You Are 100% Psychic

You are so very psychic. But you already predicted that, didn't you? You have "the gift" - and you use it daily to connect with others. You're very tapped into the world around you... Just make sure to use your powers for good!

Are You Psychic?

Watching You

I just completed another suspense novel and sent it off to the publisher this evening -- so fingers crossed!

Watching You is a bit different from my previous suspense novels. This time I go into the mind of a serial killer. As well as the hero and heroine's point of views, I use the killer's.

I had an absolute ball writing this book.

Here's a short blurb:

Angeline Hamilton is devastated to discover upon the reading of her father's will that not only has she lost her inheritance, but she has lost her family home too -- Tarrington Manor. She approaches the new owner, Sebastain Tremaine, under the pretence that she has applied for a job at he house.

Someone is watching Angeline's every move and wants revenge. He aims to get it the night of the masked ball...

What transpires is a tale of secrets, seduction and a simmering love affair that is further complicated by the losses in the lives of both lovers and the evil stalker they have to keep at bay.

Rodders was fantastic last night!

The Rod Stewart concert at The Millennium Stadium Cardiff last night, was fantastic! When we arrived in Cardiff, we immediately bumped into a couple of old friends who were also going to the concert, so we had a drink with them and something to eat before the show.

Rod was supported by The Pretenders, who were good, but I couldn't make out one word Chrissie Hynd was saying to the crowd!

Rod was in fine form for an old age pensioner of 62. He belted out the old tracks like Reason to Believe, Maggie May, Sailing etc. He has so much energy. Fatherhood appears to keep him young, he's hardly changed throughout the years.

The most touching part of the show was when he sang Cat Stevens's, Father and Son. A moving film of himself with his father and his own son growing up was shown behind him.

Rock on Rodders! I still want to listen to you crooning when you're in your eighties and nineties!

I've made a decision

I've made a decision, although knowing me, I'll probably feel differently tomorrow. I'm going to stop logging in to the missing dog website. It's been five weeks since Danny disappeared and there has been no concrete evidence to suggest where he is.

So far, there have been so-called sightings in Troedyrhiw, Merthyr Town Centre, St. Mellons in Cardiff, Tredegar and now a possible one in Brecon. I'm beginning to get very skeptical about it all.

I was just about to dish up Sunday lunch last weekend and we had a few special visitors to join us when Colin disappeared in the car. I found out that some kids had rung claiming they had seen Danny. He got there within minutes and found the children but no dog. When they gave him the description, he sounded nothing like Danny at all.

All these sightings are so vague and upsetting to be honest.

The type of call I have been waiting for since putting up posters and it going in the paper, is either: "Mrs Rees we believe we have your dog. We thought he was a stray and have been looking after him." Or: "There's a man living down the road who has recently taken a dog in fitting that description." Not something like: "I saw a dog twenty miles away two weeks ago that might have been Danny." I say: "Did he have one long pointy ear and one floppy?" "Er, I didn't notice." Believe me, mate, that's the first thing you would have noticed about him.

So for now, I am not going to keep logging into the missing dog website several times a day. All these leads [pardon the pun] are far too vague for me.

There has to come a point when I bring closure to this for my sanity's sake. There will always be well meaning dog lovers who will keep logging in and posting messages to Danny's page to say they think they have seen him.

I'm going to do as Ed kindly suggested, write a story with an ending about what really happened to Danny that night. I'll probably make it a happy ending, even if that isn't really the case.

Coincidence

Yesterday, was exactly a year since the book launch for It Happened One Summer took place at the castle. I had no idea back then that I would have flown away from my publisher and found a new one! The new publisher is The Wild Rose Press, who I have to say are treating me very well indeed.

The coincidence is that yesterday, I was sent the galley from them for the same book.

I am so glad I took the decision to step out, taking the risk with another publisher. My old publisher did not treat me well, that's why I left. I felt they didn't have my best interests at heart. I'm also now a Samhain author, who are also treating me well as an author.

