Discounts and a double dose of champagne

Book News:

Gosh, indeedy, it appears that the paperback version of romantic comedy Pink Champagne and Apple Juice is experiencing a sudden surge of popularity. I wonder if people are buying it for Christmas? It's been pretty flat (AKA non-existent) on sales for months so it's lovely to have an unexpected change on that front. If you have bought it, then many thanks and I hope you or the person it's intended for enjoy the read. And don't forget the ebook version is also available, so never say I don't try to cater for all tastes.

Speaking of unexpected sales, you'll be pleased to hear that all my Amber Allure Press books currently have a 25% discount, so that's well worth a browse for sure - and with any luck they'll warm your winter up too and put you in a glowing mood for the Big Season. Enjoy!

At the same time, I'm really getting back into writing my gay fantasy novella, The Taming of the Hawk. I'm just getting to the adventure/political struggle sections now so they should be fun. I do so love writing adventure and battle sections - must be my calm and contemplative nature, eh.

Across at Vulpes Libris Reviews, I find I really don't love all in my review of Madeleine Wickham's The Tennis Party, but hey at least the ending was good. All rather disappointing really, as I've definitely enjoyed some of her other work.

Recent meditations are:


Meditation 597
The fields, woods
and pastures
lie empty.

Only the wind
brushes over
the waiting soil

and grasses,
setting the leaves,
the crooked branches

whispering
of everything
that went before.


Meditation 598
The larger the family
the greater the potential
disaster

as each of them
in their various
ways

constantly
strives to be
master.


Life News:

This week so far has been a week of health appointments. Yesterday I had my eye test and was greatly relieved that I don't have to buy new glasses - thereby saving huge amounts of money which can be put to very good use elsewhere. And today it's been the dental hygienist, so my teeth are lovely and shiny for Christmas, hurrah.

Yesterday evening was the third in the church's special Advent & Compline quiet services - it was just so very relaxing I could have stayed there for ever. Such a wonderful change from the huge busyness and general gubbins going on elsewhere. Honestly, there should be more times set aside for group quietness. It's a real boon.

Oh and we've opened our first champagne of the season - K had one bottle left over from his bulk-buy for the office Christmas so we've celebrated by drinking it. Lovely. You can never really have too much champagne, to my mind. Bring it on.

And, in the virtual world, some Evil Person from Indonesia (where they obviously have nothing better to do ...) has this week hacked into my FB account for reasons known only to themselves. Luckily, FB seem pretty hot on this sort of stuff, so contacted me at once so I could change my password (thank you, FB). So I think I'm normal now (relatively), but really who can tell?...

Finally, in the wonderful world of TV, K and I are devastated that we've seen the last of Series One of the marvellous comedy crime programme, Death in Paradise. We've thoroughly enjoyed its quirkiness, humanity and downright simplicity and we hope that some wise person will hurry up and make a second series - in spite of the fact that nobody but us seems to have liked it, sigh. Anyway, you can never go wrong with Ben Miller. In anything. He's great.

Anne Brooke
The Origami Nun

Happy Christmas!

Here's a nice hot picture to warm you up in this chilly weather - consider it my virtual Christmas present! Not that it's that bad, weather-wise, here at the moment. Thank the Lord. I do so hate ice. At least today, we've just got the rain - though other parts of the country are still having horrendous difficulties.

And it's great to finally be on holiday as the University doesn't open again till 4 January. Is it just me or has December lasted at least 3 months by now? At least the general slowness of time has meant I've been able to get on with writing stuff fairly well. I've now gone through all the minor edits for The Gifting and have only the more major items and a good read-through to tackle. Something to get my teeth into soon, I hope. Other fun writing news is that for a while The Bones of Summer was No 5 in the Amazon UK gay romance charts and I was so astonished that I nearly fell over my own jaw. Or would have done but really my head was way too huge anyway by that time. I'm also happy to say that I've received the final version of A Stranger's Touch from the publisher and I'm really happy with the way it is now. Good editors are utter gold dust, I can tell you.

Meanwhile, I've picked up my new glasses. Um, I don't really like them. Sadly. And it's been making me rather tearful today - though that may be to do with the fact of Christmas as well. I get very shaky at Christmas. I need to put the whole concept out of my head and just think of it as a nice holiday with Lord H and all manner of thing shall be well. As Julian of Norwich would put it. Gawd bless her. Anyway, the glasses are weird - they're variefocal, like my old ones, but the reading gap seems excessively small so I have to keep moving my head or the book to fit all the words on a normal sized page in. Plus the area at the right of my right lens is really rather hazy. Should it be like that?? Plus they're hopeless for the computer, as the distance is too far away for the reading area of the lens (and anyway it's not in the right position), and too near for the distance area to kick in. I'm wearing my old glasses to type this. I think I'll give the new ones a week at home to see if anything changes, plus a week at work and then book another optician's appointment to see if anything can be done. But the thought of spending even more money on them is making me very cross and upset, sigh. I asked Lord H earlier what he'd do if I couldn't see to read or write any more - and he very sweetly said he'd read to me and would take dictation, though he'd have to shut his eyes when it came to typing up my rude stuff. Could be interesting ... Especially as he doesn't touch-type. Ah well. Still, he remains, as always, this year's super-hero.

