Frangible means brittle or liable to break. To me it sounds like one of those flaky pastry things which shatter as you bite into them, but not until after they’ve squidged a dollop of cream down whatever you were wearing.

It could also apply to that little burst of confidence that allows us to submit our work and which cracks at the mere thought of a ‘thanks but no thanks’ by return of post. Still if you want to be published you have to risk that.

I’m pleased to have a short story in the current (5th February)issue of The People’s Friend. 

I’ll be signing copies of my romantic murder mystery Acting Like A Killer this Saturday at The Bookshop Lee-on-the-Solent. If you’re in the area do come in and say hello. If you get there before they all run out, I’ll give you one of the lead character’s favourite sweets!

Two of my short stories are now available as free downloads onto a range of e-readers. There’s Waving Goodbye and Private and Confidential. Some of my full length books are also available in this way and I’ll be added the rest over the next couple of months – and offering more free short stories.

To excogitate means to think out or contrive. When I write these posts I excogitate the possibility of convincing you that one of my travel photos is relevant.

Here I am doing just that…

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Another Scottish word I’ve learned on my travels is smirs, which was taught to me by Dawn Brown (who also introduced me to some jolly good home baking). According to the dictionary, smir (or smirs, or even smirrs) is a form of light drizzle. Dawn tells me ‘it’s down from dreich, but up from scotch mist’.

It was smirring when we visited Crichton Castle. After it had smirred, the sun came out for us at Melrose Abbey.

No, not me. Well, I might be, but that’s not what I’m posting about. It’s my books. Until last year they were only available via Amazon. Over 2021 I made the paperbacks available through many other outlets and I’ve now started doing the same thing with my ebooks.

You can find all those I’ve done here – including a few free short stories. More will be added soon.

Audible means capable of being heard. If something happens audibly, that means it’s audible. When a sound is indistinct, or simply not loud enough, you might complain about its audibility (creators of TV dramas don’t seem to care about the audibleness of their product).

Audible is also an Amazon salesline, which enables subscribers to listen to a huge range of audio books for a monthly fee. They’re currently offering a free trial.

Several of my books are available through Audible Escape To The Country, Paint Me A Picture, Coffee & Cake, and From Story Idea to Reader.

I’ve had the first review for my latest novel Acting Like A Killer and I’m delighted with it. The ebook version of the novel is currently available at a reduced introductory price – but only for a couple more days.