thanks, Nick.

Turning to future and hoped-for future publications, I'm thrilled to see that A Dangerous Man is now up at the front page of Cheyenne Publishing, noted as Coming in October - so that's getting dangerously (sorry!) exciting. And I've not only written a draft ending of The Executioner's Cane, the third and final part of my Gathandrian fantasy trilogy, but I've reached the 60,000 word marker in it, which puts me at about half-way through, hurrah.

Also in this section, up at Vulpes Libris this week is (a) my review of Sara Shepard's All The Things We Didn't Say and (b) the Coming Up post for next week - in which the real name of Lord H, together with Lord H's fabulous new photographic website, is revealed for the first time. Readers paying close attention will of course notice the startling similarity in design to my own website, but hey it could be worse - we could be wearing Howard & Hilda jumpers (scroll down to view ...), ho ho. Two of my favourite ever characters, don't you know.

I'm also incredibly thrilled that the aforementioned husband (who perhaps can now be called Lord K in future ...) has also produced his very own Daily Office app for the iphone - so even on the move you need never be far from a church service or an apposite prayer for the day! Never say that as a team my husband and I don't look after your every need.

Ooh, and I am very happy indeed to see that Amazon UK will now be producing a UK-friendly Kindle, so I have already pre-ordered mine, and it should be delivered at the end of August, well gosh. How long I've waited for it indeed - so I hope it lives up to my very high expectations.

Meanwhile, I fear that sales of my e-poetry collection, Sunday Haiku, are regrettably poor - so far only 4 copies have been sold, so I am as yet a little below my best-selling poetry collection, which sold ... um ... 11 copies. My mission is to match that target by the end of August, so if there are 7 lovely readers out there who might like some nature-focused and really pretty good poetry to inspire their year, please don't be backward in coming forward - in all honesty, my sad-writer ego can't take it. Thank you!

And here's another little haiku to whet your appetite:

Sparkling green water
ripples in the wind's warm touch,
embraces the dance.


This week's meditation poems are:


Meditation 401
They knew how to party
back then:

seven days’ worth
of spilled blood,

the dark aroma
from burning meat

and the laughter
of men.


Meditation 402
Behind the prayer,
that sense

of strange connection,
the desert

of abandonment
stretches far away.


Life news:

I'm very happy to tell you that my old University friend, Jane, is currently captaining the Great Britain Rifle Team in Canada, and you can find out how Great Britain is doing on their blog. Go, Jane, go! And huge good luck to all. Mind you, the one time I've been lucky enough to see Jane shoot in a national competition, she spent the first 20 minutes of her alloted 30 minutes doing absolutely nothing at all except checking wind speeds and directions and seeing what her competitors were up to, and then took up her rifle and fired all her shots almost perfectly in the space of about 3 minutes. I did wonder why none of her team members bothered turning up to support her until the last 10 minutes - apparently, that is the Jane Messer way, and very good it is too.

This week, I've also popped up to London to see Jane W (another Jane!) and had a fabulous time putting the world to rights and talking houses and what to do with them. Must be my age, you know, and our current house-buying efforts, of course. I've also played some rather appalling golf, which coincided with some incredibly good golf from Marian, who won by miles, and very deservedly. Perhaps I should take a cricket bat next time? I might well do better ...

Yesterday, Lord K (ha!) and I were at Glyndebourne to see Don Giovanni. Verdict: very disappointing and surprising poorly staged, although some individual performances, such as the man-servant and the bride, were very good indeed. However the big excitement was that we sat in the same row as antiques expert, Tim Wonnacott, who was extremely pleasant indeed when attempting to squeeze past me. And hey, I was good! - I didn't giggle or scream: ooh look, it's that man off The Antiques Roadshow on TV - so Lord K is very proud. I am indeed a prime example of modern dignity, well for an Essex Girl anyway.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Tuluscan Six and the Time Circle

Book News:

I'm happy to say that my gay time travel short story, Tuluscan Six and the Time Circle, is now published by Amber Allure Press, and you can also read an extract here. Which at the very least proves that administrators are always needed, even in space.

I'm also pleased to say that my gay romantic short story, Tommy's Blind Date, has just been accepted for publication by Amber Allure for 12 September. That's the one I had to beat with twigs in order to make it work, but I got there in the end, thank goodness. Cover art to come.

