End of the Year reading.....

Well, that's it for 2014 in reading terms as I am not going to finish another book today.

A better reading month this month - probably because I didn't write very much, and had rather too many days off work where I didn't want to be sociable with the family.  In addition to these books, I also read a few shorts that I've not included in the list.

Favourites this month - My Cowboy Homecoming by Z.A. Maxfield which is the third in this series of cowboy stories.  The General and the Horse Lord and the sequel, The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari by Sarah Black - which I know some people won't read because of one MC having a long term affair with the other whilst married and because both the MC's are well into middle age, but I really enjoyed it.  Special mention to The Case Of stories by Juli Monroe, which are a lot of fun and get better with each one.

1. Bone Dry – Kim Fielding
2. Dead Men and the Restless Spirits – Lou Harper
3. Turbulence – Lyn Gala
4. Cream, A Hammer Novel – Sean Michael
5. My Cowboy Homecoming – Z.A. Maxfield
6. The General and the Horse Lord – Sarah Black
7. Once Upon a Haunted Moor – Harper Fox
8. Tinsel Fish – Harper Fox
9. From the Ashes – Daisy Harris
10. Going Up – Amy Lane
11. Off Stage: in the wings – Jaime Samms
12. The Case of the Haunted Vampire – Juli Monroe
13. The Case of the Werewolf Puppy – Juli Monroe
14. The Case of the Reincarnated Lover – Juli Monroe
15. The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari – Sarah Black
16. Coming Home – Jay Northcote
17. Long the Mile – Ally Blue
18. Frontier Mall – Rolf & Ranger
19. Cold War – Keira Andrews
20. Holding the Edge – Keira Andrews
21. Secrets and Ink – Lou Harper
22. Learning to Feel – N.R. Walker
23. The Roommate Situation – Zoe X Rider
24. A Forbidden Rumspringa – Keira Andrews
25. Second Act – Kaje Harper
26. Tigers & Devils – Sean Kennedy (r)
27. Tigerland – Sean Kennedy (r)

I will do some stats and favourites for 2014 in a separate post in a couple of days.  For now though I've less than 7 hours before my book buying ban for 2015 kicks in..... so I might just go sneak in some more books before the deadline!

Happy Christmas......

May your celebrations of the festive season 

be full of joy, life and light

Christmas at Chatsworth House and Gardens
Peak District, Derbyshire

Solstice Blessings....

When this posts I will be preparing to light my candles at sunset on the shortest day.   I have oak and mistletoe for blessing my home and family and will be spending a quiet evening at home with my thoughts and memories.

It hasn't been an easy year but I have hopes for a brighter, more settled and peaceful year next year.  I wish everyone a happy festive season how ever they celebrate.

The longest night has come once more,

the sun has set, and darkness fallen.

The trees are bare, the earth asleep,

and the skies are cold and black.

Yet tonight we rejoice, in this longest night,

embracing the darkness that enfolds us.

We welcome the night and all that it holds,

as the light of the stars shines down.

My Personal 2015 Book Challenge

How I imagine the inside of my Kindle looks

There was a time, in the not so distant past, when my finances were completely, well, to be crude,
fucked.  I'd just come out of a horribly controlling relationship - where yes, my ex had taken my bank cards off me and told me, repeatedly, it was for my own good because I couldn't manage my own money.... turns out she was wrong, I haven't so much as been over drawn since I left her.

For a while, I had very little to live off, and books where my luxury.  I limited myself to buying one book a month as a treat to myself... and did a lot of re-reading.  I also borrowed books, from the library and from my family.  As my finances improved, my restraint disappeared and, well frankly, when it comes down to it, I am a book buying whore. Then I got a Kindle, and discovered 1-click.... and now I have 274 books sitting there, waiting to be read... and that still doesn't stop me from buying more - be it the latest release, another book in a series I'd started but not finished, a book a friend read and left a good review of...you get the picture.

I am also a freebie collector.... thanks to independent authors who give away books now and then, and publishers like Dreamspinner who for November gave away 30 books over the month, my Kindle has filled up rather fast.  I am anticipating some kindly soul will give me Amazon vouchers for Christmas, which I will use to buy even more books....so I will probably have over 300 books waiting to be read come the new year.

So *deep breath* here is my challenge to myself.

In 2015, I will go back to buying just one book a month.
I will still allow myself to pick up and read freebies, but must not pay for more than one book.
Where a book has been pre-ordered this year, that will have to count for the book for that month (which I think is January, April and May).

My challenge total for 2014 was 350 books, which I should make by the end of the year.  I will drop the total to 300 for next year which... with luck... should just about clear my Kindle of books I've already paid for and not read.

Wish me luck!!

Flash Fiction Holiday Blog Hop - Desperately Seeking Santa

Welcome to my stop on the Flash Fiction Holiday Blog Hop

This is the brainchild of Thorny, Kris and L.C. Chase who came up with the idea for a bunch of authors (and occasional scribblers like myself) to write a seasonal flash fiction from the same photo prompt.

In all I think there will be some 40 stories being published for the event over the next week.  The only thing that will be the same is that the stories must include:

- a winter holiday theme;

- a "bad boy"character; and

- a gift of some kind.

The other instructions were that the stories should be under 3000 words (preferably between 500 and 1000 words - I just crept over at 1260 words) and the story should fit under the umbrella of LGBT Romance

The links to all of the other stories can be found HERE 

So, below is my offering. I hope you enjoy it.

(With thanks to my betas Kaje, Elci, Kat and Rachel)

Desperately Seeking Santa

By K. Mason

Sunday 21^st December 2014

9.40 am

“You've got to be bloody joking.  Absolutely not. No way.”

I heard the words clearly through the wall behind my back.  The same wall which shook violently as the door to the office on the opposite side of it was yanked open, with some force, and then slammed shut again.  Heavy footsteps stomped away down the corridor

“Sorry Daphne,” I said with a final stroke to the soft fur of the lion head rabbit that was sitting on my lap. “You can have more cuddles later.” Cradling her to my chest I pushed myself to my feet and returned her to the large run in the centre of the room.

I brushed off the stray hairs from my bottle green staff uniform sweater, before heading for the open doorway that led to the rest of the garden centre.  As I stepped through I almost collided with Carol, who’d left her office at the same time.

“Sorry.” I jumped back out of her way.

“Oh, Jamie! Just the person I need. Can you speak to Dan for me?  I really need him to help out today and he wouldn't listen.  He just stormed off.”

“You need him to help with what exactly?” I asked carefully.

“Mr. Leibowitz phoned to say he can’t make it today. He’s picked up some form of stomach bug from his grandchildren.  It’s the last Sunday before Christmas, and we've no Santa for our grotto.”

