A kingly caper

Book News:

I'm delighted to be able to announce that gay thriller Maloney's Law will be republished by Amber Allure Press as an ebook on 7 April 2013, and then as a paperback in May 2013. I'm absolutely thrilled about it all as it's been a long dark tunnel of a journey with this particular book, and it's more than wonderful to be out in the light again. I can't wait till April!

I'm also very pleased indeed that out of the Top Bestselling Authors during 2012 at Untreed Reads, I'm at the No 5 position, well gosh. Thank you so much for buying a book last year - I'm very grateful.

Meanwhile, there's a 25% discount on all my books at Amber Allure during February, so if you fancy something to read that will get you through till March, now's the ideal shopping time.

Life News:

A very happy special birthday to my lovely husband for yesterday, and what a grand week we've had. I took him off to London for a birthday treat to see the new Man Ray exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, and we also visited the Courtauld while we were up there. All wonderful stuff.

On Friday, I managed to rustle up a Chocolate Fudge birthday cake, which seems to be going down very well indeed, and in the evening we went for a birthday dinner over at our good friends, R&G, together with L&J. It was fantastic, and thank you very much to all for making a special weekend even better, and for providing an unexpected extra cake & champagne too - what could be nicer?...

K and I have also been continuing to sort out the garden and even plant some spring flowers, and we managed to pop across to Winkworth Arboretum yesterday, in spite of the rain. Great to see their new winter garden over there, and lots of winter daffodils too, hurrah.

Finally, the saga of the rediscovery of Richard III has been causing great excitement - I've always been rather fond of him actually, but anyone who dislikes children always gets my vote, eh ... Shows great sense, to my mind. So fabulous to know the rediscovered king is keen to pick up where he left off. I can't wait!...

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Fantasy Trilogy
Biblical Fiction UK
Lori Olding Children's Author

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

A glimmer of hope somewhere ...

Life News:

There's a glimmer of hope on the house horizon, thank the Lord. The Mayford vendors have accepted our revised, revised offer, so we're on the road to exchange, hurrah. I hope. I'm really hoping this time that we survive the exchange date with some measure of success, bearing in mind the outright disaster of the one we lived through last year (b****y middle neighbours, eh). It would just be soooooo good to get out of this place which is seriously bringing me down now. I simply need to escape.

Meanwhile our strange potential buyer of the flat is still behaving oddly. He's now been to see us three times, once with his parents, once with a builder and, most recently, yesterday with an interior designer. Apart from being hugely frustrating, we're now thinking of charging him rent if he comes a fourth time. Or perhaps he actually does think he lives here now? He's certainly in the place more often than we are. And still no hint of an offer ... Sigh. I really feel I've lost any hope on that one, to be honest. You know what they say with buyers: the longer they are in a place, the less likely it is they'll bite. People make their minds up in thirty seconds. The rest is just filling, ho hum.

Anyway, we have a potential house, hurrah, and a lifetime of poverty to look forward to so it may not be all bad! Plus yesterday was K's birthday so we celebrated with cake, chocolate and champagne. As you do. And there's cake left over too - gosh, however did that happen?...

Today, I was supposed to be going to the Sceptre Reviewers Lunch on behalf of Vulpes Libris, but I found out yesterday that the event was taking a speed-dating format which utterly horrified me, so I have given it a very very wide berth. Lord preserve us! Parties of any kind are bad enough as it is without having to meet lots of self-important (sorry, but we are rather self-important as a breed!...) authors in quick succession without any kind of body armour to defend against the experience. And if anyone's going to be self-important around here, it's going to be me. I'm a genius at it. Besides, two of the authors lined up have both been given negative reviews by me, which you can see here and here, and I didn't want there to be blood on the carpet, my dears.

Tonight, K and I are out spending money we probably can't afford at the theatre seeing The Reluctant Debutante. Here's hoping there are a few laughs and it's better than last week's play, which shouldn't be too difficult then.

Book News:

I've sent the final galley proofs for Entertaining the Delaneys back to Amber Allure Press, and that's due out on 20 February, so not long now. In the meantime you can find bestselling short story The Girl in the Painting at Amazon UK for the first time, and How to Eat Fruit is now also keeping it company, hurrah. The Bones of Summer has also been briefly at No 29 in the Amazon UK charts this week, which was nice.

There have also been several nice reviews this week (see how self-important I am - gosh, I must be an author, ho ho!...):

Maloney's Law gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Dlee)
Painting from Life received a 5-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Ann)
How to Eat Fruit gained a 5-star review at Goodreads (thank you, Sarah).

In addition:

A Woman like the Sea was given a 4.75 star review at Book Wenches (many thanks, Bobby)

and

Brady's Choice gained a 4-star review at Three Dollar Bill Reviews (many thanks, Kassa).

