Thousands of words done this week!!! Yay!!!!
At last I can see this ms really taking shape.

It’s been a while since I’ve had five books I wanted to recommend. So I’m delighted to list the following:

1. “Claudia’s Big Break” by Lisa Heidke. I’ve loved all Lisa’s books and this was another fun read.

2. “The Red Queen” by Phillipa Gregory. Another fabulous historical tale about the struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster.

3. “The Bone Garden” by Tess Gerritsen. A different, mostly historical story, from this fab writer.

4. “One Hundred Candles” by Mara Purnhagen. A great young adult story about paranormal investigators (not that I’m biased or anything).

5. I reread an old favourite: “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr. Such a wonderful group of characters and a thoroughly involving mystery.

The word count has remained static for ages. I’m still writing but cutting as many words as I add. Very frustrating. Last week, I actually put on a few thousand words. Yay!!! Finally getting closer to my goal length.

Looks like I won the wrestling match with Allegra 3. This week I’ve had a big breakthrough. At last it’s all starting to come together. Oh, the relief. Bliss.

This week I’m talking comfort movies. Those ones you can watch again and again, and always feel good afterwards. In no particular order:

1. “Bridget Jones’s Diary” It’s always fun hanging out with Bridget and her mates. Brilliant performance by Renee Zellweger.

2. “Nurse Betty” A sweet, gorgeous, quirky, unpredictable movie, which also has a beautiful soundtrack and another great performance by Renee Zellweger.

3. “Notting Hill” Cute and funny – gotta love Spike.

4. “Mamma Mia” – yeah, it’s still my very favourite movie. Meryl Streep, Abba and Greek scenery. Sublime.

5. “A Fish Called Wanda” – one of the best crime caper movies. Sigh, wish there were more like this.

So what are your favourite comfort movies?

In the red corner we have Janni Nell. In the blue corner, Allegra Fairweather book 3.
Let’s have a clean fight ladies. No punching in the adjectives and adverbs. No kicking in the dangling participles.

I’ll wrestle this book into shape if it kills me.

When The bloke and I took a mini break to Bowral, in the highlands south of Sydney, we stayed at beautiful Milton Park. My favourite things about this lovely spot are:

1. The beautiful grounds. Gorgeous old trees, secret paths, stone pools, masses of agapanthus.

2. The peace and silence. This is the quietest place I’ve ever stayed. Even the birds told each other to shush.

3. The room was great with a very comfortable bed, a fireplace and doors opening onto a grassy area with an old fountain.

4. The food. The scampi with anchovy butter was delicious. The steak was cooked just right. (I’m one of those people who likes meat well done. Chefs hate me.)

5. The resident cat. An aloof ball of fluff, who sat on the reception desk when he wasn’t prowling the grounds. Total snob. Thought he owned the place.