Prayer and the pesky church

Life News:

So, this is the week we find out that Church of England money helped pay for online lender Wonga. Hmmm, good to know that the C of E is more than happy to lead people into greater debt, but not happy about marrying two people who want to make a commitment to each other but happen to be of the same gender. Just saying. Hey ho.

As a result, though I did go to church today, I didn't donate anything at all to the collection for the first time I can remember. I did think seriously about taking money out of the collection plate when it came round instead, if only to help prevent the exploitation of vulnerable people, but thought that would perhaps be a tad too much for the small girl handing round the plate to cope with. Pesky church, eh. Then again, the Church of England does after all have a c£5.2 billion investment portfolio, so perhaps we should all be taking money out of the plate on a more regular basis. Again, just saying ...

On a happier note, the buddleia in the garden is now out in all its glory, and the garden is filled with butterflies of all descriptions. Bliss. And this week's cakes are Maple Syrup and Pecan Cupcakes and very tasty they are too.

Book News:

Much to my astonishment, Christian novella The Prayer Seeker has been downloaded for free more than one thousand times at Amazon UK and Amazon US - so free books are obviously the way forward, at least if I want to be read.

Not only that but I've had a couple of 5-star reviews at Amazon which called the book "a damned good read" and also said: "One word sums up the writing style and that is luminous ... if you are a seeker of something more in life, this novella will resonate with your spirit."

Many thanks to both reviewers for that.

Meanwhile, epic fantasy Hallsfoot's Battle rose briefly to No 71 in the Amazon US fantasy charts, and gay thriller A Dangerous Man gained a 4-star review on Goodreads which included the following:


"If I go by the "traditional" ratings it would be a one star, because, no, I didn't like it. But the problem was it was brilliant. Very well written, with characters that grabbed hold of me and made me feel."

Gosh, thank you, Shaz! That's the kind of problem I do like to feel I've achieved in a book, that's for sure ...

Finally, all my Amber Allure gay fiction currently has a 25% discount, so don't miss out! Have a great Sunday.

Anne Brooke
Free Fiction UK
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
The Gathandrian Trilogy

Gay Christianity and a champagne celebration

Life News:

Wonderful news about the Equal Marriage bill being passed by the House of Lords and signed into law by the Queen this week - such good news indeed! Well done to the Lords and of course the Queen. The right decision made by all, hurrah.

I've managed to make the most of the continuing heatwave across the country this week, though I am heavily dependent on my trusty portable fan. Phew, it's hot. Here are some garden pics to show just how hot it is. These are: scented pink lilies, a black hollyhock, day lilies, an allium, crocosmia Lucifer, dahlias, poppies and the orchid in bloom.

This week I've also played golf with M. and actually won for the first time in absolutely ages, well gosh. I got a par too, which was the icing on the cake, golly hurrah. I've also had a lovely haircut (thank you, Steff, as ever) which has made my neck a lot cooler, and yesterday K and I went to see the livestream cinema showing of Macbeth with Ken Branagh. Macbeth is of course my favourite ever play - so human, so evil, so much lost opportunity - and everyone is raving about this particular version. I'm a great Ken fan, I have to say, but I don't think his Macbeth is his best ever performance. I preferred his Hamlet, and actually I thought Patrick Stewart made a much better, more measured Macbeth a couple of years back. I am the only one saying this however, from my glance at the reviews. I did think the witches in this version were fun though, Alex Kingston nailed Lady Macbeth, and it was the best Macduff I've ever seen - so much so that it made me cry. A great moment.

Oh, and there's cake. When is there not? This week it's Dotty Chocolate Chip Cake, and it's very tasty indeed. Hurrah.












Book News:

This week is the week I receive a 1-star review for Christian novella The Prayer Seeker - not because the reviewer thinks it's rubbish, but because they believe it "cannot be Christian fiction as the main character is homosexual, and you can't be a Christian if you're gay". Or words to that effect. Ye gods and little fishes - did someone transport me back to the 18th century, or am I just living in a time warp?? Those comments certainly brought me up short - made me feel quite ill in fact - and it certainly goes to show how far we in this world must still travel before homosexuality is seen as utterly normal in every way, even a Christian way. Hey ho indeed.

