News

Our lockdown is over so my sister could finally move house. Philip and I loaded up the van and travelled north for four hours to check out the new abode and install curtain tracks and curtains for her. It was a fast but pretty trip. Here’s the view from the van window as we bowled along the grandly-named Centennial Highway, not far north of Wellington. A lovely fine day, and with the longest, thinnest cloud I’ve ever seen. The South Island isn’t far away – you can catch a glimpse of snow on the Kaikoura mountains there.

There’d just been a 3-day holiday weekend, and enough traffic on the roads to have accidents again. (At least Covid-19 had one good effect.) Anyway, we kept clear of the holiday traffic, and on weekdays it seemed almost everyone else did too. This is the main highway north – not many people wanted it except us.

It was so nice to catch up with my sis again. What with having a knee too bad to drive with, and then a new joint so I couldn’t, and then lockdown, it felt like ages since I’d seen her. The house is a 1930’s timber bungalow. Ours was built in 1914. We like old houses in this family.

There's two for the price of one this week. Well, sort of.

We start with the Bennett twins who spelled double trouble for Gabriella Clifton. A year of study in London with the handsome brothers ended with souvenirs she never expected.

Twenty years later, home in New Zealand, a surprise visit from Donny Bennett turns her world upside down. Can she trust his words? Can she believe her eyes? Can she guard her heart against his unrelenting charm offensive?

As the Christmas sun shines down on the big old house by the sea, Gabi must decide the shape of her future.

Exclusive to Amazon for now, and FREE to read on Amazon Unlimited

I loved writing this. Apart from anything else it gave me the chance to re-visit London, and I even sneaked the location of my old flat into the story.

Memories! Did I ever meet anyone with as much charisma as the Bennett boys? Maybe yes - but I'm not saying more. I can't give all my secrets away...

* * * * 

Second piece of news: Resisting Nick is FREE for five days.

An oldie but a goodie. 

It's funny what attracts peoples’ attention. I made the briefest of mentions in my recent newsletter that our tree was full of apples and I was baking Apple Shortcake.  Pandemonium – lots of you wanted the recipe, so if you’d like to make it, here it is:

Years ago, at an advertising agency where I worked, our Scottish accounts lady turned on a spectacular farewell morning tea. Her Apple Shortcake was so nice that I asked for the recipe - and this is what she gave me, scrawled out quickly in pencil. It has been tucked into my favourite recipes folder for maybe forty years.

However, I do realise it’s a little short on detail, so I’ve written you out a better version below. For guidance, the flan dish in the photo is 20cm or 8 inches wide. I’ve also made double in a much bigger one.

OK, you’ll need stewed apples or canned apple pie filling, well drained. Add sugar to taste, and a good sprinkle of powdered cloves.

I often get emails from readers. It’s always interesting to hear what’s going on in their lives. Several years ago I received a message saying, “I’d love to translate your books into Spanish. It’s one of the world’s most widely spoken languages, and I’m sure Spanish-speaking people would enjoy your stories.”

I’d been looking at translation costs, and to do a proper job there’s A LOT of work involved, and therefore a lot of money.

Then she wrote again, telling me she was a conference translator for the EU, travelling most weeks between her home in Barcelona and the EU headquarters in Brussels. That she’d also translated documents for the Vatican, and that she’d make me a nice price because she’d really like to get further into book translating. Here she is, speaking at a very special event at the United Arab Emirates Consulate in Barcelona. The Dalai Lama was among the guests.

Going backwards a few years, my books had been doing well and there was some spare cash. Off we went. I could afford four to start with, and over the time it took to translate them, she and I developed a real friendship.