erastes | Recent Entries

Someone asked me on twitter about an antiquated French word and there was a short discussion (after all it is Twitter) about whether people liked foreign words inserted into a book to “give a flavour” and remind people that the people are actually speaking a foreign language, even though the book is written in English.

What do you think about that?

Personally it irritates the hell out of me. The only way I think it works is when the object described is alien to western eyes, and there’s no translation for it. Like “obi” for example (traditional sash) or other Japanese words. As long as the explanation is given gently in context, then that word becomes the staple word for that thing.

However, what I CAN’T STAND to the extent I want to stabbity stabbity is when a person’s speech is peppered with the words of the language he’s speaking. E.g (not from anything) “Ah, bien, Louis, you are here, we must hurry to save La Reine, vite!”

I mean, the book is set in France. We are reading them in English because it’s a novel. They are speaking French. So why are they speaking double-French? Or double Spanish, or double whatever language they are “really” speaking…

The only exception to this, to my mind would be if all the characters were speaking another language apart from their own and they interspersed their sentences with words from their language. Poirot is a good example of this: “Tiens, Hastings! I have been stupid! Je suis un imbecile! Nom de Nom!”

But what do you think? Do tell!

In other news - I’m pretty anaemic, despite scarfing down iron pills—prescription strength—for a couple of days. I wish there was some way to tell in advance when this was going to happen so I could get ironed up in advance. I do take normal iron pills every day, but the super-strength ones help me get back to normal. I’m tired, gasping for air—even talking—and want to go to bed. I think that I’ll do dad’s lunch and then go home. It just makes me completely “meh” about everything. I open a word file and I just get tired looking at it. Can’t concentrate on a tv programme, can’t concentrate to read a book. I hate it.

I’ve just discovered that there’s a fucking TREATMENT for Menorrhagia: It’s called Endometrial Oblation (which sounds like something out of Philip Pulman) and it involves burning away the lining of the womb, permanently. Can’t be done at childbearing age, for obvious reasons, but why the fuck hasn’t my doctor suggested it? It can be done in outpatients for Christ's sake. Oh, I know why. Because he’s a MAN and he can’t BELIEVE that my periods are anywhere near as ghastly as I make them out to be. Yeah, that’s right. We treat our periods in the same way that men treat fishing stories.

I’ll be having a word with my doctor next week…

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/743442.html

How to over-write a sentence.

Quinn grabbed Rafe’s arm and pulled him into the room, the feel of the bare forearm, exposed from the flowing shirt that was pushed up to his elbows, seemed hot beneath his hand.

And to make your creator go BWAH? as well.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/742925.html

It’s hot. 28 degrees today, 34 yesterday and so I’m in a ranty mood. (More especially as as soon as I arrived at Dad’s I got pounced on by the owners of the house next door who are trying to sell the bungalow who accused Dad of throwing teabags up against the windows there. There’s no point trying to have that conversation with Dad, whether it’s true or not.

Anyway. THE ARCHERS.

We have an established gay couple in the show, but no lesbians that I can recall – it’s a comfortable gay relationship, accepted by simply everyone and they are married and until recently very happily settled.

However, something came out of left field this week, that has made me wave my Bisexual button with a vengeance. Harry has been in the show a while, and hasn’t really had any role to play other than getting a job as a milkman and competing for all the local girls with his flatmate. He has been shown as positively aggressively heterosexual, and even followed one of the Polish temporary workers back to Poland before coming home empty handed.

This week, he’d gone on holiday with Fallon (the young woman whose mother owns the pub, keep up do) and Jazzer and today I found out he never made it back because he’d met up with an old flame and they have trotted off into the sunset. And the old flame was a man.

It was SO FUCKING LAME. And hugely git-like on the behalf of the writers, because they probably thought “oh, how can we write Harry out of the show and give him an interesting end, as his life in Ambridge has been so tedious up to now?” and so they gave us this.. duhn duhn duhn…. disappearance to spice it all up and to give the residents of Ambridge something to talk about for another five minutes. They seem to have gone all coy in their language recently as the dialogue was much like this:

“You mean to say that…”

“What?”

“Well, you know… he’s…”

“Yes, exactly.”

“But he was all over that Polish girl!”

The conversation then goes on to say how the “Polish girl” had never been right for him and how lovely it was he had found his true love.

Not a MENTION of his obvious bisexuality. Once again the red-headed stepchild of the GL(B)T “family” (although it is very like a family, the Simpsons, the Borgias, the Corleones…) is invisible and sitting in a corner Not Being Named. It was a cop-out and although there was a massive opportunity to raise the awareness of bisexuality, the writers just went with “oh, he was gay all along.”

Pah.

Pah, I say. And double Pah.

And also: Speak its Name is running their interview spot again, thanks to the lovely Elin Gregory who is mirroring her Comfy Chair posts there. If you want a spot, slip either me or Elin an email. however, authors, I would be grateful if you were 1. at least a little familiar with the blog before applying and 2. Don’t start preaching to me me on the policy of the site and saying how limiting it is. There are plenty of other places that do interviews, but at Speak Its Name we do gay historicals. That’s all.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/742749.html

yesterday I was recovering from stupid cellulitis and today it’s 34 degrees in the sun, 31 in the shade. So am lying down with a “I atent dead but wish i was” sign on. Poor dog is hot as hell too. been alternating between cool bath and couch.

air conditioning? LOL – what is that?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/742434.html

Had a horrible temperature last night of about 102 (all gone now, these things only last about 12 hours) and my mind was amusing me as I tossed and turned by giving me re-runs of The Big Bang Theory. Suddenly I thought “This is stupid, I don’t want to watch ones I’ve seen before, I’m a writer, invent some new episodes!” So my mind obliged and promptly had Haroun and Tanweer (the gay indian couple mentioned in The Grasshopper Experiment) who came to stay on holiday with Leonard and Sheldon – and Leonard was talking to Haroun about their relationship, and Haroun said “oh, we have an open relationship – but Tanweer doesn’t know that, of course.” I spent the rest of the horrible night worrying about Tanweer!

