I Killed Brenda!

Hold the phone call to the police, this is not a confession! Nor is it the title of my next book. The Brenda in question is an exercise machine, the Brenda Dygraff Instride Walker to be precise. This is my second machine of the same type (I can’t remember what happened to the first one… maybe I killed that too) but I’ve used this style of machine on and off for over twenty years. It has been particularly useful with my rehab/physio since my ankle operation in January 2020 because the foot plates keep my feet in the correct alignment and also at the right angle for stretching the backs of my calves.

To be fair, ‘Brenda’ had been making a creaking noise for quite a while, but she finally ‘died’ shortly before my holiday to Antigua. I searched online but this machine isn’t made anymore and the only second-hand ones I could find were in America so shipping costs would have been huge. Annoyingly, I bought two machines when I replaced the original, one for me and one for my daughter, but she didn’t really use hers so put it in a skip without telling me when they moved house a couple of years ago.

Not one to accept defeat, my husband suggested trying to get it fixed. We knew of a metal worker who made the railings for either side of the steps up to our house so, when we got home Chris gave him a call and Brenda went to ‘hospital’.

It was a first for the metal worker BUT she is fixed and working as good as new although he did say there wasn’t a lot of metal to weld together so the repair might only be temporary. So, here is my plea. If anyone knows of an unwanted Brenda Dygraff Instride Walker that is currently being used as a clothes horse or taking up space in a shed, please leave a comment below and I’ll email you. For now though, ‘my Brenda’ has arisen from the dead and has helped me lose the two kilos I gained in weight on my Antigua holiday!

Now for some bookish news. Shortly after writing my last blog, Amazon emailed me asking if I’d be interested in purchasing the audiobook of Why She Died, the third book in the DCI Rachel Hart series. I knew the audiobook had been recorded and was available, but it is now on Audible alongside the previous two books in the series, Little Girl Missing and What He Did.

All three are narrated by Alison Campbell and I must say she did a great job with the first two, so I have high hopes for the third. I’m currently listening to What He Did on my drive to and from my ‘day’ job at QVC (late to the audiobook party because my old car didn’t have Bluetooth) and I hadn’t realised what a challenge I’d set with all the various accents… South African, Welsh, Portuguese to name but a few and not to mention a pretty extensive cast of characters both male and female which she handles brilliantly. If you are a lover of audiobooks and crime thrillers, please give them a go.

And speaking of audiobook narrators, the reason this blog is a couple of days late is because I wanted Daphne Kouma, the brilliant narrator of my most recent book, The Dilemma to sign a copy for me to give away in this month’s competition… more on that later. 

Daphne is a busy working actress, currently touring in The Beekeeper of Aleppo which is at Richmond Theatre this week. Although it’s a highly acclaimed bestselling novel, I haven’t read it, so the story was new to me. I thought the production was excellent and the storyline was thought-provoking and moving… I’m not ashamed to say I shed a few tears. 

I went to the matinee performance with a mutual friend, Sunita and afterwards we met up briefly with Daphne at the stage door. It was brief because they only had a couple of hours before the evening performance but we’re intending to meet up properly in July when the tour comes to an end. If it’s coming to a theatre near you, I can highly recommend it.

Incidentally, The Dilemma has now topped a thousand ratings/reviews on Amazon, my third book to reach this milestone… thanks so much to everyone who takes the time and trouble, it is much appreciated.

And on the subject of ratings/reviews, The Woman on the Beach has now topped two thousand! I have to pinch myself sometimes as only a fairly small percentage of readers leave reviews so that number is amazing. Sophie’s story really did strike a chord with a lot of people. Because I was quite sick around the time she was released, I don’t think I truly appreciated how well-received she was, but I came across this screengrab when she was a number 1 Hot New Release, above the fabulous Richard Osman’s The Man Who Died Twice!

The final piece of book news this month is that My Mother’s Secret has been selected for a Kindle Monthly Deal in Australia so if you got friends and family out there give them a nudge to download at the reduced price.

Well, it’s quite a momentous weekend with the coronation of King Charles 3^rd on Saturday but guess what? I’m working. I’m actually live on air at QVC at 11am – I think it’s called drawing the short straw. I would have liked to spent the day watching the coverage of the coronation with my 96-year-old mum who, like a lot of her generation is a dyed-in-the-wool royalist. Oh well, we can’t always have our way. 

I’ve bought her some coronation biscuits to nibble on while she watches instead and if any of you are giving it a miss you could tune in and keep me company. I’m definitely going to have a go at making Coronation Quiche for dinner though – sounds right up my street!

So, as you already know, this month’s competition prize is a copy of The Dilemma signed not only by me but also by Daphne Kouma and I thought I’d make the question relevant to Daphne’s play, The Beekeeper of Aleppo.

Aleppo is a large city in:

1. Turkey
2. Syria
3. Egypt

Leave your answers in a comment below before the end of May and I’ll announce the winners in next month’s blog.

Speaking of which, Teresa Diack was one of the winners from last month but we’ve still to hear back from the other winner and the winner of the March competition – please check your emails (junk too) as it could be you.

Enjoy the rest of May

Speak soon 

Julia xx