Anyway, enough moaning from me. I hope you all have a very happy Christmas, and I'll catch up with you soon. Though you might look a bit fuzzy, depending on my specs. Happy Christmas!

Anne's website - going for the impressionistic look ...

Armani and Champagne

Goodness me, but I'm up and down like a goat on a mountain these days - must be my hormones. Or maybe it's just me, eh? Anyway, a much better day today - and thank you to all those good wishes people were kind enough to send my way yesterday. It was very much appreciated.

Up with the milkman this morning (not literally) to go to my optician's appointment at 8.45am. Bloody hell, but what possessed me to agree on such an early time?? Especially as today an icy fog has fallen upon the world and Godalming looks like something out of a Sherlock Holmes film. Thank goodness the receptionist arrived early to let me in. My appointment brought home, above all, the astonishing passing of time - when I first arrived in Surrey and began seeing the Optician thirteen years ago, I thought he was the sexiest thing in Surrey (apart from Lord H, of course) and used to giggle maniacally when he had to gaze into my eyes with that little light. Now, we've probably both gone greyer and the stardust has vanished. Ah well ... he's still a genuinely nice bloke! And, yes, the time has come for new glasses - my right eye is fading gently, even though my left one will probably be seeing perfectly well in the grave, thank you. So I had ten minutes of fun and frolics with the dispensing optician choosing a new pair of glasses - my first since 1996 apparently! My, how out-of-date I am. But the joy comes from realising that the ones I really, really liked were Armani (at last, I get designer style!!!) and in the sales (even better - Lord H won't complain about the price!!). So roll on, New Year, and I'll wow them in the office.

After the sight test, I popped to church to deliver two extra bottles of communion wine to the vestry, in case the post-pub keenies get a little too keen at Midnight Mass on Sunday. You never know ... And then, back home - where I was delighted to receive a glowing review of "Pink Champagne and Apple Juice" from Sue on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/suehaywood). Thanks hugely, Sue - it's really cheered me today. And (with Sue's permission), I add it below:

"I just knew I was going to love this book even before reading it. Why? I’ve met Anne, the writer of this book through MySpace and she writes some really funny articles in her blog section. When I saw that she had just brought out this book, I knew I had to get a copy and I wasn’t disappointed. My measure of a good read is how fast I get through it. By that, if I’ve read it within a few days, it was because I couldn’t put it down. Well, I’d read this book cover to cover in two days! So why was it so good? It has a brilliant mixture of humour, characters and a very different storyline. I was able to visualise all the characters, even down to how the buildings would look. So I’d better not be disappointed when they make it into a film!!
The storyline is about Angie who flees from her very loving home to make her mark in the world. She looks up her Uncle John who she hasn’t seen for many years and turns up unannounced. Maybe Angie should have had some hints that all would not be as it seems, when she asks for directions and is met with ‘you want where?’. Her first meeting with Uncle John is a memorable one and the story of why Uncle John has not been around for years unfolds with interesting reasons. Mixed in with this are the people who work for Uncle John and the entangled love interests. To find out why you’ll just have to read the book. If you want a taster then you can read the first chapter by clicking here. You’ll be hooked." (Courtesy of Sue's weblog - http://www.teafriendsandchocolate.com/sue/).

Thanks, Sue. Again. And it inspired me to beaver away on "The Gifting" today, and I have added another 1000 words. Phew! Quite pleased with the way it went too. Also inspired by Sue, I drummed up the courage to ring Flame Books (http://www.flamebooks.com) again - this time I tried Michael rather than Sean, and managed to get a more comprehensive explanation as to what on earth is going on. Apparently, they've had to change printers (no reason given, and I was too scared to ask) and hope that my inspection copies will be with me in the New Year - so it looks like they're not dumping me - yet. So I might not be forming my Flame Pit of Despair (courtesy of Jonathan - another confused Flame would-be author - I'm right with you, Jonathan, and thanks for your note!) Support Group, at least for a while. We'll see.

Ooh, and I've just finished Laurie Graham's "The Future Homemakers of America". This was much like a packet of plain chocolate digestives - difficult to get into, a marvel in the middle, but a disappointing crumbly finish. I'll definitely be looking out for her again though - the middle was good!

Today's nice things:

1. Ordering Armani glasses (go, girl, go!)
2. Sue's lovely review
3. Speaking to Michael of Flame - at last!

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.goldenford.co.uk