Free story!

I thought I'd say 'thanks' and 'happy Christmas' in one, to all my friends and readers, with a new little story on my website. Flaking Out is a romantic pwp with a winter theme and I hope you all enjoy it. So, thanks for all the support and for helping to make this year special, and you can find the story at my website.

Happy holidays!

Those scavenger hunt prizes

I've just had a full list through of all the prizes on offer in the Blast in the New scavenger hunt I'm takiing part in. Here it is, and I think you'll agree it's pretty impressive:

Ann Cory Two Prizes - Breaking in Levi & Butterfly Kisses
Ann Lory Two Prizes - Eternal Embrace & Eternal Obsession
Ashleigh Raine One Prize - Lover's Talisman
Camille Anthony Two Prizes - Reflections & Christmas Bunny
Celia Kyle Five Prizes - Touch Me, Tri Me, Serve Me, Love Me & Wicked Shift
Dawn Montgomery Two Prizes - Bound in Lust & Babes in Toyland II
Emily Ryan-Davis One Prize - A Rose of Any Color: Maledom
Fiona Glass Two Prizes - Shifting Perspectives & Watery Grave
James Buchanan One Prize - Lord Carabas
JJ Massa Two Prizes - Sweet Treats & Metamorphosis
Jodi Payne One Prize - Founder
Kate Hill One Prize - Make Love, Not Money
Kit Zheng Two Prizes - Torn & Exposure
Laura Baumbach Two Prizes - Roughhousing & The Collector 9: The Lost Temple of Karttikeya
Lia Sebastian Two Prizes - Office Relations & Seventh Sense
Marteeka Karland Two Prizes - Executive Decisions: By the Numbers & Black Star: Diamond
Maura Anderson One Prize - Texas Tea
Michelle Hasker One Prize - Screaming Orgasm
Phyllis Marie Campbell Two Prizes - Always My Love & Ten Ways to Melt a Man's Heart
Rayne Forrest One Prize - Hero
Sedonia Guillone One Prize - Ace in the Hole
Shelley Munro One Prize - Romantic Interlude
Shonna Brannon Three Prizes - In the Nick of Time, Falcon Hunter & Spirit Within
Stella and Audra Price Two Prizes - Choice of Backlist Books
Tuesday Morrigan Five Prizes - Monstrous Kink, Violet Storm, Nutcracker, Frost Bite & Wicked Intentions

That's a grand total of 47 prizes!! As well as my two books, there are a number of works from other m/m writers as well as heaps by erotica and romance authors.

So, if you haven't started searching yet, what are you waiting for? LOL. Hurry over to my website and find the first of the hidden graphics today.

What a nice surprise!

Well, that was an unexpected but lovely arrival in my inbox this afternoon - a message to say that Night Owl Romance have reviewed Roses in December, loved it, rated it 5/5 and chosen it as one of their top picks!!

I'm ever so slightly overcome, especially as I don't think I specifically requested the review, which makes it even more of a pleasant surprise.

You can read the review at the Night Owl Romance website, and you can find out more about the novel at Through the Glass Darkly.

This really made my day!

Scavenger Hunt!!!

Want a chance to win copies of my books Watery Grave and Shifting Perspectives? Then hurry along to my website right now, and take part in the Blast in the New scavenger hunt organised by Celia Kyle and Tuesday Morrigan, with e-books from 27 participating authors on offer!

All you need to do is hurry over to my website and find the Blast in the New button hidden somewhere amongst the books and stories. When you find it, click the link back to the Blast in the New blog and follow the instructions on how and where to find the other 26 buttons and how to enter the contest. It's as easy as that!

Each participating author has donated two e-books as prizes; the lucky Grand Winner gets copies of them all!! My offerings are Watery Grave, a collection of three short horror stories with a watery theme from Torquere Press (more details here) and Shifting Perspectives, an anthology of shapeshifting stories from Aspen Mountain Press which includes my short story 'Feathered Friend' (more info here).

Best of luck and happy hunting!

My Yahoo group

I realised to my intense shame the other day that I'd been completely neglecting my Yahoo group, which I set up a year or so ago to keep readers, and anyone else who's interested, informed of all my news. These days there are so many blogs, social networks, lists, groups and whatever else to keep updated, it can be difficult to keep track of them all! *hangs head in shame*

I've made a very early new years' resolution to update the list more often, and to try to make it a bit less dull and introduce some chat and fun. To that end I've renamed it Pane in the Glass (I know, I know, but I couldn't resist!) and now I'm issuing an invitation. If you enjoy my books, want to know when I've got new stuff coming out, want to ask me questions about my writing, or just join in and chat, then please wander over to Pane in the Glass and sign up now. And - hello!

