Blog tours and beauty

Book News:

Well, it's almost here - as of tomorrow until 16 February, my literary gay short story The Heart's Greater Silence is going on tour and will be appearing at a variety of venues at a computer near you. Don't miss out! Especially as there's a big bag of goodies and other fun stuff to give away while we're travelling. Plus don't forget you only have till Monday 5am UK time to preorder and be in with a chance of winning a year's supply of books - happy shopping! Also because of the tour, I'll be posting a quick blog each day to update you as to where I am and what I'm up to (in the politest possible sense, naturally ...).

In addition, I'm pleased to say that I've received a few very nice reviews for The Heart's Greater Silence in the past couple of days: there have been three 5-star reviews at Goodreads, one from Nithu, one from Suzette, and one from Aija. Thank you so much to all of you, both for reading and commenting. Plus there's also a lovely 4.5 star review at TWLIB Reviews - many thanks indeed, Nicci.

Meanwhile, my Buy One Get One Free offer continues - so if you purchase a copy of my fantasy novel The Gifting in ebook OR paperback version, you get a FREE ebook from anything on my backlist as well. This offer absolutely has to end on 7 February so don't miss out on that one either!

Keeping to the subject of The Gathandrian Trilogy, I was thrilled to receive back the first impressions from my independent editor in response to the final part of the trilogy, The Executioner's Cane. She very kindly said it's a "powerful evocative final book for the trilogy." Gosh, thanks, Sarah! This was especially welcome as the so-far poor sales record of The Gifting has left me feeling rather down recently, and I was wondering if I had the ability to finish it properly at all. Well, maybe I have, and maybe it's not as awful as feared. I hope not anyway. I'll certainly be getting lots of edits and alterations from Sarah (I hope - as I really love getting my teeth into a good editing task), but now I feel there might be something there worth improving. You never know, eh.

Other book news is that there's a 20% discount on my Sunday Haiku collection direct from the publisher, so it's the ideal opportunity to slip some nature poetry into your shopping basket. Enjoy. Speaking of which, here's my latest Sunday haiku:

This golden evening
dreams away the honeyed time,
making winter warm.


Life News:

As both a traditional Christian and a staunch believer in LGBT equality, I'd like to draw your attention to this petition to allow vicars to bless the civil partnerships of gay and lesbian couples in church in the UK. It's something I believe in very strongly indeed and I've already signed it, so I hope some of you out there will consider signing it also. One day - surely! - the church has to show at least some understanding of equality and justice ...

On a more practical level, our roof problems continue. The third roofer chappie came round for a third time this week to discuss options, and he's coming round again next week with a scaffolding expert so he can begin to get together a proper quote for us. Really, it's all fun and games here in the shires. As always.

Plus there's wonderful local news: I've won a free MOT with our local garage in Elstead, so I'm looking forward to taking that up later in the year. And my neighbour and friend, L, and I sipped champagne on Friday afternoon at the reopening of our local beauty salon, hurrah, and hic! It looks marvellous, and we've both booked treatments for next week. I'm having the rebalancing facial and they're going to cut through my eyebrow hedge at the same time. Good luck to them on that front, eh ... Honestly, I'll be a new woman next week - you won't recognise me.

Astonishingly, I also managed to win our golf game on Friday morning - I can't remember the last time I beat Marian so we were both severely shocked. Perhaps I've been swopped with an alien? Who can tell ... I've also had a haircut which I'm very pleased with and can now see out (well, apart from the eyebrows problem), hurrah. And on Friday evening, we had L & J, and R & G round for dinner, which was fabulous. Our first dinner party at the house, dahlings - what fun! K really pushed the boat out, and we ate pate and crispbreads, followed by mushrooms in Yorkshire pudding with potato wedges and green beans, all finished off with pears roasted in honey and pine nuts with clotted cream. Oh and not forgetting the cheese & port course, and coffee and chocolates. Bliss .... That should keep us nicely going through this sudden onset of winter.