Stupid brain.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/742168.html

When I told her that:

1. She had misrepresented her item (she said it was fully functioning, and it hadn't been converted to modern phone lines, so how could she KNOW?)
2. She had tried to blackmail me for good feedback "change your negative feedback for me and I'll return your money" (Ebay slapped her for this.)
3. I was NEVER going to change my feedback because I’m not satisfied!
4. She could have the phone back WHEN she paid me the postage for it, which she had not done. The law in England states that with a breach of contract, the aggrieved party has to be put back into a position as if the transaction had not taken place i.e. she had to return my money AND pay for return postage.

She didn't like that.

Here's her response. It's rather poetic. I rather think English isn't her first language.

you know what
so take the phone itself for free
and then you're gonna
Matchstick Men and beggar
I do not care for that already.
bon appetit
Enjoy your meal.
to never again
no more such people like you
I wish I wore

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/741978.html

Firstly, I think publishers underuse the promotional capability of ebooks, but that’s up to them. It seems an ideal place to link to books and videos and goodness knows what, it surprises me how many don’t.

Secondly, I get sick and tired of chapters not being put at the beginning of an ebook, and if they are – they aren’t LINKED – what’s with that? Who wants to hit “page forward” sixty times, looking for the last place you were at, or if you want to read a particular chapter again?

Thirdly, PUBLISHERS. PLEASE PUT YOUR PROMO NEWSLETTERS and letters of thanks and letters regarding piracy and gawd knows what fucking else AT THE END OF THE BOOK. The amount of persiflage I have to get through to find the start of books sometimes reminds me of this wonderful Danny Kaye moment.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/741680.html

I was hugely cynical before the games, like many many Brits. I think we were all pretty sure that we, as a nation of “try, but oh dear, we didn’t succeeders” (except perhaps in invasion) couldn’t pull off something as massive. After all, the last one we had was called The Austerity Games in 1948 and was run on a shoestring. I for one was concerned that London was grind to a gridlock, no-one would get anywhere they wanted to go and that someone would take the opportunity to bomb something, somewhere.

But bugger me sideways if the old bulldog spirit didn’t take over. Danny Boyle had me at “hello” with his opening ceremony, and I sat like a child, open mouthed as we raped the land, built dark satanic mills and had the Beatles march past Isenbard Kingdom Brunel. The volunteers turned into more sincere Disney workers, laughing, joking, dancing and helping the visitors in whatever they needed, and Londoners wore bright colours, came out in the daylight, and talked to each other. It was some kind of miracle.

I won’t bang on about how many medals, because that’s rather been done to death – but it was the human stories that brought the games to life. These underpaid semi-amateur people who have to go to school and to work and who still have to get up at five or earlier to cycle or run or swim or get a horse ready to work and find thirty hours or more in a week to train. My favourite events of course were the equestrian events, and that was just about all I watched from beginning to end, but i caught other things as they happened.

My favourite moment of the games? it should be the 26 year old Charlotte smashing through 90 points to take the team gold medal for dressage (our first ever dressage medal in the olympics, we used to suck, big time) but it' isn’t. After all the weeping and gnashing of teeth of athletes were sobbed in the camera about “how they’d let everyone down” by getting a silver, seeing Tom Daley’s utter utter jubilation when he won his bronze medal was, for me, the crowning moment of a fantastic games. I won’t be alive the next time we host, I’m sure, so I’m glad I was around for this.

(I also liked Mrs Grumpy Mo Farah who seemed to be nagging him when he came up to hug her, but then I’m English, I can’t help but find the funny in things.)

I suppose we’ll get back to normal soon, and we’ll be avoiding each others eyes in public and being little repressed islands again, but I hope it lasts until after the Paralympics.

What was your favourite moment?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/741394.html

As you may know, I’ve been trying to get Standish into ebook form for some time, and I’ve been having discussions about PD Publishing regarding this. We’ve decided—on a purely mutual agreement—that the rights will now revert to me, for all formats.

I’m really excited because Lethe Press have made me an offer for it, which I’ve accepted and I’ll be able to rework the book completely, give it a much-needed overhaul (particularly in relation to the POV switches *grin*) and take out the major mistake that must not be named. Then I’ll get a spiffy new cover, a relaunch and it’ll finally be available not only as a pretty paperback, but also as an ebook. There was an illustrator interested at some point, but she never followed through. *sadness*

I know that SOME PEOPLE have probably already got an e-version of Standish on their readers and smack wrist if you have, as it wasn’t ever available in that form!

Just a word about PD Publishing, in case people think I left them for any acrimonious reasons, I absolutely had no problem with them. They have never missed a royalty payment, their statements have always been spot on, and I’ve always found them to be prompt in replying, courteous and professional. It was a ten year contract, and in this fast moving world, within the m/m genre, that’s a bit too long. It’s been out in print with PD for six years now, so it had a good run. The cover (although I shall always be fond of it, and it’s sort of iconic for me) looks a bit old, and as I said, the book badly needs a rewrite.

So! Watch this space! I need to get reversion letters signed, and new contracts signed and I’ll let you know when you can expect the Lethe version to be out. I’m really excited about it.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/741156.html

To all Noble Romance Authors:

My name is Jean Gombart and I am the new CEO of Noble Romance Publishing, LLC.

Attached is a press release that gives you some further information but I wanted to send out this email to all the current NRP authors.
Contrary to anything you may have heard, Noble Romance is a financially solid company

with zero outside debt and we are committed to not only continuing the work of the last 5 years but also to taking the company to the next level.
To that end, I am certainly available to receive any suggestions that you as authors would like to send.

What I have seen so far tells me that my first two orders of business priority are as follows:

1. I want to assure that the process of calculating and paying royalties is prioritized so that you can always count on receiving a timely and accurate royalty statement when due along with appropriate payment.

2. I want to significantly increase the sales of all existing NRP published books.
Certainly we also want to give the appropriate attention to books in process, support of author promotions, and other issues important to you, but my belief is that executing on these first two priorities will best serve NRP and it's strong group of exceptional authors.

I look forward to working with each of you and invite you to email me at JGombart@NobleRomance.com.
Best Regards,

And the Press release itself:

Noble Romance Publishing
Po Box 467423 Atlanta,
GA 31146-7424

Press Release Noble Romance Publishing Appointment of New CEO

Atlanta, GA, July 30, 2012:

Noble Romance Publishing today announced the appointment of Jean Marc Philippe Gombart as CEO Jean holds a Masters Degree in International Business from the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris, France and comes to Noble Romance with 20 plus years of executive experience.

