The cottage garden was sheltered from the breeze and, with the chimnea blazing, the patio felt cosy and intimate. Lit tealights in old jam jars were scattered around the boundary of the paved area, their flames flickering in the darkness. Plucking a gentle melody, Taylor watched as Nana and Jen brought out bowls of crisps and dips and some beers and cider. He smiled over at Ellen, who was sitting on a pile of cushions beside the fireplace.
“You ok?” asked Taylor, noting that she was staring intently at the flames.
“Never better,” she replied with a relaxed smile. “I was just daydreaming.”
“Ghosts in those flames?”
With a wistful smile, she nodded before confessing, “A year ago I couldn’t have sat here. Couldn’t stand to see flames. My dad helped me over those ghosts. Calmed my fears.”
“Shit! I never thought!”
“It’s fine, Tailz,” assured Ellen warmly. “In fact, it’s more than fine. This is perfect.”
Want to know more? Check out Ellen on Amazon today.
As I mentioned in the Riley release date blog, it was my birthday last week. (Release date is set for 18 Nov 2022 in case you missed it)
The Big Green Gummi Bear was left to his own devices when it came to selecting my gift. I asked my daughter, Girl Child, if I should be worried. He hadn’t confided his choice in her, so she suggested “Yes. Very.” Boy Child had no inclination either.
The gift was a pizza oven, plus pizza peel and charcoal.
I love pizza…but usually when it comes delivered in a box. Starting from scratch is a whole different proposition!
Armed with an online pizza dough recipe and a selection of everyone’s favourite toppings, Sunday dinner was planned.
What I didn’t plan for was a delayed start to British F1 grand prix that knocked all my timings out!
Making the dough was the easy bit…if a bit sticky and messy at first.
While I went back to watching the F1, I left it in the conservatory to rise.
After it’s allotted hour to rise, it had grown a bit but hadn’t doubled in size as I’d expected. Hey ho…. It looked like dough.
I split it into 8 little balls as instructed by the recipe and left if to rise a little longer.
The time had come to light the oven….
Sioux, one of my four cats, was less than impressed…
I rolled out three of the balls of dough…. I went for a more rustic look rather than round… OK I’m not very good with a rolling pin! They looked like pizza bases. Give me a break! LOL
With the oven up to temperature, it was time to add the toppings and get them in the oven.
Adding the toppings was easy. Due to a lack of flour on the under side of the bases and inexperience, getting them onto the pizza peel, into the oven, off the peel, turned, back on the peel and onto the plate was slightly less successful….and exceedingly stressful!
One was burnt at one end.
One was a total disaster (Let’s not talk about it- it was re-made by Boy Child)
The third one was fine…a bit singed around the edges.
The main casualty in all of this…the kitchen! Flour everywhere!
For a first attempt, I’m pretty pleased with my efforts.
More practice is definitely needed so I guess pizza is back on the menu around here 😊
To celebrate, Impossible Depths is free to download to kindle for one day only.
To whet your appetite here’s an extract that I’ve not shared with you before:
After Jake had called, Lori had settled back on the sun lounger to read another chapter of her book. She had spent the afternoon quietly sunbathing in her bikini, confident that no one was going to drop by and disturb her. When she reached the end of the chapter, she slipped her bookmark into place and closed the book over. “Time to light the coals,” she thought, as she got to her feet. The decking boards were hot under her bare feet as she crossed the deck to the BBQ. A plastic chest sat at the side of the deck with the charcoal and BBQ fluid inside. Trying not to cover her bare skin with charcoal dust, Lori tipped the remains of the bag into the tray, scattering the lumpwood evenly. She sprayed it lightly with lighter fluid, then tossed in a lit match. Small flames licked up, gradually spreading out evenly over the bed of charcoal. Satisfied that it would stay lit, Lori headed indoors to wash her hands.
As she turned off the tap, the front doorbell rang.
Want to know more then download Impossible Depths today
When will Riley be released? …. That’s been the question from many of you.
As today’s my birthday, it seemed like as good a day as any to answer that question.
And the answer is…… 18th November 2022
There will be pre-order details for the kindle edition available nearer the time.
And to keep you going until 18 November, here’s another little sneak peek inside.
“I have one last song for you,” began Riley. “I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves tonight. I’d like to say a few thank yous. Huge thanks to Dr Marrs, to the guys from Silver Lake, to my record label, to each and every one of you for making tonight magical. This really is a dream come true. A Firefly Dream. I have one final extra special huge thank you for Garrett for hosting this party and for giving me a chance, a job and a home. Garrett, I love you.”
As the cheers died out, Riley continued, “This last song was inspired in this very place. I’d never seen a real four-poster bed before Garrett invited me to stay here. You can work out the rest of the story. Folks, it’s been amazing. I’m going to leave you with Jumping On The Bed.”