Working on: Got Ghosts
Words today: 1018

Starting over...

Writing's a funny business at times. You get a perfectly good idea, sit down and scribble for weeks or months, and then the doubts creep in. You shove the thing back in its folder, put it to one side for weeks or months more, and then quite suddenly, when you weren't even thinking about that piece of work, inspiration strikes.

This happened to me recently with the novel I started earlier in the year, set in the Lake District. I'd written about half of it when my confidence began to slip. Was it gripping enough? Wasn't it too similar to some of my other books? I tried to ignore all those annoying little voices, but gradually the writing ground to a halt and in the end I put the whole thing back on the shelf.

Then, a couple of days ago, I had one of those blinding moments of absolute clarity, when I realised what was wrong with the novel, what needed to be hoicked out, and what I could use to replace it with. Of course!! Of course... it'll mean ten times as much work, a load of rewriting, and simply tons of extra research before I can even put fingernail to keyboard. But I think it'll be worth it, and I'm sure I'll be much happier with the book as a result.

Working on: Got Ghosts
Words today: 1420

What's that? A sequel?

Loud gasps of amazement. My regular readers will know that I rarely (or even never!) write sequels, mostly because my stories are very stand-alone, and many of them have a twist in the tail or element of surprise which would be lost in a follow-on. But for once I've broken my own rule, and have just finished the first draft of a sequel to Feathered Friend. It's called Steal The Sky, and involves the further adventures of Avery and a pigeon race that goes horribly wrong. :)

I don't have a specific home for it yet, but I'm hoping Aspen Mountain might consider a follow-up anthology to 'Shifting Perspectives' in due course. I'll keep my fingers crossed, and keep you all posted.

Currently working on: Got Ghosts
Words today: 211

On a brighter note...

In Their Own Words, a great new blog where authors can post interviews with their own characters, has just published my interview with Nat Brook, the soldier hero of Roses in December.

This was meant to be a short interview but turned into something of a novel in its own right. Rather unusually I've done it in the form of a job interview, which ties in neatly with the book - although I'm not going to say why. You'll have to read the interview, or the book, or both, to find out why! :)

Another publisher bites the dust

I heard the sad news yesterday that Chippewa Publishing, and its erotica division Lady Aibell Press, have ceased trading. This leaves my two stand-alone short stories, Elfmeet and Lost Property, without a home, at least for now. I've taken the details, links etc to the books down from my website and can only apologise for the disappointment if anyone was on the point of buying them! I will keep everyone posted on whether I can find new homes for the stories.

New gay books forum

Regular readers of my blog and website will know that I'm something of a fan of gay books in general, especially if they're on the romantic side. ;) I realised a few weeks ago that I've read dozens but didn't have anywhere to chat about them with fellow enthusiasts. So I set up a new forum to do just that. It's called 'Read the Rainbow' (all I could think of at short notice when Forumer prompted me for a name LOL) and it's right here if you want to take a look, and hopefully join in.

So far we've had discussions on books as wide ranging as Mary Renault and Annie Proulx, Patrick Gale and E M Forster, as well as some more general chat about finding gay books, recommendations, cover art and even 'film of the book'.

Why not pop your head round the door and join in the fun? Hope to see you all there!

Getting my wires crossed

I realised the other day that I'd never uploaded an excerpt for my story 'Crossed Wires' on my website. The story features in a two-title volume of m/m adventures from Whiskey Creek Press: 'Torrid Teaser: The Rescue/Crossed Wires', and although I'd remembered to quote a section from the first story, the space for 'Crossed Wires' was blank!

That's all fixed now, though, with a (hopefully) tantalising cliff-hanger from the story added to the Torrid Teaser page. Read... enjoy... and don't worry, it does have a happy ending. ;)

Review of The Rat Burglar by Emily Veinglory

The Rat Burglar is, quite simply, tremendous fun. Based on Japanese mythology, it tells the tale of Sandy, a security guard at an expensive city gallery, and Rudy, a thief with a very unexpected skill. Needless to say, the two clash when Rudy decides to steal a priceless Japanese artifact from the gallery. Needless to say, the path of true love does not run smooth, as Rudy battles to control his shapeshifting abilities, while Sandy struggles to trust him.