In spite of all that, I'm happy to say that The Prayer Seeker is No 20 in the Amazon UK free Christian Fiction charts, was at No 68 in the Amazon US charts, and also received a more measured 5 star review at Smashwords. Many thanks for that.

I also have an exciting new cover for romantic comedy Pink Champagne and Apple Juice, which is due out from Musa Publishing in September. Can't wait for that one.

Meanwhile, fantasy novel The Gifting made it up to No 15 in the Omnilit Books Free Fiction charts, and gay romance Where You Hurt The Most gained a 4-star review at Goodreads. The reviewer called it "an endearing and poignant little love story" - so many thanks for that.

Finally, I'm utterly thrilled that gay erotica story The Beginning of Knowledge gained a 4-star review at The Armchair Reader who said, amongst other comments:

"The writing here is superb. I felt as if I knew Alan intimately only a few pages into his first person narrative because for all that he's blind to what is going on he's starkly transparent. So I commend Anne for writing a story that is indeed knowledgeable, that is informative but at the same time seductively sexy. I think you should read this one just to see what you take from it."

Many thanks also - that's made my day.

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
Biblical Fiction UK
Free Fiction

Free fiction and flowers galore

Life News:

We had a stunning day at the Hampton Court Flower Show on Wednesday - glorious weather, spectacular flowers and yet more things for the garden. Bliss indeed! Managed to snag some more heucheras, potentillas and some fabulous bulbs for a blood lily (like a pink allium). Here's hoping we can actually grow them, hey ho.

Meanwhile, the garden is really beginning to come into its own, and here are some pics of a day lily, a peony, lilies, and various roses.

I've also been busy in the kitchen and this week's attempt at vanilla cupcakes has been a great success - though I say it myself and shouldn't.

Book News:

I've had a fascinating and very intense weekend at the UK GLBTQ Fiction Conference these last few days. Great to catch up with people I know in the business and meet new people (hello, Liam!), as well as sell some books, but I have to admit to feeling very overwhelmed by the amount of people there - which is great news for the organisers who did a totally fantastic job, but less good news for those strange sociopaths such as my good self. I think I might give the next one a miss, especially as I'm taking a backward step on the whole writing career anyway, but wish them all the best in the future. They certainly deserve it.

Meanwhile, I've set up a free fiction page at my website for work that doesn't fit anywhere but which I consider good enough for people to take a chance on. In that category, I have my latest fantasy novel Hallsfoot's Battle, which is now free at Free Ebooks and Obooko Books also. This week it's been lovely that a new reader enjoyed Hallsfoot's Battle so much that he donated $10 to me even though it was a free read - many thanks, Johnny.

I'm also pleased that Christian novella The Prayer Seeker is now at No 93 in the Amazon US Christian Fiction charts, well gosh. This is another of my free books.

Finally, I've had a review of bisexual thriller Thorn in the Flesh at Long and Short Reviews, which says:

"Thorn in the Flesh is a slow burning mystery woven into the ordinary lives of a close-knit group of friends. This is a great choice for readers who prefer to get to know characters well before the plot heats up. The payoff at the end is well worth the initial emotional investment!"

Gosh, that's nice too. Thank you.

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
Free Fiction

Hallsfoot's Battle and the invisible woman

Life News:

Am taking some much-needed days off this coming week, and looking forward just to having nice pottering days in the garden and trips out with my loved one. It looks like this will coincide with our promised heat wave so that's good news. This weekend, it's been so good weather-wise that we've had breakfast out on the patio both days. Lovely.

Over the last couple of weeks or so, the lack of medicinal Happy Pills has really begun to kick in - I absolutely don't want to go back to how it was two or three years ago, which was utterly horrid, so have begun taking a Good Mood St John's Wort tablet in the mornings and two Quiet Life pills in the evenings. Not sure if this is making things any better or not, but I'll give it some time and see how it goes. I reckon if things don't improve much over the next couple of months, I'll try to go and see the doctor again, though I don't reckon she's going to be quite as understanding as my Godalming doctor was. Again, I'll just have to see.

