Confessions of an Author

So, have you read Invisible Jane yet? It's the feel-good novel that everyone is talking about in the UK, and recently released globally, so you could be the first in your country to read it. Invisible Jane tells the story of Jane, a young mother who should be happy, but somehow, things are not quite what they seem. It's a novel with some real laugh out loud moments, but also a softer side, something to lighten your heart. It's book for every parent, in every country, because you deserve to have a break. So why not buy a copy today? Available from an Amazon near you - US link below. (All profits go to support the work of Tearfund) https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Jane-Anne-Thompson/dp/0995463239/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514392129&sr=8-1&keywords=invisible+jane+by+anne+e+thompson

End End by Anne E Thompson “I wonder what she thought of that, Was so funny when he said no! I must remember to contact Jim, This traffic light is slow. I think we need more milk and eggs, I’ll check when we get home. I could do with a cup of coffee now, I hope that Mum will phone. I’m not sure if…..” Slash of metal, scream of brake, Glint of sunlight, briefest quake. Nothing. See also : https://anneethompson.com/short-stories/other-stories/death/

How to Train a Dog with Opinions      This article is aimed at people who, like me, prefer life to be easy and who own a dominant, intelligent dog. It is possible to train a dog to complete obedience (I know, I went to the classes and watched other people) but it takes either a lot of time or a degree of cruelty. If you are someone who always revised for exams when you were at school, (and probably weren’t the middle child in a family) then this article is not for you. My qualification for writing this article is that I grew up with a Border Collie dog and I now own a German Shepherd dog, and sometimes we manage to fool complete strangers into commenting that she is “very obedient”. Both the dog and I know that this is not true, but we work together to give a good impression. I also have raised two boys. Apart from the chewing furniture part, I think most of the advice probably applies to parenting boys too.        My main suggestion i...

When You Don’t Know What to Do…….Bible Blog 10 2 I found another little gem in 2 Chronicles. There I was, ploughing through Chronicles, which is mostly a repeat of everything I’ve already read in Kings, when I came upon this in chapter 21. I’m not sure if I missed it in Kings, or if it isn’t included there. The story concerns King Jehoshaphat – who has already been told off by Jehu (a seer) but is now trying to do the right thing. His problem is that a whole ton of enemies are approaching, including his so-called allies, and he’s heading for a brutal defeat. So, he prays. He basically comes to God, and says, “We don’t know what to do, but we’re looking to you to solve the problem.” Ever felt like that? I know I have. In fact, the whole nation comes to God – it says they came with their babies, and children, and wives (the men would be expected to be there anyway in those days). They came, and prayed to God, because they didn’t know what to do. Not because they had a cle...

Which Blog? – Comparing Blogspot and WordPress 6 Which is the best blog to use? I have been blogging for three years now, and although my IT skills are fairly basic, I manage to navigate the blogging world quite well. So, if you are thinking of starting or switching your own blog, which is the best platform to use? I began blogging with a WordPress site. It was beyond my abilities to set up, so I had help. I knew what I wanted though – a website where people could access links easily. I wanted to write articles, rather than simply a weekly blog. I was therefore advised to use WordPress, and to find a format that allowed me to add pages. Pages are the links that are static – they appear on your blog when someone clicks on it. They are different to posts. Posts are added in chronological order, so follow, one after the other. If, therefore, I post a brilliant article about self-publishing, after a few weeks it is buried below all the posts I have added since. Pages, howev...

Christmas Meal with the Family For the last few years, we’ve tried to go up to London, to see the Christmas lights and have dinner together. Not anywhere particularly posh, but just to be together, somewhere different, where I don’t have to do the cooking. Last weekend was the 2017 family meal. I wasn’t sure if we’d manage it this year, as only Husband and I were at home, and everyone else would be travelling from different parts of the country, but they all seemed willing, so I booked a table and hoped it wouldn’t snow. It didn’t, but it did rain, which made the event damper than planned, but it was still nice to see everyone. We arranged to meet at 5:30pm at The National Gallery. I chose this time because it was an hour before our restaurant reservation, and my family, whilst wonderful, are somewhat unpredictable when it comes to times and trains and going in the right direction. Well, actually, it would be more accurate to say they are very predictable, and I knew ...

An Extract From Hidden Faces As it’s nearly Christmas, and  Hidden Faces  begins as the staff prepare for the Nativity play, I thought I would share an extract with you. I hope you enjoy it. Chapter One Cynthia Mott was late. She slotted her key into the solid front door and pushed it open, stepped into the front room, brushed her feet on the mat and hurried under the low beam into her kitchen. She dumped her bag in the corner, keys on top of the fridge and bent to retrieve her forgotten lunch. There was a thump. She froze, all her attention focused on listening. It came again. A dull, low thump. Wood on wood. It came from the cottage garden, which should have been empty. She glanced at the clock, irritable, there was no time for this, had not really been time to even collect her sandwiches. Another thump. That decided her. She dropped the lunch box into her bag, kicked off her shoes, struggled into the wellingtons by the back door and marched across the law...

Are Women Possessions? 4 I have been reading through the Bible, from start to finish, and trying to blog about what I read as honestly as I can.  Obviously I am partly a product of my upbringing (not necessarily bad) but I wanted to look with fresh eyes, to try and take the words written and understand them. I ran into problems fairly early on. There was lots I didn’t understand, and then, in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, I came across things that just seemed wrong. Completely wrong. Which caused bit of a problem. How could I challenge the words, spoken by a prophet of God, as a direct quotation from God? Either I wasn’t understanding something fundamental, or the words of God were not something I felt was fair. It did not reflect my own understanding of God, a God who is just, loving, fair. The words reflected a God who I did not want to know. Let me give you some examples. Now, I am a woman, but actually, this isn’t about female issues. I would think the laws were u...