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Wednesday 31 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Notable, noticeable or noteworthy?


Notable, noticeable or noteworthy?
Notable: adjective - deserving of note, especially because of excellence, value, or importance; remarkable, striking, eminent.
Noticeable: adjective - able to be noticed or observed, perceptible; worthy or deserving notice.

Noteworthy: adjective - worthy of attention, observation, or notice; remarkable.

Another example of English words that are almost synonymous. The differences are subtle, and largely due to usage rather than definition.

Notable is generally used for people or events that are unusual.
Noteworthy is more usually employed to convey a sense of something commendable.
Noticeable, although it can mean the above, is normally applicable to something that is able to be noticed; something that may be quite ordinary but which is brought to prominence by location or context, perhaps.

‘Shakespeare was a notable playwright.’

‘The bravery of the pilots during the Battle of Britain was noteworthy.’

‘It was noticeable that Brian had one brown eye and another of deepest green.’

Pic: Speckled sunlight.

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Rabble


Rabble: noun - long series of words with little meaning or value (SA rather like a lot of modern poetry, then.); pack or swarm of animals; mob or disorderly crowd of people; a type of people imagined as gathered in a mob; people of the lowest class, the common or disorderly part of a population.

‘As Denise stepped out of the archway, she came face to face with a rabble and was forced to retreat in order to avoid being crushed by the onrushing mob.’

‘At the dog fight, the rabble gathered round, cursing and yelling encouragement to the poor beasts in the pit, forced to fight each other to earn money for their masters and the idiotic punters.’

Pic: Staithes harbour, North Yorkshire.

Monday 29 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Monologue or soliloquy?


Monologue or soliloquy?
Monologue: noun - long speech made by one person, either in company or conversation; discourse in the nature of a soliloquy; scene in a drama in which a person talks alone, a dramatic composition for one voice; a dramatic entertainment performed by one person; form of dramatic scenes or compositions for one person; literary composition in the form of a soliloquy.

Soliloquy: noun - literary representation of an instance of talking to yourself regardless of an audience, part of a play involving this; action of making a soliloquy or monologue.

As is so often the case in English, there is little actual difference between these terms, and any variations are subtle. It comes down to a matter of taste and, as always, consistency in choice is perhaps more important than any other consideration. However, I’d tend to use ‘monologue’ for something comic or plain and ‘soliloquy’ for something literary or flowery.

So, I’d label the famous deliveries given by Stanley Holloway (The Lion & Albert), and I’d call the famous speech by Hamlet a ‘soliloquy’ (To be or not to be).

Pic: Looking south east along Deep Dale

Sunday 28 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Quadrant


Quadrant: noun – one quarter of a day, six hours; instrument for measuring angles of altitude, usually a graduated quarter circle with a sighting mechanism; a farthing (SA, for those too young to know, this was a quarter of an old penny); Roman coin, a quarter of an as; plane figure bounded by radii of a circle at right angles to each other and the arc cut by them; quarter of a circle’s circumference; quarter of a sphere; anything with the form of a quarter circle; part of a street curved in a quarter circle; in nautical matters: a metal frame shaped like a quadrant, fixed to a rudder head for steering via fixed ropes or chains; slotted segmented guide through which an adjusting lever is operated; each of four parts into which something is divided.

Mostly a ‘technical’ term, but included here because of the number of uses.

‘Mary cut her birthday cake into quadrants, so that there was one for each of her guests and one for her.’

Poor Mary clearly has few friends.

28 August 1996 Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced.


Pic: Rocks on the shore at Flamborough, East Yorkshire.

Saturday 27 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Nauseous or nauseated?


Nauseous or nauseated?
Nauseous: adjective - sick, nauseated; offensive to taste or smell; loathsome, disgusting, repulsive.

Nauseate: verb - become affected with nausea, feel disgusted or sick; reject food with loathing; loathe or abhor; cause nausea or aversion, create loathing.

Basically; if you’re feeling ‘nauseous’ (adjective), you’re feeling sick. However, if some substance or event is ‘nauseous’, it is something that causes sickness and disgust.
To be nauseated (verb) is to feel sick, to be affected by disgust or loathing. However, if YOU cause the disgust, etc., you are being nauseating; i.e. you are the cause of the sickness or aversion of others.

As is so often the case in English, the distinction is nice and therefore not always readily seen.