Further news is that The Delaneys and Me is, astonishingly, still lurking about in the Amazon Gay Fiction charts, and has now actually made it to the dizzy heights of Number 52, well gosh. I was also pleased that my fantasy short short, Creative Accountancy for Beginners, gained a 4-star review at Goodreads, many thanks, Andy!

However, as always in a writer's life, not all reviews are good ones (sob!), and I've had two bad ones this week. Shaz at Rainbow Reviews really didn't like Martin and The Wolf at all, calling it shaky and poor, though thankfully quick and relatively painless. Sorry, Shaz! I am sneaking away into the forest with my tail between my legs, howling, and will endeavour to do better for you next time. Neither is Shaz on her own in her despair: the unfortunate Nixie at Ebook Addict Reviews found the taste of How to Eat Fruit deeply dissastifying and bizarre. Which, funnily enough, is I think roughly what appeared on my Geography report in my third year of secondary school. Ah happy days. Anyway, sorry to you too, Nixie, but at least it was short!

The good news is that now you can have even more of these relatively painless, yet bizarre experiences as my ebooks are now to be found in a whole new variety of locations, including Borders, and W H Smith's in the UK, via Untreed Reads, thank you, Jay! World domination will soon be mine (cue evil laughter) ...

This week's meditations are:

Meditation 391
After the temple
the palace:

from the arms
of God

to the desires
of man

where cedar trees
are torn

from their roots
unnaturally

to split the sky
again.


Meditation 392
The simple fact
of bronze

shines a slow gleam
from his eye

connecting the strange
possibility of God

with the metal’s
intricate dance.


And this week's haiku is:

History arrives
through the feet; we walk engraved
with grit, soil, water.


Life News:

I must say I've really been enjoying the Open Golf championship, though the strong winds and rain in Scotland have been playing havoc with the game, even the putting, which has been a bit off. Says she, eh - when I'm lucky if I can hole out (as it were) in 4 on the green! Anyway, I had my moment of golfing glory on Friday when I was playing with Marian as usual and was doing absolutely ruddy brilliantly, getting a whole series of fours, until the last hole when I threw it all away with an appalling seven - however, I like to think I'm following in the footsteps of poor Jean Van de Velde, who dramatically threw away the 1999 Open championship with a little paddle in the water on the 18th hole, alas. Which just goes to show that golf is indeed a totally insane game, full of insane people. No wonder I feel so at home.

And I've had my whole opinion about Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte (which I've always hated since seeing the dreadfully dull, grey and badly acted Glyndebourne Armani version a few years back) totally altered with yesterday's marvellously new, fresh, fun and vibrant version at Glyndebourne. A revelation, my dears - I finally get it, hurrah. I also loved the challenging ending - where one couple is on the way to forgiveness and the other most certainly isn't. Great stuff. And Don Alfonso was pretty damn hot too. Lovely.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Celebration, song and a competition!

Life News:

I'm celebrating my 46th birthday early this weekend (it's tomorrow, 21 June in actual fact) so it's been one outing after another really, hurrah! Lord H and I attended our first Glyndebourne event of the season yesterday and I even bought a new frock for it. Well, gosh. Or, rather, Lord H bought it. What a hero. We saw Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd which, I suppose wasn't a huge barrel of laughs but the staging was great and it's fascinating stuff. Being me, I loved the whole gay homoerotic subtext (or possibly "text" as to my mind there's nothing very "sub" about a whole load of sailors stuck in the middle of the ocean who all start calling Our Hero "baby" or "beauty" and telling him how handsome he is). Lord H harrumphed when I mentioned this and said what nonsense, it was all very manly and Billy was simply popular with the crew. Though, after my reasoned argument (no women at all, it's by Britten, there's a lot of passionate arias etc etc) he did admit that it was possibly even too gay for the marvellous Matthew Bourne to remake it as a gay ballet. Perhaps we need the lesbian version? Heck, we'd both pay to see that ...

Today, and carrying on the gay theme, we've had lunch out at Wisley and a bit of a wander round the rose gardens. As you do. Thus meeting wonderful troupes of metrosexual fathers out with their offspring and loved ones, celebrating Fathers' Day in civilised fashion. I suppose if you are a gay/metrosexual father and want a day out, then Wisley is likely to be higher up your list than the Bovington Tank Museum, or perhaps I am generalising way, way too much? Hey, it's possible. But I'm allowed - I'm nearly 46, you know. And a lot of champagne has been drunk - a hell of a lot - so it's astonishing I can form any kind of coherent thought at all.

