Yes, you’re right, it has been a while, but I thought I’d
write a little something today. We didn’t get the heavy snow as it moved
further south, but still had a smattering and as I glance out of the kitchen
window, the sun is shining on the icing sugar covered field behind us, and the
canal is frozen. Cat the younger ventured out earlier but found her paws got
cold and wet so hurried back in again and is currently in front of the fire.
As many of you who read this blog will know, we lost cat
the elder last week. Pets are not people, but her loss added to the general
feeling of sadness after the death of my brother. I tell myself not to, but I can’t
help thinking that two months ago I had a brother and two cats, and now I don’t.
Still, cat the elder had a good life for the last few years. She’d decided to
leave her first home and take up residence with the nice old lady down the
street. When the nice old lady had to go into a home, her fate was uncertain. I
decided to take her in as long as she and cat the younger got on. I won’t say
it was a match made in heaven, but they tolerated each other. Her sudden
decline came as a shock, and the vets have no real idea what caused her strange
condition, but we couldn’t let her suffer. Her ashes will be buried in the
garden with the other three boys. We’ve usually played music for each burial,
but we’re not sure of her musical choices as she was deaf and didn’t respond to
sound. For boy 1, we played Lady Marmalade, Boy 2 had Figaro, and Boy 3 loved a
diva, especially Liza Minelli!
Anyway, onto other things. Writing has been slow as my
heart hasn’t been in it for many reasons. I’ve been suffering from a feeling of
why bother combined with simply not being able to find the words. I did manage
to finish a chapter and reckon I have another and the epilogue to go on WIP. Two for the Road is my first May/December
story and will reach around 63K words. I intended to write a 30K Christmas
story, but it grew. Once this is finished, I have to edit/rewrite Half Full and Half Time and write the third in the series with the same MCs. I
also have 20K words written of another story that needs finishing.
The
Matchmaker, my short story has received a few lovely reviews. As I
expected, teenager, Tom, steals every scene from the MCs. If you want a sweet,
short read this might be the one for you. In other news, Pride Publishing are
having a sale with up to 60% off lots of great titles. This includes my first
book, Sporting Chance, at half price
and my most recent, My Highland Cowboy,
with a third off. Both are at £1.99 or $2.68 for this month. I’ll put the links
at the end if you are tempted.
I’m currently having an orgy of Christmas story reading
along with a few non-Christmas stories – Romancing
the Werewolf by Gail Carriger, The
Doctor’s Discretion by EE Ottoman and Spring
Flowering by Farah Mendlesohn. Christmas stories read so far include The Clumsy Santa by Sue Brown, Desperately Seeking Santa by Eli Easton,
Snowflakes and Cinnamon Buns by
Claire Castle and A Christmas Promise
by K C Wells. Next up is A Mistletoe Kiss
by Ruby Moone. I’m also reading Richard Coles autobiography for some variety.
On the watching front, we’ve finished up to S5 of The West Wing and have started on S2 of The Crown. We’ve continued to enjoy S13
of Supernatural and, I have to admit,
watched I’m a Celebrity supporting
Toff all the way. Although, I’m way behind with other CW programmes, even Legends of Tomorrow, I did watch the
4-day cross programme event, mostly because Wentworth Miller was back and kissing
Russell Tovey. I wasn’t disappointed.
That’s it from me. I doubt I’ll blog again until after
Christmas, so I wish you all a happy time. For my family, the holiday will be
tinged with sadness, especially as it will be my brother’s birthday at the end
of December. It would be wonderful if 2018 was a better year, but I’m not going
to hold my breath. Our target for next year is to find a new single-story
house.
To my author friends, happy sales, and to everyone else,
happy reading. I hope Santa brings you what you want.
Sporting Chance
My Highland Cowboy
The Matchmaker