Because, arrggh, the snow! Horrid. Though thank goodness it appears to be melting. Let's hope that continues. After all, I don't want anything coming between me and my new eyebrows next week, ho ho ... Perish the thought.

Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy - critically acclaimed but commercially sagging
Gay Reads UK - for intelligent kink (as it were)
Biblical Fiction UK - for a new look at those old stories

Houses and haikus

Life News:

Well, we've finally made our decision: we've withdrawn our offer on the Woking house because of the general incompetence of our vendors' solicitors who in the last 3.5 months have been amongst the most inefficient people I've ever known. However, our own conveyancer has not been far behind: when we withdrew our offer formally on Friday, we were both annoyed but not at all surprised when the vendors' solicitors and estate agent both asked us what the point was of our decision when we couldn't buy their house anyway without selling ours - as of course we'd told them both about 7 times that the purchase was not at all dependent on the sale of our flat, so we were used to the fact that nobody was listening to us. We were rather more surprised when our own conveyancer emailed us to say she couldn't understand either as surely we "couldn't buy without selling, could we?..." I've never known K be quite so cross and indeed I felt very much like ringing the silly bint up, telling her she was a useless pile of shite and kicking her arse to kingdom come and beyond. But, being the calm and loving person that I am (ha!), I left it to K to send a snippety email saying we'd told her about 5 times that the purchase wasn't in any way dependent on the sale. Oh, and by the way, she was now sacked as our purchase conveyancer, we were making a formal complaint and she'd have to whistle for her fees. Put that in your pipe, love, and smoke it ...

Lordy, what fun we're having right now, eh! Who indeed will rid me of these troublesome conveyancers, and are there any good ones in the whole of Surrey?? Alas, I believe not ... In the meantime, we continue to be utterly bemused that it seems so incredibly difficult for people to accept that we have (a) no chain; (b) savings enough and a decent mortgage to buy a house; and (c) the desperate desire to give vendors money. Why won't the buggers take it?!?

So, back to the house viewing, and we've one lined up to see on Thursday, and 2 more I'm intending to get appointments for this week. Let's hope someone out there starts to take us seriously or I'm going to build my own bloody house in the middle of our former conveyancer's garden. Ha!

However, there is good news! The lovely Brucie finally gets a knighthood and we had a fabulous (and house/publisher crises-free) time wandering round the gardens and enjoying a cream tea at Nymans, and then wandering round yet more gardens at Wakehurst Place - both are definitely recommended.

Today we have got round to visiting our nearest high Anglican church in the area - All Saints Woodham - and, if trying out high church offerings, it's always best to go on Pentecost (today) - ah, the bells, the smells, the ritual, the bling. Bliss. All served (sorry) up with a hint of informality and laughter. We loved it. Plus the coffee they serve is real. Real ground coffee after a church service - we've never had that before! We'll definitely be back ...

And, this afternoon, we have done something we haven't done since our honeymoon nearly 18 years ago (steady, people, steady ...) - we have used the dishwasher that comes with the flat. Gosh! Isn't it lovely. Everything's sooo clean and we didn't have to do it ourselves. How very grown-up we are becoming. Will definitely be doing that again too.

Book News:

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

On a happier literary note, The Art of The Delaneys is now available at Amazon UK and Amazon US. And I'm really delighted to say that my Sunday Haiku collection gained a 5-star review at Goodreads, so many thanks to Vicki for that.

This week's meditation poem is:




Meditation 536
It takes 212 men
to guard the temple gates

which just goes to show
women are more dangerous
than you think.


And the Sunday haiku is:

A slow-falling note
soothes this melodious air:
the greenfinch's song.

Anne Brooke

Covers, coffee and Christmas

Book News:

Much to my delight, the cover for A Dangerous Man has been nominated for the Imperial Artisan Awards where you can also vote for it. So far, it's received 7.44% of the vote, so thank you for those who are supporting it, and if you would like to and haven't yet done so, please go along and cast your vote too! Many thanks ...