Book News:

I'm thrilled to say that Martin and The Wolf has gained its first five-star review at Goodreads, and thank you so much to the lovely Serena for her comments. I'm particularly thrilled with her final paragraph:

I loved the message of this story: what counts in a relationship between any two "beings" isn't how they look, nor necessarily what DNA they carry, or what they behave like. The focus in examining whether we can have a relationship with someone, and accept who and what they are, should be on how they relate to us, what they mean to us, and how they treat us. A very powerful message indeed!


Which is basically what I was trying to convey - so thank you for that. As an added treat, there's a special FREE Giveaway competition for the book that is currently running at The Dancing Dove Journal - so leave a comment as instructed there to be in with a chance of winning a copy. The competition ends on 25 June, so good luck to all!


I'm also pleased to say that I've sent the final proofs for Creative Accountancy for Beginners back to Untreed Reads so I'll wait to see what the publication date will be for that one.


This week's haiku:


The motorway's edge:
the green and level grasses
float softly away.


Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Skies, battle and song

I must say what an utterly glorious time Lord H and I had at last night's The Great Look Up event. The range of experts and telescopes was astonishing. We managed to get brilliant views of Jupiter, its rings and three of its moons, plus a ring nebula and a very very close look at the moon. I loved the whole thing. It was fascinating, and I would definitely jump at the chance to do something like that again. It really made you look. In a world were that doesn't happen often, I think.

Anyway, here's today's meditation poem:

Meditation 210

Redemption
lies in the struggle

to clear its path;
gaze upwards

and let your heart
rise

through a clarity
of angels.


This morning, I've been continuing the edit of Hallsfoot's Battle and have now worked out the complicated piece of editing. Which, like many things in life, wasn't actually as complicated or as fearsome once I got down to it. I'm very happy with how that section looks now. And, amazingly, I'm nearly half way through. Ye gods and little fishes indeed.

This afternoon, Lord H and I are off to our last Glyndebourne opera which is L'elisir d'Amore. One I really enjoy - it's such fun. This time we've opted for the pre-performance tea, just to ring those proverbial changes, so we'll spend the long interval sipping champagne and admiring the gardens. As you do. Ah, it's a tough life ... Though sadly it's the last of this season's operas so no more Glyndebourne after today until next year. The end of summer then, I fear.

Meanwhile, I'm in two minds about Ishiguro's latest short story collection, Nocturnes, which I've read on my e-reader. It's a very interesting and not a difficult read, with the stories focused on music and displacement. But it felt a bit "light" and I didn't really enjoy the title story, which went on for far far too long. The collection as a whole didn't really leave me with any sense of voice, and I have to say it's not Murakami. Though not bad. Faint praise, I know, but ah well.

Today's nice things:

1. Remembering the night sky
2. Poetry
3. Editing
4. Glyndebourne.

Anne Brooke - dusting down her posh frock and shoes
A Dangerous Man - which strange to say did once have a Glyndebourne sex scene but wisely I ditched it ...

Unholy Affairs and nonsense verse

I have to say that last night's Rusalka was absolutely superb. I loved every minute of it. Wonderful singing, wonderful scenery and utterly astonishing costumes. A tour-de-force indeed. You can always tell how successful the Glyndebourne operas are by how lively the queue for the ladies' loos is in the interval. Dahhlings, they were buzzing. So much so that some of us forgot we were there to go to the loo at all and just kept talking excitedly about it all even when cubicles were free. Marvellous!

Anyway, despite being a tad over-tired today, here's this morning's poem for you:

Meditation 189

Worn-out sacks, patched-up
wineskins, ragged clothes,
old sandals, mouldy bread
and more than a dash
of good old-fashioned deceit

save the Gibeonites
from destruction,
making an eternity
of cutting wood
and carrying water

for the conquering
but foolish Israelites
a small price to pay
for life.


Other good writing news is that my short story, An Unholy Affair, is now up at Cynic Magazine and is of course ideal Sunday reading, ho ho. I'm also pleased to say that my rather more than off-the-wall poem, Blutherbung, is published by Every Day Poets. Enjoy!

Today, we pew-dwellers have nobly rebelled against ridiculous church Heath & Safety orders and we all shook hands at the Peace anyway, aha! We in the Shires are obviously not going to be mollycoddled by anything that comes out of Canterbury, my dears. The vicar said we were all a bunch of wild rebels, but in admiring tones, I have to admit. The revolution starts here ...