“And you asked Dan?” I fought the urge to grin at the thought of my somewhat rough around the edges boyfriend spending the day as Father Christmas.

“He’s the only one that can do it.  No one else has a current police records check.  Please, speak to him. You’re the boss’s son, surely you can impress upon him how important it is that the Grotto is open today.”

“I won’t speak to him as the boss’s son,” I said shortly.

“Please Jamie, I’m desperate.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” 

****

Taking a short cut through Houseplants, I caught up with Dan as he stomped through the gift shop.  Well, normally it’s the gift shop, but from the end of September it was filled with all manner of things that sparkled, glittered and in some cases smelt of Christmas.  Beside a lit up white plastic tree swathed in red tinsel and an assortment of gaudy baubles, I snagged my hand on the thick weatherproof jacket Dan wore over his uniform.  I pulled gently and he stopped his march towards the lumber yard, where he usually worked.

“Hey you,” I said stepping up close behind him and slipping my arm through his.  I rested my head on his shoulder and leant into his neck.  Tucking my chin beside his, the rough stubble of his short beard scraped my skin.  For a second he turned his cheek towards me before pulling back.

“Jamie.” He wriggled trying to get away, a slight blush rising above the scruff and colouring cheeks.  Though I was out to my colleagues, Dan wasn't.  Not only that but our relationship only known to a very select few, and public displays of affection he didn't initiate could make him panic. 

“There’s no one else in here,” I said softly.

“I need to get to work.”  He pulled away again and I let him go.

“I heard you leave Carol’s office.” I said to his retreating back.  The words pulled him up short and he turned to face me.  His expression had gone hard.

“I’m not doing it.  I can’t. I won’t,” he said flatly.

“Why not?  It would really help everyone out.  We need you.”

“Someone else can do it.  You could do it.”

I laughed, I couldn't help it. “Whoever heard of a skinny bean pole of a Santa?  Even the children that really did still believe would see straight through the costume.”

“What about Paul in outdoor plants, or Jim from ponds and aquatics?”

I shook my head as I replied, “They can’t do it.  Neither of them have current police clearance.”

“See, another reason I can’t do it.  No one is going to want their kids near a known criminal.  There’ll be complaints, and then they’ll be forced to fire me to save the business.  You’ll have to find someone else.”

“No,” I said gently stepping forwards and reached out to him, taking hold of his hand.  “Stop that. You've served your sentence, your debt is paid.  It wasn't a serious crime, you were very young and influenced by others.  That’s why you only got a two year sentence and they’re still inside.  You've changed.  Look at you now.  You've got a job, a home.” I smiled up at him and added, “A boyfriend.”

“I, well, yes.”

“So please, will you do it?  You’re the only one who can.  Will you help us out? You won’t be on your own.  Janine is playing Santa’s little helper.  She makes a lovely elf.”  As I spoke I steered him between the shelves of, well, to be honest mainly tat, towards the staff break room.  “The children aren't allowed to sit on your knee, or to be hugged.  The most they can do is stand next to your chair whilst they have their picture taken.  You just have to ask whether they've been good and what they want for Christmas.  Then Janine will hand you a little parcel to give to them and they go.  That’s it.”

I pushed open the door and pulled him inside.  Glancing at the wall clock as kicked the door shut behind us.  Only 10 minutes before the store opened, time for drastic action. 

Santa’s red suit was lying over the back of one of the chairs.  On the worktop behind it sat a pile of white fluff that formed the obligatory beard, and a pair of wire rimmed round glasses.

“No,” Dan came to a sudden halt, jarring my arm.  “I can’t, really, I can’t do it.”

 

“Please?” I coaxed, turning into him.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head down and kissed him softly before pulling away again.  “For me?”   I looked up with the best puppy dog expression I could manage.

“Jamie,” he groaned.  “I can’t, really, just trust me, I can’t.”

“Why not? We've agreed you are the only one that can do it.”

“It’s not that, it’s…” he broke of blushing furiously.

“Dan?” I tilted my head to one side and frowned.

“It’s just, well, I can’t…” I waited him out.  “It’s just, well, I’ve nothing on under my jeans, I went commando this morning.  I can’t be Father Christmas without pants on!”

“Oh!” I gasped before biting my lip to stop myself from laughing.

“See, I said I couldn't do it.” 

“Hold that thought.”  I raced out of the room back to the gift shop.  I knew I’d seen them, in among the other gifts. I scanned the shelves, finding what I was looking for between the dreaded Christmas jumpers and a selection of totally tasteless ties that played Christmas tunes.  I pawed through the stock till I found exactly what I wanted and hurried back to the break room, where Dan still stood where I left him.

“Here.” I thrust the box I was carrying at him.  “Early Christmas present, sorry, no time to wrap it up.”  Dan glanced down and opened the box, shaking out the bright red boxer shorts, festooned with green Christmas trees and trimmed with gold.  “See,” I continued.  “You won’t have to be St Knickerless after all.”

Books for an unseasonably warm November

And so ends the second to last month of the year.... I know other places where my friends live are already in the grips of winter, but here, on the last Sunday in November (first Sunday in Advent) it is unusually warm. 

I wasn't sure how much reading I'd do this month as I was trying to take part in NaNo as well (I manged around 23k words, some bickering and an outright argument with one of my characters... which for me is probably classed as successful!).  But with all that I actually managed to read a fair amount.  

Three five star reads for me this month, Under the Stars by Geoff Laughton (which is Andrew Grey's YA pen name), Sleigh Ride by Heidi Cullinan and Christmas At Leo's by Gillibran Brown.  Yes, three very different types of story.

I've also finished my re-read of Kaje Harper's Life Lessons series - which I treated myself to in paperback. Now I need to find another favourite series to start buying in paperback - though books I re-read a lot and want to be "bedtime reading" have to be bought in paperback as the Kindle does not go upstairs because, well, terror cats...

So the full list........

1. Two Steps Back – Lyn Gala
2. Home the Hard Way – Z.A. Maxfield
3. No Such Thing – A.M. Arthur
4. A Chaotic Range – Andrew Grey
5. Then the Stars Fall – Brandon Witt
6. Frankie & Al – Sue Brown
7. Ed & Marchant – Sue Brown
8. Wood, Screws & Nails – Piper Vaughn & Kade Boheme
9. Not Just Friends – Jay Northcote
10. Trouble & The Wallflower – Kade Boheme
11. Impulsion – James Buchanan
12. Sleigh Ride – Heidi Cullinan
13. The Shearing Gun – Renae Kaye
14. Under the Stars – Geoff Laughton
15. The Blinding Light – Renae Kaye
16. Hook, Line & Sinker – Piper Vaughan
17. Fair Game – Josh Lanyon (r)
18. Fair Play – Josh Lanyon
19. Christmas at Leo’s – Gillibran Brown
20. Saving Crofton Hall – Rebecca Cohen
21. Inside Out – Andrew Grey
22. Home Work – Kaje Harper (r)
23. Learning Curve – Kaje Harper (r)

Next month I have a number of days off as I try to use up my annual leave entitlement before the end of the year - and as I've been very organised and bought most of my Christmas presents I will have not much to do but baking and reading on those days, so it should be a bumper year end reading wise.

