Christmas is coming! #givebooksforchristmas #books #christmasshopping

I don’t usually include outright adverts here… but… if you happen to be looking for a Yuletide gift I can recommend 🙂

All titles available in paper and kindle formats in UK and USA:

Winter Downs US  / UK   /  AU 
Indie Bound
Book Depository
Wordery

Sussex Tales US / UK
Fables & Fabrications US  / UK
Leinster Gardens & Other Subtleties  US / UK

And with my editing hat on…
The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors
Amazon :  US / FR  / AU /  UK  

Indie bound
Book Depository
Waterstones
Foyles
Barnes & Noble
Wordery

 

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The Importance of Being ‘Earnest’ #blogging #archiving #winterdowns #bunchcourtney

In the process of revamping my blog in preparation for the  In Her Defence campaign  I realised that I had not archived the various blogs and interviews carried out for Winter Downs.

Gathering all of those guest blogs and interviews and Q&As was a long-winded task and it appears that in the 2 years since the pre-publication Winter Downs campaign was first begun several have been lost forever as sites went down or else archived old posts so that they are no longer accessible.

Now I realise that in the great scheme of things that may not be all that important – and had I been more earnest in my publicity I would have already done it – but for my own interest at least it would be rather useful to archive those blogs in one place; if only to ensure that I don’t repeat myself.

It took most of an afternoon but eventually I managed to smoosh all that I could rescue into one long page (I still have a few reviews to track down). Scrolled into one document I was taken aback to realise that the document was 12.5k long!

So many words set down in the process of spreading the word!

You can read all of those posts here. 

Bruised Lilacs Are Not Ready To Wilt #inherdefence #winterdowns #crimefiction

Am I the only person who has trouble getting their plots to stand still long enough to be written? Do some titles – titles that you love – get set aside time and again because something more pressing gets in the way?

As the final edits of my next Bunch Courtney book is snatched from my reluctant hands by stern-faced editors and the layout process is set into motion I was forced to look at the title of next book in order to list it in the prelims.

City of Secrets

Q&A with Barry and Misha

Being Britalian

Home or away, summer or winter, nothing beats a good book and I’m currently reading the latest book; City of Secrets by Misha Herwin. It’s a book in which you can lose yourself and become immersed in a tale where dragons and gargoyles gossip. I asked Misha, the author of the Dragonfire trilogy and Clear Gold to tell me more about her new book…

First and foremost, thank you Barry for hosting me on your blog and giving me the opportunity to talk about my new book “City of Secrets”.

“City of Secrets” is a fantasy adventure aimed at the 8-12 market, but I think that anyone who reads Harry Potter or Philip Pullman will enjoy the book. Like the Oxford of “His Dark Materials” is a place of plots and dark magic, where dragons and gargoyles gather on the rooftops at night to gossip and exchange news.

Making a…

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City of Secrets (Adventures of Letty Parker) by Misha Herwin @MishaHerwin #BookReview @penkhullpress

via City of Secrets (Adventures of Letty Parker) by Misha Herwin @MishaHerwin #BookReview @penkhullpress

Readings from Winter Downs at Chester Litfest 27th November #readings #literaturefestivals #Chesterlitfest

Having been in Chester for Fantasycon in October I am thrilled to announce that I am returning to the city to take part in the Chester Literature Festival.

The Chester Literary Festival takes place between 10th November and 1st December and has a huge line-up of authors!

I shall be a participant in the ‘Elevenses’ stream of readings at the Storyhouse in Chester.  Local authors are  being given the opportunity to read from their latest work, answer questions and sell their wares as a part of the larger event and I am very much looking forward to it! (Albeit with some nerves!).

I shall be reading from Winter Downs at 11am on 27th November – so if you are in Chester that day please do come and listen! (It is free!)

Now to go and start practising!

Courtyard Garden : Scented Geraniums (pelargoniums) Before the Frost Does!

This morning we had a frost – second of the season – and more forecast later in the week so time to give my scented pelargoniums their annual scalping before being stashed in the conservatory for the winter.

The flowers are very pretty, but small, yet the scented leaves more than make up for that. Not just because running your hands over them leaves your skin smelling so sweet but also because they provide a gorgeous intricately cut  foliage to offset pots of the more blowsy annuals.

I have three of these, the original plants all being bought some twelve or more years ago at the National Herb Centre in Warmington near Banbury, Oxfordshire. Well worth a visit if herbs are your thing!

These are doubtless daughter plants from those originals. They are ridiculously easy to propogate from cuttings. Hack of pieces of fresh growth and push them into a pot of well-drained compost and you will have dozens in no time!

These plants as with any pelargoniums,  are fragile, however, and need to be cossetted through the frosty months. I have :

One Pepper-scented plant 

 

One Rose-scented plant

 

One Lemon-scented plant

 

 

 

All are now safely trimmed and tucked away for the winter