Books I read in May.....

So, five months down this year already.... not really sure how that is happening... and 19 books read this month.  Though there was some dipping in and out of other books for research I've not listed them as I didn't actually read the whole of them.  I did also do a beta read for one of the Love's Landscapes stories, which is novel length... 

Favourites this month are the 4th book in the Mahu series by Neil Plakcy, these really work for me as crime fiction with gay protags rather than M/M Romance.... and The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek, which for an online freebie I thought was an excellently one high fantasy with some interesting concepts.

It's actually been a very good month reading wise with the majority of the books read coming in at 3.5 stars or above.

So the full list....

1. Cited to Death – Meg Perry
2. Snakeskin Boots – Xara X Xanakas
3. Old Loyalty, New Love – Mary Calmes
4. Poster Boy – Anne Tenino
5. The God Eaters – Jesse Hajicek
6. My Heartache Cowboy – Z.A. Maxfield
7. Necropolis – Jordan L Hawk
8. Clarity of Lines – N.R. Walker
9. Stealing the Wind – Shira Anthony
10. Rasputin’s Kiss – L.M. Somerton
11. Mustang Hill – Rolf & Ranger (r)
12. Mahu Vice – Neil Plakcy
13. Bloodlines – Robin Saxon & Alex Kidwell
14. Of Last Resort – Megan Derr
15. Perfect Love – A.M. Burns
16. Belligerent Beta – Poppy Dennison
17. Isle of Waves – Sue Brown
18. Pickup Men – LC Chase
19. The Tin Star – J.L. Langley (r)

Love's Landscapes Event.... part 2....

My story for the event, A Point of Honour, came in a just around 28,000 words, done by the deadline, and has now made it through editing and QA... it's in the queue for the start of posting on Sunday... I am guessing it will be out towards the end of June.  As it's historical I know it won't have the general appeal of last year's contemporary piece, though I am much happier with the story this time round.

So, it should all just be a question of waiting for publication date......... only...... another historical prompt was orphaned an although it's not my period of preference Rupert, insistent bunny that he is, wiffled his nose and said "we could probably do this...."  Then, some other people on line said... "go on, do it" and sent me all sorts of pictures for inspiration....... and before I knew it..... I suddenly had another prompt.....

I've a deadline of 15th June for the characters and title (characters are already named thanks to my wonderfully supportive cheerleaders who have refrained from telling me I am nuts) and the story itself is due by 15th July.  So six weeks to write it....... I don't think it will be anything like as long as the  first story and I need to do a shed load of research this weekend before I can start.... but this is the picture and prompt

Dear Author, 

I would love to read a story set in a historical, or at least close to historical, setting in 18th century France, full of court intrigue, backstabbing and duels. I'd like them to be fashion-conscious for the times, but not too effeminate in personality.

Enemies to lovers?

Maybe one of them is an artisan baker, or party planner for the court?

Or an assassin sent to the court from another country?

Please no:
Military/Navy/Soldiers
No BDSM
Crossdressing as part of sex
Over the top angst

Please include:
HEA or HFN
explicit sexual content
Historically appropriate attitudes to sex

Thanks, <3

Sincerely,


I am wobbling a little bit about this - not least because the prompt for this one is the writing partner of the prompter for the other prompt and they are proper published writers and I am, well, a scribbler of words who occasionally strings them together in something roughly resembling a story..... 

keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Things for a short working week...

It's a bank holiday here in the UK here - or public holiday I should say - which is a bit of a joke really given that the majority of shops are open as usual ... it's basically a holiday for those of us who work in offices really..... though for some lucky people like my sister who works at a University they have tomorrow off as well as one of their statutory extra days (they essentially get three extra days holiday a year - in the legal profession we used to get the same - called Law Society Days - but they disappeared years ago).  So on the plus side - only 4 days at work this week :)

Anyway.... last week's round up...

Work - The right eyebrow is hanging on by a thread....... seriously... it looks moth eaten - I need to find another way of dealing with stress (something which my counsellor will be overjoyed that I've decided)

Writing - yeah this didn't happen - I did do a second round of edits on my LL story .... guess what, Brit's don't hyphenate half as much as the Americans would like us to ;)

Knitting - I'm half way through the scarf... and it looks very pretty.  I'd like to finish it by the end of the month.

House - I appear to have lost the potential plumber....... and the house is still a tip........ but the garden looks nice ;)

Reading - I do this best when stressed, so I have finished my LGBT Fantasy Group's monthly challenge, my Bingo book and read a couple of others...

UK Meet - I now have my Flip Chart pad and marker pens, and a suitcase. I still need to make up my table sign and send it to my sister who will laminate it.... oh and I nearly bought a posh frock for the Saturday night... then didn't.....


So to do this week...

Work - I am acting team leader again this week ... and our head of department is away on holiday too - so I shall have to be quite responsible!

Writing - do some...... seriously, it's June.... it will be August before I know it and that is when the LT3 submission is due.....

Knitting - finish the scarf and start the baby blanket for the newphewit due in August.... again with the it's June already get your finger out!

House - sort out the bloody plumber... seriously, I need to at least get the new cooker put in before I turn over my house to the dog sitter

Reading - June reading challenges start next Saturday, before then I think i shall do some re-reading

UK Meet - finish the sign, get the house sorted out for the dog sitter, and groom the hell critters so they don't look a complete mess before you leave them with someone else!

