De-blog

Not My Christmas by Debbie McGowan Published: 25th December, 2019 Length: 18,000 words (approx.) 99c from Smashwords  • Amazon Blurb: Christmas at the Davenports has never been a relaxing affair, so when the opportunity for a little alone time with a beautiful, available woman comes Charlie Davenport’s way, she takes it, breaking several family traditions and risking the wrath of her siblings. But it’ll be worth it, right? And she can always make it up to them later…or next Christmas. A stand-alone story from the world of Hiding Behind The Couch. Keywords: LGBTQ+, ownvoices, romance, family, bisexual women, Christmas, humour

20th December, 2018 https://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/theadventofreason Blurb A weekend in an ancient castle and a murder-mystery game that becomes all too real. It’s safe to say Josh’s plans for a romantic anniversary with George are not turning out the way he’d hoped. In spite of his cynicism, and his promise not to embark on any more life-threatening pursuits for answers, when one of the guests turns up dead, Josh can’t help but put his talents to use to solve the murder. The Advent of Reason is a (more or less) stand-alone 47,000-word novella-length character special in the Hiding Behind The Couch series. Purchase Links Beaten Track:  Ebook  • Paperback Amazon:  Ebook  •  Paperback iBooks • Barnes and Noble • Smashwords • Kobo • Google Play Excerpt “Oh, God. That’s a long way down.” Josh backed away from the panoramic window fronting Gabby’s third-floor studio. She laughed, but not at him, he didn’t think, and came to sta...

Merry Christmas!

T w o m o r e s l e e p s ! Or is it three? Hmmmm.... p.s. Joe - you won. :) OK, it was by default, but a win's a win, right?

I should title this post ‘how not to release a story’… Yesterday (yep), I released A Snowy Ball —a short Christmas story featuring Arty and Jim from When Skies Have Fallen . I only decided to write it a couple of weeks ago, and given the date and everything, I decided to go ahead and get it out there. Why did I write  A Snowy Ball ? Quite a few readers have been kind enough to get in touch and tell me how much they loved  When Skies Have Fallen —and made my day in the process :)—some of whom mentioned they would have liked to read more of Arty and Jim’s day-to-day life. I’d have loved to include more of that in the novel, but the deadline didn’t allow it, and I was quite pragmatic in my storytelling (first time for everything). So that’s the first and most important reason. The second reason is that if I hadn’t written it, this year would have been the first since 2013 when I didn’t release a Christmas story, and I’m a fan of Christmas stories myself. Lastly, I...

Well, it seems I'm about as useful at posting a sock Advent calendar as I am at opening my Swizzels Advent Calendar, but never mind. It gives me a chance to share my love of Christmas socks, intimately , with at least one other person. You'll notice from the 11th to 16th I got in a bit of a mess and now I don't know which socks go with which day. Oh, no! :o OK, I do, because I'm a bit...unique that way. If you'd like to win a pair of (new) Christmas socks , all you have to do is figure out which socks I wore on which days, and I will send you your very own pair! Hurrah! Here are the socks in question: In case the images aren't clear, from left to right, the socks are decorated with: Robins Reindeer Santa Pugs Penguins Holly Lastly, and most importantly of all... you might have noticed that on the 9th, I wore two different socks - or so it appears. I didn't (although I did on the 3rd because the first pair got wet). The 9th of Dece...

It began 28 years ago, with a wonderful, kind woman called Sylvia, who bought me a pair of Christmas socks...

Feline Guardian of Festive Footwear

Christmas socks = happy feet ~ more tomorrow ~

I'll explain later... :D

WIPpet numbers for 25th January, 2017: ((25*20)/17)-1=28 (short) paragraphs from Reunions The current word count is 192,000! Forget what I said about being finished in 200k. Ain’t happenin’! This scene follows on from last week’s WIPpet. WIPpet Context: Shaunna and Andy are an established couple with twin six-month-old daughters. It’s bedtime, and they’re talking to pass the time whilst Shaunna expresses breastmilk (she has something on her mind). Other characters mentioned in the snippet (Sean, Sophie, Josh and George) are some of their close friends; Josh is a psychotherapist. For readers of the series, this give a bit of a teaser of (some of) what’s in store in Season Seven. If you don’t want to know, look away now! * * * * * “Hmm.” There wasn’t a whole lot going on in their lives, but talking would stop her thinking and fretting. “Did I tell you about Sean and Sophie?” Andy frowned. “Dunno.” “Sophie’s going to London to do her PhD.” “Ah. So that’s what’s up wi...