Inspired by its unexpected success, I have started writing a sequel to The Delaneys and Me, which I am calling Entertaining the Delaneys. Naturally, this will be a piece of serious fiction focusing on the continuing trials and sorrows of the unfortunate Liam. Which of course you would all believe, if it weren't for the title, eh. What a lot of fun I'm having with it too, and I've only just begun. Indeed, I feel that Liam, bless 'im, has a heck of a lot more to say really about his life and those Delaneys, and I have even thought of a plot for a third and a fourth in the series, but let's not get too carried away at this point. I'd better get the second story sorted out first.

A poem this week:


Beginning
So we begin once more,
you and I,
our first few steps
encompassing the sky

in its daylight shades
of cream and blue,
the borders of heaven
our only view

until something distracts me
out of the dance –
a flutter, a whisper
drawing my glance

so I totter and tumble
down from the sky:
let us begin once more,
you and I.


Plus there have been two meditation poems:


Meditation 455
Sometimes when we turn to face
our greatest fear –

the sword in the night,
disease, death –

all we have dreaded
simply melts away

like a bad dream
in the morning light

and we are left
untroubled and free.



Meditation 456
Seven years’ travel,
a quiet return,
the recovery of land
and – most important of all –
knowing the prophet by name

prove beyond any doubt
and in this first lesson of history
that it’s not what you know
but who you know that counts.



And two Sunday haikus


An English Apple
Crunchy, honeyed zing,
snap of spices on my tongue,
sunlight in my hand.



There are more poems
around than you think: walk slow,
speak soft and don't blink.


Life News:

We've had the builders sorting out a new chimney for the downstairs neighbour during the latter part of the week, which has been brilliant. The chimney comes up outside our kitchen window so we've had the perfect view of all the fun that's been happening with the scaffolding, the rather dodgy-looking stepladder and the spirit-levels. My goodness, but they're thorough, and the new chimney they're in the process of rebuilding looks grand. They also swear like troopers but in a rather charming way (pass the effing pipe, Jim; is that an effing brick?; an effing sunny day today, etc etc) when they can't see me as I'm working in the spare room, but have the language of newly-minted saints when they think I'm in the vicinity. It's all rather sweet. I'm thinking of popping out to see them next week and asking if they want an effing cup of tea, but I fear they might be too embarrassed at being caught out.

Yesterday, I had lunch with Pauline (hello, Pauline!) at a hotel in Maidstone, and it was great to meet up and catch up, but I suspect I had rather too many fully caff cappuccinos as I was very shaky when I drove back. I really do have to watch that caffeine intake, as a former addict (as it were). Bring on the decaff versions and soon. And today, I have written out my Christmas list of cards and presents that I need to buy - what a super-heroine I am! - but I'm really cutting down once more this year so am only planning to send out 28 cards, rather than the usual 50 plus. Soon I will have no friends left at all, you know ... Christmas? Bah, humbug ...

And, deep sigh, still no interest in our very lovely flat, even with the 20k cut in price, further deep sighing. Soon I will be paying people to come and view it, even if they don't want to buy, you know. I fear nobody likes the Victorian age any more, ah well.

Anne Brooke

Holidays and haikus

Life News:

We had a totally lovely time with the Egypt Gang oop north (hello, all, and thank you again!) and catching up was as grand as ever. The only problem was that I spent the whole weekend and indeed the rest of this week being not very well at all, so I hope nobody else has caught what I've had - keep taking the tablets ... Lord K and I then moved a little further south to County Durham and spent a few days at a hotel before coming home. I must say the hotel was rather too Fawlty Towers than was good for it but the food was good and the staff meant well so all was not lost. I did spent a lot of time asleep and/or using up the whole of the UK tissue supply blowing my nose so I can't really say it was the best holiday ever but the weekend with The Gang made it all worthwhile, hurrah! Am definitely not looking forward to the return to work though - I could do with another week's holiday, sickness-free indeed.