So, with all this in mind, it did hugely irritate me during the week when I tuned in to the radio on the way home from work to hear a charming bisexual man talking to the Radio 4 presenter about how terrible it was that bisexuals were virtually invisible in society. I had to laugh (whilst shouting in disbelief at the pesky radio - not a good look on the A3 ...) - he should ruddy well try being an English woman above the age of 45, then he'd really know what being invisible damn well feels like. What a lightweight, harrumph!

Thankfully, this week's cake - Lemon Sponge - has turned out very well and makes up for last week's disaster. Phew.

And the October Elstead play has been chosen - a murder mystery - and the lovely K is going to be the policeman in it, hurrah. More lines than last time (always good!) and a step up from his first role with the drama group as a private investigator. Next stop: Chief Super!... Speaking of which, we had a lovely time at the Elstead drama group's summer BBQ yesterday - excellent food, excellent company and excellent weather. Thank you to Sue et al for organising it.



Book News:

I've decided to downplay the whole writing thing for a while - I don't think it's great for my mental health, frankly, and I've felt for a long time that I'm struggling to even be in the game. Plus a lot of wonderful new people are arriving in the gay fiction genre - which is great news for the market and readership - and I've really been around way too long (14 years now) for people to still be telling me that if I keep on going, I'll be sure to make it one day, ho hum. It's getting to be embarrassing!

So I've decided that, in terms of books I don't sell through my current gay fiction or literary fiction publishers, I'm simply going to make them free on the web. At the very least, people shouldn't complain   about the waste of money if they dislike the work as they shouldn't have paid for it, hey ho.

So, my current free books are:

The Gifting (Gathandria *1 - epic fantasy), Hallsfoot's Battle (Gathandria *2 - epic fantasy) and The Prayer Seeker (spiritual novella).

I hope some of you will take a chance, and maybe even enjoy the reads. You never know!

Meanwhile, over in my gay fiction corner, A Dangerous Man gained a 5 star review at Goodreads, which included the following comments:

"Honestly, this is one of the best books I have ever read. As an American who has visited London and has English friends, I found the descriptions of London to be, for lack of a better word, intoxicating. The harsh, realistic style Brooke writes is incredible, and the story she tells a modern day Crime and Punishment (my favorite book of all time)."

And The Beginning of Knowledge gained a 5-star review at Two Men Are Better Than One Reviews:

"This is dark erotica, a short and intense journey into one man’s self discovery, discovery of something dark and dangerous."

Many thanks, both, for reading.

Anne Brooke

Wilde City summers and a 4 July sale!

From now until 7 July Wilde City Press are celebrating summer with all our authors and a special summer sale:

Help Wilde City Press celebrate the start of summer and July 4th. Enjoy 25% of your entire cart from Wednesday July 3rd through Sunday July 7th with the coupon code: WildeFreedom.

Here's my own summer memory for you:

My favourite summer memory is my mother’s homemade lemonade. She only ever made it in summer as she said it was an outdoor drink and needed a big dose of sunshine to make the bubbles pop. Apparently winter would make the whole drink go grey and flat, and as I was young I believed her – and in a way I still do. Homemade lemonade only ever appeared about three or four times a year and only when we were very good and she was pleased with us. It wasn’t ever something she prepared for either but, in our family group, she would slip away quietly and after a while one or another of us would realise she was missing. From then on the excitement would mount and then – at last! – half an hour or so later she would reappear with a huge jug of lovely lemony-yellow bubbly drink and a selection of glasses. Drinking it meant you had enough sugar in your system to last you well into the next month, but it was like a blast of sunshine and citrus in the mouth, I can tell you. Sheer bliss!

The night I met Luke Milton, the last thing I was looking for was any kind of relationship …

“What the hell are you doing?” …
“Waiting for you …”
“You’ve not covered up your mark.” … “You must have taken some stick for it from the office.”
“Why should I cover it up? You gave it to me. That’s worth all the stick in the world.”