WIPpet numbers for 18th January, 2017: (18-1)*17=289 words from Reunions The current word count on this beastie is 182,500! I think it’ll be finished in less than 200k, but don’t hold me to that. I decided to go with this particular scene because daughter #2 brought her second tiny son home from hospital today. He was born six weeks early (tiny grandson #1 was twelve weeks early), and a short while ago, she was chatting to me on FaceTime whilst expressing, which she’s doing to keep her milk flow, and because tiny grandson #2 doesn’t like the right breast (I had this with daughter #1 – it’s rather fun to compare notes). WIPpet Context: Shaunna and Andy are an established couple with twin six-month-old daughters. Just prior to this scene, Shaunna and Andy were…well, you can figure it out from the first line. ;) * * * * * “I’ll get the machine in a sec,” he slurred, drunk on sex hormones. “Don’t worry about it. They don’t need me anymore.” “Whoa.” Andy lifted on one ar...

WIPpet numbers for 11th January, 2017: 11th January - 11+1=12 paragraphs from Reunions Sean Tierney is one of the main characters from Hiding Behind The Couch , and first appears in Ruminations (Prequel #2). WIPpet Context: This scene is from a few pages after last week’s WIPpet : Sean is in Derry with his son, Dylan. They’re spending Christmas with Sean’s mum and his older brother, Finn, who was in a serious car accident in his teens and has a long-term disability and (subsequent) painkiller addiction. Erin is Finn’s girlfriend, a nurse practitioner, whom Sean knew nothing about until she turned up with Finn for Christmas dinner. Finn has gone for a lie-down; Sean and Erin are finishing up from washing the dishes. * * * * * For as much as Sean hated what Finn had become, he tried not to hate him , to keep an open mind. Whenever he heard of a new pain treatment, Sean emailed the information to his old GP, who, as far as he knew, was still Finn’s GP. In a way, he supposed...

WIPpet numbers for 4th January, 2017: Going US style on the date - Jan 4 - for 14 paragraphs from Reunions Sean Tierney is one of the main characters from Hiding Behind The Couch , and first appears in Ruminations (Prequel #2). WIPpet Context: Sean has arrived in Derry with his son, Dylan. They’re spending Christmas with Sean’s mum. * * * * * Alas, Sean’s optimism was crushed when he heard the front door open, followed by the foreboding click of an aluminium crutch. A familiar cold sweat descended. “Was your bathwater a bit on the hot side, Sean?” Finn limped into the kitchen and grinned at Dylan. “You’ve shrunk since I last saw ye.” “All right, Finn?” Sean greeted neutrally and then was stunned to the point he muttered “Jaysus” by his brother’s embrace. “I’m not bad at all.” Finn gave him a good, firm pat on the back and released him. “Yourself?” “I’m grand. You’re looking well, Finn.” Finn nodded noncommittally, but to Sean’s eyes, he looked healthier and hap...

I've extended the giveaway to the end of Hanukkah. Here are the links and coupon codes: Smashwords: https://is.gd/bfjmQG (coupon: KV22Z) Beaten Track: https://is.gd/3XBEKT (coupon: KV22Z) All Romance eBooks: https://is.gd/nGRgDO Blurb: Freelance engineer Sol Brooks doesn't do the festive season. He thinks it's boring and overly sentimental. With the rest of the household laid up with 'the flu', Sol's planned on using the time to crack on with some work. His mother, however, has other ideas. And so does Sol's husband, Adam. A stand-alone holiday special featuring Sol and Adam from Checking Him Out. * * * * * WARNING: this story contains sex acts between consenting male adults. * * * * * In this series: Checking Him Out (book 1) Checking Him Out For The Holidays Hiding Out Taking Him On (book 2 - Noah and Matty) Checking In (book 3)

