'The Price of Gold' is my latest novel, and it's just been published by Freya's Bower.  

I had great fun writing this one.  It's a light-hearted fantasy although there's a serious element.   Here's the blurb.

"Alex Westgate is a man who has everything. A successful trader in the exclusive London gold market, he possesses a smart flat, a fast car and a fashionable girlfriend. But something is missing, and one person is worried about him—his mother.

On the way down to the coast to visit his parents, Alex is involved in an accident that brings him into contact with someone who will shatter his preconceptions and turn his ordered existence upside-down. The goddess Freya, confined to earth because of a malfunctioning chariot, introduces him to her own kind of mischief and zest for living.

Alex is plunged into a nightmare world of sea-monsters, belligerent Valkyries, man-eating wolves and shape-shifting cats. As he learns some hard lessons about love and relationships, it becomes clear that Freya's presence on earth is more than just a coincidence. It's a matter of life and death.

Will he survive the experience to learn the final lesson; that there's more to the human journey than worrying about the price of gold?"

Do have a look at the Freya's Bower website and read the excerpt there.   And if you wanted to buy it, that would be good too!   That's 'The Price of Gold'...

While I'm here, I'd like to thank everyone who sent me birthday wishes.   

For those who don't know, I've been on the road -- literally for the most part -- for the past three weeks, travelling around France.   It was a most eventful and character-forming journey (that's code for 'a lot of things went wrong') and I'll blog about it soon.

The 'Animal Attraction' anthology came out a few days ago.   It's available from Torquere.

I really loved writing my story, and the whole process, the editing, the promotion, has been thoroughly enjoyable.

There are fourteen stories, a wonderful assortment of animals, and some great m/m romances.

And my contribution is about... 

...I hope you'll find out for yourselves!

On Friday I was so looking forward to getting home. I have been out every night this week, and when you work such foul hours it's very tiring. I was just about to leave when we discovered something wrong with the weekend rota and I had to go back and sort it out. Next, someone wanted feedback from a job interview, and he wouldn't be back on shift for a while, so I had to talk to him.

Then an old friend wanted Grouse and sympathy, so I went down for a quick drink.

The trains were crowded and horrible and the journey took longer than the usual hour. When I got to my home station I remembered I'd left the car about a mile away, the other side of a rather seedy little railway bridge. My feet were hurting. My bags were heavy. Finally, I reached the car, and put the big bag down with relief.

I looked for the keys.

And remembered at once that they were in the pocket of my coat, which was still draped over my chair back at work.  It had been cold in the morning, so I took it with me, but it was so close at the end of the day, I'd just forgotten. Car keys and house keys. I contemplated going all the way back into Central London. I sobbed a little.

I phoned the Dog Lady, who was expecting me. (Thank God the phone was in my bag -- I often put that in my pocket as well.) Told her what had happened and said I would get to her house and collect my house keys from her. I could then walk the mile or so to my own house and get the spare car keys. "Oh," she said, "I don't think I've got your house keys any more." More sobbing, and I asked her to check and also to get me the number of the local taxi firm. They're actually in the main road, but I was about three-quarters of a mile away. They've been known as College Cars all my life, but at the beginning of the year they changed their name to something I've completely forgotten.

I slumped against the car. It was getting cold now, and I could have done with my coat.

The Dog Lady rang back. Yes, she had the keys. No, she couldn't find the number of the taxi firm. I squared my shoulders and said, "There's nothing for it, I'll have to walk up to the main road."

I was just about to ring off when she said, "Of course, I could come and get you."

I should explain that the Dog Lady is increasingly agoraphobic, and hates leaving the house. I sobbed a bit more.

A quarter of an hour later, she turned up in her little car. With the keys. Took me home and waited while I got the spare car keys. Took me back to the car and waited to make sure I could get in. Led me in convoy to her house. I collected the dogs. And drove home.

Time for bed...

This is the cover for the Torquere anthology, Animal Attraction, which comes out early next month.

Isn't it gorgeous!

For the moment, I'm not telling what animal figures in my story, Bungalow Bill.

I had a job interview today -- promotion, not a new one.   I've had to go into work on two of my days off, and tomorrow I have to go to work proper.

I won't get it.  It's enough that I tried.

But I feel incredibly unsettled, nerves jangled, can't settle down.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!

I don't usually talk about other writers here. (This LJ is all about ME, ME, ME....) but I wanted to mention a terrific novella I read recently. It's called A Tail in Two Cities, it's by T. H. Ailward and it's published by Torquere in their 'Everyday Spectres' line. This is the rather unnerving generic cover.

There's another review for 'The Facility Trip', this time from Mystique Books.    Five Moons...

http://mystiquebooks.com/Book%20Reviews/Contemporary/Facility%20Trip_The.htm

I think this reviewer really liked it!

Isn't it nice?

Freya's Bower has accepted my novella, 'The Price of Gold'.   It's a paranormal (my first, apart from short stories) about the appearance in 21st Century southern England of the Norse goddess, Freya.   She intervenes in the life of a selfish city trader, turning him into a nicer and wiser man.

I'm very happy!

My novel about a British parliamentary scandal, 'A Personal Statement', has just been published by Freya's Bower.

Here's the blurb : 'Pascal Dumont is a highly successful politician. He’s a minister in the British government, and people are already thinking of him as a future prime minister. But Dumont has a secret. And when the handsome American intern, Todd Panopoulos, turns up to work in his office, it looks as if the secret may be in danger of spilling out. Dumont’s reckless affair with Todd threatens his career, his honour and his prospective marriage. And when an unscrupulous journalist starts digging into Dumont’s past, he finds a lot more dirt to entertain the readers of the country’s tabloid press. When Dumont is forced into a humiliating position, he has no choice but to make a Personal Statement to parliament. But what will his bitter enemy, the opposition shadow Jack Wickham, make of it all? The story ends with a revelation which will surprise even the most seasoned scandal-merchants.'

I loved writing this book and I think it's a lot of fun. Do have a look!

And my novella, 'The Facility Trip' is also available from Freya's Bower.

The new edition of Forbidden Fruit is out. This ezine is packed with articles and stories. And there's one of mine, a (mostly) gentle and haunting love story set in Brittany in Western France.

It's called L'Atelier du Temps .

Have a look at the wonderful illustration for this tale by the artist Eve Le Dez.

And enjoy the work of Emily Veinglory, Kay Derwydd, Fiona Glass, James Buchanan and Sharon Maria Bidwell among others.