Book News:
Phew! I have today finished the second round of edits for The Executioner's Cane, the third in the Gathandrian fantasy trilogy, and sent it off to the lovely and very talented Sarah Abel for her comments. It feels very much like all three books make an actual saga now and hang together better than I thought they would. Heck, I'm beginning to feel very satisfied with this project. In the end, even if only a handful of people read the trilogy, I still believe it's the best work I've ever done, and I'm quietly pleased. I'm really glad I've followed it through after all.
I'm also happy to announce that gay romance Angels and Airheads, published by Musa Publishing, is now available at All Romance Ebooks, and many thanks to those readers who have already purchased a copy. I do hope it gives you a smile or two along the way, as it's meant to. It's also showcased today at QMO Books, so I'm thrilled about that, thank you!
Meanwhile, it may not be the season, but gay romance Two Christmases has a 20% discount direct from the publisher for THIS WEEK ONLY, so don't miss out ... And over at Vulpes Libris, I write a fan letter to Anthony Horowitz celebrating his marvellous Sherlock Holmes follow-up, The House of Silk. Great stuff and you must all rush out and buy it at once - it's a classic.
Meditation poetry this week is:
Meditation 634
A king and his
mother
are a powerful
force:
their words and
deeds
make or mar
most.
The father has
little
influence of
course
for his
legacy’s
only a ghost.
Meditation 635
Sunlight slips
like a sigh
between the
curtains
and into my
sleeping eye
for the world
outside
is calling me
to fling the
shutters wide
and bring in
the light
so there are no
more shadows
and no more
night.
Meditation 636
Once in a while
the
instructions left by others
can be useful
so it is safe
to let go
our single
thought
and admit
we are not yet
past
the gift of
being taught.
Life News:
Exciting garden news is that my Paris heuchera has grown another flower, making a grand total of two, hurrah! Now the Milan one needs to catch up and all manner of thing shall be well, as it were ... I'm growing fond of my heuchera city names collection - small at the moment, I know, but I'm planning to get more as and when I can. I fear an obsession is commencing, hey ho ... but a healthy one, at least. Other good news is that I've found another clump of tulips hidden behind other plants, so am looking forward to seeing if they manage to make it through the undergrowth, and if so what colour they might be. Oh, and I've also finished mulching the whole of the shrubbery, which is very satisfying indeed. I am the Mulching Queen of Elstead, you know.
Yesterday we finally put all of the furniture back in K's study so the house is now back to its pre-flood status, hurrah! And we also enjoyed the last of our Lent courses at church - though I'm not as fond of the concept of community as I am of prayer, to be honest. Then again neither K nor I are team players, which is probably why we get on so well.
Today, I have sadly developed something of a cold (bah!) but am battling it bravely with Lemsip, Sudafed, Manukah honey, castor oil, Echinacea, Vitamin C, Lucozade and the power of prayer. Do you think I might be overdoing it?... Anyway, I'm off to London tonight, come what may, to see Jane W for a curry and catch-up, so I and my supply of tissues are very much looking forward to it. Come to think of it, a curry might well be kill or cure, hey ho.
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
ANNE BROOKE BOOKS: Independent writer of modern fiction
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Blog Tour Day Four and a Birthday
Book News:
It's Day 4 of my blog tour, and today you can get to know Mark, my main character in The Heart's Greater Silence, a little better at the Book Wenches Site. Happy reading and don't forget to leave a comment or enter the competition for a chance to win a prize. Good luck!
Life News:
A big Happy Birthday to my lovely husband! We've had a great day today - though it did get off to a strange start when I accidentally gave him his Valentine's Day card instead of his birthday one, groan ... I managed to snatch it back before he'd actually finished reading the verse, but I suspect I may have to get him another one anyway - it's a matter of honour, you know.
And more strangeness at breakfast when Roofer Chappie Number 3 unexpectedly turned up with the scaffolder to take a look at the situation in terms of scaffolding - so while we were enjoying our coffee & porridge, the workmen were measuring the side of the house with a tape measure - how quaint. Always good to watch the servants work while the posh folk eat, dream on eh ... Plus I was rather taken with the older chappie who told me in the tones of an ancient prophet that it would be cold for another month and we'd be lucky to see spring before at least April. We're all doomed, captain, doomed ...
Anyway, after they'd departed, as part of K's present, we both attended the Roses Pruning and Maintenance morning workshop at Wisley - which was fantastic and very useful indeed. We shall set to with our pruning with much more confidence now, thank goodness. We then had lunch at the cafe, a walk through the spectacular butterflies in the glasshouse, and a wander round the really very chilly gardens (I fear my roofer prophet might be right ...), before spending our hard-earned cash in the shop. Mainly on roses equipment and two new climbers for the garden gate. Bliss.
Tonight it's definitely a champagne supper and celebrations all the way to the finale, hurrah!
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Life News:
A big Happy Birthday to my lovely husband! We've had a great day today - though it did get off to a strange start when I accidentally gave him his Valentine's Day card instead of his birthday one, groan ... I managed to snatch it back before he'd actually finished reading the verse, but I suspect I may have to get him another one anyway - it's a matter of honour, you know.
And more strangeness at breakfast when Roofer Chappie Number 3 unexpectedly turned up with the scaffolder to take a look at the situation in terms of scaffolding - so while we were enjoying our coffee & porridge, the workmen were measuring the side of the house with a tape measure - how quaint. Always good to watch the servants work while the posh folk eat, dream on eh ... Plus I was rather taken with the older chappie who told me in the tones of an ancient prophet that it would be cold for another month and we'd be lucky to see spring before at least April. We're all doomed, captain, doomed ...
Anyway, after they'd departed, as part of K's present, we both attended the Roses Pruning and Maintenance morning workshop at Wisley - which was fantastic and very useful indeed. We shall set to with our pruning with much more confidence now, thank goodness. We then had lunch at the cafe, a walk through the spectacular butterflies in the glasshouse, and a wander round the really very chilly gardens (I fear my roofer prophet might be right ...), before spending our hard-earned cash in the shop. Mainly on roses equipment and two new climbers for the garden gate. Bliss.
Tonight it's definitely a champagne supper and celebrations all the way to the finale, hurrah!
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Sunday, February 05, 2012
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
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.
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
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Hedges and haiku
Life News:
Had a great time yesterday at Elstead Writers' Group and got some wonderful ideas about a story I'm struggling with about a widow and a very special library - loads to think about so thank you to all! I've also continued with my baking extravaganza and this weekend's delight has been chocolate fudge cake. There were one or two dodgy moments with the icing but it was a lot better if I didn't follow what the packet said, sigh. Anyway, I think I managed to salvage it and there've been no complaints, hurrah.
And, with thanks to Jacqui at Elstead Writers, I have rushed to Waitrose and bought gingerbread porridge. Mmm, can't wait to try this. Apparently it's amazing. For most of this weekend, K and I have been planting our red dogwood hedge in the front garden - we did half yesterday and have just finished it off today, and it looks pretty good. Mind you, it's certainly heavy work so I don't think we'll be doing another hedge for a while.
We've also obtained a second quote for our roofing problem from another recommended chappie and are now even more confused than we were before, sigh. I'll try to chase up the third company tomorrow and see if I can get them to come round at some point. It might be a little clearer after that - I'm hoping so anyway as it's totally messing with my head at the moment, sigh ...
I've also just completed this weekend's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, and have spotted 2 great tits, 4 blue tits, 2 long-tailed tits and 2 redwing, so have submitted those to them, and will look forward to seeing the results for the UK later this Spring. It's great to be able to take part in this for the first time ever, as of course we've never had a garden to do it in before (as it were). Hell, it's almost like being grown-up, you know.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, having a big packet of Giant Chocolate Buttons in the house does make the days seem brighter, double hurrah and hang out the bunting. Plus there's even some left for tonight, mmm.
Book News:
Just a reminder that in case you're looking for something to read that'll take you to places you've not been to before, then I'm happy to point you in the direction of the first in my fantasy trilogy, The Gifting. The Kindle ebook is only £1.91, and the paperback only £7.68 with free delivery worldwide so buy early and buy often! Don't forget you can browse the reviews and read an extract to whet your appetite. Thank you.
And the Sunday haiku is:
A pair of buzzards
master the sky, their wingtips
caressing bright cloud.
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Had a great time yesterday at Elstead Writers' Group and got some wonderful ideas about a story I'm struggling with about a widow and a very special library - loads to think about so thank you to all! I've also continued with my baking extravaganza and this weekend's delight has been chocolate fudge cake. There were one or two dodgy moments with the icing but it was a lot better if I didn't follow what the packet said, sigh. Anyway, I think I managed to salvage it and there've been no complaints, hurrah.
And, with thanks to Jacqui at Elstead Writers, I have rushed to Waitrose and bought gingerbread porridge. Mmm, can't wait to try this. Apparently it's amazing. For most of this weekend, K and I have been planting our red dogwood hedge in the front garden - we did half yesterday and have just finished it off today, and it looks pretty good. Mind you, it's certainly heavy work so I don't think we'll be doing another hedge for a while.
We've also obtained a second quote for our roofing problem from another recommended chappie and are now even more confused than we were before, sigh. I'll try to chase up the third company tomorrow and see if I can get them to come round at some point. It might be a little clearer after that - I'm hoping so anyway as it's totally messing with my head at the moment, sigh ...
I've also just completed this weekend's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, and have spotted 2 great tits, 4 blue tits, 2 long-tailed tits and 2 redwing, so have submitted those to them, and will look forward to seeing the results for the UK later this Spring. It's great to be able to take part in this for the first time ever, as of course we've never had a garden to do it in before (as it were). Hell, it's almost like being grown-up, you know.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, having a big packet of Giant Chocolate Buttons in the house does make the days seem brighter, double hurrah and hang out the bunting. Plus there's even some left for tonight, mmm.
Book News:
And the Sunday haiku is:
A pair of buzzards
master the sky, their wingtips
caressing bright cloud.
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Author of The Week and Daughter of The Year?
Book News:
Gosh, indeedy, but I appear to be in the running for Author of The Week over at Pants Off Reviews - which, you may remember, recently gave me a rather nice review for upcoming gay literary short story The Heart's Greater Silence. Well, if you like, you can even pay them a brief visit and vote for me - and many thanks if you do. Honestly, I'm blushing ... No, really.
I'm also pleased to see that gay erotic short story Dating the Delaneys is now finally up at Amazon US, and Amazon UK - and for a while it was even at Number 69 (no, please, say nothing, people!...) in the Amazon UK charts, so that was very heartening.
Meanwhile my Twitter ebook giveaway fortnight went quite well (it ended yesterday) and I had nearly 40 new followers and gave away about 20 ebooks, so I hope everyone enjoyed their reads. I know some did, as they were kind enough to comment - thank you! I'm planning another giveaway in February to coincide with the advertising campaign for fantasy novel The Gifting - so watch out for that one too. 2012 is the Year of the Giveaway, that's for sure.
Finally, I'm thrilled to announce that the final part of The Gathandrian Trilogy, The Executioner's Cane, has been accepted in advance by Bluewood Publishing (many thanks, Paulette and David), so I need to get the edits sorted out and submit it properly to them by the summer. Am very much looking forward to getting my teeth into that one, hurrah.
Here are the latest meditation poems for you:
Meditation 615
The ocean of blood
connecting a family
cannot be denied:
it’s a wild current
where strange feelings
dance or hide
and when the wind shifts,
the waters press down
in this overwhelming tide.
Meditation 616
The clash of great armies
swallows up the air
and is never silent.
Its echo sings
in the sky
and drifts
across the treetops,
tainting all ages
and people to come:
a memento of pain
when the fighting
is done.
Meditation 617
Perfection lies
not in the wanting
but the waiting
as the whole universe
from the brightest star
to the smallest
blade of grass
lies in grave
expectancy
knowing one day soon
it will come
to pass.
Meditation 618
Out of the quiet shadows
into the full light
and noise of the day
you creep blinking,
with hands which stutter
for a safer way
and you know
the path is always forward
so you cannot stay.
