Red hot deal!

The ebook of my romantic comedy Firestarter is currently available for 99p in the UK, and 99c in the US. Both ebook and paperback versions are also available in some libraries. If you can’t see it (or any other book you’re interested in) it’s worth asking if they can get it in for you.

Be warned! Unlike my other novels, this one does have some sexual content. Well, if you’re going to write something hot, it makes sense to involve a fireman, don’t you think?

Cover of romantic comedy Firestarter
Firestarter

Wednesday word of the week – Supermundane

Doesn’t supermundane sound soooo boring? Actually it means out of this world or superior to earthly things. And that makes it jolly difficult to illustrate.

This is Arbroath Abbey. We enjoyed our visit there very much – definitely closer to super than to mundane.

Corfe of course

We’ve been to Corfe Castle several times. Sometimes we’ve gone in, sometimes walked round the village a footpaths to get shots of it from different angles, and once we climbed up the steep hill so we could look down on it. This time we did all three – and had a look in the bookshop, which I don’t think was there before.

I’m sure that hill has got steeper in the last ten years!


Wednesday word of the week – Poddle

I hadn’t come across the word poddle, until writing buddy Sharon Bee used it in connection with my character police officer Trevor Harris, who is the lead character in the fourth book in my Little Mallow cosy mystery series . Distracting Crimes and Romantic Proposals in Little Mallow will be out later this year.

Sharon says that Trevor seemed to ‘poddle along‘. I guessed the word meant to be relaxed, unstressed, not particularly hurried or dynamic. That’s because of how Trevor was behaving in the scene Sharon was commenting on. We were both right. Poddle means to travel or move in a leisurely manner, and Trevor is more than capable of that! He has many good qualities and can be brave, quick thinking and decisive when needed, but you’re not likely to mistake him for Jack Reacher or James Bond. That makes him a good fit for a series which is more in the style of Agatha Christie than Karin Slaughter.

Oddly I couldn’t find a photo of Trevor, so here’s one of me poddling in the Lake District. Have you ever poddled?

Btw there’s a river Poddle in Ireland. I wonder if it’s fast flowing?

Ready and waiting

We got up really early and came to photograph a ship. We can’t even see the sea!

As the pilots can’t see anything either, the ship has gone to anchor. That means I can get on with some writing while we wait. A cup of tea first though I think.

Packing

We’ll be going on another ‘deployment’ in the van soon (that’s a term borrowed from Gary’s time in the Royal Navy, which we use for any trip longer than a fortnight. Prior to any deployment Gary likes to take absolutely everything out the van, clean it and then replace those things we need. We call this fettling, and it’s Gary’s part of ship.

We’re now on the repacking phase. Most things go straight back in, but sometimes we decide not to keep carrying around something we never use, to upgrade or replace something, and a few things are seasonal.

These are my autumn / winter weight hiking socks. They, and all our underwear, swimwear, and T-shirts go into these zip up bags. We have six each.

Wednesday word of the week – Dressed

Dressed is the past tense of dress or dressing.  Most of these words are connected with putting things on – a person wearing clothes is dressed, as is a salad sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Gardens can be dressed with compost or fertiliser, a Christmas tree with baubles, or a graze with a plaster.

We can get dressed up in our smartest clothes, or give a dressing down to those who didn’t make the effort. If we really want to get things right, we may even have a dress rehearsal.

Stone and meat can both be dressed – in these cases it means trimmed to get them ready for cooking or building.

Lots of things can be dressed up in an attempt to make them seem better. For example I’ve dressed up this post to look informative, rather than an advert for my short story collection, Dressed To Impress. Here’s the blurb –

We choose our clothes to help us stand out, make a statement, or to hide inside. They may show who we really are or be our disguise. Perhaps they’ll help us play a part, get the job done, or be a means for revenge.Clothes can warm, comfort and reassure us. We might buy or borrow them, damage or repair, give them away or have them taken. The items in our wardrobe might bring back memories, express hope for the future, or offer a surprise.From glasses to shoes, fancy dress to fancy dresses, designer wear to charity donations, the clothes we wear all have a story to tell. This book contains 24 of them.

You can get the book as ebook, paperback, or through kindle unlimited here, request at your library, order in bookshops, or buy paperbacks direct from the printer here.

What kind of dressing do you like best?