The characters are possibly the best thing in an all-round good story. Sympathetic without being goody-goody, attractive without being Ken-dolls, they engage the reader's interest and come off the page as delightfully real. Even though one's a shapeshifter and the other is half Japanese with a distinctly exotic past, you feel like they're the sort of people you could meet every day on the street. Because of that, it's very easy to care what happens to them.

The story itself can best be described as rollicking, with fights and motorbike chases and misunderstandings galore, but this isn't just wham-bam comic strip action. There's thoughtfulness, too, and just the right amount of angst. The plot twists are both unexpected and clever, the well-researched Oriental mythology adds interest to an already intriguing tale, and the ending is delightful and feels just right.

I won't go into any more detail for fear of spoiling the surprise, but this is a perfect short story whether you like shapeshifters or not!

The Rat Burglar is available in Shifting Perspectives from Aspen Mountain Press.

You can read Emily Veinglory's review of Understanding Forgiveness here, and you can read TA Chase's review of my own story, Feathered Friend, here.

Excerpt

Just in case you haven't already seen it plastered all over my web site and my Myspace page ;), here's a little exerpt from Feathered Friend. Hope you enjoy it!

-----

"I didn't realise I was having such an effect on you," said Avery, turning his hand palm-up and rubbing small circles into the skin.

"You're not... that is, I don't...." Charlie realised he was tangled in half-finished sentences, and drowning in a pair of pretty grey eyes. Eyes that were slate on the surface, but reflected a strange red glow when he stared into their depths. The pale red of a Kipps, if he wasn't much mistaken.... He shook himself, blinked the vision away and nervously licked his lips. The stranger was pulling on his hand now, trying to drag him close, and he resisted in spite of himself. "I don't do one-night stands."

"That's all right, neither do I. A bird is for life, not just for Christmas, you know."

"Well, yes, but...." There it was again, that peculiar reference to birds. Charlie began to feel ever-so-slightly sick. "I only sleep with humans," he said. "Breeding pigeons is a hobby, nothing more. I'm not into that sort of kink."

Avery laughed, a soft cooing chuckle that grated on Charlie's nerves. "So, what kind of kink are you into?" he asked, and pulled so hard that Charlie ended up on his lap.

"Nothing. I mean, I'm not. I don't get off on feathers or anything like that."

"Are you sure?" A single long grey feather appeared in Avery's hand and he \softline brushed it down Charlie's cheek and over his lips, before following its path with his lips.Tiny kisses rained \softline down on Charlie's skin, the contact so small it was almost like the peck of a beak. The thought made him shudder again and he shied away, trying to find leverage to clamber off Avery's lap. But Avery tightened his grip, holding him round the waist and running a hand through his curly brown hair.

"Don't worry," he whispered into Charlie's ear. "I'm not a bird. Not in this form. When I change, I change completely. I'm a man now. A very beautiful man, just the sort you like. You do like me, don't you?"

Charlie stopped struggling to get away and turned. He saw the pale skin and the soft greyish-fair hair and those pretty grey eyes, and he sighed as if he knew he was already lost. "Oh yes, I like you," he said, and surrendered to the embrace.

© 2007 Fiona Glass

Shifting Perspectives cover art

Just in case anyone hasn't seen it yet, I thought I'd post the stunning cover art from Shifting Perspectives. It was created by Deanna C Jamroz and features a rather hot chappie and some very lovely shapeshifting creatures in the fine detail. See for yourselves:

Two men and a sock

Cobblestone Press have just accepted Washday Blues, a fun but slightly silly kitchen-sink style romp about sex 'n' washing, for their Cobblestone Quarterly magazine. The story won't be appearing until June next year as they're booked solid till then, but it'll be in their birthday issue which I'm delighted about. :D

I'll obviously remind everyone nearer the time that it's due soon, but just wanted to break the good news now.

New releases

It's been ages since I posted here - I've had my head down scribbling and haven't really been coming up much for air.

