A review by of Helen Jones’ A THOUSAND ROOMS, which I’ve raved about here before. Highly recommended.
Category: books
Why the Death of Roger Ackroyd Matters
And yet another good post on detective fiction, from Christa at Chorister at Home (it must be the day for it). Her musings shed some light on my own preference for British detective stories over American ones.
In Defense of the Detective Novel
My friend E. L. Bates just wrote this quite excellent piece on the value of detective fiction. I agree with everything she says – and her point about the timeliness of detective novels is an interesting one. Check it out and see what you think.
They’re at the Library!
Look at what my good friend and fellow author Lee Strauss posted this morning on Facebook: She got my books from the library!!! Isn’t that exciting? Now I’m a real author (because, Library!).
And here they are in the library’s catalogue. Impressive, eh?
It quite tickles my fancy to see them catalogued like that, with proper Library of Congress subject headings (Magic — Fiction; Fantasy fiction) and call number (F&SF OFF). See?
Incidentally, it really helps an author out to get their books into libraries. Most libraries have a “Suggestion for Purchase” feature, where you can tell them what books you’d like to see on the shelves (and usually, you’ll be the first one to get a copy to read once it comes in). So if your library hasn’t got the Septimus Books yet – what are you waiting for? Ask for them! 🙂
Life, the Universe, and the Septimus Books at the Library. Cat would heartily approve.
Indie Book Review: Cat and Mouse by A.M. Offenwanger
An awesome review of CAT AND MOUSE by Kate M. Colby! Thank you so much, Kate!
Seventh Son on Sizzling Summer Sale (or Something)
It’s summer! You need a beach read! (Or, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere: It’s winter! You need a book to read by the fire!) So, here’s your Sizzling Summer Sale – better yet, it’s not a sale, it’s a FREEBIE!! You can get your very own e-copy of Seventh Son for utterly, totally and completely FREE!!! All you have to do is hoof it over to your favourite ebook vendor and click the “download” button. So go ahead, what’re you waiting for?
Here it is on
Smashwords (all ebook formats)
Life, the Universe, and a Sale on Seventh Son. Go get it, read it, then let me know what you think!
CHECKMATE!
Aaaaaand – HERE IT IS!! Please welcome:
Toddle on over to the page, where you can choose from a profusion of links from which to get your very own e- or p-(paper)copy of the newest instalment of the Septimus Series.
Here’s what you’ll find under the snazzy cover:
Rhitha’s life is miserable – but then she meets Bina.
Rhitha’s sister has been bullying her all her life, for no reason that Rhitha can see. But when they move to Ruph, there is a new friend in Rhitha’s life: with the help of Bina and her unique powers Rhitha begins to see that there might be more going on in her family than meets the eye. There is a secret nobody suspected…
Things come to a head between Rhitha and her sister in a clash that draws in everyone around them. Are the peculiar forces at play in Ruph responsible for fanning their conflict? Who is the mysterious stranger that appears at Grandmother’s door in the middle of the storm? And can Bina help Rhitha find the strength to stand up to the bullies and become who she is meant to be?
Read it, and then leave a review! Or just let me know what you think (good or bad) – I want to know!
Life, the Universe, and a New Book Baby. Isn’t it beautiful?
Pictures and Pears and Other Randomness
Helen Jones, of Journey to Ambeth, just posted some lovely pictures for her “Thursday Doors” series, of the church in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. Take a look, here. I love the way Helen’s pictures can grab me and just, for a few minutes, toss me into another place, right across the other side of the globe. And then, bing, I’m back in my Canadian existence, just a little richer for my tiny little armchair travel experience. (Check out this crazy lapis-lazuli-and-gold swimming pool she posted pictures of the other day. I mean, doesn’t that make you feel like your mind has expanded just a tiny bit, knowing this ludicrously, gloriously extravagant piece of achitectural razzle-dazzle exists in the world?)