Both of the above were the first "official" reviews for each of these new stories, which I wasn't honestly sure that anyone would like, so that's given me hope too. So perhaps the year might be improving after all? Who can tell ...

Anne Brooke

Mamma Mia and the marvels of Nature

Book News:

I'm delighted to announce that my first short story of 2011 is now published and therefore Brady's Choice is now available at Amber Allure Press at a discount price during the first week. And I do love that cover - it's perfect. Not only that, but today you can win a free copy at Jessewave Reviews and so there's definitely still time to have a go.

Another publication this week, and one I also feel very pleased about, is The Best of Every Day Poets Anthology One, which includes two of my poems and has a lovely cover as well. It's nice to be part of a poetry publication as well as a fictional one, that's for sure - I do enjoy the balance.

Speaking of fiction, I've just started the third story in the Delaneys series, which I'm calling The Art of The Delaneys. It's at the very early stages at the moment, but it's great to be on the way - to somewhere and very very slowly ...

There's one meditation today:




Meditation 488
The bronze snake waits
to be broken
and its spirit released

to whisper
in the ears of men
its ancient story again.


And the Sunday haiku is:

May I always dwell
in that deep silence before
the music begins.


Life News:

Today I am still in recovery from spending the day in London with Mother yesterday and will no doubt continue to be in recovery for several more days to come - in the end it was actually surprisingly enjoyable but as always very full-on and insanely intensive. Much like being put through a mangle at very fast speeds over and over again. Hmm, does that description actually fit me? Very possibly ... K is keeping sensibly quiet. Anyway, my eyes are now permanently wide and my hair standing on end - or would be if brushes and exhaustion hadn't been invented. During the day, Mother and I managed to do battle with the Tube which failed constantly to understand the validity of tickets from Essex, we shopped in John Lewis (I spent her vouchers on things for me but gave her the money for them as even I am not that mean!), had lunch in the National Gallery cafe, wandered round the National Gallery and had the best seats in the house for the very wonderful Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre. So I think I'm safe in saying she thoroughly enjoyed her 80th birthday Mother-and-Daughter experience. I may even have those elusive Daughter Points, at least for a while ... You never know. Roll on the 90th is what I say, hey ho ... The utterly fabulous thing however was when I finally returned, bloodied and fairly bowed, to Guildford Station, K was waiting for me at the exit carrying a huge bunch of flowers and a hip-flask of almost pure gin. How I needed both! K's first words of greeting: was she still alive when you put her on the train?... Anyway, I drained the gin before we'd got fully out of the station concourse and had another large one (as it were) the moment I took my coat off at home. What a super-hero indeed.

Sad to say though, K is at work today sorting out the IT system ready for tomorrow so a super-hero's work is never done, really. In his absence, I attempted to go to church and be holy, but it was obviously not in the universal plan as the car wouldn't start, so I had to ring the RAC man to come and sort it out. Which they did very efficiently, I must say, but not in time for me to be holy. When I explained this to K when he rang from work, he asked if I wanted to confess my sins to him instead, but I fear he doesn't have enough time in his working day to hear them, alas. Not if he wants to mend the IT system as well.

The great news of the day and my definitive grand finale is that our silver birch sapling now has six twigs and three buds on it. Spring must be well on the way to being sprung at last, hurrah. Nature is indeed a marvellous thing.

Anne Brooke

Painting and proofs

Book News:

This week I've been working on the final proofs for A Dangerous Man and have just now sent them back to Cheyenne Publishing and Bristlecone Pine Press ready for publication date on 15 October. Nearly there, gosh. I've been thrilled today to see that the novel is included in the Lambda Literary October listings (Mystery & Thriller section), and that's a seriously good place to be showcased, double gosh.

Meanwhile, Maloney's Law gained a 5-star review at Goodreads, so many thanks for that, Nicci - so glad you enjoyed the story. I'm also very happy indeed that Tommy's Blind Date is No 4 in the Amber Allure September Bestseller lists, and many thanks to those who've put it there. And I'm equally happy that I appear twice in Jessewave Reviews' September Recommended Reads list, once with good old Tommy's Blind Date and once with Tuluscan Six and the Time Circle - thank you, Wave!

Over at Vulpes Libris, you can find my review of Jane Green's Girl Friday, which is a fabulous novel for the over-forties, and we so definitely need more of those. And the lovely Kirsty has also published a wonderful haiku-review of my Sunday Haiku collection - many thanks, Kirsty!

Here are this week's meditation poems:


Meditation 438
Wine and women
are a heady brew;

they befuddle kings
and confound the things

that are true.
Who knew?


Meditation 439
Men become liars
and truth hides
in the deepest well

when the story we long for
is not the one
where we dwell.