Aside from that, in the next week is the Festive Flash Fiction Blog Hop, I will probably post my story towards the middle of the week. 

Lest we forget

Poppy Field by Helen Maxfield

Today is Remembrance Sunday in the UK.

I am wearing two poppies on my jacket, one white (for peace and for all who have been lost, injured or suffered as a result of war) and one purple (in memory of all the animals that have helped and been lost in wars).

Oh my!!

This time of year the M/M Group on Goodreads holds their annual awards.... and to my surprise A Point of Honour has bee nominated in two categories

So I get to display these....

I am really rather pleased with myself :)

What I read in October....

Blessed Samhain!

(Or Happy Halloween if you prefer)

After falling into something of a reading slump over the summer months this month I hit lucky.  The lowest rating I gave any book I read this month was 3 stars, and that was just one book.  The majority were 4.5 starts or above - so it's been very hard to pick a favourite this month.

But I am going with The Boy with the Painful Tattoo.  It was a long time coming this book, but so worth the wait.  I love cosy mysteries anyway, and this series falls into that category - albeit with tongue firmly pushed into cheek.

Special mentions to the Red Dirt Heart series, for being unashamedly Australian and a lot of fun, and to the NA books - Fever Pitch and Brandon Mills vs. the V Card, both of which were really great reads.

Finally, I am not a big one for anthologies.... usually I only enjoy about half of the books in any set but Another Place in Time was fantastic (caveat - I am a historical story reader in any event so came at this expecting to enjoy it -plus there are some excellent authors involved) - oh and it's sold in aid of a great charity.

So the full list.......

1. The Foster Family – Jamie Samms
2. Fever Pitch – Heidi Cullinan
3. Claimings, Tails and other Alien Artifacts – Lyn Gala (r)
4. Assimilation, Love and other Human Oddities – Lyn Gala
5. The Boy with the Painful Tattoo – Josh Lanyon
6. Bloodline – Jordan L. Hawk
7. Between Saints and Sinners – Marie Sexton
8. My Relegence Rake – J.L. Langley (r)
9. Another Place in Time – various
10. Nelson & Caleb – Kaje Harper
11. With Abandon – J.L. Langley (r)
12. Red Dirt Heart – N.R. Walker
13. Red Dirt Heart 2 – N.R. Walker
14. Red Dirt Heart 3 – N.R. Walker
15. Bread, Salt & Wine – Dev Bentham
16. Mark Cooper vs. America - Lisa Henry & JA Rock (r)
17. Brandon Mills vs. The V Card – Lisa Henry & JA Rock
18. Life Lessons – K.J. Harper (r)
19. Breaking Cover - K.J. Harper (r)

And onwards to next month - when I am hoping to write for NaNo so I am guessing there won't be that much reading done......

Scribbling plans for autumn.....

I scribble stories down in fits and starts....... for the last three years the Don't Read in the Closet event on Goodreads has been about it for me...... but I think finishing my first story this year, and then launching straight into another, did something to my brain......

Since I finished that story I've written as short D/s piece for a friend (she'll have to wait to read it as it's going to be part of her Christmas present hopefully) and got part way through a fantasy M/M story for a potential submission to a publisher's call for age gap stories - though whether I shall actually get the courage to submit it is another matter.

I am have another couple of ideas knocking about in my head for things I'd like to write..... and then there is NaNo... where I have optimistically signed up for the fourth year ... now I've never managed to really get started... the first year, I plotted and planned, then work got in the way... the second, well I was foolish to even try as I had my final exams for my professional qualification in the middle of November.... and then last year, my head was all over the place after dad's death and I couldn't write a thing....  So this year... I thought, why not,,,

I have consulted Rupert as to what he'd like us to write (ah the joys of a very demanding plot bunny - I really should never have given him a name... I am sure that is what gave him power over me).... and it will be an f/f shifter story, set in the Peak District (because it's somewhere I know and love).  It also contains children, a bi character and probably some violence.... though I shall try not to kill anyone this time....

I do have to stop reading shifter stories between now and starting writing though.... and yes, there is a tonne of irony here as the person who is super picky about shifter stories writing one myself....... there will be no "pick a Greek letter" syndrome though...

And then, finally, I've just signed up for a Flash Fiction Holiday Blog Hop  - under 3000 words (500 - 1000 words preferably) - holiday themed, must contain a "bad boy" and a gift of some sort... inspired by this picture

More details can be found at Thorny Sterling's blog

I wasn't going to sign up, but I kept going back and looking at the photo, and then I had "an idea" - which is always dangerous when you are at work and meant to be concentrating....

Fingers crossed these guys will let me give a brief view of their story :)

Books for a unseasonable September....

We are having some rather lovely weather at the moment - most un-September like. It's apparently been the driest September since about 1910, and one of the warmest.

As I am typing this, it's gone 6pm and I am in my kitchen, which is bathed in sunlight, and all the windows are open letting in a nice breeze.

It won't last ......

Okay, so onto reading.  This hasn't been a stellar month for books read.... only 17 and 5 of those were re-reads.  That doesn't count the Love's Landscapes books that I am still working my way through

My favourite this month was Kaje Harper's third Hidden Wolves book, Unjustified Claims.  I am picky abut my shifters but really like the set up of these books, and enjoy the authors writing.  I re-read the first two before the new one as a refresher, but really, I've read them that many times it really wasn't necessary :)

I also read a whole series - starting with Pale as a Ghost, by Stephen Osborne, which is about a paranormal investigator, whose boyfriend is a ghost, his best friend a 200 year old witch and his dog a zombie.... they were a lot of fun, though the last book nearly gave me heart failure at one point. 

I am obviously in a paranormal mood as I also enjoyed reading Rhys Fords Fish and Ghost series this month

As for the others, the Sean Michael books were formulaic fluff which is something I sometimes need.  biggest disappointment was Sue Brown's The Last Wolf, which just didn't work for me.

There might have been some comfort reading after the trauma last week, when all I wanted to do was hide in Falls Chance Ranch.

So list in full ...

