Hi ,

First of all, my apologies for the delayed newsletter. Once more life got away from me (plus a couple of weeks holiday, mostly in Belfast, if I'm honest!). My next newsletter will be along sometime in May so watch out for that.

However, I am definitely making progress with my writing (Yay!).

In February I took part in a five day writing challenge which provided a daily prompt on which I had to write no more than 100 words. It was definitely a challenge, but I thought you might enjoy reading the first one - so scroll down to find that.

Following on from the social media changes I mentioned last month, do you use Goodreads? I do, and you can follow me there (click here). But I'm also trialling Story Graph, which is like Goodreads, but not owned by Amazon. It looks like it has some really good additional features too. If you'd like to follow me there, I'm Jessami, and if you are already there, let me know who you are, so I can follow you!

A while back I recommended The Fussy Librarian as a source for free and bargain books. They are now expanding their newsletters; not only ebooks just available on Amazon Kindle, but four separate newsletters dedicated to ebooks available at Apple Books, for Nook ereaders, at Kobo, or through Google Play. You can also sign up for one or more of their weekly genre specific newsletters - mystery and thrillers, romance, and science fiction/fantasy. And all that means you can really tailor what newsletters you recieve to what you really want to read.

If you're getting this newsletter for the first time, thank you for joining me. I aim to send a newsletter around the middle of each month and in this issue you'll find:

• Writing Challenge - and yes, you will see these characters again!
• What I've Been Reading - two great recommendations
• Featured Merchandise - the full range of mugs
• A Book Shopping Spree giveaway
  
• Your Subscriber Freebies - and if you've read Strand of Faith, drop me a line and let me know what you thought.

Write a super short story in your genre featuring a dog, a hat, and an apple.

Jess threw the ball over the orchard wall and watched Echo scamper through the gate, barking excitedly. There was a muffled thump, a shout, and Echo reappeared, hurtling towards Jess who bent and retrieved the hat from the dog’s mouth. As she straightened, Tarli was in front of her, holding out an apple.

“Swap for my hat?” he asked with a grin.

Jess smiled, took the apple, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Share it?” she asked as she kissed him.

Did you enjoy last month's recommendations? Hit reply and let me know. And if you've got any recommendations for me, let me know those too - I'm always on the lookout for new books.

Just two recommendations this time, mostly because one of them is the start of a very compelling series and I spent most of my time reading the rest of the series!

This time we're featuring the range of mugs. They are already priced as low as possible, so they can't be discounted any further, but that means you can always get a great mug for as little as £10.

All these mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe, made sustainably in a renewable energy powered factory, and ship in plant based packaging. What's not to like? Click on the images for individual mugs, or the button below to see the whole range.

I'll be back in May - look out for a newsletter around the middle of the month.  In the meantime, take care, and happy reading.

If you're ready to move on to the rest of the Choices and Consequences series, grab them here.