The Gift of the Snow and last chance blogs

Book News:

Don't forget that the Blog Hop Against Homophobia is still running until tonight, and you can find my blog about it here. All comments are entered into a competition to win something from my ebook backlist so don't miss out!

In addition, the last stop of my blog tour for Where You Hurt The Most was at Amara's Place, and there's still time (just!) to enter that ebook competition also, but you'll have to hurray. This week, the story has received a 4-star review at Goodreads, so many thanks, Sadonna, for that.

And I'm happy to say that my literary paranormal short story The Gift of The Snow has now been published by Untreed Reads, and was briefly at No 67 in the Amazon UK horror charts (though more literary than horror, to my mind), so thank you to those of you who've bought it and I hope you enjoy the read.

Life News:

I've come somewhat under fire once more this week for being a Christian who fully supports same-sex marriage and GLBTQ inclusion in the church. People are very happy to tell me in detail how wrong and unChristian I am, which is interesting as I don't feel I have to take other people to task for believing in a different way to me. Actually it makes me even more determined to stand up for what I see as reasonable equality and to make it known as much as I can that Christianity is - or should be - as much for the GLBTQ community as it is for the straight one. In fact there should be no difference. We're all human and all fully equal in God's sight, and I'm more than happy to keep shouting that joyful fact. It's good news indeed. For this reason I can thoroughly recommend Changing Attitude who work in the UK helping to encourage churches to be more inclusive of GLBTQ people. Well done to them!

This weekend has been hugely busy. We had the meeting of the Jubilee Street Party Committee yesterday, and I think we're now on track to sorting out the final details of what we're all doing. Only two weeks to go now, goodness me. Also yesterday I made a pretty fine carrot cake with orange frosting which not only tastes good but also looks almost exactly as it does in the book. Golly gosh, that's a first for me, eh ...

And Saturday just wouldn't have been the same without the Elstead Rubber Duck races at lunchtime. So wonderfully English and strangely gripping, we loved it - though sadly our ducks Troilus and Cressida weren't anywhere to be seen in the winning heats. Maybe next year then.

It's also been a plant-filled weekend, which has been great. We bought a lilac phlox, a hebe, 4 cosmos and one broccoli at the church plant sale, plus a purple osteospermum and another sunflower from the village florist. Today, we've visited Rake Garden Centre, where we bought a huge trolley-load of flowers, including nine French marigolds, six salvias, an impatiens, six chrysanthemums, four large fuchsias, two lupins and a veronica. And a partridge in a pear tree (that last one's untrue, btw ...). All now safely planted up in back and front gardens, and very good they look too, hurrah!

Oh, and our azalea and one of the three rhododendrons are now doing pretty well too, as you can see ...

On the way back we also popped in to see Lowder Mill which was open today as part of the National Gardens Scheme. A totally amazing place and if you get a chance to go, I can really recommend it. Beautiful grounds, and so very quirky and peaceful, at the same time. Plus the cakes were magnificent. What could be nicer?

Here's this week's haiku:

On this soft morning
the garden dances in pink
while small birds flutter.


Anne Brooke
Hop Against Homophobia
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Biblical Fiction UK

Great Blog Hops and the Gift of The Snow

Hop Against Homophobia:

A happy reminder to everyone that the magnificent Blog Hop Against Homophobia is now well and truly on the road and will be visiting a blog near you until 20 May. So there's lot of opportunity to find out about the detrimental effects of homophobia, however subtle, and  the actions people are taking to bring equality and justice to everyone, no matter what their sexuality might be. You can find my blog here, which focuses on the close links between being Christian and being highly GLBTQ-friendly, and other people's blogs here. Hope you have a thought-provoking read, and don't forget a comment on any of the blogs during this event gives you a chance to win a prize. Enjoy!

Book News:

I'm thrilled to say that my literary paranormal short story The Gift of The Snow has just been published by Untreed Reads, and is now available from all good ebooks shops. Here's the blurb:

When Andi moves into her new house, she knows from the outset that it's different. One autumn night, she discovers how different it is when she wakes to find that her past, and the woman she left behind so long ago, aren't quite so far away after all. Will she succumb to her own fear of the unknown or will an old love be strong enough to protect her?

I hope you enjoy the read.

In addition, my gay comic short story School for Doms has just been accepted for inclusion in the UK GLBTQ Conference 2012 Anthology, Lashings of Sauce. So I'm currently working on edits with the publisher, JMS Books, and am looking forward to that one.

Meanwhile, I'm getting more reviews for gay short story Where You Hurt The Most, including three 4-star reviews at Goodreads, one from Blub, one from Stephanie and one from Chris - many thanks, all, for your comments.

Not to be outdone, the Delaneys gay menage series hasn't been doing badly on Goodreads either. Entertaining The Delaneys received a 4-star review, The Art of The Delaneys gained a 4-star review, and Dating The Delaneys received a 5-star review, so thank you to Darien and Kazza for those. Much appreciated.

Here are my most recent meditation poems:




Meditation 655
God’s presence
can be felt
in the rain’s rhythmic fall
and the softness
of snow

whilst his voice
can be heard
in the wisdom
of people
you do not yet know.




Meditation 656
The memory of home
drifts through your skin
in shifting shadows
of dark and light:

both curse and blessing
in a strange land
where the clearest day
becomes your night.




Meditation 657
Eleven years
of poverty and pain
are not enough
to wipe away the stain

of bitterness
which seeps across the earth
when the land cries out
for a purer birth.


Life News:

Very busy week at work this week, plus it's slightly confusing as I'm working Monday, Wednesday and Friday, rather than my usual Monday to Wednesday, so I'm utterly bamboozled as to which day of the week I'm actually in. Must be my age, you know ... Just hope I remember to go into work tomorrow, as there's a very important meeting on and I do really need to be there. Still, if I end up on the golf course as is usual for a Friday morning, I think I shall blame my hormones ...

Finally, is it me, but was the wonderful new series of TV drama Silk which started this week just way too gory for words?? All that stuff about eyes and how to lose them was all rather too much for K and me. Horrid. So not what we want for a pleasant evening's viewing ...

Anne Brooke
Hop Against Homophobia
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
The Gathandria Fantasy Trilogy

Hop Against Homophobia

I’m very proud to be taking part in the Hop Against Homophobia Day and to stand up for the human rights of all people, whatever their sexuality, gender, race or religion.

I also want to stand up for heterosexual Christians like myself who are 100% behind the drive for GLBTQ equality and same-sex marriage - the media seem at the moment to be concentrating on those Christians who are against the idea, and I think it's important for people to know that we don't all think the same. I'm proud to say I've just joined the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement in the UK to show my support, and hope that other Christians will also stand with me on this point.

As a Christian, I’m also very proud of the fact that I’m a writer of gay erotic fiction, and celebrate love and romance wherever it’s found. To my mind, there’s no battle between being GLBTQ and being Christian, and the sooner the churches catch up with this freedom we have in God, the better. Recently, the Church Times wrote in one of its articles that we have much to learn about equality, truth and justice from society’s approach to homosexuality and faith, implying that God doesn’t always speak to us through the Church alone. Quite right too!

You can find out more about my gay fiction at Gay Reads UK, and about my Biblical fiction (which happily includes a lesbian reinterpretation of a few of the bible stories) at Biblical Fiction UK.

And as a special treat, anyone who leaves a comment on this blog will be entered into a competition to win a FREE ebook from my gay fiction collection. Good luck and happy blog hopping!

Anne Brooke

Hop Against Homophobia

Gay Reads UK

Biblical Fiction UK

The Gathandria Fantasy Trilogy