On being a 'treat'

Last week I was the Choc-lit Friday Treat. I’ve never been a treat before – it sounds slightly wicked.

For those who have not signed up to Choc-lit’s mailing lists, a treat is a short story – a piece of flash fiction, really, from a Choc-lit author – often someone who has a new book out. It usually arrives in time to be read with morning coffee/tea, which is very civilised.

If you’re signed on to Choc-lit’s mailing list, and to receive the treats, you know about this. If you aren’t signed on, why not? It’s free, and it means you get those little treats arriving in your in box on a Friday – not every Friday – and a monthly newsletter with info about new books, events, the occasional chance to win stuff. If you hop over to the Choc-lit site you can sign up. But don’t go yet. I’ll give you a link at the end. 

Promise.  

Anyway back to my treat. As regular readers know, I’m not much for short fiction. I always blame it on the plotting requirements of romantic suspense, which need more room than 500ish words, which is true, but it’s also that I don’t have a big facility for writing short. It’s not my thing. Except sometimes it is. I occasionally get an idea, and then I enjoy putting it down in a short format. Which is what happened with this one. I wrote it when I was editing Summer in San Remo (a process that took on the proportions of painting the Forth bridge, it had so many stops, starts and beginnings again) which meant that I had it all ready when the book was finally released – which earned lots of brownie points with the lovely Lusana in the Choc-lit HQ (at least, I hope it did) and not a little astonishment.   

It’s a very romantic piece, set in Paris, and I particularly tailored it to include echoes of Cassie and Jake’s story in Summer in San Remo, although it’s not about them. That was quite satisfying to do, a little test of skill, like trying to complete a crossword – I’m not all that good at those, either – I won’t talk about what those were, because it would be spoilers, but if you’ve read both you will probably have picked them up, and if you’ve only read the treat, that’s a little added extra when you come to read Summer in San Remo. I hope you will read it. I think you’ll enjoy it.



To sign on for the treats, you need to email info@choc-lit.com with Treat in the subject heading. If you ask nicely they might even be able to send you mine, if you haven't already read it.

You can sign on for the monthly news letter via the Choc-lit website.

The link to the CHOC-LIT site is HERE