1. Brush & Whip – Sean Michael
2. Fish and Ghosts – Rhys Ford
3. The Last Wolf – Sue Brown
4. Pack & Mate – Sean Michael
5. Duck, Duck Ghost – Rhys Ford
6. Spiretown – Lia Black
7. Pale as a Ghost – Stephen Osborne
8. Animal Instinct – Stephen Osborne
9. The Scarlet Tide – Stephen Osborne
10. Dead End – Stephen Osborne
11. Unacceptable Risk – Kaje Harper (r)
12. Unexpected Demands – Kaje Harper (r)
13. Unjustified Claims – Kaje Harper
14. A Case of Possession – K.J. Charles
15. How to Train your Dom in Five Easy Lessons – Josephine Myles
16. Falls Chance Ranch – Rolf & Ranger (r)
17. Three Traders – Rolf & Ranger (r)

There was also about 5 books read for research and some writing done......... of which there will be more of shortly......

Sometimes things happen in life for no bloody good reason at all........

This might get a bit bleak..... read on at your own risk

Death ........ we all know it happens to every living thing, sometimes it's a blessing, sometimes it's just what is expected, sometimes it's a huge, completely unfair bastard that rips a hole in your life for no reason you can fathom whatsoever.

It's the last of these that has hit me hard over the last 48 hours.

I work in a department of mixed ages - from 18 to 67 - and a smaller team of six, of which I am the oldest at 41.  I've been there for six years and I'm good friends with the team - two of who have been there longer than me.

One of them didn't turn up for work yesterday.  We phoned and texted, but no answer.  We called his emergency contacts but couldn't get anyone there either.  My team leader went to his house but couldn't get a response at the door.  We phoned the hospitals, and eventually we phoned the police.  They broke into the house and found that he'd passed away sometime over the weekend.  We have no further information.

He was 35.

He was lively, in fairly good health, he even went to the gym about 3 times a week - hell he went last week to body attack on Thursday night.

He hadn't looked well for a few days, and we'd tried to get him to see a doctor - but he was highly resistant to this ... and as he was a competent adult you can't force him to go if he doesn't want to.

Today we had to tell the rest of the team.  Tomorrow my team leader and I are going in to work early to clear out his desk and box up his personal possessions.

For six years he's been the guy that sits in the desk behind me, who looks over my shoulder when he walks past, who teases me about spending too much time on the internet, who asks what I am buying him when I do my supermarket shop online at lunch time, who eats oranges most afternoons so that the smell when he peels them wafts across the pod.  No longer will I hear him when he first gets to work and he's wearing his bike over trousers that crinkle when he walks.  No longer will someone move the collection of stuffed animals my team leader and I have on our desks when we are are away - so we come back to find them doing rude things to each other - or climbing up the plants.......

Last week I interviewed for the position of team leader whilst my current team leader is on maternity leave.  Two others interviewed as well, and he told me that if I didn't get it he was going to stage a one man rebellion because I was already part of "our" team, and he didn't want someone else coming in to it.  We were laughing about me being in charge.  I got the job, but it wasn't announced till yesterday, so he never knew.

No one really understands why this happened.  There was nothing obvious to say he was that sick.

And now he's gone.  For the last 6 years I spent 35 hours a week working along side him - that's an awful lot of time.  There is a hole in my life where a friend should be.

I can't help wondering what if I'd pushed harder to get him to see a doctor - what if I'd done more, what if we all had.  But how far can you interfere in the life of someone who is a work colleague, even if they are also a friend?

It's too early to say what the impact of this will be for anyone who worked with him.  Our office is in shock and grieving.  We have to give ourselves time to come to this and time to remember him.  I know the good memories will survive, but for now I am just left with questions.

35 is no age at all.  He had so much life left to live. I shall miss him.

Publication day...... la deuxieme partie....

Inside Le Cafe Procope, Paris (modern day)

Even though I am not a proper published author.... today is my second publication day of the year :)

I've posted before about taking on a second prompt, which had been sadly orphaned by it's original adopter, for the Don't Read in the Closet even run by the M/M Romance group on Goodreads.

A couple of days ago I was told that today was the day, and so this morning I woke with a massive attack of nerves.

This story, Taking a Risk on Love, is set in Paris in 1750 and involves a young man of good birth, Christophe, who makes a wager with his tutor, Yves, that if he can be on time for his lessons for a week then Yves will have accompany him to a masquerade.  Christophe has Yves stitched up from the start, and it's all part of a bigger plan to get closer to his tutor, something Yves is not adverse too.

For me, 18th century Paris is something I knew very little of (well except for the Revolution) and I had a fun time researching various locations - including the Valliot's townhouse, the location for the masquerade and the cafe procope - which is the oldest coffee house in Paris and is still in operation today - though now a rather high class restaurant.

Though Yves and Christophe's story ends with them settling in Italy, in a place I have been to, I've only ever once been to Paris - and that was an overnight stay on my way home from a holiday in the south of France.  Thanks to this story I now have a long list of places I want to visit if I ever do get to go and stay there.

I enjoyed writing this one, I hope that I've managed to make it at least remotely historically accurate, and more importantly I really hope that people enjoy reading it.

Summer time... and reading is easy........

So, that's August done and dusted.... and with the arrival of September it feels a lot closer to the end of the year - we went out for lunch today and they were taking bookings for Christmas parties!!  Schools here go back this week and so I think summer is just about over.

August has flown by very quickly - but thanks to a week off at the beginning of the month I've managed to do a fair bit of reading.

My favourites this month are the final books in Megan Derr's Dance with the Devil series - I've really enjoyed the setting of this series and although some characters just flit in and out rather than all the books having the same MC's it doesn't matter for this one as it's the world building that gives the stories the feel of the thing.  My other favourites are two very different books, Caught! by J.L. Merrow which is so traditionally English and with a very British humour to it and Kaje Harper's The Family we Make - which is not so much a romance, but a family drama.

I have also this month DNF'd my very first book - I usually read everything even if I am annoyed by it, or it's not engaging me, but this I couldn't.  There was just so much wrong with it I was in danger of throwing the Kindle across the room.  I started making notes as I was reading and by 28% I had 5 pages of notes that were factually incorrect, impossible for the time or just wholly unrealistic for the setting...... Now I know for most people that read the book they won't even notice these things, but it was a book set in a 1920's English boys boarding school - and given that school stories of that era are something I've been collecting for over 20 years it's something i couldn't look past.

anyway - the list.....

1. Camwolf – J.L. Merrow (r)
2. Gilliflowers - Gillibran Brown (r)
3. In Despair (Princes of the Blood) – Megan Derr
4. The Slave Catcher – Lilia Ford
5. Ruffskin – Megan Derr
6. Sword of the King – Megan Derr
7. Dance only for Me – Megan Derr
8. Relief Valve – J.L. Merrow
9. Wrestling with Demons – Xavier Mayne
10. Making Repairs – Sean Michael
11. Hungry for Love – Rick Reed
12. Yakuza Courage – H.J. Brues
13. One Good Deed – Andrew Grey
14. Control - Mary Calmes/Cardeno C.
15. Holbrook Academy – Dean Ocean
16. Altered Heart – Kate Steele (r)
17. Caught! – J.L. Merrow
18. Stuff – Josephine Myles
19. The Pagan Lord – Bernard Cornwell (non M/M)
20. Murder on the Mountain – Jamie Fessenden
21. The Family We Make – Kaje Harper

And so to next month - I've a Kindle full of books and although the Don't Read in the Closet releases are winding down (yes I've the date for my 2nd story to be released) I still have a fair few of these to read as well.  Maybe next month I'll list my favourite 10 stories......