Lord H and I have spent most of the afternoon having a glorious lunch with our middle neighbour, who is a wow at Indonesian food, and insists we drink buckets of wine. Ah, it's a tough life, eh. And I've got to grips with the engine and tyres of my new car, and now know roughly where the oil and water containers might be, and what my tyre pressures are. Always good to have some kind of control over one's transport.

Meanwhile, Dreamspinner Press are having a month-long Summer Fun Sale for August, so if there's something you wanted to buy, now is most definitely the time! And today's Rainbow Extravaganza focuses on Lara Zielinsky who is a fellow PD Publishing author, so feel free to pop in and see what she has to say about her award-winning work. Great stuff.

Oh and I've had a short story rejection (sigh ...) and have therefore sent it out again into the great unknown. We battle on, eh.

This week's haiku is slightly Shakespearian and more than bizarre:

Days of quietness,
but in my dreams I'm pursued
by trains and wild bears.


Really, I do have a strange dream-life at times, I can tell you.

Today's nice things:

1. Opera memories
2. Poetry
3. Short story publication
4. Poetry publication
5. Church rebellion
6. Boozy lunches with the neighbour
7. Dreamspinner sale
8. Haikus.

Anne Brooke - living a purely unholy Sunday - again ...
Vulpes Libris: have a roaring time with a fabulous chic lit ghost

Relaxation, a Rainbow extravaganza and song

A rainy day ahead, but I'm chilled. Well almost. This morning's poem is below:

Meditation 188

Sometimes the deepest act
you can do
in a moment of connection

is listen.
The silence is more powerful
than any word

resting on your tongue.
Remember how the air felt
when the act is done.


Had a lovely lie-in too, which has been bliss. And I've also caught up with Mock the Week on the iplayer, so am being totally lazy, hurrah. Though I'm pleased to say that the Rainbow Reviews August GLBT Extravaganza begins today, and will be a month of GLBT author interviews and giveaways, so it's well worth keeping a close eye on. Sadly, I'm not included but I'm being brave (sob!) - well, as brave as I ever can be with an ego like mine, eh, ho ho ... Anyway, today's focus is on J M Snyder who has some very important advice for writers, I must say. Thank you for this, J M!

This afternoon, Lord H and I are at Glyndebourne to see Rusalka. Looks like a jolly number for sure. So I'm already staring at my frocks and wondering which one to opt for. As long as we can dodge the raindrops they promise us, I'm sure we'll be fine.

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Lazy mornings
3. TV
4. Rainbow Reviews extravaganza
5. Glyndebourne.

Anne Brooke - limbering up the voice once more ...
Vulpes Libris: Adventure Week gets up close & personal with Napoleon

Torchwood failures and toilet brushes

Ah, Torchwood. What a very peculiar mix that week was. Such a rollercoaster ride and with such a deeply unsatisfying conclusion. Who would have thought that the kick-ass brilliant episode one could have led to the mixed-up confusion of episode five? Such a shame. Don't get me wrong though. I thought that, taken as a whole, it was an utterly superb and gritty political fantasy drama, and the brilliant Peter Capaldi gave the performance of a lifetime as flawed civil servant, John Frobisher. I also think the scene where he (SPOILER ALERT - just in case!) goes up the stairs of his family home to kill his wife and children, interspersed with the equally wonderful scene of his secretary talking to Lois in prison about how Frobisher used to be might just be the best thing on TV since Rome.

But, to my mind, for all that it simply wasn't Torchwood. It felt as if the scriptwriters had strayed so far from the ethos of the programme that they could easily have taken it out of the Torchwood world, given it a slight shift of structure and it would have worked equally well. And, if that's the case, then I think that all in all it failed. Interestingly, (ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT!) when Ianto dies, I felt it had strayed so far from its centre by then that I didn't much care either way whether he lived or not. I also do think that the scriptwriters never really understood how to handle a developing gay couple relationship - throughout the five nights, the dialogue between Jack and Ianto was never consistent and blew hot and cold all the time. It was really very unsatisfactory. And yes I do think Ianto had to die - due to Jack's revealed past history and the fact that he'd taken twelve children to their deaths, creatively speaking Jack needed to suffer too, and that was fine. But, if the series wanted to hang on in some measure to what makes (or rather made) Torchwood special, then there would have been no need to kill Jack's grandson, Steven, at the end. All they had to do to give it a really satisfying ending was to discover that Steven had inherited Jack's resurrection abilities, and allow the boy to come back from the dead. That would have been grand - and opened up a whole new plotline about Jack's developing links with his family, while Gwen develops hers. Instead, they seemed to blow any concept of light or positivity out of the water and left themselves with something of a mess. Again, such a shame.