Life News:
Great excitement once more on the garden front as our dogwood hedge has been delivered, so we'll need to plant that in over the weekend. I'm praying for sunshine then, as I no longer have a working brolly, alas. Not that a brolly would be useful when planting a hedge, but there you go, eh.
Yesterday's girly fun was finding one of my colleagues in automobile distress in the car park after work, as her battery was flat. Heck, I've been there so often that I had every sympathy (K and I still wake up screaming at the memory of the time the battery on our rickety old removal van died on the main roundabout linking the A12 to the M25. My, what joy that was ... though the mention on the Radio 4 traffic news was nice). Anyway, as I'm the only person on the planet who actually has jump leads in the back of her car, we managed to get it started though I admit we did have to Ring A Man to ask how to put the jump leads on. Yes, I hear you laughing, but probably not as loudly as the Security staff were as they watched us on the CCTV, hey ho ... Girl Power "R" Us, but only after we've powdered our noses.
And today we've had a recommended builder round to give us a quote on our loose tiles and guttering at the back of the house. Ah, what innocence there is in that statement. After getting to the top of a very tall ladder (me - please admire my courage at this point ...) and crawling round and over the roof (him), it is fairly obvious that the roof of our lovely new house is Not A Happy Place. The cement is disintegrating, hence the falling tiles and damaged guttering and, actually, none of the roof tiles are fixed to anything as a result and can be lifted off without any effort at all. Meanwhile at the front of the house, someone has done a veneer cementing job to fool the casual passerby (a category which, evidently, included our surveyor, sigh) and added chicken wire to keep the tiles on. Chicken wire! Whatever next?... There'll be no damn eggs from that, I fear. Ah, Carruthers, I foresee trouble ahead and a Very Big Bill (as it were - and please excuse appalling Use of Capitals, but really it's that kind of a day). Ah well, we hadn't planned on having a holiday this year - and maybe best to make that two years. Groan.
Add to that a bit of a Tricky Moment with Mother (TMM for short) last week during our regular phone call and all is jolly interesting indeed in Elstead this week. Mother was telling me all about a woman she met on the bus into Colchester who visited her dying father every day at the hospital, come rain or shine, and then came out with the fatal thought (Note to people: never ever say this phrase or anything like it to anyone if you don't really want to know the answer ...): I don't think any of my children would ever do that for me, would they? Ah, Manipulation, you are indeed a dying art. My less than kind answer to this was: No, probably not, but isn't that what nurses are for? Hmm, I suspect I'm not in the running for Daughter of The Year this year, or any other year indeed ... Situation normal, then.
Finally, as I come from a family of both victims and survivors of this disease and am on the Hit List for testing when I reach 50 (always have something to look forward to, is what I say), I'd like to bring to your attention that this week is Bowel Cancer Awareness Week - so don't forget to get involved and save a life, maybe even your own, especially as it's one of the easiest cancers to cure if it's caught early enough. Keep well and keep going, as they say!
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Gosh, indeedy, but I appear to be in the running for Author of The Week over at Pants Off Reviews - which, you may remember, recently gave me a rather nice review for upcoming gay literary short story The Heart's Greater Silence. Well, if you like, you can even pay them a brief visit and vote for me - and many thanks if you do. Honestly, I'm blushing ... No, really.
Meanwhile my Twitter ebook giveaway fortnight went quite well (it ended yesterday) and I had nearly 40 new followers and gave away about 20 ebooks, so I hope everyone enjoyed their reads. I know some did, as they were kind enough to comment - thank you! I'm planning another giveaway in February to coincide with the advertising campaign for fantasy novel The Gifting - so watch out for that one too. 2012 is the Year of the Giveaway, that's for sure.
Finally, I'm thrilled to announce that the final part of The Gathandrian Trilogy, The Executioner's Cane, has been accepted in advance by Bluewood Publishing (many thanks, Paulette and David), so I need to get the edits sorted out and submit it properly to them by the summer. Am very much looking forward to getting my teeth into that one, hurrah.
Here are the latest meditation poems for you:
Meditation 615
The ocean of blood
connecting a family
cannot be denied:
it’s a wild current
where strange feelings
dance or hide
and when the wind shifts,
the waters press down
in this overwhelming tide.
Meditation 616
The clash of great armies
swallows up the air
and is never silent.
Its echo sings
in the sky
and drifts
across the treetops,
tainting all ages
and people to come:
a memento of pain
when the fighting
is done.
Meditation 617
Perfection lies
not in the wanting
but the waiting
as the whole universe
from the brightest star
to the smallest
blade of grass
lies in grave
expectancy
knowing one day soon
it will come
to pass.
Meditation 618
Out of the quiet shadows
into the full light
and noise of the day
you creep blinking,
with hands which stutter
for a safer way
and you know
the path is always forward
so you cannot stay.
Life News:
Great excitement once more on the garden front as our dogwood hedge has been delivered, so we'll need to plant that in over the weekend. I'm praying for sunshine then, as I no longer have a working brolly, alas. Not that a brolly would be useful when planting a hedge, but there you go, eh.
Yesterday's girly fun was finding one of my colleagues in automobile distress in the car park after work, as her battery was flat. Heck, I've been there so often that I had every sympathy (K and I still wake up screaming at the memory of the time the battery on our rickety old removal van died on the main roundabout linking the A12 to the M25. My, what joy that was ... though the mention on the Radio 4 traffic news was nice). Anyway, as I'm the only person on the planet who actually has jump leads in the back of her car, we managed to get it started though I admit we did have to Ring A Man to ask how to put the jump leads on. Yes, I hear you laughing, but probably not as loudly as the Security staff were as they watched us on the CCTV, hey ho ... Girl Power "R" Us, but only after we've powdered our noses.
And today we've had a recommended builder round to give us a quote on our loose tiles and guttering at the back of the house. Ah, what innocence there is in that statement. After getting to the top of a very tall ladder (me - please admire my courage at this point ...) and crawling round and over the roof (him), it is fairly obvious that the roof of our lovely new house is Not A Happy Place. The cement is disintegrating, hence the falling tiles and damaged guttering and, actually, none of the roof tiles are fixed to anything as a result and can be lifted off without any effort at all. Meanwhile at the front of the house, someone has done a veneer cementing job to fool the casual passerby (a category which, evidently, included our surveyor, sigh) and added chicken wire to keep the tiles on. Chicken wire! Whatever next?... There'll be no damn eggs from that, I fear. Ah, Carruthers, I foresee trouble ahead and a Very Big Bill (as it were - and please excuse appalling Use of Capitals, but really it's that kind of a day). Ah well, we hadn't planned on having a holiday this year - and maybe best to make that two years. Groan.
Add to that a bit of a Tricky Moment with Mother (TMM for short) last week during our regular phone call and all is jolly interesting indeed in Elstead this week. Mother was telling me all about a woman she met on the bus into Colchester who visited her dying father every day at the hospital, come rain or shine, and then came out with the fatal thought (Note to people: never ever say this phrase or anything like it to anyone if you don't really want to know the answer ...): I don't think any of my children would ever do that for me, would they? Ah, Manipulation, you are indeed a dying art. My less than kind answer to this was: No, probably not, but isn't that what nurses are for? Hmm, I suspect I'm not in the running for Daughter of The Year this year, or any other year indeed ... Situation normal, then.
Finally, as I come from a family of both victims and survivors of this disease and am on the Hit List for testing when I reach 50 (always have something to look forward to, is what I say), I'd like to bring to your attention that this week is Bowel Cancer Awareness Week - so don't forget to get involved and save a life, maybe even your own, especially as it's one of the easiest cancers to cure if it's caught early enough. Keep well and keep going, as they say!
Anne Brooke
The Gathandrian Trilogy
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Tea, Telegraphs and teatowels
Book News:
Untreed Reads is having a massive sale throughout October, so this month is an ideal time to snap up a bargain, or several. As part of that, my literary lesbian short story, A Woman like the Sea, is on sale for 30% discount, as is lesbian paranormal story, The Girl in the Painting, which is also selling at a 30% discount, both direct from the publisher. Hope you enjoy the reads!
The Sunday haiku is:
The quiet grass gleams.
My garden is a haiku,
brief and full of dreams.
Life News:
The great news is that my lovely husband has sorted out the looming disaster of our new dishwasher not fitting into its allocated space by means of swopping it with our slightly smaller washing machine. Pure genius, don't you know. The result is I am now madly in love with the dishwasher and can't begin to imagine how I've survived living here a whole month without one. Ah the joys of technology.
On the same day we were also expecting a delivery of a long ladder so K can get up and look at the roof. We were told it would be delivered by 8pm but actually it arrived at 9pm when I'd given up and was slobbing around in my dressing gown. The delivery man was much amused, as I'm sure the neighbours were when I was prancing round the drive trying to open the garage in my night attire. (Query: why exactly is there a garage in my night attire??...) Really, my dears, I am seriously lowering the tone here in downtown Elstead ...
Speaking of Elstead, we love it. The people are very welcoming and there's a great village-y feel. We also feel spiritually at home as the village Spar shop has three ENORMOUS piles of The Telegraph newspaper and only one small pile of The Mail, whereas in our brief stay in Woking it was always the other way round and we could never get a Telegraph (without which no Saturday is truly complete) for love nor money, no matter how early we ventured out, sigh.
And this weekend has truly been a weekend of delights. The weather has been glorious (ha!) and I do believe the UK is finally experiencing its summer, hurrah. We harvested the first of our vegetable crop and had Swiss chard with our Friday night pizza and garlic bread. Honestly, we're just so proud, never having grown anything we can actually eat before. Or not outside anyway. K also bought a melon at the shops and so weekend breakfasts have involved lolling around in our night wear (really, why bother getting dressed at all?...), eating melon and watching the garden grow. Bliss.
Yesterday, we also invited some of the neighbours and our more local friends round for tea and cake in the afternoon, which was lovely - though it did rather turn into Pimm's and cake due to the soaring temperatures. Nobody complained, however, and we had a great time. Thank you, everyone, for coming.
This morning, we finally - after holiday and my bout of illness - managed to get back to church, which was all very enjoyable, though we still haven't met the actual vicar. The same stand-in man we first met a month ago was there again today, and actually remembered our names and where we live - so give that man a medal. Either that or he couldn't get over the trauma of making our acquaintance last time, hey ho. Poor chap - perhaps he thinks I'm stalking him and will never come back again.
I have also finally, after many months of threatening it, bought a William & Kate Royal Wedding teatowel. I feel fulfilled and am looking forward to using it and giving my glasses (the only things that don't go in the dishwasher) that sheen of royal glamour they so evidently need. I must practise my special wave.
Finally, I must say that Dr Who goes from bad to worse, I fear. Last night's series finale was hammy in the extreme and borderline dull. How I wish they'd ditch the rampant emotionalism and bring back the adventure and sense of excitement. Less kissing (yuk! The Doctor is soooo not meant to be married - it just doesn't work!) and more Daleks - that's what we need.
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Untreed Reads is having a massive sale throughout October, so this month is an ideal time to snap up a bargain, or several. As part of that, my literary lesbian short story, A Woman like the Sea, is on sale for 30% discount, as is lesbian paranormal story, The Girl in the Painting, which is also selling at a 30% discount, both direct from the publisher. Hope you enjoy the reads!
The Sunday haiku is:
The quiet grass gleams.
My garden is a haiku,
brief and full of dreams.
Life News:
The great news is that my lovely husband has sorted out the looming disaster of our new dishwasher not fitting into its allocated space by means of swopping it with our slightly smaller washing machine. Pure genius, don't you know. The result is I am now madly in love with the dishwasher and can't begin to imagine how I've survived living here a whole month without one. Ah the joys of technology.
On the same day we were also expecting a delivery of a long ladder so K can get up and look at the roof. We were told it would be delivered by 8pm but actually it arrived at 9pm when I'd given up and was slobbing around in my dressing gown. The delivery man was much amused, as I'm sure the neighbours were when I was prancing round the drive trying to open the garage in my night attire. (Query: why exactly is there a garage in my night attire??...) Really, my dears, I am seriously lowering the tone here in downtown Elstead ...
