THE PICTURES...

As promised here are the dh's prize winning photographs. The first was taken when the mist filled the Towy Valley leaving Dryslwyn Castle spotlit by the sun on its "island". The picture was taken from Paxton's Tower, a local landmark. This was the one that won 1st prize.

This is the mill at Cenarth Falls, taken when the water was low. On a recent visit the entire foreground was filled with rushing water. This is a great place to watch salmon leaping, and is also where you'll find the coracle museum.

...AND OTHER STUFF

Last week I went to London for the annual Mills & Boon author lunch. Fabulous food and great craic. Here I am with Lucy Gordon. We share a 2-in-1 in December -- more about that later.







Here's the very lovely Fiona Harper with her "Clippy" bag.












And here are the Kates -- Walker and Hardy -- just having fun.









AND FINALLY

To celebrate their first year of eBooks, Mills & Boon are following Harlequin in their eBook giveaway and offering ten books to download absolutely free. You'll find them here There are also links on the sidebar to Harlequin Celebrates and Everyone's Reading. Between them there are 26 free books up for grabs, across all genres.

Enjoy!

THE BIG VILLAGE SHOW -- PART II

We spent this afternoon at the Big Village Show, touring the exhibits and seeing who won what.

It was a totally gorgeous day and we walked up through the National Botanic Gardens, revisiting the Japanese Garden which began it's life as an exhibit in Chelsea. The trees and plants had grown a lot since I last saw them.

The last time I was there, I had to stand on a scaffold to look over the wall into the walled garden. Today it was filled with fruit, vegetables, fig trees and plants and from one of the paths I took this photograph of the great glass dome, which is where they filmed a recent episode of Dr Who.

David Tennant so close...



The big day was yesterday, with the choir and the TV, but people were beginning to gather for the presentations and as we approached the marquees, the heart was pounding a little hoping that the dh wouldn't be disappointed.

The prize winning leeks. The prize winning carrots. The children's miniature garden. The prize winning flower arrangement.

Only when we'd admired everything else did we go into the marquee where the photographs were on display. And major excitement.

The dh had won first prize, second prize and also the blue ribbon for the best photograph in show! He absolutely refused to stand and be photographed wearing the ribbon (I would have, too!) but here it is.

THE BIG VILLAGE SHOW

There was a time when all the little villages in our area would hold their own "show" of garden produce, crafts, baking, etc. This year, they have all combined to hold the Big Village Show at the National Botanic Gardens which is just down the road from us at Llanarthne, near Carmarthen.

Along with loads of other exhibitors we arrived last night and, having found our way to the tradesman's entrance -- which gave us a behind the scenes view of the gardens, which was fun -- to set up the photographs which the dh has entered (in the spirit of community, which is what these shows are all about).

There are four big marquees and the flowers were already arriving -- I'll take some photographs when I go back on Sunday to have a really good look around.

One of our friends, Les Bryan, is entering his hand carved love spoons and spinning wheels -- and his granddaughter will be entering in the miniature gardens category (she won last year!)

Everyone was so friendly and having such a great time. I hope the crowds turn out to enjoy the spectacle -- and the gardens of course, which are now taking on their autumn colours. It's worth the walk to the top of the hill just to see the stunning views.

Oh, and for the Dr Who fans amongst you, the Garden's great Glass House will feature in Dr Who and the Waters of Mars, to be on UK screens "Novemberish" -- there's a clip on the Garden's website (I can't figure out how to put it here).

News of my trip to London later in the week!

A LITTLE TREAT…

Toys. We all need them.

I tend not to indulge myself in jewellery (that’s the dh’s job) or fancy clothes. Since I spend most of time in office “comfort” clothes, or in the kids’ abandoned t-shirts messing about in the garden, one new classic a year tends to fulfil my need for designer chic (although it has been a year since I last splurged so I need to think about that).

But I have been yearning for a net book. One of those tiny little computers that weighs next to nothing and has a battery that lasts more than twice as long as any laptop I’ve ever owned. Actually, Freddie, my laptop has a battery that beeped its last a couple of years ago and now sits permanently attached to an electric point, never to venture out again, but perfect for the internet.

Last week, abandoning a trip to the coast because it was raining – again – we went to Borders in Swansea to stock up on the latest titles. I was rather shocked to see yards of empty shelves in the romance section which has now lost its position near the magazines and has been pushed to the back of the store, leaving crime and paranormals with the prime space.

We all know that the bricks and mortar stores have been suffering badly in competition with online book sellers who can cut prices and wield their muscle by removing books from publishers who won’t play their discount game. My fear is that hundreds of books have simply been returned to publishers to improve Borders cash flow situation. Bad for publishers, bad for authors. Not great for book buyers either, in the long term. Browsing on the 'net is nowhere near as pleasurable as touching the books -- and you don't get that "leap out at you" love at first sight thing, either. Fingers crossed those shelves will soon be filled with Christmas titles and the gaps will be there for all the right reasons.

Anyway the dh, having picked up books 2 and 3 in Simon Scarrow’s Wellington/Bonaparte quartet and the latest Sebastian Faulk, remembered he had an urgent need for a magenta ink cartridge (he’s entering some photographs in the The Big Village Show being held at the Millennium Gardens later this month) and we crossed the road to the electrical store across the road. Which is when, having restrained myself admirably in Borders – just a BBC Italian Cookery magazine and some envelopes for me -- I saw the tiniest Acer Net Book and lost control of my credit card.

I have to admit the price was the clincher. It was on “special” for the Bank Holiday, the price cut by a £100, which is not chicken feed.

Slender, sexy in her little black dress I was going to call her Audrey. But she’s a Welsh Net Book, from Swansea, Dylan Thomas’s “sea town” and as I charged her up she whispered to me in the soft lilting accent of Mae-Rose Cottage in Under Milk Wood, “…call me Delores, like they do in the stories…”

So here she is, the latest member of the Liz Fielding writing team. Delores. You'll be hearing a lot from her. Her first assignment, the Amba lunch next week in London.

SHOPPING EARLY FOR CHRISTMAS...

I don't actually believe in shopping early for Christmas.

I try to ignore it altogether until the week before but some things, if you don't grab them when they appear, you're going to miss. I just noticed this book here at the Mills & Boon website (it'll be retail next month).

It's a collection of stories by authors such as Lucy Monroe, Heidi Rice and there's one of mine in there, too. A nice little stocking filler -- I didn't want you to miss it.

...OR JUST GOING TO THE LIBRARY

The first of my "Trading Places" duet books, Christmas Angel for the Billionaire, will be available in UK libraries this month.

Here's a tiny taster from the inside cover:

"Annie."

She looked up.

"I love you."

She opened her mouth, took a breath, shook her head. "You don't know me."

"I know what makes you laugh," George said, lifting a hand to her face, wiping his fingers across the tears that were running unchecked down her cheek. "I know what makes you cry."

She didn't deny it, just shivered as he put his arms around her, drew her close, resting his own cheek against her pale hair.

"I know how your skin feels beneath my hands," he continued. "The taste of your mouth. The way your eyes look when I touch you. I know that you're kind, generous, caring, intuitive, smart." He looked down at her. "I know that no matter what I say you'll go home. What I'm asking is, will you come back?"

Something else to look out for -- and the great thing about this one, is that it's absolutely free!