WIPpet numbers for 21st December, 2016: 21 for the date and 7 Davenports = 217 words :D * * * * * This week, I’m following on from my last WIPpet post, when Pete made a saucy remark and (mostly) got away with it. In context, Eleanor is one of ‘The Circle’—the nine friends at the centre of the Hiding Behind The Couch series. Now aged 40, she’s the eldest of the Davenport ‘children’. Charlotte—aged 35—is third eldest and still lives with their parents, as does Pete—the youngest at 23. This scene takes place on the last Sunday before Christmas; the Davenports are getting ready to go to church before heading down to Ben’s (second eldest) for the Davenport family Christmas. “We’ll wait in the car,” Eleanor said curtly. She thought she’d got the gist of Pete and Charlotte’s conversation, and she wasn’t impressed. With a firm grip on Toby’s hand, she ushered her mother out of the house. Charlotte stood to zip her jacket. Pete’s mischief amused her, but she didn’t dare show ...

It’s the first day of my Christmas holiday. Hurray! I’m cracking on with Reunions …soon. I haven’t written any more of it yet. But I have marzipanned (yes, it is a verb, for sure) the cake (that I definitely didn’t buy pre-made). We’ve got a tree and lights and everything, so it’s all going according to plan. Mostly. Sort of. OK, there is no plan. Anyway… Rainbow Snippet time. Snippet context: It’s Christmas morning. That’s all you need to know. :)   Here’s the snippet: “Good morning, Mr. Johansson,” Ade sang—actually sang—holding the ‘-son’ for a count of four as the curtains swished open on a still-dark world. The bedside lamps came on, first one, then the other, and Ade clambered back into bed. “Good morning, Mr. Simmons.” Kris fought a smile, endeavouring to hide his amusement and surprise. Ade was not a morning person. “It’s—” Kris lifted his head and squinted at the clock “—five-thirty? That’s early even for me.” “All the more day to do Christmas with,” Ade sa...

WIPpet numbers for 14th December, 2016: ((14x12)/16)x(2+0)=21 paragraphs * * * * * I’ve missed a chunk out to keep this as short as possible, but this week, I’m following on from my last WIPpet post, when readers wanted to know: “Who’s staying in Pete’s bed?” Read on! In context, Eleanor is one of ‘The Circle’—the nine friends at the centre of the Hiding Behind The Couch series. Now aged 40, she’s the eldest of the Davenport ‘children’. Charlotte—aged 35—is third eldest and still lives with their parents, as does Pete—the youngest at 23. This scene takes place on the last Sunday before Christmas; the Davenports are getting ready to go to church before heading down to Ben’s (second eldest) for the Davenport family Christmas. Toby (in the snippet) is Eleanor’s son. Note: this is ‘hot off the keyboard’. “Who’s Pete got staying?” Eleanor timed the question badly, as her mum was on her way back down and heard her. “It best be nobody,” she grumbled on her way to the toast...

Yesterday, we finally got around to putting up our Christmas tree...which means we first had to buy one. A few years back, in an attempt to persuade the rest of my family, I compared the ecological impact of having a real tree every year vs manufacture and disposal of an artificial tree, thinking I'd win with logic and statistics. I lost. Unless we were to keep an artificial tree for more than five years, it's greener to stick with the real deal, especially if it's recycled after Christmas, which ours always is. However, finding a real tree this year was a bit of a trial. The place we used to buy from was only a mile down the road from us, but they stopped selling Christmas trees a couple of years ago, so we've had to go further afield. I also insisted on a Scots pine, which - according to the seller we got our tree from this time - is rarely being grown for the Christmas tree market because they're less reliable and not as uniform as the spruces. So now yo...

Well, I knew I hadn't taken part in Rainbow Snippets for a while, but I was horrified when I discovered the last time was August! :o I'll leave the explanation at it's been a helluva year for all of us and move on. This week, I'm gearing up to the 15th December release of my Christmas novella - Of The Bauble . It's a young adult humorous fantasy romance, which hopefully readers of all ages (13+) will enjoy. Here's the blurb: When nineteen-year-old Kieran O’Sullivan takes a trip to the attic for the Christmas decorations, it proves to be an illuminating experience. Box includes: - a hapless but not altogether helpless student - a pedantic supernatural being (or two, or…well, quite a few) - a funky older sister - the coolest mum in the world - a naughty rescue bunny and her easily led feline sidekick - an insightful ex-girlfriend - twinkle lights - tinsel - baubles * Warning - may contain traces of magic and a smidgeon of social commentar...