Writers, I would say to you: Don't settle for second best, otherwise that's all you can expect.

Return to Winter is now available in print!

I'm thrilled that Return to Winter is now available in print!

Purchase here!

And here's an excerpt:

Stephanie sat in Dylan's armchair next to the fire place and kicked
off her boots. It was eleven-thirty. She must have dozed off as the
next thing she knew she was opening her eyes and the clock showed that
it was almost midnight. That was odd. Surely it wouldn't take Dylan
half an hour to fetch a couple of bottles from the cellar?

She slipped back into her boots and walked down the corridor in the
direction of the cellar. When she got there, the door was slightly ajar.

"Dylan!" she cried out, her voice echoing into the abyss. There was no
answer, so she pushed the heavy, creaking door until it opened fully.
She searched for a light switch but failed to find one. Perhaps if she
walked down the steps, there would be a switch at the bottom.

It was ice-cold as she descended the stone steps that had probably
been there for generations. Somewhere down in the very depths of the
castle, she heard a faint dripping sound.

Putting both palms on the wall, she scaled her way down in the inky
darkness. Good, she found a wooden rail she could hold on to.

Something brushed against her face and she almost cried out with fear.
Just a cobweb, she reassured herself. You're losing it, lady. Maybe
this was a daft idea and she should retrace her steps back up to the
top. But what if Dylan was lying at the bottom injured? That thought
was enough to spur her on.

Finally, she got to the last step and found a switch and the light
came on. It was very dim, but at least she had some illumination. She
searched around and found a small, dusty table, on top of which was a
candle holder and a box of matches. She struck one and lit the candle,
just as the light bulb fizzled out.

Shadows flickered in the cellar, casting an eerie impression. "Dylan!"
she cried out again. But all was silent. There were rack upon rack of
bottles down here. They must be worth a fortune, she mused.

It was no use, she couldn't find Dylan. She was about to go and then
let out a gasp, the hairs on her neck standing on end as she saw a
woman coming towards her carrying a lighted candle. Then she relaxed,
and let out a long breath when she realised it was only her own
reflection in an old bar room mirror on the wall.

How silly she was being, imagining all kinds of things. She composed
herself and made for the stairs. The cellar door slammed shut and the
candle blew out. Terror gripped her as she fought to keep in control
of her senses. The thud in her ears deafened her as she heard her own
heart beat as loud as a drum. What if no one found her?

"Help!" she tried to shout, but fear made her voice sound weak.
"Someone please help me!" Then she put her hands out in front of her
to try to find her way out.

Stumbling over something, she tripped and fell, hitting her head
against a wine rack. She put her hands out for something solid to help
her to get to her feet and touched something soft and warm. It was a
human leg, someone was standing by her side.

"Dylan, thank goodness. Help me up."

Two strong hands came towards her and helped her to her feet. Then
they forcefully grabbed her from behind, one hand slipping over her
mouth. This was her worse nightmare and she had no idea who it was.
Trembling, she feared she would black out and then what would happen?
Her legs felt like they were going to give way. I have to do
something. She tried to scream but the large hand was firmly clamped
over her mouth...

Strange phone calls about Danny

Putting our home phone number in the local paper when advertising Danny's disappearance might be a bit of a two edged sword. So far I have received two calls regarding him:

The first one was last night. A young woman rang saying she thought she had seen him last week between Abercanaid and Troedyrhiw on the canal bank. I immediately thought: If he was that near why didn't he just come home? She said she was walking along and the dog joined her and kept running off and laying down on the floor. Didn't sound like Danny's behaviour at all. So I asked her if the dog she saw had one long pointy ear and the other floppy. She said she hadn't noticed. Now his ears are so prominent you couldn't possibly miss them! Not only that there was a very clear picture of him and his ears with a written description in the paper. The final clincher for me was when she said he was wearing a red collar. Definitely not Danny.