Read the rest of Luke and Alan’s interactions in The Beginning of Knowledge, available now at Wilde City Press!

And don't forget to read the rest of our Wilde City summer pastimes at the Wilde City blog!

For the rest of our summer memories and to get your discount, visit the Wilde City Press summer sale event now!

Freebies galore and garden delights

Book News:

My epic gay-themed fantasy series The Gathandrian Trilogy now has its own Facebook page, and many thanks to those who've already joined up. All visitors more than welcome, and don't forget all the books are FREE.

The first in the series, The Gifting, can be downloaded for free at a wide variety of online book retailers, the newest of which is Obooko Books and Free Ebooks websites. So far in total (as far as I can tell, or am told), about 200 readers have already downloaded it, so I hope at least some of them are enjoying the read.

Meanwhile the second in the series, Hallsfoot's Battle, is due out in July and will also be a free book. As you can see, the cover art is now chosen and I'm very happy indeed with it. This one concentrates more on the story of Annyeke Hallsfoot, the kick-ass redheaded (hmm, wonder where I get that from, eh ...) new Acting Elder of the Gathandrian city, although the ongoing rollercoaster saga of Simon and Ralph is not overlooked at all. Here's the blurb:

Gelahn the Mind Executioner begins his battle campaign. His powers are unmatched - even without the mind-cane in his possession - and next he will break and possess Ralph Tregannon 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, so Annyeke must plot a desperate strategy to defeat the enemy. As the Gathandrians rally behind their new leader, Gelahn strikes at the very heart of the city.

Keeping to the subject of free books, my Christian novella The Prayer Seeker is now FREE at Smashwords and Omnilit Books. So far it's been downloaded about 80 times, which is nice. Here's the blurb:

Michael Woodthorpe hasn’t attended church for many years, not since his time as an evangelical in his early twenties. One winter he decides to take early retirement in order to search for the God he used to know.

As he comes to terms with his new existence, he must face opposition from both his ex-girlfriend, and his ex-wife, whom he hasn’t seen for many years. Meanwhile, he begins a series of religious encounters with a spiritual director and slowly discovers the riches of prayer. When his journey brings him face to face with the mistakes in the past which had made him walk away from God, he must find a way to resolve them if he is to fulfil his God-given potential at all. 

In other book news, I am offering three free ebooks of gay thriller Maloney's Law in a BookLikes giveaway competition, so enter now to avoid disappointment! The competition ends on 5 July. Maloney's Law has just gained two new 4-star reviews at Goodreads, one from Lorraine, and one from Tricia who says:

"A thriller, a mystery, a tragedy, and a romance in only a dark sense. Totally worth the read and impossible to put down. New author for me, I will be looking for more titles from Anne Brooke."

In addition, Maloney's Law gained a 4.5 star review at Top2Bottom Reviews which included the following:

"Once you get into this book it's impossible to put it down. Every time you think you have it figured out, it proves you wrong. In other words it's the perfect detective book! The characters were very strong and the backstory couldn't have been better."

Goodness, many thanks indeed to all these readers and reviewers. Not to be outdone, The Bones of Summer (Maloney *2) is now available as a paperback at Amazon US. It has also this week gained a 4-star review at Goodreads (many thanks again, Lorraine).

Turning to short stories now, gay literary erotic story The Beginning of Knowledge gained a 4-star review at Pants Off Reviews, which included the following:

"Once again Anne Brooke has pulled off an emotional winning read in so few pages. Her talent for capturing human emotions, kink, and flawed characters never ceases to amaze me … The ending is bittersweet but it felt right and I am happy with it (satisfied). If this is the kind of read Wilde City Press is pushing out, then I am so on board. The Beginning of Knowledge is another winner by the queen of shorts, Ms Anne Brooke."

Well gosh, thank you. Gay romantic comedy Who Moved My Holepunch? received a 5-star review at Amazon US, and also free gay poetry anthology Falling Awake was given 5 stars at The Novel Approach Reviews, who say:

"Each piece is but a small window through which the reader is able to catch a glimpse of the authors' creative talents, each piece telling a story - a beginning, middle, and end - in all the rich tones of a free-form and lyrical language …Falling Awake, in some ways, reads like flash fiction that has been structured with a cadence and rhythm all its own."

