Bodies, mysteries and space

A big hello to everyone! I am back on dry land after a wonderful thirteen nights away to warmer climes (well, for the first five days or so). There were a lot of sea days so I managed to get 72 pages of Secret Santa rewritten. I'm now over halfway so I WILL get there eventually. There is always something that crops up and gets in the way, but I will plough on regardless. I desperately want to upload it to Amazon to replace the first edition, which was a big rush job and basically a first draft. I have been deleting whole paragraphs all over the place. I think it will end up a bit shorter! lol

I read two books on holiday and two thirds of another one. First of all...

Miss Blaine's Prefect is by a woman I studied alongside for a couple of modules when I did my OU degree. She is an incredibly talented writer and extremely smart! This definitely comes across in her writing, as does her humour. It is hard to categorise this novel into a specific genre. It is a mystery/time-hop/gentle comedy, and so much more. There are four in the series...so far so if you love it, it doesn't have to stop there! https://amzn.eu/d/0bFK1oFf

I bought A Body at the Altar because I fancied reading a light cozy crime/mystery. Again, I had no idea how much I would enjoy this. It was light, a nice easy read, and a great plot. It is also part of a series (7 books, I think). This was book 4 so I've ordered Book 1 for when I fancy reading another one. https://amzn.eu/d/0dLixh9j

I'm sure you can guess why I ordered this! Jon read it too and finished it before I did, but then I did read the other two books at the same time (This one was on Audible so I listened when walking around the ship or out on deck.) I was a bit unsure about it in some ways as I'm not a huge sci-fi fan. There is also a lot of science and maths in it, but Andy Weir writes in such a way as to make it fascinating. He is quite obviously a total genius. It was narrated by Ray Porter. Suffice to say I will look out other books that he has narrated. https://amzn.eu/d/0dVBTqpl

On the home front, I sold a story last week and sent in two new ones. I also sent in two Christmas stories just before I went on holiday, so fingers crossed. One story went straight through to the main fiction editor which doesn't often happen that quickly. Encouraging!

I'm still rewriting Secret Santa (it's taking SO long) but yesterday I sent A Match Made in Heaven to Spotify to be considered for their audible books. I will do the same for All The King's Horses and Sandy Stables. It seems they expect the writers to have a website so that has given me the impetus to finish the one I started setting up a couple of months ago. It is not my forte so a bit overwhelming.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the start of the longer evenings. Please do comment your thoughts if you feel so inclined.

Today's thought...

'Civilization begins when everyone eats. Democracy begins when everyone reads.'

Willy Thorn