Born in France and having managed businesses on 5 continents, Jean is fluent in 4 languages including English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Jean will be leading the further expansion and improvement of Noble Romance's existing eBooks and print books publishing business.

About Noble Romance Publishing:

Established in 2007 Noble Romance Publishing, LLC is a royalty-paying, full-service e-publisher of superior quality, cutting-edge romance and erotica. Noble also publishes young adult novels in all sub-genres through Noble Young Adult. We challenge our authors to take risks, to push the envelope while still maintaining their story's integrity, the combination of which is guaranteed to satisfy even the most discerning reader.

For more information, please contact faith@nobleromance.com

For Release 5 p.m. EST, July 30, 2012

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/740410.html

The opening ceremony for the Olympics was Just AMAZING. Boyle was right that he could never deliver the kind of WOW that China did, that was something else entirely, but what Boyle did was to garner all the best and the worst of the British, going from an agricultural feudal society to Dark Satanic Mills (in spectacular fashion, sort of like going from Hobbiton to Isengard in five minutes), and a sense of FUN (the Queen even had an acting cameo with James Bond) and a very broad sense of Humour. The highlight for me was Mr Bean playing the one note in the Chariot of Fire theme, and dropping into a doze to dream of those hunky runners on the beach.

But there were so many great moments. I was dreading it, to be honest, because our segment at the closing ceremony of the Beijing games was buttock curlingly embarrassing, and I thought it might all be like that, but somehow it encapsulated so very much that was great about England, and some of the Not So Great. One error though, they had a section on children’s literature and The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang—although invented by Roald Dahl—was NOT in Ian Fleming’s book, he was purely a film creation.

I wish I’d been there, but I’m sure I got a better view from my sofa. If you haven’t seen it—then it’s really worth watching.

As for Noble Publishing—the temptation to call them Ig-Noble is quite strong. within the newly formed authors group we have a mole, one of the authors who feels that she is loyal to Noble. She (for ease, could be male for all I know) is passing all the emails from the group up to Jill and/or Jill’s daughter Natasha Noble/Lopez and said Natasha, who styles herself as and “executive assistant” has been emailing some of the authors personally and haranguing them and threatening them with legal actions. I have no idea if this is with Jim Noble’s or Jill Noble’s permission. I won’t say “without their knowledge” because they’d have to have their heads stuck up their bums not to have noticed the broo-ha ha going on, as more and more people post about it.

However, the latest in the saga is that Natasha states that “royalties will be paid” and that Jim is unlikely to return anyone’s rights. And there will be a statement sometime today. Considering we were promised a statement on Friday, I admit to not taking this terribly seriously. However, we will see.

I’m just glad I’m only in with them for one novella, and not 8 or 12 like some of the authors. More news when I have it.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/740334.html

Although it’s not from “Jim Noble” (if he exists) it’s from Faith Fredin, the person who deals with the royalties – and usually gets mine wrong.

Dear Noble Romance Authors,

As some of you may know, yesterday, with only a few hours notice Jill Shearer resigned her duties and then proceeded to post a "farewell" message on a NRP author web site.

Although she directed authors in this message to contact Sara@NobleRomance.com she did not copy Sara nor anyone else nor did she perhaps realize that Sara is on vacation this week.

Understandably, this has caused some alarm and concern.

The most urgent concern seems to be that Jill's departure will somehow mean that authors will not continue to be paid their royalties due on their book sales.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The royalty payments which usually are sent out around the 20th to 25th of the month have not yet been sent out this month ONLY due to the fact that Jill did not provide the necessary royalty reports prior to her resignation.

This will mean that these royalty reports, unfortunately, will have to be compiled by others who do not have the same experience doing them and it will take until possibly the end of next week to have them completed properly, particularly with Sara's vacation schedule.

We can assure you that promptly upon their completion, the royalty checks and PayPal payments will be sent and future payments will be sent in a timely manner.

I know that many of you have worked with Jill for many years and many of you still may have a personal relationship with her.

We are sad to see her go and we wish her the best success in whatever she decides to do.

We also know that at times some of you have not been pleased with your business relationship with Jill and for those of you we will seek to repair those relationships and proceed forward in a more positive manner.

By early next week we will have a new management structure in place and will send another email update to keep you informed.

In the meantime, if you have specific questions or issues, please email me directly and I will try to respond in a prompt and professional manner.

Kindest Regards,

Faith Fredin

Noble Romance Publishing

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/739796.html

Read out today by Denise Lewis because of the Olympics, but I think it works for all things, and particularly writing. Particularly the bit about “You’ve got to think high to rise.”

If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't,
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/739446.html

“Well, I want you all to know, I tried. I really did try - and for a little bit, I thought I'd succeeded, and I'd soon obtain full control of the company so I could resolve many of the problems we've had and take NRP to the next level. Unfortunately, the light I saw at the end of the tunnel turned out to be a freight train.

“Effective immediately, but after much thought, I have decided to part ways with Noble Romance Publishing. I have many powerful. legitimate reasons for doing so, but suffice to say, the owner and I have major differences in how we believe we should run the company and how we should treat our authors and freelance workers, and our visions for the company's future are miles apart. This, in addition to him making it literally impossible for me to do my job and do it well, has led me to make this very painful decision. Barring a miracle or some other form of Divine Intervention, Lisa Collicutt's book, The Devil's Flower, is the last one I'll work on/release for Noble Romance Publishing. I'll have the book uploaded and live in just a bit. After that, I'm done.

“At this moment, I do not know what the owner's plans are, as far as the company's immediate future is concerned. I'm pretty sure he'll keep it up and running, in some form, so he can earn back some of his initial investment. I, on the other hand, only invested years of my life, my talent, my expertise, and my hard labor, and so I don't imagine there is any way I'll recoup my contribution. ;-) I'm not concerned about that, though. For me, this has always been a labor of love. I've met a lot of really wonderful, talented people (and let's face it - a few crazy ones, too, lol), and up until this past year, I never looked on my position here as a "job." Jobs are never this fun. To say I've enjoyed working with you sounds like such a cliche, but I promise you, it's true. I'm hoping many of you will want to keep in touch and maintain a friendship on some other level. On the bright side, I can now review your books without being accused of practicing favoritism.