Life News:

I was more than startled when one of our church ladies rang up this week to say how thrilled she was that I've agreed to join the group set up to read Christian stories to the children at the local school. What??!!?? All my most hated activities in one fell swoop, oh what joy. I told her it was the first I'd heard of it, I hated children and avoided them at all costs and it would be like putting Cruella de Vil in charge of the kennels. She sounded a tad put-out at my response, but certainly not as put-out as I was. Mind you, immediately afterwards, K said I'd missed a golden opportunity to introduce the local Young People to the joys of gay erotic fiction, and I should have said I'd go along and then read them some of my own work. After all, as one of my Facebook friends reminded me, my erotic comedy School for Doms is surely an educational story (it's set in a school at least ...) and would be perfect for the occasion. Hey ho. Maybe I should ring her back? Ah, the temptation ...

This week's cake was a disaster, my dears, a disaster. Though thankfully, the lovely K managed to salvage it with the icing I'd left him to cope with when I went off to help out at the University open day. It's supposed to be White Chocolate Coffee Gateau but I have renamed it (thank you, Karen!) to White Chocolate Coffee Terror Gateau. It surely has one of the most complicated recipes known to humankind - some of which involves heating two different sets of substances at the same time whilst whisking one of them with an electric whisk. Arrgghhh!! Who creates such torture?? They should be stopped at once.

Suffice it to say that K appeared in the kitchen at exactly the right time to point out that I was managing to melt the electric lead in the gas flame and some of the bits were dripping into the mixture. Oh hell. It's astonishing we're all still alive and in one piece really. Though I like to think the wiring added extra protein to the cake. I also think I baked it too long (well, I was frightened to bring it out in case it turned against me, my dears) and it has basically turned into biscuit wrapped in custard (ie that icing). But what the hell - we're English and we'll eat the dang thing if it kills us. It's the Empire spirit, don't you know.

Anyway, thank goodness for the garden to make everything calm again and the joys - today - of coffee, juice, croissants and pain au chocolat on the patio for breakfast. True bliss.

So here are sweetpeas fresh from the garden, clematis, lilies, the petunia and pansy bed, the rose garden, the trellis roses and the lychnis.

Happy Sunday!

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
The Gathandrian Trilogy: free fantasy series
Biblical Fiction UK

Free Gifts and the Wilde Side

Book News

In order to celebrate my 49th birthday on 21 June, gay spiritual fantasy The Gifting is now available for FREE from Smashwords and Omnilit Books, and will be for the foreseeable future, so do pop along and download a birthday treat from me, with my compliments. Happy reading!

I was also pleased that the book was on the front page of the Kindle Book Review during the week, so that was great.

Over at Mrs Condit Reviews, gay thriller The Bones of Summer gained a 4-star review which was lovely:

"Well, Anne Brooke has done it to me again. I read the first book in the series (Maloney's Law) where Paul Maloney, a broken man, was the main character. At the end of the book, he met Craig Robertson and even though they didn't end up together, they established a connection. This is Craig's story. And what a story it is."

And FREE gay poetry collection Falling Awake gained a 5-star review from On Top Down Under Reviews:

"It has been a very long time since I sat down with a book of poetry … While I may be no expert, I do know what I like and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of twenty individual pieces from Wilde City Press."

Not to be outdone, gay erotic romance The Heart's Greater Silence received a 5-star review at Goodreads, and is described as: "Emotionally raw and intense and beautifully written." 

Gosh, thank you! Meanwhile, don't forget that it's Pride Month (hurrah!) and all my lesbian fiction at Untreed Reads is discounted until 30 June - so do pop along and happy reading.

Carrying on my weekend birthday celebrations, there's an interview with me as part of Wilde City Week at The Novel Approach reviews. I hope you'll have time to pop by - I can promise you a decent slice of cake and a laugh or two. Ideal for a Sunday.