The light-hearted song was the perfect choice to end the show with and left everyone in a buoyant mood as the lights came back up and the caterers began to circulate with trays of drinks and canapes. Not quite sure what to do, Riley stayed in the alcove tidying up her guitars and her lyrics folder. Suddenly, she felt two strong arms wrap round her. The hint of a familiar exotic spicy aftershave tickled her nose. Without a second’s thought, she spun round and wrapped herself round Todd.
“You were sensational, girl!” he declared before kissing the top of her head. “Awesome set.”
Jake watched her from the distant vantage point of the boardwalk. He had headed for the beach after the end of his shift at the pizza parlour. It had been a roughday and he had decided to walk off his black mood before heading to meet the guys. The last thing they needed was him turning up in a foul mood, stinking of tomato sauce and cheese. He had walked to the south end of the promenade and had just turned back when he saw the girl walking down on the sand. It was the sun catching the golden highlights in her hair that had attracted his attention. He never noticed her crutches at first. Watching from a distance, he had kept pace with her, then stopped to watch as she turned towards the boardwalk. When he saw her stumble, he regretted not following his instincts and going down to walk on the sand with her. “Shit,” he muttered. “Shit.” There were no breaks in the fence nearby, so he jumped over the wooden palings into the dune grass and ran towards her, sand immediately filling his shoes. By the time he was close enough to call out to her, she was sitting up and looked to be unhurt. He almost turned away but decided against it and continued to walk down the beach. “Hi,” he called out. “Are you ok?”
I’m pretty sure that I’ve blogged along a similar theme in the past but bear with me.
Last week I shared Book Baby 7 aka Riley’s front cover with the world. (Here it is in case you missed it – Riley…..cover reveal | Coral McCallum) The reaction to it has been great so thank you but here comes the confession… the story still isn’t quite finished yet. Oops!
I’m not a million miles away from being finished. I mean, what’s a few thousand words between friends?
For me, writing timescales are quite fluid. Writing happens when it happens. The joys of being an indie author. The only person setting word count targets and manuscript deadlines for me is me. And, you know what, that works for me just now.
Creativity is something that’s always there. Even when I’m not actively creating/writing something, there’s that wee part of my brain whirring away with ideas/thoughts/potential characters.
Creativity is also a great coping mechanism in this manic world that we live in. It’s an escape from reality. It’s a way to create a better/alternative reality. It’s a way to express our thoughts and feelings. It’s a way of telling a story.
Humans have been storytellers since the start of time. There was no one sitting in the cave or around the campfire saying that the storyteller needed to stick to a certain length/word count, or a structured formula for the story. There were no paragraph and chapter plans. There probably weren’t that many titles either. Storytellers simply told their stories and over time and re-telling these stories were embellished and enhanced and improved upon or discarded depending on the audience’s reaction.
No one back then worried about having qualifications in creative writing or language or literature.
Folks simply told the stories that were within them to tell.
I follow several groups on social media for authors/writers/bloggers and all too frequently you see aspiring storytellers’ dreams quashed because someone insists that their story is too short/too long, that they need a professional editor that they probably can’t afford or that they need a professionally designed cover that they can’t afford either…you get the picture.
Creative souls are sensitive souls. They need to be nurtured and encouraged. This world needs more storytellers.
So, my message to any aspiring authors/writers/storytellers is simple – tell your story your way and in your own time and enjoy telling it.
Just write! And keep on writing.
And on that note, I’d better turn my creative attention back to my unfinished book baby.
And without further ado, allow me to reveal Book Baby 7 aka Riley’s cover to the world.
I don’t have a release date to share with you all just yet….patience.
As soon as I have the date finalised, there will be pre-order available on the e-book version of Riley. Watch this space.
I’m excited to tell her tale and I hope you are all excited to read more about this tiny talented young lady.
And to whet your appetite: –
Around her the bedroom was lit by half a dozen candles, their shadows dancing on the walls. A delicate vanilla fragrance filled the room. The gothic palace lay silent. It was almost midnight. Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the large four-poster bed, Riley sat staring down at the CD in her hands. Her CD. Her debut album that was due to be released worldwide on the stroke of midnight.
A box of CDs had been delivered that morning with a note from the record company saying simply, “Autograph these in time for the launch party on February 29th.” She’d signed her way through two silver Sharpie markers before all the CD inserts were autographed. At Garrett’s suggestion, she’d practiced her autograph on a few sheets of paper before deciding how she wanted to sign it. Initially it had been fun sitting at Garrett’s huge rosewood dining table signing the insert for each disc but after the first fifty or so the novelty swiftly wore off. Two hours later she had finished the chore. All of the discs had been signed -all bar one. The one she held in her trembling hands.