‘The pervading stink of raw sewage following the flooding caused many people to feel nauseous.’ (adjective)

‘Fred was nauseated by the reports of child molestation amongst the Catholic clergy.’ (verb)

‘For much of the crossing, Johnson was nauseated; his sea-sickness lasting until the vessel docked in calm waters.’ (verb)

Pic: Across the Bay to Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

New Book Published

The Methusela Strain started life as a long short story, which won a special commendation from The New Writer novelette contest, when submitted. It spent some time languishing in a drawer for want of a suitable publishing opportunity. I revisited the original a few weeks ago, whilst searching my files during a 'tidying up' exercise, and decided it would make a good ebook. It needed more work and more content to make it into a proper story, so I spent time on enlargement and editing and came up with the book presented here.
With the cover, I wanted to present an idea of the content whilst giving some indication of the themes. The warmth of the loving couple seems to contrast well with the harsh and cold architecture of the background through which they are walking together toward an unknown future. It took some considerable time, trawling through the pictures available on the site I use for this purpose: http://www.dreamstime.com/ is an excellent place to find such pictures, with over 12,000,000 royalty free images, each available at very reasonable cost.

The story?
The Methuselah Strain is set in the not too distant future, on Earth, following a couple of catastrophic events, which have reduced the population significantly. Advances in gene manipulation have seriously modified the ability of the human body to exist for longer than at present. Similarly, advances in computer technology, nanotechnology and robotics have ensured that the ancient dream of the 1970s has finally come about. Almost everything is automated and many of the cyborgs are all but indistinguishable from human beings.
Into this world of ease and lack of purpose, beyond hedonism, I bring my two major protagonists. Lucy, aka The Prime Renegade, is an expert at the technology and, sick of the artificiality of life, seeks to end the rule of machines. She also needs and wants a man she can love and who might father a child for her. Randal is a devoted hedonist with little technical knowledge, who spends his time in athletic endeavours with the various sex toys with which he's surrounded.
When these two meet, what will be the result?

If I've intrigued you enough to tempt you to read more, you can freely sample the first 20% of the book using this link, which takes you to the Smashwords page where my books are displayed for sale: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken  Here you can also buy the ebook for any of the available ereaders, including your PC or Mac.
If, on the other hand, you feel you can risk the $1.49 or £1.05 to buy the Kindle ebook without sampling it first, you might want to try the links to Amazon, as follows:
USA: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=stuart+aken&x=8&y=20
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=stuart+aken&x=13&y=18
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Friday 26 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Pastoral


Pastoral: noun - a book about the care of souls (now obsolete); Christian: a pastoral staff, letter, epistles; a pastoral poem, play or picture (now rare); in music, equivalent to ‘pastorale’; pastoral poetry as a style of literary composition.
Adjective - relating to shepherds or their occupation; relating to sheep or cattle farming; land used for pasture; in scenery, a landscape with the natural charm associated with pastureland; in literature, music, or works of art, showing rural life or the life of shepherds in a romantic way; relating to a pastor or the spiritual care of a congregation; relating to a teacher’s duty to give moral care and guidance.

We rarely use the noun form now but I suspect most are familiar with its use in music; e.g. Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

The adjectival use is more common however:

‘The paintings of John Constable can be described as pastoral, in that they often exclude the less attractive elements of the landscape in which he lived and worked.’

‘All the mothers were devastated to discover that the Catholic father who’d been expressly appointed to supervise the pastoral care of their children had turned out to be a paedophile.’

Pic: A pastoral landscape.

Thursday 25 August 2011

Featured Author, Linda Swift.


Linda Swift is currently contracted with seven digital publishers and has eight ebooks available, seven also in print. Two additional books, two short stories and a collection of Haiku are scheduled for release later this year. Linda writes both contemporary and historical fiction. Another historical, set in 1573 England involving Mary Queen of Scots is among her releases this year followed by its sequel in 2012.

Hello, Stuart. Thank you so much for inviting me back to tell you and your readers about my recently released historical. I have often heard the expression "the book of my heart." And THIS TIME FOREVER fits that description for me. I have been fascinated with the Civil War since I first read Margaret Mitchell's book and saw the movie of Gone With The Wind. Later, I avidly watched the TV mini-series North and South. And I think I knew even then that someday I would have to write my own story about the Civil War. You can well imagine my joy when the first review by Manic Readers (rated five stars) said:

"This Time Forever is a sweeping tale of two extended families as they endure the horrors of the American Civil War…I was reminded both of Gone With the Wind, and the TV saga of North and South. Both sides, thinking the war would be short and convinced of the rightness of their respective causes, continue for some time to have balls, parties, and generally live life as if there was no war, but a mere diversion in their neat little lives…It doesn’t take long before sense and sensibility are violated on both sides as the war encroaches on their lands, plantations, houses, money and food supplies…It is easy to ‘see’ the scenes described, from ballroom to battlefield, and to truly understand how this war, pitting families against each other, is a psychological challenge many cannot put behind them."

I think this is the most tragic period in the existence of the United States of America. Families were divided, with brothers fighting and killing brothers. The outcome changed the way of life in the South forever and its repercussions are still being felt even today.I do not pretend to be a scholar of history. However, I did research the facts in this book and I believe the times and events to be accurate but some Civil War buff will no doubt prove me wrong!