Speaking of Elstead, we love it. The people are very welcoming and there's a great village-y feel. We also feel spiritually at home as the village Spar shop has three ENORMOUS piles of The Telegraph newspaper and only one small pile of The Mail, whereas in our brief stay in Woking it was always the other way round and we could never get a Telegraph (without which no Saturday is truly complete) for love nor money, no matter how early we ventured out, sigh.
And this weekend has truly been a weekend of delights. The weather has been glorious (ha!) and I do believe the UK is finally experiencing its summer, hurrah. We harvested the first of our vegetable crop and had Swiss chard with our Friday night pizza and garlic bread. Honestly, we're just so proud, never having grown anything we can actually eat before. Or not outside anyway. K also bought a melon at the shops and so weekend breakfasts have involved lolling around in our night wear (really, why bother getting dressed at all?...), eating melon and watching the garden grow. Bliss.
Yesterday, we also invited some of the neighbours and our more local friends round for tea and cake in the afternoon, which was lovely - though it did rather turn into Pimm's and cake due to the soaring temperatures. Nobody complained, however, and we had a great time. Thank you, everyone, for coming.
This morning, we finally - after holiday and my bout of illness - managed to get back to church, which was all very enjoyable, though we still haven't met the actual vicar. The same stand-in man we first met a month ago was there again today, and actually remembered our names and where we live - so give that man a medal. Either that or he couldn't get over the trauma of making our acquaintance last time, hey ho. Poor chap - perhaps he thinks I'm stalking him and will never come back again.
I have also finally, after many months of threatening it, bought a William & Kate Royal Wedding teatowel. I feel fulfilled and am looking forward to using it and giving my glasses (the only things that don't go in the dishwasher) that sheen of royal glamour they so evidently need. I must practise my special wave.
Finally, I must say that Dr Who goes from bad to worse, I fear. Last night's series finale was hammy in the extreme and borderline dull. How I wish they'd ditch the rampant emotionalism and bring back the adventure and sense of excitement. Less kissing (yuk! The Doctor is soooo not meant to be married - it just doesn't work!) and more Daleks - that's what we need.
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Hallsfoot, heucheras and hazelnuts
Book News:
I've just signed the contract for the second in my fantasy series, Hallsfoot's Battle, which will be published by Bluewood Publishing probably sometime next year, hurrah! Here's the blurb just to stimulate your interest:
I've just signed the contract for the second in my fantasy series, Hallsfoot's Battle, which will be published by Bluewood Publishing probably sometime next year, hurrah! Here's the blurb just to stimulate your interest:
In the second book in The
Gathandrian Trilogy, Gelahn the mind-executioner begins his campaign. His
powers are sublime, unmatched – even without the mind-cane in his possession.
Using fear and pain he enslaves his victims, but next he will break and possess
the Lammas Overlord. Recently appointed Acting Elder and
left in sole charge of her people, Annyeke Hallsfoot draws on all her
mind-skills and courage as the fight for Gathandria rages. The precious ancient
Legends are her bedrock and she begins teaching their wisdom to the scribe,
Simon Hartstongue, who must quickly learn to work with the mind-cane’s strange
powers. But Simon is distracted by his own demons and only fears the artefact.
Supported by Johan and Talus, her young charge, Annyeke plots a desperate
strategy to defeat the enemy. As the Gathandrians rally behind
their new leader, Gelahn strikes at the heart of the city.
And before Number Two in The Gathandrian Trilogy arrives, don't forget there's still time to read the first in the series, The Gifting. Don't delay - buy today! Here's the next small snippet:
It's damning for Johan in so many ways, as Chief Advisor to the Sub-Council of Meditation, but it's true.
Other good book news this week is that gay erotic short story For One Night Only gained a 4.5 star review at Top 2 Bottom Reviews - so many thanks to Michele for that. In addition literary thriller A Dangerous Man gained a lovely 4-star review at Goodreads - thank you so much, Blake.
I've also uploaded a new blog to The Thoughtful Corner which, this month, concentrates on fresh starts and what they mean, or might mean. I hope you enjoy the read.
This week's meditation poem:
Meditation 570
A people said
to be
as numerous as
stars
must always
remember
not to be
distant,
sterile, and a
reminder
only of history
but a light
in the darkness
and an absolute
promise
of hope.
The Sunday haiku is:
The cardboard boxes
now unpacked and gone: old lives
give way to the new.
Life News:
I appreciate very much that today is a day of quiet remembrance, but it's also K's and my 18th wedding anniversary, so we've been celebrating, but quietly. We've had a lovely lunch out at The Woolpack and then wandered round Wisley Flower Show where we bought a Paris heuchera for one of the borders at the back - K has already planted it and it looks fabulous.
Other house and garden excitements this week have been: we've bought a shoe tidy, a washing line, pegs, a peg bag and some compost, well gosh. And I've hung the washing out to dry for the first time in our married life (18 years today, don't you know! Did I say that already? ...). A fact which, strangely, has made me extraordinarily happy - it's almost like being an adult really, ho ho. I've also sorted out the wardrobes so we know where everything is, and K has planted the French lavender, the rose and the azalea which Jane and Liz (thank you, both!) very kindly between them bought us as house-warming presents. He's also planted our own rose and nemesia, but we have yet to see how they cope with not being in a pot.
And, to cap it all, we've harvested the first hazelnuts from our hazelnut tree - all two of them, and yes they were utterly delicious. Perhaps we'll harvest some more one day ...
On Friday, Marian and I played golf for the first time in ages and I actually won, hurrah! Which just proves that I'm better if I don't play for a while - the weirdness of golf indeed. Practice makes me worse, ah well. And in the afternoon, Liz came round and we had coffee, cake and chat - all perfect for a Friday afternoon really. Ah, this is the life.
Yesterday evening, we took Liz & John to a Proms party at the house of a friend of theirs in Woking - supper and chat in front of the TV. What could be nicer? We were, sadly however, rather late, as I'd confidently programmed the route into Celia SatNav and merrily directed K there from the back seat - but when we "arrived" I realised it wasn't Liz's friend's house at all, but some other address I'd keyed in, and we had to start all over again. Ho hum. Naturally enough, someone else directed on the way back ...
And the Spider Sagas continue. Liz kindly lent us her new spider vacuum (which allegedly allows you to get the spider in a tube and then deposit it in a nature-friendly way in the garden) and we had occasion to use it earlier in the week when I got up at about 1am and discovered one of the evil beasts next to the loo. Well, one can't really go when there's an enemy in the camp so K nobly rushed to get the spider doom machine and attempted to vacuum it into the tube. Alas, the power wasn't strong enough to suck the enormous beast up the tube (as it were ...), and I was so desperate by then I had to dash to the other loo to answer Nature's call - thus abandoning poor K in the ensuite with a cylindrical plastic tube planted on top of a rather large spider. I think he understood, but I may well have lost Wife Points ... By the time I got back, he'd somehow tipped the spider into the loo and flushed it away, hurrah. So whilst I fear that the nature-friendly nature of the vacuum might have been missed, at least it did the job. Sort of.
However, we decided we really needed something stronger so when, after the Proms party, we discovered another spider, this time in my bathroom, K dashed to get the real vacuum and we sucked it up to its doom in a matter of moments, aha. Nature? Bah, humbug and Death to the Enemy, eh. We are indeed the Spider Destroyers of Elstead - call us anytime, hey ho.
Anyway, for a week or so, our unwanted house lodgers will be safe as we're off on holiday cruising down the Rhone and enjoying the Colours of Provence and Beaujolais and, hopefully, having a lovely relaxing time from tomorrow. I suspect it will be our last holiday abroad for quite a while but, hey, we definitely deserve it, though I think we'll both be looking forward, secretly, to coming back to our new home afterwards. Who wouldn't!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A legendary romance and an unexpected shower
Book News:
Literary romance short story, Dido's Tale, is now published by Bluewood Publishing and you can find it at Amazon UK - for only 90p! - Amazon US and All Romance Ebooks. I hope you enjoy the read. Of course you can also have this story and indeed all my other Kindle books signed at Kindlegraph for free - so there's an offer you Kindle buyers can't refuse ...
Meanwhile, erotic gay short story For One Night Only gained a very thoughtful and pleasing review at Goodreads (thank you, JJ) and also a 4-star review at Goodreads (many thanks, Kris).
And fantasy novel The Gifting was showcased this week at Reading & Writing Daily by Fred Bubbers - so thank you for that, Fred. Here's another small section of the book:
... but Johan swallows the laughter out of respect for the place they are in.
This week's meditation poems are:
Meditation 561
When the shouting
is done
and the battles
are dust
the one truth
that remains
is to know
whom you trust.
Meditation 562
The place where sins
are forgiven
is quieter
than a feather
and wider
than the sea.
In these travels
through my life
I stumble on it
rarely
but still it calls
to me.
Meditation 563
Today behind the words
lacing this holy page
there is nothing
but silence and the sense
that God might just
have departed
before I even thought
to arrive.
Life News:
As the rain falls, still our living room ceiling leaks, sigh. I've had to put towels and buckets down this morning as it was so heavy but it's stopped now, thank goodness. In true recycling glory, I've poured the water from the bucket onto the garden so I feel I've at least put the rain where it was originally intended to go. Never mind though, only 1 week to go and we're moving so I'm hoping for a more reliable roof in sunny Elstead, hey ho.
This afternoon, the flat cleaner has come round to quote for the post-rental clean organised by the agents. What a very nice woman. If money allows, I might try to see if she'll come to Elstead now and again. Goodness, how very Surrey I am these days - my northern grandmother would turn in her urn to hear me. Though then again, I'd probably be fairly startled to hear her also.
Tonight, K and I are off to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford to see The Woman in White so we're looking forward to an evening of thrills and spills. Other excitements of the week are that I've finally, after three painful weeks of trying, persuaded BT to allow me to pay my new bill by direct debit once we're in Elstead. Lordy, but it was terribly complicated. They sent me a survey asking how they'd performed, so I told them. In no uncertain terms. At least today, the woman on the phone - once I'd spent ten minutes pressing all possible buttons in order to get through to a real ruddy person - was very nice and seemed to know something, hurrah. However, even she couldn't tell me what my new phone number - of the three different ones they've so far provided us with - was actually going to be until they connect it. So it must be almost as much of a mystery to them as it is to me, hey ho.
And - at last! - the first of the glorious English apples are in the shops for the season, double hurrahs and put out the bunting. Well done to Waitrose for choosing such a classy crop too, English apples of course (says she, speaking as an apple farmer's daughter) being the only ones worth eating at all ...
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Literary romance short story, Dido's Tale, is now published by Bluewood Publishing and you can find it at Amazon UK - for only 90p! - Amazon US and All Romance Ebooks. I hope you enjoy the read. Of course you can also have this story and indeed all my other Kindle books signed at Kindlegraph for free - so there's an offer you Kindle buyers can't refuse ...
Meanwhile, erotic gay short story For One Night Only gained a very thoughtful and pleasing review at Goodreads (thank you, JJ) and also a 4-star review at Goodreads (many thanks, Kris).
And fantasy novel The Gifting was showcased this week at Reading & Writing Daily by Fred Bubbers - so thank you for that, Fred. Here's another small section of the book:
... but Johan swallows the laughter out of respect for the place they are in.
This week's meditation poems are:
Meditation 561
When the shouting
is done
and the battles
are dust
the one truth
that remains
is to know
whom you trust.
Meditation 562
The place where sins
are forgiven
is quieter
than a feather
and wider
than the sea.
In these travels
through my life
I stumble on it
rarely
but still it calls
to me.
Meditation 563
Today behind the words
lacing this holy page
there is nothing
but silence and the sense
that God might just
have departed
before I even thought
to arrive.
Life News:
As the rain falls, still our living room ceiling leaks, sigh. I've had to put towels and buckets down this morning as it was so heavy but it's stopped now, thank goodness. In true recycling glory, I've poured the water from the bucket onto the garden so I feel I've at least put the rain where it was originally intended to go. Never mind though, only 1 week to go and we're moving so I'm hoping for a more reliable roof in sunny Elstead, hey ho.
This afternoon, the flat cleaner has come round to quote for the post-rental clean organised by the agents. What a very nice woman. If money allows, I might try to see if she'll come to Elstead now and again. Goodness, how very Surrey I am these days - my northern grandmother would turn in her urn to hear me. Though then again, I'd probably be fairly startled to hear her also.
