Midwinter

The 'bleak midwinter' seems a fitting description of the weather right now - below freezing, snow and ice on the ground, a bitter chill in the air; bare branches etched against a bone-white sky. And we're in lockdown again, albeit with the promise of better things to come in the shape of a vaccine. 

I'm thankful to be in the business of writing, something I can do anywhere though the mindset isn't always right during the current circumstances. Walking helps with that, even when it's snowing - especially if it's sunny at the same time.

A bright spot this month was seeing the cover for my and Amanda Brittany's second thriller THE PERFECT NANNY, due out on March 31st. It's been receiving good comments on NetGalley, where new books go to be reviewed before release.

Hearing what readers think - and that they're enjoying our book - brings home how much we love telling stories, which are needed more than ever at the moment. I'm reading far more than I usually do (and I read a lot!) but I've put that aside, for now, to work on the edits for my next psychological thriller - title and cover to be revealed soon - which will be out in April. I'm hoping by then, the sun will be shining and life will be returning to some kind of normality. 

In the meantime, I feel lucky that my loved ones are safe and well and I hope you and yours are too.

Ooh, and here a few of the books I've enjoyed, if you're looking for recommendations: 

21st Century Reading

Still wandering down blog-memory lane, I came across this post.

I was pondering the Kindle, which hadn't taken off in the way it has now, and five years on I've finally... FINALLY, given in and got myself one of the blighters.  A Kindle Fire to be exact, but not the latest model, because I'll only use it for reading books and manuscripts, and won't require it to do all the singing and dancing with bells on it's undoubtedly capable of.

In a way I thought it only polite I succumb, as I actually have an eBook out.  It would have been rude not to, really.

It'll never replace the traditional book in my affections, but already I'm a little bit hooked.  It's so easy to carry around, and to read whenever required. At the dentist's, for instance, I'm never called in on time and I had to be called in twice today I was so absorbed in the book I'd started reading.  (Mind you, I hate going to see the dentist so it might have been a bit psychological.)

So at the moment, I have a traditional book for bedtime, an audio-book for the car, and now I can whip out my Kindle (that's not a euphemism) and read wherever I am.  Which can't be a bad thing.

It definitely butters my parsnips.