This historical has a history of its own. I began the story fifteen years ago and my agent sent a synopsis and first five chapters to a Harlequin editor. I met the editor at a national writers' conference and she asked me to send the complete manuscript. I was elated, but there was one small problem. I didn't have a complete manuscript, only the chapters already sent, however I promised to send it right away. I went home and began a marathon writing project. I work better under pressure but this was beyond my comfort level. I had not yet developed the habit of doing research online and I had thirteen books of Civil War history spread out on the bed in my office which also serves as the guest room. I would write furiously, come to a place where I needed information, search the books until I found it, and resume the story. In two weeks I completed seventeen chapters and sent them in. The editor wanted the story but lost the battle with superiors because the story was more mainstream than romance. She asked me to send it to another imprint and they kept it almost two years, finally rejecting it because I wasn't a "name" author which would guarantee sales.

My agent continued to send it out with various responses, most of which reflected the fact that Civil War books were not selling well. At one editor's suggestion, I cut the first seven chapters to have the H&H meet in Chapter One. It was finally accepted by an ebook publisher in 2006, who vanished overnight before I could sign a contract. I changed the name of the book three times, the last time when I submitted it to the publisher who accepted it with all the chapters intact.

As fate would have it, THIS TIME FOREVER, is being published in the first of four years commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. So I feel its time has come. There is currently a plethora of C.W. books, both new and reprints, on the market. It seems ironical that this story about the American Civil War is being published by a Canadian publisher. And I doubt that anyone outside the United States truly appreciates the deep emotions this war still elicits, especially for Southerners. (As an aside, an English publisher released Cold Mountain, another C.W. story).


  The 4th of July was a very special holiday for me, this year, as my Civil War saga, THIS TIME FOREVER, was due for release by Champagne Books. Its publication coincides with the four year commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial and although I didn't plan it this way the timing is perfect. And isn't it ironical that a story of such significance to Americans is being published by a Canadian publisher? The ebook is available now from the publisher for $5.99 at http://www.champagnebooks.com/shop/index.php and at Amazon. The print book is released in August.
  Instead of telling you about the story, I want to share part of the book's first review. If you only read one new book about the Civil War this year, I hope you will read this one. It will take you behind the battles into the hearts of both Yankees and Rebels as they live and die for the cause they believe in.

 MR Review
Rating: 
Reviewer: Alberta
Review:
This Time Forever is a sweeping tale of two extended families as they endure the horrors of the American Civil War. The primary characters are Philip, a newly minted surgeon who is enmeshed in the war as an idealistic young man, and Clarissa, an expectant mother in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They meet under extenuating circumstances as Philip is captured by the Rebel forces and made to act as a medic to southern forces for much of the war. He ends up with Clarissa as a medical assistant. He has left a fiancée in Oswego, New York and her husband is away acting as a courier for the Rebel side.
I was reminded both of Gone With the Wind, and the TV saga of North and South. Both sides, thinking the war would be short and convinced of the rightness of their respective causes, continue for some time to have balls, parties, and generally live life as if there was no war, but a mere diversion in their neat little lives.
The secondary characters are just as well-developed and fascinating as Philip and Clarissa. They move from feelings of patriotism to despair as the war causes more and more upheaval in all their lives. The order of things has turned upside down, and that which might have been unthinkable for ladies and gentlemen in the recent past, now becomes the norm as fighting rages on, leaders are questioned, and death becomes very personal for all the families.
It is easy to ‘see’ the scenes described, from ballroom to battlefield, and to truly understand how this war, pitting families against each other, is a psychological challenge many cannot put behind them.


THIS TIME FOREVER is available from: http://www.champagnebooks.com  and
Or you may find out more about it from my website at www.lindaswift.net

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Me, Myself or I?


Me, Myself or I?
Cause of much confusion, not a little of it caused by well-meaning teachers in the hope of improving the manners of their pupils.

Here are some examples and hints:
You wouldn’t dream of saying; ‘Leave it to I.’ so, why would you write, ‘Leave it to Jane and I’? The correct form is ‘Leave it to me.’ And, therefore, ‘Leave it to Jane and me.’

Since the confusion often occurs when a second person creeps into the sentence, try writing it without the intruder, retaining only the first person pronoun, as illustrated above.

Similarly, you’re unlikely to utter the sentence; ‘There’s no doubt about what me would do under the circumstances.’ You would always write, ‘There’s no doubt about what I would do under the circumstances.’

Finally, ‘myself’ is rarely needed. If you find yourself using it, always question the need and the context. I can think of only two instances of proper use:

‘Some people think Gerald is a pain in the fundament, but I myself am more tolerant.’
However, even this usage is convoluted, as the sentence would say precisely the same thing without ‘myself’. Try it.

The other instance is: ‘This causes me to ask myself why such a thing should be.’ And is perfectly legitimate.

Pic: Shadows.