Life News:

K has been in Dubai all this week and I have missed him LOADS. Thankfully he's back tonight (hurrah!!) and is even now jetting his way towards Heathrow, so it will be totally lovely to have him back again. Goodness me but I was super-wimpy when he left at some ungodly hour on Monday morning - only barely managing not to grab him by the ankles and weep. Lordy, never say I'm not stylish, though what style it actually is must be anyone's guess.

Anyway, it's been strange rattling about in this old Victorian house all on my own for several days, but I have kept myself busy by doing bucketloads of DIY each evening when I got back from work - with the result that the spare room walls and ceiling are now painted with four coats, and the skirting board and door glossed with two. Oh and those proofs have kept me focused too, so that's been good.

Work's been horrendously busy as well, what with being the first week of term, and I simply haven't had time to sit down, my dears. Not one second. I couldn't even spare the time (or the energy) to go to Starbucks, and the wonderful Ruth had to bring me not one but two coffees where I sat pinned to my desk and panicking like a trouper. What a superstar that woman is. It's the froth that keeps me going, you know ...

Today, one of the vendors from the flat below has been in the house though, so I've not been entirely alone. I think we are studiously ignoring each other, which is no doubt best, and really I don't have any desire at all to communicate with them again, to be honest. Yes, that probably means I'm a bad person but hey at least I'm honest about it. I'd feel happier about it if K was home as it's a little unsettling, but as long as said vendor doesn't try to talk to me I'll be fine. Though if you do hear tell of a man being pinned to a landing wall with a screwdriver in a small Surrey town, I trust that all of you will vouch for my obviously impeccable character. Ho hum.

Anne Brooke

Dullness, Danger and Dubai

Book News:

Much to my delight, my latest gay short story, Brady's Choice, has been accepted for publication by Amber Allure Press on 23 January, so it's nice to have something to look forward to in the post-Christmas lull. Still much to look forward to this year however, as A Dangerous Man is due out on 15 October and can now even be preordered at Barnes & Noble, well gosh. You can find out more at Cheyenne Publishing, including a full blurb. I'm also happy that for a brief moment of time, Tommy's Blind Date found itself at No 79 in the Amazon Gay Fiction charts so that was distinctly nice while it lasted.

Meanwhile, this week, I have just finished the dullest poetry book I have ever had the trauma of reading so thank goodness that's over. I daren't say who the author was to avoid their blushes but it was pretty bad. So bad it made my skin itch. I'm hoping my next poetry book will be better, but really that shouldn't be too hard ...

This week's meditations are:


Meditation 436
Sometimes the god
of the mountain

is also the god
of the plain

and what you say
to the sky in secret

will come down
to destroy you again.


Meditation 437
If the bible
has taught me one thing
it’s this:

that lions and prophets
simply don’t mix.


The Sunday haiku is:

All week long the sky
lets fall its burden of rain,
soothing all my dreams.


Life News:

The redecoration of our spare room is now nearly done. We've tackled the last alcove and added two coats of paint to it today, plus I've put an undercoat on the skirting board there. We're also slowly putting the rest of the spare room together again, including bookshelves and book cabinets but are reorganising it  to make best use of the space. Today, I've done another run to the council tip and also got rid of 4 more bags of books, and have this afternoon created another three book bags to go. It's so cleansing, you know, and the good news is that the spare room that we've basically used as a dumping ground for 17 years now looks like a room someone might want to buy, hurrah. Ooh, and yesterday, we drove round looking at places we might like to live, and our favourites so far are Normandy, Fairlands and Wood Street Village (the latter two are in the outskirts of Guildford). We also liked Ash and Ash Vale/Ash Green, but it does depend where in those cases. We also looked at Tongham, but I think that's third level on our list.

Church this morning was good too, especially as it seems like we haven't paid God a call for ages (we haven't), so nice to catch up. He's having a quiet time before Christmas kicks in, if you're asking. In addition, the poor vicar has apparently contracted pneumonia whilst on holiday (holidays: they're not good for you, you know) but is being ministered to by the ladies of the parish (Gawd bless 'em) so every cloud does indeed have a silver lining. In our absence, the church also seems to have given birth to a music group, which K and I looked at with horror when we turned up as any whiff of evangelical happy-clappyness and we'll be running to the door screaming. However, we needn't have worried as it was clarinets only adding to the whole ambience of the hymns (very good indeed) and the singers sang a marvellous Latin chant during Communion. Bliss. Bring back Latin chants - they really do put the zing back into church-going. So the music group gets our vote, and I hope they keep that whole approach: it was great.

Alas however, next week I shall be sad and lonely as K is going to Dubai on business tomorrow and isn't back till Thursday, so I will be Queen of this old Victorian house in truth. I can't decide whether I want to be Miss Haversham or the Mad Woman in the Attic, but they are probably much of a muchness anyway. Thank goodness that Strictly Come Dancing is back on TV to keep me company or I shall indeed run mad. You have been warned ...

Anne Brooke