Happy September reading!

Domestic Adventures....

UFO
of which there are many in my freezer

As part of my week off I am trying to do some odd jobs around the house.... little things, like finally get
someone to to come fit the new gas cooker, rip up the hallway carpet and the big one... defrost the fridge/freezer.

Now that might not sound like much of a challenge... but here's the thing... living alone and enjoying cooking I have a habit of cooking enough for a meal and a portion to go in the freezer... which is all well and good... until you come to defrost the freezer and realise that it's full of UFOs

Yep, UFOs, Unidentified Frozen Objects.... seriously... boxes of them... all of which though i can see into them I haven't got a bloody clue what they are.  Now I am pretty certain they are all savoury and all vegetarian, after all I made them... but beyond that I haven't a bloody clue.

The night before last I defrosted what turned out to be a Quorn chili, which was very nice... last night I took out another box, which had well, frozen stuff in it... tonight when I opened it to heat it through I am pretty sure that it is a butternut squash and vegetable curry...... I've identified what I think might be two small containers containing mushroom soup.... well it is kind of solid grey stuff... and then there are two other boxes of well, I haven't clue really...... I shall get one out tonight to defrost it for tomorrow.

It makes evening meals very interesting when you haven't actually got a clue what you'll be eating ....

Apparently I could put labels on the boxes... or write on them in marker pen.... but really... where is the fun in that!

Electric pulse treatment & me.... is this wise??

Is this going to happen?

Last week I went off to see my MacMillan nurse  - just before anyone panics, though MacMillan nurses are
best known for the work they do with people who have cancer and in supporting their family - I don't have cancer, I do have a lymphatic disease which commonly effects people who are going through treatment for cancer though ... which means that I have been assigned a MacMillan nurse to help control and treat it because they are the people best placed to do so.

Anyway, my appointment was to be measured for a new bondage stocking as wearing them makes the lymph fluid drain off in my leg so the size changes, and also the elasticity and pressure changes after about 6 months of use.  Anyway when I was there she suggested I try a circulation booster.... which I thought was probably a medication/supplement type thing (to go with the gazillion other tablets I take to try help my immune system to actually work) but no, it's not, it's a machine you pop your feet on, stick electrodes up your calf (like a TENS machine) and then switch on and give yourself little electric shocks... sorry, it emits electronic pulses which encourages blood and hopefully lymph flow......

Well, I said yes because frankly any new treatment to try, whether it works or not, I am willing to have a go at - because some days it feels like the only alternative that might work is me taking a carving knife to my left leg and removing it below the knee..... so I was mentioning it to some friends and family... and they pointed out something I'd overlooked..... given my abilities to blow things electrical up and give myself electric shocks, explode things and fuse the house.... was this really a good idea?  I decided, after careful consideration, that yes, it was...

I have been warned that it might feel a little uncomfortable and possibly be a little painful, but I am kind of excited about trying this out.... which probably makes me sound a little weird...

My new machine arrives tomorrow... and I have been made to promise that I won't try it for the first time when in the house alone.... you know.... just in case...


I also have visions of one of the dogs standing on it and all their hair standing on end.... which will look very funny!!

Summer Sunshine Reading

So, it's summer.... and for once we are having a proper summer weather with lots of sunshine and very little

rain - most un-British!

It's been a low book reading month - at least in terms of published works - I've also read 47  of the Love's Landscapes stories which range from full length novels of 70K words plus to very short pieces of just a couple of thousand words.  There is a huge range in terms of themes as well as story length, and whilst not all are my thing I am trying to work my way through them.  There are some real gems among them and when they are all out I am going to try list my favourites.

So this month... just a short ride... I am really enjoying Megan Derr's Princes of the Blood series - I am reading the final book now and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed both the books I re-read this month - which goes to show the value of re-reading.

so the list...

1. City Falcon – Feliz Faber (r)
2. Shades of Gray – Brooke McKinley (r)
3. The Ghost on my Couch – L.A. Gilbert
4. Mahu Blood – Neil Plakcy
5. With Pride – Megan Derr
6. Sense of Place – N.R. Walker
7. Dinner Party – Anya Vossand (F/F)
8. Let it Ride – L.C. Chase
9. Dance in the Dark – Megan Derr
10. Midnight – Megan Derr
11. A Courageous Ride – Andrew Grey

I have a week off work next week with no plans to do anything in particular, so I am guessing the reading rate my pick up again as I ignore the housework!

Nothing like the last minute..

When I found myself volunteering to take on an orphaned Love's Landscapes prompt in the middle of June, I knew I would be writing to a tight deadline.... you always do with the Don't Read in the Closet Events... even if you get a prompt on the first possible day, you've at most 8 weeks to write your story.  Now length isn't an object - but these are in the main short stories - my first year's story was just around 14,000, last year's grew to 18,000 and my first this year was just shy of 30,000...

This time I had six weeks to complete the story.... but it also involved a lot of research.. this is not naturally my historical period to play in (whereas the first story this year was)... and to be honest I knew next to nothing about The Enlightenment and Paris in the 1750's or there about.... so the first three weeks were something of a crash course in the period.

When I started writing nothing was working, I mean seriously nothing.  I had characters that felt wooden and their conversation stilted... so I sent it to a couple of my betas... who spotted something I hadn't......... my characters were flirting with each other! So I built on that... and kept going....

The deadline is Tuesday.... I finished the story this evening....... it came in at 15,149 words on the first draft.. it's a lot lighter than most things I've written and does contain some comedy moments... wig abandonment, improper use of a chaise longue, laundry theft....  I am hoping that my prompter likes the story - after all they are really the only one who really counts, sure to have others like it would be good but really I am writing for an audience of one.

I need to read it and edit tomorrow night, get my betas to rip it up a bit and send it back so I can tidy it up before sending it in to the event on Tuesday - thank goodness that the organisers are in the US and I get a few extra hours!

And now, having finished this one, I am seriously considering a Christmas story for an open submission call.... trouble is... the deadline for that is 1st August.... see last minute.com... that would be me then!

Research - with a little help from my friends.....

So with the deadline for my second Love's Landscapes story fast approaching I am in the final phases of getting the first draft finished - read this if you will as panicking like hell that I am not going to get it finished in time.