Book News:

I have a new webpage for upcoming gay short story, Tommy's Blind Date, which is due out from Amber Allure Press on 12 September.

Meanwhile, the guns are pointing in my directions with tricky reviews here and here - obviously no-one like male hookers or wolves, but sorry for the trauma, Hayley ... Martin and The Wolf did slightly redeem itself however with a 4-star review at Goodreads - many thanks, Ami. In addition, Painting from Life gained its second 5-star review at Amazon US.

I'm also happy to note that during the week (though they're not there now), Maloney's Law unexpectedly found itself in the Top 100 Gay Books at Amazon UK, whilst The Bones of Summer was No 74 in the Amazon UK Gay Erotica charts, well gosh. Not to be outdone, The Delaneys and Me came back in at No 39 in the Amazon Gay Fiction charts and, to my astonishment, three of my Untreed Reads stories were in the Waterstone's Short Stories Top 10 chart, although one of them got a 1-star review (which is much like being blooded at the hunt ...), but you'll have to click on the link to find out which one. I do rather enjoy these 1-star ratings - it's always better to be hated than tolerated, as my grandmother used to say.

There's been one new poem this week:

Unseen
The thing seen
stands for absence
in grey and blue:

part blemish
part blessing
understood by you.


And two haikus:

The north swallows us:
skies of brindled blue and grey,
the woodlands' dark song.


Alnwick Garden
Poison infiltrates
my skin: henbane, rosemary,
wormwood and willow.

Anne Brooke

Happy books and bitchy songs

All the doom and gloom I've been reading lately has recently become a bit too much for me, so if anyone knows any happy books out there they can recommend, please do let me know. The only rule is that it can't be your own, for obvious reasons. Many thanks to those who've offered suggestions so far - I'm really grateful.

Speaking hopefully of happy things, Lord H is loving his new iPad, even though it can't quite pick up the GPS signal to make the SatNav work. The good thing though is that the SatNav works on his iphone, even though it's not the quickest of connections, and the blessed Mary (the SatNav voice) sometimes gives you directions that she's already given you or that you've already done. So I think it works only as long as you do actually know your way anyway. Or simply take a map. The choice is yours.

I'm also pleased to see a good couple of episodes being broadcast in the latest Dr Who series - a brilliant two-parter, though I deeply mourn (SPOILER ALERT) the loss of Rory just as he was shaping up nicely, dammit. And I have to say I don't like the pesky Amy - Spoilt Brat Alert springs to mind ... Still, laughing at Eurovision and Graham Norton's wonderfully snide commentary cheered me up big-time. How wonderful to be so gloriously last! And another middling career for a young hopeful UK singer gone for ever (say she, bitchily) ... You think they'd have more sense than to enter, really. It only ends in tears. Theirs.

In writing news, I've uploaded the last part of chapter twelve to The Prayer Seeker's Journal and in my offline writing of it I've reached the big milestone of 30,000 words, hurrah. Yes, I appreciate hardly anyone is reading it (thank you to the happy few, the very few who do) and so that experiment has been something of a glorious failure, but it's still a big thing for me and I shall therefore continue until it's done. Plus, as it's a novella and I don't expect will go beyond 50,000 words, tops, that cheers me greatly in terms of reaching my goal. Still, the mysteries of how exactly blogged fiction gets an audience remains as ever beyond me.

Meanwhile, at Untreed Reads, there's a discount in operation over this bank holiday weekend, so if you put MEMDAYSALE in at the checkout stage for any of their offerings, you'll make a nice lot of savings. Including on some of my books, so that's double nice.

In terms of reviews, The Delaneys and Me gained a 4.5 star review at Rainbow Reviews and is also now available for purchase at Amazon Kindle.

Today's meditation poems are:

Meditation 362
Victory balanced
by sorrow,

success matched
with loss

proving beyond
all reasonable doubt

that the worst gift
is to get what you want.


Meditation 363
When love is more overpowering
than the man
who contains it

then he will be happy
only if all else should die
and the lover live.