Tonight, K and I are off to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford to see The Woman in White so we're looking forward to an evening of thrills and spills. Other excitements of the week are that I've finally, after three painful weeks of trying, persuaded BT to allow me to pay my new bill by direct debit once we're in Elstead. Lordy, but it was terribly complicated. They sent me a survey asking how they'd performed, so I told them. In no uncertain terms. At least today, the woman on the phone - once I'd spent ten minutes pressing all possible buttons in order to get through to a real ruddy person - was very nice and seemed to know something, hurrah. However, even she couldn't tell me what my new phone number - of the three different ones they've so far provided us with - was actually going to be until they connect it. So it must be almost as much of a mystery to them as it is to me, hey ho.
And - at last! - the first of the glorious English apples are in the shops for the season, double hurrahs and put out the bunting. Well done to Waitrose for choosing such a classy crop too, English apples of course (says she, speaking as an apple farmer's daughter) being the only ones worth eating at all ...
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Celebrations and crocodiles
Book News:
I'm very happy (in fact so happy that when I first read it I was actually crying, how embarrassing is that ...) to say that fantasy novel The Gifting has gained a very thoughtful 4-star review at Top2Bottom Reviews (so thank you, Lisa, for that one). I'm also thrilled that the novel has been the subject of a radio feature by journalist and writer, Graham Sclater (thank you, Graham) which you can listen to via my Latest News webpage.
And here's the latest few lines from The Gifting:
Even then success seems so unlikely. Given the circumstances. Given the man who is supposed to save them.
There's also been a 4-star review at Goodreads for A Dangerous Man - so thank you for that, C.S. Much appreciated.
Meanwhile, there's still time to sign up for my quarterly newsletter, which includes my latest writing news, upcoming treats, exclusive fiction and free giveaways, and a snappy quote or two from the great and the not so great, so what could be better? The first newsletter will wing its way to subscribers later next week, so book early to avoid disappointment ...
This week's meditation poem is:
Meditation 558
In spring great princes
go to war.
It’s how they mark
the season.
I would have thought
a calming stroll
gives life
a better reason.
The Sunday haiku is:
Happy sunflowers
dance inside the shining air.
Summer's best reward
Life News:
K and I visited our soon-to-be new home in Elstead on Friday to measure up and sort out what goes where when we move in - in three weeks' time! It was fantastic to see the place again and - hurrah! - we still both really love it. Honestly I found it hard to tear myself away and I simply can't wait to get there for real. 1st September can't come fast enough ...
Yesterday, we paid a visit to Mother down in deepest Essex, and actually it went quite well. Must be the extra calming pills I took before we set off, ho ho. Or maybe I'm mellowing with my advancing years. Don't answer that. And this afternoon, we've spent a glorious afternoon helping my golfing partner Marian celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary (she was a child bride, you know ...) with an utterly glorious tea party. Goodness me, how English I sound sometimes. Would someone pass me the cucumber sandwiches?... The cake made by her daughter Jane was to die for - and I praised it so much and looked so sad when my slice was gone that the merciful Jane cut a portion of it for me to take away. What a superstar. Ah, there's method in my madness, you know ... One day I'll grow up to be nearly as devious as my mother. Surely not, we cry!
Finally, I can't end without saying how incredibly wonderful I thought Channel Five's Croc Man was earlier this week. Really, how can anyone resist a good-looking man who collects crocodiles? If he ever gets that zoo of his open, I am so definitely there. Piercing blue eyes and that essential hint of imminent death - really, what could be more thrilling?...
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
I'm very happy (in fact so happy that when I first read it I was actually crying, how embarrassing is that ...) to say that fantasy novel The Gifting has gained a very thoughtful 4-star review at Top2Bottom Reviews (so thank you, Lisa, for that one). I'm also thrilled that the novel has been the subject of a radio feature by journalist and writer, Graham Sclater (thank you, Graham) which you can listen to via my Latest News webpage.
And here's the latest few lines from The Gifting:
Even then success seems so unlikely. Given the circumstances. Given the man who is supposed to save them.
There's also been a 4-star review at Goodreads for A Dangerous Man - so thank you for that, C.S. Much appreciated.
Meanwhile, there's still time to sign up for my quarterly newsletter, which includes my latest writing news, upcoming treats, exclusive fiction and free giveaways, and a snappy quote or two from the great and the not so great, so what could be better? The first newsletter will wing its way to subscribers later next week, so book early to avoid disappointment ...
This week's meditation poem is:
Meditation 558
In spring great princes
go to war.
It’s how they mark
the season.
I would have thought
a calming stroll
gives life
a better reason.
The Sunday haiku is:
Happy sunflowers
dance inside the shining air.
Summer's best reward
Life News:
K and I visited our soon-to-be new home in Elstead on Friday to measure up and sort out what goes where when we move in - in three weeks' time! It was fantastic to see the place again and - hurrah! - we still both really love it. Honestly I found it hard to tear myself away and I simply can't wait to get there for real. 1st September can't come fast enough ...
Yesterday, we paid a visit to Mother down in deepest Essex, and actually it went quite well. Must be the extra calming pills I took before we set off, ho ho. Or maybe I'm mellowing with my advancing years. Don't answer that. And this afternoon, we've spent a glorious afternoon helping my golfing partner Marian celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary (she was a child bride, you know ...) with an utterly glorious tea party. Goodness me, how English I sound sometimes. Would someone pass me the cucumber sandwiches?... The cake made by her daughter Jane was to die for - and I praised it so much and looked so sad when my slice was gone that the merciful Jane cut a portion of it for me to take away. What a superstar. Ah, there's method in my madness, you know ... One day I'll grow up to be nearly as devious as my mother. Surely not, we cry!
Finally, I can't end without saying how incredibly wonderful I thought Channel Five's Croc Man was earlier this week. Really, how can anyone resist a good-looking man who collects crocodiles? If he ever gets that zoo of his open, I am so definitely there. Piercing blue eyes and that essential hint of imminent death - really, what could be more thrilling?...
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Garden delights and The Thoughtful Corner
Book News:
Lots of exciting news this week, so hang on to your hats. As it were. I'm really pleased to say that my Christian novella, The Prayer Seeker, is set to be published by DWB Publishing on 5 December 2011, so the ideal Christmas present for your spiritually-minded friends indeed.
You can now find the latest August news on my website, and I've also started a quarterly newsletter which you're more than welcome to sign up for. It will contain fascinating writing snippets, exclusive extracts and free giveaways with each edition - so what have you got to lose! Go on, you know you want to, and hey it won't cost you anything either. What could be nicer?
On a rather more philosophical level, I've also started a new and quieter blog, called The Thoughtful Corner - where I'll be posting monthly on issues that make me think, so please do feel free to visit if you need a bit of a break from the demands of life, and indeed the fast-moving parts of the Internet. I like to think of it as a small opportunity to experience "life in the slow lane" and hey we all need a taste of that sometimes. The first issue I'm looking at is demands and delays, and how we can balance these contrasting pulls in our lives. I'd love to hear how you do that, or even if you do it, as I know it's something I find very hard, and more so as I get older! Heck, I need all the help I can get ...
In terms of reviews, I'm very happy to have received an interesting review on gay comedy The Hit List, some lovely comments on gay BDSM story Give and Take, and a 5-star review of gay romantic story Two Christmases. All from Goodreads, all in Italian (but Google Translate solved my problems in no time!) and all from a lovely lady called Anncleire - so very many thanks for that!
Meanwhile the equally lovely bestselling and very talented crime novelist Vicki Tyley has kindly showcased The Gifting on her blog - so thank you so much, Vicki - I'm really touched by that gesture. Well, you knew I was pretty odd anyway ...
There's one meditation poem this week:
Meditation 555
He fills the space
for prayer
with so many words
I can barely remember
if God is there
at all.
This week's haikus (the second one as we've had a rather tricky time with Celia Satnav this weekend, Gawd bless 'er ...) are:
Two grey cats yowling
their displeasure like soldiers
preparing for war.
Take the first exit
for joy, the fourth for sorrow.
Recalculating.
Life News:
We attended our old neighbour's funeral on Friday - it was a very moving occasion, as these things often are, but I learnt a great deal about what we like to call his "middle years" which was great - as both M & G, his children, gave wonderful talks at the Crematorium. I knew a fair amount about Henry's war years, and of course about the last twenty years when he lived in the same house as us, but knew little about the time between. It was good to fill out the picture. I'll certainly miss him.
There's also some very positive news once more about the Elstead house. It looks like the completion date might end up being 1 or 2 September, which suits us fine, but we can't tell until tomorrow when our solicitor gets the final signed documents from ourselves (which we dropped in to her today) and I can get hold of our removal people to see if either of those dates are free for them. Ah, the tension is mounting, you know. I only hope we can actually get to exchange date without more disasters this time round! God willing.
And our new washing machine is totally fabulous. I think I am in love with it. It's sooo big. I could stuff a whole roomful of clothes in there and still have room for the odd extra cardigan or two. Bliss. It's just a damn shame we can't take it with us, sigh.
This weekend we have gone garden-mad, and really enjoyed it. Yesterday was the delights of The Savill Garden - which is well worth a visit, and the cappuccino and cupcakes were, once again, to die for. Mmmm. But, much to my horror, they've changed the shop!!! That shop was wonderful when we last visited, but they've now made it a lot smaller (why, oh why?...) and there's virtually nothing to buy. What could they have been thinking? Deeep sigh indeed.
Today, however, we are more than mollified by our visit to the utterly wonderful Old Croft Garden in Dorking. It was very beautiful indeed, incredibly peaceful and oh so cleverly designed. Ooh, and the mini cream tea was pretty good too. However, the definite comic highlight was the delightful old couple who were looking closely at the list of plants to work out what was what:
She: Are you sure you can read that without your glasses, darling?
He: But, my dear, I'm wearing my glasses ...
Honestly, you couldn't make it up. We're still chortling ... Sadly though, it's the last day this particular garden is open this year, but they're re-opening on both Sunday and Monday of both May bank holidays next year - so we plan to be there. I can thoroughly recommend it.
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Lots of exciting news this week, so hang on to your hats. As it were. I'm really pleased to say that my Christian novella, The Prayer Seeker, is set to be published by DWB Publishing on 5 December 2011, so the ideal Christmas present for your spiritually-minded friends indeed.
You can now find the latest August news on my website, and I've also started a quarterly newsletter which you're more than welcome to sign up for. It will contain fascinating writing snippets, exclusive extracts and free giveaways with each edition - so what have you got to lose! Go on, you know you want to, and hey it won't cost you anything either. What could be nicer?
On a rather more philosophical level, I've also started a new and quieter blog, called The Thoughtful Corner - where I'll be posting monthly on issues that make me think, so please do feel free to visit if you need a bit of a break from the demands of life, and indeed the fast-moving parts of the Internet. I like to think of it as a small opportunity to experience "life in the slow lane" and hey we all need a taste of that sometimes. The first issue I'm looking at is demands and delays, and how we can balance these contrasting pulls in our lives. I'd love to hear how you do that, or even if you do it, as I know it's something I find very hard, and more so as I get older! Heck, I need all the help I can get ...
In terms of reviews, I'm very happy to have received an interesting review on gay comedy The Hit List, some lovely comments on gay BDSM story Give and Take, and a 5-star review of gay romantic story Two Christmases. All from Goodreads, all in Italian (but Google Translate solved my problems in no time!) and all from a lovely lady called Anncleire - so very many thanks for that!
Meanwhile the equally lovely bestselling and very talented crime novelist Vicki Tyley has kindly showcased The Gifting on her blog - so thank you so much, Vicki - I'm really touched by that gesture. Well, you knew I was pretty odd anyway ...
There's one meditation poem this week:
Meditation 555
He fills the space
for prayer
with so many words
I can barely remember
if God is there
at all.
This week's haikus (the second one as we've had a rather tricky time with Celia Satnav this weekend, Gawd bless 'er ...) are:
Two grey cats yowling
their displeasure like soldiers
preparing for war.
