#CCC054 | A Bridge for All Seasons #flash fiction #booksky I discovered a bridge for all seasons. This is not quite the prompt for this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge. I've borrowed one of the other pictures she showed on her Sunday walk, and sort of mixed it up with the Writephoto piece I…

What would Jane Austen have done? #IWSG #booksky Jane Austen celebrates her 250th Anniversary this month. I often wonder what she'd have done if she'd had all the writing advice we have, or done a creative writing course before she started. I reckon she'd have ignored all the advice given and…

Book Review | In a Dark Dark Wood #thriller #booksky I am fairly sure I got this paperback copy of In a Dark Dark Wood as one of the freebies at Noirwich, the Norwich Crime Festival in 2015/16. I checked my books as I packed them up for moving, which is why it was only put on my TBR in April 20.…

#CCC053 | A Bridge of Sighs #flash fiction #booksky A Bridge of Sighs is my take on this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge. I was challenged to make a choice from the four photos: nothing really sprang to mind, although, having read the previous posts where the images were previewed, I was…

Book Review | Contaminant Six (Free-Wrench #6) #booksky With Contaminant Six we reach the end of the excellent Free-Wrench series by Joseph R Lallo. A hint of steampunk, a great amount of chemical scifi, a brilliant piece of world-building, and lovely characters. I'll miss them. Contaminant Six…

#CCC052 | The Garden Fork #flash fiction #booksky It's a nice garden fork, I like that style. This week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge reminds me of how my vegetable patches used to look. Maybe I'll get them back under control next year. It's only 117 words this week. Can I save some for later? 😀…

Book Review | The Shadow of the Shifting Sands (Shadows from the Past #18) #mmgm #booksky The Shadow of the Shifting Sands comes after a slight hiatus in the fabulous Shadows from the Past series by Wendy Leighton-Porter. I've read them all, in order, and it's worthwhile doing so, since the time…

Book Review | The House of Wolf #netgalley #booksky The House of Wolf is a new adult historical novel from the pen of Tony Robinson. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy. In the past I have avoided books by celebrity authors, because I have an intolerable habit of reading…

#CCC051 | Jo’s Junk Shop #sff #booksky This week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge gave me plenty of choice. I ended up picking something old, rusty , and of no use to anyone. And realised that I'd never mentioned Jo's Junk Shop in all the Viridian series books. So it's time to put that right. It's…

Back Down The TBR Hole 25.2 You may remember I went down the TBR Hole a few years ago, for quite a while, looking at things on my TBR list I was never going to read, realistically.

Book Review | Zero Point Emotion #scifi #specfic #booksky Zero Point Emotion by Elias Voss had immediate appeal. It starts with Z. I need several letters for this year's Alphabet Soup reading challenge, and whether Mr Voss did it on purpose or not, it caught me. Then the caveats in the blurb sold…

#CCC050 | Conkers #flash fiction #booksky Plenty of choice for this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge but I chose the conkers. Is the fruit of the horse chestnut tree are known as a conker in other lands? The sport of 'conkers' involves hitting your opponent's conker, which is threaded on a…

Using the Seasons #IWSG #booksky Using the seasons is something I try to do when writing. Like involving the setting in your plot, it enriches the reader experience. Actually, I came across something when I was hunting for old short stories I'd written. I decided to use it, or reuse it, as it was…

Book Review | Edited Out by Rebecca M Douglass #booksky #cosy Edited Out, the third of Rebecca Douglass's Seffi Wardwell Mysteries, came out on Tuesday. This is not my normal review, because normally I'd have read the book in the last couple of months at the very most. I first read this one about…

#CCC049 | Once the sails went #flash fiction #booksky We're still with the sails, but of a different sort in this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge. I picked the second image this week. It’s of a derelict post mill completely covered in ivy. It takes me back to my princelings Fred and George (or…

Book Review | Three Rivers by Robert Winder #booksky Three Rivers is a new book which comes out on next week. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review it. How appropriate after yesterday's sailing flash fiction! Three Rivers: The Extraordinary Waterways That…

#CCC048 | Sailing By #flash fiction #booksky My choice of this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge takes me back to the first time I visited the Broads as a teenager. I loved seeing the yachts sailing by me, through the marshes and the farmland! I picked the second image this week. It's 146 words…

Book Review | Daniel Boone and Me #mmgm #booksky Daniel Boone and Me is by Noelle A Granger, who writes a range of books including impeccably detailed American settler histories, and thrilling (adult) crime novels starring the great Rhe Brewster (as N A Granger). This is her latest, a settler…

#CCC047 | The Perfect Apple #flash fiction #booksky jemimapett.com/blog/2025/08...

