Author Archives: Elaine Spires

Get In The Queue!

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Following the trial of the Hatton Garden Pensioners, newspaper headlines have been keen to find the one that got away. ‘Police Looking for Pensioner with £10m of Jewels.’
Well, aren’t we all, love? They can get in the queue! What a catch this man, known as Basil, is, isn’t he? Yet he’s in a very strange position – he can’t advertise his wealth for fear of the police finding him, so he probably won’t be surrounded by (usually) younger women who suddenly find him attractive.

Still hard to feel sorry for Basil, though.
The papers, TV and social media have … Read the rest »

Double Dose of Willie S and a Dash of Loose Women

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Last week was a busy one and an enjoyably busy one at that.

The week started off with a dose of Shakespeare in the form of The Winter’s Tale at the pictures.  I went along to see the film of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre live performance – http://www.branaghtheatre.com/the-winters-tale/ – with the man himself taking the role of Leontes and Dame Judi as Paulina, which is part of his Plays at the Garrick season. And very enjoyable it was, too. It took a little while to start, much to my chagrin, having rushed and huffed and puffed to get there. How … Read the rest »

Shell Baker

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Our Hot Holidays guest today is fabby blogger Shell Baker! Although her name is Michelle everyone calls her Shell, which she prefers. A Christmas Day baby and single parent, Shell lives in the Black Country with her two boys and two cats. Shell loves art and crafts and studied fashion and textiles at college 8 years ago. Nowadays her creativity is expressed in her blog:

http://chellesbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/ which is always a really great read and you can follow Shell on social media:
https://twitter.com/c_o_n_c_h_a
https://www.facebook.com/chellebook78/?fref=ts

And when she’s not blogging, you’ll find her walking round the park, through the woods or by … Read the rest »

Raising a Glass

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So, today is 31st December; here we are at the end of our journey through 2015. It’s the day we reflect on the past and make promises to ourselves and others about the future. I know myself well-enough not to make resolutions; I have learned from bitter experience that it’s just giving myself another reason to beat myself up for being a failure, having no will-power, being useless and worthless in the first few weeks of the incoming year. I do, though, send love and best wishes to all those who are making resolutions today.

For me 2015 was a … Read the rest »

Very Christmas

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Well, as Christmases go, it was awesome. Great. Brilliant. Magic. Sick. It was a Very Christmas!
And I can’t believe it’s all over after the weeks of preparation and looking forward to it. Although, I leave the tree up until 2nd or 3rd January and I burn candles all through the winter as I love candlelight, so it still seems very Christmassy in my little living-room.
Although I’ve spent most of my life in warm climates, surrounded by sunshine, the run-up to Christmas in UK is my favourite time of year. I enjoy the dark evenings and seeing all the … Read the rest »

Barbara Copperthwaite

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I have just finished reading FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD by the bestselling author of psychological crime fiction, BARBARA COPPERTHWAITE. Her debut, INVISIBLE, went on sale last year and became an Amazon Top Ten best seller in the UK. FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD has been equally successful, charting as soon as it was released. It is a fabulous read! I cannot recommend it highly enough. Although it was scaring me witless, I just couldn’t put it down; Barbara is such a talented writer.

She was raised in Lincolnshire, beside the sea and in the countryside. There, she became a lover of … Read the rest »

Glogg! Glogg! Glogg!

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Hej!
Yes, I’ve gone all Swedish. Just back from four fabulous days in Stockholm with the Daughter and the Sister and what a time we had! We all fell in love with the city, its buildings, its culture, its people, its food, its drink – especially the glogg, the mulled Christmas wine, its sights and sounds, well, just about everything about it, really.

And the fact that we didn’t stop laughing from the moment we got to Gatwick

added to our enjoyment.

We stayed at the Mornington Hotel on Nybrogata, http://www.mornington.se/Mornington—Stockholm—EN/Home.aspx which the Daughter just chose at random, but what … Read the rest »

Battle of Britain Show – Dancing Years and Wartime Fears

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What a night it was! On Saturday, 5th December, I was honoured to be a part of the 50th birthday celebrations for my friend Pete Hewitt: Battle of Britain Show, a PHEW Production. Simple words really can’t do justice to the fabulous evening that it was, one that had been two years in the planning.

Although it was Pete’s milestone birthday he wanted it to be a tribute to his mum, the inimitable, lovely, talented, kind, Christian woman I was proud to call my friend – Jean Hewitt. And so, based on the stories he grew up hearing from his … Read the rest »

Freebie, Foyles and Freaking Out

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I know it’s been a while! Sorry! I have actually been writing. I’ve got on amazingly with THE BANJO. It isn’t finished but it’s coming along nicely. And so many other things have been happening, too. I wake up and ten minutes later The One Show is on.

Last Sunday I went to Birmingham to a Writers and Bloggers Meet Up, organised by the wonderful Kim Nash. It was great to meet so many people that I only ‘know’ from this blog, Twitter or Facebook. I was especially thrilled to meet Barbara Copperthwaite as I’m reading her second book, Flowers … Read the rest »

Louise Douglas

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It’s a very busy time for Louise Douglas following the recent launch of her latest book, The Secret by the Lake. How exciting! What’s even more exciting is that she’s joining us to tell us all about her Hot Holidays!

But first, here’s something about The Secret by the Lake:

A FAMILY TRAGEDY
:  Amy’s always felt like something’s been missing in her life. When a tragedy forces the family she works for as a nanny to retreat to a small lakeside cottage, she realises she cannot leave them now.

A SISTER’S SECRET:  
But Amy finds something unsettling about the … Read the rest »