The second call came when I had just come in from work this evening with piles of shopping to put away, I hadn't even got as far as taking my coat off. A male voice I would estimate to be in his 60s started talking to me in a familiar way. "I read about your dog missing in the paper..." At first I thought it might have been my father or my uncle, but then it was obviously not. This man, as well meaning as he was, was just ringing to find out if we had found Danny! GRRRR! I felt like saying to him: "Well that's why I thought you were ringing me not the other way around!" Instead, the penny dropped and I asked him if he had any information. To which he replied "No."

To cut a long story short, he proceeded to tell me all about his dog and how it might need an operation. I didn't lose my temper, I just sympathised with him when I really felt like saying: "Why on earth did you bother ringing me?" One good thing though, I found out from him that he'd read about it in the local Rhymney newspaper, so the article is appearing further afield than I thought.

Another thing I noticed about both phone calls is that they were both withheld numbers. Perhaps they were people who just wanted to chat about dogs in general. Those kind of phone calls I can do without right now.

At last -- report of missing Danny in the newspaper!

I've been trying to get something in the paper about Danny since the weekend he went missing, almost four weeks ago. At last The Merthyr Express has printed a decent sized article about him along with a photograph.

So I shall be waiting with baited breath to see if anyone rings here.

I'll keep you posted.

Finding it difficult to write

I'm finding it difficult to write at the moment. I don't mean in this blog or anything, I mean the novel I am in the midst of. I've changed the title to 'Midnight Shadow'.

It's a romantic suspense thriller and this book is a little different for me in that this time I have included the thoughts of the villain. I've read several books like that by big name authors that have intrigued me. It makes the read more 3 dimensional, I think.

I find I'm writing in short spurts at the moment. I can probably only get down a page or two every day, whereas last October, I managed to draft a full novel in less than one month. I'm lacking focus and in general I'm not really myself. There is still no news about Danny. I rang The Merthyr Express this week to check to see if they have received the second press release from the press officer at http://www.doglost.co.uk

They appeared to know about it and so, I'm hoping, it will go in the paper this week. I feel this is our best hope of getting him back if someone is looking after him. If not, then I am going to have to draw a line and bring about some sort of closure for myself. Some of my family think I have been too optimistic about getting him back, but reading about some of the success stories of dogs being reunited with their owners on the doglost site has given me some hope. Some have been missing for months.

The sad thing is that these days a lot of dogs are stolen. I think one of the sadest tales I read there was of one dog who had been stolen with its owner's van and then dumped by the motorway by the thieves. It got killed by a car. This dog was the part of someone's family and to do something like that to steal something of material value beggars belief.

I sent off for two dog tags on the weekend with our address and phone number on, they arrived this morning, so I have attached them to Milly and Shelley's collars. Perhaps if I had got one for Danny, someone could have returned him to us. It might sound naive but it didn't really occur to me before, even though we've kept dogs before. The dogs are walked regularly and are not thrown out into the street, so I thought it wouldn't happen to us. I was wrong.

My hope is that someone is taking care of Danny and will give him lots of love, my fear is that he's dead. The worst part is the not knowing.

Wanna be tagged?

I found this post on Ms. Creativity's blog and have adapted it for this blog. So do you wanna be tagged?

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. Holly’s Corner
2. Daddy Forever
3. Sparky’s Scratch
4. The Story of an Aspiring Writer (or two)
5. Nettie's Ramblings

Next select five people to tag:
1. YOU!
2. if
3. you
4. want
5. to...

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Just left college and didn't have a clue what I was going to do!

What were you doing 1 year ago?