“I'm sure, at some point soon, the owner or one of his assistants will be in contact with the authors to let them know what to expect. I'm certain they will honor all contract terms, and there's always the possibility they'll hire someone else to do my job. Meanwhile, if you have questions or concerns specific to NRP or NYA, I recommend you contact sara@nobleromance.com.

“I sincerely apologize for the fact that my parting ways with NRP will no doubt disrupt some of your lives, to one degree or another. I hope you're treated fairly; I believe you will be. You all have contracts; follow them to the letter, and you'll be fine.

“As for myself, I'll be moving on and doing my own thing. I feel like I have a lot to offer when it comes to assisting authors in polishing their manuscripts, advising them on their careers, and assisting them in achieving their goals. I'll also be available as an e-publishing/self-publishing consultant, and I intend to do more ghostwriting. But most importantly, I'm going back to writing. I've neglected my own characters for far too long. If there's one bright spot in all of this, my having time to write is it.

“I wish all of you nothing but success. If there's anything I can do for you, personally, please let me know. You can reach me here for a little while, but I'll be phasing out this email address and moving all my important folders tojill.noelle.noble@gmail.com in the near future“

“Oh, and please, if you know anyone who needs to be made aware of this, but they are for some reason not on the authors' loop, please pass this along.

“Take care, and Kind Regards,

“Jill N. Noble Freelance Editor, Ghostwriter, Author”

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/739085.html

(from something that doesn’t exist at the moment)

Sam has just made love to a boy on the beach. A golden, long, and languid boy with lazy lips and hair curled to his shoulders; too long hair, ending in golden tips. A sand-dusted boy, warm to the touch, as though he’d been buried in white sand for a thousand years and had been delicately brushed and uncovered by experts.

Not a boy at all, though. Sam was a boy at that age, elbows, knees and unable to string a sentence together. This was a young man, man enough to smile, man enough to know what he wanted, man enough to pat the sand beside him; and to smile, smile.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/738747.html

I’ve been sick. The Twittersphere might have been aware of this, as 140 characters was all I was capable of doing yesterday. I thought it was a kidney infection but now realise (due to the inflammation of my left leg, high temperature-103.1!!) that it was another bout of cellulitis. At least I know that that is wearing off quickly, so I plastered myself with savlon, and took paracetomols to control the temperature. And this morning I had sweated it out, thank goodness. Yes, I could probably get anti-biotics for this, but by the time I’d made an appointment, the bout would be over—plus I don’t agree with taking AB’s willy-nilly. I’d rather keep ‘em for something really serious.

Of course I feel like a damp dishrag today, but at least it’s over. I couldn’t make Dad’s yesterday. I did try, even got dressed but then realised that it was a mad idea. I worry about him in that respect, because 2 years ago—when I was in hospital—he was capable of going around to Sainsbury’s and getting himself a hot chicken or a ready meal and cooking it in the microwave, but he’s not capable of even warming anything up now. On the days I’m not here, I make him cottage pies or curries and he just eats them cold. sigh.

Anyway. Writing today, no matter how crap I feel. I’m on chapter two of the new book which is encouraging.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/738218.html

So, I Knew Him is finished, bar the tidying up—I should be sending it off to the agent tomorrow with luck, or the weekend, anyway. And I’m sort of on the horns of a dilemma as to what to write next. (Those of you who have spotted this post for a big fat lump of procrastination, well done.)

You see, I like writing for Carina; the editing is fabulous—Deb Nemeth “gets me” and she pushes hard to make me better. But I’ve been staggeringly disappointed in the sales. What baffles me is that my two books with Carina have done markedly less well than Frost Fair & Speak Its Name with the smallest of publishers. In fact, the latest royalties for FF and SIN for JUST THE EBOOK SALES with Bristlecone (Bristlecone handled the ebooks, whilst Cheyenne pubbed the paper) were twice as high as with Carina. And that’s pretty thought-provoking. Of course Carina’s royalty rate is very low, but I think I thought that it would have much higher sales, so it would even out. Wrong.

I’m sure there are people making good money at Carina, but I suspect they are mostly writers of het.

No, of course I’m not in it just for the money (I’d be mad if I was, seeing as how little I actually make) but money has to be a factor. I rely on royalties to help pay the bills, because my Carer’s allowance only covers the mortgage. I can’t go spending six months of my life and writing something like Tributary (which personally I think was one of my best) only to find, as I have with that book, that it’s making about a dollar a month. Literally – the royalty for the Last Gasp anthology was FOUR DOLLARS AND EIGHTY FOUR CENTS and that’s between four of us. $1.21 each.

I mean – that’s just mad. I would do better self-publishing and I'm definitely not going there. I know I would make more writing het, but I’m even more definitely not going there, because I believe you should write what you feel the passion for, and it’s not het romance for me.

By the way, this is not some plea for a whip-round or anything like that. It’s a serious talking to myself about What To Do Next. Sometimes just writing it down helps. (Or I tend to shove it to the back of my mind along with all the other “I won’t think about that today, I’ll think about that tomorrow” thoughts.

Where’s a set of green velvet curtains when you really need ‘em?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/737969.html

Please come over to HC Brown’s blog and comment on my tongue-in-cheek piece “Can a Woman write m/m?” I’m very disappointed that no one’s commented. Perhaps they thought I was actually being serious…

Me?

They should know better.

http://bit.ly/N8vTwo

I’ve also posted today on “We Carry The Torch” where I discuss some of my favourite Norfolkian buildings along the Olympic Torch Route.

http://wecarrythetorch.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/day-48-norwich-to-ipswich-inspirational-buildings/

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/737708.html

How – HOW – did I miss the news about leni_jess?

That's two people in a month. :( I was never a close daily friend with Leni, but we've been mutual LJ friends like--forever. I'll miss your posts, specially your travels. I'm just glad that you had that last good trip to England.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/737352.html

Yesterday I tweeted my disgust that 1PlaceforRomance had titled their newsletter “Hot Stories from Fiery Colorado”

A couple of authors expressed their disapproval at this – and this is part of the response that one of them got.