Meditation 364
It all comes down
to this:

after the war
the politics

and nothing
really changes.


And the Sunday haiku is:

Cool air bites my skin
and though morning comes too soon
the birds are silent.


Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

A Dangerous Man, books and interviews

Lots of exciting news this week, so hang on to your hats! I'm thrilled to say that Cheyenne Publishing will be publishing a new edition of A Dangerous Man later in 2010, so more news to follow shortly on that front. A big thank you to Mark for saying yes!

I'm also happy to say that all my Untreed Reads eBooks are now available at Books on Board and Powell's so thank you to Jay for sorting all that out. It's much appreciated.

Other writing news is that my GLBT fantasy short story, Tuluscan Six and the Time Circle, will be published by Amber Allure on 18 July and you can also read an extract here. Love the cover too! In terms of reviews, it's been a nice week also: The Bones of Summer gained two reviews at Goodreads, which you can read here and here - two very different reactions, but thank you to both readers for sharing their comments. At the same time, Maloney's Law gained a 5-star review at Goodreads, and Painting from Life also gained a similar review at Goodreads - so many thanks to those readers also.

Astonishingly, and thanks again to Jay at Untreed Reads, I've been interviewed twice this week, once talking mainly about The Delaneys and Me at Author Offerings, and once more generally about my writing life by Kipp Poe. I hope you enjoy finding out my little never-before-revealed secret in one of those! Ah, the shame ...

Meanwhile, GLBT Week at Vulpes Libris comes to a stonkingly riproaring finish (oo-err, missus ...), with my review of Clare London's wonderful PI novel, Freeman; Sam's review of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; and last but by no means least, Rosy's amazing article on Brideshead Revisited - a big thank you to everyone for taking part and for reading. We've all had a fabulous time! Let's hope we can do it all over again next year.

Speaking of things fabulous, Lord H and I had a great time out at the Guildford Theatre on Thursday seeing Headlong Theatre's production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. I have to admit I wasn't hugely looking forward to it, as I've studied the play in the past but have never seen it - it's rarely performed, and though the poetry is rich and lush and amazing, it's always been hard for me to really "get" it in my head. Well, Thursday was a revelation and it completely opened up the whole thing for me as a play rather than as a poem-drama, proving once again just what an astonishingly good playwright Wilde was, in whatever genre he was writing in. I loved the passion, the humour, the teenage angst, the hugely complex adult relationships shown, the setting and the actors. Everything really - especially that marvellous scene at the end where Salome drinks the blood pouring from John the Baptist's head. Oh, yes, bring it on - I'm a Jacobean tragedy girl at heart and really can't get enough of that sort of thing on stage - Lord H said when that happened I was the only one in the audience smiling and sitting up. Ah well - the more blood and death and drama, the better really ... Anyway, the play was amazing - if you get the chance to go, for heaven's sake do, as it may not be an opportunity we'll see again in our lifetimes. And kudos galore to Headlong Theatre for having the balls to revive it when the audience can be counted on the fingers of one hand - hell, we may have been small in number, but we loved it.

But, keeping to the theme of poetry, I'm pleased to say that two of my poems have just been published in the spring edition of Mayo Review. And there's been 3 meditation poems in the latter half of this week, plus the Sunday haiku:

Meditation 355
Just when you thought
everything you held dear
was lost,

someone you hardly know
steps forward
to stand with you,

taking with him something
of the pain and making
everything clearer:

even the wilderness journey,
even the wild river crossings,
even the grief.

Meditation 356
If you want to steal
your master’s life,

take as much
bread, raisins, fruit

and wine
as you can carry

to your master’s master
and wait

for your ship
to come in.

Meditation 357
Sometimes it’s necessary
to endure the stones

and insults,
knowing the truth

that lies
within them.