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Oath


Oath: noun - a sincere assertion, often invoking a deity, as to a truth declared, or as utter commitment to future action or behaviour; making this type of declaration; a sworn declaration in a court of law; a careless declaration, usually naming a deity but with no intent of reverence, made to corroborate a statement; a casual use of the name of a deity, in assertion or imprecation; a profane or blasphemous utterance, an expletive, a curse.

‘As a profoundly sincere and passionate atheist, Mary decided to take her oath not on the Holy Book but on the life of her beloved father.’

Expressions such as:  ‘Oh, my God!’, ‘Jesus Christ!’, ‘God’s teeth!’ are all oaths, in the sense that they are used as expletives. Interestingly, expletives of a similar sort from Muslims regarding Allah are almost unheard of. This perhaps has something to do with the threat of death to any Muslim who dares profane the name of their god. And is somewhat similar to the threat of serious punishment made by the Christian church against blasphemers in the Middle Ages. Although the Christian church has never had an equivalent threat of death for such oaths, I wonder, is there any validity in the popular opinion amongst those without faith that Islam is at the same stage as Christianity was in the Middle Ages?


Pic: The sea wall at Staithes, North Yorkshire.

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: May or might?


May or might? 
‘May’ is used for permission and to suggest that something is possible:

‘May I have a kiss?’
‘I may give you a kiss, if you keep your tongue in your own mouth.’

‘Might’, on the other hand, expresses a small possibility of something:

‘She might kiss you, but, seeing how ugly you are, it’s unlikely.’
‘She might have overlooked your ugly mug, if you’d shown her a little more consideration.’

Interestingly, Fowler (Fowler’s Modern English Usage) has nothing to say on this matter. So it would be correct to say:
‘Fowler may have made no mention of the topic but he might have considered it.’

Another way of looking at this one is as follows:

‘May’ relates to what is factual or possible, whereas ‘might’ is more generally used for the hypothetical.

I hope I’ve clarified rather than obscured the matter for you.

23 August 1946 Keith Moon, the wild drummer in the band, ‘The Who’, was born.

Pic: Scars on the hills in the Yorkshire Dales.

Monday 22 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Nadir


Nadir: noun - in astronomy, point in the heavens diametrically opposite some other point, especially the sun, the point of the heavens diametrically opposite the zenith; the point directly below an observer; the lowest point of anything; the time or place of greatest degradation or depression.

‘With the sun shining directly overhead, Philippa stood at the nadir, so that her shadow surrounded her feet equally in all directions.’

‘When Georgia left him for the final time, taking with her the car and children, Gordon reached the nadir of depression and, once more, took refuge from reality in beer.’

Pic: The Santa Barbara Settlement, near Sissi, Crete.

Sunday 21 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Libel or slander?


Libel or slander? 
Libel: noun – in Civil and Admiralty Law, a document bearing a plaintiff’s allegations and establishing a suit; in Scottish Law, a formal statement setting out grounds on which a civil or criminal prosecution is made, an indictment; in Ecclesiastical Law, the first pleading, or the plaintiff’s written statement or charges, in a plenary case; a small book, short piece of writing; a leaflet or pamphlet publicly posted or circulated and  defaming the character of someone; a false and defamatory statement; some thing or circumstance that tends to bring undeserved discredit on a person, a country, an organisation, by misrepresentation; in Law, a false and defamatory statement in writing, film, or other permanent form; the act or offence of publishing such a statement.

Slander: noun - utterance or spreading of a false or malicious statement about a person, intended to injure or defame; in Law, a false and defamatory oral statement; the act or offence of making such a statement; Discredit, disgrace, or shame, especially as incurred by transgression of moral law; disrepute, opprobrium; a source of shame or dishonour; a discreditable act or person; a cause of moral lapse or fall.

In the legal definitions, ‘libel’ involves letters (publication of some sort), ‘slander’ is said, spoken.

So, you can shout slander from the rooftops or you can libel through written, recorded, filmed or any other permanent means; in either case, you’re open to a law suit.

Pic: Bullrushes in Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Saturday 20 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Loose or Lose


Loose means ill-fitting and likely to fall off.
Lose means to fail to keep, no longer to have, and, of course, not to win.

‘Loose’ at least looks like its pronunciation. But it fails to rhyme with ‘choose’, which, paradoxically, is a better match with ‘lose’. Of course, ‘lose’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘chose’, either. No wonder people from other lands have such difficulty learning English. And, I don’t know about you, but the more I look at ‘lose’, the less it appears to be spelt correctly.

Anyway, here are a couple of sentences that might help you remember which to use:

‘If you choose to wear your knickers loose, you may lose more than just your knickers.

‘Lose your belt, and your pants will become loose.’

Pic: A patch of Rose Bay Willow Herb, which looks great in the wild, but is a devil in your garden.