I think that's about it - today I am baking - we have a charity bake sale tomorrow at work and I am up to my eyeballs in cake......... which means I am seriously craving garlic bread and all things savory!!

Saturday Song....

I've not heard this song in years, but it just played on the radio.  I love the band anyway - a couple of their albums are major features of my driving music in the summer... but this song is one that my pacifist self totally gets the lyrics of.....

On not getting the job upgrade.....

Over a week after the interviews, I found out today that I didn't get the job upgrade....

Now, I had lots of wonderful people encouraging me, thinking positive thoughts for me and even other candidates convinced that I would get it.... I didn't.... and you what....... that's fine.

I am not upset, or disappointed, in fact, if I think about it I am rather relieved....... it's not that I couldn't do the job, or didn't want it (I wouldn't have applied if that was the case), I am just not sure that now would have been the right time for me.

In effect, I was rejected, but really, it doesn't feel like a rejection at all.  Sure I've had job interviews where I didn't get the job before, though to be honest only 2 of those... one I minded bitterly about the other I couldn't have cared less.  This just feels, I don't know, kind of right.

I got more worked up about my last round of edits to be honest...... which probably goes to show I am more personally involved with my writing than I am with my job...... I don't think that's a bad thing, after all the writing comes from within, the job as much as I enjoy it, is something I do to pay the bills and keep me off the streets.

I think for now I shall just enjoy the working day and come home and enjoy being more creative, whether that is writing or knitting (okay, or baking that sometimes gets creative, particularly when you've forgotten half the ingredients you need)......

Better late than never... things to do this week...

I meant to do this on yesterday... but a serious bout of insomnia on Sunday night meant that I couldn't string a coherent sentence together verbally let alone get my fingers to co-operate with making a blog post...

The weather here has been wonderful for the last week... but alas today we have clouds and that feeling of approaching thunder... joy...

I also have a sneezing cat... which I am hoping will resolve itself in the next couple of days or we shall be heading to the vet :(

So.... what happened last week...

Work - Yeah, well Wednesday was hell - okay, so my appraisal was fine and I'm a good employee, but they won't be announcing who got the upgrade posts till Friday and quite frankly the wait is a nightmare!  I've got a busy week this week acting up as my team leader is on holiday... but on the plus side, it was a colleague's birthday today.... there were cupcakes...

Knitting wise -The May project is finished... rejoice!!

Writing - I've done some plotting for the LT3 submission and some research (read oggling pictures on the net... I need a man with  a specific tattoo)....I've also, for fun, started writing a very short D/s piece which my writing cheerleaders (enablers!) have been pushing for...I don't think I write contemporary that well, so we shall see what happens with that.

House - the plumber never showed up.... but as the last post shows... the gardener did :)  I still haven't got over the novelty of looking out onto a tidy and neat garden!

Reading - I read my bingo book, am reading another challenge book... but the PIFM book still lingers... it's just really not my thing.

And so to this week....

Work - Just need to get through to Friday with my right eyebrow intact... yeah, seriously, chances aren't high...

Writing - finish the D/s piece and send it to my beta readers and get started with the LT3 piece

Knitting - I'm working on a scarf at present (fairly basic feather and fan lace) which was promised for last Christmas... yeah, I know... anyway, I am banning myself from the computer after 7.30 pm at night which means I get a good couple of hours of knitting in most evenings whilst I watch TV or talk on the phone.

House - chase the plumber!  well not literally, cos that would scare him..... I still need to do sme serious housework in preparation for the dog sitter coming

Reading - yeah, I will do some...

Other things I need to do include - make a sign for the Readers Only table I am running at the UK meet and check my sister has got the flip chart and marker pens for me.  Bath and groom the dogs now that their seasons are all over.

Could be a busy week.... well... what's left of it!

I appear to have a garden....

Okay, so it's always been there... and when I moved in it was a lovely neat thing, with a lawn, and borders and shrubs.... it also has lots of flowers to... and whilst they've all been there for the last 5 years they've been struggling against natures attempts to turn it all into a wild flower meadow....

I'd promised myself I would get someone to sort it out - as much as I love having a garden and pottering about in it having arthritis and lymphodema means that it's impossible to really do anything myself .... well that and the whole me and power tools thing.......

So, before today the garden looked a little like this......


 ---> this alleges to have been a lawn... yeah... though I think it's more a dandelion breeding colony...

Above is the over grown hedge and shrubs together with the branches of a chopped down tress

And to the right is the beech hedge at the front of the house... which I think was attempting a take over of the entire place.... the shrub in the middle of the lawn is also trying to get in on the act....



Anyway..... after two visits from my very nice friendly gardener (who didn't laugh at the state of the garden) it looks like this....

 Yep - this is the same beech hedge... trimmed into submission,.... and a lawn.... and the same shrub but now rather cut back....

I've a front garden now that doesn't suggest some mad witch women lives here!

and on to the back....




On the left is the lilac tree and hydrangea at the side of the house, and you can actually see the shed now.... before it was covered in some mad growing shrub


on the right is the holly bush and lawn! in the back garden to the right hand side... you couldn't really see any of that for the brambles before

and finally, below is the footpath that I'd actually forgotten as there at all as it was completely covered in weeds and grass....  

The gardeners will be back next week to have another hour or so getting more done, mainly seeing what is what once it's settled and trimming the lawn off again..... and spraying lots of weed killer to get rid of my dandelions!  Then they move to fortnightly visits to keep on top of it and make it a garden I can go and sit out in without disappearing under the shrubbery!