This week's haiku:

A silent poem
drifts across the page, seeking
the margin's embrace.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

Birds, butterflies and bars

Writing News:

I'm pleased to say that my gay erotic short story, The Delaneys and Me, is now up at Amber Allure Press although it's not published until Sunday 18 April. I'm noting it now as I'll be away on holiday at that point so won't be blogging until I get back.

I'm also happy to say that Give and Take received a very positive review at Tam's Reads - you'll need to scroll down a little to see it. Many thanks, Tam!

And I've uploaded the final part of Chapter Ten of The Prayer Seeker's Journal where Michael is still dealing with the ex-wife.

Finally in this section, there are two haikus this week, which I hope you enjoy:

Grey heron flying,
painted across the bright sky:
harbinger of spring.


The peace of water
sinks into my skin: sunlight,
air and deep silence.

Other News:

I had a very enjoyable time representing Vulpes Libris at the Sceptre Press Book Bloggers party at the Hospital Club Bellini Bar in London on Friday afternoon. Thankfully I don't think they quite realised which Bookfox I actually am, or they very politely ignored it, and we all had a very good time talking with passion and commitment about books. We stayed so long that they had to throw us out in the end. Plus we all got a book goody bag, hurrah - thank you to the lovely Polly et all for that. It was nice also to meet some of their newer authors and fellow-bloggers too. I was on my best behaviour and said nothing about my thoughts concerning their new and distinctly dodgy marketing approach, but I was on the other hand (sorry, in-joke!) happy to say that I was very much enjoying the proof book they sent me, hurrah! I hope we can all do it again sometime, and that other publishers might take the proverbial leaf from Sceptre's party book. Speaking with my failing-would-be-mainstream-writer hat on though (ah how well it fits me), it was really incredibly refreshing to have any kind of conversation at all with a mainstream publisher that doesn't involve them either ignoring me, laughing at me or insulting me in suitably bitchy fashion, ho ho. And, yes, all that has happened in the past. Thank goodness I've now found publishers to whom my work is far more suited, eh. Saves all the pain really.

Yesterday, Lord H and I did a quick recce to find out how to get to Kingston Hospital - as I have to go to see my nice gynae woman there on Wednesday and I've been hyperventilating for days about the terrors of having to find somewhere new. Having done the journey once though, it looks fairly straightforward and the only real problem (apart from the inevitable traffic) is going to be finding someplace to park when I'm there, groan. Wish me luck ...

We then went on to spend a very pleasant day at Barnes Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, where we managed to spot sand martins, a little ringed plover, a great black-backed gull and lots of great crested grebes - all new for this year. I was also thrilled to see my second butterfly of the year - a common white. We spotted a beautiful peacock butterfly on the neighbour's chimney earlier in the week ... Plus Barnes actually had chicks, including some gorgeously bizarre moorhen chicks - and yes they really do look like that. Amazing.

Meanwhile, we've suffered the appalling disaster of yesterday's disappointing Dr Who episode - it felt like a nine-year old had been allowed to write it with no supervision and was, frankly, laughable. We trust the writer has been cast into the mouth of the beast, and that next week's offering will have at least more class. I can only admire the actors for not running screaming from the set, sigh ... Mind you, there is one good thing that came out of it - Lord H thought the idea of casting naughty schoolchildren into the Mouth of Hell where they are never seen again was a brilliant idea and all schools should take it up at once. That'll teach the little beggars not to learn their sums, eh ...

Talking of which, we have survived the traumas of being responsible for coffees at today's Family Service!! Pause for applause - go on, you know you want to. We practised our polite religious smiles before we went and they seem to have done the trick. It was, to be honest, less problematic than I'd feared, though we did have to sing a wretched Graham Kendrick song. Deep sigh. He must be the only songwriter around who's utterly unable to put the right number of words in a tune, and it's all so relentlessly glittery and bland. I did find myself turning to the song again to see when he was born (1950, if you're asking) and therefore when he might retire from the fray, but then thought that was probably way too bitchy even for me. Surely not! I am indeed the soul of loving kindness and warmth. Well, in my dreams anyway ...

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal