A Spot of Sunshine

Lovely Juliet Greenwood whose novel Eden’s Garden, published by Honno, is officially launched tomorrow, has kindly nominated this blog for a Sunshine Award. Thank you, Juliet and congratulations - the postman should be delivering my copy of Eden’s Garden very soon, I hope! Juliet has asked me to post some random facts about myself, but I’ve also seen bloggers posting about things that make them happy in response to this award so, as it’s been one of those days, I’m writing about random things that have made me happy today.

At this very moment, as I type this, Turning the Tide is #1 in Kindle Store Books Contemporary Romantic Fiction which, I can tell you, has made me pretty jolly happy.

…especially after a rather bruising online incident at the weekend when my fellow Choc Lit authors rallied round me, picked me up and dusted me off again. I haven’t met all of the Choc Lit team and I’ve hardly met any of the friends I’ve made through social media, but the kindness and support of people I only know through the internet, astounds me and cheers me up every time. Thanks to all of you. On that subject Novel Racer friend Liane Spicer, our own Wordtryst, has invited me to be a guest at Novel Spaces ‘a universe for writers and readers’ and I’m honoured to be appearing there tomorrow.

You'll notice from the ad on the Amazon screenshot, that I've been searching for something to wear for my daughter's wedding. I am what Susannah and Trinny would have called a cornet shape ie I have wide shoulders and slim hips. In practice this means that any dress that clears my rib cage flaps like a sail round my hips. It also means that I’m beginning to panic about whether the shops make Mother of the Bride dresses for freaks of nature. Finding the right outfit so I can stop worrying about it would make me very happy indeed!

I was putting a card together for Ma’s birthday last week when I came across the above photo. It’s probably the earliest picture of me on a boat (and no, it wasn’t when dinosaurs roamed the earth, although you could be forgiven for thinking so from the photo!). That’s me on Ma’s lap, with my uncle on the right and two of my cousins!

After three days of being blanketed in fog, the sun’s just come out! Hurray!

AND FINALLY… This morning, I saw the cover for Move Over Darling and it’s bee-yoo-ti-ful! It’s Wednesday Hottie time on the Choc Lit blog today, so the big reveal will have to wait until tomorrow. Do come and have a look if you’ve got time.

A Winter's Tale

Thursday 2 December Feeling confined in her snow-muffled flat, Ma takes a walk up her front path to take the morning air. As she returns a cat jumps over the wall and startles her. She slips on the icy path and lands heavily on her shoulder. When her injury doesn’t spontaneously heal, she eventually gives in and calls her local GP surgery. In the evening a GP visits and summons an ambulance ‘sooner rather than later’. Around 10.30 pm Ma is admitted to her local hospital. X-rays suggest she has a fractured scapula which will require emergency surgery. She is put on a nil by mouth regime that night and transferred to a larger hospital for an emergency operation. However, she’s picked a busy period for her accident so the operation doesn’t take place. Saturday 4 December The operation is rescheduled for this morning, so Ma’s had a second night of nil by mouth. A CT scan shows that Ma’s humerus is broken in four places. Despite her obviously smashed-up arm, which is in a sling and...

Heading for the Rocks

Blue Nun and the rocks! Aaaah! The joy of having a boat again! Blue Nun’s so much more responsive than our wooden boat, lovely as she was, and so nippy too! We enjoy a brisk sail from Neyland to Dale where we spend a couple of restful days, reading, writing and generally watching the world go by. On the third morning we decide on a change of scenery and potter round to a sheltered bay where we can pick up a mooring buoy. Well, we would have, if I’d been quicker. Now, I’m pretty good at picking up buoys, but make a right dog’s dinner of it this time. ‘Never mind,’ says Tom, ‘we’ll give it another go!’ He puts the engine in reverse and Blue Nun obediently travels backwards (something no previous boat of ours has ever done!) … and a rope which trails the dingy behind the boat whirls round the propeller. Yikes! Tom manages to free enough to regain control of the engine, but he’s pretty sure that some of the rope is still tangled up. Whilst I would quite like to preten...

The Winds of Change

‘Good’, says my dear friend, Jill, when I tell her that Storm Ciara means the Llanelli Half Marathon has been postponed. ‘My guardian angel is working overtime!’. Jill’s guardian angel has indeed been very busy looking after her and her loved ones lately, so I’m impressed that she’s squeezed in a few extra hours to whip up a storm which will give me another four weeks to recover from my accident before I race. Bit tough on everyone else being battered by strong winds, of course, but yes, part of me is relieved. Llanelli’s one of my favourite races so I was reluctant to pull out, but a bit daunted by the prospect of running 13.1 miles just at the moment. My ribs have stopped clicking at last, but I’m afraid to sneeze without holding tight to the damaged area. So far as getting back to normal goes, my chipped front tooth has been repaired and most of my traumatised teeth have survived a ‘vitality test’ with electric pulp testing … which I have to say doesn’t half make you jump....

Home Thoughts Weekly

Search This Blog