I am reading another Betty Neels! I know...! I love her. A FREE LIBRARY!  I started a few books I just didn't get into. I'd bought them, too, so they will be nice donations to the local op shop. I persevere a few chapters but after that, I'm done. I have friends who will persist in reading a book until it is finished, and for whom DNF (Did Not Finish) is just not in their vocabulary. However, I admit I am definitely a DNF person and not just in reading. For example.  I was doing a quick (but large) crossword in the newspaper the other day. I got about 10% in and got stuck and gave up.  The next day I picked it up and one of my sons noticed and took an interest and I thought, why not give it a go and see if we can finish it? It turned out that over the next hour or three, we (that is, the two sons and me) did this crossword. Son One clearly considers DNF to be abhorrent. I however have been known to check the answers, if they're in the same issue of the paper or magazine...

I'm working on the first book of a new series, which is about a group of women who share a flat in London, all recovering from broken relationships. I have no title yet and likewise no definitive cover, although I do like the couple in this image, in this mock up book cover. I've put a picture of the London skyline at the bottom as the stories in the series take place in London so I thought that might be good. The hero runs a top department store and the heroine works there. It's classic, isn't it? The font for Those Magic Moments (title still TBC) is a bit playful here, so I will change and play around with that.  Its a tricky one. The Gabardi Wife picture was so simple when I saw it, especially as there is a scene where Holly is glammed up in a blue dress so it just fitted perfectly.  Anyhoo, we shall see. The book won't be finished for a few weeks yet so time to fiddle with the cover. And with the title. ~ Maddie

 For the past two Christmases, I've made a Christmas cake from Delia Smith. Here is the link to the cake on her website: https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/occasions/christmas/christmas-cakes-icings-and-toppings/classic-christmas-cake The first step, which I am doing tonight, is soaking the dried fruit and peel in brandy. Then tomorrow I add in everything else, bake it for four hours and then wrap it up, place in a tin and every week or so, prick it all over and drizzle more brandy over it. Nearer the time, I will make the almond marzipan and then white icing, and its ready to go.  My mum used to make a cake every year but she wasn't a fan of icing, so she'd cover it in almonds and glace cherries. I, however, love icing and marzipan. LOVE IT! Doing your own thing is just one of the joys of being a grown-up, especially with the feeling that Christmas really is just around the corner! Nearer the time, the other thing I love to do is make Christmas Mince Pies. So yummy but I...

What a funny old day it was. Not a terribly busy one or even a terrible one, but just one where it felt like nothing much happened.  Actually, that's a pretty good day because we hung out at home, I went down to the bakery to get pies and buns for lunch, then later I made a really delish Macaroni Cheese for tea. Which probably explains why right now as I'm sitting on my couch, watching the telly, I am feeling very much like the tortoise in this photo that I took at a zoo some time ago. Very, very slow! But its nice to have days like this, and I've got a plan to finish the first draft of my next book tomorrow, all going well, and I am looking forward to it because I've got something of an idea of where the story is going and its going to be fun writing it.  Fuelled with tea and coffee, a few walks around the block, weather pending, and hopefully NO TRIP TO THE BAKERY!! ~ Maddie                          ...

I am already thinking about Christmas. It will be a small affair this year, but there will be, I think, four of us. Which is a nice amount. The last big Christmas we had was back in 2018 and it took an effort to get everyone from overseas but we'd planned it months earlier and in fact it wasn't even Christmas. It was my sisters birthday in November and we thought, why not? We had the best time, 15 of us. So glad we did that as the year following was eventful and the year after that even more so! So here's what I'm thinking about for the four of us at Christmas for 2021. Um. Golly gosh... Well, there will be a cake. But one of my kids said, let's not have the cake until after Christmas so Christmas can go on well into the New Year. What a fabulous idea! There will be the roast Christmas dinner. Pork maybe? Not much of a Turkey fan. Maybe something really different like a Beef Wellington? I've never made one before and trust me, the family are used to me trying th...