Just had my first book published and waiting for book launch at Cyfarthfa Castle.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Cheese and tomato toasties

2. Cheese and onion crisps

3. Chips and gravy

4. Beans on toast

5. Sausage roll

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

1. Waterloo - Abba

2. Angels - Robbie Williams

3. Without You - Nilsson

4. Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John

5. Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Divide some of my fortune up between close family

2. Give a proportion to charity

With the rest I would:

3. Invest

4. Take a nice holiday [probably the U.S.]

5. Buy a writing cabin in the woods

Five bad habits:

1. Disorganisation

2. Procrastination

3. Not keeping in touch enough with people

4. Looking on the black side

5. A quick temper

Five things you like doing:

1. Trying something new

2. Getting a book or article published

3. Walking in the woods

4. Getting into a clean bed

5. Catching up with people at Christmas

Five things you would never wear again:

1. A mini skirt

2. A bikini

3. Hotpants

4. Polyester

5. Shorts

Five favorite toys:
These are from my childhood:

1. Walking talking doll

2. Tiny Tears

3. Handmade dolls house [made by my grt uncle]

4. Sleigh [made by my grandfather]

5. Kernockers

Which child am I?

I found this image of my school sports day at the Old Merthyr Tydfil website and was amazed to see myself on there. I think I might have been about 10 at the time. I have no idea who sent the picture in or any recollection of that particular race. However, what I do remember is I never used to win. There were always better sprinters than me. I used to try very hard though. I never came last probably somewhere half between.

I think I reached my peak with school sports at the age of 15. I was a good cross country runner and not too bad at the high jump and hurdles as well. In 1976 I was due to captain the red house team for the girls [Caradog House], but alas, I never got my moment of glory. As my father was a postman, we used to take our holidays at different times and often I would have to take a week or two off school for the family holiday.

Now the question is...which girl am I on the picture? [Click on picture to enlarge]

I'll give you a clue: I'm the one with a very determined look on her face!

Nice Review

**Purchase e-book here, print book from June 29th

Return to Winter will go into print on June 29th. I got quite a nice 4 star review for the book from Annie at Euro-Reviews:

Stephanie Baynham returns to South Wales from a nine-month stay with her grandparents in Italy, where she fled from her feelings for Dylan Pryce-Jones. Stephanie and Dylan became close--intimately close--at the wedding of Matt and Sandy, held at Dylan's establishment, but Stephanie's fear of abandonment impelled her escape, leaving Dylan distraught and puzzled. When she returns, she is astonished to discover, first of all, that Sandy is expecting in a few weeks; and second, that Dylan appears to be engaged to his manager.
Christmas at Dylan's castle inn is certainly going to be an uproar for Stephanie.

Much worse, when she returns to her apartment block, the words "You're Dead" are scrawled across her mirror. Stephanie runs again, this time in fear of neighbor and former boss Lawrence Black, nightclub owner and general sleazy type, whom she suspects of killing one of his female employees, in his apartment across the way from Stephanie's. She is right to fear Lawrence,but what she doesn't yet understand is that she has more to be terrified of than just him, including others who wanther out of the way, and her own emotions toward Dylan. Stephanie and Dylan, along with the reader, are in for a roller-coaster ride of suspense, emotions, intimacy, and general uproar!

Return to Winter reprises as secondary characters Matt and Sandy who made It Happened One Summer such a delight to read. In this volume, however, this reviewer found Stephanie a much less appealing character. Ms. Rees performs excellently at delineating Stephanie's insecurities and underlying fear of abandonment. Dylan, the hero, is also well-designed and his parents, and their separate paths, are intriguingly constructed, keeping readers' attention on that sub-plot. The plot will entice readers' notice and keep all guessing. Kudos to Lynette Rees for her ability to twist the plot around unexpected corners and deliver constant reader surprises.

Annie ~ Euro-Reviews

A false alarm

My neighbour knocked my door earlier this afternoon to say that she thought she had seen Danny at the top of her steps and he had just run up the road. It was pouring with rain, so with my heart hammering like a jack hammer, I bolted through the door. Colin shouted he would get the car out.

I walked quickly up the road only to discover it was Milly [Danny's mother] who was out. I was so annoyed with Colin as I realised he had left the back door open [he's always doing that].

My neighbour apologised and I told her not to worry as if she hadn't called me we could have had two missing dogs on our hands.

Feeling better today!

I'm feeling a lot better today, mainly from posting to that site yesterday which led to contact from:
http://www.doglost.co.uk/ who phoned me this morning for more details and a pic of Danny.

