Old-fashioned recipes

I bet you've scoffed a few mince pies in the past month, and I'm pretty sure you know the name comes from the fact they originally used to be savoury pies made with minced meat.
But have you ever thought about trying one?

In Twelve Days of Yule, the heroine, Senna, makes batches of the things as part of her yuletide celebration - if you're curious to try it out, I have a recipe based on one of the original ones from the thirteenth century - are you brave/daft/curious enough to try it out?
If so, click here. And let me know how you get on with it.

Yule Blessings to you all

So, now I've finished the editing madness, I can raise a glass of Wassail and munch a mincen pie to  mourn the Holly King and greet the infant Oak King.

If you've no idea what I'm on about, checkout this truly magical story. Hope you have as much fun finding out about these awesome customs as I did.

For the rest of this year! you can snap it up as the silly price of 99p/99cents. Twelve Days of Yule - A Magical, Medieval Romance.

Billed as Call the Midwife meets Poldark, this magical, medieval romance explores the origins of many of the modern-day Christmas customs. You can find out a little more here.

Christmas Reading - Fill up your Kindle.

Feast your eyes on these fantabulous festive stocking-fillers for those of you looking to fill your empty kindle. Choose from enchanting fantasy, sumptuous romance, tantalising mystery and many others - there really is something for everyone. Find out more by clicking on the piccy.

Launch of Edge of the Blade

Wow, what a day! I love it when a plan comes together.

The organisational effort was more than worth it as several of Coventry's finest young ice skaters helped to give the fourth Bryant Rockwell book, Edge of the Blade, a great send off at Planet Ice on Saturday. Jacky is grateful to the rink manager, Chris Carpenter, and Richard Beamish, one of the international coaches, for their help and expertise in correcting technical aspects of the story.

On the day, several of the club’s skaters added colour and style to the event, and Jacky was overwhelmed by their interest as she explained the obstacles her character overcomes to realise her dream. They were thrilled to receive an autographed copy of her book; some even started reading while posing for the photos. One of the older girls, Lauren, explained why. “There are very few stories about ice skating, especially in the UK. I often find writers do not check their facts and have skaters doing a triple jump after only a few weeks’ training. It’s great to have a story about a believable character in a realistic setting.”

John Leon, the Coventry Figure Skating Club (CFSC) chair, spoke of the awesome commitment from the youngsters (and their parents), some of whom had 3am starts as they travelled from all over the country to train with the country’s top coaches in the International School of Skating (ISS). Karl Sparrow, who photographed the event, took it a step further. “You have kids as young as eight having the nerve-wracking experience of being alone on the massive expanse of ice, facing a panel of judges, an audience and the silence before the music starts.”

To read the full story of this event, click here.
You can find out more about the Bryant Rockwell series, perfect for fans of "10 Things I Hate About You" and "13 Reasons Why" here.
Click this link to read the first few chapters of any of Jacky's books.

Coming Soon

Only a few days until the fourth Bryant Rockwell cuts a swathe.

Edge of the Blade follows the adventures of Jude (the sporty one) as she struggles with the restrictions placed on her by a system which values academic achievements above sporting prowess.
But no amount of people, even her best friends, frowning at her refusal to toe the line will stop Jude from pursing her dream of competing in the National Championships in Coventry's Planet Ice. Even if she has to make her own way there.

"Humour, romance, clever writing, and a hint of danger."

Ummm ... anyone seen September?

Seriously??? I know the month only has 30 days, but did every single one of them go without me putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard)? And there was an equinox somewhere in the middle which kinda came and went uncelebrated, although I did get to Wales a couple of days later. A mountain was climbed, paths were missed, but no mountain rescue required this time! Here's this year's discovery - a bottomless (almost) magical blue lagoon, hidden from sight (or sign!) in a disused slate quarry. Tranquility and Serenity, with a healthy dose of pot-filled bubbles.

Ho hum. Kinda goes for the whole year, this year - it's been a feeding frenzy of editing, publishing and promoting (4 new books with at least one more before the end of the year), and one total revamp which almost felt like a new book. All interspersed with trips to Wales (12 of them, varying from 2 to 6 days - just over 50 days in total.
I know you've seen this kinda thing before, but this is what summer '17 felt like. Roll on November when the site closes down and I get some of my life back.

New Kid revamped - are you up for a Beta Read?

Much as it pains me, I couldn't go with New New Kid in Town - despite what you think, I'm not quite that bad. 😉

But after a couple of comments from people requesting to know a little more about how these three friends met, and why Dirty Diana has it in for Liv, I've added a couple of chapters looking back at our gang in year seven. It's like in Harry Potter, when you get to Order of the Phoenix and go back to watch Philosopher's Stone - too-oo cute!

If you've already got your copy, a new version should be winging its way to you shortly, I just have a couple more hoops to jump through first.

If you've no idea what I'm talking about, click here and read the look inside. I'm afraid you missed out on the 99p/99c deal, but if you don't get in before this total Billy-bargain disappears, I'm looking for people who are happy to leave an honest review in return for a free copy.
If this is you, sign up here.
If you're not sure, and want to find out more, click here.