Take the first exit
for joy, the fourth for sorrow.
Recalculating.
Life News:
We attended our old neighbour's funeral on Friday - it was a very moving occasion, as these things often are, but I learnt a great deal about what we like to call his "middle years" which was great - as both M & G, his children, gave wonderful talks at the Crematorium. I knew a fair amount about Henry's war years, and of course about the last twenty years when he lived in the same house as us, but knew little about the time between. It was good to fill out the picture. I'll certainly miss him.
There's also some very positive news once more about the Elstead house. It looks like the completion date might end up being 1 or 2 September, which suits us fine, but we can't tell until tomorrow when our solicitor gets the final signed documents from ourselves (which we dropped in to her today) and I can get hold of our removal people to see if either of those dates are free for them. Ah, the tension is mounting, you know. I only hope we can actually get to exchange date without more disasters this time round! God willing.
And our new washing machine is totally fabulous. I think I am in love with it. It's sooo big. I could stuff a whole roomful of clothes in there and still have room for the odd extra cardigan or two. Bliss. It's just a damn shame we can't take it with us, sigh.
This weekend we have gone garden-mad, and really enjoyed it. Yesterday was the delights of The Savill Garden - which is well worth a visit, and the cappuccino and cupcakes were, once again, to die for. Mmmm. But, much to my horror, they've changed the shop!!! That shop was wonderful when we last visited, but they've now made it a lot smaller (why, oh why?...) and there's virtually nothing to buy. What could they have been thinking? Deeep sigh indeed.
Today, however, we are more than mollified by our visit to the utterly wonderful Old Croft Garden in Dorking. It was very beautiful indeed, incredibly peaceful and oh so cleverly designed. Ooh, and the mini cream tea was pretty good too. However, the definite comic highlight was the delightful old couple who were looking closely at the list of plants to work out what was what:
She: Are you sure you can read that without your glasses, darling?
He: But, my dear, I'm wearing my glasses ...
Honestly, you couldn't make it up. We're still chortling ... Sadly though, it's the last day this particular garden is open this year, but they're re-opening on both Sunday and Monday of both May bank holidays next year - so we plan to be there. I can thoroughly recommend it.
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Houses and Harrogate
A bullet-point blog today as we're just back from a wonderful weekend away with the totally lovely and utterly glamorous Egypt Group (hello, all!).
Life News:
1. It's been great to catch up with Mike & Miriam (who have a matching pair of very wonderful dogs, btw!), and Mike & Chris. I think we have now, between us, terrified Harrogate into submission. We stayed at the extremely good and very charming Ascot House Hotel. I think we can all recommend it wholeheartedly.
2. Skipton Castle makes for a very good day out.
3. Betty's Tea Rooms, Harrogate are excellent and everyone should go there too, mmmm ....
4. We completed on our flat at 9.10am on Friday, so that burden is gone, hurrah! On the other side of the equation, over the weekend, we lost out on the Woking house, which went to the higher bidder, but the Elstead house is still in play and we should hear something next week.
Book News:
1. The first part of my interview with Reasons To Be Beautiful Magazine is now online here (many thanks, Stephanie & Madel) so I hope you enjoy browsing through that.
2. There's 30% off all my Untreed Reads books until tomorrow (4 July), so do feel free to pick yourself up a bargain.
3. Writing Magazine have asked for a copy of my article so I have sent that off to them.
4. The more helpful UK lawyer has suggested she link me up with their US counterparts next week so I've said yes to that - though I'm not convinced anything entirely helpful will come out of it, it will be good to get the US legal view.
5. The next lines of the prologue of The Gifting are:
Beside him, his sister is dressed only in black. Her fair hair catches the light from the two torches mounted on the wall.
6. And, finally, the Sunday haiku is:
After two hundred
miles, the only reviver:
a Yorkshire cream tea.
Anne Brooke
Life News:
1. It's been great to catch up with Mike & Miriam (who have a matching pair of very wonderful dogs, btw!), and Mike & Chris. I think we have now, between us, terrified Harrogate into submission. We stayed at the extremely good and very charming Ascot House Hotel. I think we can all recommend it wholeheartedly.
2. Skipton Castle makes for a very good day out.
3. Betty's Tea Rooms, Harrogate are excellent and everyone should go there too, mmmm ....
4. We completed on our flat at 9.10am on Friday, so that burden is gone, hurrah! On the other side of the equation, over the weekend, we lost out on the Woking house, which went to the higher bidder, but the Elstead house is still in play and we should hear something next week.
Book News:
1. The first part of my interview with Reasons To Be Beautiful Magazine is now online here (many thanks, Stephanie & Madel) so I hope you enjoy browsing through that.
2. There's 30% off all my Untreed Reads books until tomorrow (4 July), so do feel free to pick yourself up a bargain.
3. Writing Magazine have asked for a copy of my article so I have sent that off to them.
4. The more helpful UK lawyer has suggested she link me up with their US counterparts next week so I've said yes to that - though I'm not convinced anything entirely helpful will come out of it, it will be good to get the US legal view.
5. The next lines of the prologue of The Gifting are:
Beside him, his sister is dressed only in black. Her fair hair catches the light from the two torches mounted on the wall.
6. And, finally, the Sunday haiku is:
After two hundred
miles, the only reviver:
a Yorkshire cream tea.
Anne Brooke
Friday, May 06, 2011
Holidays, houses and hope
Life News:
We had a lovely bank holiday Monday visiting Hinton Ampner and also met up with Colin & Cathy from work (hello, C & C!) which was an unexpected treat - hope you've both recovered from the shock by now ...
This week I've been back at work and managed, somehow, to deal with the 150 emails that awaited me. I'm just so incredibly popular, don't you know. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I feared after having been away for such a long time - though the easing-back-in process was definitely improved by Andrea & Monica bringing in chocolate, hurrah. What stars.
Wednesday night, I was up in London seeing Jane W (hello, Jane!) for drinks, food and chat, which was great as, honestly, what with everything that's been going on, it seems to have been ages since we met. Anyway it was wonderful to catch up, as always, though I fear Waterloo Station is not what it was. All the shops have gone, shock horror, as they apparently have a huge project to make a big shopping centre out of it at a mezzanine level. Ah, I feel that the spirit of Waterloo Station simply doesn't fit that scenario ...
Yesterday, K and I were out at the theatre to see Ayckbourn's Communicating Doors, which, as a comedy thriller, is something of a departure for him but well worth seeing. We loved it. A complex and very satisfying time travel/crime plot and some really scary moments, as well as his inevitable and very appreciated witty one-liners. If it comes your way, do go and see it if you can.
This morning, I have filled the car up with petrol and then attempted to get into the wrong car after I'd paid - oh the embarrassment of it all! All I can say in my defence was the car was quite similar to mine and I wasn't really paying attention, hey ho. The real owner was very sweet about it though - so I don't have to spend the night in Godalming police station, hurrah.
Mind you, you can't blame me as there's suddenly a hell of a lot going on again. Our house purchase is trundling on in the background. But, in terms of our flat sale, one of our tricky neighbours has actually signed the transfer, huzzah and put out the bunting! Mind you, the other one hasn't, yet, and they're now in addition wanting the lease to be changed, but that's at their expense, so we're holding our breath and hoping. Our solicitor even thinks that, if the wind's in the right direction, we might exchange with our buyer by the end of next week - even though we're on holiday then (see below) - but I think that will be rather over-optimistic myself. In the meantime, today - which is our last day in the UK for a week - I'm trying to (a) keep both sets of estate agents updated on a rolling basis, (b) agree to take the next step on the rental property we saw last week, with maybe a date for moving into it (ho hum), (c) keep in contact with K at work while all this is going on so various mutual decisions can be made, (d) keep our buyer happy by trying to give him a proposed completion date by close of play today (ha - that's three hours then!), (e) if (d) goes through, book our removal firm, and (f) pack my suitcase for the holiday. All this whilst the ruddy email here isn't working properly so I can't send anything out so nobody's getting any of my messages and I have to do it all via phone. Lordy indeed. It's astonishing I'm still calm ... Must be the fact that I managed to fit in a session of reflexology at work this week - bliss.
Anyway, I'll have no option but to forget it all next week and face the possibility of homelessness and our worldly goods on the street outside when we get back from sunny Italy, which is where we'll be for the next seven days. Having missed out at the last minute on Pompeii last year due to that pesky and very ironic ash cloud (ho hum), I'm determined to get there this year and enjoy every last moment of it. And, hell, we definitely need the break - another one!
Book News:
At Vulpes Libris you can find my review of Anne Tyler's Noah's Compass, which is a great read but rather bleaker than I'm used to with this author, I must say.
Other book news is that Untreed Reads have accepted my literary short story, A Little Death, for publication, so that's grand. And the ebook of The Bones of Summer can be purchased directly from the publisher at a 20% discount throughout the whole of May.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Anne Brooke
We had a lovely bank holiday Monday visiting Hinton Ampner and also met up with Colin & Cathy from work (hello, C & C!) which was an unexpected treat - hope you've both recovered from the shock by now ...
This week I've been back at work and managed, somehow, to deal with the 150 emails that awaited me. I'm just so incredibly popular, don't you know. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I feared after having been away for such a long time - though the easing-back-in process was definitely improved by Andrea & Monica bringing in chocolate, hurrah. What stars.
Wednesday night, I was up in London seeing Jane W (hello, Jane!) for drinks, food and chat, which was great as, honestly, what with everything that's been going on, it seems to have been ages since we met. Anyway it was wonderful to catch up, as always, though I fear Waterloo Station is not what it was. All the shops have gone, shock horror, as they apparently have a huge project to make a big shopping centre out of it at a mezzanine level. Ah, I feel that the spirit of Waterloo Station simply doesn't fit that scenario ...
Yesterday, K and I were out at the theatre to see Ayckbourn's Communicating Doors, which, as a comedy thriller, is something of a departure for him but well worth seeing. We loved it. A complex and very satisfying time travel/crime plot and some really scary moments, as well as his inevitable and very appreciated witty one-liners. If it comes your way, do go and see it if you can.
This morning, I have filled the car up with petrol and then attempted to get into the wrong car after I'd paid - oh the embarrassment of it all! All I can say in my defence was the car was quite similar to mine and I wasn't really paying attention, hey ho. The real owner was very sweet about it though - so I don't have to spend the night in Godalming police station, hurrah.
Mind you, you can't blame me as there's suddenly a hell of a lot going on again. Our house purchase is trundling on in the background. But, in terms of our flat sale, one of our tricky neighbours has actually signed the transfer, huzzah and put out the bunting! Mind you, the other one hasn't, yet, and they're now in addition wanting the lease to be changed, but that's at their expense, so we're holding our breath and hoping. Our solicitor even thinks that, if the wind's in the right direction, we might exchange with our buyer by the end of next week - even though we're on holiday then (see below) - but I think that will be rather over-optimistic myself. In the meantime, today - which is our last day in the UK for a week - I'm trying to (a) keep both sets of estate agents updated on a rolling basis, (b) agree to take the next step on the rental property we saw last week, with maybe a date for moving into it (ho hum), (c) keep in contact with K at work while all this is going on so various mutual decisions can be made, (d) keep our buyer happy by trying to give him a proposed completion date by close of play today (ha - that's three hours then!), (e) if (d) goes through, book our removal firm, and (f) pack my suitcase for the holiday. All this whilst the ruddy email here isn't working properly so I can't send anything out so nobody's getting any of my messages and I have to do it all via phone. Lordy indeed. It's astonishing I'm still calm ... Must be the fact that I managed to fit in a session of reflexology at work this week - bliss.
Anyway, I'll have no option but to forget it all next week and face the possibility of homelessness and our worldly goods on the street outside when we get back from sunny Italy, which is where we'll be for the next seven days. Having missed out at the last minute on Pompeii last year due to that pesky and very ironic ash cloud (ho hum), I'm determined to get there this year and enjoy every last moment of it. And, hell, we definitely need the break - another one!
Book News:
At Vulpes Libris you can find my review of Anne Tyler's Noah's Compass, which is a great read but rather bleaker than I'm used to with this author, I must say.