They have posted up the details and created a poster for helpers to display:
http://www.doglost.co.uk/forum.asp?ID=9873

I'd be over the moon if I got my little boy back. It really helps to know there are other dog lovers out there supporting me.

I feel awful today

I dreamt a couple of nights ago that Danny came home. I saw him walking down the steps and I rushed to open the front door, only when I did, it wasn't him it was another dog.

Since then I have been feeling worse and worse. Today I am particularly bad. My son and I had a talk last night and we both concluded that the unthinkable has happened, I don't want to even say it here.

Everywhere I go, whatever I do, I am reminded of Danny, it's awful. I picture him sitting on the garage steps, or lying on his favourite chair with his paws crossed.

I've been trying to register him as missing on various pet websites for about a week or so now, only some of the free ones I've joined, once I upload the details, for some reason they won't go through. A good one I found this afternoon though, charges £24.99 and they don't do much more than we've done ourselves already, such as sending posters to the vets, dog wardens, rescue shelters, etc.

Finally, I found one that worked and doesn't even charge, not that I mind paying if they do something different to what we've already done.

I just sent Danny's details off to this missing pets website along with his picture:
http://www.lostdogsuk.com/ld4824%20border%20collie.htm

This is killing me.

March 9th, 2006, I saw Millie give birth to Danny, I helped wean him, I nursed him. I spent every day with him. I find myself talking to him, but he's not here anymore and it bloody hurts. It hurts like hell.

Dog warden

I just received a phone call and at first I thought it was someone with information about Danny, but it was the local dog warden asking if we had found him. He told me it might be worth contacting the dog warden for Rhondda Cynon Taf. We are living near the Aberdare mountain, so Danny may have gone over that way.

I rang their offices and someone asked the dog warden over there. It doesn't sound as if they have him, although, I did explain that although he is a Border Collie, he doesn't particularly look like one. They told me the dog pound is open tomorrow morning between 10 and 12, so it might be worth a visit.

One week has passed

Well it's been one week since Danny went missing and we are still no closer to finding him. We've done just about as much as we can to find him. Most of the week on and off I have been in floods of tears. I was okay yesterday, but today, now it's a week later, it really brings it home to me.

This time last week, I went into work a little later than usual, so I had time to walk the dogs before I left, instead of asking someone else to do it. Danny was still here then. I took the three of them over the tip and we played with the ball. He wasn't quite as quick as the other two at getting it, so I tried to make sure I threw it in his direction so he got a chance to bring it back to me.

When I returned from work that day, I brought their usual Friday treat for them. I had got into the habit of buying them a little something from the pet section in Wilksons every week. There are two bone sort of dental sticks in each pack and I would buy two. The other dogs took their time over theirs, but Danny always ate his so fast, that I would end up giving him the extra one as well.

It's strange, that I had been thinking how happy and lucky I was to have three great dogs. One of my neighbours had only commented a few days before how healthy the three of them looked. How was I to know when I went to bed that night, leaving my husband to walk them, it would the last time I would ever see Danny?

I feel in my heart, and I have felt this from the first hour he went missing, that I will never see him again. I hope I am proved wrong.

Still no news about Danny

Yesterday was a very weepy day for me. Danny still hasn't come back home or been found. Colin, my husband, visited the RSPCA, the police station and made enquiries about the dog pound. He was given a phone number for a rescue centre in Gelligaer, where the stray dogs from this area are taken. We rang twice yesterday and also today, but so far, he hasn't shown up.

The local farmer has been informed and the country ranger. So we are doing all we can. It's awful without him. It got me thinking to how the bereaved feel when a loved one has died. I can quite relate to addressing him and realising he is no longer here, and to constantly looking for him around the house. I just keep hoping when I wake up in the morning, he will be sitting outside the front door as if nothing has happened. If he shows up, he is going to have the longest hug ever and the biggest meal he has had in his life!

