Sharing Recommendations

First of all, how have so many months passed since my last blog?! My mid-year resolution is to come on here more often. I hope everyone is well and enjoying the amazing weather. I just love these gorgeous, long evenings. I am sitting in the log cabin with the dog beside me, but it's not as tranquil as it sounds. Although I'm looking out at sheep, and their lambs gamboling about, Leia is squeaking her ball relentlessly. I'm doing my best to tune it out.

So, obviously, I am still alive, but not really kicking as I have serious foot issues. Having been told it was gout at A&E after an x-ray, the progression of pain made no sense so I ended up booking an appointment with a recommended podiatrist. It appears I have fragmented sesamoids (or should I say 'sesamoid' as one appears to be missing😕 and the other foot isn't great either. A similar issue there. Anyway, exercise has come to a halt, as did actual walking, so I have definitely had more time to write!

At present, I have two stories out...one in The People's Friend weekly and one in the above People's Friend Special. Actually, I've just checked and that's not correct. The Special has just come off the shelf after three weeks. I made it to 88,000 words plus in my gothic novel, but then guilt overcame me and I went back to the pocket novel that I was supposed to be writing for People's Friend. It's a romance based around football and bereavement. The PF had asked for the whole manuscript the week after I'd had my basal joint replacement, but, embarrassingly, I never got back to it. I finally bit the bullet, rewrote the first three chapters and then continued with the rest. Three drafts later, I sent it in and it was accepted three days later. I couldn't quite believe that! 

The pocket novel is called 'A Match Made in Heaven' (although they may, of course, change that), due on the shelf on 31st July in supermarkets and newsagents for two weeks. After that, I aim to put it on Amazon Kindle. To be honest, the idea terrifies me as I've never done it and it seems pretty complicated. I also have a another serial under consideration, plus a number of short stories, but I have to confess that short story production has been a bit thin on the ground due to writing the longer stuff. At the moment, I'm three chapters and a synopsis into my latest romance. This one's about the king of a fictional Mediterranean island and the temporary stable manager. All I can say is...they have a past!

Tasha, my youngest daughter, loves to read and devours books as if they're going out of fashion. I always think that if I write something she's keen to finish, then that's a great achievement. One thing I will say is that my kids have never read anything just because it was written by Mum! 😄

Thanks for sharing your time and I hope you're enjoying whatever you're reading. I'm always keen to hear what people recommend. My friend Olga Wojtas has just had her latest 'Miss Blaine' book published. 

The first in the series, 'Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar', was named as one of the best fiction books of the year by Kirkus Reviews. Olga herself won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. I studied on the same creative writing course with her, at the Open University. 

But enough about that as I could go on forever. I will share other Open University successes another time...