The annual Smashwords Read-an-e-book week starts on Saturday 6th. This time I’ve put the first volume in each of my series into the sale. That means that for a week, Growing Up Fae and The Scroll are free on Smashwords.
Growing up Fae is the first in a four volume fae saga that has plenty of mm, mf and ff romance and lots of adventure.
The Scroll is the first in a six volume fantasy series that follows a trainee detective in an elf kingdom. She has two sidekicks, her gay brother who provides the romance sub plot, and a young dragon.
Please note that all volumes in both series are full length novels. I suspect the low pricing I’ve gone for so far might have made people think they were either novellas or YA so I’ll be looking to put the prices up soon. If you’ve thought about trying them, now’s the moment! There’s more information about both series under the books and buy links tab.
I’m currently working on a new fae saga in a completely different ‘verse.
Meanwhile, I’ve been watching TV quite a lot on February’s long dark evenings.
I’d recommend most of these – they should all still be available.
Death in Paradise *****(bbc iPlayer) I’m not that keen on cosy mystery books but I adore this series with its exotic location and the way it lets little known actors shine.
The Romantics and us with Simon Schama****(bbc iPlayer) Some newish information about some artists though plenty of stuff I already knew. Well presented of course. Note that Desperate Romantics***** is also currently on iPlayer and I loved that series. I had the DVD but am not sure whether it survived Portugal.
Trigger Point**** (itv hub). Some silly plot devices but Vicky McClure is awesome as always and there were times when the suspense was so great I had to cover my eyes.
Mary Beard’s Forbidden Art****(bbc iPlayer) I don’t think she always understands what causes people to dislike a piece of art or be offended by it. She speculates from her own reactions. For example I can’t cope with looking at illustrations of violence because they make me feel the subjects’ pain, not because I think they’re inappropriate subjects for art. There’s enough violence in the news without looking at it as art.
The Green Planet – David Attenborough**** (bbc iPlayer) I tend to fall asleep to the eye candy. I thought the last programme on plants in cities was the most interesting. It kept me awake, anyway.
The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution**** (bbc iPlayer). Some lovely insights into the lives (and locations) of the impressionists. I’ve visited Giverny but was hazy about some of the others.
This one wasn’t really worth the four hours I spent on it.
No Return***(itv hub). A lot of questionable plot points in this story of a family holiday gone horribly wrong (teenager arrested for rape of another boy) and the acting didn’t lift it out of the ordinary.
I’m still watching:
Dogs Behaving Very Badly Ch5
The Responder BBC
This is going to hurt.BBC
The Great Pottery Throwdown Ch4
and we’re thinking about The Promise BBC
Jay's World 
I tried a couple of episodes of Desperate Romantics (Pre Raphaelite art and Aidan Turner…!) but had to give up as it seemed to be more about bonking than art…
Well, yes, but that’s fact, and was instrumental in changing their approach to painting. The whole thing gives fascinating insights, and particularly emphasises the role of the women both in their own artistic endeavours and in the way they influence the men. Aiden is gorgeous but is not really a nice character. There again, he is hugely influential, sometimes by his ‘bonking’, not just his art. As you can tell, I absolutely love the series. I found myself comparing the recent more factual series on the Impressionists and wishing someone would make a drama of that, too.