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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Teenage parties, new books, delicious food and disgusting politics
Let's see what I've been doing that has necessitated not blogging for over a week.
- I organised and cooked for Sparkler's thirteenth-birthday disco. Twenty-three guests in a local village hall, plus sundry adult helpers and a DJ.
- I've eaten far too much leftover party food (sausage rolls, chocolate crispy cakes, Abstract's homemade fudge, my mother-in-law's homemade millionaire's shortbread...).
- I got slightly sunburnt sitting out in the sun at a barbeque on Sunday. Every year, I'm just so pleased to see the sun I forget all caution.
- I've got up to 16,000 words on my sequel to Heart of the Volcano, drastically less than it would have been if not for half-term holidays, thirteenth-birthday discos and barbeques, but still a good amount to have managed.
- I've been reading my first Guy Gavriel Kay, The Lions of Al-Rassan, kindly given to me by The Model Auntie's boyfriend, Dr T-shirt (introduced here with his new blog-codename - everyone wave hello to Dr T-shirt). It's very well-written, absorbing fantasy. It's quite dense - there's a lot of cultural background and political backstory. In that way - and in its authentic-sounding atmosphere - it reminds me of Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon series. Demonstrated below: me showing how happy I am to have a new fantasy book and me showing how much I've read so far.
 
- I've finally found some ebooks on Fictionwise that aren't geographically restricted to the US and Canada only. Gah - I understand the reasons for them (it's to do with the distribution rights for different countries being sold separately and not being permitted to be infringed on by the global availability of ebooks) but oh do I hate them. Anyway, I've got a bunch of Marion Zimmer Bradley's short stories and novellas. They're proving to be a mixed bag so far - some were originally written just for magazines and their premises are extremely slight, which makes for unsatisfying reading.
- I tore up and threw away a campaigning leaflet for a hideous-sounding party called England First who want to "end political correctness" (a vague and meaningless tabloid phrase which has no place in anyone's political manifesto) and return England to (unspecified) "Christian values". Their manifesto states that they intend "The abolition of all non-European faiths and religions along with the removal of all their mosques and temples." Because, you know, Jesus was just so European. Good heavens, I do hope other countries have their own knuckle-dragging element, because the existence of parties like this makes me ashamed to be English.
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| Monday, May 18, 2009
Linky fun (well, some serious but mostly fun)
I know, this is the cheat's post of the world. Or, alternatively, a post of extreme generosity and sharingness.
First, specially for anyone in the UK, the European elections are coming up, and the far-right racist party the BNP have been busily campaigning under slogans like "British jobs for British workers" and a whole host of other buzz phrases that sound innocuous but are just a cover for outright racism (the BNP, according to its manifesto, intends to bring in a scheme of "...voluntary resettlement whereby those immigrants who are legally here will be afforded the opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin...").
One of their damn leaflets came through the door the other day, and I was quite at a loss as to what to do with it. Putting it in the recycling bag didn't seem quite final enough. In the end I settled for screwing it up with great violence, and then putting it in the recycling bag.
A few days later I had to dig it out again, when I read that the photos of "British workers" illustrating it, next to quotes saying how they supported the BNP, were actually photos of models from a stock photo site. And were not exactly British, being, well, Italian and American. British jobs for British workers, hm? I guess they are white, though, and that's what counts, right?
On a much funner note, it's always nice to find a new author blog, and I particularly like this one: Apparently Aprilynne. Aprilynne Pike is a debut novelist, whose YA novel, Wings, released from HarperCollins in April. I read the excerpt on Amazon, and I'm going to be buying the book soon. I think Sparkler and Gloworm will enjoy it, too, and Gloworm will be looking for something to move on to after she's finished the Twilight series (she's currently halfway through Eclipse, and has been reminding me to stick paper over the yucky bits in Breaking Dawn so she can read that without being squeamified).
Aprilynne's blog is kind of adorable - go look at her author pic as an example - and she talks very sweetly and humbly about her recent book tour, fan art and hitting number 6 on the New York Times Bestseller list. Envious? Yeah, I am, just a little!
On an equally fun note, look at the bags on this site!
 This site, ClippyKitLondon, is full of bags like this one. They have pockets on the sides, into which you put photos, mini scrapbook pages, tiny notepads, pictures, book cover flats for advertising purposes... And it's not just tote bags - you can get makeup bags, too, and even umbrellas.