Friday 19 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Mace


Mace: noun - weapon comprising a heavy staff or club, either completely of metal or with a metal head, usually spiked; sceptre or staff of office carried before certain officials, in particular the one that lies on a table in the House of Commons when the Speaker is in attendance: a symbol of the authority of the House; stick with a flat square head, used for propelling the ball in bagatelle or, at one time, billiards; a cooking spice obtained from the dried covering of the nutmeg fruit seed; a brand of tear gas.

‘Long Tallfellah bore a weapon of such destructive power that few dared confront him on the field; his mace had crushed many skulls during his decades of battling against the Dark Porker.’

‘Once the military police had the protesters pressed into an area from which they could make no escape, they sprayed them liberally with Mace and beat them with batons as they then tried to flee the scene.’

Pic: On the road to Goredale Scar, North Yorkshire.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Author Interview with Kay Springsteen


Hello Kay, please tell us about you, as a writer.

I’ve written since childhood. When I ran out of things to read, I’d make up stories and write them in notebooks, later on the typewriter, then the computer. But I never pursued publication until this year. It was just more for fun. I love to craft stories in which the people have lots to overcome but in the end they ultimately win.

Your book ‘Elusive Echoes’, is a contemporary romantic suspense; perhaps you’d you give us some insight into it in a few sentences.

Sean and Melanie have been nearly constant companions since childhood, except for several years when she had been forced to live with relatives she hated. Those years scarred her and made it hard for Mel and Sean to reconnect. Now her past coming back in a big way.

How did you come to write this particular book?

This is actually a follow up book to my release from earlier this year, Lifeline Echoes, and is the story of THAT hero’s brother.

     Do you have a favourite character from the book? If so, who and why this particular one?

My favourite character in both the Echoes books is the heroes’ father, Justin. He’s kind of an amalgam of my parents and me as a parent to my own children. Imparts bits of wisdom throughout the stories, strong sense of right and wrong. But he can be counted on to give straight talk.

Where can people buy your books?


What qualities does a writer need to be successful?

Availability to readers. If you don’t connect with readers on a more personal level, you can be the greatest writer in the world, but you’ll still fall short.

What’s your working method?

I have two part-time jobs aside from my writing, so a lot of time I work on my stories late into the night. It seems to work. No phone distractions, very peaceful (though I do write to music).

What’s the single biggest mistake made by beginner writers?

Not having an experienced critique partner or group and/or not listening to their advice. Writers don’t have to do everything every crit partner suggests, but I recommend if you don’t agree you talk it through and see where you and the partner can come to an agreement. If the crit partner doesn’t like it, find out the reasons.

To what extent are grammar and spelling important in writing?

They are 100% important. I am also an editor for a different press than where I write, and I see many mistakes that sometimes ruin a good manuscript.

How much do you revise your MS before sending it off?

I write a draft, then revise it. Then I submit to my critique partners and make revisions based on feedback. Then I re-read it and make further adjustments. Then I submit my work. After that, I listen to the content and line editors and make adjustments as they guide.

As a writer of sweet romance, contemporary romance and romantic suspense, to what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?

I edit a very high heat level but I got my break in publishing by writing sweet. It really doesn’t matter, the genre, so much as you enjoy what you write and you market to the readers who enjoy what you write.

Many authors see marketing as a bind. What's your opinion on this, and how do you deal with it?

I don’t do a ton of heavy marketing. I let readers know I’m out there, and when I have a new release but I don’t pressure others or harass them with my promotions. I do try to reach out to others through blog tours such as this and I open my own blog for others to visit.

What sort of displacement activities keep you from writing?
My “real job,” running errands, and housework are my least favourite time killers. Gardening, hiking with my dogs, playing with my granddaughter, and photography are things I love so I don’t mind stepping away from a story to participate.

What support, if any, do you receive from family and friends, or a writing group?

My friends and children are the most supportive ever! My daughters enjoy helping me plot and plan my stories.

Is presentation of the MS as important as agents and publishers suggest?

I believe it is, especially since I also work on the editing side of things. If you want to be taken seriously, be professional. Writing IS a profession. If you want to be successful in any profession, you put on the uniform. A banker doesn’t apply for a job wearing Bermuda shorts and sandals. An author shouldn’t apply to a publisher with a manuscript that is the equivalent of that.

How long does it take you to write a novel?

Depends on the novel. Usually about 1 month to a rough draft then 6 months to finish revisions and submission.

Who or what inspires your writing?

Everything around me. I people watch when I go out. I watch the news. I listen to music. And I talk to my family. All of these have potential to plant a seed that can and often does grow into a major story.

If there’s a single aspect of writing you find frustrating, what is it?

The muddle in the middle – just past introducing the characters but just before the first obstacle. When the characters don’t feel inspired, and seem to want to mill about aimlessly.

Is there a particular feature of writing that you really enjoy?

The hunt for the next plot.

Do you believe creative writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?

I think it’s a bit of both. But I believe the possession of innate talent inspires the desire to hone the craft. I feel this about any inspired art form.

