Back in the day, as a reader and especially when I wanted to write and sell to Mills and Boon, authors were these people we rarely got to meet, and occasionally might have seen mentioned in a newspaper or magazine article and that was about it. Now, its all so different.  Authors are out there. Because they have to be out there. I'm out there. I don't know what 'out there' actually is and what I'm doing out there, as I feel much more 'here at home' rather than 'out there.' But I'm out there, for sure, even by dint of this blog and the website and my Amazon profile. I'm also out there on Facebook, so if you'd like to follow me, then please do.

I will be getting all excited over the Olympic Games in due course, in a few days in fact,  but I was also delighted to see a review of that wonderful film CHARIOTS OF FIRE which gave it five worthy stars. The movie was set at the 1924 Olympic Games.   I can well remember seeing the film when it came out, going with my flatmate to the movies, the local Lido theatre from memory, and loving it. The music score, Nigel Havers, just all of it, so wonderful. In the world of movie scores, surely that is one of the best.   I must track down a copy and watch it again!! https://youtu.be/odtqtlhsv4E

WHAT I'M READING: Caroline Roberts, The Cosy Christmas Chocolate Shop I really liked the Pudding Pantry stories, so this story is lovely to read, too. I'M WATCHING: Golly gosh, the most unsporting person in the world is watching sports...! There is of course the football (where's my England flag?) ! And some Tour De France. I don't know the rules of either of them but the tour is wonderful. Just on in the background, just there. All that scenery and the occasional drama. I'M LISTENING TO..  I went out last night to meet up with a friend and played Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill , in the car. Does that count??

I know some authors don't like reading their own books but I really do.  At the moment I am reading the second Bluebell Road book, From This Day . It is just my kind of book! Some funny things: I really have forgotten a lot of it, so I am liking it a lot. I am jealous of myself for coming up with the plot because I've stalled on the current book. Jealous of myself! What insanity is this? I also want to get the books into print and have them on my bookcase, so I'm reading it just to make sure I do like it and even as I'm reading it, I like the characters and wish they were real, and that I really should be writing the romance of one of the secondary characters.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY! Yes, a photo from Days of Yore.  I'm not saying when but I'm in my 20s, when I had two young 'uns, and the photo was taken at my mother-in-law's place, when we went around, probably on a Sunday afternoon, and she'd bake yumptious treats.

I love a magazine quiz! I did one this week with the topic: Do you need a MIND MOT? Like a mind check-up. I came out strongly in the "You need downtime" section. The others were: You need routine You need connection You need an outlet. Looking back over my answers, a lot of them revolved around something I have actually been aware of, that I don't really have proper downtime. I do have spare time and I love the weekends when there are no plans, and I can just potter around. I was having lunch with a friend a while back who asked what I did in the weekends and I said I just liked being at home and pottering arond and she looked at me like I was a bit daft. She does things!! Maybe my wonderful pottering weekends need a bit of a rev up?  So downtime tells me I should schedule in proper rest and recreation time. Small chunks of self care of some activity that I really like, whatever that might be, even reading a chapter of a book, but the trick is to make sure I put it in so ...

HAVE YOU READ 'THE GABARDI WIFE'? If not... it's FREE on Amazon for this weekend.  It's a classic, emotion-packed romance, sexy but sweet as well, and there is a big, big, big secret.... (And no, they didn't have a secret baby!)  The last person Holly Baker expects to see is her husband, Alexi Gabardi. The man she wants to divorce. But when he shows up on her doorstep, demanding to know why she wants a divorce, she can't tell him why. Holly is holding onto a secret, a secret that concerns Alexi, and she can't risk him knowing the truth. Even though she is still in love with him.

Okay, it doesn't look all that great. It's not instagram material. It was just dinner last night, but boy, it was DELICIOUS. Butter chicken. Or as we call it, Beurre Poulet. One of my boys is so good at making butter chicken. All the spices, the marinading, and it is so delicious. It's not often it happens because it takes a lot of time, but he's waiting for exam results (an anxious wait) so why not cook up a yummy curry? And yes, we added cream into it. It would have looked good with some chopped up coriander sprinkled over it but we're not fans of the coriander, so it was just looked plain but it was de-lish!