Farewell to the Allotment and Christmas Videos
In which we move on from our allotment and I attempt some Christmas videos!
This week, I’m continuing with scribbling down more of Amber and The Magician and am now at about 36,500 words. Slow but sure wins the race, eh …
I’ve read The Creek Killer by Dominika Best: This is a gripping and twisty read with some very dark themes. The plot is very good and I enjoyed both the strong female characters here. I have to admit it was a bit annoying that 90% of the Harriet Harper chapters started with exactly the same few words - I think we knew she was a detective and what her surname was so it didn't need repeating every time! In terms of the story, you have to keep your wits about you but that's no bad thing. A very good read.
I’ve also read None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: this is a very readable and page-turning thriller but not one of my favourites from this author. I thought Alix and Josie, the two main characters, were very strongly portrayed, and the twists and turns of the plot are very dark indeed. All along I was keen to know what happened next but at about 75% of the way through, it began to seem rather over-the-top in terms of trauma and I did feel disengaged from the storyline. Perhaps more subtlety and a less black-and-white division between the women might have been better. I also felt that Nathan, Alix's husband, seemed to have a major character change towards the end, and I didn't recognise him in the final analysis at all. Still, I enjoyed the twists and turns along the way and it remains a pretty decent read.
In terms of my own work, I’ve read a poem about how much I love industrial cooling towers (yes, really!) from my new collection The Lost Poems. I hope you enjoy the reading. 😍
Meanwhile, are you wondering what to get for Christmas? Here's the PERFECT gift idea just for you! And, much to my astonishment, a very kind reader actually bought a copy of the book after viewing the video - which is amazing news as my off-beat marketing skills (such as they are … ) never usually get such an instant response, or indeed any response at all, LOL! 😍
I’ve also created a series of related Christmas videos for the three women in my novel, Golda, Frankie & Miranda. And, yes, those names ARE based on the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh so very seasonal indeed! Here are the three videos and I hope you enjoy them:
Turning to real life, we have decided not to renew our allotment membership for next year as we've been allotmenteers for over 10 years now and it's definitely time for a break. So here are the last of the pictures, including purple sprouts! 😃 😃
Meanwhile, in startling news, I now have over 1k followers on Bluesky so that’s amazing! If you’re a fan of Bluesky, do pop by for a visit - I can’t promise cake (shame) but there will be laughter. And coffee. There’s ALWAYS coffee.
And we’ve paid a pre-Christmas visit to Mother in deepest rural Essex, and survived the experience! Honestly, she’s the most energetic person I know - which isn’t bad for nearly 94 years old.
In terms of television, there were no surprises in the Strictly final where the most popular person won, rather than the best dancer. A marvellous achievement indeed, but I can’t help wishing Tasha could have won. She was so good. And we finished watching the latest series of Shetland where all that spy plot stuff came to nothing in the end as it turned out to be just a very dark domestic. Could have been three episodes rather than five then. However, Moonflower Murders has also just finished and has been a total triumph. Very clever, witty and charmingly intricate, it’s kept us on our toes for weeks and we’ve loved it. More like this on the television please! And our Christmas Radio Times has arrived so we are mentally prepared for Christmas TV now!
Today (Sunday) we visited our local farmers’ market which was very enjoyable, and we stocked up on sausages, game, breakfast croissants and soap. As you do. I even asked the butcher if he had any liver (how I LOVE liver!) and he found some in his stock - which he hadn’t put on his stall as nobody buys it. Um, nobody except me, that is. I also spent a few happy moments chatting about the joys of bone marrow with the butcher. Just call me the Offal Queen, eh!
Finally, I have 119 newsletter subscribers and am now down to 462 Amazon followers but thank you and a big hug to you all!