What are you writing now?

A novel in the tradition of my debut novel, Heartsight, which is currently titled Heartcries.

Do you have a website or blog where readers can visit?


Given unlimited resources, where would you do your writing?

I would probably buy an RV, pack up my pups, and roll out across the U.S. stopping when I found something interesting, and writing by voice recognition software. I do my best writing behind the wheel, but usually have to wait until I get to my computer before I can type what was “written” in my head.

Where do you actually write?

I write in my head almost constantly, anywhere I happen to be. But physically typing the story out, I sit at my desk in an office of my home.

Elusive Echoes - PG rated novel
(mild violence and mature themes but no graphic cursing or explicit sexual encounters)
They’re two people caught between friendship and something more; they can’t move forward, and they can’t let go.
Drawn together from early childhood, Sean McGee and Melanie Mitchell seemed destined for each other. But at age thirteen, Melanie was wrenched from the people she loved and forced onto a path she loathed. Sean was no stranger to people leaving, but losing Melanie devastated him. When she suddenly reappeared in Orson’s Folly, Sean was overjoyed. The Melanie who came home, though, wasn’t the same girl. She’s got a harder edge and she’s obviously hiding something, but Sean no longer knows how to reach her.
Returning to Orson's Folly as an adult, all Melanie wanted to do was forget the years she spent away. But she soon learned that going home didn’t mean she could return to her old life—or her childhood sweetheart, Sean. Even their mutual attraction to one another hasn’t rebuilt the bond of trust and closeness they once shared. It’s been seven years since she returned and now everything Melanie wants to forget has broadsided her. She must confront her demons and relive her past in an unexpected way or risk losing the only man she’s ever loved. But even if she succeeds, Sean might be lost to her anyway.
EXCERPT:
Mel sighed. She couldn’t remember a time since they’d been teenagers when she hadn’t wanted to be Sean’s girl. Yet they never seemed to get beyond a few heated kisses before he hightailed it in the opposite direction. Sometimes it was hard to tell if he really wanted to kiss her or if he was just being polite.
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” As always she felt a little anxious about his answer, though she usually tried to cover her anxiety with an attitude of nonchalance.
He smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek with one last warm hug. Then he rubbed the back of his neck and cast a sheepish glance her way. “Hope so.”
She breathed more easily when she caught his “yes” tell. He always seemed just a little on the shy side when he said yes to something that was important to him.
Sean waited for her to cross the parking lot again before he left. He probably didn’t know she routinely stood at the door and watched his taillights disappear. 

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Irritate or aggravate?


Irritate or aggravate?
Very frequently used as though they are interchangeable, these two words do have different meanings. Though it’s true that ‘irritate’ can also mean ‘aggravate’, aggravate cannot generally mean ‘irritate’ in proper usage.

Irritate: verb - excite, rouse or provoke a person; aggravate, excite or provoke an action or emotion; excite to impatience or anger, annoy, exasperate; in medicine, to excite an organ to abnormal action or condition; produce an unpleasant sensation or inflammation; in biology, to produce a response in an organ by some form of stimulus.

Aggravate: verb - load someone or something with; bring as a charge against; strengthen, increase, or magnify; colloquial only - exasperate or annoy someone.

‘Caffeine can irritate the bladder in certain people, causing them to urinate more frequently.’

‘Brian would frequently irritate Margaret with his obsessive checking whether he had locked the doors before leaving the house.’

‘The political extremists brought in Rent-a-Mob to aggravate the situation on the protest, creating violence where there had previously been a peaceful protest.’

‘Charlie would often aggravate Donna’s insecurity by declaring she was fat and lazy.’

Pic: The rocky coast near Sissi, Crete.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Labour


Labour: noun - Effort of body or mind; physical or mental work; a job performed; pains taken to further a matter or obtain a favour; childbirth, the time from the start of regular uterine contractions until the placenta is expelled; physical work required to execute a task; the contribution of a worker to production; workers, especially manual workers, taken as a social class or a political force; the Labour Party.

‘Irish navvies supplied much of the labour needed to construct such engineering marvels as the railway viaduct at Ribblehead.’

‘Catherine spent 27 hours in labour, puffing, panting and occasionally cursing and screaming, before she gave birth to a wailing baby boy.’

‘Labour and Conservative governments have more or less alternated in power in the UK for the past century, often overturning the laws made by the previous incumbents and working in open opposition instead of ruling by consensus, as voting habits would suggest is the will of the people.’

Pic: The road down to Stainforth, North Yorkshire.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Banker

Various Federal Reserve Notes, c.1995. Only th...Image via Wikipedia
Banker: noun – a chiseller, selfish user, cheat, liar, destroyer of worlds, wanker (of course), greedy pig, money worshipper, materialist, …. I’m sure you can add your own to this list of synonyms; please do.

