World

A cargo ship off the port of Santos, Brazil, had 45 containers work themselves loose and became the target for looters. These included items such as bicycles and clothes. Brazilian officials arrested at least 11 people.

An investigation is under way to work out the cause of the accident. Eyewitnesses reported that some of the containers had broken loose on impact with the water.

London

A thirty-two-year-old woman with was being detailed in Holloway Prison, North London died in February last year. Sarah Reed was waiting to be assessed to see if she was mentally fit to please after being charged with assaulting a nurse in a secure psychiatric unit.

Sarah’s mother believes that mentally ill people should not be assessed in prison and that if people had done their jobs properly her daughter would still be alive.

The jury at the inquest into Sarah’s death concluded that there were a series of failures such as not treating her in a timely manner, mismanagement of her care and monitoring. She had been waiting in prison for nine weeks for an assessment.

Sarah’s mental health issues, according to her mother stemmed from her not recovering from the death of her baby daughter in 2003.

Me: Not enough money is put into the care system for people with mental health issues, disabilities or special needs. Services are regularly being cut and understanding of these needs varies dependent on the experience of the medical staff. Unfortunately, our system here tends to be reactive instead of proactive. I know there is no easy answer especially when funding cuts are required but the long-term issues and expenditures have far more reaching effects.

My World

I’ve spent a week out of work suffering from a bad back caused by an injury sustained the week before at work. This could have been a negative week where I wallowed in self-pity but it hasn’t been.

I am thrilled to announce that I now have a new job which I will be starting in September and this fresh new start is exactly what I need after an extremely tough few months.
To celebrate this resurgence of me I have chopped my hair up and got myself a brand new style.

My Word

‘Is this Love?’ has now gone to be proofread, the cover and blurb have been finalised and I’m getting excited.

A chance encounter in a bar throws Gemma into Theo’s path. She’s beautiful, witty and warm, everything his ex-girlfriend isn’t. Theo is a modern man with old fashioned values who is faithful to a fault. When his manipulative ex-girlfriend tricks him into getting back with her, Theo resigns himself to the life he knows and waves this lovely stranger goodbye.

Neither one of them is able to forget the other, so when chance throws them together again on a holiday they are unable to resist the attraction. But Theo is now carrying a heavy secret, and sharing it with Gemma hurts her intensely.

When the holiday is over, Theo’s girlfriend throws a bombshell meant to destroy him. When everything seems lost, how can they find the strength to fight and keep their love alive?

I have also spent time this week working on the sequel ‘Illicit Love’.

See you next week

Maria x

 

http://amzn.to/2vde3ZP

This is a short read and is the prequel to Bloodgifted. My only problem with this book was of my own making – I read it after Bloodgifted so the bit that should have swept me up didn’t. If I had read it first there is no doubt that I would have been swept away. That aside it is a lovely little read and the characterisation is strong. I will definitely read more by this author.

World

One of Fox News presenters has been suspended after he was accused of sending lewd photographs to three female co-workers. This was alleged to have taken place several years ago. An investigation is taking place but the lawyer for Eric Bolling, accused, denies these charges.

This is the third high-profile harassment case to be brought against someone from the cable news outlet recently.

London

London Waterloo station is undergoing major engineering works which will cost £800m, this was started on Saturday and will continue until 28 August, closing 10 platforms. This will cause major disruptions. The work is to get Waterloo ready for longer trains which will provide space for 30% extra passengers.

My World

Started this week on a high and ended it in pain with my back. As part of my full-time job, I manage a couple of rental properties and this week we had one tenant move out on Tuesday and another move in on Saturday with the offer only being made late Wednesday. Due to the tight schedule, I had to go down to the property and ensure it was suitable for the new tenant which included a quick weed of the garden. Whilst doing this my back pinged and has left me in a whole lot of pain.

My Word

Finished the edit on ‘Is this Love?’ and went back to the sequel which is over a hundred pages in and started to read through and rearrange. Writing is a continual learning curve and I am pleased when I can implement something I’ve learnt in to my books.

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