Anyway, here's today's meditation:

Meditation 169

You won’t find it
in the sky
nor on the other side

of the ocean.

What you seek
is already with you;
it’s a pure scent,

richer than all the perfumes
of earth, poured out
like water, over skin.

Remember.


Other amusements of the day are that when cleaning the loo last night, the loo brush fell off in my hand and landed in the toilet-bowl. Goddammit. I had to get Lord H to come and fish it out and mend it - this sort of thing is a man's job, you know ... Oh, most definitely it is. However, bearing in mind that this week I've had a gear stick come off in my hand, and now a loo-brush, I am loathe to go anywhere near Lord H's good self for the duration of the weekend, just in case. These things often travel in threes, you know. And I have absolutely no idea how I might explain it to the hospital, should I need to ... Hmm, perhaps better safe than sorry.

This morning, I have finished writing up my review of Chris Cleave's novel, The Other Hand (surely no coincidence, bearing in mind the above?...), for Vulpes Libris which will be up on site on 4 August. My review won't be pretty either, that much I can say. The novel also has the worst blurb in the history of time - what on earth are publishers on these days??? The mind boggles indeed ...

This afternoon however, things are looking up as Lord H and I are off to Glyndebourne once more to see Falstaff. I must admit to not usually being a fan of anything to do with Falstaff at all - I've always found him an immensely irritating and dull character, but hey it's Verdi and it's an experience. So I am endeavouring to keep an open mind. And the company, the food and the setting will be lovely for sure.

Oh, and the good news is that Lord H has found out how to open my strange PDF files on the CoolerReader. Apparently the Adobe Digital Editions downloads are not actual PDFs at all, but envelopes containing PDFs. When downloaded, they put the envelope in one file and the actual PDF in another. Yes, I know, it's not intuitive at all, is it? And the instructions are sadly minimal. Anyway now I have found them on my computer, I have copied them to the eReader and it's all working fine, hurrah. Hell, I can even bookmark the dang pages and find them again - what joy! Lord H and I are now the experts, sad to say ...

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Getting the loo brush mended
3. Not having even to think about Cleave's dreadful novel for a while
4. Glyndebourne
5. Getting to grips with my CooleReader.

Anne Brooke - frightened to touch anything at all today

Meetings, editing and novel ideas

Here’s today’s meditation:

Meditation 159

The removal of sandals
signifies something:

a setting aside,
an end

to whatever came before.
The air ceases

its slow rhythmic pulse,
streams still their flow

and somewhere in the desert
a wild bird cries.


Keeping on literary matters, I’m thrilled to see that the paperback version of The Bones of Summer is now available at Amazon US. No picture though, which somehow lessens the excitement, but it’s nice to see it slowly getting out there.

Meanwhile, at work, I’m tidying up last week’s emails which, thankfully, are getting fewer, now the vacation is in full swing. I also had one of those more … um … challenging meetings to minute at work over the lunch hour. Much to my relief however, it was all fairly straightforward and over in half the time. Wonderful. Now that’s the kind of meeting I really go for …

This week’s heroes are Chaplaincy Ruth’s dog for not killing a rabbit but letting it go; Sarah Connolly, who took the part of Giulio Cesare in yesterday’s opera (as indeed she did in the original) and who is an utter utter marvel; Ruth’s campervan, Minty; and the much-missed Farrah, poor lass.

After work, I popped in to see Gladys and renewed her bird-table provisions. Really, I’m not even sure she sees it any more, but it feels like the only thing I can do as she seems to hate talking to me so much these days. Correction – she even hates looking at me, sigh.

Tonight, I’m planning to carry on with the read-through and note-taking of The Gifting, and then I think there’s a repeat of Have I Got New for You? later so I can do some ironing while I’m watching that. My, what an exciting life I lead.

Mind you, I have had an idea for the next (non-Gathandria) GLBT novel which I feel might well have legs. As it were, and possibly. So I’ll wait and see how that pans out. But, hey, an idea – ye gods!

Today’s nice things:

1. Poetry
2. The Amazon US paperback edition of Bones
3. Heroes’ list
4. Making notes on The Gifting
5. TV
6. A possible novel idea.

Anne Brooke - pondering novel ideas