‘The banker promised to do the best he could for the customer but discovered that this would be inconvenient for him, so helped himself instead.’

‘Counting his customers’ money, the banker decided he had more right to it than the lawful owners, so devised sophisticated methods to rob them of it.’

‘Advising his customer to take out the low interest mortgage, because it was cheaper than that offered by the opposition, the banker smiled as he slapped on an unjustified and swingeing handling fee that was mentioned only within the fourth paragraph of the nineteenth page of the small print.’

‘The customer didn’t want or need Payment Protection Insurance, but the banker included it in the loan anyway, knowing that most customers would either not notice or be too lazy or intimidated to demand its removal.’

‘When I asked the banker whether the Payment Protection Insurance would apply at once in the event of redundancy or sickness, she assured me this was the case. However, when I was made redundant a short while later, I learned that the PPI would not become effective until I had been out of work for 6 months.’

‘The banker promised the government that he would lend money, at reasonable rates, to any viable small business that applied for it, but he made the process so difficult and costly that very few felt it was worth their while.’

‘When bonus time came around, the banker decided that normal rules - requiring some evidence of achievement, success or extraordinary effort to serve his customers – would not apply to those in the banking industry, so they paid everyone above a certain level of seniority excessive sums regardless of performance, and all the bankers were happy.’

I know this is an extra; but, hearing the news about mortgage lending schemes with small print and excessive handling charges, I just had to have my say.

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Tuesday 16 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Verisimilitude


Verisimilitude: noun - apparently true or real, resemblance to truth, reality, or fact; realistic quality, probability; a statement  that has the mere appearance or show of being true or factual, an apparent truth.

‘Most writers rely on verisimilitude to draw their readers into the fictional world of their novels, hoping that their suspension of disbelief will carry them through the events of the book.’

The classical, literary notion of verisimilitude focusses on the role of the reader engaging with the fictional work of art. The novel should offer a pleasurable experience to the reader by facilitating the reader’s willingness to suspend disbelief. Verisimilitude is the means of achieving this mindset. To promote the willing suspension of disbelief, fiction needs to be credible. Something that’s physically possible in the worldview of the reader can be defined as credible. Through verisimilitude, the reader can glean truth even in fiction because it reflects realistic aspects of life.

Pic: Humber estuary at Hessle, East Yorkshire.

Monday 15 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Kamagraphy


Kamagraphy: noun - process for making copies of original paintings, using a special press and treated canvas, which reproduces accurate colours and the texture of the brushstrokes.

Ideal for galleries, I imagine. But it does rather beg the question; ‘What about forgeries?’ And, of course, it explains why it’s possible to view what appear to be original paintings in more than one public gallery. Clever stuff, eh? 

Pic: Looking north over Deepdale, East Yorkshire.

Sunday 14 August 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Unreliable narrator


Unreliable narrator: A literary term for a narrator who, out of ignorance, bias, limited viewpoint, simple self-interest or through inability to tell the truth, cannot be trusted. Generally, this character appears in first person stories, of course. Probably the most well-know is Humbert Humbert, the wicked teller of Vladimir Nabokov’s tale, Lolita.
In my own romantic thriller, Breaking Faith, I employed the device of paired narrators, allowing the reader to see things from the points of view of both the male and female protagonists. I did this to illustrate that even the most well-meaning and honest of narrators can sometimes be unreliable and mislead the reader, even if unintentionally.

Other examples of unreliable narrators are:
Wuthering Heights - Lockwood and Nelly Dean.
Wilkie Collins’ detective story The Moonstone (1868), in which the plot unfolds through different characters, who contradict each other and reveal their biases.
In Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest  the narrator, "Chief" Bromden suffers from schizophrenia.  Since his telling of events includes people growing or shrinking, walls oozing with slime, and other bizarre events, the reader quickly recognises that this story teller is not to be trusted.
In Sebastian Faulks’ Engleby, the narrator, Mike Engleby, leads the reader to believe a version of events that’s increasingly at odds with reality.

Saturday 13 August 2011

West End Girls, by Barbara Tata, Reviewed.