Now, it's another historical piece which means lots of lovely research - and this for me has been a whole new era to look into ... and I've had a blast doing it.  Okay I don't feel as comfortable as I did writing a piece set in the middle ages, and there will be issues that I am sure readers will pick up and and rant about but, hey such is life.

This story also came with another problem........ it unexpectedly has ended up quite a  bit, shall we say raunchier? than anything I've written so far!  I was having a crisis moment a week or so back and flipped what I'd written to one of my beta readers (and trusted person to give me a kick up the backside) who pointed out to me that Yves and Christophe really do like to flirt........ so I read it back and, yeah, they do.... well they actually go a bit further than just flirting.

Now, here's the thing... I have a technical problem with raunchy...I am female, and whilst I identify as a lesbian these days, I have some experience with men, but that was a long time ago, I certainly don't have the experience of being a gay man....

I am thinking of adding a warning tag to the story
No period furniture was harmed in the writing of this story!

So, as my characters played out a scene in my head I started worrying....... is that actually possible? what would happen if?  you get the idea.....

So, I wailed a bit, and in the process one of my friends kindly volunteered her partners to be my research assistants..... they were surprisingly agreeable about this and didn't think that the mad English woman should probably be ignored, or possibly locked up for her own sanity... and very bravely one evening acted out for me a particularly scene involving a chaise lounge..... according to my friend who watched and took notes for me.... it was hot

I just hope my written version of the scene works as well!

One of my research assistants is apparently keen to help out again, and if I come up with any other ideas of scenes they could try he'd be only too willing....... I would hate to disappoint so I shall have to see what I can do.....

But you've got to love research!

A random round-up kind of post....

So here we are, summer in the north of England.... and amazingly this year we are having some fantastic weather, though admittedly we are at the stage where a little rain would be nice.... or a bloody great thunderstorm to break the closeness....

I haven't been a terribly good blogger lately... life has just sort of got on top of things... not to mention that well, life hasn't thrown anything too exciting my way.

Weekdays have, as usual involved work.... we've had a major reshuffle in our department, but my job wasn't really affected... that will change in October thought when my team leader goes on maternity leave and I will probably be acting up as team leader for 12 months.

Evenings and weekends have been spent writing, or rather trying to write, my second Love's Landscapes story... I have enjoyed the research side of things but getting the story down is testing me.  I am assured by my wonderful beta readers that what I've got so far isn't the load of complete tripe that I feared it was......and that I should carry on.   The chest infection I had a couple of weeks ago really knocked me flat for a while - I am still on antibiotics and will be for another two weeks, plus I have some other drugs to take with it to try and boost my immune system which really didn't appreciate the infection at all!  Because of that the organisers have given me an extension... so I have another week to finish writing.  I am, I think, just over a third through the first draft, with several scenes for later mapped out (and the epilogue which one of my betas is insisting on is done)  Yesterday was a good writing day.... today not so much!  The muse and Rupert are fickle and some days they just don't want to play!

What else, my mum and sister went off to Turkey for two weeks and had a fantastic time - although mum came back with a badly swollen finger which it turns out is gout - she's not impressed with that diagnosis and keeps insisting it was a mosquito bite that went bad.... She's in a tizzy today - I went round for coffee this evening and ended up having to examine her cat who was limping, a bit of prodding and poking and I found an abscess on the top of her paw... which after a bit of squeezing I managed to drain down... neither mum or cat is now happy and they will be off to the vets tomorrow.

My own critters are split over the hot weather - the dogs really don't like it that much and their coats are coming out in handfuls, seriously I could knit a extra spitz out of the amount of coat I am hoovering up each day!  The cats on the other hand are basking in the sunshine.... the only downside is that they are eating over twice their usual amount of food each day - which is costing me a fortune in both food and litter!

So yes, that's about it for the unexciting life I lead.... an now I must go make my packed lunch for work tomorrow....... I wonder if any of my colleagues will notice that I have had my hair chopped off over the weekend.

Midsummer reading.....

So, that was June.... the days got long, we had some fab weather and I finished editing my first Love's
Landscapes story.... besides that (and work) there was some reading.

Now I've limited my list to the books I've bought and read, I've not included the stories from the Love's Landscapes event - of which to date I've read 61 of those published......they vary from around 5000 words up to around 60,000 words, some are excellent, some not so good, I will at the end of the end probably try pick out my 10 favourite and list them - but that won't be till sometime in September.

So on to this month...... favourites, well, there were probably four stand outs - When All the World Sleeps - these writers are becoming autobuy for me, both when writing separately and together, Dirty Deeds, which is the latest in a series that I think gets better an better, Temper Sanguine, which is the second book (or third and fourth novella) and you do need to read the first book.  And finally Strength of the Mate, which is a really good take on werewolves but does have a lot of military jargon in it you need t get used to.

Disappointments for me - Cross & Crown - this series I think is just not going to work for me, and Aftermath - which just had way too many issues in it for me that made me feel a bit leery of the story line

So the whole list....

1. When all the world sleeps – Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock
2. Tough Love – Heidi Cullinan
3. To Say I Love You – Anna Martin
4. Blood in the Water – Megan Derr
5. Knight Errant – K.D. Sarge
6. Aftermath – Cara Dee
7. Public Displays of Everything – Cara Dee
8. Crown & Cross – Abigail Roux
9. Dirty Deeds – Rhys Ford
10. True of Heart – M.L. Rhodes
11. Temper Sanguine – Lou Harper
12. Dance with the Devil – Megan Derr
13. Strength of the Mate – Kendall McKenna
14. Evil’s Embrace – L.M. Somerton
15. Take My Picture – Giselle Ellis

There were also some re-reads of paperback books but I can't actually remember which ones!

So, onwards to next month - not sure how many I will get read as I am still trying to work on my 2nd story - and the plot bunny is having "ideas" about a couple of other things..... but there will have to be some reading, cos otherwise I'd probably make my brain implode...

This year's knitting challenge update....

So, at the start of the year I looked in the yarn stash - which had spread and was occupying not only two project bags, 2 curver boxes, the space under the footstool, two draws and a couple of carrier bags in the cloak room and decided that now was the time to perhaps do something about getting rid of some of it......

There were also about half a dozen WIPs that I had to decide whether to complete or frog.... so, the aim is - one project completed per month.... and here are some of the finished objects...

January's socks - which took me for ever and a year to do - seriously, I have no idea why but this pair I was knitting back in July at the UK Meet.... I finally finished them in the middle of January!



 The February Hat was an emergency present for a friend whose birthday I thought was that month.... it wasn't but that's another story... I made it up as I went along - it's double moss stitch, 81 stitches in the round.... and yes, it's very pink!


