This past week, I made the Christmas cake.  I won't say it came out perfectly because it didn't. It might will be edible, but it did lack brandy for the overnight soaking of the dried fruit, and that had me quite stumped. I knew I'd bought brandy last year for the cake. I remember doing so. But I looked everywhere, in cupboard after cupboard, standing there pondering this dilemma, because I could not find any brandy at all. Where on earth was the brandy? Well, not to worry, because in the search for the brandy, I found a bottle of  (old) Cointreau. I took a swig. It seemed okay. I assume it was. I don't actually know what its meant to taste like but it was fine. I think. So I soaked the fruit with the Cointreau overnight, and then the next day I mixed the cake and baked it. It did burn a bit, and as I was wielding the kitchen knife, hacking the burnt bits off the side of the cake (I blame the oven) and I happened to comment on the mystery of the brandy. Well. There was...

I'm reading at the moment The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger.  As the promotion for the book says:  Tired of the hero’s journey? Frustrated that funny, romantic, and comforting stories aren’t taken seriously? Sad that the books and movies you love never seem to be critically acclaimed, even when they sell like crazy? It's a very readable book, fun actually, uses a lot of examples from movies such as Twilight, but for me the most interesting point she made was that the heroine's story revolves very much around... her friends! Whereas Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey (yes, I have the book but it's a bit more of a slog to read) is about a man fighting obstacles on his own and so on, our heroine relies very much on the friends, her network, to help her through. And keep her sane. And be a shoulder to cry on... And help her solve her problems... and all that kind of thing. It's a team effort. I was thinking about that because in the Bluebell Road seri...

News flash!  From This Day , the second in the Bluebell Road series, is free for the next few days. Download it HERE from Amazon, and here are  the details: Grab a cuppa and put your feet up and enjoy this cosy romance. Katie O'Connor's life is finally coming together after being jilted. She's moved into the flat on Bluebell Road with new friends Lydia and Julia, and her job at Frampton's Coffee is going just fine. Even finer, is her boss's friend, James Rutherford. Katie has long admired the gorgeous lawyer and when he asks her to help with her boss, Danny's, divorce case, she begins to see a side to him that no-one else has ever seen before. But can she take a risk loving a man like James, when his past is anything but in the past for him? James Rutherford is a man devoted to his legal career and to his family. Especially his sister, Zara, and her "Essential Zara" business. He's her biggest support but no-one knows what lies behind his drive and...