Is it still okay to wish you all a Happy New Year? It’s almost February and this is my first blog post of the year. This happens to me every year and the reason why is because I usually start the year with huge intentions and working on my novel always takes priority. Then I get so engrossed in it, that everything else falls way down the list.
I don’t beat myself up about it because occasional breaks from blogging and social media are good for me.
My first post for 2025 is a ‘Judge a Book by its Cover’ post. If you’re new to my blog, you can read the inspiration behind this regular digest HERE.
I went to my collection of book covers this morning and the first one to catch my eye was this little beauty.
Darlene Foster is an award-winning author of Amanda Travels, a children’s adventure series featuring a spunky twelve-year-old who loves to travel to unique places.
I have a collection of book covers in my photo gallery that indie authors have submitted to me via the comments section on one of my Threads posts.
Sometimes my cover choice each week depends on my mood. As I flicked through my ‘book covers album’ last night, this one grabbed my attention. A Darker Shade by Laura K Curtis. Our evenings are getting darker and colder, and the shop windows are already adorned with Halloween decorations. Maybe subconsciously, my thoughts are leaning towards the spooky side of life… or afterlife.
This short production was written, directed and filmed by Film Revolution.
I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to talk to Noel about myself and my book, Secrets in the Babby House, and the upcoming sequel.
It’s a fantastic feeling watching my main characters come to life on screen, even if it is only YouTube. I think they all did an amazing job portraying my fictional darlings!
Secrets in the Babby House is available on Amazon. Paperback and eBook.
Set in a gossipy small town in Ireland at a time when marriage is for keeps and sexuality is repressed, Secrets in the Babby House is a family saga over three decades that starts in 1956. It is a story of love, deception, and stolen diaries filled with sins and secrets.
Flossie Lynch is heartbroken when her only love, Frank Connolly, marries another. So when John O’Malley—the well-off catch of the parish—proposes to her, she resigns herself to a marriage of convenience, hoping to learn to love him. For John, Flossie is mostly a respectable wife and caring mother to their son—and the perfect façade for his dark secret. But bloody Frank Connolly and his blackmailing wife are making things difficult for him. Another victim of his jealous wife’s abusive behaviour, Frank stays in his loveless marriage for the sake of his two wee girls. He turns his childhood fort into a babby house to give them a refuge from their cruel mother. But for Frank, there is no refuge. When Flossie rekindles her friendship with Frank, she tries desperately to save him from a life of misery and promises to always look out for his daughters. As the two star-crossed lovers near a second chance, tragedy strikes, forcing Flossie to make good on her promise—while attempting to protect her husband and son. But as long as there’s a Connolly with a score to settle, there is no escape from the past and no promises for the future.
Gloria McBreen 