If I was in the South during Katrina I would have said I was in the Soggy South. If I was in California during earthquakes I would have said I was in Rockin’ San Francisco. I am in Fiery Colorado it is part of my life right now and I shared that.

Personally I think this attitude is disgraceful, exploitative and utterly tasteless. I wouldn’t buy anything from 1PlaceforRomance if you paid me.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/737185.html

Short discussion of 50 shades of grey on my twitter feed and someone said:

“There are also different forms of fanfic and some are more derivative than others” (for those who didn’t know, a good few I’ve spoken to over the past weeks, it was originally Twilight fanfic)

What do you think about that? I’m rather confused by the idea. either something is derivative or it isn’t. You wrie other people’s characters – and it doesn’t matter whether it’s Harry Potter on the Moon, it’s still Harry Potter, you write him because you like the character and find fun putting him in different situations than he’s been in in the books. You keep his innate characteristics (pompous gittyness, but then i’m biased and in the camp of “should’ve pushed him under a bus when he was 11, Voldie”).

If you then take that character and keep his characteristics and rename him – even though it’s still set on the moon, then there’s an ethical (if not a legal) question there?

I don’t know. All I know is that if—for example, never gonna happen—someone wrote a fanfiction novel about Rafe and Ambrose even if was set in Australia or something, and then changed their names and published it as “original” and made squillions I’d not be best pleased.

Interesting.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/737019.html

38. The further we travelled away from the do-lally tragedy

I have NO idea why I stuck “do-lally” in at this point. Or even what it means.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/736062.html

37. Anything worth saying is worth saying twice.

"Come on," he said. "We'd better go down there," he said.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/735775.html

Despite the fact that I don’t think I would ever go the self publishing route I’m not actually ANTI self-publishing. I should say “never say never” because you never know (hur hur) what the future holds, who knows, we may all be publishing our own books in 20 years time, downloading them directly into people’s brains.

I understand why some people go down the route because it can make more business sense. In a genre where you aren’t going to make a lot of money from your 10-50 percent royalties, you can earn a lot more. You retain control, get a much much larger slice of the royalties and as long as you know your onions marketing-wise, and perhaps have some money to throw at it, you might sell as many copies in self publishing as you would do with a publisher. If you are really lucky, as a few people have been, a major publisher might spot your work (they obviously do crawl the self publishing sites) and offer you a contract, so you get the best of both worlds.

( BUT, and it's a big but )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/735049.html

*waving hands madly*

Yesterday I finished “I Knew Him” – or at least the first draft. I am soo bloody relieved I can’t tell you how I feel. I seriously thought that I’d never get it done, that I couldn’t write any more, that writing was just another nine minute wonder as so many of my “hobbies” are. (competition entering, knitting, crafts, blah blah)

It was purely down to my internet mates prodding me on a regular basis that kept me going, in particular Erin Gregory and Gehayi.

It’s been two years since I started it – June 2010, although I haven’t been writing it for 2 years (despite me sitting with the laptop open every day….) I think I’ve been resting on my laurels because I had three books out last year but I’ve shot myself in the foot because other than “A Brush with Darkness” it’s unlikely in the extreme that this one will come out this year, maybe not even next.

No more murders for me, not ones that need to be solved, at any rate. Crime writers get my deepest respects and the next time I kill off a character I hope it’s in some Regency alley with no witnesses. Murder must have been so easy back then!

I need to add some detail in, and of course edit it like mad, because as Gehayi can attest my relationship with punctuation—whilst better than it was—could still be called “casual” at best. Commas are other people’s worries, to be honest. :D

Weatherwise, we are still deep in the grip of drought here in Norfolk, with a hosepipe ban, but as it’s been raining non-stop for weeks, it’s handy that we don’t need to use the hosepipes.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/734783.html

The Jubilee weekend was rather fab (televisual-wise, I don’t do parties) – The pageant was absolutely amazing, although I was disappointed that the queen went up the river in a Booze Cruise bus rather than the rowed ship made specially for the occasion. What was the point of that ship, I wonders?

The concert was rather too cheesy for my taste. Cheryl Cole was out of tune – whoever thought that woman could sing on her own? And Cliff was just embarrassing, and Rolf had had one too many giggle juices I think… But it was very English and every Made The Best of It. I loved Lenny Henry berating the Queen for turning up after an hour had gone by. “You live just THERE…” he accused… LOL

Of course the current generation would have no clue who LH WAS, and are probably wondering why the bloke from Premier Inns was co-hosting.

There were some very odd music choices, Grace Jones (who I love) suitably barking mad in a rubber corset and hula hooping throughout “Slave to the Rhythm” (very impressive, I can’t do 3 hulas, let alone five solid minutes whilst singing live on break-ankle heels.)

But all in all a Right Royal Do which had me waving my proverbial flag, actually standing up for the Anthem and wishing I was there. But happy to be on the couch.

I did get a good bit of writing done (after all, Carers don’t get long weekends, or indeed any weekends) and I’m literally within two or three pages of being DONE. The book has only taken two years to write, but it’s only really one year when you consider that for 2011 I wrote nothing at all.

I had a dilemma as to how suspicion would be placed on the person that suspicion needs to fall on, and had asked many more expert at crime people than me-all of whom had great advice, thanks guys—but in the end as i was re-reading and editing bits of it, I found the ideal opportunity to do it, and all I had to do was to change “my [xxxxx]” to “a [xxxx]” and ta-da, the person who needs to be arrested will be arrested.

No more murders for me though. not ones that need to be solved, at least. Murders in earlier times than 1920s must have been much easier. Push a Regency buck into a canal and if no one sees you, hurrah. Forensics, even in their infancy, are a pain in the arse. I don’t know how crime writers do it.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/734517.html

SUCH GOOD NEWS! Just had an email from the publishers and The Catch Trap is available once more in print, after being out of print for years - and available HERE https://www.createspace.com/3862244

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/734352.html

Oh God now this is getting silly.

( omg the wrong, it gets worse )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/734021.html

I’m on day two of “eating sensibly” because I am going to kill myself if I carry on the way I am.

If, by any stretch of the imagination you wish to be included in the filter and listen to me sound off about losing weight then comment below. It’s likely to be a long haul, but I think the process will be cathartic and helpful.

Ok – that’s it, back to our regular scheduling.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/733015.html

oh so so so so so so slashy.