A book variously described as a memoir, a biography and an autobiography, West End Girls details the lives of Soho prostitutes through the eyes of a virginal, innocent but forthright narrator (I have great empathy with the author, as I used a similar narrator in my novel, Breaking Faith, so my review could be a little biased; please bear that in mind).
Written with humour and displaying an extraordinary naivety mixed with a growing worldliness developed along the journey, this memoir is full of empathy for the girls and young women the author meets, befriends and serves. Set just after World War II, the atmosphere is remarkably evocative and brilliantly brought to life by Barbara’s candid observations. If you’re a man reading this, be warned: men do not come out well from this volume. The author’s view of the gender is clearly skewed by her exposure to those men who habitually resort to the services of prostitutes, so it is hardly surprising that she has a somewhat one-sided view of us. Only later in life did she meet and marry a man who was able to balance her view and, to give her credit, she clearly realised that her former attitude was rather biased.
I read this book with a growing sense of amazement at the peculiarities of the human condition and the sexual proclivities of both men and women. I’m no innocent; though my only exposure to prostitutes has been accidental contact: once whilst looking for a photography business in Southend and once whilst hitch-hiking through London. On neither occasion was I tempted to take up their offers of ‘comfort’. Barbara has introduced me to the idea of the prostitute’s ‘maid’, a sort of bodyguard-cum-accountant-cum-general dogsbody; something I had not previously encountered, even through fiction. She also talks of ‘ponces’, the Soho equivalent of the ‘pimp’, which in her era had a slightly different meaning.
Her accounts of her own life and those of the women of pleasure around her are warm, detailed and almost impartial. The descriptions of Soho, especially the underbelly where these women operate, are full of observations that bring the shoddy, shabby but superficially glamorous place to life. The author was a gifted artist and this shows through in her acute observations, her ability to paint a picture with words.
Her gradual loss of innocence, though she is never physically corrupted, permeates the account and allows her to provide more and more detail of actual events. However, she shows a distinctly personal view of what she can and cannot write for public consumption, so that her narrative is full of unanswered questions to which the reader suspects she has almost too any answers.
Given that this is story of the lives of people engaged in a sordid lifestyle for all sorts of reasons, it manages to rise above the murk and muck to provide a picture of a warm, generous and affectionate world, albeit peppered with violence, usage and abuse.
I am glad I read this, both as writer and reader, and have no hesitation in recommending it to all but those with insincere pretentions to sensitivity.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Jackal


Jackal: noun - a wild omnivorous doglike mammal of Africa and S. Eurasia, from the genus Canis, having erect ears and bushy tail, hunting in packs as foragers; someone acting like a jackal, doing subordinate preparatory work or drudgery for someone else.

‘It’s said, amongst those who are supposed to know these things, that a pack of hungry jackals is far more dangerous than a lone big cat.’

‘Christopher does all the footwork, serving as Fiona’s jackal and gathering all the facts together so she can do the more interesting collation work.’

Pic: Hay Wold, East Yorkshire.

Fame or Fortune ... Which Would You Prefer?


Fame or fortune? Both? Or neither?


It’s a common idea that we all seek either or both of these qualities in our lives. But is it something we’d really want? We take for granted the benefits of such qualities but tend to ignore the downside. Is there one? Well, when it comes to fame, I don’t know about you, but I’d hate to be recognised everywhere I went. How could I listen in to those delightful and intriguing snippets of conversation that inform my writing, if I was recognised as a writer? In fact, I kept my craft secret even from colleagues at work until I had Breaking Faith published and needed to market the novel. The idea of mob love doesn’t appeal to me at all, either. I’m happy with the real love of those around me; those I know and love. So, fame is definitely not for me.

But (and, as they say, it’s a big butt), I DO want my work to be famous. I want it to reach the largest possible readership because I believe that what I write is worth reading. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do it, would I? It’s one of the reasons I use a pen name. I can walk into any shop, hotel, restaurant or wherever, use my own name and know I won’t be known. But, when the world recognises my genius (yes, it’s possible I’ll be dead by then, I know.) my writing name will be universally known, respected and admired. (For the Americans amongst my readers, I should perhaps explain that I’m employing irony here. We Brits have the irritating conviction that most Americans have no understanding of irony and don’t recognise it, you see).
So, fame for my work, but not for me, thanks.

And fortune?

Money has never really had a hold over me; not in quantity. But, then, I’ve never had a lot of money, so I have no experience of its supposed benefits. I look at the rich around me and in the media and see how shallow and selfish many of them are. I see how they have lost their knowledge of the real world; those who had such knowledge in the first case, that is. I see how their love of materialism and wealth has ruled and governed their lives and their choices and I feel little admiration and a great deal of distaste. Oh, I know some of them are generous with donations to charities and the like. But it makes me wonder, when a rich celebrity makes a plea to raise a certain sum for a specific project to alleviate suffering, why they don’t simply donate it themselves. It so frequently has the appearance of someone trying to look good rather than actually be good. I hold a belief that, as we should have a minimum income for all worldwide, we should also have a maximum income for all. It is inequalities in society that cause most discontent and the wider they are the greater that dissatisfaction.

So, yes, I’d like enough money to be able to live the relatively simple lifestyle I espouse and to give my daughter a good start in life. But I don’t crave the sort of fortune that distorts an individual’s view of the world to such an extent that they no longer understand the lot of most people.
Sorry, this has become rather serious, hasn’t it? My passions sometimes run away with me. I’m sure you’ll find a lighter touch in the other contributions to this blog tour. So move on to the next and enjoy the tour.
Thanks for your time and bruised ears. I’ll take my soap box away now and find another crowd to harangue.