Doing the right thing - coming soon!

Available from Cerridwen Press - 24th September 2009

Doing the Right Thing
Barbara Elsborg

Addie Winter is single—just one more reason for disappointment in her permanently disapproving mother’s eyes. There’s nothing she wants more than to be loved but when her own mother can’t bring herself to love her, she wonders if anyone can. What she needs is a man—real would be ideal, but she’ll settle for pretend. Anything to shut her mother up.

Will Mansell chokes on his drink when Addie offers to pay him to spend the night in her room. Tall, dark-haired and the epitome of Addie’s “hero”, he can’t believe his luck because women usually go for his blond-haired brother. Ed Mansell is a serial playboy with an electric smile who waltzes through life and through women. Lucky for Will and Ed they don’t have the same taste in women. But that was before they met Addie.

Far from pretending, Will and Ed set out to prove Addie wrong. But after having no one who loves her, Addie finds too much love can be just as painful as no love at all.

Filleting a salmon

Yes, you read it right. Oh God, why why why why did I think I could do it? Big party. Big shop at supermarket and I saw this whole salmon sitting there. It said buy me. It also said reduced and I knew that would please my husband. So I bought it. I should have taken it back when the girl on the register refused to handle it because she didn't like fish. But no, it went into the trolley.
Got it home and thought - what the ?? have I done?
Google - brilliant for everything. Only computer is in one room, salmon is in other and by the time I'd walked from one room to the other, my mind had gone blank. So I cut off the head. obviously don't need that.
Back to Google. Leave the head on.
S...t
I need a sharp knife. Not one in our house except the one in my husband's tool box. Made no difference - it was not easy to cut that damn fish. Not keen on the sounds of bones crunching. Is that fish blood or mine?
I did manage to get it in half but there was more left on the spine than I expected.
Now the skin, how to get it off?
Back to Google
Much too much time later, I had the skin off. The head off. The tail of. The bits out. Only I did't have two nice salmon fillets. I had a pile of fish flakes.
Back to Google - what to do with salmon flakes
Useless so I made it up.
I plastered everything together. Poured over soy sauce and sesame seeds. Wrapped it in foil and everyone said it was delicious.
I couldn't bring myself to eat it.

Blurbs

I have to vent. Well, actually I'm avoiding doing something but venting is so good. I hate writing blurbs. Hate. Hate. Hate. It's not too strong a word. Maybe I could add detest. How can 200 words be so hard to write when I regularly churn out up to 100,000 for a novel? The really sad thing is that if someone asks me what my latest book is about - I can't even sum it up in words. I waffle and prevaricate and make it sound awful.
One sentence - that I can do - but not 200 words. I've read everything on how to, I've listened to advice from my husband - does that not indicate my desperation??- I've spent days and days struggling. I have some great critique partners who come up with some crackers but me - myself - alone - I struggle to get there. I do eventually - well usually but today I've done everything but write it.
Pick up the laptop
Log on to everything other than that blurb word doc
Oh coffee
Now the dog needs playing with
I start to read
I stop reading
More coffee
And a biscuit. Okay - two biscuits
Dust the table
Back to the laptop
Empty the dishwasher
Back to the dog
Now the laptop
Yippee - I have the first word - It's -
Well it's a start!

The Bad Widow

Like a free read?

The Bad Widow
Barbara Elsborg

Rose Thorne doesn’t want much. She’d like a man to love and for village idiots to stop claiming she’s a witch. Just because she does a little magic doesn’t mean they need to burn her at the stake. It takes ages to get the smell of smoke out of her hair. On her way home after foraging for mushrooms, she’s assaulted by two local lechers. Her rescuer appears out of the mist—a tall, dark, handsome stranger with a mouth-watering body. Finally something in her miserable life is going right. Furthermore, her savior turns out to be mute, so he can’t ruin things by saying something stupid.

Can life get any better?

Susie's Choice

Coming out with Ellora's Cave at the end of July. Another menage. I actually wrote this before 'Anna in the Middle' but there you go!

Susie’s Choice
Barbara Elsborg

Wanted. Dead or Alive. Cleaner-housekeeper-miracle worker for two housework-challenged super-busy guys. Three days a week. 9 to 5. Excellent pay for Mother Teresa. Even better for Keira Knightley. And in case we’re called sexist—better yet for Daniel Craig.

When lovers Christian and Joel advertise for a cleaner, they aren’t expecting—or wanting—Mrs. Doubtfire, although one of the applicants could double as Mrs. D’s sister. But when little Susie Hood walks into their lives with scraped knees from a tumble with her bike and the looks and heart of a broken angel, the attraction is instant and irrevocable and it’s all they can do not to lock her up and throw away the key. They want her in their bed, their lives, now…forever… She is everything they wanted, needed—but she has to want both of them. Together, separately, in any and every combination they can think of.

As the sexual heat between them escalates, all three are forced to make decisions that have far-reaching ramifications. Sometimes choosing love is the hardest decision of all.

Critique Circle

Thought I'd put a little comment in about www.critiquecircle.com - if you're a writer or a would-be writer this site is a gem. One of the problems of writing when you're just starting out - or maybe after years of slogging at the keyboard - how do you know whether you're any good or not? Family and friends may lie. Other writers you know may be reluctant to give you an honest opinion. Critique Circle - CC - puts you in touch with others - just like you - who are trying to be better writers - or who want to get published - or who just need help polishing their masterpiece. With no axe to grind - many will give you the brutal truth. Sometimes it's hard to take but any opinion is worth considering - even if you decide not to listen.

CC works on a credit system. You earn credit for critiquing work and you pay credits to post your work in a queue - privately or otherwise. I won't go into the ins and outs - if you're interested - look them up- but I can honestly say that I'd never have been published if I hadn't found this group. I've made great friends, learned a lot and I'll always be grateful for the site's existence.

Moving House

They say it's one of the most stressful things to do - apart from losing a puppy in your back yard that you thought you'd made puppy proof - (don't worry - he turned up in next door's yard). We've just spent the last few days helping daughter and her boyfriend move from a smallish flat to a largish house. I'm still trying to figure out how 18 men's dress shirts and a huge pile of other stuff ended up on my - will you please iron these- list of things to do. What can I say - I'm a saint and sucker.
Apart from missing mobile phone chargers, absentee sunglasses, an argument over a raclette dish (who knew they were so big!)and improvised curtains made of cardboard boxes - all went relatively smoothly. EXCEPT - we arrived home to find son and girlfriend are also moving this weekend - back to our house. Their flat has been invaded by mice. So we have another removal job to do and I'll need to check every bag in case they bring any little critters with them otherwise I'll be moving too.