The curious case of the disappearing scones

Remembering my four legged best friend…

Have We Had Help?

During your lifetime, inevitably there will be one being on this beautiful planet who touches your heart and makes your life whole. In my case it was a Black Labrador cross.

It was the summer of nineteen seventy-two. One day I was walking home after spending my Saturday in town. As I headed for the bridge across the river which divides the city from the eastern suburbs where I lived, a pair of large brown eyes surrounded by the silkiest black ears, supported by four huge paws, stared out of the pet shop window at me.

To say it was mutual love at first sight would be an understatement. Within five minutes I was carrying this inky black bundle of joy in my arms heading for home. I knew my father would not be impressed, but I didn’t care – mum would be and that was all that mattered.

Typically…

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Cassandra

Pay attention to what my sweet friend Stefi has to say people.

e-Tinkerbell

Cassandra was the most beautiful of the daughters of Hecuba and Priam, the Queen and  King of Troy. She was so beautiful that even Apollo, notorious womanizer among the gods, was infatuated with her. One  day, while she was slumbering in the temple, Apollo silently approached her, as he had in mind to win the girl’s love. When she woke up and heard the handsome god professing his passion, she was pleasantly flattered. He courted her gently and  promised to give her a most precious gift that would have sealed their love: she would have been able to see the future, but, there is always a but, only if she consented to lie with him.

Cassandra was intrigued at first, it was a generous gift indeed, but, after accepting the offer, she started to have doubts and changed her mind. It happens, even to charming gods. So angry Apollo, who…

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Books and Literary Snobs

I hate snobs!!!

Have We Had Help?

Since the emergence of the internet, online publishing and the plethora of books now available to us in the world of books, a second disturbing breed has emerged – the literary snob.

While thanks to small press and self publishing, it is true that the vast majority of published authors these days far outweigh the fortunate few, chosen by establishment publishers, rarely if ever will any of the former become successful.

The world of establishment writing and publishing is inhabited by old school literary snobs who will never deign to purchase a copy of your book, let alone offer you a contract. Why, because unless they have ‘discovered’ you through a literary agent or similar, treating you like a cash cow worthy of exploitation, you simply don’t exist in their eyes.

However, there are of course successful exceptions to this scenario. Beyond establishment publishing lays the world of self publishing…

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More Saturday Nonsense

More from the lovable nutcase Adele 😉

firefly465

You know how you wake up in the morning with a song in your head and it stays in your head. Invading your brain and even playing in the background when you least expect it. Well, this morning I woke up singing the theme tune to Metal Mickey.

Metal Mickey was a British children’s television series which ran from 1980-1983. Metal Mickey was a robot built by Ken, the son of a typical, is there ever, British family. Five foot nothing, Mickey battled everything from aliens to crooks. I loved that show and in 1980 it provided an entertaining break before or after doing homework.

As well as staring Metal Mickey the series also stared Irene Handel as Gran.

Irene Handl was a British character actress beloved by audiences everywhere. She was born in 1901 and died in 1987. A wonderful actress.

1980 also saw the release of an ionic…

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Caravaggio’s Hole

As I’m in research mode right now, here’s something about the subject…

Have We Had Help?

I was put here by the order of the Knights of St John. I curse them for their inept minds. None of them appreciate that I am the master when it comes to painting fine religious works. I was censured for my forward thinking in my approach to painting by no less a person than the Pope. I curse him to for his short-sightedness, his blinkered vision of what makes a great work of art. I am Caravaggio, the finest painter who has ever lived. The others who believe they are my peers are fools and charlatans – I curse them, I have killed men for less…

My enemies await my return to Italy, lying, scheming and plotting my demise – hah! I spit on them, nay I piss on them. None are worthy to be in my presence. I painted my finest work here in Valetta for all to…

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Review: JOHN HERRING by Sabine Baring-Gould

Review!!!

writerlywitterings

Praxis Books, ISBN 978 09559517 01 – paperback £12.50

In these pages I tend to review more modern books, specifically crime – but I am changing. This is a case in point. 

What is different about this book? Well, for one thing, the cover is a fabulous, really fabulous photograph. I have to say that – I took it! I even got the credit inside. 

But this is a different type of book for me. It was written by the Sabine Baring-Gould in 1883, a very strong Victorian gentleman of a deeply religious nature, unsurprisingly, since he was in holy orders. 

I know of him because he was a keen collector of folk music, and there is an annual event (usually) held near here at Lewtrenchard Manor, where he lived, to celebrate his life. But he was also a very prolific writer, and this is one of his stories.

It…

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Tell me…

Every writer I know has been asked…

Have We Had Help?

…exactly what is it you do again?

How many times have you been confronted by the above question from a pompous tosspot during your lifetime? I was reading an article posted by Jay Lake on this very subject several years ago in relation to those of us who write.

Whenever you answer by telling the usually totally disinterested questioner that you write, either their eyes glaze over before they move away to annoy someone else, or they start asking you inane questions like, “Will I have read anything you have written?” Or they may even say something completely self-important such as, “Oh yes I’ve wanted to write my life story for positively ages, but I simply can’t find the time!”

I leave you to imagine what my answers would be to the questions. But here’s a hint for the first one – it would be heavily sprinkled with a few…

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A New Sense of Freedom

Pay attention! Bella Stefi speaks – xx

e-Tinkerbell

You cannot imagine our surprise when a couple of weeks ago, we Italians were complimented by WHO for our approach to stem Covid-19 outbreak. It was, you know, something between being pleased and amazed at the same time, as we are not used to such kind of praises, expecially when the efficiency of our organizational model is the subject of the matter.

Our surprise turned into a shock, when we read that English Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that his country had a worse COVID-19 rate than Italy and Germany because it is a “freedom-loving country.” Freedom, this is the point. What kind freedom was he taking about? If he meant the freedom of ignoring rules, from a historical point of view we are the champions, as we may say that Italy has mostly behaved since the fall of the Roman empire as the Becky Sharp of the continent…

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Proof that a good story never dies

I love a good review from time to time, don’t you?

Have We Had Help?

Who though my best selling book written six years ago would get a brand new review?

Bob Van Laerhoven – Belgian novelist

5.0 out of 5 stars An adventure story that also is instructive

7 February 2018

Format: Kindle Edition

“Race against time” is an outstanding example of how an author can turn extensive archaeological knowledge into a superb adventure story, chock-full high-caliber entertainment. With the abrupt ending of the Mayan Calendar in 2012, and the prediction that the Solar System will be annihilated in that very year, as a starting point, Jack Eason tells a gripping tale that spans the world, that is often funny but at the same time suspenseful, and that is populated by characters we love to love or to hate. At the end, when the reader thinks that everything will collapse, Eason provides an ingenious, surprising end. An adventure story that also is instructive, a…

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English Language and your Readers!

Sit up and pay attention!

Plaisted Publishing House

• 

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Who is your Audience? Do you know? Do you care?
Remember choosing your Audience also affects the marketing
you will need to do.

Editing is not my thing. I do my best work helping with the flow and structure of a manuscript. I’ll call it proofreading for now.

Some things are easy to see and catch, others not so much. If you can get your manuscript flowing nicely it will be easier to edit. Then you have to find an editor who fits and this can take some work and lots of research. I’m not going to get into the research. This time it’s about the English Language you use and who you want as your audience/readers.

Most people write in the English Language where they grew up and were educated. It can, for some also be a second language. However, this doesn’t mean it’s the right English for your…

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