Then we have the March and April projects

Yep more socks - for a friend's birthday... on the left we have some very bright ribbed socks and on the left some rather woolly socks for keeping the feet very warm.

and onward to the May project... yep... you guessed it... more socks... again for a friend's birthday.... I worry that one day I will have given socks to all my friends.... then I might have to knit something else :)

and this is my June project.... and, shock horror! it's not a sock :)
This scarf was promised for a friend at Christmas... so six months to wait isn't too much of a delay really.....this scarf also garnered a lot of attention as a lot of it was knitted whilst I was at the UK Meet ... I am kind of known for being the person that sits and knits through most of the panels...

Blogging silence.... aka I has the lurgy....

Yep... that is the reason... I, the worlds worst patient who doesn't do getting colds, has the lurgy....

It started at the beginning of last week, well no, it probably started before that as I was sneezing like made but I put it down to hay fever, upped the antihistamines and carried out..... On Monday I had a tickle at the back of my throat.... by Tuesday, I was coughing and sneezing.... when anyone phoned me at work and asked how I was, I said I was fine, and my team leader's voice would come over the top of the partition between our desks with the single word..."Liar!"

I felt a bit washed out when I got home on Tuesday evening..... and didn't sleep well.... mainly because of the whole thing that goes ... you can lie down and sleep but not breathe, or you can sit up and breathe but not sleep... yeah, not fun.  So Wednesday rolls around and I get up, make it as far as the kitchen to let the dogs out, go dizzy and have to sit down.... for the firs time in over 18 months I phoned in sick to work.... but no, I planned to be better by the next day .... I wasn't.... by then I was wheezing impressively to add to the rest of the cold symptoms... I took paracetamol, drank lots of herbal tea, willed myself to get better.

On Friday I headed to the pharmacy for cold cures - now here's the thing... because I take pain relief meds for my arthritis on a regular basis, I can't also take over the counter cold cures as they all contain paracetamol which would put me over the limit if mixed with my pain meds... well the pharmacist took one look at me and told me to get myself to the doctor as she thought I might have a chest infection.

So off I pottled.... like a good girl.... which is a complete lie when it comes to going to the doctors because I really don't like them... luckily I got to see the nurse practitioner straight away and yes, I have a chest infection.... I then had prescriptions for antibiotics, more painkillers, and cough medicine.... apparently I had an impressive temperature, which I hadn't even registered......

This weekend has not been fun... in between sniffling and wheezing the meds have started to clear my lungs.... which is not a pleasant experience.  I haven't actually had a cold for the last 8 years.... not one that was more serious than a 24 hour thing, probably because I am normally extremely careful to avoid them because of my buggered up immune system.... so this has kind of hit me like a ten tonne truck......

I tried to write today - yeah that was a mistake.... I couldn't get to grips with my characters at all, they just felt flat and distant....... after whining to my beta readers they pointed out that this was probably because I was in fact feeling flat and had a head full of cotton wool....

So tomorrow, yeah, I am going to try and go to work... I don't think work itself will be a problem... getting to the office from the car park may exhaust me completely though  so we shall see........ in the meantime, what is left of my lungs is going to spend a couple of hours before bed time curled upon the sofa indulging in some very necessary comfort reading!

Publication day.....

Stefan, as pictured in my prompt photo

I am preparing this post in advance because I am nervous, and not sure I'll be near the computer tomorrow morning.... but...

At around 10.30 am (my time- which is British Summer Time) the story I wrote for the M/M Group's Don't Read in the Closet event "Love's Landscapes" will be going live!!

I can't wait for people to read about Stefan and Benedict, not to mention the side character, Wilf, who has become my beta readers' favourite.


I am incredibly nervous about this one, probably more so than the previous years.  I am not sure why, but this story just came so easily to me - the characters virtually wrote it themselves.  I know it's not going to win big in the popular stakes - it's a historical story after all and they are not everyone's cup of tea..... and of course those that do like historical stories are probably going to take issues with some of the liberties taken with the historical facts... but that I expect.

My only real wish is that my prompter likes what I've done with her prompt and picture.....


and I am still plodding away with my second prompt.......

In need of a kick up the backside.....

30 days......... yep..... 30 days, this is all the time I have left to write, get beta'd, edit, tidy up and polish my second LL story

And therein lies the problem

I've not even started writing......... what I have so far is a detailed plot outline, some characters that are whispering sweet nothing into my brain, 23 pages of detailed hand written notes on anything and everything to do with 1748 - I mean seriously - politics, world events, fashion (and seriously, I fell into a black hole that is Pintrest on this one yesterday), dueling, masked balls and the history of blow jobs - actually that last one was quite a big part of yesterday's research.... it seemed to depend on so many things as to whether it was "acceptable" sexual behaviour and that changes in different countries and time period... even which party is described as the passive/active partner in terms of the giver and receiver changes ... seriously, I think I could write an essay on the subject.... I did discover in my research that in the Palais Royale in Paris in the late 18th century around 50,000 "little black books" were found - which gave details of the numerous prostitutes to the Court and the "services" each provided....... and I am pretty sure given the attitudes of the time not all those prostitutes were female/het.... which has given me a little more leeway as to what my characters might get up to......

Well, eventually, when I get my finger out and start actually bloody writing...... cos for some reason I cannot for the life of me find the little thread to pull that will start the story flowing......

I knitted the whole edging of a baby blanket last night in an attempt at avoidance...... today I've cleaned the kitchen......

I am starting to feel like the only way I am going to get this started is to wait till I reach full on panic mode of the deadline looming ... which won't be good for anyone!

And the stupid thing is, it's not like I have just no idea or writers block, I know what I want to write, I just keep faffing about........ I have seriously no self discipline at all.........so please, if you see me hanging about on the net and not writing (not during work hours of course, cos then I should be doing real work they pay me for, erm, not hanging around on the net....) feel free to yell at me to go write......

Saturday song.......

This has been playing on the radio recently and although not normally my kind of thing it's really got an impressive ear worm thing going....

My UK LGBT Meet Experience.... Part 2...

And so to Sunday.... It was a later start to the event so I had a very slow start to the morning, pottering around my room, enjoying the shower one more time, before packing up my bags and staggering back to the car to stash it away.... it had grown somewhat since I arrived, not through book purchases, but with swag... lots and lots of swag... I have an enormous amount of pens, notebooks, badges, bookmarks and some basil seeds... as well as chocolate, a memory stick full of goodies, some postcards, tea, coffees, more sweeties... you get the picture :)

I headed to the foyer of the events suite for coffee and had a good natter with a couple of authors about research and historical accuracy, before we went through for the first session on avoiding your mid-novel crisis, which gave some very useful techniques for getting your writing mojo back when it's upped and left midway through a chapter.