I don't technically need another bag, but I can't resist the idea of displaying my book covers and web address. The Clippykit site mentions that their bags are talking points. I have to say, though, I'm kind of hoping that carrying one will entirely obviate the need for talking. Look at bag, note address, go straight to buying - no need for personal interaction with the introvert writer at all.
And finally, courtesy of Stephen Fry on Twitter, check out this add-on to Firefox (you do use Firefox, right? Surely?): Hyperwords. It does everything. It does, in fact, far more than you could ever want, but isn't that the whole joy of Firefox add-ons?
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| Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Latest release from Studio Ghibli?
This is a review from last month, of StereoOpticon, the anthology of "fairy tales in split vision" of which Falling is part. The review is overall very positive, which is great, but the reviewer just charmed me with this bit:
"Oddly, as I was reading, I kept picturing it like a movie in Miyazaki’s wonderful style (reference: Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke). It reminded me of his flair, so to speak."
(full review can be read at http:soleilnoir.wordpress.com)
Reminding someone of Hayao Miyazaki? How cool is that? And now the reviewer's mentioned it, I can totally imagine it myself. The futuristic city- and skyscapes of Falling; the quirky, spiky, slightly insectlike hero, Gecko; the vulnerable, damaged Linnet. And the other touches: steam wisping up from a cup of hot chocolate, sunlight bouncing back off the surface of the smog or slanting through clouds of dust from the falling buildings.
Of course, if Miyazaki were to make a film based on Falling, he would expand it and complicate it and add huge flying machines (and possibly weird blobby creatures) and a whole lot of pacifist, anti-military, save-the-planet themes... Ha, like I'd object to that!
So, on the off-chance that filmmakers Google themselves as often as authors do: Mr Miyazaki, the film rights are totally available! (Could we discuss the blobby creatures, though?)
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| Thursday, May 07, 2009
Less is more
I've been distressingly, shamefully lax recently about doing the grocery shopping. (And cleaning the bathroom. And folding the clean clothes. But in general my family care a lot more about the lack of hot chocolate and after-school snacks than they do about how shiny the sink is or how uncrumpled the clothes.)
This has led to lots of in-passing visits to various supermarkets to grab milk and honey and bread and salad and cheese and Kit-kat bars. And random impulse buys directly attributable to shopping from a vague mental list of "what are we missing most?" rather than a proper list written down. Doughnuts have appeared more than usual, and interesting cheeses rather than just Cheddar and Double Gloucester. And, most recently, Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Clusters with Milk Chocolate Curls, which I grabbed in a hurry without really thinking through the consequences.
Now, I love Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. I clearly remember, pregnant with Gloworm and having had a slightly worrying ante-natal appointment where the doctor told me the baby was the wrong way up and I needed to go home right now, call my husband and go straight to hospital so they could induce birth the minute she turned right way up, making a detour into Asda to buy Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and Greek yogurt so I could have a bowlful before I was trapped in a world of hospital food only.
She did turn right way up, by the way, but refused and refused and refused to respond to the induction, leading to me being in hospital for a week and eating a lot of hospital food, so I think my detour was justified.
But Crunchy Nut Clusters are a little too much of a good thing. And when you add, to the sticky, brown-sugar-and-honey coating, curls of milk chocolate, it all becomes much too much of a good thing.
Seduced by the CrunchyNuttiness, I had a bowl yesterday, and by the end I was trying to scoop the bits of chocolate out of the way. Which, really, goes against my very nature. Like not finishing a good book or pouring a cup of fresh coffee down the drain.
Clearly, manufacturers just can't resist doing this. How many nice, ordinary, ain't-broke-don't-fix-me foods have been given unnecessary chocolate curls or layers of icing or stuffed crusts or barbeque sauces or unwanted sachets of croutons and Caesar dressing or "ripples of ruby syrup" (okay, I made that up but I bet it's appeared somewhere)?
Shouldn't a busy, slightly overworked, slightly overstressed, slightly (temporarily) slatternly working mother be able to mindlessly grab a box of sugary cereal off the shelf without having chocolate curls inflicted on her, vastly increasing the calorie/fat/sugar content of her breakfast and potentially giving her spots? I think so.
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Scented Danger
a Red Riding Hood Anthology story
from Drollerie Press
Within the Darkness
Blood of the Volcano
Shadow-Weaver
A Cloak of Feathers
Linked
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