I've had some good news at last, though, with a couple of new releases. One, Lizard King, is available to download and read in Issue 4 of BENT Magazine. The story is based on a Russian fairy tale, The Frog Princess, and tells the very tongue-in-cheek tale of Patrick, a mobile phone, a pet store owner and a lizard. ;)

Also based on a fairy tale is Feathered Friend, a story about a very unusual pigeon and the man who finds it in his pigeon loft. Little does Charlie imagine the effect the bird will have on his life, or his heart. Feathered Friend has been published in 'Shifting Perspectives' along with two more shapeshifter stores by TA Chase and Emily Veinglory, by Aspen Mountain Press. You can read a brief extract of the story at my website.

New review for Roses

Paranormal Romance Reviews, a site specialising (surprise, surprise LOL) in romance with a paranormal twist, have just done a smashing review of Roses in December, which their reviewer seems to have loved enough to comment, "I had not read anything by Fiona Glass before, and thank god I got the opportunity to". You can read the full review right here.

Torrid Teaser's turn

It must be the season for reviews, because Fallen Angel Reviews has jumped on the bandwagon with a nice one for To The Rescue andCrossed Wires, the two stories in my 'Torrid Teaser' from Whiskey Creek Press - Torrid.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you! It's a lovely review and I'm particularly pleased that the reviewer, Wendi, liked my writing style so much. "Touching love scenes popped out page after page to entertain and delight..."

You can read the full review here, and you can find out more about the stories on my website.

And another review...

Suddenly I'm awash with reviews. This one is from Joyfully Reviewed, for Centaurfold, a collection of three sexy centaur stories by yours truly, Emily Veinglory and Kay Derwydd.

I get the impression that the reviewer was slightly baffled by the concept of centaur erotica (perhaps not surprisingly LOL) but the review, although short, is sweet.

You can read it at Joyfully Reviewed.

Someone else likes Roses!

I've just heard that Just Erotic Romance Reviews have reviewed Roses in December for their June newsletter. And it seems they liked it! I can't quote the whole review for obvious reasons, but I can reveal that they gave it four stars, and described it as 'an intelligently written book with many layers', with a 'simply enchanting' ending. Needless to say I'm a very happy bunny.

The review should be up on the JERR website in about 6 weeks' time and I'll post a link to it as soon as I have one.

Men of Mystery...

...is a mystery no more! Howarth Press have just released this print anthology filled with tales from the darker side of life, which includes 'Any Means Necessary', my short story about two bent cops (in both senses of the word).

This book has been something of a marathon for the editors, Sean Meriwether and Greg Wharton. It was originally slated to come out around 2 years ago but the publisher pulled out, and Sean and Greg worked their socks off to find another publisher and get the anthology off the ground. And here, better late than never , is the result, which I have to say looks great. Readers of m/m may recognise some of the other authors featured, including Vincent Diamond.

To read more, or order your copy direct from Howarth Press, go here. And enjoy!

Holidays...

I'm off for the next couple of weeks as we're going on holiday. Two whole weeks walking in the Lake District - bliss! Hopefully I'll come back with a few ideas for stories, and with my batteries well and truly re-charged.

Speak to everyone when I get back!

Freebie story

Those of you who visit my website regularly know that I always have one free short story available, which I change from time to time. Not nearly often enough, I hear you cry *grin* but at last I've got a new one up. It's called 'Cut and Blow', it's about a haircut with a difference, and it recently featured in the Torquere Press Spring Egg Hunt, for a couple of days over Easter. For those of you who missed it, now's your chance. Pop along to my website and follow the links - and I hope you enjoy it!

Where did that come from?

Last week I was struggling to concentrate on my writing, mostly because there was a lot else going on, partly because it was nice weather and I wanted to be outdoors!

However, on Friday afternoon I suddenly sat down at the computer and banged off 2,500 words on a rent-boy story that I've been fiddling with on and off for years. I have absolutely NO idea where the inspiration came from - I hadn't even been thinking about the story lately. Still, I'm not complaining; I've started the story from scratch in a completely different style and so far it's reading a lot better as a result. Long may the inspiration last, wherever it comes from!

Finance gripe

So, I see from today's news that the pound has broken the $2 barrier for the first time since about 1992.

I'm not ecstatic about this. One, I get paid in dollars by my publishers and now each payment will be worth less. And two, I have a cheque from Howarth Press sitting on my desk which I need to pay into my bank account. If the value in pounds is less than half the value in dollars, and the bank charges to accept foreign currency, there's going to be nothing left.

[mutter]

Hmm. I wonder how hard it is for one person to reverse the trend? >.<

Bent lizard?

No, not a bendy lizard, but a lizard in BENT magazine - or, more accurately, my short story The Lizard King which has been accepted to appear in Issue 4.