Other book news is that Untreed Reads have accepted my literary short story, A Little Death, for publication, so that's grand. And the ebook of The Bones of Summer can be purchased directly from the publisher at a 20% discount throughout the whole of May.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Anne Brooke
Monday, April 25, 2011
Gardens and sunshine
Book News:
I've now corrected and returned the galley proofs for The Art of The Delaneys to Amber Allure Press, so am looking forward to publication date on 15 May. I'm currently writing another short story for them, For One Night Only, but intend to get started on the last two of the Delaneys series after that.
Meanwhile, The Gifting is getting ever closer to publication readiness at Bluewood Publishing and I'm just ironing out a few cover issues with my cover artist, Penelope Cline. So it's definitely getting exciting. And I'm pleased to say that my literary short story, A Woman like The Sea, gained a lovely 5-star review at Dark Divas Reviews - many thanks for the comments, Athena.
The Easter Sunday haiku (a day late but, hey, who's counting ...) is:
Lone boy skateboarding
on a blue bridge pulls along
the comforting sun.
Life News:
I hope everyone's having a great Easter holiday weekend - hasn't the weather been glorious. A very rare event indeed here in the UK ... K and I spent a rather pleasant day with Mother on Good Friday, and managed to get to the hour's meditation service at her local church too, so felt pleasingly holy. Ruddy uncomfortable pews though - if I'm sitting still for an hour, I hope, perhaps foolishly, to be able to get up afterwards, but I think we were all struggling. Note to self: next time, remember a cushion.
Back home in Surrey, K and I have enjoyed the Easter Sunday service and have had an equally good time visiting a couple of gardens over the weekend, including Walbury in Lower Froyle - which was small but charming - and Chestnut Lodge in Cobham - which has a collection of glorious tropical birds to die for and doesn't allow children under 15. Double bliss indeed. We loved it. Today, we've also had lunch and a wander round at Wisley, which was very relaxing. The orchid displays are a little past their best now, but still worth a view for the last few days of the exhibition. It was also surprising how empty it seemed in spite of the number of cars in the car park, but that, somehow, is always the nature of Wisley. You can feel on your own whilst ambling around as it's large enough to take it.
In terms of house-buying, there's good news and bad. The bad news is that we didn't really like the house we viewed in Knaphill, though at least we were both agreed on its unsuitability. So we're left with the Woking one plodding its slow, slow way through the purchasing maze. Still, we're keeping our options open until someone deigns to suggest an exchange date (let's not hold our breath, eh ...), so will continue to look. No harm there.
The potentially good news is that the rental property we viewed today in a very nice part of Woking (this afternoon rather than this morning due to timings mix-ups) is quite frankly lovely and we'd move in tomorrow if we could. I hope we get it. Not least because it means we won't be homeless in three weeks' time. Hey ho. Watch this space ...
And we loved Lewis last night on TV - how I wish this wasn't the last of the series and I hope it's back on our screens very soon. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from the excellent pairing of Lewis and Hathaway already. Honestly, it's the best crime drama around at the moment by far.
Happy Easter week!
Anne Brooke
I've now corrected and returned the galley proofs for The Art of The Delaneys to Amber Allure Press, so am looking forward to publication date on 15 May. I'm currently writing another short story for them, For One Night Only, but intend to get started on the last two of the Delaneys series after that.
Meanwhile, The Gifting is getting ever closer to publication readiness at Bluewood Publishing and I'm just ironing out a few cover issues with my cover artist, Penelope Cline. So it's definitely getting exciting. And I'm pleased to say that my literary short story, A Woman like The Sea, gained a lovely 5-star review at Dark Divas Reviews - many thanks for the comments, Athena.
The Easter Sunday haiku (a day late but, hey, who's counting ...) is:
Lone boy skateboarding
on a blue bridge pulls along
the comforting sun.
Life News:
I hope everyone's having a great Easter holiday weekend - hasn't the weather been glorious. A very rare event indeed here in the UK ... K and I spent a rather pleasant day with Mother on Good Friday, and managed to get to the hour's meditation service at her local church too, so felt pleasingly holy. Ruddy uncomfortable pews though - if I'm sitting still for an hour, I hope, perhaps foolishly, to be able to get up afterwards, but I think we were all struggling. Note to self: next time, remember a cushion.
Back home in Surrey, K and I have enjoyed the Easter Sunday service and have had an equally good time visiting a couple of gardens over the weekend, including Walbury in Lower Froyle - which was small but charming - and Chestnut Lodge in Cobham - which has a collection of glorious tropical birds to die for and doesn't allow children under 15. Double bliss indeed. We loved it. Today, we've also had lunch and a wander round at Wisley, which was very relaxing. The orchid displays are a little past their best now, but still worth a view for the last few days of the exhibition. It was also surprising how empty it seemed in spite of the number of cars in the car park, but that, somehow, is always the nature of Wisley. You can feel on your own whilst ambling around as it's large enough to take it.
In terms of house-buying, there's good news and bad. The bad news is that we didn't really like the house we viewed in Knaphill, though at least we were both agreed on its unsuitability. So we're left with the Woking one plodding its slow, slow way through the purchasing maze. Still, we're keeping our options open until someone deigns to suggest an exchange date (let's not hold our breath, eh ...), so will continue to look. No harm there.
The potentially good news is that the rental property we viewed today in a very nice part of Woking (this afternoon rather than this morning due to timings mix-ups) is quite frankly lovely and we'd move in tomorrow if we could. I hope we get it. Not least because it means we won't be homeless in three weeks' time. Hey ho. Watch this space ...
And we loved Lewis last night on TV - how I wish this wasn't the last of the series and I hope it's back on our screens very soon. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from the excellent pairing of Lewis and Hathaway already. Honestly, it's the best crime drama around at the moment by far.
Happy Easter week!
Anne Brooke
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Publishers, proofs and paintings
Book News:
I'm happily going through the final proofs for The Gifting and should have those ready to send back to Bluewood Publishing sometime over the next few days, I hope. It's nice to key into the beginning of the trilogy once more and to get back in touch with how things are in Gathandria and Lammas. Some things I honestly can't remember writing at all, but hey somebody must have done. But, in my defence, I did write it quite a while ago.
Other positive book news is that Butterfly Girl, my lesbian erotic short story, is now available for free at Oysters and Chocolate webzine, and has been read about 620 times, which is heartening. Continuing the lesbian theme (though not the erotic one), I'm happy to note that The Girl in the Painting was briefly at No 78 in the Amazon UK charts, so that was nice too.
Other less positive book news is that one of my publishers has, rather dramatically I feel, threatened me with legal action for attempting (wisely, to my mind, since they haven't yet paid me the royalties from 2010, let alone 2011, Gawd bless 'em, and their dealings with me have been sooooo slow as to be virtually non-existent) to extricate myself from their grip. Somehow I can't help but be wryly amused by this, hey ho. I may yet end up in a foreign jail, who knows! However, I've had several offers of cakes by post with files in them, so you may not have heard the last of me yet ... However, if this blog goes suddenly silent, you know where I am! There's a story in there somewhere, my dears - maybe even a movie ...
Today at Vulpes Libris, you can read my review of Robert Goddard's Long Time Coming - in which the end is really way too long in coming. It was an exhausting read - not quality Goddard at all, sadly.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 518
It seems a shame
seeing he was so evil
the Lord killed him
that the unfortunate Er
couldn’t be granted
a longer name.
Meditation 519
Women from Carmel
are tall and dark-haired.
Their beauty is legendary.
They float like a ship
through the air’s mysterious tides.
They say little
and when they do speak
their words are full of wisdom
whilst their breath
smells of honey and spices.
They make deceitful friends
but true wives
as they walk through the world
in their secretive lives.
Life News:
Whilst selling our flat seems to have ground to a (hopefully temporary!) halt due to our buyer's mortgage not being quite there yet, the news on our house purchase is rather more interesting. It looks like (praise be ...) our vendors' solicitors have finally delivered all the necessary information to our solicitors and it may be that one day in recordable time the issue of an exchange date might be discussed. Watch this space, eh ... In the meantime, we have also booked to see a very nice house in West End Village on Saturday so our options remain, as always, open.
But there is more positively good news, hurrah. In spite of potentially being a known literary criminal of no fixed abode, my doctor tells me that my anxiety levels are officially down a little whilst my depression levels have halved. Hurrah indeed! Keep those little happy pills coming, is what I say.
Anne Brooke
I'm happily going through the final proofs for The Gifting and should have those ready to send back to Bluewood Publishing sometime over the next few days, I hope. It's nice to key into the beginning of the trilogy once more and to get back in touch with how things are in Gathandria and Lammas. Some things I honestly can't remember writing at all, but hey somebody must have done. But, in my defence, I did write it quite a while ago.
Other positive book news is that Butterfly Girl, my lesbian erotic short story, is now available for free at Oysters and Chocolate webzine, and has been read about 620 times, which is heartening. Continuing the lesbian theme (though not the erotic one), I'm happy to note that The Girl in the Painting was briefly at No 78 in the Amazon UK charts, so that was nice too.
Other less positive book news is that one of my publishers has, rather dramatically I feel, threatened me with legal action for attempting (wisely, to my mind, since they haven't yet paid me the royalties from 2010, let alone 2011, Gawd bless 'em, and their dealings with me have been sooooo slow as to be virtually non-existent) to extricate myself from their grip. Somehow I can't help but be wryly amused by this, hey ho. I may yet end up in a foreign jail, who knows! However, I've had several offers of cakes by post with files in them, so you may not have heard the last of me yet ... However, if this blog goes suddenly silent, you know where I am! There's a story in there somewhere, my dears - maybe even a movie ...
Today at Vulpes Libris, you can read my review of Robert Goddard's Long Time Coming - in which the end is really way too long in coming. It was an exhausting read - not quality Goddard at all, sadly.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 518
It seems a shame
seeing he was so evil
the Lord killed him
that the unfortunate Er
couldn’t be granted
a longer name.
Meditation 519
Women from Carmel
are tall and dark-haired.
Their beauty is legendary.
They float like a ship
through the air’s mysterious tides.
They say little
and when they do speak
their words are full of wisdom
whilst their breath
smells of honey and spices.
They make deceitful friends
but true wives
as they walk through the world
in their secretive lives.
Life News:
Whilst selling our flat seems to have ground to a (hopefully temporary!) halt due to our buyer's mortgage not being quite there yet, the news on our house purchase is rather more interesting. It looks like (praise be ...) our vendors' solicitors have finally delivered all the necessary information to our solicitors and it may be that one day in recordable time the issue of an exchange date might be discussed. Watch this space, eh ... In the meantime, we have also booked to see a very nice house in West End Village on Saturday so our options remain, as always, open.
But there is more positively good news, hurrah. In spite of potentially being a known literary criminal of no fixed abode, my doctor tells me that my anxiety levels are officially down a little whilst my depression levels have halved. Hurrah indeed! Keep those little happy pills coming, is what I say.
Anne Brooke
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Gardens, Gifting and Rosie galore
Book News:
Happily, Rosie by Name has begun to spread her wings a little and can now be found at Amazon US, Amazon UK (where it's actually got a ranking so someone must have bought a copy - many thanks indeed!), All Romance Ebooks and Bookstrand (where it's classified as "steamy" - mainstream with some adult language, in case you're wondering ...). And it looks as if someone might just have bought a copy there too, so thank you for that, whoever you are.
Keeping with exciting packages from Bluewood Publishing, I'm thrilled to have received the final proof copies of The Gifting today, so my main focus over the next days will be going through that and marking down any typos I might find to get it ready for publication. As a result, though I've completed Annyeke's part of the epilogue for The Executioner's Cane (a milestone which actually has made me feel quite sad, even though I've been longing to get there for weeks), I'm leaving Ralph's and Simon's parts of the epilogue until I've finished the proof checks for The Gifting.
My most recent meditation is:
Meditation 517
Methuselah is a name
to conjure with:
fire and wind
and storm,
a wildness to cling to
when the days
are dusty and dry,
and the journey bleak.
And the Sunday haiku is:
When a plastic bag
grows up, it becomes a swan:
feathers and sunshine.
