As 2023 draws to a close, I thought about the books I have enjoyed reading over the past year. Here are a few I particularly enjoyed.   Lucy Diamond - An Almost Perfect Holiday  The story takes place at a group of holiday cottages in Cornwall, with three women dealing with husbands, ex-husbands and new wives and teenage children. And all three think they are the only one getting things wrong! It’s so realistic, although some of the emerging secrets are pretty extreme.   Jessica Fellowes - The Best Friend If someone had described this book to me, I wouldn’t have wanted to r ..read more

After nearly seven years, I finally finished and uploaded EDEN on Kindle. I'm planning on getting the paperback version out soon. It's a spin-off to the Clones trilogy but can be read as a stand-alone. The story continues with certain characters searching for a way to save the planet from the destruction humankind is causing, and ignoring mainly. The world becomes a much different place divided into three sections. The chosen ones live a perfect life in Eden. Life in the other two sections is far from perfect. https://amzn.eu/d/38VeHwT ..read more

There’s been a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) lately. Some people embrace it and talk of all the benefits it can offer. Others are more sceptical and fear that AI could replace humans in the job market. We already use it in many areas of our life, most of the time without even thinking about it: for maps and navigation, for editing, and chatbots on customer service are examples. Some universities are keen on capitalising on the opportunities that AI can offer when used appropriately. AI has also been in the news for moving into the entertainment industry. Do we still need artis ..read more

On the whole, we take words for granted. But think about it. How many words have you spoken today? How many have you heard? How many have you read? How many have you written? I don’t think many of us could begin to estimate the answer to those questions, except maybe the last one. I stood in a bookshop the other day and imagined what it would be like if all the words held in the books escaped like flying creatures, zooming around our heads while the books fell back gasping, their pages blank. Then I got to thinking about words I really like and words I hate and words that I don’t react to – th ..read more

I enjoyed Burton’s latest Sci Fi and Fantasy Con at the local library recently. It’s always a good day, especially when many of the stallholders and visitors are dressed up in their favourite character costumes for the occasion! I love talking to other readers and writers. And I’m always impressed at the items produced on the craft stalls. How do they make such amazing things? One thing I noticed, and I have done so over the past few years, is how many people tell me that they are not really interested in reading. It always makes me sad to hear that, as I am an avid reader myself. Usually the ..read more

Hi there, This week I’m talking to Erin Powney who is a writer of YA fiction and fantasy. Born in the United States into family with Irish origins, Erin always dreamed of visiting Ireland herself one day. Well, she not only made the trip, but she met her future husband and settled down there! Erin found life in Ireland quite different to life in the US with its much slower pace and the cultural differences. However, this did not have much impact on her writing although one advantage of moving to another country was that she felt she was able to empathise more with her character, Jenelyn, which ..read more

Still continuing over the rainbow…bring on the yellow covers! I really enjoyed The Assistants by Camille Perri. I liked the main character, Tina Fontana; her observations made me smile. Tina succumbs to temptation at work when she is accidently paid a large expense account by mistake and uses it to pay off her student loan, feeling almost justified as her bosses regularly spend extravagant amounts without a thought. Caught out by another worker, she is asked to do the same for her, too. Then another woman joins them, and things start to escalate… A fun read! The Blue cover of Yours Truly by K ..read more

I'm really getting into this rainbow read! There are a lot of books with red covers so I thought it would be easy to find a good one. I started about six books before I finally found the one that hit the spot! This thriller really kept me guessing right from the start! Alex Lake – The Choice When their children are kidnapped, Matt and Annabelle are afraid to go to the police in case the children are harmed. The kidnapper’s demand for their safe return is to exchange them for Annabelle herself. And on to orange! I noticed there are not so many orange covers as red ones. Again, I skimmed/read a ..read more

I had one of those moments in the library recently. You know, when you are standing there surrounded by thousands of books and you can’t find anything you want to read. I was with a friend and we had arranged to meet another friend for coffee a short while later. ‘Found something?’ she asked, her face falling as I put the two books in my hands back on the shelf. ‘Mmm, not yet.’ ‘This looks good.’ She held out a paperback. ‘It has great reviews, too.’ My eyes glazed over as I scanned the blurb. ‘Not really my thing, I’m afraid.’ My friend glanced at her watch. ‘Give me two more minutes,’ I plea ..read more

How many people have said, ‘I could write a book?’ And how many actually do just that? Well, here’s someone who started thinking about writing at eleven and by fourteen had published his first book! Anthony Ruggieri, a young writer and actor. Through the Shadow Forest is his first book, based on a story he wrote at eleven years old. During the Covid lockdown period, he expanded and edited the story and finally published it when he was thirteen. In this whirlwind adventure, we meet Dan who finds himself in another land after coming across a skateboard. The only way back home is through the Sha ..read more