Scribblings

It's been a lovely day today, with the unexpected return of some sunshine and blue skies in my corner of the world after days of incessant greyness and rain. Little Frog, Popple the dog and I went for a lovely walk this morning. I'm hoping that summer might finally be here.

I've had some great entries for my mini-contest, where you could win an e-copy of A TASTE OF SUMMER. Click here for more details, and keep the captions coming!

I still haven't resumed any actual writing yet, but I've had my thinking cap on today while I ponder some new characters and their possible story. I'm hoping that this could possibly be an entry for the Brava Novella Contest, so watch this space.

Oh, and here's a new picture of Little Frog: one of my favourites. All I can think of when I look at it is "my cup runneth over".




Just finished reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

Virtual Beach Party

Dropping in while Little Frog is having his lunchtime nap to say that my publisher, Moonlit Romance, will be holding a virtual summer beach party on the Moonlit readers group next Monday, 23 July, to celebrate the release of the Beach Party Duet books (A TASTE OF SUMMER was the first in the trio, the other books are A HINT OF SUMMER and A SLICE OF SUMMER). The event will last all day and you can join the readers group by clicking here.

Come along and enjoy excerpts and special insider info on each of the stories and their authors. A copy of each book will be given away during the party, and all you have to do to be eligible to win is to post a message. There will also have a beach-themed Round Robin contest (where each person contributes to a story). Each participant will be entered into a drawing for a genuine quartz half-moon pendant.

So why not join us? And don't forget to enter my mini-contest, open until the end of the month, by visiting my previous blog post.

Normal Service Somewhat Resumed

What's this? A writing-related post on Jessica Raymond's blog?? :)

Well, a little bit. There is, of course, room to mention that Little Frog is doing very well and "chubbing out" in all the right places. (Dimpled elbows and dimpled knees -- love 'em.) He's getting very good at holding his head up for brief periods of time and is already fitting into clothes that were too big for him two weeks ago. The Contented Little Baby routine has gone out the window a little bit, because Little Frog seemed to hit his first growth spurt a couple of days after we'd started and all his feedings went haywire. The book was good to get an idea of the sort of day a baby could have, and in that way it's helped us find our own routine, but I'm not really reading it any more.

Back to the writing-related subject, and I'm pleased to share with you the first two reviews of A TASTE OF SUMMER, both of which are wonderfully complimentary. Review number one is from Maura at Coffee Time Romance. She gave the book 4 coffee cups, which means "outstanding great read ... you would like to keep to read again in the future". Among other things, she said:

[One Shore Thing] is a very upbeat and entertaining romance ... and the development of [Noah and Carrie's] romance is very well written.

You can read Maura's review in full by clicking here.

The second review is from Robyn at Once Upon a Romance. She also rated the book 4 out of 5, which means "excellent -- definitely worth reading". Here's a preview of her lovely comments:

A truly sweet romance awaits the reader. Carrie ... brings out the mother bear instinct in the reader. Noah is one of the genuine nice guys that we all hope to meet ... and what a bonus that he’s good looking, too. A Taste of Summer is ... something perfect for the dog days of summer.

You can read Robyn's review in full by clicking here.

In honour of these two lovely reviews, I've decided to run a little contest. All you have to do is look at the following photo, modelled by Little Frog, and think up a funny caption to go with it. Leave your caption as a comment on this post and on 1st August I'll pick my favourite. The winner will receive an e-book copy of A TASTE OF SUMMER. One entry per person, please. Good luck!





Just finished reading: The Villa by Nora Roberts

A Fortnight With Little Frog

Charlie is over two weeks old now, which is hard to believe. Before we know it, he'll be a month old! We've started to try to establish a routine of feeds and sleeps based on Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby philosophy. Some days are better than others. For instance, today he woke at 8am and fed with me for an hour, after which he was supposed to nap for a little while before his next feed. He refused to doze off and then he was hungry again, and before I knew it, it was midday. He's finally asleep again now, but swaddled in a muslin on my lap because he's cried every time I've put him in his moses basket. So it's not going to plan today at all, but then he is still only a wee newborn. (PS: Any tips and advice will be gratefully received!)

He has a nickname now: Little Frog. Whenever he goes on his changing mat for nappy check or top-and-tailing, or when he first goes in the bath, he flings his arms and legs out at 45-degree angles and wobbles them about like a mini amphibian. He's such a cutie. Here he is after his bath last night:



No idea when I might write again. The first full day of trying out the routine went swimmingly and I had a straight two-and-a-half hours to myself while he had his lunchtime nap; this gave me visions of maybe being able to start fiddling with WISTERIA COTTAGE in just a couple of weeks' time. But today that seems a long way away! I did manage to read a little bit while I fed him this morning, though, which was really nice.

Anyway, thank you to everybody who has sent messages and emails to welcome Charlie, and thanks to Judy Jarvie, Sue aka Ms Creativity, Nell Dixon, Michelle Styles, Biddy Coady, Laura Hamby, Lis, Julie Cohen, Anna Louise Lucia, Phillipa Ashley, Liz Fenwick, Sheila Holloway, Cindy K. Green, MG Braden, Chris H, Jan Jones, Sheila Riley, Kate Hardy, Fiona Harper, and Nicola Marsh for leaving such lovely congratulatory comments on the previous post.