Life News:
After I threw all my toys out of the pram last week in terms of our potential house-purchase and our issues with the vendors, things look set to improve, I hope. The estate agent called yesterday to say that the vendors are both 100% behind selling their house to us, and therefore answers to the two outstanding questions will be with our solicitor by the middle of next week, at which point we can start discussing an exchange date. Plus they apologise for the delay, which is nice. Lordy, if it actually happens as the estate agent promises, it will be bloody brilliant as I am more than desperate to get into the new house.
However, we're keeping a Plan B route open in case that doesn't happen and so viewed three other properties yesterday also. Top of the list is a very nice bungalow in Wood Street Village, with a great garden, which we can both happily see ourselves living in. But we won't make any decisions until next week begins to unfold. Wish us luck, eh - we need it.
Meanwhile, our selling estate agent, the marvellous Lucy of Seymours (may her name be praised) seems to be the only one who really knows what she's doing and has been chasing round in terms of the sale of our flat. She's also beaten everyone over the head with the information (which we keep on telling people but nobody pays a blind bit of attention) that we are not in a chain and can leave here and rent somewhere whenever we need to, and on the other hand occupy the next house without initially selling this one. I hope they have now understood these details from Lucy, when they cannot do so from us. It also appears that the only one left to sign our transfer document is the new middle neighbour, so we hope he begins to be rather more amenable than he has up to now. It's about time he did something positive and pleasant - as so far he hasn't really covered himself in glory. Watch this space indeed ...
Anyway, our trip to the theatre on Thursday to see To Kill a Mockingbird ended up being pretty damn classy. A very slow and rather unnecessary start finally gave way to a stonkingly good finish so it was well worth the wait and the journey. I can only recommend it if it travels your way.
Friday night saw us out for dinner at Robin & Gavin's, along with Liz & John (hello, all!) and it was lovely to catch up before Easter rolls over us. This morning we have pottered along to church where the first two hymns were utterly unfamiliar to everyone and we were desperately struggling with the tune (how I hate it when that happens) but luckily the final two were more familiar though, as a congregation, we were so emotionally drained by the first two hymns that we were barely able to squeak our way through at all. We did our best, but the spirit was willing, etc etc, as they say.
We've had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon strolling round Coverwood Lakes & Gardens, which is open today as part of the National Garden Scheme. Being a working farm, it was really more parkland than garden, but still very pleasant especially in this weather and the tea & cake were lovely. Mmmm.
Tonight, it's the glories of Lewis on TV, and once more I can't wait for it. The perfect end to a Sunday.
Anne Brooke
Happily, Rosie by Name has begun to spread her wings a little and can now be found at Amazon US, Amazon UK (where it's actually got a ranking so someone must have bought a copy - many thanks indeed!), All Romance Ebooks and Bookstrand (where it's classified as "steamy" - mainstream with some adult language, in case you're wondering ...). And it looks as if someone might just have bought a copy there too, so thank you for that, whoever you are.
Keeping with exciting packages from Bluewood Publishing, I'm thrilled to have received the final proof copies of The Gifting today, so my main focus over the next days will be going through that and marking down any typos I might find to get it ready for publication. As a result, though I've completed Annyeke's part of the epilogue for The Executioner's Cane (a milestone which actually has made me feel quite sad, even though I've been longing to get there for weeks), I'm leaving Ralph's and Simon's parts of the epilogue until I've finished the proof checks for The Gifting.
My most recent meditation is:
Meditation 517
Methuselah is a name
to conjure with:
fire and wind
and storm,
a wildness to cling to
when the days
are dusty and dry,
and the journey bleak.
And the Sunday haiku is:
When a plastic bag
grows up, it becomes a swan:
feathers and sunshine.
Life News:
After I threw all my toys out of the pram last week in terms of our potential house-purchase and our issues with the vendors, things look set to improve, I hope. The estate agent called yesterday to say that the vendors are both 100% behind selling their house to us, and therefore answers to the two outstanding questions will be with our solicitor by the middle of next week, at which point we can start discussing an exchange date. Plus they apologise for the delay, which is nice. Lordy, if it actually happens as the estate agent promises, it will be bloody brilliant as I am more than desperate to get into the new house.
However, we're keeping a Plan B route open in case that doesn't happen and so viewed three other properties yesterday also. Top of the list is a very nice bungalow in Wood Street Village, with a great garden, which we can both happily see ourselves living in. But we won't make any decisions until next week begins to unfold. Wish us luck, eh - we need it.
Meanwhile, our selling estate agent, the marvellous Lucy of Seymours (may her name be praised) seems to be the only one who really knows what she's doing and has been chasing round in terms of the sale of our flat. She's also beaten everyone over the head with the information (which we keep on telling people but nobody pays a blind bit of attention) that we are not in a chain and can leave here and rent somewhere whenever we need to, and on the other hand occupy the next house without initially selling this one. I hope they have now understood these details from Lucy, when they cannot do so from us. It also appears that the only one left to sign our transfer document is the new middle neighbour, so we hope he begins to be rather more amenable than he has up to now. It's about time he did something positive and pleasant - as so far he hasn't really covered himself in glory. Watch this space indeed ...
Anyway, our trip to the theatre on Thursday to see To Kill a Mockingbird ended up being pretty damn classy. A very slow and rather unnecessary start finally gave way to a stonkingly good finish so it was well worth the wait and the journey. I can only recommend it if it travels your way.
Friday night saw us out for dinner at Robin & Gavin's, along with Liz & John (hello, all!) and it was lovely to catch up before Easter rolls over us. This morning we have pottered along to church where the first two hymns were utterly unfamiliar to everyone and we were desperately struggling with the tune (how I hate it when that happens) but luckily the final two were more familiar though, as a congregation, we were so emotionally drained by the first two hymns that we were barely able to squeak our way through at all. We did our best, but the spirit was willing, etc etc, as they say.
We've had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon strolling round Coverwood Lakes & Gardens, which is open today as part of the National Garden Scheme. Being a working farm, it was really more parkland than garden, but still very pleasant especially in this weather and the tea & cake were lovely. Mmmm.
Tonight, it's the glories of Lewis on TV, and once more I can't wait for it. The perfect end to a Sunday.
Anne Brooke
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Rosie by Name
Book News
I'm delighted to say that my comic and just a little bit naughty short story, Rosie by Name, is now available at Bluewood Publishing, and what a totally fabulous cover that is. I love it. So if you want some springtime laughter, do pop along and find out more. Rosie's quite a gal!
On a rather different tack, I've just found out that my lesbian erotic short story, Butterfly Girl, has been accepted for publication by Oysters & Chocolate webzine, so I'm thrilled about that one too.
In terms of reviews, A Dangerous Man has been doing well though, sadly, royalties for the paperback version are continuing to be very poor, which I'm sorry about really - I feel rather guilty for my paperback publisher as they've taken a risk on it and I fear it's not paid off ... Still the ebook is doing okay so that's some consolation for sure. Anyway, at Goodreads, it gained an interesting 4-star review (thanks, Kate) and a fascinating 5-star review (thank you, Sonya), so both of these were lovely.
Meanwhile, I'm happy to note that 5 copies of The Secret Thoughts of Leaves have been borrowed from libraries during April, so I hope the borrowers have enjoyed that. Call me old-fashioned but actually having someone take one of my books from a library always gives me a thrill. It's almost like being a real writer, you know.
And my review of Andy Frankham-Allen's magnificent fantasy novel, Seeker, is now up at Vulpes Libris, so please ignore that quite dreadful new cover it has (!) and go along and find out more. It's a work I can thoroughly recommend for all.
Meditations so far this week are:
Meditation 514
A long, bleak path
from the place you know
to one you do not;
with every slow step
the chance for life
fades away
and you know you will not
make the journey back
one day.
Meditation 515
Great power
brings greater risk
so do not choose
to seek it.
Walk the quieter path
and mark your step
on the earth most suited
to meet it.
Meditation 516
Freedom comes by being open
to the day’s surprises
which often arrive
in strange disguises.
Life News:
Difficult news on the house front, alas. It appears that our vendors might be having second thoughts about selling us their very nice house, groan. I appreciate they're in the middle of a tricky divorce and have every sympathy for that, but we've got so far down the road that I can't bear the thought of our second attempt at purchase falling through. We're getting zilch information from their solicitors or their estate agents, though the solicitors did tell us their clients were probably too busy divorcing to pay us much attention or words to that effect (nice, eh!...), so we're really none the wiser. K sent a firmly worded email earlier in the week, which has been ignored. And today I've rung up the estate agents - actually to ask them if we can view another house on their books, which put the wind up them rather, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn - who got terribly panicky and promised to ring back asap. Which they have now down, so hopefully someone's on the case ...
Anyway, in the meantime, we're keeping our options open and I've arranged three other house viewings for Saturday and, if we find one we like and they're actually willing and able to sell it to us, we'll seriously consider withdrawing our offer and starting afresh, with a keener vendor. The one good thing that comes out of this is our solicitor is likely to make a fortune from our misfortune (glad someone is!). A few more situations like this and we won't be able to afford to move at all. Hey ho, you've got to laugh, I suppose. Thank goodness for anti-depressants! Though, understandably, I've had a bit of a relapse this week and have been supplementing them with Quiet Life pills, which seem to have helped a little.
However, all is not lost as nice things have happened too, hurrah. I had a totally lovely reflexology session with Helen at work on Wednesday which was bliss. I even fell asleep twice so it was great to feel that relaxed. What with Easter in the way, I've made my next appointment in May, and I can't wait. Today, I've popped in to see the ground-floor neighbour now in Woking and was delighted to find him in much better form than during my last visit. We talked about politics, the environment, gardens, war and tea, so a great time was had by all. I swear that, between the two of us, we could probably change the world.
The world of television has been a fascinating one this week. The Model Agency was as grippingly shallow and socially horrid as ever but, now it's over, I shall miss it, I fear. It was, I imagine, much like watching a Victorian freak show - the freaks being the agency bookers, definitely. Something one is fascinated by but never wants to connect to ...
However, it was wonderful to have Lewis back on Sunday nights and I wallowed in its classiness, bliss. Sooooo much better than the increasingly wretched Midsomer Murders. Talking of which, I'm told that the Jack Russell now taking the main role in Midsomer is the same dog as the one in the recent series of adverts (advertising what, I really don't know) who's attempting to find a home by doing the washing-up and the gardening etc etc for its potential new owners. Give that animal an Equity card - it could go far ...
And I watched (again, as the same episode was on last year, I think) the pilot episode for the utterly surreal, terribly rude and strangely accurate university comedy series, Campus. Ah, that Vice-Chancellor - how I loved him. It's bold, brutish and takes some breathtaking risks, but I laughed out loud several times, particularly at how well it portrayed some of the current issues of universities (though in a larger-than-life way, I hasten to add!), and I'll definitely be watching again.
Tonight, K and I are off to the theatre to see To Kill A Mockingbird, so that should be ... um ... fun. Sort of! Well, classy anyway. Which should round off the week nicely, hey ho.
Anne Brooke
I'm delighted to say that my comic and just a little bit naughty short story, Rosie by Name, is now available at Bluewood Publishing, and what a totally fabulous cover that is. I love it. So if you want some springtime laughter, do pop along and find out more. Rosie's quite a gal!
On a rather different tack, I've just found out that my lesbian erotic short story, Butterfly Girl, has been accepted for publication by Oysters & Chocolate webzine, so I'm thrilled about that one too.
In terms of reviews, A Dangerous Man has been doing well though, sadly, royalties for the paperback version are continuing to be very poor, which I'm sorry about really - I feel rather guilty for my paperback publisher as they've taken a risk on it and I fear it's not paid off ... Still the ebook is doing okay so that's some consolation for sure. Anyway, at Goodreads, it gained an interesting 4-star review (thanks, Kate) and a fascinating 5-star review (thank you, Sonya), so both of these were lovely.
Meanwhile, I'm happy to note that 5 copies of The Secret Thoughts of Leaves have been borrowed from libraries during April, so I hope the borrowers have enjoyed that. Call me old-fashioned but actually having someone take one of my books from a library always gives me a thrill. It's almost like being a real writer, you know.