The story is based on the Russian version of the old 'frog princess' fairy tale and is deliberately written as a modern fairy tale itself. It tells the story of three brothers who still live at home, until their parents lose patience and give them one call each on a mobile phone to find their true love and move out. All goes well until Patrick, the youngest of the three, dials the local pet shop and has to pretend he wants to buy a lizard.

The story should be available in mid-May but I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I have a definite date.

Teaser from my Teaser

I thought it was about time I posted a little excerpt from my Torrid Teaser, which is a collection of two longish short stories, one about a mountain rescue squad and the other involving a telephone sex chat line. This is from the latter, called 'Crossed Wires'. The hero, Reuben, is an undercover cop working on the chat line to track down a dangerous gang. In order to get information on the other employees he starts 'pumping' his colleage Jim - in both senses of the word. :D

-----

He reached for Reuben's mug and plunked it on a convenient table, and set to work. "I was right about those muscles," he said some time later, having removed most of Reuben's clothes. "You're gorgeous."

"Thought you liked 'em big and dark like Ned." Reuben still wasn't certain he wanted this to happen. Work was work, but it felt too much like cheating.

"Oh, I do. But variety is the spice of life, as they say. And you're definitely spicy. Gingery skin, cinnamon hair..."

"And a triple vindaloo temper to match," Reuben said, pushing the image to its own ridiculous limits. "Never realised you were such a poet."

"Come here and I'll show you just how poetic I can be." Jim walked his fingers across Reuben's chest, circling a nipple en route, and down his stomach to the elastic of his briefs. He cupped his palm over the material for a second before dipping inside, only to draw back again, disappointed. "Somebody down there isn't very pleased to see me."

"Give him a chance, he's getting there," Reuben said, and consigned the unknown Ned to the devil. It wasn't as though the bloke was about to spring out of the wardrobe and catch them red-handed. So why not sit back and enjoy the delights on offer? He wrapped a hand in Jim's hair and pulled him close enough to kiss, and by the time they broke for air, his cock was taking more of an interest.

-----

You can find out more about the book at my website, or at the Whiskey Creek Press - Torrid web page.

Not so distant

Publication of my short story The Visitor in the sf/romance anthology 'Distant Horizons' has just moved a step closer. Previously the title has been listed as 'tentative' by the publisher, Howarth Press, but now they've taken the step of paying the contributors which means it's confirmed.

The listed date of publication is still not until winter 2007/2008 which is a long time to wait but hopefully it'll be worth it. As far as I know nobody else has published a romantic (as opposed to erotic) sci-fi anthology before and I'm looking forward to reading the other stories.

More news as and when I get it.

It's up!

Cut and Blow is available right now on the Torquere Spring Egg Hunt. The eggs change every couple of days so don't miss your chance to read this fun (and completely free!) little story.

Enjoy, and happy Easter!

Strapline contest

There are advantages to being a writer. Hubby's company are going through a re-branding exercise at the moment and have decided to run a staff contest to come up with a new strapline. Hubby took one look at the contest guidelines and handed the whole thing over to me saying, "Here, this looks more like your sort of thing." Not bad when the prize is a weekend away for two!

Advertising copy isn't my strong point, but I grubbed about with the company's key areas of achievement, expertise etc and came up with about half a dozen straplines, one of which I like very much. Closing date is the end of next week, I think, so I'll be nagging hubby to get them sent in before that. Then I sit and wait, and hope, and plan where we'll travel to, *if* I win. ;)

I liked this picture so much...

The new background on here is from my MySpace page and was originally a MySpace template from pimp-my-profile. I fell in love with it because it seems perfect for my writing - romantic but with a hint of darkness, sadness or other-worldliness. And of course, the rose is perfect for Roses in December too!

So, after much hard work and hitting of head on desk, I've managed to isolate the background and incorporate it into both this blog and my website. I'm absolutely delighted with the results and would like to say 'thank you' to those clever people at pimp-my-profile.

Five things

Five totally random things you didn't know (and may not have wanted to) about me:

1) I'm descended in a more-or-less direct maternal line from Sir Thomas More, who was bumped off in 1535 by Henry VIII.

2) I grew up in a small town north of Liverpool which has one of the last remaining red squirrel sanctuaries in England.

3) I love Russian Orthodox music, even though it makes me cry.