After more coffee I headed to the "It's not all sex scenes" panel on YA and NA books.  The panelists were very enthusiastic, but I was slightly concerned that they didn't actually seem to know the difference between YA and NA... yeah, I should have put my hand up and said something, but I really don't like to draw attention to myself.  This was probably the only panel I was slightly disappointed with, though from audience participation I was probably the only one.

The next panel, on contracts, was really excellent, pointing out some important definitions that anyone signing a contract for the first time really should know.. it also dealt with how to negotiate your contract and the relationship between publisher and author.

After another excellent buffet lunch we had the second keynote speech, this time from Aleks Voinov, an I have to say it was one of the best, most inclusive and common sense speech I've heard.  Seriously, the upshot was, don't apologise for what you write or read, be who you are, welcome diversity and have fun....okay so that's like the most summarised summary that you'll probably get, but it was a wise and also humourous speech.

And that just left the feedback and planning session with a view to next year.  As the meet wound down and people started to depart it was quite sad... the next Meet won't be till September 2015, with the exact dates and venue still to be decided.

I headed off about 5 pm and was home just under three hours later.  My dogs were incredibly pleased to see me - though Hope had had a bit of a hissy fit about being left and had managed to break the baby gate that goes over the kitchen door ... literally... it is off it's hinges and I need a new one..... The cats have yet to forgive me and are being very demanding!


Finally, I mentioned that the internet for all it's vastness is a very small world.  I've often wondered if my reading worlds will ever collide and on Sunday they did.  As I introduced myself to a fantasy author whose work I really like, another author mentioned that she'd spoken to both of us before about Girls Own books we'd read when we were younger (and not that much younger).... In the course of nattering... it turns out that I know this author's mother, who is a member of the same Girls Own website as I am and we share a lot of non M/M reading twitter followers :)

I also discovered two other people from my home town... one of whom works with my sister's partner :)  I've got instructions to get in touch to meet up from coffee from them, and from another friend not a million miles away in Leeds.

All in all I had a fantastic time, and I can't wait for next year!

My UK LGBT Fiction Meet Experience.... part 1

So, we shall start by rolling back to Thursday, before it all started...... now I've been eagerly looking forward to this event for the last, erm, well, since January when I booked really..... not only was I getting to go to the meet again this year after having such a fantastic time last year, but this year I was getting to stay over, in a posh hotel, with no critters........ which begs the question.... why the hell did I leave tidying my house to a sufficient standard that I was happy for someone else to stay in it to look after the dogs until the day they were arriving??  Suffice to say Thursday I cleaned....the dog sitter arrived in the evening and had a guided tour of the house, we went through the instructions for dealing with the hell critters.... she signed waivers absolving me of any damage to life, limb and sanity (well not really, but I feel she probably ought to have done)....

On Friday I was up early to pack (yep, I specialise in leaving things to the last minute) and then I waved goodbye and headed off at about 9.30 am....... mainly because I needed to go the the garage and get my smashed right wing mirror replaced before I drove on the motorway (yeah, I was mean to drop it into the garage back in April when the glass arrived.. )

The journey down was uneventful... thankfully... until I arrived in Bristol.... now last year it took me three goes round the one way system in Manchester to find the hotel car park..... this year it took five... including narrowly missing going over the suspension bridge, and turning the wrong way down a one way street... and this is with a sat nav... can you imagine if I didn't have one!

I checked into the hotel at around 2 pm... luckily my room was ready... unluckily, the guy on the desk managed to wipe the credit card details from the system that we'd used to book the room....... and was to be used to pay for it.... which caused a bit of a problem as the card I had with me couldn't cover the room booking... panicked e-mails and texts to my sister (who'd paid for the room as my christmas/birthday present this year) to try and get an authority from her to take out the cost of the room and to confirm the card number.... thankfully, it all went through later that evening.

My room was lovely... and I freshened up in the rather ornate marble bathroom then had a nice lie down on the very comfy bed and read for a while.  I wandered downstairs at around 4 pm and registered for the event... then I sat and knitted in the foyer whilst other people arrived... I ran into a couple of friends from last year and on line which was fab.  I hadn't booked to go out on the Friday night - which was a good thing as I'd crashed and was in bed by 9pm.

Now you'd have thought that having my first critter free night away in over 15 years I'd have managed to have a nice long sleep and lie in...... but no.... I woke up at 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep ... until I opened the curtains and turned the air con on to almost freezing... then at 6.20 am I was wide awake and decided to give in and get up.

The event itself opened at 9.20 am for registration... but with the promise of coffee at 9 am I found myself heading to the conference rooms we were using.  the event itself kicked off promptly at 10 am with a big session in the main room on Novel Openings.  Several authors read from published work and current works in progress, including a really good introduction to a graphic artist who specialises in gay romance comics.  The idea being to show what was the hook into the story in the opening 150 words or so.

I stayed in the main room for the next two sessions, on demystifying publishing - which talked about things to look out for when submitting to a publisher and also how to spot danger signs and what to do about it.  The next session was a really good one on marketing and branding, which for a reader really showed clearly how authors can make it easy for us to recognise them and their work.

After a buffet lunch I was in charge of a "readers only" table when we split into discussion tables - there were lots of other topics being discussed - including sci-fi, self editing, characters with disabilities, web comics, writing sex scenes ....  I had a lovely discussion with the people who came to join me as we wrote what we liked and didn't like on post it notes and talked about them.... I will do a summary of this at some point soon.

After yet more coffee there was a lovely speech from Belinda McBride about what can give you inspiration, can encourage you to carry on and how to deal with writing and real life when it smacks you in the face.  After that was the book fair where we could go round and talk to authors about their books, buy them, get them signed etc

In the evening we had a formal dinner in Palm Court.  During our first two courses (which for me were spicy tomato soup followed by baked aubergine) we were entertained by a fantastic drag queen who sang to us - the only down side for me was the number of photographs being taken.  I know that I wouldn't be in them as I was wearing my white lanyard (the meet organisers are fantastic about this - if you wear a white lanyard then your photo won't be taken or appear on line - even the back of your head) but unfortunately being phobic about cameras a couple of times I started to get a bit shaky and wondered if I'd make it through the meal without a panic attack... it wasn't helped by being at the table right on the edge of the performance stage area and with my back to it.....  After the drag act finished The Songbirds Choir set up and sang beautifully whilst dessert was served (lemon tart)..... then we had a "surprise" for a mini prize giving event when bare bottomed butlers (yes seriously, they wore just an apron to give them a little modesty, and nothing else) came to help escort the prize winners to the front of the room....

The evening came to an end just after 10 pm and I snuck away to go enjoy the comfy hotel bed and to read and unwind......

I will post about Sunday (which included discovery that the internet may be vast but at times it's also a very small world indeed) tomorrow......