I’m very pleased to have a story in the current issue of Woman’s Weekly. Just to prove I don’t have a one track mind, this one is all about biscuits – not cake. However…

… it’s my birthday today, so as it happens I am currently drinking tea and eating cake.

I have been writing, but perhaps not as I would have done without a garden full of tulips to distract me. As they’re so fleeting, I think I’m justified in going out to admire them – even if that does extend my tea breaks significantly.

The tulips will soon be gone and I’ll be giving my writing more attention… at least until the iris and peonies start to flower.

Do you read books via kindle unlimited? If you do, you may be interested in this selection of romances, these cosy reads, or this mixed genre collection. A few of my books are included in those promotions, along with work by several other authors. If you’ve not tried kindle unlimited before, you can often sign up for a free trial, which is a great way to sample the books of new (to you) authors, with no financial risk.

Maybe you don’t like ebooks, I know not everyone does. We all like spring flowers though, don’t we? This is my little patch of ‘meadow’ currently full of tulips, promroses, grape hyacinths and hellebores.

A little while ago, I happened to see an episode of Call My Bluff (a vey old repeat – it’s not something I watched when it was originally broadcast). One of the words was seege, meaning the sushing sound sound the sea makes as it comes ashore. I thought that would be a good one for word of the week, so when we went for a walk yesterday, I took this photo.
Back home, I made a nice cup of tea and looked up the word. Or rather I tried to. Online all I could find was that it was an old, alternative spelling for siege. That’s when you don’t let people out of their castle until the give up and let you in – but not a come in and I’ll put the kettle on kind of way.
Seege isn’t in any of our dictionaries either. I may have misremembered the spelling, but had no luck with the likely variations. It’s possible I mixed up the definition with that of another word. I didn’t just make seege up though, as Gary vaguely remembers it too. Oh well, it was a nice walk!
Have you ever heard of seege?

I’ll be at the Community Kettle in Cosham, on Monday (2nd March). If you’re in the area, please come in and say hello – and perhaps have some tea and cake. I’ve been informed one will be freshly baked that morning.

I’m delighted to have stories in both My Weekly and Woman’s Weekly, this week. That sort of thing hasn’t happened in a long time. That’s partly because, since I started work on my cosy mystery novel series, I’ve not written so many short stories.

With This Ring is a crime story in Woman’s Weekly. It’s years since I’ve had a story in this magazine, as for quite some time they wanted all rights to my stories, and I wouldn’t sign a contract giving them up. It was a blow to lose what was my biggest market at the time, but I still feel I did the right thing sticking to my principles.
It’s appropriate then that Carly, the main character in this story, also does the right thing – eventually.

Perfect Petals in My Weekly is a story about flowers. The title and that gorgeous illustration probably already told you that much, but I won’t say more just in case I spoil the ending for you.

I’m pleased to have a story in the current issue of Take A Break’s Fiction Feast.

Yes, it’s about cake again! Trust me, if you’d put as much time and effort into researching the topic as I have, you’d write about cakes quite frequently too.

Should you wish to read more on this important subject, take a look here.