4) The furthest north I've ever been was just above the Arctic Circle, off the north coast of Iceland. The furthest south is Tenerife.

5) The flat I lived in before I was married was haunted, even though it was newly built.

Admin

The internet is a fluid environment. Sites come and go, friends start up one blog and transfer it to another, or run off after the next new shiny (mentioning no names *coughMyspacecough*). All of which means my sidebar was hopelessly out of date, with more broken links than a century-old bicycle chain.

So today I've finally got round to updating it. I booted off various dead sites and blogs that hadn't been updated since the year dot, and replaced them with some relevant, working links - including several to writers such as Ansley Vaughan and Cassandra Kane who write in a similar style to me, and might be interesting to readers who like my books.

Freebie story

Watch out for a free story of mine, coming to the Torquere Press Spring Egg Hunt in the next few days!

The story, called Cut and Blow, is a naughty little piece about a haircut - with a difference!

The eggs in the hunt change every day (with free recipes, stories, bits and bobs and coupons for the e-book store) so be sure to check back often.

Oh wow!

I'm gobsmacked. DearAuthor.com, a review site by readers for readers, has just reviewed Roses in December. And they liked it. Rather a lot, actually, since they gave it an A-. :D

Check out the full review for yourselves - you might see why I'm bouncing.

Well well well...

When I wrote Roses in December I was worried that Nat's experiences, and particularly the implied criticism of the care he received from the army, might be a bit over the top. Imagine my surprise (and relief!) to see this article from the BBC today, saying that many traumatised soldiers are going AWOL rather than put up with the lack of care the army provides.

It's rather sad that the situation doesn't seem to have improved any in the 2-3 years since I wrote the book, but I do feel Nat's been vindicated.

My space on MySpace :)

I finally gave in to all the hype and got myself a MySpace page, and had lots of fun and frustration kicking it into shape.

I've based the theme on 'Roses in December' and I'm delighted with the way it's turned out, thanks to a gorgeous layout from pimp-my-profile. Here's the finished article:

Fiona's MySpace

I'm in the process of adding friends but it's a slow process because the MySpace Gremlins keep crashing my modem. So if I've missed anyone or you can't wait and want to add me instead *grins* then thank you very much! I'll see you all there.

Music of the night?

Just a line to let everyone know I've got a new story out in the January issue of Forbidden Fruit. This issue has a 'winter holiday' theme and 'Night Music' is a tale of a less-than-successful holiday trip to Salzburg (Austria) with a surprise ending. Hope you like it!

Favourite quotes

One of the things I love is browsing through dictionaries of quotations and the like for things well-known people have said about writing. They always seem to put it so much better than I could!

Here's a small selection of my favourites - either because they're true or because they make me laugh.

"Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives." (James Joyce)

"Far too many [books] relied on the classic formula of a beginning, a muddle and an end." (Philip Larkin)

"Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process." (Isabel Allende)

"Sometimes I think [my writing] sounds like I walked out of the room and left the typewriter running." (Gene Fowler)

If anyone knows of any others they think I'd like, please feel free to send them to me!

And now... Happy New Year!

We only got back from our New Year's holiday cruise late yesterday so this is a little belated, but I just wanted to wish all my friends, readers and friends-and-readers a very happy and prosperous 2007. Hope it's a good one!

The cruise was very relaxing and a great way to spend the week between Christmas and New Year, which can otherwise seem rather dreary. We visited some fascinating places, including a medieval castle in Lisbon which we explored in thick fog, the slopes of the highest mountain/volcano in Spain (Mt Teide on Tenerife), and the beatiful coastal city of La Coruna. We even saw dolphins. I'm hoping to use a few of the sights, sounds, smells and other sensory experiences in future stories.

I've come home with absolutely no inspiration for the novel I'd been scribbling for weeks before Christmas, but I'm working on an old (very old) work in progress, a ghost story set in 1970s Cornwall, instead. It's rapidly approaching the 20,000 word mark and if I can just keep going I hope to submit it as a novella early in the year. Wish me luck!

I usually hate New Year resolutions, which tend to get broken faster than you can say 'resolution'. But this year I'm determined to finish a mainstream novel, and start the lengthy and rather alarming process of submitting it to a print publisher. It will be a new experience, but hopefully one that I can learn something from.

I've got square eyes after my first full day back at work (ten days without access to a computer is a mixed blessing ) so it's off to bed. But watch out for further missives in the days to come.