Book Review | Orbital by Samantha Harvey #booksky Orbital is last year's Booker prizewinner. I liked the sound of it, unusually for me, and it kicked off my new reading challenge, to read five Booker prizewinners this year (and another five next). This is my second. I'm not doing well, but that…

Back Down The TBR Hole 25.1 You may remember I went down the TBR Hole a few years ago, for quite a while, looking at things on my TBR list I was never going to read, realistically. Down The TBR Hole is a meme created by Lost in a Story, but Lia has permitted Jody from Jody’s Bookish Haven to adopt…

The Quest for Orichalcum — out today! #QuestforOh #booksky The Quest for Orichalcum: an asteroid miners' memoir is out today! It's the prequel to the Viridian System series, explaining what the boys did before they became rich... Read on for some interesting stuff plus a raffle! The Quest for…

Book Review | The House in the Cerulean Sea #sff #booksky The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune crept into my TBR and kept popping up to be added again, and again, until I bought it. I'm glad I did, although it took me less than five hours to read it. Then again, after the first two chapters,…

#CCC046 Memories of Lace #Flashfiction #booksky Memories of Lace continues my anecdotes about Pete and the Swede (Lars) that didn't make it into the Quest for Orichalcum, which is out next Tuesday. As this is for Crispina Kemp's lovely Crimson's Creative Challenge, based on one of her published…

New Covers for the ebooks The cover for The Quest For Orichalcum didn’t cut the mustard. Something new and jazzy was needed. And after that, the main series needed a makeover too! So here are the new ebooks. The softcover books will stay as they were, for now. The Quest for Orichalcum is published…

Unethical Practices plus #QuestforOh blog tour #IWSG #booksky #authorsky This month's question is about unethical practices in the publishing industry. I'm not sure I'm qualifed to answer, but when has that ever stopped me? Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Natalie Aguirre, Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen,…

Book Review | Two Anthologies: Corvidae and Scarecrow #booksky Corvidae and Scarecrow: two anthologies with a heavy link, and whether Rhonda Parrish originally designed it like that, she ended up bringing them out to reflect each other. The entry from Laura VanArendonk Baugh for Corvidae (the…

Ronnie and Reggie got a clean bill of health when they saw Dr Rebekah at Endell Vets this week. They survived the ordeal of photos , too. #guineapigs

#CCC045 Waterland #Flashfiction #booksky Waterland continues my foray into anecdotes about Pete and the Swede (Lars) that didn't make it into the Quest for Orichalcum, whose publication date is only ten days away now. As this is for Crispina Kemp's lovely Crimson's Creative Challenge, based on one…

Only a few hours left in this year's Smashwords sale. If you haven't tried my books yet, the first in both series is FREE! #fantasy #scifi #booksky

Smashwords Sale ends tomorrow! Plus #QuestforOh #booksky #giveaway The Smashwords July sale ends tomorrow - 11.59pm 31st July. I added in more Princelings books to the free and discounted ones, since there was interest at my book fairs. But the Viridian System books are also discounted - and the…

Book Review | Just One Damned Thing After Another #booksky Just One Damned Thing After Another gives me my J for the Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge. I realised this when I checked out more Jodi Taylor titles after reviewing Smallwood and Pennyroyal in the spring. The first in her St Mary's…

#CCC044 The Mansion #Flashfiction #booksky The Mansion continues my foray into anecdotes about Pete and the Swede that didn't make it into the Quest for Orichalcum, whose publication date is less than three weeks away now. As this is for Crispina Kemp's lovely Crimson's Creative Challenge, based…