I am delighted to announce that The Gabardi Wife is now available on Amazon. (Yes, I am putting another picture of the cover up because I love it!)  If you would like to buy the book, go to this link on Amazon . This is a classic romance, emotional and heartwarming, with some sizzle but no love scenes. ~ Maddie  

 I am starting a newsletter, a regular email to readers about new releases and what I'm working on. You can sign up HERE. I'll be sending a newsletter every month so if you are interested in what I'm up to, please feel free to subscribe and if its to your liking, I'll hope you'll stay! ~ Maddie.  

 Here's an excerpt from The Gabardi Wife. HOLLY BAKER PULLED open her front door, with a toddler on her hip and a smile on her lips, expecting to see the courier with her grocery order. Instead she looked up into the face of Alexi Gabardi, and everything promptly went blank. She stared at him in a stupor as his coal-black eyes flicked casually over her before settling on her face. Finally, she remembered to breathe. “Hi,” she said. Her voice had an edge of dim-wittedness that matched how she felt. “Good afternoon, Holly.” Alexi said it without any trace of emotion, even though his gaze switched to Samantha, now waving her arms as she made an attempt to grab hold of his jacket. Alexi moved a wary fraction away from her tiny fists, a moment before his expression switched from discomfort to one of shock. He jerked back around to look at Holly, then stared back at Sammie, and Holly’s brain began to function again. She drew in a deep breath, felt a little more of her equ...

Very excited to show the cover for the upcoming The Gabardi Wife. These stories are what I think of as Classic Romance. The relationship doesn't go beyond the bedroom door, but the story is a little sexy, with your classic, wealthy gorgeous hero! Stay tuned for release details! ~ Maddie.  

 All going well, the book will be out by the end of this month, It will be a stretch but I am hoping for that, with the second book out in December. They are two different series so I'm mixing them up, and I've loved writing both of the books. They will go to Amazon exclusively at this stage. The cover for the first book is being tweaked but I hope to have that ready to share on the blog in a few days. There were a few options but I chose the picture of the couple, Julia and Nick, and worked around that. Cosy and classic, that's what the Maddie Summers books will be. ~ Maddie.

I'm on a Betty Neels blitz at the moment and have read two lovely stories,  A Suitable Match and The Doctor's Girl. They are both gentle stories of overcoming the odds. I bought them, and I'm not sure I've ever read them before. Thank goodness for re-releases and going back to old favourites. Her stories are very much the same but there's a niceness to them which is a contrast to going down the social media rabbit holes and getting fixated on the news. Politics, Covid and all the bad stuff. What's better for you? Getting depressed wasting time on the internet or reading a book that is going to make you feel better, perhaps in ways you don't even realise. From what I've read of Betty Neels, she began writing romance novels when she retired from nursing and for thirty years wrote, until her death when she was in her early nineties. Wow. I hope that's me, writing until I'm in my nineties. On the plus side, I haven't waited until retirement (what...

 Besides gardening, writing, cooking, knitting and family (I am failing at the knitting but I'll get there) I have been doing the Julia Cameron book, The Artist's Way . I did it some years ago when I first decided I wanted to be a published writer, long, long before the advent of the indie publishing revolution. I'm up to week five now, and I am loving it. I even bought a special Morning Pages journal off Book Depository and I've ordered a coupe more to encourage me to continue on with the morning pages Yes, I could use a cheap notebook and I have plenty of them. I love paper and stationery. But there  is something about treating yourself to a brand new, custom-designed journal, and I don't mind if Julia Cameron gets the royalty because I think the work she has done for people who wrestle with being creative is life changing. I've noticed a few things since I did the course many years ago. I don't feel any guilt over writing the way I used to when writing se...

 I am working on a new book which will be part of a series. It revolves around a place, a flat in London, and the women who come through it and who find love, peace and a new life. Flatting is such an integral part of growing up, and who hasn't been desperate for somewhere to live and gone through the ups and downs of trying to find an established flat and to fit in. I can remember applying to be part of  flat, and the awful wait to know if you were accepted. In other circumstances, it was through acquaintances who knew of a place going. Thank goodness I'm long past the flatting stage, but I had some wonderful flats and friendships back in those times before marriage and family.  I'm hoping my stories, a series, will be a trip down memory lane for some. ~ Maddie.