And my review of Andy Frankham-Allen's magnificent fantasy novel, Seeker, is now up at Vulpes Libris, so please ignore that quite dreadful new cover it has (!) and go along and find out more. It's a work I can thoroughly recommend for all.
Meditations so far this week are:
Meditation 514
A long, bleak path
from the place you know
to one you do not;
with every slow step
the chance for life
fades away
and you know you will not
make the journey back
one day.
Meditation 515
Great power
brings greater risk
so do not choose
to seek it.
Walk the quieter path
and mark your step
on the earth most suited
to meet it.
Meditation 516
Freedom comes by being open
to the day’s surprises
which often arrive
in strange disguises.
Life News:
Difficult news on the house front, alas. It appears that our vendors might be having second thoughts about selling us their very nice house, groan. I appreciate they're in the middle of a tricky divorce and have every sympathy for that, but we've got so far down the road that I can't bear the thought of our second attempt at purchase falling through. We're getting zilch information from their solicitors or their estate agents, though the solicitors did tell us their clients were probably too busy divorcing to pay us much attention or words to that effect (nice, eh!...), so we're really none the wiser. K sent a firmly worded email earlier in the week, which has been ignored. And today I've rung up the estate agents - actually to ask them if we can view another house on their books, which put the wind up them rather, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn - who got terribly panicky and promised to ring back asap. Which they have now down, so hopefully someone's on the case ...
Anyway, in the meantime, we're keeping our options open and I've arranged three other house viewings for Saturday and, if we find one we like and they're actually willing and able to sell it to us, we'll seriously consider withdrawing our offer and starting afresh, with a keener vendor. The one good thing that comes out of this is our solicitor is likely to make a fortune from our misfortune (glad someone is!). A few more situations like this and we won't be able to afford to move at all. Hey ho, you've got to laugh, I suppose. Thank goodness for anti-depressants! Though, understandably, I've had a bit of a relapse this week and have been supplementing them with Quiet Life pills, which seem to have helped a little.
However, all is not lost as nice things have happened too, hurrah. I had a totally lovely reflexology session with Helen at work on Wednesday which was bliss. I even fell asleep twice so it was great to feel that relaxed. What with Easter in the way, I've made my next appointment in May, and I can't wait. Today, I've popped in to see the ground-floor neighbour now in Woking and was delighted to find him in much better form than during my last visit. We talked about politics, the environment, gardens, war and tea, so a great time was had by all. I swear that, between the two of us, we could probably change the world.
The world of television has been a fascinating one this week. The Model Agency was as grippingly shallow and socially horrid as ever but, now it's over, I shall miss it, I fear. It was, I imagine, much like watching a Victorian freak show - the freaks being the agency bookers, definitely. Something one is fascinated by but never wants to connect to ...
However, it was wonderful to have Lewis back on Sunday nights and I wallowed in its classiness, bliss. Sooooo much better than the increasingly wretched Midsomer Murders. Talking of which, I'm told that the Jack Russell now taking the main role in Midsomer is the same dog as the one in the recent series of adverts (advertising what, I really don't know) who's attempting to find a home by doing the washing-up and the gardening etc etc for its potential new owners. Give that animal an Equity card - it could go far ...
And I watched (again, as the same episode was on last year, I think) the pilot episode for the utterly surreal, terribly rude and strangely accurate university comedy series, Campus. Ah, that Vice-Chancellor - how I loved him. It's bold, brutish and takes some breathtaking risks, but I laughed out loud several times, particularly at how well it portrayed some of the current issues of universities (though in a larger-than-life way, I hasten to add!), and I'll definitely be watching again.
Tonight, K and I are off to the theatre to see To Kill A Mockingbird, so that should be ... um ... fun. Sort of! Well, classy anyway. Which should round off the week nicely, hey ho.
Anne Brooke
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The British are here ...
Book News:
Be afraid, be very afraid!... British Fortnight at Brief Encounters is now in full and glorious swing, where you can discover all about my own royal wedding experience and where to get the best cream tea EVER - along with a whole host of other authors & goodies so do pop along and join in the party. Anyone for a cucumber sandwich?...
At the same time, you can find a review of Entertaining the Delaneys, and don't forget that both The Delaneys and Me and Entertaining the Delaneys are being offered as one of the British Fortnight prizes, along with many others, so it's definitely an offer not to be missed.
Also this week, I've been additionally lucky in being interviewed at the Book Wenches site, so you can read all about my current and future plans there.
Reviews this week have included an unexpected review of Maloney's Law at the Niciasus Book Blog and a 5-star review of Brady's Choice, also at Niciasus (thanks for both these, Nicci), and a 4-star review of The Delaneys and Me at Goodreads (thank you, Casey).
Recent meditation poems are:
Meditation 506
There’s not much truth,
but a great deal of silver
and gold:
a combination of factors
that never bodes well,
I’m told.
Meditation 507
If in doubt or under threat
create a tax to fleece ’em.
The enemy must be appeased
and as for friends – police ’em.
Meditation 508
The past has its own echoes
that enrich the mind
like a memory of God
or the scent of jasmine,
fragrant and kind.
Life News:
What can I say? Still we struggle on in the ongoing battle with the pesky middle neighbours and their really irritating solicitors. Our desperate attempts to make some kind of contact with the bloke buying the middle flat last week via the estate agents met with friendliness on the part of the estate agents and absolutely no action. Surprise, surprise. So first thing this morning, I ring up the middle flat estate agents again and they're all very friendly and promise to ring back as soon as possible - and so far (3pm) nothing. Hey ho. I don't expect anything either - but hey at least the woman I spoke to actually seemed to grasp the concept that if we sign their transfer document which has the incorrect address for the new middle neighbour on, then yes that does mean we can't sell our own flat to our buyer as we can't get the new middle neighbour to agree to the leasehold transfer as we don't know where he lives now, and the sale of our flat is therefore put into jeopardy. Deep deep sigh.
In the middle of all that it appears that our own solicitor has a Cunning Plan but has only this afternoon seen fit to reveal it to us. Bloody hell (sorry ...) but if she'd simply had the sense to talk to us two weeks ago, then we wouldn't have had to run around like the proverbial attempting to explain to the very deaf ears of the horrid middle neighbour solicitors why we'd love to sign their wretched transfer (we hate the current middle neighbours! We want them out, as indeed do most of the other neighbours too!) and why we can't (it means we can't then sell our flat, you ridiculous people, as you won't tell us where the new middle neighbour actually lives ...) Nor would I have had to - twice - attempt to contact the new middle neighbour's estate agents for this vital legal information, and nor would K and I have had even half of the amount of angst we've had to go through for the last two weeks. Ruddy solicitors ... (sorry).
Anyway, it is a Class One plan and may actually get us round the obstacles the middle neighbours and their solicitors are putting in our way, and with no legal prejudice to us and our sale - which is of course my only concern. I don't care two hoots about them and would like nothing more than to take their transfer document and shove it where the sun don't shine, my dears. Now there's a happy smiley thought that is cheering me mightily, ha!
But, hey, I'm not worried - it's Lent! And hopefully soon (please God) we'll have a lovely happy house in Woking with a garden all of our very own, and we will never ever have to think about shared leaseholds again - what bliss! There's always hope, eh.
Turning to the simpler joys (or possibly not) of TV, I must say I thought last night's episode of the new Midsomer Murders was very choppy to say the least. K did point out that there were indeed, as the recent media row has pointed out, no black people anywhere, not even in the city disco scene, though we did keep our eyes peeled just in case ... The main problem though was what the heck have they done with Sergeant Jones??!!?? Last time we saw him, he was the nice, bumbling, pleasant copper we all know and love, but yesterday he was a rude, angry, punch-the-witness-and-hold-him-down-till-he-confesses yob. What??!!?? Did I miss something? Is Jones so distraught that the original Barnaby (not to mention the nice police lady - where is she?) has gone that he has had a total personality transplant?? The Case of the Missing Sergeant: it's a plot worthy of Midsomer indeed ... Whatever next?
Anne Brooke
Be afraid, be very afraid!... British Fortnight at Brief Encounters is now in full and glorious swing, where you can discover all about my own royal wedding experience and where to get the best cream tea EVER - along with a whole host of other authors & goodies so do pop along and join in the party. Anyone for a cucumber sandwich?...
At the same time, you can find a review of Entertaining the Delaneys, and don't forget that both The Delaneys and Me and Entertaining the Delaneys are being offered as one of the British Fortnight prizes, along with many others, so it's definitely an offer not to be missed.
Also this week, I've been additionally lucky in being interviewed at the Book Wenches site, so you can read all about my current and future plans there.
Reviews this week have included an unexpected review of Maloney's Law at the Niciasus Book Blog and a 5-star review of Brady's Choice, also at Niciasus (thanks for both these, Nicci), and a 4-star review of The Delaneys and Me at Goodreads (thank you, Casey).
Recent meditation poems are:
Meditation 506
There’s not much truth,
but a great deal of silver
and gold:
a combination of factors
that never bodes well,
I’m told.
Meditation 507
If in doubt or under threat
create a tax to fleece ’em.
The enemy must be appeased
and as for friends – police ’em.
Meditation 508
The past has its own echoes
that enrich the mind
like a memory of God
or the scent of jasmine,
fragrant and kind.
Life News:
What can I say? Still we struggle on in the ongoing battle with the pesky middle neighbours and their really irritating solicitors. Our desperate attempts to make some kind of contact with the bloke buying the middle flat last week via the estate agents met with friendliness on the part of the estate agents and absolutely no action. Surprise, surprise. So first thing this morning, I ring up the middle flat estate agents again and they're all very friendly and promise to ring back as soon as possible - and so far (3pm) nothing. Hey ho. I don't expect anything either - but hey at least the woman I spoke to actually seemed to grasp the concept that if we sign their transfer document which has the incorrect address for the new middle neighbour on, then yes that does mean we can't sell our own flat to our buyer as we can't get the new middle neighbour to agree to the leasehold transfer as we don't know where he lives now, and the sale of our flat is therefore put into jeopardy. Deep deep sigh.
In the middle of all that it appears that our own solicitor has a Cunning Plan but has only this afternoon seen fit to reveal it to us. Bloody hell (sorry ...) but if she'd simply had the sense to talk to us two weeks ago, then we wouldn't have had to run around like the proverbial attempting to explain to the very deaf ears of the horrid middle neighbour solicitors why we'd love to sign their wretched transfer (we hate the current middle neighbours! We want them out, as indeed do most of the other neighbours too!) and why we can't (it means we can't then sell our flat, you ridiculous people, as you won't tell us where the new middle neighbour actually lives ...) Nor would I have had to - twice - attempt to contact the new middle neighbour's estate agents for this vital legal information, and nor would K and I have had even half of the amount of angst we've had to go through for the last two weeks. Ruddy solicitors ... (sorry).
Anyway, it is a Class One plan and may actually get us round the obstacles the middle neighbours and their solicitors are putting in our way, and with no legal prejudice to us and our sale - which is of course my only concern. I don't care two hoots about them and would like nothing more than to take their transfer document and shove it where the sun don't shine, my dears. Now there's a happy smiley thought that is cheering me mightily, ha!
But, hey, I'm not worried - it's Lent! And hopefully soon (please God) we'll have a lovely happy house in Woking with a garden all of our very own, and we will never ever have to think about shared leaseholds again - what bliss! There's always hope, eh.
Turning to the simpler joys (or possibly not) of TV, I must say I thought last night's episode of the new Midsomer Murders was very choppy to say the least. K did point out that there were indeed, as the recent media row has pointed out, no black people anywhere, not even in the city disco scene, though we did keep our eyes peeled just in case ... The main problem though was what the heck have they done with Sergeant Jones??!!?? Last time we saw him, he was the nice, bumbling, pleasant copper we all know and love, but yesterday he was a rude, angry, punch-the-witness-and-hold-him-down-till-he-confesses yob. What??!!?? Did I miss something? Is Jones so distraught that the original Barnaby (not to mention the nice police lady - where is she?) has gone that he has had a total personality transplant?? The Case of the Missing Sergeant: it's a plot worthy of Midsomer indeed ... Whatever next?
Anne Brooke
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