Book Review | Treason by Michael E Wills #mmgm #booksky Treason, by Michael E Wills, is an engaging adventure set in World War 2 in southern England. I was selling my books at a Mynt Image Craft and Gift Fair in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and Michael was selling his, sort of diagonally opposite. He has…

Book Review | Cipher Hill (Free-Wrench #5) #booksky Cipher Hill is the fifth in Joseph R Lallo’s great steampunk/sci-fi series which I stumbled across in March 16 and started reading in autumn 21. There’s only one more after this one. So I suggest you don’t start here. Cipher Hill (Free-wrench #5)…

#CCC043 When is a Goat…? #Flashfiction #booksky When is a Goat...? continues my foray into anecdotes about Pete and the Swede that didn't make it into the Quest for Orichalcum, whose publication date is less than a month away now. As this is for Crispina Kemp's lovely Crimson's Creative Challenge,…

The Quest for Orichalcum — Coming Soon! #QuestforOh #booksky #giveaway The Quest for Orichalcum: an asteroid miners' memoir is coming soon! It's the prequel to the Viridian System series, explaining what the boys did before they became rich... Find out before the rest of the crowd! You have the…

Visited Wheek & Squeak Rescue on Friday to find new companions for Pippin after Ludo died. Looking forward to picking these two beauties up on Monday after they've had a bath and a haircut this weekend! Meet Ronnie & Reggie (picture from W&S). #guineapigs

And now my Princelings of the East series is in the #smashwords Summer sale, too.

Book Review | A Rebel’s History of Mars #booksky A Rebel’s History of Mars is published on July 15th. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC. The publishers are Flame Tree Press, whose works I used to seek out regularly. They cover sci-fi, horror and other great spec fiction from…

#CCC042 | Two Men in a Boat #flash fiction #booksky Two Men in a Boat is this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge from Crispina Kemp. It's a typical boat on Whitlingham Broad, although not one of the oldfashioned Broads boat, which I loved. I'm continuing a set of new 'dribbles' for the weeks…

Blog Tour | Murder on the Books by T C LoTempio Today we welcome Toni LoTempio with the first in a new series of cosy mysteries, Murder on the Books. This is part of her blog tour with Great Escapes Book Tours. And Toni is here for an interview! There's also a Rafflecopter near the end, so don't…

Book Review | The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers #booksky The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers caught my eye when I returned The Life of Pi to the library. Dangerous, going into a library: you never know what you might come out with! I confess the other two went back without being read. This one slipped in…

Missed out the #scifi #fantasy tags. Hope this works.

My Viridian System Series is in the #Smashwords Summer Sale, mostly because of the new book due out on 12th August! #booksky www.smashwords.com/profile/view...

Sadly, Ludo went over the rainbow bridge this morning. Got through the op okay ten days ago, but I reckon his heart struggled in spite of my efforts to keep the heat out (we've been having a heatwave - 85-90 is a heatwave to us in the UK). #guineapig #rainbowbridge georgesgpworld.uk/2025/07/04/l...

#CCC041 | The Sea of Wheat #flash fiction #bluesky The Sea of Wheat is this week's Crimson’s Creative Challenge from Crispina Kemp. I've been looking at a great many wheat field pictures recently, to choose one to use as the planet Corsair on my new book cover. Last week I did a sort of…

My Viridian System Series is in the #Smashwords Summer Sale, mostly because of the new book due out on 12th August! #booksky www.smashwords.com/profile/view...

Free books in the Smashwords July Sale #SWSale2025 #booksky Free books from me? July Sale? Yes, I know I said I wouldn't do it again. But if you hadn't noticed, I have a new book, the Quest for Orichalcum, coming out on 12th August, and it's a prequel to the Viridian System Series. So you might…

Ups and Downs of a New Book #IWSG #booksky A new book is nothing but ups and downs. And if you don’t have a fixed home/work schedule, it can take over. Internet research rabbit holes are just as bad for losing days at a time. Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre,Cathrina Constantine, and Louise…