eucalpyptus leaves

A song inspired by Griff O'Neal from the Tessa Arlen series Poppy Redfern: A Woman of WWII Mystery - Tessa Arlen.

I was thinking about the heartbreak of fighter escorts reaching the limit of their range and turning west while the bombers continued east alone. Once the fighters left, the Fortresses were slow, conspicuous targets, forced to hold formation while enemy aircraft could attack them repeatedly. They were heavily armed, but without an escort they were horribly exposed. I wanted to explore both the helplessness of leaving those crews behind and the burden carried by the pilot who nevertheless had a responsibility to bring his own men home.

This song was for the chapter The Turn Back Point from my fan fiction story Vignettes from Little Buffenden and Beyond.

You can buy Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders and Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers here.

I totally love the Poppy Redfern: A Woman of WWII Mystery series. Unfortunately I can't help feeling that the author has lost interest in the series given her silence on the question of when the next book will come out - I have no idea when/if we will ever see another book. Hence this fic, which as of July 2026 is still the only Poppy Redfern fanfiction in existence despite the fact that I started it in 2020, which is when the author left us poor fans hanging. I revisited it in 2022 and the muse returned to me again in 2026 :)

You can buy Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders and Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers here.

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Blurb:

Between air raids, investigations and the demands of wartime, Poppy Redfern and Griff O’Neal are rarely allowed much time together.

This collection returns to the spaces between the novels, with missing scenes, expanded moments, alternate possibilities and continuations beyond the final page. Some fit quietly into canon. Others ask what might have happened next as Poppy and Griff navigate village life, dangerous work, separation, London and a relationship neither of them is particularly skilled at defining.

Blurb

When the NHL season is suspended because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Asher Kincaid, an elite player for the Halcyon Bay Armada finds himself stranded in a friend’s small apartment in Brindlewood, a few hours outside Halcyon Bay.

Before the world as he knew it came a shuddering halt, the Armada had been in the middle of a legitimate playoff push and Asher had been used to a rigid routine, travel, noise and competition. Now he's faced with resistance bands hooked over door frames, rollerblades in a quiet driveway and hours that stretch without structure.

Next door, Grace Tang is working as she always has. She records audiobooks from a converted wardrobe, moving between fantasy battles, history lectures and slow-burn romances with the same controlled voice. Lockdown changes very little for her. She has always lived and worked alone.

They hear each other before they speak.

Through the thin walls of their apartments and shared balconies, a friendship forms. He times his workouts to the sound of her rehearsals. She learns the rhythm of his training and the way he talks on the phone when he thinks no one is listening. When they finally meet properly - neither expects what follows.

Within their little bubble, they form a genuine connection during his paused season, but neither knows if this can survive once the world starts up again.

Grace likes her quiet, unassuming existence but when hockey returns, so will Asher's previous life.

Link to fic.

Blurb:

Jamie Nguyen had one rule when she was dragged to that concert: Do. Not. Engage.

She wasn’t even a fan of Aesthetic Ruin. She had no interest in screaming groupies, bad decisions, or the infamous Chris Raines—rock star, tabloid fixture, and walking public safety hazard.

And yet.

Somehow, she ended up in his dressing room.

Somehow, she ended up in his bed.

Somehow, she ended up all over the internet as his secret fiancée.

Chris Raines thinks it’s hilarious.

The media thinks it’s the romance of the century.

Jamie thinks she needs to fake her own death.

But Chris isn’t letting her disappear so easily.

Because suddenly, he’s showing up at her café, hanging around her supermarket job, crashing her law school life, and serenading her mum at the hospital.

Suddenly, he’s everywhere.

And suddenly… Jamie isn’t so sure she wants him to leave.

Because falling in love with a rock star is a terrible idea.

But it turns out not falling might be impossible.

For fans of chaotic love stories, outrageous texts, toe pics instead of nudes, and rock stars who fall first, fall hard, and refuse to fall alone.

Link to story

Blurb

No gossip. No strings. No relationship. Just sex - until it becomes everything.

Winter Xu is a college student with parents who measure worth in grades, ambition, and reputation. Dating is out of the question; romance is a distraction they would never approve - especially not with someone like Dominic Kane, captain of the Wycliff Wolves, bound for the NHL, and the last boy they would ever want for her.

Until now, Winter and Dominic’s only exchanges have been across the seminar table in English Lit - her sharp arguments against his confident counterpoints, neither willing to yield. That should have been the end of it. Then Winter, pushed too far by her friends, blurts out a reckless promise: she’ll pick someone and finally get sex over with, lose her virginity, and be done with it.

Dominic overhears. And instead of walking away, he makes her an offer she never expected.

No gossip. No strings. No relationship. Just secrecy, rules, and an arrangement she controls. What starts as Winter’s plan to cross sex off her list with the most unlikely partner becomes something far harder to dismiss. With parents watching, NHL scouts circling, and their futures pressing close, Winter and Dominic must decide how much they’re willing to risk - and whether what’s growing between them is already more than they can.

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My unhinged, ridiculous and entirely unfounded in reality take on a hockey romance. I love and hate hockey romances. I hate the way the characters are often written, so this is my own take on one that I find fun.

I made a theme song for another one of my original fics. I really like how the 'sound' came out :D