Home Thoughts Weekly

On the ninth day of Christmas my publishers, Choc Lit, and National Express are giving away … my short story Touch Wood together with my hero’s easy recipe for delicious hot chocolate. Click on the link here and enter the code SHORT and you can download both for free. The idea for Touch Wood , came from my cuttings file which, like my notebooks, contains photos and articles which speak to me in some way. An article about a craftswoman working with green oak had a particular pull, maybe because it brought back vivid childhood memories. My dad was a carpenter and joiner, although his area of expertise was not green oak but bespoke oak staircases and lantern lights. Oak’s a very costly material so there was a lot of tip-toeing around when Dad was setting out a staircase. ‘Measure twice, cut once’ was his maxim, because you really don’t want to do it the other way round! What if, I wondered, my heroine was an instructor, teaching the craft of green woodworking? Another photo ...

Remember this... ? (And a lot of people round here still chuckle at that hat, I can tell you.) Well, I'm pleased to tell you that that Choc Lit and National Express have teamed up again. As a special Christmas treat you can download a free short story from Choc Lit's Love Match Selection every day up until Christmas Eve!  All you have to do is collect the relevant code from National Express at their Facebook page or on Twitter and enter it here . The twelve stories in this collection are lovely (well, I would say that, wouldn't I?) and they all come with a delicious chocolatey recipe to match.  Mine's out on the... oops, nearly gave the secret away.

‘Be punctual, bring props’ is today’s brief . My publishers, Choc Lit , have linked up with the UK’s largest coach operator, National Express , to give away a great selection of ‘summer reads’ on selected coach services to major airports and from major cities throughout July and August. My new novel Move Over Darling  will be making its debut on the coaches, giving passengers a pre-publication preview which is why I’m on my way to Cardiff for a photo shoot. My anxiety levels are stratospheric, there’s the ‘be punctual’ bit for a start. I hate being late, so I leave the house at Crack of Doom to allow for tractors and milking time on the long drive through narrow lanes. I manage to find a parking space at the station (my next worry). The train turns up on time, phew, and there’s enough space for me, my big orange sun hat and my small red suitcase. In Cardiff I’m almost undone by the station loos where eight women are queuing for two cubicles one of which seems to be pe...