There’s no way anyone could say “nah, it’s not homoerotic,” because in Antonio’s and Bassiano’s first scene (after much eye-lusting) this speech:

Well, tell me now what lady is the same
To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage,
That you to-day promised to tell me of?

is changed to:

Well, tell me that you to-day promised to tell me of?

with the pauses and hints meaning “I knew this was coming, and you promised you’d be honest, so come on, out with it.”

And this is all done ON THE BED.

If you haven’t seen this version, you really should.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/732868.html

I can’t even believe I typed that as a subject. Me. Baking.

I made my second loaf today – and other than I probably should have given it about another ten mins as it was a bit doughy and not crusty enough – it was fabulous.

However, I’m using Allison dried yeast and the recipe on the tin only allows for one kneading. I was always under the impression that you had to knead once, let prove, knead again (knocking back) then reshape and reprove THEN bake – but the recipe only says once and it seems to work fine.

What would be different if I did two kneadings? Is it because the yeast is dried that it only needs (L ol ) one kneading?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/732599.html

1. Happy Towel Day

2. Glorious Republic of Treacle Mine Road

3. Happy Wine Day!

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/732341.html

I was born in Essex. An Essex girl born and bred and no, despite the hugely hilarious (sarcasm) The Only Way Is Essex, Essex – not even Southend – is particularly like that.

That being said, there is something a little bit naff about Southend, it can’t help it, the rather over-rouged trollop that was cloned from the original and much embarrassed Westcliff-on-sea which sits beside Southend shoulder to shoulder like a maiden aunt in whalebone and lace. Southend is the good time girl who likes a drink and carnival rides and candy floss and seaside rock and a night out on the slot machines whereas Westcliff loves her anyway and holds her head when she vomits.

Despite having fled Essex a good few years ago now, and will – due to the rather inconvient placement of Southend (you’d only go there if you GOING there, it’s not somewhere you can pass through unless you were going to Shoeburyness and who would) I’ll probably never go back, I have fond memories, and none so fond as for Rossi’s ice-cream. ANYONE who’s lived in Southend, or has visited for more than a few minutes will know of Rossi’s, a family-run ice-cream business which started in 1932 and now is celebrating more than 80 years. Their ice-cream is absolutely gorgeous, and utterly unique (as far as I’ve found in my world-wide travels, anyway) and why they aren’t selling far and wide I don’t know but according to their website, they seem still to be entirely based in Essex, with a few stockist in Suffolk and Norfolk.

This I did not know, and to think I’ve spent ten years up here and could have bought Rossi’s all this time annoys me. In particular their lemon ice which is the most thirst quenching and delicious lemon sorbet you will ever have tasted.

For all of my life, they had a kiosk in Southend High Street and I found out yesterday that that kiosk is no more and that upset me rather. It’s a huge icon of my life, gone – every Saturday, my mother and I – and then later as I got older, my friends and I would always make that the first—or last (and sometimes both!) stops on our shopping trips to the high street. I suppose I’m glad I found out that it had gone in case I was stung by a sentimental bug and drove the 100 miles down there only to find it out when I arrived.

What about you? Do you have one hugely abiding memory of a place you’ll never go to again?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/731968.html

Where we have a good old moan about this week’s Game of Thrones.

( spoilery moan )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/731599.html

LiveJournal Tags: the bridge,drama,a-z meme

I have just finished watching the Scandinavian Crime Drama “The Bridge”

I wish I could write stuff like that, and that’s the truth. I don’t know what it is about English and American dramas – although English dramas do tend (as a generalisation) to be a little more gritty than American ones—but we certainly play it a lot safer than the Swedes and the Danes and such. We can relax a little over here, knowing that its very very unlikely that the writers are going to kill off a trainload of children, or worry that the main protagonist is going to make it, or that good will triumph in the end.

( read more but there are many spoilers here, so beware )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/731355.html

for you knowledgeable types.

The word i want to use as an advert tuberculous – doesn’t exist. So my character wants to say “those tuberculous poets should take a lesson from me” – so what word would he use?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/730942.html

The Home Office’s Consultation on Equality in Marriage

I had no idea about this (thank you, Elin Gregory for pointing it out!) but the H.O. has an online consultation about equality in marriage.

Apparently the religious right are whipping up opposition to skew the numbers, so let’s skew them right back. Not that it would be skewing the numbers, simply adding our voice as to what is right and proper.

And today – on International Day Against Homophobia – is the perfect day to do it.

So, if you are British, or live here then please please fill in the online form, take a minute of your day and do something positive.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/730700.html

http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.co.uk/

In my case, I’m literally hopping against homophobia. I want the word itself erased, wiped out, never to be used.

Here’s why.

Homophobia: Fear or hatred of homosexuals and homosexuality.

Interestingly the OED has this as the second definition of the term, the first definition is the fear of men, all men.

Let’s break that down still further shall we?

Homo (don’t forget it must be pronounced “homer” NOT HOMO (so you can’t go calling people homos, that’s incorrect, they are “homers.” Get it right, haters.)

Phobia: A fear, horror, strong dislike, or aversion; esp. an extreme or irrational fear or dread aroused by a particular object or circumstance.

Most of the bigots who are homophobic, aren’t homophobic at all, so perhaps we can get rid of the word entirely. I’m all for that. Homosexuals (which encompasses every pocket of the QUILTBAG range I’m sure, because you can’t be a real homophobe if you accept Ladyboys but loathe the idea of lesbians.

Plus it’s not a phobia. It’s not an “irrational fear” – it might, in some cases, where people have been raped or beaten to death, be extreme, but that would have to include that people run screaming from them, stand on chairs, or need to get someone else to get them out of the bath.

It’s not irrational at all, except that if you are a normal human being it IS irrational even to consider anyone treating anyone any different based on any part of their personality. People are prejudiced against colour because that’s something that they can perceive. However if I tell people I’m bisexual (and am long term single) how can they treat me any differently just because of who I might (one day!) have in my bed. In my own house. In private. It might be irrational to you and me, but it’s not an irrational fear. You might be able to get away with that when you (like me) get completely freaked out over earwigs (love most other insects) but to say you are phobic about anyone under the QUILTBAG umbrella is just an excuse. You aren’t phobic.

You are a hater.

