Book News:
Things at
Riptide Books are getting very exciting indeed. I've just seen the raw draft of my cover art for upcoming literary gay story,
The Heart's Greater Silence, and I'm very happy indeed. A wonderful bleak and autumnal feel which is just perfect, to my mind. Further details to follow shortly ... Not only that but today they've just made their
first acquisition of another publisher, so that's very good news for all. Many congratulations!
Keeping with the subject of publisher news, I'm also thrilled to say that all my ebooks at
Bluewood Publishing are now being sold at a
new discounted price. So you can pick up fantasy novel
The Gifting for
$2.99 or £1.90, literary short story
Dido's Tale, for
$1.29 or 80p, and naughty comedy
Rosie by Name also for
$1.29 or 80p. So do pop along and get some good reads at a definitely decent price. You'll need to sign in first but it only takes 30 seconds and the rewards are more than worth it. Enjoy!
Over at
Untreed Reads, you will find
30% off all mystery stories for this week only plus a whole host of other bargains as well. And at
Dreamspinner Press, you can find
20% off all my books until the end of November, hurrah!
I'm also pleased to see that comedy sf story
Creative Accountancy for Beginners achieved a
4-star review over at Drive Thru Fiction Reviews - so many thanks, Megan, for that.
And I've reviewed
Cocktails for Three by
Madeleine Wickham (AKA Sophie Kinsella) over at
Vulpes Libris Reviews today. Rather a bland concoction, I thought, and not at all up to previous Wickham novels I've read. Sigh ... I hope the next one will be somewhat better.
This week's meditation poems are:
Meditation 588
The greatest
astonishment
when involved
in praise
or prayer
is when
God responds
almost as if
there’s
actually
somebody there.
Meditation 589
Behind the
rain’s whispered threat
and the rattle
and hum
of the locusts’
destructive dance
lies the hope
of kinder skies
and the sure
knowledge
that everything
passes.
Meditation 590
Solomon takes
his wife
from the holy
city
in case she
taints it.
Today’s church
women
strongly
suspect they know
how she felt.
Life News:
An irritating moment or two with the car this week, I fear. I've been thinking it's been sounding rather dodgy lately when attempting to fire it up (as it were), and then on Tuesday night I stopped off at the village shop on the way home from work and it just wouldn't start again, dang it. Naturally I rang the
RAC (Gawd bless 'em) and then left a message for K, who wasn't home yet, and waited. The woman on the line had said it was likely to be an hour and a half, but I might get quicker service as I was a woman on her own (we're very dangerous, you know, and they need to protect the innocent public from our fearful machinations ...) so I had a drink and some rather gorgeous salted cashews at
The Woolpack to while away the hours. It's the first time I've been in since the change of ownership after the
previous change of ownership (and we've only been here a couple of months!) and I rather enjoyed it. I also felt hugely brave going into a pub on my own (something I've never done before, being the shy, retiring type) but actually it was fine and I had a nice chat with the barman about the traumas of cars. Indeed I'd only just got myself settled in when the RAC man phoned me to say he was on his way. I must be scarier than most women on their own in a car then ...
Anyway, he arrived at my side at about the same time as the lovely K, who'd been home, got my message and then dashed to my rescue (what a hero!), and everything was sorted out in a reasonable timescale, thank goodness. It's the age-old problem of only doing short drives in Miranda (the car) and therefore her battery getting confused. But the RAC were once again to the rescue for the long-term as well as the short-term and I am now the proud owner of a smart battery recharger (only c£55, which I thought was a bargain) which seems so far to be doing the trick. Early days though!
We're also the proud owners of a brand-new Canon printer, which also scans and photocopies, and in colour, hurrah! It doesn't quite know how to clean the house yet, but I'm working on it. And it's soooo fast too - bliss. I love it.
Today I've gone for my second follow-up appointment post the cyst operation and I don't have to take a third tranche of antibiotics, so that's a relief. The surgeon was very happy with progress and doesn't want to see me again or do another operation (hurrah!) unless it flares up unexpectedly. So I'll have to keep a careful eye on it as it continues to heal, but I'm hoping for the best. Good news indeed.
Tonight, K and I are at the theatre to see
Star Quality, so will have to look as glamorous as possible, whilst seeming suitably and deliciously theatrical, simply in order to keep up. Hmm, could be quite a challenge then ...
Meanwhile, as Christmas approaches, I'm very happy to see that the
Naked Farmers' Calendar is once more on sale for the season. Naturally I've ordered my (and my mother's) copies and shall look forward to seeing if there's anyone we recognise, having been brought up in the farming community, hey ho. No, don't laugh - two years ago, we did actually know someone indirectly, but no, I couldn't possibly say who it was ... And the proceeds go to a worthwhile cause, so what could be nicer!
But, to end, it just has to be this week's top quote, courtesy of my boss - which really says it all:
"There's no problem in life that can't be solved by a hot bath, a large whisky and the Book of Common Prayer."
Wise words indeed ...
Anne Brooke
The Thoughtful Corner