My daughter made up a poster:

Missing

Danny went missing in the vicinity of Gethin Woods [near the bridge at the rear of Anthony Grove], at around 11.00 p.m. on Friday 1st of June 2007.

Danny is 15 months old and very friendly. He is quite slim, short haired and his coat is mainly black. He has very distinctive ears - his left ear points upwards and his right ear is floppy.

If you have any information regarding Danny, please contact:

01685 373073 / 07891596350

There is a £100.00 reward for Danny's safe return.

Missing Dog!

It's been a sad weekend. My hubby took the three dogs out for a walk, late on Friday 1st of June at around 11.00 p.m and only came back with two.

Danny, the youngest, age 15mths, ran off and failed to return. He has run off once or twice in the past and has always come back to the house within an hour or so. It is now almost 48 hours since his disappearance and we are all breaking our hearts.

It's the little things I miss, like seeing him curled up in the armchair when I come in through the door, or hearing him howling as the ice cream van plays the theme from Match of the Day.

Of course, we have all searched. The kids have been out numerous times and are going out again as I write this. We will not give up looking for him. He's one of our own, part of our family.

Danny is quite slim and short haired and doesn't look distinctively like a Border Collie, although he is.

His coat is mainly black, with white markings on the back of his head. His chest is dappled [grey and black] and his paws are a sandy/dappled colour. The tip of his tail is white. He has very distinctive ears. His left ear points upwards [very long and straight] and his right ear is floppy.


If you have seen Danny, who went missing from the Abercanaid/Merthyr Tydfil area late on Friday 1st of June, please contact us on:

07929 181 662

A question popped into my mind the other day: Why do Harlequin Mills and Boon books only exhibit a certain type of hero? It came to me after reading an interesting post at Romancing the Blog, ‘Let’s hear it for the blonds’:

http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/2007/05/10/let%e2%80%99s-hear-it-for-the-blonds/

Basically, the writer of the blog, Alyssa Hurzeler, is asking why we don’t often get to read about the blond hero? It got me thinking she’s got a point. Most of the Harlequin Mills and Boon heroes I read about are tall, dark and a little arrogant, like modern day Mr. Darcys.

Currently we have titles like:

* The Greek Tycoon’s Virgin Mistress

* The Sicilian’s Hot Revenge

* Kept by the Spanish Billionaire

All Mediterranean men, all in positions of power.

We never get to hear titles such as:

* Seduced by the Swede

* Bought for the Dutchman’s Bed

* In the Arms of the Austrian

Or what about the books where the hero’s profession is prominent:

* The Italian Doctor’s Perfect Family

* The Soldier’s Seduction

* The Runaway and the Cattleman

* The Bodyguard Contract

We never get to see titles like:

* The Dane’s Dysfunctional Family

* The Prodigal Plumber

* Swept off her feet by the Dustbin man

* The Runaway and the Bricklayer

Of course, you’ve gathered by now that the alternative titles I’ve suggested are very much tongue-in-cheek!

But why do almost all the British Harlequin Mills and Boon books at the moment only appear to have Mediterranean heroes?

British author, Betty Neels, broke the mould with her Dutch heroes. [Betty was a nurse who married a Dutch doctor]. But even when Betty’s books were in print they didn’t mention anything about a Dutchman in the title. They were usually titles like:

Sister Peters in Amsterdam or Nurse in Holland, but more frequently, her books would have titles like A Christmas to Remember or The Promise of Happiness. You’d have to peek inside to discover the Dutch connection

Sadly, Betty died in 2001, and although she broke the mould herself with her writing, I think she was pretty unique. All the books I’ve read that were written by her, have only included the heroine’s point of view and yet they seem to work. Nowadays, we usually get the hero’s point of view as well. Her books are still in print today, a testament to how loved as an author she was and still is. See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Neels

So, what do you think? Would you like to see a different sort of hero in a Harlequin Mills and Boon book, or are you more than happy with Modern day, Mediterranean Mr. Darcys? And if you would like to read about a different sort of hero for a change, what sort would he be?