So let’s call a spade a spade shall we? Let’s not pretty up a vile thing by cloaking it in pretty “oh, it’s an irrational fear, like flying, I can’t HELP how I feel” Greek terms. Let’s call them what they are. Haters. Haters of anyone who isn’t exactly like them.

The Hop Against Homophobia is an attempt by over 250 m/m authors, reviewers and publishers to stand together and create awareness of homophobia. Go check out the blogsite and find the other blogs by all these amazing authors.

I’m offering two of my books – either ebooks, or print, the winner's choice – from my back catalogue. One book each for two people. Simply comment to enter, even if it’s only hi, but PLEASE go and read some of the other blogs – and I’ll announce the winners on Monday.

Thanks for reading.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/730482.html

I posted a question to epubagent earlier regarding a particular gay historical which we reviewed on Speak Its Name and was, at best, Braveheart Universe. The errors within it were legion, beginning with the dates that Hollywood had squished to make it more romantic and continuing with Hadrian’s Wall being in Yorkshire.

The question I asked was—did they think it was part of the agent’s job to check an author’s research, or should they just assume that the author knows what they are doing? Should it be all the writer’s responsibility, or should it be everyone who represents it—the writer, the agent, the editor, the publisher? I didn’t mean to be confrontational, although I’m sure I sounded it—but it’s something that’s been on my mind for years. Should research be checked prior to an agent selling it, or a publisher sending it off for publication?

I know, from experience, that small publishers don’t have a “history boffin” and certainly there are few people around with a knowledge of all eras who could confidently edit anything from caveman to WW2, so who—if anyone is keeping an eye on their books to make sure they are accurate and aren’t causing people to giggle behind their hands?

I’ve been pretty lucky with my editors now I’m in a settled publishing circle. TJ Pennington is first class and won’t—if she can possibly help it—allow an anachronism past her. Lisa at Running Press (now, sadly moved on) was astounding and it seemed to me that she checked almost every word in Transgressions and gave me a huge list of words that I’d used that weren’t in use in the 17th century. Mark Probst – owner of Cheyenne, and Steve Berman owner of Lethe Books both are passionate about historical novels and want them to be the best product they can produce.

I understand this attitude. It’s not their work. They didn’t slave for weeks and months and years on it. (Although the editors work very hard indeed) but they represent the book, and the book represents them. I DON’T understand a massive concern like Ellora’s Cave—who must, heavens to Betsy, have dozens of editors working for them—who allow such incredible and unbelievable anachronisms to be published.

What do you think? Should it be between the writer and the editor alone—and then if that editor doesn’t know, or is too lazy to check the research, then it’s just too bad if the book goes to print with Regency women having ipods and scotsmen drinking lager in 1283. Or do you think that the book should be checked all the way along the assembly line?

I’ll be very interested if you can add your voice.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/730261.html

Just sewing together the last scraps of “I Knew Him” (decided that big full-blown court case will just be boring, doesn’t further the plot and too much like hard word) and I came upon this exchange written a long time ago.

“I didn’t. You know I didn’t.”

“I do—but...”

“Don’t throw buts at me, Harry. Not now. But what?”

“Your father. We…But why can't I—"

"Because you must not, “

*baffled*

Now I’m sure that this had major significance when i wrote it, but I have no clue what it means. Idiot boys I’ve written. Idiots!

*later*

I get it now. Took me long enough.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/730014.html

To stopping watching Game of Thrones. And that’s long long before we get to the excrescence that is the 5th book.

What is the POINT of all these changes?

( SPOILERS )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/729829.html

A very interesting survey done by readers of historical fiction.

Full article HERE

What’s the purple? Teh Ghey? (joking…)(before you pedants all point it out!)

And thanks to Sal Davis, here’s an interesting article about Same Sex Marriage not being such a new idea. I have Professor Boswell’s book “Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe” and although it’s quite dry, it’s still an eye-opening read.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/729519.html

Two weeks before Summer, it' was about time!

Yesterday, (as it has been for weeks now) it was FREEZING raining and dank and while I was in the garage I was thirsty and decided to get an icecream instead of a drink – got a calippo. I told the bloke in the garage “If I buy an icecream, I think Spring will come” and he laughed.

And today it was WARM!!!!!!!

I did that.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/729338.html

I read an excellent post the other day by Alan Chin where he talks about how he creates his characters and how well he knows them. He knows everything from their political persuasion to what hand they use to do what and it was a wonderful insight into how writes work.

I feel such a fraud at times, when I see this level of craft that authors use. I think that I should be working like this. Alex Beecroft has blogged about how she plots every chapter, every scene onto cards and ends up with a whole novel worked out in advance, and then I look at my PC screen and… well, all I have is a WIP which grows—or not—like Topsy.

I did try the character fact-sheet route. After Standish I sat down and started to map out character fact sheets for the two Space Opera merchants that I was planning a series of short stories for, but I only got a few lines down on the first guy before I came to a grinding halt. I DIDN’T know about the character. I knew—roughly—what he looked like: a disarming grin, tousled hair, dark-brown eyes, but that was about it. I had no idea what he’d do in a pinch, because I hadn’t actually created that pinch in which he’d have to do anything. I didn’t know what he thought about puppies and rainbows or whether he got space-sick or whether he’d had sex with women, or anything at all.

I looked at the character sheet, and as so often happens, I felt inadequate. Like I was playing at this, and wasn’t prepared to put the work in. Then I wrote the story anyway and found out more than I ever would have done by giving the character his traits in advance.

You see, to me, writing (and reading) a novel is like making a friend (or getting to know a foe) in real life. When you first meet what MIGHT become your significant other, or your next bosom buddy or the bane of your life, you know little about them. You may have some third hand knowledge from another friend, perhaps they’ve arranged the meeting and you’ll know what they look like, or that he’s vegetarian, but until you’re out together on your own it’s all hearsay, and anyway, how he acts with other people isn’t going to be exactly how he’s going to act with you. Each time you meet you’ll get to know a little more and a little more—and you’ll never get to know the whole package, even if you kid yourself that you will.