Oh and recently I've had a couple of queries about what is going on in Anne's Book World and what's in the pipeline (thank you for asking, Mother, and yes the cheque's in the post, honest ...), so I've updated my Latest News section on the website if you'd like to keep up to date. Thank you.


Life News:

For those of you who've not been paying attention (perish the thought!) it was my 49th birthday on 21 June (have I said that already?...), and I had a thoroughly good time. A day out at gorgeous Wisley, chocolate and champagne, and my world was perfect, hurrah. We managed to see the sheep-eating cactus plant which only blooms once every ten years or so, which was great. Apparently it entices the sheep towards it with the smell from the flowers, and then the sheep gets trapped on the spikes at the bottom of the cactus, dies slowly and provides the plant with enough fertiliser to carry on. Ah, nature: red of tooth and claw. How I love it!

I've also been enjoying our own garden which is joyfully coming into full bloom with the warmer weather, so here are some pics of alliums near the bench & shrubbery, a sunflower (now sadly blown off in the wind this morning, sob ...), Paris heuchera, a scented peony, a Manhattan Lights lupin (my favourite lupin) and our newest lilies. Enjoy!

And, to end, the Angry Ex-Anglican (as I'm now calling myself) ponders if the House of Bishops would be more accurately described as a veritable Brood of Vipers. You decide...

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK
The Gifting: FREE gay spiritual fantasy
Biblical Fiction UK

Poetry, cupcakes and fan mail

Book News:

Gay poetry collection, Falling Awake, is now available for FREE at Wilde City Press, and includes some of my own gay poetry, including the title poem:

Falling Awake

Burnt ochre sands

the colour of my lover's hair

flame with the evening's pulse

a skin-whispered prayer

for I am falling

to where dusk-dark waters enfold me,

each floating step a liquid heat

drawing me down until I see

only flesh and ocean

and the sea-green pull of his eyes.

Drowning I breathe in salt

which laps my tongue's surprise

until he is gone

when, dream-shimmered, I shake

and cry, drifting with loss

in the tide's lull, falling awake.

I hope you enjoy the read, and don't forget - it's free! Also this week, all my Amber Allure gay fiction is discounted at All Romance Ebooks, so the ideal shopping time for you.

Meanwhile, I'm very happy to say that gay romantic thriller The Bones of Summer is now available at Amazon US and Amazon UK, and so far it's doing all right. Phew. Not to be outdone, the prequel Maloney's Law gained a 5-star review at Goodreads, with the below comment:

"One of the old school mysteries. It was great."

Gosh, thank you - I really appreciate that. Also at Goodreads, gay erotic story Where You Hurt The Most gained a 4.5 star review, which included the following:

"This was a fantastic story about healing and connection. It had depth and was thoroughly enjoyable. I definitely recommend it."

Again, thank you.

Finally and, for me as a below-the parapet (way, way below) writer, it was lovely to receive my first piece of fan email for 2013. A lovely comment from a reader who enjoyed my gay spiritual fantasy The Gifting so much that she wanted to know when the follow-up, Hallsfoot's Battle, would be out.

Gosh, many thanks indeed! My current plan is to publish Hallsfoot's Battle in July, and then the final part of the trilogy, The Executioner's Cane, in September/October. I hope some of you out there might still join me on Simon's and Ralph's journeys, not to mention keeping up with the developing relationship of Annyeke and Johan. Something for everyone there, I hope. 

Life News:

A wonderful sermon today about the extravagant love of God which gave me much inspirational food for thought. And which is sadly opposed to the view of God's love which the House of Bishops obviously has, as I point out in my Angry Anglican blog today. Is it time to call the wretched House of Bishops to account? Lord preserve us, I really do hope so, as their God is assuredly way too small ...

Anyway, turning to happier subjects, this week's cake is Marbled Cupcakes. And not Married Cupcakes as some have misread it. Mind you, surely married cupcakes are something the Church of England might be happy to bless, just as long as their marbled patterns were opposite to each other, rather than similar. Ho hum and a deep enduring sigh.

Anne Brooke

Gay Reads UK

Gay Spiritual Fantasy

Biblical Fiction UK