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Waking up to leaden skies and yet more rain driving against the window, I was very interested to hear an item on Radio 4’s Today programme about the potential for ‘Welsh Noir’ . Hinterland , a new detective drama currently being filmed in and around Aberystwyth, has been bought by DR Denmark, the Danish company behind The Killing . The weather here is certainly bleak and grey enough at times to make me feel as if I’m living in a Danish drama, but what’s made me a huge fan of Scandinavian dramas like The Killing and The Bridge is the quality of the writing. The second series of Borgen , the political drama, has, for me, been outstanding and I particularly like being allowed to work the story out for myself instead of being spoon-fed.    So, will ‘Welsh Noir’ become the next big thing? Well, Ed Thomas, the producer of Hinterland , put his finger on the essence of wide appeal when he stressed that authentic stories also had to be universal; or, to use a familiar catch...

Apologies for being a bit elusive, but I'm trying very hard at the moment to crack on with Book Three.  It's therefore a bit rich of me to ask anyone else for their time, however, here's the latest book news for Move Over Darling for anyone who might be interested. I'm a guest blogger at RomCon , home of the Annual Romance Readers Convention, today. The large print of edition of Move Over Darling is out now , as is the audiobook, read by Charlotte Strevens who has a lovely warm voice and took immense trouble to get in touch with me before making the recording so she could be sure to get the accents right. You can hear a sample here .

2012 was memorable  both professionally and privately; a photo shoot for a national campaign, appearances in national press, a new book and a new son-in-law... Photo by Exposure Photography My working year A happy day But over Christmas and the New Year , everyone around us seemed to be struck down with illness or, in Ma’s case, by her iron falling off a high shelf on to her back (really, can this woman never tire of finding new and inventive ways of injuring herself?). And on the last day of the old year, there was news of a little death when our distraught next-door neighbour came to the door to ask our help in retrieving the poor worn-out body of the shy stray cat she had fed for three years from her garden. Tom and I always called it The Invisible Cat because it was so wary of human contact, but as we stood over it with our torches in the rain, we were both moved to see that the poor thing had tried, and just failed, to make it back to a place of saf...

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.

'How nice,' people often remark, 'that you and Lily both live in Wales and can pop in and see each other.' Well, it's true we both live in the same country, but there's a hundred miles between where I live on the coast and Lily in Cardiff.  I also live 45 minutes from the nearest railway station.  An hour, if like yesterday, you happen to get stuck behind a milk lorry.  We love our remote location but some occasions are worth venturing out for.  On Saturday Tom and I drove to Cardiff to see Wales v Australia at the Millennium stadium.  We lost in the last minute and the bloke behind me dropped his beer down my back, but Lily and Russ gave us dinner which was lovely.  Then, yesterday, I travelled down again to meet some fellow Welsh-based members of the Romantic Novelists' Association for a lovely lunch... We left the house in darkness so Tom could drop me at Carmarthen station at 9 am... It was freezing - no wonder everyone's wrapped up....

After what feels like endless rain, the day was dry, crisp and cold... The view across Cardigan Island With a flat, calm sea... An essential ingredient for the evening meal was gathered... Strange to think that what once lived in a house like this... ... can be transformed into something like this... Although this was couriered to our doorstep from The Fish Society as a wonderful birthday surprise arranged by Tom. Sadly, it's difficult to buy locally-caught seafood as most of it is shipped abroad.  Eating out can be a bit of a trek too, as we live in such a far-flung place. I was thrilled to bits with my treat... As you can see from what was left... It's probably just as well birthdays only come round once a year!