So writing is like that for me. I don’t know that person as he hits the page. He might be running (and I don’t even know from what, or where to) – he might be sitting at a desk, he might be in the middle of an argument, he might be lying naked by a river. All I see is the image and as he continues to run, lies thinking in the grass, muses about his poverty, or stops his car at a hotel – until he starts to think and interact with his environment I know as little about him as the reader who is reading it faster than I can write it. Until I throw caltrops in his path I haven’t got a clue how he’ll cope—whether he’s brave or cowardly, whether he knows any kind of fighting, whether he’s corrupt or has a good soul.

I know this probably sounds like madness to those organised and hard-working authors out there, but it’s unthinkable for me any other way. I’ve found that once I DO KNOW what’s going on with my plot I find it difficult to write, because as far as I’m concerned it’s already happened and I wish someone else would write it down. Same with characters – they’ve got to keep part of their mystery for me, all the way through, even to the end, or I just lose interest in them, which – *laughs * – probably explains many of my endings….

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/728942.html

I’m a bit – for a bit read “a lot” Sick of the changes that are being done to Game of Thrones

Spoilers below so don’t click if you don’t want to be spoiled.( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/728684.html

Thanks to one of my flist talking about “Shattered Glass” by ~~Danny Alexander~~ Dani Alexander I went and bought a copy just to see what it was about and I’m finding myself quite hooked. As you know, I don’t read contemporaries as a rule, I’ve tried a few of them when I was doing reviews for various sites and I disliked most of what I read. Weepy cowboys and business-men vampires having sex and no plots, irritating sickly sweet children…

I only marked it at 3 out of 5, but that wasn’t a fault of the writing, which is as strong as anything I’ve read – there were things I didn’t like, but they were actually deliberate parts of the book. The protagonist I loathed, and I find it brave of Alexander to write one of the most annoying gits I’ve ever read and carry it off!

My review is here. I’d certainly read him again, but I do agree he needs a better editor.

http://t.co/kF4ZRVBC

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/728273.html

This is the worst of the four so far, some have only had a few lines missing but this is entirely unreadable! Grrr.

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/727847.html

Definition: (OED)

Suitable for the intended use; fully capable of performing the required task.

English Law decrees that any object sold must be “fit for purpose” e.g. being made and capable of doing what it was made for. Simple as that.

I would ASSUME, therefore, that the Kindle, being an “e-book reader” was designed, built and more importantly – INTENDED to be a device for reading e-books.

That is unless I’ve got my wires crossed.

Now, I have been known to be careless with technology, but as my Kindle was a gift, and an expensive gift from someone who knew I needed one, I have taken such—SUCH!!—care of each and every Kindle that I’ve received that this is the main reason I was incandescent with rage when I sat down in the park yesterday with my Kindle (in its sturdy carrying case) only to find—ONCE AGAIN—that the ink was scrambled all over the place, as if someone had taken a piece of sandpaper to it.

I believe that this is the fourth Kindle that’s gone wrong in less than a year.

That, Amazon, in case you were not getting the point, IS NOit: T “Fit For Purpose”.

I do not read my Kindle in the bath.

I do not read my Kindle in the rain.

I do not read my Kindle down the beach (as advertised on your TV ads, I’d never DARE in case a drop of seawater got on it, or a grain of sand caused it to blow up.

It is in its leather carry case—which closes—at ALL times.

I read it:

In bed. At Dad’s sitting at a table (never during meals!). And that. Is. It.

Thank god that the generous person who bought me this useless lump of plastic, had the foresight to buy me a 3 year warranty because at least that gives me 3 years to save up for something that lasts my staring at it for more than two weeks.

What pisses me off most, I think, is that after being an ebook sceptic for ages and ages, I am now a confirmed e-book reader (although I will always buy good books in paper as keepers). And now, if I were to give up this hellish vicious circle of

1. receiving
2. charging
3. transferring my books onto new Kindle
4. Spending hours sorting them back into folders
5. reading
6. Having it break down
7. Contacting Amazon
8. Arranging Collection
9. Waiting in all day for the Collection.
10. Sending off
1. Receiving

I would be an outcast and relegated to some wasteland where people can’t read ebooks. and as many many gay historicals these days are ONLY ebooks, that’s going to affect my life adversely. Don’t go saying “oh you can read on your PC” because yes, I know and no, I don’t want to. It’s not at all fun or comfortable and if you try it lying down you are likely to break your nose when the laptop falls in your face.

I can’t recommend a Kindle. I really can’t. If anyone were to ask me I’d tell them to avoid like the plague and get something else. God knows what, I’m sure there must be something out there that doesn’t behave like a Regency heroine with the vapours just because you are looking at it. Here’s hoping.

And if it doesn’t work when I LOOK at it, Amazon. It’s not FIT FOR PURPOSE.

I suppose that their one month returns policy should have set some alarm bells ringing. Anyone remember the Ratner scandal? Prawn sandwich, anyone?

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/727574.html

Going to try and “blog” a bit more, instead of just using it as a journal of random thoughts. You’ll still get that stuff, but once a week at least I’m going to do a blog.

Today I’m going to continue with the much lapsed “a-z” and I think we are up to B.

Which shows you how well i did with it before.

However!

These subjects are particularly “writer-worthy” or serious, hell, it’s me after all. But I hope it might pique your interest, give you a bunny or simply make you go, “gosh that’s interesting.”

B is for beer. ( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://erastes.livejournal.com/727430.html

Just found out that Baritone Jeff died yesterday. It’s a really sad piece of news for me and I’ll miss him so very much. He was such a big soul—he had so many health problems and yet he generally kept his chin up and was encouraging to so many people, touched so many lives. Never missed a congratulations on one of my sales, or an encouraging word when I felt down, or sympathy when my day with Dad had got too much for me. Yes, he had bad days when he would snarl about his life, or his partner, but they were pretty rare and his love of great music, his lovely dogs, his fish, his canary and Charles, his partner of 17 years were all consuming. He even found time to help Mary from downstairs, even though he spent half his week in dialysis.

I’ll miss him so much. It’s strange how people you’ve never met – will probably never meet – can touch your life so completely – so much so that the sudden removal of their internet presence really really hurts, and I’ll never have another email from him, or another silly comment, or another post about the dogs, or his endless finds at the antiques shops around Wooster.

Heaven will have a new choir master this week, and I know there must be antique shops in heaven, because Jeff is there, pinching all the bargains.

Love you, Jeff.