One of the things that caught my attention in today’s post, though, was the name of that one and only English Pope, Nicholas Breakspear (who apparently came from Abbots Langley, hence his inclusion in the post). I’d never heard of him before. Now, frivolously-minded person that I am, it didn’t make me think deep thoughts about history – it just set me to wondering if he’s any relation to The Bard. You know, 12th-century Breakspear to 16th-century Shakespeare… Maybe in the intervening 400 years, the family figured out how to wave about their weaponry without cracking it – from Nick “break spear” to Will “shake spear”… [Yeah, I know, it’s bad. I just couldn’t resist.]
Nicholas Breakspear would have been Pope right around the time Brother Cadfael did his sleuthing in Shrewsbury Abbey, and Catherine LeVendeur hers in Paris. As far as I know, those two never did cross paths, although I’m sure they would have got along swimmingly. Neither did Lord Peter Wimsey and Inspector Roderick Alleyn, although by rights they should have – both attended Oxford right around the same time, were younger sons of the peerage, had mothers who read almost like identical twins, and married women involved in the arts/writing scene. And that’s not even taking into account the Scotland Yard connection. Lord Peter’s brother-in-law, Charles Parker, in fact occupies Inspector Alleyn’s chair as Chief Inspector, right around the same time. We must be dealing with parallel universes here; I’m sure Scotland Yard Chief Inspectors aren’t as thickly strewn on the ground as all that. (While we’re at it, Carola Dunn’s Alec Fletcher, the Hon. Daisy Dalrymple‘s husband, is another contender for that Chief Inspector’s chair. That seat must have been one hotly contested piece of furniture in the 1920s.) 
Anyway. To wrap up today’s silliness, here’s a picture of Steve on a laundry basket. Just because you, I’m sure, needed to see a photo of a bear sitting on a household implement today. You’re welcome.
Life, the Universe, Fictional Sleuths, Pictures and Pears. And bears, of course, as well.
PS: Have you put in a pre-order for Checkmate yet? Just eight more days…
PPS: Now that I think of it, none of this has anything to do with pears, just spears. But I like the alliteration.
CHECKMATE has a Due Date!
We have a due date! One for the newest book baby. No, it’s not a due-back-at-the-library date, it’s the day Checkmate is going to be officially released: February 19th!
That’s not much more than a week away. Are you excited? Yes, you are, very excited indeed. Because you can’t wait to read about the further adventures of Cat, Guy, and Bibby (who’s now called Bina, seeing as she’s no longer a little kid – if you haven’t yet read “Lavender’s Blue”, go over here to find out about it). And there’s this new kid, Rhitha – what’s going on with her and her family? Why is her sister being so mean to her? You’ll find out soon…
So mark it on your calendar: next week Friday you can go online and get your very own copy of Checkmate. Or, even better, you could hop over to Amazon or Smashwords right now and pre-order the ebook, then you’ll get it delivered the moment it’s released!
Just nine more days!
Hanging Out My Shingle, or: A New Endeavour
It’s a new(ish) year, and time for a new endeavour. Remember I told you a few weeks ago that I was cooking up something new? Well, here it is: I’m hanging out my shingle as an editor. That’s right, I’m joining the ranks of the professional nitpickers. I aim to occupy myself with such questions as whether it’s “endeavour” or “endeavor” – or perhaps even “Endeavour” (which depends on whether it’s British, American, or the title of the TV series).
For now, I’m starting small, with copy editing and beta reading. The latter is really a form of content or structural editing, letting the author know what I think of their piece as a whole, as a reader. Copy editing means the nitty-gritty of mechanics – spelling, punctuation, grammar, word choice – and as such can even go into the realm of stylistic editing (smoothing language, clarifying meaning, making things sound better). All of which has the purpose not to tear down a work, but to make good writing even better.
It’s just a little scary to hoist my flag and announce to the world that I’m now available to take apart your writing (that’s “take apart”, not “take a part” – although, of course, by taking it apart I’m also taking a part in it). But, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And as I wrote on my brand-new editing page (that tab up on top of this page), helping a good story take shape and get ready to go out into the world to meet its readers is a tremendously rewarding thing for me.
So there it is: amo vitam Editing Services. I’m excited, and a bit nervous, and on the one hand kind of unsure of what I’m doing, but on the other quite certain that working with writing is what I want to do and that (not to boast or anything) I’m actually quite good at it.
Life, the Universe, and a New Shingle Hung Out. Do me a favour and pass the word?
